JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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Confrontation
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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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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
Of course some of them have. But the system of accountability in China relies on the CCP policing itself. This means big cheeses are rarely implicated while those held accountable have often fallen out of favor for other reasons. Or it's been decided to offer them up to the public as sacrificial lambs to appease outrage. But it changes nothing.
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
I saw Seiji Ozawa conduct the Boston Symphony in 1980. He was younger then and, of course, so was I.
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Betzee
The problem is tea baggers want it both ways. They tout economic growth under GWB while ignoring the fact it was facilitated not by productivity gains but ever greater balances on plastic. In other words, an explosion of personal debt kept the cash registers humming. Now the bubble has burst, in the form of mortgage defaults, they want to throw those irresponsible consumers under the bus. And they blame Obama's tax policy for declining commercial tax revenues when the latter is due to poor sales. Doing nothing won't change the situation and it won't enable the government to take in more than it needs in order to pay down the accumulated debt. (Witness Japan's "Lost Decade.")
In short, the government has to pick up the slack by stimulating the economy since the private sector is contracting because credit has dried up. There's a rationale for running deficits under Obama whereas under GWB there wasn't one. So the tea baggers didn't talk about it nor did they acknowledge it was their grandchildren, whose future they suddenly care so much about, who were going to get stuck with the five trillion dollar bill for our "good times."
Posted in: Anti-Obama 'tea party' protests mark U.S. tax day
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Betzee
The problem is without democracy there's no way to hold government officials accountable when they break the law by soliciting bribes or lining up sweet-heart deals with their friends and relatives. If government officials don't obey the law, what hope is their for ordinary people to do so out of a belief it ensures the common good?
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
I can't resist posting this, it's so funny:
Well, let's see, tea-baggers, I guess none of you drove to your April 15 protests on roads, none of you had protest permits provided by city services, none of you was protected by police, none of you needed medical attention during your protests requiring ambulance or emergency room services, none of you mapped your way to the site on the Internet (first developed by Defense Department taxes), none of you "... well, let me ask, who should pay for all these things you just used? I don't think they have taxes in North Korea. Why don't you map your way there and see how well your protest goes?
Posted in: Anti-Obama 'tea party' protests mark U.S. tax day
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Betzee
The problem here is that while the Chinese Communist Party does not want to disband the current system, the reasons they offer are different. In short, they emphasize the positive aspects of subordination of the individual to the group which enhances stability and strengthens national solidarity. Jackie Chan, by contrast, was quite insulting, suggesting the Chinese people could not be trusted with freedom.
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
Jackie Chan of course lives in Hong Kong where residents enjoy much more freedom than in China.
Taiwanese legislator Huang Wei-che said the movie star has himself "reaped the economic benefits of capitalism [but] has yet to grasp the true meaning of freedom and democracy."
Chan's comments were widely reported in Hong Kong and Taiwanese media but ignored within mainland China.
While Chan had previously been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, he has since backed down from any outward antagonism toward the Chinese government.
The Chinese government no doubt wishes he'd kept his mouth shut. Mainland Chinese will hear about his comments and that will generate discussion. Beijing can hardly launch an ad hominem attack on him given that he performed in the Beijing Olympics pagentry along with the torch relay.
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
George W Bush is well remembered in China by the average citizen because he did not denounce Beijing's response to the Tibetan protests last year and did not cancel his visit during the Olympics after some suggested he should owing to Beijing's most undemocratic crackdown. Yet here comes Jackie Chan to say the average Chinese cannot be trusted with freedom either.
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
Nobody is being forced to speak out on politics (and most Chinese don't). There's no reason to believe these comments from either Jackie Chan or Tony Leung are insincere.
I was in China earlier this month and, while sending off a package in a post office on the outskirts of town, was bombarded with questions about Obama. As someone observed, "We don't have elections." That plus the fact an unknown came to office after the son of a former president was elected and the wife of a former president came close dispelled the suspicion that democracies are as susceptible to nepotism as dictatorships.
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
Jackie Chan should have remembered the flap caused by Tony Leung, another Hong Kong actor (and heart throb!) As Wiki recounts, During the promotion of the film Hero, some politicians and commentators in Hong Kong attacked Leung for expressing the view that the Tiananmen Square demonstration crack down was necessary to maintain stability. Under constant political pressure and boycott threats, Leung made a single statement that he may have been quoted out of context but refused to retract his statement in the magazine. However, the movie magazine editor maintained that the original statement was not out of context and challenged people to read the complete interview.
One could make the argument issues like mislabeling and copyright infringement are better handled by democracies. Dictatorships, by contrast, maintain their legitimacy by providing a good standard of living. The counterfeit industry no doubt employs millions of Chinese many of whom would be hard pressed to find other jobs.
