Wednesday February 15, 2012

Airion's past comments

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    Airion

    Considering Japlan believes the US is a country that has "been beaten by Islam," I can understand his anger. I'd also be upset with a mayor with a name as ridiculous as Bloobburg. In such I world, I too might find the standard of freedom of Saudi Arabia to be good enough.

    Meanwhile, in the real America...

    Posted in: Mosque talk another hurdle for Democrats

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    Airion

    Whatever you personally feel to be common sense stuebe, it does not usurp the First Amendment. But I think your understanding of the opposition is incorrect. No one thinks the mosque is a great awesome idea. Obama does not "want to" erect it. We just don't want to ignore the Consitution and stop the mosque with no legal basis.

    Posted in: Mosque talk another hurdle for Democrats

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    Airion

    If Gingrich more clearly stated that he thinks Muslims are (as bad as) Nazis, then his line of thinking wouldn't appear as acceptable.

    Posted in: Mosque talk another hurdle for Democrats

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    Airion

    As for the highlights, if his manager spoke up because he actually got complaints from those Japanese workplaces, then he's certainly right to speak up about it. But if it's just his manager's freely offered interpretation of Japanese culture, it doesn't seem right. Even if highlights are unacceptable among Japanese for whatever reason, I'll bet foreigners get a pass.

    Posted in: If a longtime expat starts offering you advice, walk the other way

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    Airion

    Does draft beer really taste that much better?

    Posted in: ANA becomes 1st airline to make draft beer available in-flight

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    Airion

    You shouldn't trust those numbers, nisegaijin. That amateur scientist doesn't provide his methodology, such has how he accurately measured just how much each rat drank. Another serious problem is that his study ran for 2-1/2 years, which is the lifespan of rats anyway. He admits at one point that he guessed had how long the experiment was. Maybe we could get more of his data and methodology if we bought his e-book though.

    He's also a poor lawyer, since the Delaney Clause didn't say "at any dose," and the clause and it's application, which was originally for pesticides, has changed a lot since 1958.

    But that doesn't matter. He says what you want to hear, so you trust him.

    Posted in: Cola wars return as Pepsi MAX takes on Coke Zero

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    Airion

    I'm just saying there's bad science out there, with this particular enthusiast setting up a science fair experiment that gives the desired results. It's not lying, it just bad science.

    It's a classic conspiracy theory. Evidence supporting the theory is accepted regardless of quality, and evidence countering the conspiracy is rejected regardless of quality. Orange juice doesn't get a conspiracy theory because it's not artificial and not tied to a particular brand or company like Pepsi or Coke. Aspartame brings up ideas of big bad companies in a greedy cola war, so aspartame must be equally bad, the thinking goes.

    Posted in: Cola wars return as Pepsi MAX takes on Coke Zero

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    Airion

    nisegaijin, that's a nice small study from a "citizen scientist" who was obviously already heavily invested in the myth before beginning the experiment. I especially liked where a family member praises the study as "very convincing," in a note in the study itself.

    Coke and Pepsi are on solid ground saying their drinks are safe.

    Posted in: Cola wars return as Pepsi MAX takes on Coke Zero

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    Airion

    Juice is healthier in that it has vitamins and nutrition, but it's still a sweet sugary drink. Aspartame, despite the urban legends perpetuated on the internet, is perfectly safe with tons of science to back that up.

    Posted in: Cola wars return as Pepsi MAX takes on Coke Zero

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    Airion

    So if this 3% Chuhai is meant for women, can I consider the 8% lemon Chuhai I drink manly?

    Posted in: Chuhai with fewer calories

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    Airion

    Taxes already favor working people. Those who make the least pay none, those who make the most pay the most. Beyond that, Democrats favor putting more burden on the rich, Republicans favor less. Obama pushes for stimulus (domestic investment to put the unemployed back to work), Republicans including Jeremy Lott are opposing it. Democrats push for extending unemployment benefits, helping Joe Average, Republicans oppose it and call him lazy.

    As for foreign policy, I believe Obama is moving the US in that direction, towards diplomacy and rebuilding trust, returning to the role your wishing for. This is reversing what Bush did. The problem is no party actually has a magic foreign relations reset button. For all the political ideals, reality and circumstances get in the way, and you have to be more realistic about what can be done and how long it might take. That said, you're obviously politically in the same space as the Democrats, whether you believe it yourself or not.

