JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 秘書及び業務サポート
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M / Year
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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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SezWho2
I think the US empowers Hamas by not talking to it.
Posted in: U.S. envoy urges stronger Gaza truce amid airstrikes
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SezWho2
Of course Canada is foreign. But when your little brother is pumped up on steroids you tend to play nice. Canada's a wonderful country that combines the best of the US with the best of England. Like England, it is divided from us by a common language, with a little French thrown in.
I don't see anything particularly newsworthy in this announcement. As the article points out, presidents usually make this their first trip. Obama probably has more reason to do so than most. His stand (stand?) on NAFTA will undoubtedly be of considerable interest to the Canadians.
Posted in: Obama to make 1st foreign trip as president to Canada on Feb 19
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SezWho2
I think that what Ahmadinejad said was that Iran is willing to move forward to a new relationship with the United States if the United States is willing to move forward to a relationship that was different from the past in something other than words only.
Specifically, he cited a need to hear a US acknowledgment of and an apology for its role in the overthrow of the democratic government of Iran in 1953 at a time when the US was determined to stamp out big-C communism everywhere in the world and when just the fear that a government might lean communist was enough to merit US machinations.
At this point it seems to me that an apology for that would harm us as little as it would harm Israel to actually admit that it has nuclear weapons. I think almost everyone knows we interfered and that we, as much as anyone else (if not more), were responsible for installing the Shah and that we continued to support him even as he created conditions that led to the Islamic Revolution and the takeover of the American embassy.
If we could just acknowledge that it's not right to go changing regimes willy-nilly and that we were wrong to do so in the case of Iran in 1953, that opens space for the Iranians to counter with apologies of their own. If they do not, what has the apology cost?
Posted in: Obama must apologize for U.S. crimes against Iran: Ahmadinejad
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SezWho2
Badsey,
I think the median income for a medical technician in California is about $65,000 per year. Unless, I'm making this up, I think I heard on CNN today that one of the top 10 "recession-proof" jobs was (how ironic) that of a medical technician. And again, unless I was dreaming, I think they indicated that annual income could be over $100,000. So apparently there are medical technicians and then again there are medical technicians.
Posted in: LA man, upset over being fired, kills wife, 5 kids, himself
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SezWho2
Triumvere,
You can remove your tongue if you like. Since I didn't see you put it in, though, I'll likely not see you take it out. It's tough to convey irony in a short paragraph and if that was what you were going for, I think you missed.
I agree with you that we don't know what the boss actually said, unless by this time we do. As far as I know, all we have is the word of the man who shot himself and some number of people in his family. I also agree that he was unstable.
I just disagree that we know what he was thinking. When you say he did thus and so, you are describing actions for which we can gather evidence. When you say he thought thus and so, you are describing something for which no evidence is available.
You are correct that managers usually try to avoid unpleasantness. If you're a manager you never know when the guy you fire is going to come in and blow your brains out. But if you have ever worked in a large partnership such as a major accounting firm, a law firm or an investment bank, you must know that some managers are almost complete a-holes as managers. So, yes, the comment is a little fishy, but--without other knowledge--only a little.
Posted in: LA man, upset over being fired, kills wife, 5 kids, himself
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SezWho2
Triumvere,
Actually, I don't think you know what he thought.
Posted in: LA man, upset over being fired, kills wife, 5 kids, himself
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SezWho2
wuzzademcrat,
What's your point. First you complain about spending instead of tax cuts. Now you suggest that the spending isn't enough.
Of course, the NYT is not eligible for the Nobel Prize. Neither is Princeton University, which is much more his Krugman's "real employer" than the NYT. I think you can take it as a given, however, that the NYT will publish any kind of economic theory that it's readers find interesting without regard to the editor's understandings. Nobel prize winners tend to publish theories that they have faith and confidence in.
You don't say why you are concerned about Rahm Emmanuel's words nor who it is that calls him the second most powerful man in America. (I think that the NYT said that he was arguably that. There's a difference.) However, I find the quotation unremarkable. I think every politician has operated on that principle. I think intelligent people generally operate on that principle whether they are running a nation or dealing with the domestic economy of their humble families.
