Now with Yahoo going sharply downhill it might make a lot of sense for Softbank to buy up the remaining shares of Yahoo Japan to gain full control of it and make sure they retain the name rights. There is absolutely no benefit for them in the rest of that company. It’s just a money pit and contrary to Microsoft Softbank already has everything it could gain from a Yahoo takeover. In fact, Masayoshi Son made most of his wealth by selling Yahoo stock when it was still worth more than the paper it’s printed on. No reason to buy it back.

Softbank is successful by controlling roughly a third of the Japanese telecom market in all areas (mainly BB and mobile). Their international activities is mostly leftovers from Son’s old investment portfolio, their main business is not really international.

The Problem with Huckabee really has nothing to do with Yahoo, but the reason why people are concered is:

“The United States Constitution never uses the word “God” or makes mention of any religion, drawing its sole authority from “We the People.” However, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee thinks it’s time to put an end to that.

Huckabe needs a basic lesson in politics before running for president. America was originally an Indian continent, and then became the political beacon of the age of enlightenment, basing its constitution on human and not religious values. A constitution based on a particular religion is what the Taliban had fallen in love with; it contradicts most basic human rights, but first of all it contradicts freedom of religion. Enough said.

And yes, I do agree that age is an issue with technology and the internet… Also you don’t see many over 35 fighting in Iraq in the US military. The group of British soldiers held hostage last year by the Iranian government also was very young. Sports players are also very youthful and also retire about 35 or before depending on the sport. It comes down to performance and who can do the job clearly.

Of course, we all have to be careful not to come across prejudiced against any whole groups of people. Someone said recently that voting for Gov. Mike Huckabee for president violates the idea of “the separation of church and state” in the US.

If that were true, that would imply that anyone Christian could not run for public office because they love God. That completely negates the beauty of the US and the freedom we have here. (The whole idea was to keep the state out of the church, not persecute or exclude Christians as the US was originally a Christian nation).

Anyway, different topic but we all do need to be thinking and considerate of those around us. People or groups should not be excluded unless their beliefs are focused at tearing down other people or society as a whole.

@Spencer: When I read your comment, at first I thought that my mind maybe played a trick on me. But then I checked again. She IS the pizza woman, and she deserves respect for that:

“Merle Aiko Okawara, chairman of JC Foodsnet Co., Ltd., spoke about her experiences in establishing her company, a food manufacturing firm that pioneered the pizza industry in Japan. Interwoven in her fascinating thirty-year account of Japan’s changing business environment and culture, Ms. Okawara told us how she beat the odds and defied the many market experts who said frozen pizza would never find a market here..”

Interesting thoughts on Yafoo! I wonder if a company like Softbank, with such debt from buying Vodafone Japan, can afford to buy a company like Yahoo right now?