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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nandakandamanda:
This is why it should be reported what price she was charging for the pictures. That she was arrested for "indecent" photos indicates that the photos were not just nude pictures. Well, they cannot very well show us the pictures, but we can be told how much someone was paying for them.
Another way you can tell this woman is truly evil is that her involvement in pornography is extensive, not just taking these snapshots of her daughter. As article states:
Posted in: Woman held for taking indecent photos of 6-yr-old daughter for sale
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A "fringe" party has two EU seats? Doesn't that mean they are no longer fringe?
What are the criteria to be denoted "fringe"? Any party with no seat in Britain's national Parliament?
Posted in: White-supremacist fringe party invited to take part in BBC program
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JenniferKim:
I agree with you. The main point is that this is a hit-and-run with someone severely injured. That requires all police in the area to be on alert.
Posted in: 40 police cars, 100 officers, one copter mobilized to chase 2 thieves
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lifehappiness:
Indeed. Kind of makes you wonder why you bothered to conform to the court in the first place, I suppose.
You are lucky Japan is not forcing you to obey this unreasonable court order.
Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes
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spudman:
That is not what the figure refers to -- 60% have no need to fight. They have no need to use the courts. Settlement, including visitation, is accomplished by private negotiation because both parents are able to reach agreement on their own.
Exactly the misguided use of statistics I referred to. Let's take the reverse: 10% of men are granted custody, but this "10%" is of couples who were using the courts. Moreover, it neglects to say what per cent of men asked for custody. Under the circumstances, the 10% figure is not that low.
Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes
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spudman
That myth has been repeated often. Even if true (which it is not), there still is no justification for having the new wife act as a proxy for Chris Savoie with regard to his weekend visitation rights.
The point here is whether or not Japan should be obliged by the rulings of local courts in the USA and elsewhere around the world.
People criticize the Japanese courts, but neglect to mention that 60% of Japanese divorces do not even need court rulings, and are accomplished by direct negotiation. All of those horrid statistics always mentioned come from the 40% of cases that need to be heard by a Japanese court.
Furthermore, though Noriko has not spoken much, one thing she has asserted is that the splitting of assets was unfair, and that Chris was able to lie and hide the origin (her) of some assets. She had little clue as to how the American courts operated, and so had little recourse. The $750,000 she received was viewed by her as very unfair, ie. she had been cheated out of some assets by Chris Savoie's presentation at the American court.
Moreover, upon returning to Japan , she gave up alimony, education funds, and monthly payments. This had been explained to her by the judge. I notice that nowhere is this mentioned by people supportive of Chris Savoie and the Hague Convention agenda. People love to throw around the $800,000 figure of split assets, but no one talks about the money lost by returning to Japan. Anyone have any cold hard figures?
And since Noriko did not state any intention to prevent Chris from 2 weekends per month visitation, it seems unfair that alimony was taken from her by the American court.
People thinking Japan should sign the Hague Convention should take a very close look at the Savoie case, and see that Japan would be foolish to go along with the rulings such as those rendered in Tennessee.
Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes
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"Seeks to ensure"... but ensures none of that.
That is right, and the Savoie case is a good example of a Japanese woman needing protection from an abusive foreign spouse.
If they can work it out that people are protected from abusive spouses that really have no "right of access" to the children at all, it might be then OK to sign it. But likely signing it will weaken protection for those who need to shield children from abusive fathers like Chris Savoie.
What did the American courts do to protect the ex-wife from gross abuses inflicted upon her by the husband's new wife Amy? Nothing. No injunction was issued to the new wife Amy, and no requirement was made that Chris Savoie fulfill the visitation rights himself, and not use his new wife as a proxy.
So without protection afforded by not signing the treaty, Chris Savoie's wife would have been stuck in America enduring a hellish nightmare for years (unless she was willing to give up the children, which was precisely what the abusive husband wanted).
I think some other ambassadors should get together and urge Japan to ignore the pleas to sign onto Hague Convention.
Posted in: 8 ambassadors urge Japan to solve global child custody disputes
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michaelqtodd:
Excellent post. You may be one of the few affected fathers who understand the real significance of the Savoie travesty.
And possibly you are one of the few who can benefit. Your child is now 10, not 4. Even when parents are with the children, the children change! So your idea of your child and the now reality is divergent. You cannot have the past back. As I said, this is true for everyone. But perhaps, separated, it is harder to fathom.
What I am telling you is that you do not want to have custody of your former child, but you do want to meet and get to know your child now. The relationship need not be father/child but more as friends. And I think you can forge a new relationship with the former spouse as well.
Maybe now is the time for you to go for it. Accomplish with inner strength what others try to accomplish with the external forces of court orders.
I've been reading your posts for quite a while. If anyone can do it, you can.
Posted in: American man accused of grabbing own kids released
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timorborder:
There was a steaming diplomatic turd right in the middle of the article:
Chris Savoie does have a lot of money. Maybe he put some of it to use. Not just his money, either.
One really has to wonder why the accomplices were never identified, let alone detained. Savoie's company has 2 officers (one who was temporarily CEO while Savoie was jailed) living right in Fukuoka. If they were the ones with Shannon Higgins, that could have meant arresting all 4 executives of the company.
So the incentive to get Savoie out of jail and avoid indictment was probably not just Savoie's alone.
Posted in: American man accused of grabbing own kids released
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They're very handsome but squashed together like that it looks a little gay, like they are all doing the bunny hop or something.
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Longtime Resident:
Well, same to you! You made a statement and I asked a question, which you still have not answered very well.
How do you know that "denial of access invariably leads to a cessation of alimony and support payments"?
