JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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2
Confrontation
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3
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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5
Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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- Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Kanto region
- RCS (RCSコーポレーション), Kanto
- Salary: ¥180,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month includes performance bonus
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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Betzee
Some people like HMOs because they offer the assurance there will be no unexpected bills such as when an insurance company rejects your claim. Psychological peace of mind is certainly worth something. But if you need specialized care, what you get from an HMO is going to be less than what someone with private insurance is going to be able to get in the marketplace from solo practitioners.
If you have private insurance in America, you can get the best health care in the world. For those who lack it, that's not necessarily true. And for those who lose their jobs, a pressing concern in this economy, God help 'em if they need medical care.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
The argument against "free health care" in the early 1990s was that it didn't provide doctors with an incentive to specialize since the government's reimbursement rates were too low. One needed to look no further than the flight of Canadian specialists into the US after Canada nationalized its health care system in the 1970s for evidence of that. Yet the American system didn't remain what it was since costs had to be contained.
The market solution was HMOs. Wonders never cease, the reimbursement rates were also too low for specialists who faced the prospect that their additional years of training were not going to be compensated. If they have enough patients with private insurance they can remain solo practitioners. Those who need their services who lack private insurance, by contrast, are out of luck.
The bottom line is that no system can do everything for everyone. But if you lose your job in America, you may face the prospect it can do nothing for you.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
The travelling public's interest is not well served under these circumstances. I can remember when LA opened its long-awaited light rail service in the 1990s which sails right past LAX. It took years for the "el train" to be extended to O'Hare in Chicago, the taxi driver's union fought it tooth and nail.
The new airport in Shanghai, by contrast, is served by a maglev and its gotten very high marks from travellers. Now there may be good reasons for local residents to protest and governments should address their concerns. But there's also lots of commercial interests which like things just the way they are and will use their political clout to keep them that way.
Posted in: There needs to be a dedicated high-speed rail line linking Tokyo Station with Narita airport in 20 or 25 minutes.
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Betzee
Betzee: A free health service means one that isn'T profit based.
Betzee: Ok i was cross eyd and had my eyes corrected for free. That was in the 50's.
Betzee: I had terrible migraines for 2 months and one day the pain was too much. I went down the local NHS hospital and had a scan within 2 hours.
Thanks, but I'll reserve judgment until I read the NHS has developed effective treatment for troll personality disorder.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
What you would get rid of is the insurance bureaucracy. I had a friend scheduled for surgery after an MRI. But the insurance company wouldn't pay for the MRI so the hospital wouldn't schedule the surgery. That type of story is quite commonplace. I can't imagine being seriously ill and having to deal with that.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
After helping me folks enroll, I would agree Americans got the worst of both worlds with GWB's prescription drug program. It's not only very bureaucratic but very expensive since it committed Uncle Sam to buying drugs at the retail price for an increasingly large proportion of the demographic.
Socialized medicine places a priority on preventive care, something omitted by the private sector. Here in the USA, the diabetes rate is higher than the UK because people can't enroll in prevention classes until they've already been diagnosed, by which time it's much more expensive to treat.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
Yabits,
I'm not worried about a Republican resurgence. The party has no leader. And many Americans are now wary of entrusting everything to "the free market." It will take a long time to pay down the debt, both national and personal.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
She would have gotten the same treatment in the USA where we have Medicare, so it's a poor example. Maybe you can refer to another relative in your next comparison, try one a little younger tho.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
It's not free of course, its paid for through taxes. But what will push us in that direction is rising unemployment since ours is an employer-paid system. Now, if you're married your spouse may be able to carry you in the event you get the pink slip. But if you are not in that position, the thought of a medical emergency while you are unemployed presents the prospect of being in debt for the rest of your life.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
Yabits,
The Republicans also bought into the view that the Chinese lacked sufficient investment opportunities in their own country. Therefore we could rely on them to cover our shortfall indefinitely and, in the process, keep interest rates low. We knew they would continue to purchase treasuries; it enabled them to keep the value of their currency low which made their exports, most of which were sold to us, competitive.
Now the house of cards has fallen down and many people, whatever the merits of their case, are blaming the United States for talking the global economy down with it.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
Yabits,
Thank you. Too many posters supply links with no original content. So you have to take on the author of the article cited, not the poster who linked it. What's the point?
We don't know what will happen, but we should all appreciate how we got into this mess.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
In fact the two countries have quite a bit in common:
Britons are spending more than they earn, racking up a household debt-to-income ratio of 1.62 compared with 1.42 in the United States and 1.09 in Germany.
[In the UK] the growth was also fueled by soaring demand for debt on the back of rising real estate prices and relatively low interest rates in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Those who did not own a house rushed to join the homeowners watching their property triple in value.
So the Brits are in essentially the same boat at Americans, in contrast to continental Europeans where credit markets were never liberalized and there was no real estate bubble.
The most controversial part of the stimulus plan will be unveiled on Monday, part two of the bank bail-out. The first part was done on an ad hoc basis, making it difficult for investors to know who is solvent and who is not. Nobody's going to invest if there's any question, and we may have to pump a lot into the banking system to clean out the bad loans, which extend into the homes of too many Americans. "Tough love" will be necessary to deal with the basket cases.
Moderator: Readers, Britain is not relevant to this discussion.
Posted in: Obama, Senate Republicans bicker over economic stimulus bill
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Betzee
You got me, Nessie.
In fact, as I recall, these beautiful paper made "decorative items" are supposed to be tossed into the river as part of a purification ceremony of Chinese origin which falls on the third day of the third month.
