JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Confrontation
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3
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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4
California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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5
Kuroki reported pregnant 2 weeks after denying relationship with Akanishi
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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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Wolfpack
Can't wait for the finals on Sunday. I have found that I enjoy women's soccer much more than the men's matches. The women just play. The men seem to think they are trying to win an Academy Award with all of the flops and fake screams of pain. Both teams are playing well - of course; although I haven't seen a single Japanese match, just the high-lights. They look quick and like a team of destiny. The US team is determined and certainly has the depth and talent to match up with any other team. Should be a great match - hope it comes down to overtime and a nail biting finish.
Posted in: Japan beats Sweden 3-1 for place in final
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Wolfpack
The whole idea of doing the janken tournament is something that only AKB48 have done - along with the annual elections to select the members that will get the best opportunities and presumably, the best income. It generates interest in the group and makes money. Hey, this is a business!
Talent is subjective and should be evaluated within the particular "art" in question. J-pop is what it is and doesn't aspire to be anything more than airy feel good music for the masses. If you don't like it then don't listen to it - although it is true that AKB48 is now so ubiquitous in Japan that they are nearly impossible to avoid altogether. A few commercials should be tolerable to most people.
Smorkian is absolutely correct - men of just about any age will automatically want to look at a young attractive woman. That's human nature and instinctual. Anyone who is a prude about this fact is just going to have to get over it. The problem with AKB48 is the mixing of under-aged girls and older (ie. of legal age) young women. They are trying to be a pop group that do cutesy songs to appeal to young people but they also do very adult material and at times parade around in bikini's and lingerie. To my way of thinking, the fact that this is okay in Japanese society is culturally and socially problematic. There are some nice attractive 20-something's in the group but anyone who develops an interest in them should beware of thinking that it is somehow normal to see all of the members in the same light.
Posted in: AKB48 to hold competition to choose which member will sing 24th single CD
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Wolfpack
I really don't know what the Miss Earth competition is all about. It's probably someone's idea to promote recycling or something like that. Quite frankly I don't care what the competition is all about. However I do like to see young (but not underaged) and talented women participate in them. I'm happy - they are happy - it's a win-win as far as I am concerned.
Posted in: Ex-AKB48 member Shiho Watanabe places second in Miss Earth Japan contest
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Wolfpack
People are different and will like and dislike different things. However, it's not hard to imagine that most guys like her the way she is. She is very very skinny. I don't like the runway model look all that much but her top-side keeps her out of that category. Like most Japanese girls and younger women, I'm sure that she diets like crazy and wouldn't want to augment her curves by eating KFC more than a few times a year. I haven't found her to be very unpleasant to either look at or listen to on television.
Posted in: Aki Hoshino promotes next-generation KFC store
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Wolfpack
The issue here is that the policemen gave her multiple warnings and she still didn't stop using the cell phone. Had she put it away on the first or second warning it would have been no big deal. The policemen likely didn't even want to cite her for such a minor offense but given her arrogant disregard to a law enforcement official, he must have felt that he had to charge her. The girl suffers from a lacks of common sense.
Posted in: Police, in a first, charge teen for using cell phone while cycling
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Wolfpack
@QJeffrey Duelley
If the government only cared for those that are truly unable to care for themselves then Conservatives would be quite content. The point is that governments have become so Socialist that the vast majority of those receiving some benefit or other are perfectly capable of caring for themselves and their own families. No system of government can long sustain itself in this manner. I ask you this, when a government defaults on it's soveriegn debts, what will become of the truly needy in the ensuing social chaos? Best of luck to you; I also hope that you have family, friends, and are in touch with charitable organization(s) that are able to help provide for your needs. No person truly in need should suffer from neglect.
Posted in: Hundreds of thousands strike in UK over pension cuts
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Wolfpack
If he had just killed her instead of first raping her and then killing her then I would consider it possible that it wasn't premeditated. This guy had time to consider whether he would murder her. Besides, after his evil deed, he took efforts to conceal the crime.
This is a pretty sick view of justice in the case of premeditated murder. If her had simply come to the realization that he needed to kill her while he was raping her, that is premeditated. Any justice system should subject a convicted criminal to a penalty equal to - no more and no less - than the crime itself. Execution after a properly regulated trial is in no sense of the word - murder. To call it that is just a willful misuse of words to suit someones personal morality.
If her is the murderer, then it is the responsibility of the prosecutors to prove it without doubt. This is usually very difficult to do but is the only thing that should spare him from the death penalty.
Posted in: Grim journey
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Wolfpack
There was a time when the US could win a world war in four years. America is now so entangled and confounded by the regulations and lawyers that getting just about anything done is a near impossibility.
Posted in: Obama gov't win legal battle over dumping nuclear waste
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Wolfpack
Summers in Japan are brutal. When riding the train I would count on a bit of air conditioning in order to make it through an otherwise intolerably sweaty existence. It's hot in the house because their is no central a/c. It is hot walking to the train station. It is hot waiting on the platform. A little cool air on the train is the only way to survive a trip to and from work or where ever else one needs to go. A few good points have been made here about the necessity for conserving power for people whose life literally depends on a reliable source of electricity. That said, it's going to be a nasty summer.
Posted in: Hot commute
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Wolfpack
It is a rude awakening when a socialists dream dies under an avalanche of public debt. Instead of rioting, it's time for the Greeks to roll up their sleeves and begin the hard work necessary to save their nation.
Posted in: Greece passes steep cuts as riots seize capital
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Wolfpack
@Madverts
That makes no sense. So does this make you a closet heterosexual? Also why say "get over it?" Why don't you get over incest or bestiality or whatever else you are against...
