JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 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
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- Assistant Language Teacher - TOKYO - late-March start
- Interac, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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- Assistant Language Teacher - Kanagawa Prefecture - late-March start
- Interac, Kanagawa
- Salary: ¥230,000 ~ ¥255,000 / Month
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TPOJ
This is, quite literally, blaming the messenger for the message.
I have no idea how anyone can ethically claim this guy has any responsibility. It's an open forum. Are they seriously suggesting the website has some responsibility for the guy that went nuts and stabbed people? Hell, why not blame the company that made the car he drove?
I know scapegoating is a natural impulse, but don't these people THINK at all?
Posted in: 2 Channel founder says don't blame him for criminals' posts
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TPOJ
It's clear she and Bill despise the guy.
supporting =! liking
Posted in: McCain ad says Obama snubbed Clinton in VP pick
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TPOJ
Is McCain unaware that people are supposed pick what they consider the best candidate, and that they're not under any obligation to choose someone just because they took part in the race? Is he suggesting that Clinton would make a better VP than Biden? WTF?
Ok, before I get nailed, I got this in my mail the other day.
(By the way, this is directed at the email, not you)
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
It's unnecessary (and, frankly, a waste of time) to refute it point by point. Just ask yourself:
Why do the points with sources not compare themselves to anything? Why do the points that compare themselves to other things not have sources?
I don't have time to go through and research every bit of "information" there. But bullst tends to smell like bullst, and damn, does that email stink.
Let me put it this way: if these things are true, I'll wait for someone to explain it in adult language.
Let me give you an example:
The Democratic candidate will return to the higher tax rates: It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever.
Yes, because taxes are the only possible way you can screw someone. Everyone really is that shallow.
cough
What you have here is a gigantic, infected case of what is called confirmation bias:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Could some of it be right? Sure. But as I said before, "right" will out eventually, and since I don't have unlimited time to research spam emails which are obviously written by laughably biased individuals, I'll wait until a grown up tells me.
It's unrealistic to expect people to have every fact at their fingertips, just as it's unrealistic to have a rock solid interpretation of every single fact. I'm human, I have to rely on my (possibly) faulty judgment. As as a professional writer, I'm telling ya: whoever wrote that was REAL careful when they put it together, and I don't mean about the integrity of their ideas.
Posted in: McCain ad says Obama snubbed Clinton in VP pick
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TPOJ
Agreed. But who decides when the threat is credible?
Well, it's really a case by case thing. There's no perfect system here, but basically, the best way to figure it out is...what we're doing here. Talking about it, making sure there's actually a problem, making sure it's not just the whining of people losing an advantage they were used to (but weren't really entitled to.)
And thank you for being less of a dick than I was ;)
Posted in: Ainu rise up from the margins of Japanese society
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TPOJ
Exactly, its okay for a minority to be proud of who they are and to wish to remain united and to live amongst their own kind, but Japanese or whites are racist or ignorant if we want to defend our culture and solidarity.
No, we're not. The difference being that there's no need to "defend" our culture. Our culture is the dominant one. When you "defend" something that doesn't need defending, it reads as a superiority trip. Sorry, that's the price of being the majority. Fair? Maybe not. Too bad.
Nobody calls anyone racist or ignorant if Germans celebrate German culture in America, or if Irish celebrate their culture in Australia. That's pride. "White" culture is a hodge podge of vastly different European cultures, and is far too generic a term to take seriously. It also has a long, unambiguous history of being used as little more than a superiority trip and a power grab, usually with profoundly racist overtones and actions.
Solidarity is something totally different. Solidarity is something that is necessary under duress, but if you're in charge and start talking about "solidarity" and "defending" a culture that's on top, people get (quite rightly) nervous. The dictionary definition of solidarity does not have superior overtones, but if you think the common usage doesn't you're delusional. 99% of people will read racism into the phrase "white solidarity," and they have extremely good reasons for doing so. You really should know this already.
