Utter, utter waffle, courtesy of a teacher at school...

During my 2 years in Japan, I have heard some ridiculous statements (Japanese brains are physically different and superior to the brains of every other nation, the reason the Japanese olympians were flaccid during the Torino olympics was that the snow was inferior to Japanese snow, amongst many others). Even so, I wasn't really prepared for the little kernel of bullshit that popped out of a teacher's mouth this morning (please bear in mind that this guy is in a fairly elevated position within the school and is considered a rather wise chap).

We were in Omuta on a school trip, and as I was casually walking from his car, and noticing that there was a distinct chemical smell in the air and a yellowish tinge, I commented on the amount of pollution in the city. To which he uttered this classic response:

"Ah, it isn't pollution... it's actually sand from the Mongolian desert."

Really? Hell, I thought it was the waste from the chimneys of all those chemical factories...