JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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Alphaape
Betzee, this is so true, but remember, one of the leading legislators that was pushing for the rights of the credit card companies was Joe Biden. His sons worked for companies that had as clients MBNA, which is headquarted in Delaware and one of the leading credit card lenders that helped fuel some of this mess.
Liberal or Conservative, I think that they all were overtaken by greed.
Posted in: Obama, McCain blame economic woes on greed, policy
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Alphaape
The thing to remember, the US acted on what they belived valid information that came from an Afghani. I could see the uproar if we had just bombed the area for the hell of it. But once again, someone that is supposed to be on our side gave false information. Yes the US should have verified and checked to see, and I know that in war you can't all ways get the 100% verification. But I think the international outrage should be with the person who gave the false tip. There is where the real culprit lies. Reminds me of a story a few years back when one opium grower wanted to eliminate another, and the best way was to tell the US forces that the other was a Taliban. So sad.
Posted in: Afghanistan: U.S. bombing killed civilians after false tip
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Alphaape
I think that this would have happened even if GWB was not in the White House. This is the same with what happened in the .com era. If anything, I remember hearing a speech by Bush a few years ago saying that there were not enough minority home owners. One of the reasons he listed was due to the high cost of the initial down payment. This led to the creation of the sub prime loan situation, and people began to see how they could make money by offering those teaser loans.
Well, just like some of the borrowers got hit with a higher loan cost and decreased value in their property, so now the lenders have faced the same thing. Too bad. Many honest people got screwed just simply by trying to achieve the American dream of home ownership. True, some people got loans that they had no business getting for houses that they couldn't afford, but I guess greed goes both ways from the poor to the rich.
One other thing, Sen. Biden was a big proponent of deregulating the credit card industry and voted to let them have the leeway that they have now. I even think he voted for the new Chapter 11 and bankruptcy rules that make it harder for Americans to file, and easier for credit companies to come after them. I expect when Congress gets back in session, we will probably see a few changes made to these laws again.
Posted in: Lehman declares bankruptcy; Bank of America buys Merrill Lynch
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Alphaape
smartacus, you see the American kids on any of the bases with housing doing the Trick or Treating thing. Also, many invite their Japanese friends on the base to bring their kids. So on Halloween, the base in Yokosuka is tied up with women and their kids being escorted on the base for trick or treating.
Sure, with just about any holiday it has been over commercialized, but I sure do miss the fun leading up to Halloween when I was a kid discussing wth friends what we would dress up as, and then making our rounds trick or treating. To be fair, I have seen a decrease in Halloween activitiy in the states too.
Posted in: Halloween
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Alphaape
sailwind, very good post. Now McCain seems to be falling into the same trap as Obama. I guess with his rise in the polls, he has what we call in the Navy "Short timers syndrome" where he knows he will be home in just a short while, and he starts to slack off and focus on what will be instead of what is near to him. If I were McCain, I would get back to issues, and not even keep selling the National Defense. Everyone knows he is strong in that area. If I were him, I would foucus on the rise in gas prices due to Hurrican Ike and our need to redevolp the refining industry. The bail out mess would be his next best move by having someone like Romney out there (a good choice for the Treasury Secretary if he wins) talking about what McCain would do for the economy.
Just watching the interview that Palin did with ABC, she does differ to McCain on the abortion issue, and he should use that to show yes they are the same party, but even with their differing of opinions they still want to work together for the common good.
I think if he did those, instead of going after Obama and his associations he will do better.
Posted in: Obama ratchets up counterattacks on McCain
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Alphaape
If I remember correctly, McCain wanted to have more "town hall" type forums to discuss issues with Obama, but it was Obama who declined. You can't really get detailed policy issues out in a 1 minute commerical that is costing you exhorbitant fees on the air, so quite naturally both sides will go for the "qucik jab" and make commericals that may not state the exact truth. If Obama wants to counter attacke McCain, then meet him in more open forums, and bring up his issues. If McCain meets and does not answer policy issue per policy issue, but instead goes on the negative, then we will see who is not sticking to the issues.
By the way the system is designed, if you have a policy that you wish to present in a campaign, then quite natually the opponent is going to reftue it and say it will not work. So now, does Obama want McCain to address his policy issues in a nicer tone and more "touchy feely?" As long as they are not directed at his family, I say let them both present their cases in the best manner. Yes they may be negative, but they don't have to be slanderous.
Posted in: Obama ratchets up counterattacks on McCain
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Alphaape
I think you got this the other way around. It seems that the Dems do not respect maturity and will pander to the school kids more. I thought that Obama said that he was trying to bring a new campagin to politics. I have watched some of the ads online, and they are not really mud slinging at all. Just stating the facts. I will admit the McCain ad on the sex education for kindergarten kids was a bit misleading, but it was no more than what Obama has said in his ads on what he intends to do when he is president.
Obama, here is a suggestion, be a man and don't be reactionary. If McCain says something that you don't like, instead of condeming, stick to your message. If you feel he is going off the issues, then run ads to bring him back, instead of whining and complaining "like a little girl."