Now it would be very difficult for me to throw something so lovely into a river. Duty-free goods, well I could hurl that mass-produced overpriced junk in lickedy split and feel like I did my bit to purify the world!
Posted in: Paper-made dolls
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Betzee
I saw an exhibit about this in the Nagoya Airport a few years ago. It was much more interesting than duty free shopping!
Posted in: Paper-made dolls
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Betzee
The problem with tax cuts is it casts the problem as one where high levels of taxation make it unattractive for business owners to expand production. In fact it's weak demand that has caused them them to reduce output, be it airline flights or flat-screen TVs.
As for the average household, level of taxation is probably far less a concern than accumulated debt. Any money Uncle Sam gives back will be used to pay down existing debt which won't stimulate the economy.
So that leaves the government as the source of stimulus. Rising levels of national indebtedness is certainly a concern, particularly after the five trillion the previous administration blew threw with nary a peep from some of those now belly-aching the loudest. Yet to do nothing will almost certainly result in deeper economic stagnation which will force Uncle Sam to continue to run deficits.
Posted in: Senators reach deal to cut Obama's economic stimulus bill to $780 billion
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Betzee
Apparently her book deal, now being shopped by a publicist this mother of 14 has hired, may not prove as lucrative as she hoped:
Judith Regan, the controversial agent behind O.J. Simpson's "If I Did It" book, said she does not believe there's a market for Suleman because "she seems so selfish and irresponsible."
"Exploiting infants for financial gain and fame is not appealing to publishers," Regan said. "And the publishing business is so in the toilet right now I doubt she'll find anyone sane to support her endeavor."
I was actually somewhat sympathetic to the Right's criticism of professional women, personified by the TV character Murphy Brown, who opt for single parenthood, sometimes using the same technology Ms. Suleman availed herself of, as a selfish choice and one which implicitly says "fathers aren't important." Well, they have the money and therefore the right and many children raised by single mothers have turned out fine.
Now we have the Right championing teenage parenthood since it's always better to "choose life." It's clear too many Americans across the ideological spectrum view procreation as just another part of our individual right to pursue happiness without regard to marital or financial stability or the lives these babies are likely to lead.
Posted in: California Medical Board probes octuplet birth
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Betzee
We did that. The capital gains tax on home sales was abolished in 1997. It played a role in the housing bubble as people poured money into real estate. Buy a home, do a quick remodel, sell it and pocket a tidy profit which you didn't have to cut Uncle Sam in on.
By itself, the change in the tax law did not cause the housing bubble, economists say. Several other factors — a relaxation of lending standards, a failure by regulators to intervene, a sharp decline in interest rates and a collective belief that house prices could never fall — probably played larger roles. But many economists say that the law had a noticeable impact, allowing home sales to become tax-free windfalls.
Posted in: Senators reach deal to cut Obama's economic stimulus bill to $780 billion
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Betzee
I was not too happy to see a plane ticket I had bought in November now costs 50 percent less. On the other hand, I still have a job and can therefore contemplate a vacation.
It's clear we're entering a period of deflation which, once set in motion, tends to reinforce itself. As incomes fall in the face of a depressed economy, the debt burden which households have acquired becomes more difficult to shoulder. Meanwhile, business investment falls on the expectation demand will not pick up.
I suppose I should feel fortunate the flight hasn't been cancelled! The point being, deflation becomes a vicious circle which will not right itself without outside stimulus. I don't know if this package will do the trick, but I know doing nothing is not the answer either.
Posted in: Senators reach deal to cut Obama's economic stimulus bill to $780 billion
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Betzee
I would prefer to see embryo implants limited to two, the medically healthy number, which would enable us to avoid making it about her income, marital status or any other factor that would prevent someone from parenting.
Sorry, meant "that would not prevent someone from parenting." I would guess the mother has some sort of narcissistic personality disorder. Fourteen kids should cure her out that, but at their expense.
Posted in: California Medical Board probes octuplet birth
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Betzee
This case has generated a lot of controversy. I paste in something written by a first-generation feminist:
Today we have a brand new kind of women’s rights—21st-century women’s rights. In the new era, a single, 33-year-old unmarried mother who already has six children under the age of seven, and who lives with her bankrupt mother, has the right to apply the marvels of science to have herself artificially inseminated, and grow eight babies in her womb.
Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets last week after having had in vitro fertilization, apparently sees nothing wrong with any of this. Her mother says she “loves children” and had artificial insemination because she wanted a shot at “just one more girl.”....
For a woman to voluntarily turn her body into a relentless breeding machine is an anathema to us. It brings us full circle, back to the point where women are on earth to give birth to an endless stream of babies. Once upon a time, it was in the order of things that women bred until they dropped. Liberated by science and enlightened philosophy from that fate, women proved they could achieve glorious heights....
Ms. Suleman’s choice proves how easy it is for indulgent people to make bad decisions that have bad consequences for the whole society. More specifically, her choice demonstrates that yet another American industry — in this case, the fertility business — requires regulation instead of mere guidelines.
Granted that's gonna be controversial; but the birth of these octuplets required the services of 64 physicians! And that's just the tip of the iceberg given the assistance almost all preemies need. Her health insurance can't possibly begin to cover it.
The mother may be able to make some quite cash selling her story along with baby photos, efforts are apparently already underway. But it won't be set aside for the kids' college tuition. It may not even cover a year's worth of diapers.
I would prefer to see embryo implants limited to two, the medically healthy number, which would enable us to avoid making it about her income, marital status or any other factor that would prevent someone from parenting.
Posted in: California Medical Board probes octuplet birth