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
Republican John McCain on Friday defended his campaign’s new web ad mocking Barack Obama as a presumptuous messianic figure, saying it was important to “display a sense of humor” in the presidential contest.
I have a proposal:
Anyone who actually buys that should be sterilized. They're clearly too stupid to reproduce.
Unfortunately, most people that clueless are older, and have probably already had kids.
Maybe we should just start up the Soylent Green campaign.
Posted in: McCain defends web ad mocking Obama
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TPOJ
“It’s a leap, electing a 46-year-old black guy named Barack Obama,” he said, adding that the message Republicans have for voters is simple: “He doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bill.”
Much as it pains me to say it, he's right.
That sounds like it's just a cheap shot against the right, but I've had more than a few conversations with family members who seem to have some kind of fetish with Obama's "unpresidential demeanor."
As if a fist bump is somehow more degrading than a basic inability to form a sentence in your mother tongue.
Yes, it's anecdotal.
Have you ever seen Bill O`Reilly? That guy is the most honest, stright down the line guy i have ever seen.
If this isn't sarcasm, I would strongly suggest you ask Nas about that one:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/07/28/bill-oreilly-responds-nas-fox-protest-calls-rapper-vile/
Bill has been caught more than once manufacturing "facts" to shore up his opinions. This is not "my take" on the situation, this is a cold hard fact.
Not trying to get off topic, my point is that the "standards" of the "fair and balanced" media are starting to wear thin, and many of the politicians on the right are still trying to play to that. To wit:
“I don’t hear very much positive from Sen McCain,” he said. “He seems to be only talking about me. You need to ask John McCain what he’s for, not just what he’s against.”
In other words, stop spinning, and deal with the situation.
Even if McCain is a Bush clone, don`t you think it is the best way forward for the nation. An Obama victory would turn our great nation into a laughing stok of the world.
I'll let the second grade punctuation and spelling on that speak for itself.
Look, I was a SERIOUS McCain supporter in 2000. I would have liked to see him run in 2004, although of course that wasn't gonna happen. Now? I don't trust Obama any further than I can throw him, but if all he does is act as a roadblock to the out of control spending, legal trainwrecks, and egos of the current administration, I might have to close my eyes, grit my teeth, and vote for him.
Posted in: Obama says McCain equals 4 more years of Bush
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TPOJ
Interestingly, I interviewed a Japanese man the other day who said that conformity has gone UP considerably in the last 40 years. He blamed the schools.
Much like the "Under God" in the American Pledge, the idea of conformity in Japan is treated as some kind of inherent tradition, despite the fact that both seem to be only 50 years old or so.
The inability to address change and deal with turmoil is made worse by regressive thinking: i.e. "let's go back to...whatever."
People aren't built to be put BACK into a box. Especially if that box is defined by a history that is, let's be honest, more trend than longtime standard. The guy I interviewed said that while individualism wasn't rampant in the past, it wasn't nearly as pronounced as it is now, and he placed the blame firmly on the educational system.
My ultimate point is one that's been made about Japan a million times: repression is not a virtue, and it WILL bite you in the ass. "Society" can't really do much about these individuals as they exist now. All it can really do is try to improve its direction, and wait for the symptoms of its past mistakes to burn themselves out.
Posted in: What do you think is causing the recent spate of random stabbings in Japan and how can society address the problem?
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TPOJ
Is disc death really that much of an issue? I'm a music collector, DVD nut, and a former SysAdmin. I can count the number of "bad" discs I've had on one hand.
Sheesh people. Stop using your discs as frisbees.
Posted in: Disc protection
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TPOJ
What kind of loser takes their own and somebody elses life.
Is that what happened?
Posted in: Father, daughter found dead at home in Osaka
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TPOJ
I'm as painfully aware of anyone of the shortcomings of my home country, I should point out that the US leads in charity, bailing other countries out, etc.
That said, Bush's response to the Kyoto Protocol was infuriatingly immature.
Blame out leaders, not us. Most of us don't like him, and the ones who do have a complex.
Posted in: America is the most selfish country.
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TPOJ
He wants to help junior and high school children through martial arts because he believes their state of mind is very unstable.
Outside of putting a qualifier on that statement (i.e. a lot of kids, not all,) I can't find anything wrong with this sentiment.
Posted in: My job is to provide an environment for children to grow healthy, both physically and mentally. That's what this country needs now more than ever.
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TPOJ
"Innocent until proven guilty" is a difficult concept to live up to...we all think "guilty" when we see someone accused of something in a formal manner, fair or not. You really have to fight your inclinations to be even handed about it.
Is there ANY evidence whatsoever that Japanese culture knows how to go against its inclinations?
Which is the most likely scenario in a juror's mind, first time they see the accused?
1- "Maybe I should hold off on judgement and not believe everything the prosecutor says. If they're guilty, he's going to need to prove it to me."
2- "The prosecuting attorney says this one did it, but if I see an innocent person on trial sometime in the future, I will stand up for them."
Posted in: How effective do you think the lay jury system will be when it starts in Japan next year?
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TPOJ
“This is a nation that has faced tough challenges in the past and overcome them, and we will do so again,”
Yes, we will. I believe this. In fact, I believe we've been trying to do this for years, but we couldn't because of the spectacular idiocy of our leaders.
“With sound policies in Washington and the ingenuity of our citizens, our economy will emerge from this period stronger and better than before.”
See what I mean? "Sound policies from Washington?" When ya gonna start with that, George?
Posted in: Bush assures Americans that U.S. economy will 'pull through'
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TPOJ
Daisuke is a 23-year-old “freeter” (part-time worker) who was careless enough to leave a letter from a casual lover lying around for his live-in lover to see.