Posted in: Gay marriage backers say NY vote has national impact
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Wolfpack
@Madverts
It is simple logic to note that these are other potential types of marriage that are now likely given that traditional marriage is now considered arbitrary and exclusionary. I suppose radical liberals have trouble with logic or simply do not wish to admit that they also support these other types of marriage until they are able to get the government to validate gay marriage first.
Posted in: Gay marriage backers say NY vote has national impact
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Wolfpack
@StrangerinaStrangeLand
Prejudice because I am against gay marriage? No, not at all. Is it prejudiced to be against polygamy, beastiality, pedophilia, or incest? You admit that my points about pedophilia and incest have merit then contradict yourself by saying that I'm illogical. Whether or not religion was responsible for polygamy becoming unlawful I do not really know. However there are plenty of female bisexuals that are part of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender groups that likely view it as a civil rights issue as well. If homosexuals can marry, why can't bisexuals?
You just admit that the reasons used to justify homosexual marriage opens up marriage to further erosion with regard to all other arbitrary exclusions to marriage. If people of the same sex can get married then you now cannot give a reasoned argument against any other conceivable type of marriage. You seem to agree that there isn't reason to oppose incestuous marriage or marriage with a person that is currently considered a minor - under 18 years of age? I think you have a point. Why do you think pedophiles have such a high rate of recidivism? Just as homosexuals are naturally attracted to others of their own sex, is it not just natural for pedophiles to desire children - or 17 and 16 year olds or younger - for intimacy? Any argument you can make against these other types of "marriage" are just as arbitrary as you say the arguments against homosexual marriages are. You wanted the box opened - now you must admit that this is just the beginning of the redefining of marriage.
My argument against gay marriage is based on the fact that there is a short logical jump from opening up traditional marriage to gay marriage and with opening it up to just about any other imaginable type of relationship combination. It is terribly destructive to the stability of society and for the development of a unifying bond between all members of society.
My view now is that we should end government sanctioning of marriage all together. Why should the government be involved at all? Let your church marry you to whomever your church allows you to be married to. Don't make we support your morality with my tax dollars!!!
Posted in: Gay marriage backers say NY vote has national impact
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Wolfpack
The unions want their money regardless of whether or not it bankrupts the Unite Kingdom - of course they are on strike!
Posted in: Hundreds of thousands strike in UK over pension cuts
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Wolfpack
Class action lawsuits are in themselves reprehensible to me. How can anyone get 'their day in court' when the number of plaintiffs is in the millions? Making every woman who has worked or applied to Wal-Mart during a certain time frame as being aggrieved is ludicrous. Each individual that can prove that they have a case should definitely get their day in court. Judge each persons situation individually and if they prove their case, they should be compensated appropriately.
Posted in: U.S. Supreme Court bars mass sex bias case vs Wal-Mart
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Wolfpack
@Laguna:
These are not straw men at all - they are the logical result of not enforcing a long held human practice of encouraging the most useful way to preserve the human species. In Darwinian terms, we are talking about rejecting the fittest way of supporting and perpetuating a couples genetics into the future. Homosexuals and yes, even polygamists, pedophiles, and those in incestuous relationships and other types of relationships see laws against their natural predispositions as arbitrary and oppressive.
A law that states that two people of the same sex cannot marry is just as arbitrary as a law that says 18 is the age of consent. A law that says two close relatives cannot be married is arbitrary as well because being related doesn't necessitate that they have offspring that are subject to birth defects (particularly if one is incapable of having children). The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community is surely in favor of allowing bisexuals the same rights that gays now have in some states. Therefore, opposition to polygamy must surely be indefensible now. How can anyone who supports gay marriage be opposed to polygamous marriages?
These are all logical reasons for those that believe in traditional marriage to oppose gay marriage other than just religious ones. I am agnostic when it comes to religion and to me this isn't about religion. It's a matter of common sense and a society's ability to create a common morality and defensible mores.
Posted in: Gay marriage backers say NY vote has national impact
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Wolfpack
The price of oil has been going down for weeks already due to the economic damage that President Obama's economic policies have had on the US - and global - economy. The oil reserve is for national emergencies. The only national emergency we have is the Obama regimes Socialist economic policies.
Posted in: U.S. and others plan biggest release of reserve oil
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Wolfpack
@Laguna
Dude - you have been smoking a bit too much of that medical marijuana. President Obama is a far left ideologue (ie Socialist). Of course President Obama's plan is risky; but getting the troops home just before the next election is of paramount importance to the far left of his party so he is willing to take the chance of failure in Afghanistan.
Posted in: Joint Chiefs chairman calls Obama's Afghan plan risky
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Wolfpack
So after getting elected president by claiming that Bush started an illegal war with Iraq - a war that was endorsed on a bipartisan basis by Congress - President Obama has gotten the US in an illegal war with Libya. How ironic!
Posted in: House rebukes Obama but won't halt funds for Libya
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Wolfpack
I think it is safe to say that the Secretary of Defense doesn't support President Obama's decision to precipitously withdraw troops from Afghanistan. He simply says he "supports it" because he is ordered to do so. I am just surprised at how willing he was to state his true feelings about Obama's decision in public. I guess that when you only have a few months left in your job, it's easier to be truthful.
It should be no shock to anyone that Obama cares more about being re-elected than prevailing in some foreign war. He is aiming to have troop levels return to pre-surge levels just in time for voters to go to the polls for his re-election. When running in 2008, Obama was all in support of the war in Afghanistan. The Iraq war was just a war of choice - kind of like the war in Libya. I do give Obama credit for copying former President Bush's surge strategy in Iraq. He didn't think it would work in Iraq at the time but having been proven that he didn't have any idea of what he was talking about, he decided to stay the course with the surge.
Posted in: Joint Chiefs chairman calls Obama's Afghan plan risky