JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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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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Laguna
I like that he indicated he will use his powers to their full extent to achieve his agenda if Congress continues to obfuscate.
Posted in: Jobs, energy, values top issues in Obama's State of the Union address
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Laguna
I will eat anything (this encompasses the Korean experience - and China - as well). Really - if others are eating it, I will not hesitate. I will put it in my mouth, chew it, actually TASTE it (this is the final step - no swallowing tidbits cleverly such that they avoid tastebud contact) - whether it be cooked, raw, or still moving.
I have lost my ability to lie innocuously. I hate whale bacon, and when I eat it, I will put it in my mouth, chew it, actually TASTE it, and, if asked to comment, say, "That was most vile in my perspective."
Posted in: How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan
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Laguna
Right, Sailwind - and you can throw Buffet into the mix as well. The difference is that Buffet, Kerry et al. believe the system should require income earned by investment to be taxed at the same rate as that earned by labor.
In other words, Kerry would have voted himself a tax raise, while Romney would vote to lower his contributions further.
Posted in: Romney's mountain of wealth gives ammo to opponents
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Laguna
Not at all. They will not slam him for benefiting from the existing tax system, either. They will slam him for supporting that system and suggesting changes that would further benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
Correct. Currently, they are Republicans. The Party of Lincoln is now the Democratic Party; denying so is absurd.
So did John McCain.
There is no evidence that "businessman" Romney every stooped to dirty his hands with these, either, aside from the "being rewarded" part.
Posted in: Romney's mountain of wealth gives ammo to opponents
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Laguna
When my dog eats the ham that I've left out, I don't blame the dog; I blame myself for leaving the meat out. Americans in general don't blame Romney for taking advantage of completely legal tax maneuvers.
On the other hand, you do NOT put your dog in charge of the ham.
Romney is the last guy we need in charge of the US tax system.
Posted in: Romney's mountain of wealth gives ammo to opponents
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Laguna
gogogo, you're not lion.
Posted in: Mane event
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Laguna
LA Times on Mitt in Florida yesterday speaking of the housing crisis:
The former is not surprising - the current candidates HAVE no ideas - but the latter? Oh well - at least Freddie Mac is there to help refinance mortgages; banks certainly aren't doing their part.
Posted in: Romney's mountain of wealth gives ammo to opponents
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Laguna
From a tactical standpoint, Romney's recent lines of attack have also been absolutely foolish. Freddie Mac is being utilized as a tool to refinance underwater mortgages, of which there are many in Florida. Say what you want about the value of Gingrich's "historical" advice, but attacking the institution itself will make many Floridians who are looking to the institution as a life line very nervous.
Similar is Romney's choice to go after Gingrich's support of Federal health services on the eve of the Florida primary; heck, he might as well start criticizing Israel. "Vote for me," he seems to be saying, "and I'll reduce your medicare benefits!"
It's not unlikely that Gingrich drew him into this trap, and whether the full extent of what he's done will be realized before the primary is unclear given the turbulence, but I suspect it will - and that what should have been an easy Romney victory will not.
Posted in: Stung Romney discloses taxes as he launches fierce attack on Gingrich
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Laguna
Thank you for your incisive comment, Serrano. That explains why neither the Reagan nor Bush presidencies produced deficits - or DOES it?
Wait! I seem to remember that the ONLY brief glimmer of surplus came - well, not during a Republican presidency. But then, that was probably Obama beaming his evilness back into the past.
The fact that the two front runners in this circus of a primary do nothing but attack each other is that they have nothing to say, and the reason they have nothing to say is that being a Republican today is like being Pope: the correct answers have been determined by his predecessors, and all a candidate can do is try to nod his head more vociferously than his opponent. Lower taxes, larger military, antagonism towards illegal immigrants and foreign countries in general, and business-friendly status quo towards all else: the more superlative, the better, for the Republican Party has absolutely nothing else. Their ideological shelf has been bare so long that they cannot even imagine creating realistic solutions to modern problems.
