JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
1
To be healthy, live in the big city
-
2
Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
-
3
Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
-
4
From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
-
5
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
-
- 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
-
- 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*
-
- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
0
Klein2
Did you want fries with that?
I think the operative phrase here is 46 year old non-com. Nuff said. This guy was avoiding a life on welfare, and now he has a life on welfare.
Posted in: SDF member flashes staff at drive-through restaurant in Saitama
0
Klein2
"But of course, the Coens were never thinking remake with their “True Grit.” They had not seen Wayne’s “True Grit” since they were kids. Their idea was to bring to the screen a faithful version of the novel on which it was based."
In that case, I forgive them. But maybe they could have named it something else. John Wayne gets so beat up by people that the role is iconic for me. It was a final, honest effort by a tired and sick old guy. I will go see this movie, but maybe I can get through life without calling it by its name.
John Wayne will always be True Grit to me. If this movie is something else, then I can continue my Coen Bros. streak with no guilt.
Posted in: Coens part ways with Wayne in their 'True Grit'
0
Klein2
Sounds like everything was pretty much as expected. I have avoided the clunkers this year. Have not seen Inception or Hurt Locker, and Toy Story 3 was just kind of ok for me. And other than that, oh yeah, Kick Ass... the rest of the year will be avoided. I am surprised nobody has a comment about "I love you Philip Morris", which has not come out in the US, but which has come out in Japan. Easily better than 70% of the movies that came out this year, but too edgy for Hollywood apparently. What a joke. Hollywood is not about art or truth anymore. Not by a long shot.
I have seen by far the most BAD movies this year on account of the library of very very poor movies I have collected. But let's limit it to recent movies.
Hands down the worst... Like throw something at the screen worst, were the first two TWILIGHT movies, which I was kind of forced to see. Mediocre pap. Buffy was about 10 times better, and despite being a soap opera, the Buffy series made a lot more sense. I have at least 10 big reasons for thinking that the whole Twilight series is inherently stupid, but number one is that it is an insincere, artless, commercialized grab at the Harry Potter audience. Contrived. Formulaic.
And Harry Potter deserves its own share of the blame, with its weaning of a generation on "deus ex machina as genius" and "McGuffin as creativity" way of storytelling. Rowling is a con artist. Every time some conflict arises, some new technology or history pops up to resolve it. As if all the answers are out there looking for us. Combine that with Cinderella and turn vampyrs into glittering angel/superheroes and you have created Twilight. No brain required.
And I guess what makes it so much worse is that I know people, otherwise sane people, who "like" Twilight.
Look for more formulaic junk written by committee coming our way in the future. The success of Twilight and its ilk, along with these stupid stupid retreads of everything from True Grit to Yogi the Bear to TRON show that things are going to get a lot worse.
Interesting news. For what it is worth, Hollywood is sitting on many many movies that it just will not release because the "timing is not right." There are about 20 pretty big movies just sitting in the can right now, with many many smaller ones. What does it prove? Making movies costs NOTHING compared to the cost of promoting and distributing them. What does that mean? Movies are not being judged on their own merits anymore. It is a business pushed by the producers, not pulled by consumers. Sad times.
Posted in: What are some of the worst movies you saw this year?
0
Klein2
"It seems this is a hit or miss trick."
Uh. Of course. But if there is no penalty for missing, so what? One reason Kenichi was so stupid in the endgame is that once you reel in a big fish, things always work out.
That is why this 81 year old is so great. He conned the con man. He was able to take some risks to put this guy away. He was a good citizen. Most people would have just hung up and let the guy bother someone else.
Hope the judge gives Kenichi double the smacking for bothering this old guy.
Posted in: 81-year-old man foils telephone fraud attempt
0
Klein2
"This "law" being signed doesn't make it right."
Yeah. All the Supreme Court has to do now is declare it unconstitutional. I encourage you to hold your breath.
"conspiracy against the gays"
The gays? The gays? I have heard this phrasing twice in my lifetime. In Texas and in Nigeria, but it was decades ago. I think this is part of the dark ages that Smith is referring to. Thinking of homosexuals as a monolithic group with some solid agenda has never been realistic. It is like thinking that all women are feminists.
