JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Corporate Business English Trainers
- ACT Systems, Inc.（株式会社アクト・システムズ）, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥269,500 ~ ¥280,000 / Month
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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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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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TheQuestion
How did you manage to misconstrue the devestation of an economy and the deaths of thousands as a gift in any way shape or form?
Also, I get tired of mentioning this but Afghanistan and Iraq were, and always have been, two seperate conflicts with differing causes and end goals. I've always been of the opinion that the U.S was justified in going into Afghanistan after numerous attempts to have named perpetrators handed over for investigation were refused. Likewise I believe the reasoning for the Iraq war left much to be desired.
Nice oversimplification. Now if you'd like to take issue with specific portions of my original post feel free. I was told to reflect upon the reasons that the U.S deserved to be attacked, so I did, and found them wanting.
As for the wars, I've already stated that I supported the Afghanistan war but opposed the Iraq one. They are seperate instances and yet people continue to lump them together. But please, go ahead, how should the U.S have responded to Afghanistan refusing to hand over those responcible for the planning of the attacks?
Posted in: Terrorist attacks a universal television event
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TheQuestion
Comments like this have always been disgusting. The reasoning for the attacks was well spelled out in the Fatawa of 1998 which provided religious authorization for indiscriminate killing of Americans and Jews everywhere. The reasons being; sanctions against Iraq, troops in Saudi Arabia (troops that were requested and remain there at the request of that nations government mind you), and the support of Israel.
So allow me the opportunity to reflect.
We, along with dozens in the international community, supported sanctions on Iraq due to its aggressive activities in the region in addition to innumerable human rights violations. In retrospect things may have gone a lot better if those sanctions would have been even more stringent, maybe instead of invading the country Iraq could have accellerated the Arab spring by about a few years.
I already mentioned that the U.S maintains troops in Saudi Arabia at the bequest of the government there so I'll leave it at that. We are there by invitation and if a group has a problem with that they can take it up with the Saudi's...I hear they're very open to constructive criticism.
Our support for Israel is long standing. It's our only actual ally in a sea of what was then a sea of dictators and despots, it may not be the prettiest or cleanest friend to have but it's it acts as a vaulable stragetic ally in the region.
Upon reflection I still fail to see how any of this justified starting a chain of events that has been of no benefit to anybody. The U.S has spent itself into a hole, the insurgents are largely dead or in hiding, Europe is tearing itself apart, the Middle East is in upheaval, and Osama is dead.
So did I miss anything? I'd love to know exactly why the ramblings of an old man in any way, shape, or form justify the killing of thousands of people that probably didn't even know he existed. Is there some grand revelation that I'm missing here? Because maybe it's the nostelgia talking but think most people kind of liked the way things were before the attacks.
Throw a glass bottle at the ground as hard as you can at an angle...now imagine it's a thousand times larger and going several hundred miles an hour. Glass bottles are pretty sturdy and most of it's going to end up where it initially broke but bits and pieces are going to fly everywhere.
Posted in: Terrorist attacks a universal television event
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TheQuestion
Unless a swift and decisive crackdown is put in place there's likely to be more deaths, looting, and burning. Humanity is only skin deep. It's always been my belief that the sole purpose of any governing body is to protect individuals from those that wish to strip them of property or cause them deliberate harm, if it fails in even this regard it is a useless institution and should be reviewed and changed to better perform its actual duties.
The diversity buck tends to stop just beyond the main hub of commerce and politics. Though thats the case in most European countries. Within those hubs I can expected to be treated fairly well but outside of that I'm more of an exhibit than a customer.
Posted in: Cameron vows `fightback' as Birmingham seethes
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TheQuestion
A little rude don't you think? I do a lot of work over here but I've been a gun owner in the U.S for over 20 years, I have never raised a gun in anger.
Additionally theres no evidence to indicate that gun control works in other countries either. From the U.K to Austrailia gun bans and lenghty registration programs have had no effect on gun crime. The U.S has had a declining rate of violent crime for over a decade and gun control has been it's most lax and gun ownership at its highest, I don't credit loose gun control with the declining crime rate but it rather it demonstrates that guns are merely a tool to be used by the people. How the people use that tool depends on the culture in which they use it.
Posted in: 8 shot to death in Ohio, including child
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TheQuestion
That argument indicates pretty much sums up why gun control doesn't have a measurable impact on gun related crime. Those who follow the rules and go nuts are often impossible to detect and those who use a gun to commit crimes don't follow gun control laws.
Also, even if we look beyond the fact that many gun control laws toe the line on unconstitutional the enforcement of existing laws has always been the problem, not the laws themselves. Plus the logistics involved in enforcing are often far more taxing than the theoretical results. In DC for example, when the instituted the handgun ban there was not only no measurable reduction in crime but there was also no measurable drop in the number of handguns in the city. Neither did the nation wide assault weapons ban.