All that is left is to attack for attack's sake. It's a pity because the two-party system is essential for a healthy democracy, but that is just the way that it is. We'll see what arises from the ashes of the GOP's self-made pyre.
Posted in: Stung Romney discloses taxes as he launches fierce attack on Gingrich
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Laguna
Unbelievable! Why don't these motorists just stop by 7-11 for a carton of milk, like I do?
Posted in: NZ police alarmed at breastfeeding motorists
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Laguna
...indicates inclination towards creating discussion group charged with considering whether to do so."
Posted in: Noda vows to tackle debt, calls for end to indecisive politics
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Laguna
More about Freddie Mac here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-unlikely-to-need-more-taxpayer-money-feds-say/2011/10/27/gIQA7GKXMM_story.html
Posted in: Stung Romney discloses taxes as he launches fierce attack on Gingrich
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Laguna
Freddie Mac had absolutely nothing to do with creating the housing bubble nor with its collapse. All public funds put into the company after its nationalization will be repaid with interest, much like those to the automotive industry were.
Gingrich hardly worked for the company as an "historian," but Romney is also entirely incorrect when he says Freddie Mac cost Floridians "millions."
Posted in: Stung Romney discloses taxes as he launches fierce attack on Gingrich
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Laguna
SuperPACs!
Love it when wealthy Las Vegas couples can buy a nomination. I'm not singling Gingrich out for this - just as I'm not singling out the Republican Party. I am pointing out that American election law stinks.
Posted in: Gingrich claims $1 million raised after victory
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Laguna
Apparently, the Republican base has grown furious, and the secret behind Newt's success in SC was his ability to channel that anger.
So Mitt, never one to miss a good cover, is also doing his best at displaying his incense. On "Fox News Sunday," he said:
Perhaps the word he was searching for was "piqued," or "perturbed." Perhaps a flat-out declaration along the lines of, "Obama miffs me," or "Marxist Islamic foreign-born usurpers peeve me. Quite so."
As Bush I might have said, mortification is visceral.
Posted in: Gingrich, Romney begin key Florida battle
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Laguna
"Tattoo artist." There you have it.
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Laguna
90% of it was probably just loud sobbing anyway.
Posted in: Nuclear disaster task force kept no records of meetings
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Laguna
Virtuoso, thank you for your interesting comments; though historically what you claim has much validity, the US has evolved tremendously in recent years. Statistics show that 53 percent of Americans are Protestants, 22 percent Catholics and 8 percent other Christians (e.g., Mormon), and while Protestants remain the majority, it is not nearly as great as it once was; the Protestant's simple numerical domination explains much of their monopoly of the presidency.
I think that Americans would currently accept a Christian president of any denomination (Gingrich is, at least for the moment, Catholic, after all) or even a Jewish president (there was much talk of Liberman before he proved too extreme for the Democrats). Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, of Indian extraction, was once touted as a possible Republican presidential candidate, and the governor of South Carolina (!), Nikki Haley, is also of Indian extraction. It wouldn't even be too far of a stretch to imagine an Islamic president within the next 50 years, though likely of more moderate tradition such as found in India or Southeast Asia.
What Americans do not seem ready to accept, though, is a president from a non-Monotheistic religion or an atheist. Still, I do not entirely abandon hope of seeing a Buddhist president during my lifetime. Times change quickly, and the US with Obama has proven itself surprisingly inclusive.
Posted in: Gingrich, Romney begin key Florida battle
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Laguna
Veni, vidi, kaeri.
Posted in: DPJ, LDP lawmakers observe disputed Senkaku islands
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Laguna
Granted, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a bit of a mess, having been passed through the Republican sausage-maker. Still, it is in its infancy: most of its provisions are not scheduled to begin until 2013. It will also most likely be revisited to correct errors and, one would hope, finally institute the public option. Based upon this, your insinuation that this administration is responsible for health costs that have been rising faster than inflation for fifty years are unfounded.
Not only that: does the Republican Party have any realistic suggestion of how to rein in health costs? (Romney once did, but that is now the proposal that shall not be named.)
Posted in: Gingrich attacks Obama in South Carolina victory speech