JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Mike DeJong's past comments

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  9

  Mike DeJongMay. 20, 2012 - 11:16AM JST

  @TomokazuKowano Korea is not making a complaint here. The plaque was put up by some Korean ex-pats in America. What do they have to do with money that may or may not have been paid to the Korean government? Japan's hush money can not silence the feelings of exploited people. And if this issue is settled, then so is the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet we see memorials to these every year too, don't we? The Japanese are always playing the victim card, yet don't want others to remember their own victimizations.

  Posted in: New Jersey town's monument to Korean sex slaves upsetting Japanese officials

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  2

  Mike DeJongMay. 08, 2012 - 10:08AM JST

  Right on Tyger. I think Hollande's win is a breath of fresh air. The rich already have the best lawyers and accountants working on finding loopholes. Hollande just wants to make them more accountable.

  Posted in: Japan monitoring European reaction to Hollande win

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  5

  Mike DeJongApr. 30, 2012 - 10:21AM JST

  Japanese manners? What manners? Have you ever seen a Japanese person eating pasta?

  I saw an old guy at a restaurant the other night slurping away at his spaghetti... pasta sauce flying everywhere. He had no idea how to properly use a fork and spoon with pasta.

  Another man lifted the end of his plate and shoveled his pasta into house mouth - once again, slurping away at full volume. If these people went to any other country, people would be shocked and horrified.

  I think the Japanese should be the last people to talk about table manners.

  Posted in: Korean idol enrages Japanese netizens by eating instant noodles from the pot

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  Mike DeJongApr. 11, 2012 - 10:06AM JST

  Getting familiar with his catcher? His catcher doesn't throw the ball high and away or into batter's backs. There is no question that Darvish struggled with nerves and feel early on. But he settled down nicely and will be fine as the season goes along.

  Another Japanese baseball export has looked better in his first ML start - against a tougher offense. Wei-yin Chen of the Orioles has nearly shut down the Yankees so far today - with 6 K's in 5 plus innings. We'll see if he can finish the deal.

  Chen pitched for the Dragons last season.

  Posted in: Darvish's major league baseball debut gets mixed response in Japan

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  Mike DeJongMar. 22, 2012 - 10:57AM JST

  And only fools would build pipelines while the rest of the world is weaning itself off petroleum. If he really wanted to "put the kleptocrats in the Middle East out of business" he'd invest in alternative energy. But what can you expect when a PM comes from Oil-berta.

  Posted in: Canadian PM to visit Thailand, Japan and South Korea

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  Mike DeJongMar. 22, 2012 - 10:50AM JST

  Harper "runs his government pragmatically" and "safeguards the economy"?

  Really? Does that include the recent "robocall" scandal where his party workers tried to rig the vote?

  Does that include turning a budget surplus into a deficit in his first term in office? He's getting fired for that in the private sector.

  Canada's economy made it through the recent global crisis not because of Harper but because its financial sector was heavily regulated and not able to do the stupid things US banks were doing before the crisis. That had nothing to do with Harper. In fact, he'd probably want to deregulate like the idiots in the US.

  Posted in: Canadian PM to visit Thailand, Japan and South Korea

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  -4

  Mike DeJongMar. 14, 2012 - 10:08AM JST

  And of course, the father is nowhere to be seen.

  Posted in: Woman arrested for abusing 2-week-old twins

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  Mike DeJongMar. 13, 2012 - 10:05AM JST

  Hey, isn't Bennett Canadian?

  Article Unavailable

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  4

  Mike DeJongFeb. 27, 2012 - 01:27PM JST

  OssanAmerica, I would point out that European nations such as France, Spain, Germany, the UK, etc. all have histories as long as Japan's. Yet their populations are diverse and multicultural. Now, one might argue that they haven't been as successful at accepting immigrants as the U.S. and Canada. That's a fair point. But having a long history is no excuse to keep the doors shut.

  Posted in: Multiculturalism is a reality in the U.S.; it is accepted neither in theory nor in practice in Japan.

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  2

  Mike DeJongFeb. 22, 2012 - 12:34PM JST

  Holding America up as a paragon of racial sensitivity is a little disingenuous, isn't it? I mean, Darvish might be treated well by Texas fans because he's a rich ballplayer - but what if he was a poor Mexican? I think America has its own racism problems to deal that are more individual rather than institutional like Japan.

  Moderator: All readers, stay on topic please. The subject is Yu Darvish, not racism.

  Posted in: New Ranger

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  5

  Mike DeJongDec. 20, 2011 - 10:09AM JST

  By the way, Japan has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Children which states the following under Article 9:

  "Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests."

  Japan continually violates this internationally guaranteed right.

  Posted in: Clinton urges Japan to take action on child abduction issue

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