HOOSIERS TRIBUNE　on 10/20

フージャーズの皆様へ

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こんばんは、デモらです。

先日購入したデジカメですが、いざ撮影に出かけようとすると
天気が崩れ、なかなか出番がありません。前日には「晴れ」になっていた
天気予報が当日朝、「曇り一時雨」になったりします。以前から口癖のように
言っていますが、最近の天気予報は本当に外れやすいです。

さて、今回は自殺がテーマです。自殺者数は1998年以降
30000〜35000人で高止まりしており、一向に減る気配がありません。
少し暗い話になりますが、生と死について真面目に考えてみましょう。

※※皆さんにお願い※※

最近、同姓のメンバーが増えています。出欠欄の記入は必ずフルネームで
お願いします。特に渡辺さん、鈴木さん、山下さん、高橋さんはフルネームで！

☆★☆　今回初めて参加される方へ　☆★☆

できれば、以下のトピックを印刷してお持ちください。

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Suicide Internet sites

A Kawasaki woman's young life ended because of a suicide assistance Web site accessible from any mobile phone.

The creator of this Web site is an electrician by profession. He reportedly kept posting messages, inviting anyone who was
contemplating suicide to respond. When the Kawasaki woman responded, he told her of drugs she could take to die painlessly.

They struck a deal and settled on a price. According to police reports, the woman paid him 200,000 yen, and the man kept his part of
the deal by coming over to her home, where he made her take a sleep-inducing drug, and then suffocated her by putting a plastic bag
over her head.

This was the worst possible outcome of two total strangers meeting through the Internet. It makes us cringe to think of the dangers
that lurk in our Net society.

And what makes this case even more unforgivable is that the man was apparently using his Web site to make money. He was illegally
selling sleep-inducing drugs to other visitors to his site, too, promoting them as "drugs that will let you die."

He is believed to have netted about 1 million yen, and reportedly owed several million yen to consumer loan companies.

Crimes made possible by the Internet have become so widespread that we can no longer just ignore them.

People plot murder and robbery and recruit accomplices on Net "black markets." There is no end to such extremely vicious crimes. In
August, three men who met in this manner abducted and murdered a Nagoya woman who just happened by.

Suicide sites haven't gone away, either. People who are contemplating suicide invite like-minded people to die together, and share
tips on easy and painless ways to end their lives.

Several hundred such sites are said to exist, and they have triggered a number of group suicides.

Something must be done to stop these dangerous sites from proliferating out of control. And for that, it is crucial that Net
postings be checked by cyber patrols. Police should act immediately if they find any message of illegal nature.

Even with posts that are not exactly illegal but nevertheless offensive or harmful, Internet service providers should be asked to
delete them.

We hope to see many more civic groups working together with police. As new posts appear every day, trying to delete every offensive
post is like playing the Whack-A-Mole game.

But there seems to be no alternative but to just keep going at it.

It is technically difficult to closely monitor or crack down on sites of dubious nature, and any excessive regulation may constitute
a violation of freedom of expression.

Regarding the death of the Kawasaki woman, one thing we cannot regret enough is that the final site she visited while thinking of
killing herself was that of the man who did "assist" her for a fee.

There are other Web sites that try to help suicidal people regain their will to live by encouraging them to express their feelings
of despair.

Increasing the number of these sites is one way of protecting suicidal people from cyberspace predators.


Q1. The number of suicide in Japan has been more than 30000 a year since 1998. What do you think of this number?

自殺者の数は1998年から毎年30000人を超えています。この数字についてどう思いますか？

Q2. How do you feel about the 'suicide assistance web site' mentioned above? Should it be eradicated?

上記の「自殺幇助サイト」についてどう思いますか？根絶されるべきでしょうか？

Q3. How about 'Suicide manual book'? Should we ban on the pubilication?

「自殺マニュアル」についてはどうでしょう？発行を禁止すべきですか？

Q4. Have you ever wanted to commit suicide? Why?

自殺したいと思ったことはありますか？なぜですか？

Q5. Why do you live? What is the meaning of living for you?

なぜあなたは生きているのですか？生きている意味って何でしょう？