JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
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- Business Teaching Positions - Part-time - Kanto Region
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥3,000 ~ ¥5,000 / Hour
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Moondog
Tamarama wrote:
pawatan replied:
Sure, it sounds crazy but it's just speculation. But where does such an idea come from?
First, the government says "a plane hit the Pentagon" but suppresses the video.* Then, later, they release a really bad video that shows something hitting the Pentagon.
If shown the video and asked, "Does it look like a plane?" most people will answer "Maybe." If asked, however, "Does it look more like a plane ... or a missile?" those who know the difference between jet contrails and rocket exhaust would have to say "Well, it looks more like a missile than a plane due to the exhaust plume." But, really, no one can say. Maybe it was a white Peterbilt 18-wheel truck kicking up dust! (I'm not suggesting that it was ... I'm just saying ...)
Then you look at the hole in the building before the wall collapsed (round) and wonder why the wings didn't leave any mark on the walls or maybe fall off outside. Then you look at the holes on the twin towers (very wide oblong) and think ... what? I mean, really, what do you think? Isn't that round hole just a bit odd?
Can you see where this is going? Can you think of anything that flies, is round and doesn't have wide wings? Ever see a photo of a Tomahawk cruise missile? If one flew right in front of you (speed 550 mph) while you were driving down the highway could you say for sure just what it was? Would you think, "Wow, a cruise missile just flew in front of me going really fast!?" Or would you be more likely to think "Wow, a plane just flew in front of me going really fast!" (Keep in mind here that a cruise missile flies more like a plane than a traditional rocket.)
And, later, when you, the witness, heard on the news that American 77 flew into the Pentagon, what would you likely think you had seen? Would you be saying, "It looked more like a Tomahawk, to me?" (keeping in mind that most people haven't a clue what a cruise missile looks like). Or, would you be saying. "I saw that plane hit the Pentagon. It flew right in front of me!!"
Of course, you can say that a Tomahawk doesn't much look like a 757 and it's true. On the other hand, it isn't wildly different, either.
So, you can say it's nonsense, but there is a reason people are thinking along those lines. Myself, I don't know. Many things are possible. I'd just like to see the video and as long as it's being suppressed, I'm not accepting the official version.
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
0
Moondog
You can believe the official version if you wish but, myself, I'm way beyond that. I lost my naivete in 1975 when I saw JFK's head snap back in the Zapruder film which had been suppressed for 12 years. Before that, only stills had been shown in Life magazine and the Warren Commission Report. The most notable thing about the stills was what they didn't show--his head snapping back. That film put the lie to the Warren Commission. Forget about the magic bullet and the umbrella man and 10,000 other "fishy" things. That film is proof that there was a coverup and that the real killers are still (even today) on the loose.
And that is precisely why there is no good reason to believe the official version of 9/11 just because it's the official version.
So, sure, you can say I'm obsessed, if you want, but not for no reason. It annoys me when my government lies to allow murderers who attack this country (in the person of the president) to go free and I want to be sure they're not doing it again. I'm not optimistic that the tapes still exist, however. What are the odds they'd make that mistake again?
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
0
Moondog
@Tamarama wrote:
No, I'm not offering it as proof. If anything, it's a lack of proof. I'm simply asking for evidence that is apparently being suppressed.
I believe anything is possible. Having first-hand knowledge of the depth of incompetence that government workers are capable of I would have to say, yes, it's possible that it never occurred to anyone to put cameras on every side of the Pentagon. Maybe they just put them by the front door, you know, in case someone tried to sneak in.
Maybe some nincompoop was excited and pushed the emergency degauss button and erased every tape in the pentagon because, you know, the building was under attack. Heck, maybe the degausser was so strong it erased all the tapes in nearby buildings, too. Yup, anything's possible.
But is it plausible? It seems to me that you are willing to take the position that the official position is true because it's the official position. If you want to believe the results of the official commission even though members of that commission complain that they were not allowed to make a complete investigation and it comes off looking a whole lot like "The Warren Commission II" then, well, go ahead and believe it.
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
1
Moondog
@Asagao, anyone can take three years off work. It's just that most people won't. You have to be willing to take the leap.
Posted in: Minoru Saito, 77, nears finish of his 3-year, 28,500-mile 'wrong way' voyage
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Moondog
Ajinomoto is MSG, a well-known carcinogen. Avoid anything with an Ajinomoto label. They sell death, mainly.
As for the 'is it Japanese or Chinese" questions, it doesn't really matter. We're talking the U.S. here. To the average American, Japan and China are pretty much same-o same-o.
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Moondog
@pawatan wrote:
The first half of your sentence is indisputable (a plane was hijacked) but the second part that it flew into the Pentagon is, in fact, hotly disputed. And one of the reasons it's disputed is the lack of video that you admit you cannot understand.
Yes, interesting. Very interesting. If you think, then it must give you pause ... to wonder why.