Actually I don't. City wide bans have proven to do little. Gun registrations have likewise done little tor reduce crime and I doubt either of these measures would have prevented this man from killing these people. No amount of paperwork can help one divine the future mental state of a person and frankly there aren't enough police, money, or will power to enforce any major gun control legislation especially considering such measures do little to protect the public while placing an undue burden on law abiding gun owners.
Posted in: 8 shot to death in Ohio, including child
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TheQuestion
Please don't put words in my mouth, it's rude. My post indicated that gun control has had a little or no effect on gun crime and actually you made my point for me. In the 90's gun control did very little nor did tighter gun restrictions, rather it was enforcement of existing laws and the targeted police pressure on criminals and changes in cultural trends.
As for some of the above proposals...have fun with that. Gun bans have already been struck down as unconstitutional as have regulations that put undue burden on citizen gun owners.
With the right permits you'd be surprised.
Posted in: 8 shot to death in Ohio, including child
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TheQuestion
That’s actually patently false. Crime in nations with gun bans was low before the bans were enacted and gun crime rates weren't dramatically effected.
Another point of fact. Murder and gun crime rates in the U.S have been going down steadily since the last spike when gun control was at its highest in the early 90 . A gun ownership is neither good nor bad, it is a right though.
Abusers of that right should face the strictest penalties available, especially when children are involved. Thankfully the death penalty is a viable option in the state of Ohio for when the perpetrator is tried and convicted.
Posted in: 8 shot to death in Ohio, including child
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TheQuestion
I probably should have specified but that's what I was refering to. Always best to tred lightly when there's new tax credits about.
Posted in: Obama proposes tax credits to hire jobless vets
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TheQuestion
I like this in theory but whatever they decide the program's going to need a lot more oversight. Fraud isn't exactly a new thing when it comes to government programs but the SDVOSB abuse cases I've seen are some of the boldest examples I've ever seen outside of the medicare program.
Posted in: Obama proposes tax credits to hire jobless vets
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TheQuestion
I don't care who you feel like blaming at this moment in time because it hardly matters now. This is going to get really really ugly.
Posted in: U.S. credit rating cut for first time ever
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TheQuestion
I always look at form first. Individual parts such as face, breast, buttocks, and legs pale in comparison to how well they fit together to form a lovely woman. Equally important is dressing classy with respect to one's features, I'm a slave to aesthetics.
As for the face, eyes first then mouth. I like a touch of eye shadow just enough to make the natural color of the eye pop and maybe some foundation but other than that make-up does more to hide feminine beauty than enhance it. Facial hair needs attending, I'm a large latin man and I take great pains to keep my facial hair trim and my unibrow waxed. Nobody should go about life trying to impress others but for God's sake ladies you owe it to yourselves to show off your beauty.
Posted in: What part of a woman's face do men pay attention to most?
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TheQuestion
The U.S actually has some very reasonable court rulings in place that allows the use of the burka without causing a significant security risk, they must be removed to give testimony, for police identification, and at business owner's discretion. On a side note the U.S is also one of the only western nations in which Sikhs may carry their kirpan's largely unmolested because we have procedures in place to make the use of such religious objects convenient and safe.
Also, I doubt anybody has a problem with the hijab, which typically reveals the face, but rather the niqab which serves to cover the entire head except for the eyes and the burqa which includes the other two in addition to the full body cover. That said, as long as the wearer removes the clothing artical for identification purposes I don't see a problem with it. If they refuse to be identified they can be taken in for resisting arrest or some similar charge linked to preventing a police officer from carying out their duties.
Posted in: Italian parliament commission approves burqa ban
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TheQuestion
Just because it's on the table doesn't mean they're going to accept it. In Netanyahu's position I certainly wouldn't want the old boarders. They are indefensible and I'm sorry but I haven't a doubt in my mind that the second Israel looks like its willing to make some concessions every other arab nation in the area is going to jump at the chance to bloody their nose. With all the revolutions and unrest going on I bet the area's unstable governments would love to divert attention to Israel and many protestors would be happy to oblige.
Posted in: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-'67 lines
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TheQuestion
Sorry, change that second 2000 to 1000 b.c . As of 2010 portions of the old testement have been discovered to be roughly 3000 years old not 4000 as I accidentally indicated.
Posted in: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway shooter's case
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TheQuestion
"According to the Office for National Statistics, based on 2006 estimates, 69.4 percent of the 7.5 million inhabitants of London were White, with 58 percent White British, 2.5 percent White Irish and 8.9 percent classified as Other White."
