JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
-
1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
-
2
Confrontation
-
3
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
-
4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
-
5
Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
-
- 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
-
- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
-
- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
1
LFRAgain
Herefornow,
If there were a way to upload audio files to the forum, you'd be able to hear one of me laughing with a heartfelt, "Bwah-hahahahaha!!!" You've are not seriously be trying to peddle a "Kind and benevolent Uncle Sam is just trying to save Japan from an unsound domestic fiscal policy" argument, are you?
Japan holds so much of the United States public debt due to Uncle Sam's habitual overspending that if it cashed in tomorrow, the U.S., indeed the world, would be mired in an economic depression to rival that following the 1928 Crash. Japan is the world's second-largest holder of U.S. public debt in the form of Treasury Bills, T-bonds, and notes, to the tune of 956 BILLION dollars against the U.S.'s $14 trillion national debt. China's number one. So please try to at least be serious when you attempt to refute arguments against TPP.
The United States is pushing hard because it needs to jump-start its own economy by creating markets for its manufactured goods. Period. Japan doesn't want to open its markets to those goods when doing so will result in the loss of jobs for people in Japan who already make those goods. Period.
What's so difficult to understand about this?
Posted in: White House, Noda differ over what he said to Obama on TPP
0
LFRAgain
Poke,
Don't particularly care about arguments revolving around rice spirituality, but whether you like it or not, food self-reliance is a real issue. Just because that particular reality doesn't coincide with your mistaken belief that all countries in the world should price food at the same ridiculously low level that that United States does (and subsequently has to subsidize its own farmers in order to keep them in business -- fancy that) doesn't make the food self-sustainability issue magically go away.
Utter horse puckey on so many levels, it staggers the imagination. For one, Japan's economy is almost exclusively dependent on export-oriented manufacturing. So what, pray tell, could possibly be gained by joining a treaty that would effectively nibble away at that income by forcing Japan to import more goods, thus resulting in lost local manufacturing jobs? Where have we seen that problem rear up and bite the locals in the hienie before. Oh, yes. I recall now. The United States.
For another, if "there is a lot more at stake than agriculture," ass you maintain, then why not renegotiate the terms of the treaty to create a proposal that would be beneficial to all? Isn't that what good trading "partners" do, act in good faith?
So, is this the part where you start pooping on the thread with endless whinging about 100-yen apples?
Boo-freakin-hoo.
This isn't the U.S. and the current economic model for Japan has and still continues to result in a far larger middle class than the gradual Wal-Martification of the United States has unfortunately managed to produce. Consumers in Japan have done perfectly well with the current food pricing structure over the past 65 years without having to become a dumping ground for U.S. excess in order to help you feel like you're back home as you play the snooty house guest during your recreational stint in Japan.
Posted in: White House, Noda differ over what he said to Obama on TPP
0
LFRAgain
tmarie,
Then what need is there for a trade agreement?
Posted in: White House, Noda differ over what he said to Obama on TPP
2
LFRAgain
It''S Me and Japan_Cynic,
The actual word employed in the Japanese is shinnyuu, which can alternatively be translated as "invasion," "incursion," "trespass," and yes, "forcible entry." All of which suggest trespass of any sort, forced or otherwise being covered by this law. Why the translator opted to go for the decidedly more specific "breaking into . . . ." variation is beyond me.
If you know of a more concise law in the Japanese that differentiates between forced entry versus simply walking into an unauthorized area, please do share, but I believe this is the only one that applies.
Posted in: Intoxicated student illegally enters grounds of Uniqlo president's home
0
LFRAgain
Why should the Japanese government, much less the Japanese people, care one whit about whether Obama gets re-elected or not? He's not Japan's elected leader. Noda is. And Noda is tasked with championing Japan's economic needs, not America's.
Posted in: White House, Noda differ over what he said to Obama on TPP
1
LFRAgain
Where you being rhetorical? Here are a few reasons why:
Japan is the fourth largest trading parter in the world with the United States. Japan is the 3rd largest economy in the world behind China -- and that's even after almost 20 years of recession. Japan is the United States staunchest poitical, military, and economic ally in Asia, bar none.
The more accurate question would be, why does the United States insist on pressuring an ally to make an economically unfavorable deal that would only benefit one side, in this case, U.S. farmers?
The agricultural provisions of the TPP are most definitely not in Japan's best interests, thus Japan's reluctance to hop on board. But that doesn't mean a vital trading partner like the U.S. simply turns its back because Japan won't roll over. Changes need to be made to the TPP agreement to create a more favorable trade balance.
