JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Financial Advisor
- Select Asset Management KK, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥100,000 ~ ¥999,999 Paid Training Commission Based
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- Corporate Business English Trainers
- ACT Systems, Inc.（株式会社アクト・システムズ）, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥269,500 ~ ¥280,000 / Month
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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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GJDailleult
Why I am I reminded of Dr. Evil planning to demand ONE MILLION dollars?
They think they can solve the economic problems by not spending 100 billion dollars. They are either completely nuts or completely disingenuous. Why don't they just say they plan to stick a finger in a dike?
Posted in: Republicans, heading for big gains, ready agenda
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GJDailleult
Nope, they call him a socialist because that is what they have been told to call him by the shills in the neo-liberal corporate media. Obama is in fact just another neo-liberal corporate hack frontman. Every decision and policy, from health care, financial reform, and military policy on down has been in service of the neo-liberal corporate mafias. There has been no socialism at all, but to know that you would actually have to pay attention instead of just swallow what you have been told.
So now, two more years for the mafias to continue their business in peace without any trouble makers messing things up for them. Time to start getting ready for 2012, but no doubt they already have their plans in place. It is so difficult to predict a mysterious "comeback" for the Democrats isn't it. Got to to keep the peasants evenly divided, divide and conquer works every time.
Anyways, enjoy your big "victory" next week repubs and TP'ers. But the cement shoes are already ready, and the Tea Party gets dumped in the river next week. Purpose served and mission accomplished.
Posted in: Dark clouds for Democrats as Obama embarks on last push
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GJDailleult
It is pretty obvious from reading over the posts that certain posters have zero understanding of the causes of America's economic problems. But maybe I am wrong. Please explain the following.
What is the cause of the US deficit? How does a deficit create an economic recession/depression? How will a balanced budget be a solution to the problem? How does a country with out-of-control government spending manage to have a real unemployment rate of over 20%? How does an anti-government libertarian (so trendy that) deal with one of the fundamental concepts of capitalism, that things which can not be provided by the private sector at a profit will not be provided? Are there maybe things going on that just sail over the head of your average Tea Partier?
And I have no idea what the Tides Foundation is - is that the right-wingers bogeyman of the week? Chasing another frisbee looks like.
Posted in: Dark clouds for Democrats as Obama embarks on last push
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GJDailleult
Well said. You can add the word "intentional" to pointless diversion. A corporate dog and pony show to keep the anger directed where it can be controlled.
Posted in: Dark clouds for Democrats as Obama embarks on last push
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GJDailleult
Let's bust a myth here. The USA is a sovereign country which can issue its own currency. There is nothing unmanageable about the deficit. The problem is simply that the private banking industry has inflated the money supply beyond the economy's ability to service the debt, and is now forcing the government to cover its losses by exchanging government debt for private debt. The deficit could be dealt with easily, the problem is really that those in power refuse to allow that to happen, because by doing so they would lose their ability to charge the American public for the creation of money.
Myth#2. The USA has a deficit for the following 4 reasons: 1- total continuation of Bush era policies, in particular the Iraq and Afghan wars, the tax cuts, and economic "stimulus" programs (in reality, debt exchange, and very successful in achieving their true purpose). 2- loss of tax revenue due to collapse of the speculative economy. 3- automatic increase of government spending (ie. (un)employment insurance due to collapse of economy) 4- trillions of dollars funneled to the largest Wall Street banks through various covert government programs.
If you guys have any examples of "communism" I will happily add them to the list, but I won't hold my breath.
Posted in: Obama likely to focus on deficit in next 2 years
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GJDailleult
Because of zero interest rate policy in the US and the fact that everybody wants to get out of the dollar before they dump trillions into their financial system next month. Pure currency manipulation to prop up the US financial system, they can take the money and buy up assets around the world, pushing the dollar lower as they do it. So anybody with yen loans wants to pay them back before that happens obviously, and also no need to borrow in Japan and then sell yen anymore if everywhere has zero interest.
Posted in: Strong yen, waning demand slow Japan's export pace
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GJDailleult
Of course if the US government didn't hand out top-secret (854,000) and secret (how many unknown) security clearances like tissues at a train station, they wouldn't have the leak problem in the first place.
Posted in: Leaked Iraq war files portray weak, divided nation
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GJDailleult
That does seem to be the only hope. The USA has a deficit because it has a trashed economy. It has an economic and financial problem that has nothing to do with which team has political power. The article barely mentions that little fact, and both parties keep that hidden and locked away in the closet. If the Republicans and their cheer-leading machine want to pretend it is due to politics, then the only answer is to let them show that it isn't. Either they won't be allowed by their masters to make any budget cuts, or they will use the situation to push through ideological cuts, which will just create a negative feedback loop that will actually increase the deficit anyways. Which they will do, who knows, it is as always difficult to know who is in the loop and knows the real score but is pretending not to, and who is just a mindless git. But the idea that the deficit and various stimulus are because of incompetence and are not working is nonsense. They are working exactly as they are designed to work. They just aren't designed to work for YOU, but the guys they are working for know exactly what they are doing.