When people in charge start complaining that they don't get enough respect, history has shown that bad, bad, BAD things happen. CELEBRATING a dominant way of life is, and always has been, just fine. Do people get cranky over celebrating the 4th of July, Easter, The Super Bowl? No. You do get a few people who are upset about Christmas, but they're very few and far between, and the criticism tends to be focused on Christian demands to control the situation beyond what they're entitled to expect.
Let's say you have 10 people. If 2 of them decide to see a movie and don't invite the other 8 along, who cares? But if 9 of them decide to exclude one for whatever reason, that's discrimination. Sorry, but that's what the word means. Now, that discrimination may have a good basis (i.e. the one guy doesn't behave himself, etc.) Not all discrimination is bad. But saying "we're going because it's a white guy thing," well...what's left for the one? Sorry guys, if you're in charge, you do have an ethical responsibility to make sure people different than you aren't bounced out of life due to things beyond their control. It's called "society," and what's right is not always fair to the most technical degree.
"Defending" a way of life that is not under credible threat is NOT about pride, it's about control. Nobody's calling the Japanese racist just because they celebrate Obon, and nobody calls the Irish racist because they celebrate St. Patrick's.
Posted in: Ainu rise up from the margins of Japanese society
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TPOJ
You can have an identity as Ainu, but we Japanese don’t know what we can be proud of
Yikes. Are they serious?
I guess this is an unexpected consequence of pushing conformity. When people who grew up in a conformist society see someone with an individual identity, they assume that they don't have one themselves.
These people need to get out of Japan and see other cultures for contrast. Yes, Japan has a lot of nastiness in its past, but that's hardly specific to Japan. Do these people really think they don't have anything in their culture that would be a counterpart to whatever they see in Ainu culture?
Posted in: Ainu rise up from the margins of Japanese society
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TPOJ
It speaks volumes about the situation here that this question is a difficult one :P
Posted in: If you had a big date planned for tonight and your boss suddenly asked you to work overtime, would you tell the boss no or cancel your date?
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TPOJ
JetBlue isn’t charging extra because it wants to make money - perish the thought.
Oh, come on.
If the basic goal of PR pisses you off that much, leave civilization. This has been going on since before any of us were born. It's not the height of integrity, no, but "perish the thought?"
Nevertheless, candor is called for in this latest version of pillow talk: namely, acknowledgment that new fees are prompted not out of concern for the health of air travelers but the health of airlines.
Why? Seriously? This is a business, not the government. It's advertising and business strategy, not therapy. I'm as irritated as anyone by goofy business spin, but is there ANYONE who isn't thoroughly aware of why this is happening? Pick your battles, dude...
Posted in: Pillow talk, airline-style
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TPOJ
I'm guessing the whole debate on this centers around deterrence, i.e. will criminals be more likely to commit crimes if they know they're not going to be executed.
My answer is this: if you're the kind of person who's going to kill someone, chances are that degree of logic is not your strong suit.
If they can actually figure something out by studying them, great. If not, they're not doing a whole lot more than thumbing their noses at the victims.
Progress is important, and revenge might not be the most admirable trait, but there does have to be some sense of justice for the victims. My ultimate point is this: it really needs to be treated case by case, but frankly, I don't think the Japanese system can handle ANYthing case by case: murder, assault, jaywalking, anything.
Posted in: Our approach to reducing crime should not be killing those who harm us. On the contrary, in the interest of learning what makes them tick, we should keep violent criminals alive and conduct thorough research on them.
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TPOJ
And undecided continues to show that he simply doesn't get it. No one is asking anyone to 'observe outdated Birtish(?) ideas about decorum'. No one is complaining about a long yell or even yelp after victory. No one is putting down the victory lap.
Did he say they were? I'm seeing comparisons to things that people aren't criticizing. If they WERE criticizing them, there wouldn't be much of a comparison to make.
Still waiting for an answer on this question:
Is there some support for this statement other than the victory yell?