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
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Moondog
@Tamarama wrote:
Really! You put in a bad spot here--you think the average 7-11 has better surveillance than the Pentagon. There's nothing I can say to that without going ad hominem.
I wrote:
@Tamarama replied:
What one person thinks might be plausible another will find absurd. I just think it's a question to answer if it turns out it wasn't the plane. But like I said, I'm perfectly willing to accept the official version if they show me a video of a plane hitting the building.
I refuse to believe that no video tape exists. Now, that's implausible (unless, of course, it was all erased, you know, by accident). Do you think there never was video or .... ?
When I was in the military, I worked in a 'secure' building with no windows and only a few doors. The building, which was operated by the Department of Defense, had two cameras on every corner of the building, cameras by the doors and cameras on the fence pointing at all sides of the building. Inside the building there were monitors displaying all the views and a bank of video tape recorders. This was just a random secure building, not famous and not even an especially high value target (at least by comparison to the Pentagon).
To accept your position, that no tapes exist, it's necessary to believe that the Pentagon had video coverage inferior to its less important buildings (never mind the average 7-11).
As for the witnesses, maybe they saw a plane and maybe they saw 'something' and thought it was a plane. Who knows? I once witnessed a murder on a full Greyhound bus. After the police took statements (in private), someone from Greyhound came and took recorded statements from everyone as we rode a replacement bus and I heard 20 versions of the murder, many at variance with what I saw. It's not news that witnesses can be unreliable.
Asking to see the video is not an unreasonable request. If they don't exist, then the only reasonable conclusion one can make is that there is some sort of cover-up in play.
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
0
Moondog
@theFu, what happens to a plane hitting concrete is interesting but immaterial to my request for video of a plane flying into the Pentagon.
@Tamarama wrote:
No, the footage that was released is poor because it came from the parking lot ticket machine. Is it your position that the Pentagon, the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense, one of the most sensitive places in the country, a building chuck full of Top Secret documents and a likely target for everything from anti-war demonstrators and spies to full-scale military attack has a video surveillance system inferior to the corner 7-11 store?
I didn't say it was a missile. I don't know what it was which is why I want to see the video.
You want "plausible and reasonable?" What is plausible and reasonable is subjective and beside the point. I simply want to know why the video is being suppressed.
What I want to hear from the defenders of the official line is not info on concrete vs. airplane or questions that will arise if it's determined that a plane didn't hit the pentagon.
Just tell me why you think it's not important that they won't release the video that must exist. Tell me why that doesn't make one of your eyebrows rise even a tiny bit.
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
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Moondog
The first time I heard that someone claimed a plane didn't hit the pentagon, I was like "Oh, right. Give Me A Break." But the more you look at the evidence the harder it is to believe the official line on any of the 9/11 events. Now I'm solidly in the "Somethings fishy here" camp.
But here's the deal. We could argue about temperatures, puffs of smoke, and missing gold until the cows come home. So I'm going to make it very easy for those who believe the official version. You only have to do one thing and I will buy into the whole deal. I'l forever forsake my right to question anything else.
Just do this one thing. Show me a video of a plane flying into the pentagon (one that stands up to scrutiny for evidence of tampering, please). Just do that one simple thing.
That's it, one video. And please don't even think of suggesting that I'm asking the impossible. There is no way that the only security camera at the pentagon that day was in the parking lot ticket machine.
Show me the video. If you cannot and you still want to claim the official version then kindly explain why the lack of a video is not important and how the lack of a video does not bother you in the least.
Posted in: Ten years on, do you believe al-Qaida was responsible for the events of 9/11?
3
Moondog
Hmm ... 100 riot police. I guess the local residents must be very prone to violence. I hope 100 is enough to give adequate protection to the activists.
Posted in: 'Cove' star urges dolphin watching, not killing
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Moondog
This report from NISA and the comment from the government about has the stink of a smokescreen: They want us to think that TEPCO reported the danger 4 days before the tsunami so, bad luck, there was no time to prepare.
NONSENSE!
And "studies of a tsunami that occurred in the year 869??" That's ridiculous! Apparently they only considered historical tsunami that actually hit that exact spot over a thousand years ago while ignoring the three tsunami that hit nearby costal areas during the 70 years prior to construction of the plant (1896, 1933 and 1960). This makes them appear to be idiots. But they probably aren't so what does that make them...???
The tsunami in 1896 was higher than the 2011 tsunami and killed 27,000 people so TEPCO and the government must have been aware of it when the plant was first build. Why they choose to ignore it would be speculation but the fact that they did ignore it makes them criminally liable.
Posted in: TEPCO knew of tsunami threat: nuclear agency
0
Moondog
Potsandpans,
How much is not the point. That Japan has paid pretty close to zero attention to renewables is the point. She's using her fame to point to the onsen saying, "Say, isn't that hot water we see there just a fraction of what's down below? Shouldn't we be finding a way to use that?