In fact in Taiwan it was only after political liberalization occurred that the government acquired the regulatory power to address the problem of counterfeit goods. Like China, they were everywhere just on a smaller scale.
Posted in: Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash
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Betzee
Never mind Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Republican. Or Orange County, which Long Beach abuts, was one of of the earliest centers of "Goldwater Republicanism."
Colorado was a Republican state when Columbine occurred, should we hang that on the GOP? According to teleprompter's logic, "Yes."
Posted in: 3 dead in California hospital shooting
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Betzee
Bushlover,
One could criticize other posters here for bashing Jackie Chan's "politically incorrect" viewpoint in posts such as this "Jackie Chan's image just took a big hit" where there's no attempt at all to engage the issues he raises.
Instead you tacitly acknowledge his views are anathema, but blame it on the media for misquoting him. Personally, I don't think the press did misquote him because such sentiments are common among wealthier, worldly Chinese who have the most to lose if the situation destabilizes. It's better to address their concerns, and remind yourself freedom should enable all viewpoints to be aired.
Posted in: Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled
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Betzee
This is the result of a weak regulatory environment. The response to such tragedies is for the government to offer the victims a take-it-or-leave-it cash settlement and arbitrarily prosecute those involved. Giving victims the freedom to sue for damages would make business owners think twice about false labeling, an endemic problem in China. But it's complicated because many businesses have deep connections to local government officials.
Posted in: Jackie Chan: Chinese people need to be controlled
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Betzee
Statistically, the chances of being the victim of gun violence is small. But the NRA can't make that argument; it would appear callous in the face of the very real suffering of the victims and their families. Plus, they need the fear factor which they feel will win people over to their viewpoint that we would all be safer if everyone was armed.
How the hell is a hospital orderly, nurse, or doctor supposed to discharge their professional duties while being simultaneously ready to discharge a firearm at a moment's notice? Patient care would suffer, particularly if he/she was dropped so the worker could get his gun.
This is a slam dunk workman's comp case and for that we all pay, regardless of whether you own a gun or not.
Posted in: 3 dead in California hospital shooting
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Betzee
Spector, 69, who had long lived in seclusion at his suburban Alhambra “castle,” was out on the town in Hollywood when he met Clarkson on Feb. 3, 2003, at the House of Blues.
I remember being surprised to read his "castle" was located in Alhambra. That's more ranch-home territory. Sure enough, a neighbor reported he used to be driven down the hill and, after the gate opened, he would acknowledge those who lived in the flatlands. Sort of a "wave to the peasants" type thing.
The gun belonged to Spector, that was not in dispute. So we're supposed to believe that a woman he met only a few hours earlier came across a gun in his home, excuse me castle, and impulsively killed herself? Not very likely.
Most Angelenos "in the business" tried to avoid coverage of the trail. A wealthy has been and an aging never was underscores how fleeting fame is for most of those seeking to make it in LaLa Land.
Posted in: Phil Spector found guilty of 2nd-degree murder
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Betzee
"..white supremacist who decided to kill a few immigrants." Actually the perpetrator was asian...an asian supremacist....
Ethnicity is far less important than the fact he was in lawful possession of the firearms he used to kill 14 people (including himself).
Posted in: Gunman kills 13, then himself at New York immigrant help center
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Betzee
"No one said it was."
But you wrote anyone advocating resrtricting gun ownership had to guarantee the safety of those who now rely on personal firearms to do the job while conceding guns themselves offer no such guarantee. Time to cut to the chase here: you lack a consistent argument to support your position.
Posted in: Gunman kills 13, then himself at New York immigrant help center
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Betzee
If you cannot guarantee my safety then you have no business denying my right to protect my family." Best statement yet.
Having a gun is no guarantee either.
Posted in: Gunman kills 13, then himself at New York immigrant help center
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Betzee
I had a negihbor who used all the arguments you have used about protecting his family in defense of firearm ownership. Guess what? His wife was the victim of an armed robbery in their driveway. He was inside watching TV and wasn't even aware of what was going on. Perhaps his gun lulled her into a false sense of security. If I had made a large bank withdrawal, as she had, I would have been on the alert for someone following me and driven home via the police station if there had been any doubt. Common sense is your best defense.
Posted in: Gunman kills 13, then himself at New York immigrant help center
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Betzee
The government is incapable of enforcing laws already on the books, what makes you think anyone is going to be any safer if they deny citizens the ability to protect themselves
Protection then becomes your overriding concern. How were these students supposed to both learn a foreign language and be ready to fire in the event a nutcase with an assault weapon came through the door?
Posted in: Gunman kills 13, then himself at New York immigrant help center