Posted in: What do you think of American swimmer Michael Phelps' long victory yell after he wins a race?
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TPOJ
No, that's wrong. It really would be more surprising from a Brit, since they have a better reputation for not being arrogant.
In sports, perhaps. But saying something like that when criticizing arrogance is pretty much undiluted hypocrisy.
Oh yes, and having done a bit of research on this...this is not typical behavior for Phelps. There's a clip on YouTube of him breaking a World Record and barely registering emotion.
What was different this time? Well, I dunno, how about coming in from behind and defeating someone who has been talking sh** about you and your country at the last possible second in front of millions of people?
Some people need to stop being all right about stuff for a bit and think about the second to second mechanics of what they expect from this guy. Olympic competition, millions upon millions watching, competing with someone who has been taunting you, last second snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, insane amounts of adrenaline running through your body. Oh, but make sure you're nice.
It's very easy to have, uh, "standards" when you're on the other side of the TV. Judging this guy for that reaction in those circumstances belies a lack of understanding of human nature so overwhelmingly complete that I'm amazed we're part of the same species.
Would some people react differently? Yep. People are different. Thinking that a situation like this is a useful indicator of personal integrity is so utterly removed from reality that I don't really know what else I can say.
Posted in: What do you think of American swimmer Michael Phelps' long victory yell after he wins a race?
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TPOJ
If you can't tell the difference between confident and arrogant, I think that says more about you than it does about any of the swimmers.
Is there some support for this statement other than the victory yell? Because there's a bit of difference between genuine arrogance and a momentary, adrenaline fueled burst of celebration.
And no, what someone does for a couple of seconds in the heat of the moment is NOT an indication of the kind of person they are.
Posted in: What do you think of American swimmer Michael Phelps' long victory yell after he wins a race?
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TPOJ
I haven't been watching the olympics, am generally irritated by my fellow Americans' boorish behavior, and have a basic distaste for cocky sports attitudes. But this is ludicrous. This guy has spent his entire existence building up to this moment, beats out an arrogant opponent that had been talking trash...
...and people judge him because he didn't make an appropriate noise when he won.
Good lord.
Yes, it would be nice if everything was rainbows and kittens, if everyone bowed politely when they won, and modeled their behavior on whatever will make the average chump happy when sitting in their armchair drinking beer.
I know people have differing opinions, but this is pathetic. There's armchair quarterbacking, and there's this. It's petty, small minded, and frankly, I'd say it's a window into a person's character. How old are you people? At least when Phelps acted foolish, he had a spectacularly good motivation to do so.
Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by nothing but bitter, cranky retirees.
Posted in: What do you think of American swimmer Michael Phelps' long victory yell after he wins a race?
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TPOJ
*However, there are also right-wingers in the church, and some of them go so far as saying that Catholics not only can, but should visit Yasukuni because of something a Vatican cardinal said in 1936.
(snip)
Therefore, the Vatican said Catholics could visit shrines, since such visits were a matter of patriotism rather than religion.*
Um, yes, this was in 1936. The reasons people have for not visiting the shrine are a bit more, uh, recent than that.
Before the flame war starts:
Honoring war dead: good. Honoring war criminals: bad.
That is the issue. It is not xenophobic, arrogant, soplistic, or otherwise anti-Japanese to think that keeping convicted war criminals in a place of honor is wrong.
That said, the point that this will fade away is, I think, valid:
About 40 make-believe militia in blue fatigues showed up. Apparently, the aging of Japan is hitting the rightists: most of the “troops” were in paunchy middle age
Translation: the only people who care are the kind of aging cranks that every country has.
Posted in: The Catholic Church and Yasukuni shrine
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TPOJ
Concerning democracy, it is not the President's job to keep the US a free democracy, but the citizens/voters.
So that whole "presidential oath" thing is just for s**ts and giggles, huh?
Posted in: Bush greeted by demonstrations in South Korea
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TPOJ
I watched reports on Fox NEws of Bush in Korea, they said most Koreans support him.