Once they have had a chance to show their complete uselessness, then maybe, and it is a longshot, maybe in 2016 (2012 is probably too soon) there might be a candidate (from either party) with the spine to deal with the real economic and financial problems and stand up to those who don't want that the necessary changes to happen. But until then, there is only one direction for the USA and it ain't up.
Posted in: Obama likely to focus on deficit in next 2 years
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GJDailleult
The USA now reportedly has approx 854,000 people with top-secret security clearance, and more with merely "secret" security clearance.
Whatever you think about the leaks, those numbers are clearly nuts and hugely increase the chances of this kind of thing happening. Just asking for trouble.
Posted in: U.S. bracing for major leak of secret Iraq war files
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GJDailleult
What a hilarious thread .Yes he knows they are clear. And very, very thin, that is why he can see through them. He just wants you to type them out.
As far as I can see, there is only one reason to not answer a question on an anonymous internet message board.
Posted in: Obama, Democrats reach out to female voters
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GJDailleult
No, this has everything to do with banks and bankers. Sorry but like most people you have confused cause and effect. The UK and other countries are are not screwed up because of the "welfare state" and "living beyond their means". No, they are living beyond their means and have people on the dole in the welfare state because they are screwed up. They are trying to run a debt money system at a level beyond the level of their economy's ability to support it, and after exceeding that level have refused to make the necessary adjustments. Austerity is just another desperate attempt to avoid making those adjustments, but it is just going to make things worse. Trust me on that.
Cameron seems to be a nice enough guy possibly and I am sure in his previous profession he was a total expert on "public relations". But this has nothing to do with any right/left debate about the role of government in society as he is trying to sell it. I'm sure with his skill he will be able to sell it really well, but this is a purely systemic economic problem, and he is going to find that out really quick.
Posted in: Economists: Britain's austerity plan to hit poor
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GJDailleult
@molenir - your continued support for socialized banking and the corporate welfare state never ceases to amaze. Telling people they must have a lower standard of living so that bankers can continue to cash their bonuses is completely nuts. There is not a single banker in the UK who does not owe his job and 100% of his salary to the UK taxpayer. And it is not only nuts, it is economic idiocy, as the damage to the real economy will be huge and set off a downward spiral that will be very difficult to stop once they realize their stupidity.
Posted in: Economists: Britain's austerity plan to hit poor
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GJDailleult
Not sure how this is any business of the little Aussie battler, he is not a UK citizen.
Thanks Osbourne, we are soon going to get to see the insanity of destroying a country to save a banking system. Not slow, drip drip Japanese style, but as a high speed car crash. But the ideologues like Cameron and Osbourne don't care. They will though after they have bled the poor and middle class and there is nothing left. That is when the rich against rich action is going to start. They should remember the rich were wiped out in the Great Depression, not sure why they are so confident that they won't be this time. But when you put a Public Relations guy in charge, this is the nonsense you are going to get.
Posted in: Economists: Britain's austerity plan to hit poor
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GJDailleult
That might actually be a point in her favor. Not a person who bangs her head against the wall for years and years like yours truly. And the Bozo the clown thing. Is that how she manages to live with no income? Is there a huge Bozo estate she has inherited, like the Hugh Grant character in About a Boy who lived off the Xmas song royalties?
I will second TheRat's comments. Just as any comment here asking for examples of GOP policies to improve the situation go unanswered, every variation of "Obama is a radical left-wing socialist out to destroy America" posted here is always evidence free. That is because the evidence shows otherwise. It shows that Obama is just another neo-liberal corporatist who has simply continued all Republican policies already in place and protected all those in the military/banking /corporate class who caused the mess in the first place. But what about OBAMACARE??? Yeah right, passing the Republican plan to deliver millions of new captive customers to the health care rackets is really radical. But the SPENDING, the DEFICIT!!!! Please try to pay attention kids. The spending and the deficit is not socialism, it is because economic collapse has led to loss of revenue and an intentional transfer of wealth to the financial elite to cover their losses. And Obama has just stood by and given his approval.
So in the end, if Obama and the Democrats are not going to do anything, then it is probably best to let the Republicans and the reality-challenged have a go. Give 'em enough rope, let them hang themselves.
Posted in: All signs point to Republican victories: polls
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GJDailleult
Not sure if anybody has already pointed this out, but did it not occur to anybody that this might backfire. If anybody, or any dodgy corporate funded "citizen's" group, told me not to vote, I would vote AGAINST them, regardless of politics or if I had planned to vote in the first place. I would bet a few people in Nevada had the same reaction.
Also the 1999 case, the Algerian guy was arrested at the Port Angeles ferry dock in Washington state by American customs because he had the explosives in the trunk of the car. I'll say that again, HE HAD THE EXPLOSIVES IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR!!! Gee, you really think any terrorist is going to be stupid enough to do that again. They will simply enter the country legally, either through Canada or Mexico (not yet done I believe) or by a direct flight (as was done successfully) and make their preparations inside the country. Just another wacko soundbite about stuff that has never happened.