"Oh well, it's time now to push for separate facilities for heterosexuals"
Oh brother. Thanks Mr. Plessy vs. Ferguson. I have another prediction. I predict people are going to shrug and go back to work. Face the facts. People who type pages of text on JT about what they think the military could and should do are the kind of people who could argue endlessly about angels on the head of a pin. Real military people are going to see that this does not change their resources or their mission one bit. The issue is settled now once and for all. The only way to repeal this would be to actively discriminate against someone and take their job from them. And that ain't happening no matter what law gets passed.
I was wondering about this Obama guy, but I think that this gets him a lot of support with a lot of people.
Posted in: Obama signs 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal
0
Klein2
Pretty muddled exposition.
If the goal is to bring the yen down by creating risk and uncertainty, then why merge Japan with some loser nation to do it? I have said it time and again: Japan ought to either sell more bonds at ridiculously low interest rates OR it ought to print up rafts of yen and use it to do what it has never done before. Japan cannot go back to 1871, or 1971, or 1986. Japan needs to move ahead confidently... recklessly.
Massive and widespread geothermal, wind, and other projects. Give Japan energy like it has never had. Heavily subsidize electric vehicle development. Give Japan cheap energy, cheap mobility, cheap communications, and bountiful agriculture. I will just keep it simple and say ETC.
Japan needs a transformation if it is ever going to get real growth. If it has to DOUBLE its current debt to do it.... well, I can think of a lot of investments that will return better than 1.5%. Effectively HALVING the price of energy while giving Japan energy independence would solve almost all of Japan's problems.
Posted in: How Japan can turn the tables on its economic decline
0
Klein2
"People used to grow and eat their own healthy food. "
I do this. It is difficult and inconvenient. It is not a joke to say that it is not "modern" at all. I do it basically as entertainment because it is so hard to do. It is "rewarding". GW and TheRat know what exactly what I am talking about.
McDonald's is successful because they give people exactly what they want. That is the problem. People certainly do not want difficult and inconvenient in any form.
Posted in: McDonald's starts home delivery from one outlet on trial basis
0
Klein2
That's nothing. I am part of a test project that will blow this out of the water. I have a tube hooked up to the nearest McD's, and three times a day, they put whatever I order into a blender and squirt it to my home. I can suck it down in about three minutes, get back to my life, and have them take the money out of my account.
I feel like I am part of the future. Hope you all can catch up one of these days.
Posted in: McDonald's starts home delivery from one outlet on trial basis
0
Klein2
I walk over this bridge on my way home from work, and sometimes, well, I get to thinking...
Posted in: Town in upstate New York honors Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life'
0
Klein2
I once went to Seneca Falls and found a newspaper with a bunch of money in it. I didn't tell anyone, though.
Posted in: Town in upstate New York honors Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life'
0
Klein2
"I knew a guy many years ago that found out his roommate was gay the hard way. He wasn't very happy with that. The fellow was posted out very quickly. "
Gee Mike. Spare us your euphemisms. You are being vague. You mean he was raped? Why not say that? Because I had a roommate who was gay and I had to figure it out and wound up changing my quarters so he could be with his friend and I could get my own room. That is how civilized people handle things in the real world.
Gay men are not looking for a chance to jump straight guys any more than black people are looking for a chance to jump white people. If such people exist, they are individuals and should be treated as individuals.
What you are trying to get people to believe is that homosexuality is equal to child molestation or rape or other such crimes. It isn't. People like you and me go through life with different sexual practices of all kinds and should not be persecuted for them if they are legal.
Posted in: U.S. Senate votes to overturn military gay ban
0
Klein2
"What is hard to understand is why some people conflate acceptance of homosexuality in the military as a 'civil rights' issue similar to allowing blacks to serve on an equal basis in the armed services (by the way, blacks have always served in one capacity or another going back to the Revolutionary War). The issue with black Americans following WWII was integration. I don't know how you can integrate a person who identifies him or herself by their sexual practices. "
Sorry you can't understand that Wolfy. THe fact is that homosexuals have been discriminated against, AND STILL ARE. Many people spend more time having sex than practicing their religion. Many women who have never used their genitalia at all are still discriminated against because they female genitalia. So I don't see why you would be confused about this being a civil rights issue. You think the only discrimination is RACIAL discrimination? You need to re-examine that.