Posted in: Obama ratchets up counterattacks on McCain
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Alphaape
fatloser, good points all around!!!
Posted in: Deputy police chief arrests man for filming up high school girl's skirt at Ofuna station
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Alphaape
If you walk in the streets of Osan outside the airbase, you can get the same glasses (style and material) with a perscription filled for about $150. Probably in Alaska, a visit to LensCrafters or Wal-Mart for that matter cost her about $150. Once again, the Japanese market is jacking up the price well above what it would cost someone outside of Japan to buy the product.
With the post the other day about the apathy in Japanese politics, I wonder will the city of Obama now really try to press for a visit by Sen. Obama to put them back in the number one spot of being the followers of American politics and trying to get in the press. I am waiting for Yokosuka to get in on the act, saying that John McCain visitied here before he was shot down, or that the ship named for his grandfather is homeported here. If he does win, I guess on the next open base, the USS McCain baseball caps will be huge sellers.
Posted in: Palin's glasses give boost to Japanese company's sales
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Alphaape
I thought that Shiva was the god that had the many arms and doing the dance.
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Alphaape
taka, tkniod2, I am not a shill for Fox News. I am a Black man (college educated too like Obama) and I don't like what he is saying as far as his policies go. So I don't think that when I voice my opinion of him, it has anything to do with far right hatred.
Obama gets asked the hard questions in the ABC Democratic debate (the same questions that Hillary had been asked) and he is crying foul. Far left bloggers like the ones on the Daily Kos blast the republicans and those who disagree with them, and yet Obama will go to a convention that they host. If McCain went to some of the far right political conventions, the press would never stop hounding him on it.
I will give Obama credit for the statements he made today about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crisis, it was caused by people on both sides (Reps and Dems) who did not do their jobs with the correct oversight. Oh and by the way, some of the former heads of Fannie Mae made millions in bonuses, and these were political appointees by Bill Clinton. Just as well, some of the other failures that have happened have been appointees by Bush. So there is equal blame to go around. In my opinion, if Obama would at least step up and admit mistakes, and not try to be everyman for everybody, I would consider voting for him. But for now I am not.
Posted in: Obama accuses Republican rivals of dishonesty
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Alphaape
I don't think it is a pure hatred on Obama, it is just that to most Americans they don't see anything in him worth voting for.
If anything, the hatred has been on the left. Look at the majority of stories about McCain/Palin and they come from far left blogs like the Daily Kos, and Huffington Post, and the hatred and slander they make about the Repbulicans. In the past, when a Black man was running for governor or Maryland on the Republican ticket, the "liberal left" villified him and even had pictures posted of him in blackface as an "uncle tom" or a minstral performer. The same left groups have also gone into minority areas with tactics such as stating that if you have outstanding tickets, you will be arrested if you go to vote or if you have outstanding bills you will not be able to vote. These are tactics that have been verified in past elections done by many left leaning organizations to suppress many minority voters in areas where they stand the chance of loosing the vote.
Obama, likes to dish out the heat, but it seems that he can't take it.
Posted in: Obama accuses Republican rivals of dishonesty
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Alphaape
My wife just came home today from work in Tokyo while I work in Yokosuka. I cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and have the menu prepared for tomorrow. It is not really that hard to cook a meal. I guess those formative year I spent as a teenager working in KFC and going to college and living in a Frat house where you had to cook your own meals has paid off.
I think that in some cases it is a two way street. I have to sometimes break my wife from being the "mommy" to me. I can clean and wash and cook all by myself, I don't need her for that. But, I guess it is just part of the lessons you learn while young. Yes mom will be there to clean for you, I used to love it when she did my laundry and cooked for me when I came home for school vacation or leave from the Navy, but it is nice to be a man and do things for yourself. I have been able to get many women in my single days by cooking them a full meal and showing them a clean house done all by myself then taking them out to win and dine at some resturant.
J-men, it's really easy. Put seasoning on the raw meat then put it in a frying pan, cook it slowly until it is brown on the inside and outside. There is dinner, done in 15min.
Posted in: I have never met a Japanese man who did not want me to be his mommy.
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Alphaape
From one old "player" to the readers, let me offer some insight in how you can protect yourself from these types of traps. Now, I don't want to get into the morality discussion of whether it is right to cheat or not, but obviously if you are going to do it, you have crossed that bridge and not concerned with it. So men, here is what I suggest.
Never fall for someone who comes up to you initially. True it may seem like flattery and boost your ego to think that "you still got it" but be suspicious. It is better for you to go out on the limb and face countless rejections, than to have some one just come up to you and seduce you. There is probably an 80% chance you are getting set up.
If you must cheat, then just go to a professional (i.e. soapland, etc). Bottom line is this, if you can get away with the untold hours and money it takes to "wine and dine" another female, then good on you. But that will lead your spouse to begin to question your whereabouts. If you go to a professional service, you get to just do your "duty" and then leave. No hassle, no dates, no dinners, no drama.
Never talk to women you work with. An old saying goes to the effect: "you don't s**t in your own back yard, because you will step in it." Men who sometimes cheat get lazy and try to have everything close to them, so it will be easier and convienent. Well, the price for that ease will be either an easier "set up" by the spouse, or loose lips at work sinking your ship.