In other news, North Korean news broadcasts state that Kim Jong-il is a nice guy, loves everyone, and poops rainbows. Why would they lie?
Really? FOX NEWS said people liked Bush?
Holy crap, I think Hell just froze over.
/sarcasm
Posted in: Bush greeted by demonstrations in South Korea
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TPOJ
At one time, being an educated Japanese woman meant skill in traditional arts, etiquette and posture. Gothic lolita is cultural degradation and the plots of those anime are intellectual kryptonite.
Can't say I agree with this sentiment. While I'm not going to denigrate the traditional arts, etiquette and posture, the history of "educated" women, so far as those are concerned, were essentially there as marriage bait. Women were not encouraged to excel in their field, they were encouraged to educate themselves so they'd make their husbands proud. That's not really something I'd care to return to, although the surface elements (the arts, et al) are obviously something that should be encouraged.
Gothic Lolita is not a "cultural degradation." It's a fashion. Fashion is not important. If it were, it wouldn't be called "fashion." I suppose, if you really wanted to, you could stretch that idea to say that the ornate fashion of geisha has "degraded" into that of the Gothic Lolita, but that's just what I said...a stretch.
Suicide rates, rampant alcoholism, repaving the roads every two and a half months, nutjobs stabbing people at random...THESE are cultural degradations. Gothic Lolita, et al might well be silly, but, in the grand scheme of things, there's nothing wrong with silly. It's a release valve. It's not as if they're stabbing each other just to steal a frilly hat.
I definitely think the infantilism as a lowbrow escape from elegance is.
I've really gotta take issue with this whole sentence. People don't "escape" from elegance, they move towards what they're attracted to. I'm as appreciative of high art as anyone (more so, possibly) but suggesting that everything else is a substitute is snobbery.
These people are just being themselves...and most of 'em are basically still kids. There's no need to bury them in sociological theories. They're just going through the same identity shifts that I went through as a goth in High School, my brother went through as a jazz nerd in Middle school, and you most likely went through in some form or another when you were in your late teens/early 20s. The sky is not falling, let kids be kids.
The ideals are different, but it is not as if cuteness is some sort of second best.
Exactly.
Posted in: I think many Japanese women feel that they can never live up to the refined beauty that they feel Western women strive for. So, instead, they shoot for a cute look, one that doesn’t require tall, curvaceous bodies and instead emphasizes girlishness.
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TPOJ
“We understand it might be beneath a worldwide celebrity of Barack Obama’s magnitude to appear at town hall meetings alongside John McCain and directly answer questions from the American people, but we hope he’ll reconsider,” spokesman Brian Rogers said.”
I'm old. I remember when it was the left that had maturity issues.
Posted in: Obama backs away from McCain's debate challenge
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TPOJ
OK, I forgot to include my ultimate point, apologies if my last post seems to be going off topic. Let's try that again:
McCain insisted he was running a “respectful” campaign and brushed off complaints from critics and even some supporters that his tone had taken a sharply negative turn in recent days.
My comments directed at USAPatriot are more or less the same as the ones I direct at this quote. To wit: when you're confronted with people who have fallen under the delusion that something can be made true by simply stating it, where do you go with it? Should I call McCain a liar? What if he actually believes that crap?
Posted in: McCain defends web ad mocking Obama
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TPOJ
Wow, USAP, I'm amazed we're not all sticking to the walls from the spin in that response.
I was unaware that you were a Washington insider, knowing the candidates' personalities so well. That MUST be true, otherwise you'd just be another opinionated goofball who lacks the mental capacity to understand that reality was not mass produced using your viewpoint as a template.
The problem with current politics is that it's almost impossible to respond to people like you without getting personal. Not out of spite, but because a discussion is supposed to address a problem, and your personality is the problem.
Either that or you're just some guy saying the dumbest think you can think of to see what happens. Either way, whatever.
Posted in: McCain defends web ad mocking Obama