A friend sent me a Yomiuri article (Feb. 10) about a neighborhood forum in Kanazawa. Its title: "Citizens consider how to live together with foreigners."

I'm pleased this event was deemed worth a write-up. After all, I've witnessed plenty of forums over the years that have been ignored.

But it wasn't really what I'd call "news." I couldn't help feeling that attendees were just "reinventing the wheel" rather than developing a vehicle that would actually get us anywhere.