Posted in: Obama pushes economic plan in Congress
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SezWho2
kinniku,
I'm not sure what you are saying when you talk about also disclaiming claims of prejudice against the Palestinians. Do you mean "discounting claims"? In any event, I really don't think that prejudice is applicable in the same way. Generally speaking, I think that when people advocate for the Palestinian side they are far less likely to assert general prejudice against Palestine than they are to assert American favoritism for Israel. I suppose you could call that a claim of prejudice, but to my way of thinking it would be at best a claim of relative and limited prejudice, not a general claim.
I also think that there is a damaging conflation--perhaps on both sides--that needs to be addressed. I think both Israeli supporters and Palestinian supporters have a tendency to get carried away and to confuse support for Palestine with support for Hamas or to confuse criticism of Israel with support for Hamas. I think people also get caught up in the notion that failure to condemn is equivalent to support. And I think they are not equivalent, especially in the face of a competing and greater wrong which merits a competing and greater condemnation.
There was an interesting (at least I thought it was interesting) opinion piece in the IHT yesterday about how words could end a war. I think it also appeared in the NYT. I'm sure you could find it if you google the phrase. In any event, I thought the article outlined what is perhaps a necessary solution for any peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
As far as I can see, a truce is useless if neither side is willing to give up what it most dearly values for something that someone else considers to be a suitable quid pro quo. I personally think that Israel has been in the greater wrong in this entire matter--not just in today's Gaza, but historically. However, it will not be defeated, at least not by weaponry. So the challenge is to satisfy each sides emotional needs so that a disposition can be arrived at.
Posted in: Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce
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SezWho2
kinniku,
I think I've read quite a few of their posts. You seem working on the premise that if I had read exactly the same posts that you have, I would come to the same conclusion. I doubt that you believe that to be true, however.
Of course my prejudice is this: I almost immediately discount all claims of prejudice against Israel. That is a harp that has been played too loud and too long. It doesn't mean that prejudice doesn't exist. But it does mean that justified anger is often dismissed as prejudice.
Posted in: Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce
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SezWho2
Krugman's own employer is not a Nobel Prize Winner in Economics. Neither are the Romers, for whom no superiority with respect to objectivity has been shown. This doesn't make Krugman right, but it does lend him a gravitas which the Romers cannot claim.
Even if the Romers are right, that is somewhat beside the point. The point was that spending creates jobs more quickly than tax cuts. That tax cuts create GDP increases in greater amount than spending needs additional argument to demonstrate that Krugman is wrong.
The tens of thousands who have been and will be laid off will not be comforted if tax cuts create more prosperity eventually. They are looking for jobs today.
Posted in: Obama pushes economic plan in Congress
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SezWho2
kinniku,
I think the posters you have mentioned certainly are Palestinian partisans. However, I'd stop short of saying that they were Hamas partisans "at any price" or that they did not understand Israel. Those would be assumptions (and convenient ones for the purposes of fulmination) and not established facts.
Posted in: Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce
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SezWho2
I think it's difficult to say why he shot himself. The loss of the job seems to have been the trigger for the action, but I think it is correct to say that the trigger is not necessarily the cause. "Mental problems", however, would seem to cover a multitude of sins--anything from schizophrenia to despair.
I can't imagine a mentally healthy person doing away with his 5 children. But I can imagine a mentally healthy person being emotionally overcome and blinded by a profound sense of hopelessness. I can imagine the confluence of a burdensome mortgage, loss of job, insolent treatment and dismal prospects and the stress that could create. I can also imagine that feeling being exacerbated by a corresponding feeling on the part of his spouse.
The article indicates that the police are treating the husband as the suspect (and who are they going to prosecute?) despite his fax to the TV station indicating that the idea was his wife's. I suppose they have good reason to doubt the wife's involvement but it doesn't say here what that is. What I mostly see here is that a gun provides immediate and unchecked power to react and this is seven more people whose gun did not protect them.