Sorry about rounding that .4 up but I figured at that point it would just be splitting hairs. Thats why I said 'roughly' 70% which means that the most diverse city in the U.K less diverse than the capitol of Alabama.
Never said it worked, I said it was justice. I don't believe the death penalty deters crime nor does it bring back those lost, but it's equity. And actually the age of the bible itself is debatable. While parts of it are slightly less than 2000 years old the Old Testament may date back to 2000 b.c or older.
That’s what we have the appeals process for. I'd actually rather see the process streamlined. It's very expensive to kill a murderer right now and takes far to long, I'd also like to expand the death penalty to rapists and child molesters but unfortunately such measures aren't being considered at the moment. And actually I'm a Catholic and if you've read actual church doctrine you'd know that the Church is strongly against capital punishment, my views are my own influenced by my background having seen the failures of a justice system based on rehabilitation. I believe in punishment.
Posted in: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway shooter's case
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TheQuestion
Oh please. As soon as you get beyond the embasies it becomes just as homogenous as the rest of Europe the city itself being roughly 70% white with the majority of them being white U.K natives.
Oh, I never said I would never consider killing, just that I'd never consider killing someone I've never met. Some attest to the idea that we are all one, that society is the ultimate triumph and that through collaboration we can solve our problems. That line of thinking is lovely but also dangerously flawed. Human beings are, at their core, animals and eventually you get a few mad dogs. People don't change, they may get smarter, more confident, or even more controlled but at the end of the day they are what they are.
I've said it multiple times now. The two countries mentioned are incomperable. You keep trying to compare a small, homogenous nation of people with a shared racial identity to one with the third largest, and by far, most diverse populations on the face of the earth. Each state has it's own culture and a thousand different smaller ones within it, trying to apply blanket measures will inevitably fail.
Posted in: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway shooter's case
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TheQuestion
But from those who were captured we've learned exactly what I've already stated. There's simply no way to differentiate them from the general population until the time at which they snap. They are often very private and rarely, if ever, give warning signs about their intent. The same appears true in this instance as well.
Comes with the territory of being a diverse nation, as I've already stated. Different cultures have difficulties meshing and self-segregate without the need of government imposed seperations, forcing them together is often a bloody affair so our prisons don't force the issue.
There is no better or worse when it comes to justice, only equity. Prison time in exchange for murder has never been equitable by my estimations, I don't believe in rehabilitation and I feel that long prison sentences are cruel and burdensome to innocent taxpayers. In all seriousness I'd rather see a felon beaten than sent to prison, the very idea of my money going to pay for the meal of a murderer disgusts me.
People make choices, choices have consequences. Take away equitable punishment and the system becomes pointless. People take what is given to them and do what they will with it. I've suffered more than some but less than others yet I'd never even think of killing someone I didn't know. I don't care what lead him down this path but the decision was his and he should pay for it, sadly he never will.
Posted in: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway shooter's case
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TheQuestion
Same song different chorus. Several have been captured. But from the Port Arthur killer to Arizona shooter and now the Norway gunman all were largely non-violent, fairly quiet, and showed absolutely no remorse for their actions.
Half of which are non-violent and/or victimless crimes that the U.S takes very seriously. The U.S also has longer, harsher prison sentences and if you look at the FBI charts the rate of violent crime in the U.S has been on the decline for years.
Larger, more ethnically diverse nations tend to have higher crime rates. The U.S and Russia being two of the leading examples. Both have large populations with a variety of backgrounds that constantly conflict with each other. I've said it before, Norway and the U.S are incomperable.
Posted in: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway shooter's case
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TheQuestion
I highly doubt that. Very few mass murderers, regardless of nationality or justification, ever show remorse for their actions. Pump him full of enough drugs and you might get him to say he's sorry a few times but he'll never mean it.
It's not that terribly rare. The only thing we've learned from these people is that they rarely have a history of violent crime, they stay in remote circles out of public view, and harbor private convictions of persecution and societal decay. All in all most mass murderers are virtually impossible to distinguish from your average cynic/ self-described 'visionary' that populate college campuses and work places across the world until they actually commit the crime.
Posted in: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway shooter's case
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TheQuestion
Short answer. No. The alternative to the bombing required a higher price than the U.S was willing to pay and even if the Japanese were on the ropes they gave no outward indication that they would surrender. Suicide attacks had unnerved many commanders and the idea of fighting an enemy that would use themselves as living bombs was, at the time, an alien and utterly terrifying prospect. The cities were known military targets. While other, admittedly better, targets were considered weather and logistical constraints narrowed the choices down to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We had a limited number of atom bombs and they needed to be used to affect rapid surrender.
Posted in: Do you consider the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be war crimes?