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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Farmboy
This is a nice article, and gives a view into one way of dealing with the disaster. I think he's too young, at 53, to make this choice, as he still has a lot of life left to live, and radiation-induced cancer isn't a fun disease, but maybe if I were 70 and in his situation, I would choose as he did.
Posted in: Solitary holdout refuses to leave Fukushima nuclear zone
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Farmboy
You just need to market these to the correct segment of the population. Add a few kinky films, and these things will sell like hotcakes.
Posted in: Sony shows wearable 3-D personal theater
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Farmboy
I'm guessing the problem started with uncertain and unsanitary conditions in the shelters or homes in Tohoku - limited water, limited sewage systems, etc. Gusto is probably just the first business to notice the problem, but is unlikely to be its source. The first thing that should be done is to find out who the sick people are and what kind of conditions they are living in.
Posted in: 120 Gusto restaurants closed over dysentery outbreak
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Farmboy
It appears the main objection to Ghaddafi's family's leaving is that the rebels would either like to: a. punish them for crimes they haven't thought of yet (no specific crimes have been listed) or b. use them as hostages to pressure Ghaddafi.
I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like one group of thugs will be replaced by another group of thugs. If not, now would be the time for the rebels to show they are above using someone's family this way, and that the new Libya will be higher-minded.
Posted in: Gadhafi's wife, 3 children flee to Algeria
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Farmboy
And now we have a full story. Thanks!
Posted in: Noda to become Japan's next prime minister
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Farmboy
Looking forward to a full story about the new prime minister. I know very little about him.
Posted in: Noda to become Japan's next prime minister
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Farmboy
Saying the "F" word more than occasionally is NOT sexual, and is NOT immoral. It is low-class.
Posted in: F-bombs dropping by the cluster in PG-13 movies
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Farmboy
I think the overuse of the word sounds ridiculous, and I don't believe this kind of language occurs nearly as much in life as it does in the movies, except out of the mouths of trashy people, men or women, or people who are so weak that they have to resort to strong language to get noticed. Many people I know use the word occasionally, but others don't use it at all. I don't find it to be a mark of maturity, and don't understand how the ratings system uses it in this way. I also think it sets up people learning English to an unpleasant surprise when they find out how using this language lowers people's opinions of them.
It seems more that the movies are deathly afraid of a PG rating, as they don't feel people will come to a movie with this rating, so they go through and look for opportunities to move closer to an R rating by inserting bad language, unnecessary violence, adult themes, a boob, or a butt. It gets ridiculous.
Posted in: F-bombs dropping by the cluster in PG-13 movies
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Farmboy
Whoops. Already fizzled to a Category 1. Still a big storm, though, and folks in NYC aren't used to this sort of thing.
Posted in: Hurricane Irene bears down on U.S. east coast
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Farmboy
I bet it will fizzle out to a Category 1 near New York.
Posted in: Hurricane Irene bears down on U.S. east coast
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Farmboy
Heda, I posted the link because someone had mentioned comparative allowable levels in the world, and I was curious, so I googled it. The chart I posted came up. I take your point that the person who made the chart wanted to show that among nations, Japan's levels are comparatively high, and they ARE, but yes, EU acceptable levels are evidently the highest, especially after having been raised. Is that good? Are you defending those levels?
One person from the EU in the video I posted made the point that THEY were not in the middle of a radiation emergency, and couldn't imagine why they had to adjust their standards for the few Japanese products that were imported. I agree, and even at that high level, some Japanese imports, specifically mushrooms, were rejected because they were many times higher than the acceptable level. I'm not sure where you are coming from with all this, but cesium is NOT good for you, and it is worse for children than for adults. That information has a LOT of support.
Posted in: Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa
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Farmboy
Does "all cattle" now mean all cattle, or does it mean a representative sampling? A while back they were thinking about increasing the testing to one cow per herd, so I'm curious. All cattle should be tested, and if it is, that's a good thing.
Posted in: Japan lifts ban on beef from Iwate, Fukushima and Tochigi
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Farmboy
No, it doesn't seem to be, and your comment about what is done in the EU is interesting, but not a part of the chart I linked to. The EU, by the way, DOES seem to have raised the allowable amount of radiation in food, noted in the youtube link above, which is from a newscast. It seems that many people in the EU are not happy about this, and again, the high allowable amount in the EU is nothing to be proud of. Zero cesium is what kids should be eating. Children are especially vulnerable to cesium, according to the Center for Disease Control in the USA.
As for the beef, at the time the contamination was first found, a July Asahi article notes:
"Of the six contaminated cows, Tokyo officials detected 3,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium, or nearly seven times the national safety limit, in beef from one cow sold to a dealer in Tokyo's Fuchu city on July 5. Cesium levels in beef from different cows sold to a meat dealer in Shinjuku Ward on June 30 were 2,200 becquerels."
That is a higher level than the 600 becquerels/kg you keep mentioning. What the spokesperson is now doing, which I believe is misleading tricks with numbers, is talking about how that would work out in a 30g serving. He is doing this without actually testing any of the servings.
Posted in: Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa
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Farmboy
PS: Heda Here's a link about the recently relaxed standards in the EU. It's nothing to be proud of in any case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJxigAjfBms
Posted in: Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa
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Farmboy
Heda, The chart doesn't list "the EU" specifically, but do you have a link to that info? I found a link that talks about how the EU standard of 600 becquerels on "food from Japan" was raised recently, but nothing about the current EU standards within the EU. Thanks.
Posted in: Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa
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Farmboy
Ah! The twin that was sent into space as part of those relativity experiments! We've been looking for you.
Posted in: China bans songs by Lady Gaga, Backstreet Boys
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Farmboy
I was browsing to see what the "standard" levels are in different countries, and found this chart, which I had seen once before. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but some stuff matches what I've read.
http://savechild.net/archives/4047.html
Posted in: Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa
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Farmboy
It's sad about this guy, and it's also sad that this kind of thing diminishes trust. In most countries, I think, the tour bus operator would demand payment up front, but Japan trusts people to honor their reservations. I like that. I don't know how long this custom can survive, though, with this kind of situation. I hope this is an isolated incident.
Posted in: Man arrested for making fraudulent reservations on airport limousine bus
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Farmboy
You know, there are a lot of farm animals in Fukushima, and cows can't be the only ones that have radiation. I guess nobody has set up a commission to propose a study to see if pigs glow in the dark, too. Or maybe they did, but need to wait until all the pigs are eaten.
Posted in: Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa
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Farmboy
Banning music makes it seem a lot more interesting.
Posted in: China bans songs by Lady Gaga, Backstreet Boys