I think the US should be a country where people are not discriminated against because of race, gender, religion or other unimportant things that have nothing to do with their basic humanity.
Posted in: U.S. Senate votes to overturn military gay ban
0
Klein2
Aw. The second of my "goofy statement" alerts in my trifecta was apparently removed. Well, suffice it to say that certain posters on this thread will come up with doozies soon enough. I still think that this takes the cake:
"A company has every right to do business with who they want to and don't want to"
BofA will have some explaining to do one way or another. Watch how the American legal system, plutocrats, and government will come together to squash this guy. If it is true that you can measure someone's power by their enemies, then this Assange guy is apparently challenging the whole new world order. Why isn't the Tea Party behind that? Oh yeah. They got bought out by a tax break for jillionaires. So much for THAT revolution.
Posted in: Bank of America stops handling WikiLeaks payments
0
Klein2
Oh. Mike. If you are saying it, it must be true. LOL.
It is baseless because BofA might have some reason for not doing business with Wikileaks, but saying that businesses can do business with whomever they want is just stupid. Stupid. Corporations have NEVER been that way, even from the 15th century.
What is a hostile takeover? What is a charter? What are articles of incorporation? What is redlining? Study those jeopardy answers and expand your brain. Businesses are forced EVERY DAY to do business with people that they might not like in the least bit. And if they don't, they get SUED! And of all corporations, your genius buddy uses BofA as the example to support his "thesis" haha! Don't you think that BofA gets strongarmed on a daily basis into extending credit to people you would not lend a dime to?
My guess is that BofA will make some lame excuse that they do not do business with criminals, but in fact they do. And Wikileaks has not been convicted of any crime. As far as I know, Wikileaks itself is not even being prosecuted for any crime. Shout and yell hooray if you want, but hey, you are next, and you can bet Wikileaks won't be coming to your defense.
Posted in: Bank of America stops handling WikiLeaks payments
0
Klein2
"Assange is a predator."
Gee. I am thinking "prey" is the word a reasonable person would be looking for here. Trifecta complete.
Posted in: Bank of America stops handling WikiLeaks payments
0
Klein2
"A company has every right to do business with who they want to and don't want to."
This made me laugh. What a pathetically baseless statement.
Posted in: Bank of America stops handling WikiLeaks payments
0
Klein2
I know it is popular to turn this into a religious issue, but it is a civil rights issue. Some people used to think that black people should not be in the military, but that has changed. Citizenship and human rights are supposed to be independent of race, color, creed, etc. Why is that so hard to understand?
Posted in: U.S. Senate votes to overturn military gay ban
0
Klein2
"Sen. McCain is such a weasel. He previously fully supported the repeal, but the political winds shifted in his state, and he did an about face. This from a 74 year old who has served 23 years in the Senate."
Ditto this. McCain has watched the world pass him by three or four times now. It is pathetic how he is trying to keep up by being a weasel, exactly as you say. Unfortunately, it is the only way he can survive as a moderate in the GOP these days. If he is nutty on some issues, they might let him keep his job.
Posted in: U.S. Senate votes to overturn military gay ban
0
Klein2
Almost every post here is by people who are interested in speculating in real estate for what seems like a pretty short time horizon.
I self-censored the rest of my comments because someone at JT says it is "potentially offensive." I spent 20 minutes trying to figure it out and gave up.
I like GW and TheRat comments. Congrats to Kaptain.
The gist is this: pay attention to what you need and what you use and you will probably always have enough.
Posted in: Real estate in Japan: A good time to buy or not?
0
Klein2
Kaptain:
I think your timing was pretty good. Congratulations. And it actually supports what CDillon seems to be writing, which is that, MAYBE, in the long run, this will look like a great time to buy.
You have waited around what... 35 years... and it has worked out well for you.
Posted in: Real estate in Japan: A good time to buy or not?