Bottom line, if you are inclined to cheat on your spouse, just do it remote and randomly. Don't try to get an ego that you are still a "young gun" and the world is yours. If you have that attitude, then don't cheat, just divorce the wife and start over. But, if you don't want the divorce, then either learn to live with the wife or just be discreet.
I know some will say what about STD's. True they are out there, but most of the women you try to pick up off the streets in a general way for just a quick hop in the sack I would say have more than one sexual partner. I would even venture to say that the words "he/she looks clean, and are married so I should be safe" will come up and you will probably throw caution to the wind. But at least with a professional, they should be using condoms and if not, I would not do my business there.
There are many services out there like the one this lady works with to set guys up. But, there are also far too many other avenues (and this is from a gaijin with limited access to these services) that your average Japanese male can use to quell his urge to cheat, than to be set up. These agencies can't be in everyplace everytime. And if they were, the smart man would open a site that lists the places where they set you up and he would make a killing of traffic from people who want to sneak out and avoid being set up.
Just my thoughts.
Posted in: It’s fun. I like seeing the underside of life. And the money’s very good. I meet different targets every day. I’m not so keen on the old ones and I sometimes get to like the young ones. I sleep with all of them.
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Alphaape
In a few years when she has the "moment of truth" about what she is doing, she will then be one of those jilted ladies who wonders why no man wants her. If she does find a man, I truly will pity him. Not for the fact that she has been sleeping around, believe it or not most men can handle that. I feel sorry for him because he will have to deal with a woman whose job was to make men stray. She will all ways have in the back of her mind that when he is out, someone like her is trying to make him stray. If she becomes suspicious, she will hire somebody just like herself and then when he falls for it he will get all the blame. So I pity the guy. Even if he goes out for legitimate reasons or on a legit business trip, he will never have a moment of peace. All the time in the back of his wife's mind, she will think he was cheating, and this will spill over to accusations on her part to him, and it will come to a point where he will never have a moment of peace in his home.
Like the old Oscar Meyer commerical that used to air in America: "No matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney." No matter how she tries to dress it up that she is a "detective" she is still a whore. Selling herself to her agency to entrap. Not trying to preach the moral high ground, but I will call a spade a spade when I see one.
Posted in: It’s fun. I like seeing the underside of life. And the money’s very good. I meet different targets every day. I’m not so keen on the old ones and I sometimes get to like the young ones. I sleep with all of them.
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Alphaape
Taka, so true, been there and done that. If Japanese men have social anxiety about meeting women, then they should hop the next Quantas to Sydney and start having some fun like the rest of the USN when we pull into there.
Posted in: Australia suffering from 'man drought'
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Alphaape
I guess it was karma.
Posted in: Temple burns down as monk attacked by hornets
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Alphaape
sdmsec, I got your joke. But I guarentee that there are others out there that would not and somehow blame the industrial countries. I have had to explain some of the science behind global weather patterns to family members and you wouldn't believe what they thought was real. And I am not a scientist either, just a person who can reason and read.
I seem to recall that the last winter in the US was one of the coldest on record, and that there was still snow in April falling. From reading this year's Farmer's Almanac, it will be another very hard and cold winter. I can't wait to see how Rev. Al Gore explains this.
Posted in: 19-square-mile ice sheet breaks loose in Canada
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Alphaape
sdmsec, LOL :> I hope that you are being sarcastic in your comments.
But for those who are taking him serious, sunspot temperatures are normally estimated to be in the ranges of 4,000-4,500K compared to the surrounding area of 5,800K.
So can someone explain to me how the emissions generated from my '91 Windom are affecting something that is 93 million miles away (sarcasim intended).
But, I do hope that we become better keepers of the earth, and not try to rely on hype to get people into doing better for the earth.
Posted in: 19-square-mile ice sheet breaks loose in Canada
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Alphaape
adaydream, I am not saying that we should just pollute to our hearts content. If you look at my post, I did say that we need to be more careful with the earth, put less "gunk" into the air and water, and better protect the plant and animal life on earth so that we can continue to live here. What I am saying is, yes thre are 6 billion of us here, but in the grand scale, we are just a small part on what happens here on earth.
Look at it this way, the sun is 93 million miles away. And something as natural (they have a cyclic period of their appearance the same as weather systems here on earth) as no sunspot activity, or increased sunspot activity (knocks out our satellite communications and other electronic devices) that far away can have an effect on our weather here on earth. Or lets look at the moon, only 250,000 miles away, and the effect that its gravity has on the rising and lowering of ocean tides.
With the power of such natual phenomena will it really make that much of a difference if I get rid of my car and drive a Prius? Yes we can be better keepers of the earth and try to protect our water and other natural resources (that means to stop killing whales for "scientific research"), but I don't think that man will be the cause of either the next ice age (as was the case in the 1970's when the talk was too many pollutants in the air would cause gas clouds to form to block out the sun) or the polar ice caps to melt.
Posted in: 19-square-mile ice sheet breaks loose in Canada