Posted in: Nevada Senate race turns ugly with Hispanic ad
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GJDailleult
Badsey is right. They are protesting because they think their government is corrupt. Nobody would be protesting if they thought the decision was being made for the good of the country, it would be a no-brainer to raise the age to 62 in that case. But they think the decision is not being made for the good of the country, it is being made so that the money can be siphoned off elsewhere, and they are right. And if things start getting out of hand and kids join in and riot, hey as Rumsfeld said "stuff happens". Sarkozy made his bed, now he can lie in it.
Posted in: French rioters rampage, block airports
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GJDailleult
Meant to say " has DONE such a bad job" not "has such a bad job".
And Tim is right. The solutions are on the net. Of course, they are not the solutions that the Tea Party / Republicans are talking about, and they would likely get somebody killed for trying, but they are out there.
Posted in: All signs point to Republican victories: polls
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GJDailleult
When I open the sliding door on the west side of my Tokyo house, I can hear the laughter coming all the way from Beijing.
By the way, neither party has a serious policy for fixing the economic mess. That is the whole point, their purpose is to not fix it while appearing to try to fix it. Obama's problem is that he has such a bad job of appearing to try to fix things. It is just such a hassle being a plutocracy when you have to try and keep up the appearances of being a democracy. But they look to have pulled it off again this election, will be interesting to see what rabbits they can pull out of their hats for 2012.
Posted in: All signs point to Republican victories: polls
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GJDailleult
@junnama- to answer your question, stupidity had nothing to with it. They knew the borrowers couldn't pay the money back and didn't care. It was what is called "control fraud", which is where those in control of what look like from the outside to be legitimate businesses use their position to engage in accounting fraud. The FBI had warned the US government that there was an epidemic of mortgage fraud in the housing market as early as 2004, and the government did nothing.
@tkoind2 - agree with you, my point is that what you call modern 21st century capitalism is not capitalism at all, just an Orwellian appropriation of the word. But the system is not in reality capitalism. In capitalism banks go BANKrupt, interest rates are not set by cental planning committees, and "capitalists" have a clue where their capital is and don't just hand it over to pension funds and mutual funds to invest in corporations that will screw up their lives. Just having those three things would eliminate many of the problems you are talking about.
So no, this system is not capitalism. But then I guess they can't go around calling it feudalism, people would get upset!
@Tim- guilty as charged. I had thought of that as I wrote but I was on a roll and thought "families" had more dramatic effect that "families and assorted real estate speculators and house flippers. I am sure you of all people will understand.
Posted in: Bank of America to resume seizing more than 100,000 homes
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GJDailleult
@tokorobam - that was sarcasm, just trying to beat the banking apologists to the punch.
About the nobody was forced to take a loan they couldn't repay part. If you and others are financially responsible people then that is great, wish there were more people like you. And me. Except for foolishly running up the credit cards a few times, I have never been in any major debt. No mortgages, no car loans, no home entertainment centers on easy credit, and I fortunately got through university before education got sucked into the great wealth transfer machine. But if people think of this as a issue of the responsible vs. the irresponsible, then they are completely missing the point.
To get the point, people have to ask a simple question. What is a bank and what is its role in society? A bank is a seller of debt and allocator of capital. If that bank makes an excessive number of un-repayable loans (like in the apologist version of the banking crisis where they are victims of dishonest, greedy borrowers) then those bankers are incompetent and must go out of business and be replaced by competent banks and bankers. If the bank makes those un-repayable loans in order to run an accounting fraud (what really happened) which creates illusory short term profits which they can use to pay themselves huge salaries, then those bankers are criminals who must be sent to prison and their bank shut down. Those are basic, fundamental principles of capitalism (and have nothing to do with socialism, no matter how much the bankers scream that).
But if a country does what the USA did (and Japan in the 90's) and protects these incompetent / criminal banks by forcing the productive economy to rescue the speculative economy, they have abandoned capitalism and chosen economic suicide (that should be obvious to anybody reading a Japan related website). Why would they do that??? One, because the banks have over the years intentionally made themselves too complex to be shut down, and two, because they control the government and the politicians (obviously). Remember, one man's debt is another man's money, and if the debt can't be repaid then the money must die. And they want your money to die, not theirs.
The real tragedy though, when you read a headline about 100,000 families about to lose their homes is that is all so unnecessary. The solutions to the problems in the USA and other countries are quite simple. The details would be complex, but the concepts very simple. Unfortunately, if there were any attempts to implement these solutions, America would have another dead president (Democrat or Republican) like Kennedy, because the solution would mean the death of the international banking cartel and the myth that sovereign states must borrow money from banks to fund their operations.
Sorry about the length of the post, but you guys really are being sold down the river. It is really time to start fighting back, instead of fighting among yourselves and blaming each other.
Posted in: Bank of America to resume seizing more than 100,000 homes