Posted in: White House, Noda differ over what he said to Obama on TPP
3
LFRAgain
The related laws seems to be in Chapter 12, Article 130: "Breaking into a Residence" of the Japanese Penal Code
http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?ft=2&re=02&dn=1&yo=penal+code&x=0&y=0&ky=&page=1
Posted in: Intoxicated student illegally enters grounds of Uniqlo president's home
2
LFRAgain
Using the word "gay" to insult or belittle someone or something is asshatish -- not in a, "I wear a donkey on my head" way, but in a, "Hey, everyone. I'm a bit of a jerk" way. Not a whole lot unlike some loudmouth thinking it would be funny or cool to claim, "rehearsals are for fags."
Murphy may be selling himself short. Maybe going on with the show sans his jerk-of-a-partner might have resulted in something entertaining from a man who desperately needs to reinvent himself.
Posted in: Eddie Murphy follows Ratner and quits Oscar gig
0
LFRAgain
Oikawa,
No harm, no foul. Sarcasm tends to not translate well in cyberspace. And it doesn't help when I'm in an argumentative mood to begin with. Apologies for jumping all over you for nothing.
Posted in: 89-year-old man stabbed to death in Shimane
0
LFRAgain
Honestly, sexual harrassment claims aside, I just don't like the man. His disdain for non-conservatives is clearly apparent in almost every interview he does, which isn't going to fly well when half of his constituency is made up of Democrats. Even Bush knew how to be amicable to the Left. Cain just plain doesn't like us. If anyone thinks a candidate like him winning the nomination, much less the preseidency will result in anything productive getting done over the next four-year-term is living in a fantasy.
Posted in: Cain accuser stands by allegation; he ducks issue
1
LFRAgain
Wolfpack,
I agree with your point about humanity's tendency towards violence. But please stop being intellectually lazy with the above nonsense. The two are not one and the same, despite the ease with which it allows you to view a far more complex world.
Posted in: Yoko Ono: 'Imagine' tune is bigger than expected
2
LFRAgain
JeffLee,
On the contrary. The computer revolution came along a lot sooner than the 1976 Apple I. The first working integrated circuit, or microchip, was created by Jack Kilby in 1958 and perfected during his time at Texas Instruments which had been under U.S. government contract since at least 1942 to produce defense-related technologies. Money slotted for the Apollo Progam paid in part for that integrated circuit. Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Michael Dell weren't responsible for the guts that later made their contributions to the Computer Age work. U.S. taxpayers were.
Posted in: 'K Computer' smashes speed record
0
LFRAgain
Apparently, someone here isn't a fan of Andy Rooney.
Posted in: Former '60 Minutes' commentator Andy Rooney dead at 92
2
LFRAgain
JeffLee,
Some of the biggest "vanity projects" over the last half-century have yielded an almost endless list of benefits to consumers and society overall. The U.S. space program and the Cold War are two outstanding examples.
MIR scanners, microwave ovens, Saran Wrap, anything and everything having to do with the computer revolution -- all thanks to state-funded vanity projects. Each of these projects, while focused on a single goal, in this case a computer that's faster than any other on the planet, birth off countless other technologies and applications that prompt new industries, subsequently bolstering economies.
Fujitsu can license the rights for multiple levels of the tech involved in its super computer program to a variety of companies and governments around the world, generating income that Fujitsu can in turn use to create more jobs, which in turn benefits the Japanese economy, and thus society as a whole.
Posted in: 'K Computer' smashes speed record
0
LFRAgain
oikawa,
Well, yes, actually, I do understand sarcasm and irony. But I confess to seeing very little of either in your first post. My bad. Perhaps it was too subtle for me.
Posted in: 89-year-old man stabbed to death in Shimane
1
LFRAgain
Japan has little use for better tools to help with weather forcasting or aeronautics? How, exactly, do you come to this conclusion?
Posted in: 'K Computer' smashes speed record
0
LFRAgain
Loved your wit and sarcasm while growing up. It was a pleasure to have known you, Mr. Rooney, even if only through the television set.
Posted in: Former '60 Minutes' commentator Andy Rooney dead at 92
2
LFRAgain
choiwaruoyaji,
Nice reference to Ms. Renhou Murata's silliness a few years back. ;-)
Super computers lead to countless advances, including faster and more accurate gene sequencing, faster chemical analysis in pharmaceutical R&D, and faster mapping of the cosmos, which will help yield data like when and if we're going to get clobbered by an asteroid at some point in the future.
Hooray for Riken and Fujitsu for continuing to push the boundaries of this crucial science.
Posted in: 'K Computer' smashes speed record
1
LFRAgain
The boyfriend, Hamid Alwan, 53, needs to be publicly flayed for this. I'll second Elbuda Mexicano's question: What kind of perverse, morally bankrupt monster sends a child to die on his behalf? It seems the cowardice that is part and parcel of al-Qaida has reached a whole new low.
Posted in: Mother of 9-year-old Iraqi suicide bomber arrested
0
LFRAgain
Maligning an entire prefecture with off-the-cuff statements doesn't tickle my funny bone, no.
Posted in: 89-year-old man stabbed to death in Shimane