Sorry, THIS guy got what he deserved.
Posted in: Spurned women wreak vengeance
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TPOJ
Are people laboring under the delusion that "sticking to your guns" is somehow inherently better than "changing with the situation"?
And no, before you anti-Obama goons jump to completely unreasonable conclusions, I do NOT mean being wishy washy. Tenacity is a virtue. Stubborn refusal to face reality just because you had a different opinion earlier is not.
God. I used to count myself among the members of the Right. WTF happened to them??!?!
Posted in: McCain TV ad accuses Obama of shifting views on Iraq for political gain
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TPOJ
I think Bush and Blair would treat you a lot better.
A pickpocket will be nicer to you than a rapist.
Remember when Clinton got nailed for lying? Remember when people said it was no big deal, that politicians lie all the time? And remember when we (I was one of these people) said that it was still a crime, and that "moral relativity" was a bad thing?
What happened to that?
Posted in: Do you think the International Criminal Court should be able to charge world leaders with crimes?
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TPOJ
You're entitled to your opinion. And I believe that much of what you stated, while no one would disagree, is all with the benfit of hindsight.
What about those of us who have been saying this all along?
Can someone please tell me what Bush has done right?
Thus far I have predicted, with unsettling accuracy, the train wreck that the Iraq War has become, the fact that Saddaam had no WMDs (and that the "they're in Syria" defense would turn out to be complete BS,) the inability of "stimulus" checks to do jack s**t for the economy, etc. And I'm a guy who voted for him the first time around.
Because of this, I've been called a traitor, Liberal (ha! right,) hippie (double f***ing ha!), etc.
Am I to conclude that an ability to accurately predict reality from available evidence means I hate America? If the Sarge's and USARonins of the world would spend less time looking for excuses to feel superior and more time actually holding their leaders accountable, then I would have been proven gloriously, mercifully, thankfully wrong. And I would have been man enough to admit it. Hell, I would have been OVERJOYED to admit it.
Stop whining about the Dems, you dinks. Get off your faux-superior butts and contribute something worthwhile for a change.
Posted in: House Speaker Pelosi calls Bush 'a total failure'
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TPOJ
This is distressing.
I think that Global Warming is greatly overblown, but that would mean that I would be agreeing with Sarge.
And as any casual observer can easily note, Sarge's track record is utterly abysmal.
Which makes me think this global warming thing might be an issue after all.
Question for ya - Do you really think that by stopping driving our SUVs and cooling our homes with air conditioning that we can stop or even significantly slow down whatever Mother Nature has in store for us?
Well, Steven Hawking does. He's smarter than both of us.
That doesn't mean he's always right. But the fact that he disagrees with you is pretty strong evidence in his favor.
Posted in: Citing effects on U.S. economy, Bush passes global warming problem to next administration
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TPOJ
5000 yen a year is less than $50, I think all teachers should be able to afford it.
Sorry, I should have been more clear: they don't make enough money to throw it away on fiction, even if it IS only ¥5000 a year.
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TPOJ
That is is the teachers fault! What are they talking about?
The last one (sloppy paperwork) is a terrible example, but the others aren't.
The point is that, to put it inelegantly, s**t happens. And as people get more comfortable, they become less and less able to accept that. If you're in charge of two kids and one stabs the other, then yes, you're negligent. If you're in charge of 30?
The ultimate point is that if you expect a group of underpaid people to act as superheroes (i.e. control every child's movement at all times, which is essentially what you're expecting if you freak out over every accident) you're bound to be disappointed. And disappointment is not always grounds for a lawsuit.
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TPOJ
Once upon a time, teachers actually taught and parents respected them.
Do you really think that's the cause and effect? That's not how people work. The idea that a whole profession is uniformly slacking is MUCH LESS likely than the idea that a handful of over privileged parents have ratcheted up the stress factor.
When I was an English teacher, I had a student who taught in a High School. Some of her students were caught smoking IN THE PARK. Off school grounds, after school hours. One student's father AND the principal called her in for a "meeting" and ripped her a new one.
Teachers don't make that much money: they're not going to buy insurance over a fantasy. They can't afford it.
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TPOJ
Plot Goes to town Does what he needs Gets in trouble with japanese Gets a japanese women confronts japanese End ????? PROFIT
You just described every "stranger in a strange land" film ever made, Japanese or no.
These days there are two types of films made by American film makers about Japan. The first hits you over the head with a WWII reference, and the second puts 2 losers (aka "Lost in Translation") in Japan and hits you over the head with stereotypes about how Westerners are treated in Japan.
Ditto.
When there's a film about foreigners going to a new place, the film is going to center on culture clash. These types of films are archetypes.** Japan's treatment isn't special. **
Posted in: Glover examines prejudices in new film set in Japan
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TPOJ
Wasn't there an incident a year or so ago when some American city, I forget where, was paralysed for hours while police rushed around defusing umpteen 'explosive devices' that turned out to be advertising signs?
Yeah, and they were REALLY goofy. An electronic alien flipping people off.
Look, terrorism is obviously a major concern, but yes, you CAN mock them for overreacting. Potential ANYthing is not an excuse to let paranoia run rampant. Common sense need not take a holiday.
Posted in: Forgetful janitor triggers Toyko subway terrorism scare
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TPOJ
“Our medium- and long-term goal,” this official says, “is to change night-life to day-life”—for the sake of the environment, presumably.
Why do I have the image of some cranky, authoritarian old guy whining about how people "in his day" didn't stay up all night?
Does anyone think this will actually do anything useful? Or is it just a group of busybodies trying to enforce their personal view on issues that would otherwise be none of their damned business?
Posted in: Plan to cut convenience store hours 'playing with fire'