Sure, maybe Japan isn't Iceland and maybe it won't be as easy as in Iceland but who knows what technology can be developed if effort is put to the problem? DIverting attention from her message to remind everyone that she (allegedly) used John to become famous and broke up the Beatles in the process. John loved her and that was his right. If Paul didn't, well, life isn't perfect, is it? It's really none of our business anyway.
Japan should look more at thermal and if Yoko uses her fame to give them a nudge in that direction, then I say good for her.
Posted in: Yoko Ono says Japan should look to geothermal energy
1
Moondog
To paulinusa, Japan is quite a bit smaller than California. It's actually just a little smaller than Montana.
And to all you critics of Yoko, yup, you're right, if geothermal cannot provide 100% of the energy, well then there's no point in even thinking about it!! Silly woman ... being famous and having broken up the Beatles proves she doesn't know anything. For sure she doesn't understand that there's good money to be made in buying and selling oil. And nuclear energy plants are like a license to print money. Who ever heard of an international steam market! Silly, silly.
Posted in: Yoko Ono says Japan should look to geothermal energy
1
Moondog
Bad dubbing can really change a movie. I'm reminded of some Hong Kong heist movie from the 50's I saw one time. It was translated and dubbed, apparently, by British residents of Hong Kong, probably college professors. It wasn't a comedy but the upper-class dialog and accents coming out of the mouths of the Chinese gangsters was hilarious. Picture a Chinese thug busting into room with gun and shouting, "I say there, chaps ..."
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Moondog
TV? People still watch TV?
Internet!
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-1
Moondog
This was an exciting game by all accounts but the championship decided by penalty kicks? Really? How sad. It seems to me that it's mostly just luck in such kicking matches. If the goalie guesses right, no point. If not, then it's a point. That's just dumb.
This is why I, like many Americans, don't bother watching futbol. It's distracting to have all those people running around while one's trying to watch grass grow.
Some suggestions to fix it:
A. Make the goal bigger. This will increase scoring and reduce the likelihood of games ending in a tie.
B. In case of ties at the end of regulation time, continue the game in "sudden death" mode. The first team to score in overtime wins.
C. Failing either of the above, have a 'provisional' PK at the beginning of the game 'just in case.' Then, if it ends in a tie whichever team won the pre-game kicking match wins the game.
That way, the end would be exciting as the clock runs down and it's do-or-die before time runs out instead of a boring kicking match that depends more on guessing than anything else.
Posted in: Japan beats U.S. in shootout to win Women's World Cup soccer
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Moondog
Here's a better plan...
All the current stock should be cancelled. The owners can use it for toilet paper. Then issue new stock to the residents displaced by the plant disaster with all profits from operations to go to the residents.
To increase profits, reduce the salaries of all executives to ¥120,000/month for six months and then ¥50,000 after that.
Posted in: TEPCO to pay Y88 bil to nuclear plant evacuees
1
Moondog
I hate it when:
A. Cars driving on snow or ice squeal their tires. B. People driving cars that are out of control will go hundreds of meters without thinking of stepping on the brakes. C. People being chased by bad guys always run from the busy street full of people to some deserted street or abandoned building unless the makers of the movie want him to get away in which case all he has to do is run outside and find a parade, borrow a hat and blend in. D. People, usually girls, when being chased in a house, run upstairs where there is no exit. (In fact, I cannot go to scary movies such as "Scream" etc. because it make others in the audience angry when I laugh uncontrollably during the 'scary' parts and yell things like "Run upstairs, there's no exit!" just before they do exactly that.)
Posted in: What sort of scenes in movies make you want to throw things at the screen or yell at the characters for doing stupid things?
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Moondog
@sfjp330 wrote:
Where are your facts? My comments are based on news reports. Yours are based on imagination and supposition of what might have happened.
According to the police, the girl contacted him after her school class attended a speech of his on a field trip. You can be sure that if there was anything lurid in the exchange, the police would have taken him into custody for questioning at the minimum regardless of the parent's wishes because it would be their duty to protect society from future incidents.
In fact, all of the women with whom he had lurid exchanges and to whom he sent photos were adults, all were willing participants in the exchanges and none have complained of anything except media invasion of their privacy.
Posted in: U.S. congressman Weiner resigns in wake of sex photos scandal
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Moondog
@sfjp330,
Please try to read beyond the headlines. He did not "contact" a 17 year old girl. She wrote to him first and he responded in a professional and proper manner as any representative would and should. What would have been wrong is if he ignored her message. That would have given her a bad impression of civic participation.
What is wrong, however, is how the media, cheered on by the Republicans, have drug her into this scandal. Sure, her name has not been mentioned but the media did show her home on TV so you can be quite sure that everyone in her neighborhood and soon her school will "know" quite incorrectly (as you apparently do) that she was involved in a "sex scandal" with a guy named "Weiner." Her reputation is trashed and that is Weiner's fault only indirectly. The direct causation is the media and Republicans.
Posted in: U.S. congressman Weiner resigns in wake of sex photos scandal