JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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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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Wolfpack
Or else they will send more people to stand around and watch Assad slaughter his people.
Posted in: Arab League tells Syria again: halt violence
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Wolfpack
Obama hasn't improved anything since taking office - even the partisanship has gotten worse (which is hard to believe but true). The only thing Obama can accomplish in two terms is twice as much debt than in a single term ($5 trillion -> $10 trillion). Seems like a nice guy, but awful president. Like Jimmy Carter on steroids.
Posted in: Republicans mount final New Hampshire blitz
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Wolfpack
I loved the series but I don't see how the concept will work well in a movie format. I am still looking forward to seeing it.
Posted in: '24' movie to begin shooting this spring
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Wolfpack
I think you are simplifying the issue. People who own guns for self defense understand very well the seriousness of having to pull a trigger to defend their life, their family, and their homes. You must have a Hollywood movie or some gang story in mind. In the case of this woman, lawfully owning a gun made it possible for her to defend herself and her child against two men. Gun violence is terrible in the US, but the alternative is an intrusive police state to go after after everyone's gun. Besides, the right to bear arms is in the Constitution (yes. I know that this doesn't stop the Left from attempting to legislate away the second amendment).
Posted in: Oklahoma woman asks 911 operator for permission to shoot intruder
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Wolfpack
I wasn't suggesting that Armitage was out to get Plame (or her husband). What I am saying is that by all accounts neither Bush nor Cheney put him up to it. Do you have any as yet unknown evidence that Armitage was working for the Bush Administration? Despite the fact that Armitage was the source for the first article "outing" Plame, no one seems to be interested in going after him. He wasn't even prosecuted by the special prosecutor. The reason for this lack of outrage at Armitage is simple, the goal of the left is to get Bush and/or Cheney, regardless of the known facts. Nothing naive about that.
The problem with government is that no one takes the handling of classified information seriously anymore. Politics is more important than any national security goal now. It's a sad reflection on the state of political competition in America today. Each side is happy to let the ship sink so long as the other side is not give an advantage. The military and the CIA are not investigating the alleged leaks for no reason what so ever. There must be some evidence for them to begin looking into the matter. Since both the CIA and the Pentagon are run by Democrats now I don't believe that politics is the motivation for the investigation.
True but the investigation has just begun. And yes, Plame was outed - by Richard Armitage.
Posted in: U.S. probes claims filmmaker given classified bin Laden mission info
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Wolfpack
President Obama will seek any advantage to gain re-election so it should not be a surprise to anyone that he is politicizing intelligence (you know, the horrible thing that Liberals claimed that Bush was always doing). It's just weird how the Obama Administration jumped on the movie angle within what seemed like seconds of bin Laden's demise.
For the millionth time already - Plame was "outed" by Richard Armitage. Doesn't anybody pay attention to anything other than their own sides propaganda anymore?
Posted in: U.S. probes claims filmmaker given classified bin Laden mission info
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Wolfpack
So there are two armed men breaking in to a woman's home and she felt that she had to call someone to ask permission to defend herself. Wow! If only the men had broken in, raped and killed her; a lot of anti-gun people would be much happier about this incident.
Posted in: Oklahoma woman asks 911 operator for permission to shoot intruder
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Wolfpack
The ocean isn't the place for playing games. Harassing the Japanese whaling ships serves no purpose but to increase Sea Shepard's publicity and fund raising. Eventually, someone is going to be killed.
Posted in: Japan whaling fleet obstructed by Sea Shepherd
2
Wolfpack
Just waiting now to see who he names to his Politburo. He is just setting a precedent that a later Republican president could use to by-pass the Senate. Dumb move and not good for the country. Obama has no use for the messy business of Democracy.
Posted in: Obama bypasses Senate to fill labor board posts
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Wolfpack
Better yet, ask Jennifer Flowers.... hahaha.
I saw this movie and didn't think it was all that bad. Kind of border-line on whether I should have spent my money at the theater or waited for the DVD to come out. For a sci-fi type movie, the central idea having a limited lifespan isn't a new one but it was done differently then what I have seen in the past.
Doing voices is a bigger deal in Japan than in most other countries so I can understand putting the women's face on the poster. They way it is digitized out it could be just about any Asian actress you can think of.
Posted in: Who is the mystery person on poster for American movie 'In Time?'
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Wolfpack
There are two sides to the story and so far we only have the accusation and indictment. Uchishiba is innocent until proven guilty; which in no way implies that he is innocent either. I do not think it is wrong for posters here to state the obvious - which is that people should take precautions to avoid putting themselves in situations where they can be taken advantage of. They were both drunk. She was so drunk that she passed out. That doesn't justify the crime. However, it is simple common sense that people protect themselves with the knowledge that bad things can happen even with people you think you can trust. For the alleged victim, hindsight does her no good now. But it does serve as a precaution in the future for her and for others.