    Posted in: Obama's hard choices for other people

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    Airion

    I've never understood the "Dems and Republicans are the same" thing. tkoind2, you talk about the necessity of health care reform. With Democrats we get the reform we need. With Republicans, we don't. That's a very significant difference.

    Perhaps you mean there isn't much difference on economic issues, which is largely true. Bush starts to bail out the banks, Obama finishes the job. Republican presidents have done stimulus, Democrats have too.

    Posted in: Obama's hard choices for other people

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    Airion

    A clearly partisan article with very vague, and often disingenuous analysis. He says that Obama should have waited years to push for health care reform, as if the author would have been approving of it in better economic times (he surely wouldn't). He also ignores the fact that health care reform and it's costs don't even kick in until many years down the road, long after this current slump.

    He also has no idea what he actually wants Obama to do. He chides Obama for trimming budgets and freezing spending while pushing for stimulus, then goes on to say that Obama should have pushed for real job creation, which means stimulus.

    Posted in: Obama's hard choices for other people

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    Airion

    ronaldk- You run into conflicting interests there. On the one hand, you say marriage is an important societal institution. Presumably, you think it's good for people to get married, rather than say live together unmarried. But on the other hand, you tell anyone who wants to change the rules on surnames to just not get married. Is it really better for society that these people live together unmarried, rather than married with their own names?

    Posted in: Japan split over maiden names, foreign suffrage

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    Airion

    Klein2- I think you're confused about the government selling off it's investments and assets vs the government selling bonds (basically, people loaning money to the government). Government assets include things like universities, government buildings, museums, etc. Tons of things. Besides the fact that it might not be a good idea to sell all of those, I doubt they're such hot items that all 505 trillion yen of it would be so simply bought up.

    Posted in: 10% consumption tax will destroy Japan, argue some

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    Airion

    505 trillion yen of investments and assets. So these economists suggest Japan just sells it all off? Who is there to buy it all up? Just what government assets are no longer going to be the government's assets? And what happens when there's a major national crisis, like a major earthquake in Tokyo, and Japan needs some cash? Oops, nothing in the bank. Too bad they didn't just raise the consumption tax.

    Posted in: 10% consumption tax will destroy Japan, argue some

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    Airion

    I agree with ritalynn. It seems to me like the police went overboard on this. There's no signs of him being violent. He just got on stage when he shouldn't have.

    Posted in: Kobayashi leaves jail after hot dog contest fracas

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    Airion

    The new grocery store is understandably an annoyance, but it won't do to not build grocery stores. Just what kind of gift would placate the writer? Though the monetary value of a towel is cheap, frankly I think it's good enough that the construction company recognized the inconvenience they'd be causing. That's more the point, to say they're sorry, than to actually compensate.

    In the case of the wallet for example, I feel that expecting a significant percentage of reward money cheapens the kindness of returning it. It's just getting paid for a job done. Likewise, if the gift giver is simply following well established gift giving rules, it's not longer a sign of genuine appreciation. It's like just paying a bill.

    Posted in: Navigating the intricacies of Japan’s gift-giving protocol

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    Airion

    Finally Americans can enjoy a level competition without foreigners and their genetically bigger stomachs.

    Posted in: Kobayashi to skip July 4 hot dog eating contest this year

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    Airion

    Monkeyz,

    A doughnut or two? Are you kidding? The box fits a dozen, not one or two. Who says "Oh, I think I'll bring a little baggie of a donut or two to work, and maybe share it with one person, or not." No, they say "I'll go buy a BOX of a DOZEN donuts and share them with everyone, building office harmony and goodwill." God even created a special word for it: dozen! Not one or two, or something so common as "twelve". And there's so many kinds of donuts, you have yo buy at least one dozen. Glazed, cookie green tea, green tea matcha, flower rings, chocolate frosted, cream filled, chocolate cream filled, jelly, plain, powdered, and bear claws too.

    Everybody loves donuts. I know I do.

    Posted in: Krispy Kreme summer fun

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