"Almost 50%" is not "invariably".
I would say that "invariably" people like you distort figures and statistics to support your agenda. So I do not even have any reason to accept your new version of "almost 50%".
Moderator: Please stay on topic and keep the discussion civil.
Posted in: Divorced, separated Japanese fathers also fight to see children
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The eventual result will be that enterprising "journalists" will start making up news -- news that is completely fiction but just as entertaining as real news.
Even now, the proportion of fiction in news is quite high, so this will not be a revolutionary change.
The Associated Press and News Corp will then be forced to compete with fiction news. They do have a head start in this area, but it will be hard for them to charge customers for news that they cannot even pretend is objective or real.
Posted in: AP, News Corp bosses say pay up for online news content
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Longtime Resident:
Invariably?! Are you speaking from the experience of all your acquaintances?
If the father stopped paying alimony just because he could not have the access he wanted, the children are right to think of him as a miserable sod.
Posted in: Divorced, separated Japanese fathers also fight to see children
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DwightVanWinkle:
I agree with you that a Tennesse divorce was not justified. And yet, as you say, "it was the justification". The problem here is not that Japan didn't sign the Hague convention, but rather that American courts unilaterally are making decisions that penalize the citizens of countries that did not sign, or countries that do not have domestic laws/enforcement similar to America.
Since when can one country alter its judiciary decisions regarding foreigners, based on whether or not the foreigners' country has signed a particular treaty, or based on what laws/enforcement are like in the foreign country?
You've touched on the real issue here: the Tennessee court should have made all its decisions based on American law, not based on international politics.
Still, the American judge did give primary custody to Noriko, choosing to use alimony and monthly payments as a means of "persuading" her to remain in America. In some ways, the judge's decision can be seen as very fair, although I wonder why Chris Savoie should not pay alimony now, if Noriko agrees to let him have visitation 2 weekends per month in Japan.
Unfortunately, the behavior of Chris and Amy was so abusive that Noriko decided to forfeit the alimony and go back home to Japan.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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mygrain:
Didn't you say
but now you are squabbling. Just like an American who cannot be trusted with beef exports! You say one thing and do another.
Here I will agree with you totally. You can never trust the domestic suppliers in Japan. They will swear to you that it is not American beef, and after you serve it to several thousand customers, you discover that it was American beef.
But this is just another reason to ban unsafe beef completely. That way, even with the dishonest suppliers, we can be assured that, though the beef might be sub-quality, at least it will not be deadly.
Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears
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KobeKid:
If the regulation of the beef industry is so lax that repeatedly "mistakes" are made, protocol not followed, and laws not enforced, then what difference does your argument make?
You can't possibly assume that all exporters are adhering to the age limit. (and you also cannot assume that the biased research was adequately done in the first place)
The most telling thing about Americans is that they were unwilling to test all of their cattle for BSE. If it is all safe, then why won't they test it all? That would be the simplest way to assure safety, but they don't do it, because they know that some infections would come to light.
They are willing to take a chance that infections will result, because they are confident about their damage control plans. That won't be much help for you, when you were stupid enough to gobble up untested American beef.
Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears
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mygrain:
Yeah, whatever. But brains and spinal columns were forbidden by Japanese and yet the Americans "made a mistake". And it is not the first mistake. Doh.
You say American beef is safe, but Americans were unwilling to do tests on 100% of the cattle, so really you have no idea how many mistakes are being made and how much infection is taking place. Good luck eating American beef. Ten or twenty years from now you might regret that urge to eat meat that has not been thoroughly tested.
Like I said, Aussie beef is safe and tastes better. So why mess around with spinal column tainted beef from America?
Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears
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mygrain: But as any educated person knows, the Americans are shipping beef products scientifically incapable of containing BSE.
Yeah, sure. Did you read this part of the article?
Spinal columns are forbidden because they are dangerous, "as any educated person knows".
America does not even test all of its cattle, so it is imperative to restrict the dangerous parts such as spinal column. Much preferable would be to revert to a total ban on American beef, since Aussie beef is both safe and tasty.
Unfortunately politics is more important than public safety and Japanese people are stupid enough to gulp down American beef.
Posted in: Japan suspends U.S. plant's beef amid mad cow fears
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DwightVanWinkle:
That is one of the flaws. Doh.
I'm wrong because this "might not have happened"? lol. You cannot give any concrete reason why it would not have happened. And if it did, it would have been even worse for Noriko.
Why are you citing a couple of more cases, when you have claimed that the Savoie case is not typical? You need to present the entire data of all cases, to show that the Savoie case is not typical, and to show whatever else it is you are trying to show.
You are making a valiant effort to constructively connect the Savoie case to an argument about the Hague Convention. But you really have no reason to believe that the Hague Convention would have helped the Savoie children; quite possibly it would have meant much deeper harm.
As it is, the Japanese are right not to sign the Hague Convention. When people manage to figure out how it should be modified to avoid grotesque incidents of abuse, maybe Japan would sign.
Meanwhile, you and anyone else trying to advance the Hague Convention issue based on the Savoie case are making a giant mistake.
Posted in: American father arrested in Japan had asked Tennessee court for help
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DwightVanWinkle: There is a thin line between flexibility and ambiguity.
Yes, you are. I call the shots as I see them, without any agenda. In this case, the father and his homewrecker bride Amy are clearly responsible for all the difficulties after the divorce.
I would not judge before the divorce, except that seeing the character of Amy and Chris after the divorce leads one to believe that Chris's unwise decisions and abusive behavior have roots that go far back.
Posted in: American arrested in Fukuoka for kidnapping own kids from ex-wife