This guy might have a history of being sexually aggressive with women and so far things don't look good because there is presumably at least some evidence in order for him to be indicted. However, women have been known to lie about being raped. Despite what women's groups might say, a woman's allegation alone is not evidence of a crime. There is more evidence yet unknown.
Posted in: Olympic judo champ Uchishiba indicted over teen rape
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Wolfpack
A two month pay-roll tax holiday doesn't really do anything for anyone. It has very little stimulative effect - as the last year's very anemic growth has shown. It damages social security because it subtracts another $30 billion from the "trust fund" without making any reforms to keep it from going bankrupt. Social security has already made the transition from a retirement program to a welfare program. Obama and Democrats demagoged the issue by saying that allowing the rate to return to normal would be a tax hike. Well, then the rate can never return to normal without it being considered a tax hike. So the program has now lost a third of it's funding.
If Obama succeeds in being re-elected with the new levels of debt projected to double from about $10 trillion to $20 trillion, American's will not feel very much like winners. This statistic alone would qualify him as the worst president in American history - hands down.
Posted in: Obama declares victory for Americans as tax deal reached
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Wolfpack
@Bicultural:
I think that bicultural thinks you are too old to have an opinion... Well, I'm not in over 50 and I don't think Gaga is all that good at all either. However, we are talking about pop-music so depth of talent isn't a requirement. She does have a lot of fans but so did Britney Spears. She did do some positive things for Japan this year with respect to the earthquake/tsunami disaster this year. Being on Kahaku Uta Gassen is a nice recognition of that. Her act is a re-tread going back to the 80's - but hey, she is making a good living. There are probably more than a few young people with an understanding of music that see Gaga's act for what it is, a simple re-cycling of Madonna's career. That's not a bad thing - it just isn't anything all that special.
Posted in: Lady Gaga to appear on 'Kohaku Uta Gassen'
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Wolfpack
It is absurd to set fire or in any way attempt to damage any part of the Yasukuni Shrine. However, it is easy to understand the reason for someone to do so.
There has always been a strain of nationalism among Japanese present even after the war that I think is quite different from say the Germans or Italians. However, it has mostly been overwhelmed by a sense that the past should be left in the past. I have seen this in that just about every Japanese person that I have gotten to know well. Most have a certain defensiveness about the war but also an inclination to paint Japan as a victim as well. This inward looking attitude infuriates people from other countries that were the recipients of so much brutality from the Japanese.
I did a bit of research and found that it wasn't until decades after the war, in January 1969, the Japanese government and representatives from the shrine established that the 14 Class A war criminals (including Tojo) and more than 1,000 other prisoners convicted of war crimes after the war, would be eligible for inclusion in a registry of persons considered 'on duty' during the war. This listing is a necessary requirement for diefication in the Yasukuni Shrine. In October of 1978, those convicted of Class A war crimes were enshrined. The Japanese government and leaders from the shrine did something very provocative and completely unnecessary; basically sticking their fingers in the eyes of their Asian neighbors and every country they went to war with 30 years earlier.
Unfortunately for Japanese today, they cannot avoid the repercussions of the actions of their nation in the first half of the 20th century. They could do a lot of good by removing the war criminals from the Yasukuni Shrine. Doing so would be an exceptionally humble act and would turn a very negative situation into something actually positive for the nation.
Posted in: Yasukuni shrine hit by arson attack
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Wolfpack
I'd prefer to see Jiro - at least he has ties to Japan and can sing.
Posted in: NHK hoping to get Lady Gaga to appear on 'Kohaku Uta Gassen'
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Wolfpack
Reminds me of the idiotic hate crimes laws in the US. Laws like these that criminalize peoples thoughts and free expression are wrong headed. A persons thoughts and beliefs are not in themselves a crime - only actions should be judged. It's a shame that Turkey is not able to face up to it's terrible history, but throwing people in jail for being willfully ignorant of history will do no one any good.
Posted in: Turkey accuses France of committing genocide in Algeria
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Wolfpack
I am amazed that anyone pays attention to her music; she is just awful.
Posted in: Going Gaga
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Wolfpack
@Ranger_Miffy2
That's funny....
Posted in: TV commercial of the week: Akina Minami and boat racing
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Wolfpack
"Entertainment" isn't what it used to be.
Posted in: Lady Gaga voted AP Entertainer of the Year
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Wolfpack
Maybe international cooperation isn't such a great idea; especially when a nation is starved of energy resources.
Posted in: Japan refuses to stop Iranian oil imports