Posted in: LA man, upset over being fired, kills wife, 5 kids, himself
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SezWho2
neverknow2,
That's a pretty easy google search, if that's a sincere question. I'd give you a link but yesterday a mod said that this was not the place to give links to "other publications". Any way, a med tech operates medical equipment like dialysis machines, runs tests like cardiograms and so on.
Posted in: LA man, upset over being fired, kills wife, 5 kids, himself
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SezWho2
As far as job creation is concerned, Krugman contends that tax cuts create jobs more slowly than government spending.
Posted in: Obama pushes economic plan in Congress
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SezWho2
Who is "you people"? Who is siding with Hamas "at any price"? Who is not giving "a single word of understanding to Israel"? Please specify.
Understanding Israel and agreeing with Israel are two different things.
Posted in: Hamas bombing, Israeli airstrike shake Gaza truce
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SezWho2
Here's a more current link, if two days ago will help. It doesn't indicate any concern from government leaders, but I would certainly be surprised if business was concerned but government was not.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/ITeS/IndiasoutsourcingsectorfacesbleakoutlookAnalysts/rssarticleshow/4029267.cms
or if that doesn't work,
http://tinyurl.com/apebfd
Moderator: The purpose of the discussion board is for readers to post their opinions, not post links to other publications. Furthermore, India is not relevant to this discussion.
Posted in: Tens of thousands more layoffs announced in U.S.
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SezWho2
SuperLib,
Propaganda, if it is propaganda, should be very easy to identify and dispel with fact. You don't seem to make that effort. You seem to prefer to ignore what I say and simply label me as a propagandist or as a Hamas-supporter or a pro-terrorist. That is argumentum ad hominem pure and simple. If that works for you, OK.
You can continue to return snideness to sincerity. If you're having fun with that, I guess that's OK, too. However, if you don't like what I say and if you have no counter to it, why not just be silent instead of mounting a snarky argument against the person who makes it?
Posted in: BBC slammed for refusing to air Gaza appeal
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SezWho2
Taraposa,
Who are these people?
I think there are many who criticize Israel. That does not mean that they are pro-terrorist.
Posted in: Israel vows to back soldiers accused of war crimes
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SezWho2
I don't know what pro-Hamas crowd you are talking about, but you could try addressing the arguments that people make instead of reviling them because they make arguments you don't like. I think several posters here have made comments which are critical of Israel and understanding of the Palestinian position. I think they have also expressed understanding of why Hamas acts as it does. However, if there is a pro-Hamas crowd, that's news to me.
Posted in: Israel vows to back soldiers accused of war crimes
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SezWho2
skipthesong,
I think there is an "all-or-nothing" mentality in America. However, I don't think that is the whole story. Americans, like most other people, have always been willing to lend a helping hand and--if you had come from the midwest--I think you'd find that although we seldom do barnraisings these days, we are willing to share in labor and resources.
However, I think that before most people (including non-Americans) can share, they need to be convinced that there will be a sufficiency. You can't expect people to jobshare and give up income that their families need unless not only labor, but capital and investors are willing to share the pain. If banks are not willing to renegotiate loans and creditors are not willing to relax terms of credit, calling on individuals to share is not going to work.
As for the capital and investors, the banks, creditors and so on, I think they all have an interest in surviving. However, they have been guided by the competitive model and have no expertise in how to do differently. They, too, need assurances that there is a sufficiency for their survival.
I think the question is: who does have the expertise to cobble together a solution to this dilemma. I think the answer is "no one". However, in a time of crisis, when a quick solution is needed, people must look to the government rather than waiting for the market to "work its magic".
It seems to me that Bush's mistake was that he relied on market magic. That's one philosophical extreme. Whether Obama is a socialist or not, on account of big spending he will be accused of it by those who believe in market magic. Obama's plans may fail and they may fail spectacularly. However, I doubt there is a serious alternative.
Posted in: Tens of thousands more layoffs announced in U.S.