JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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- 秘書及び業務サポート
- 加治金属工業株式会社, Tokyo
- Salary: ¥4.0M / Year
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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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- ALT - Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - June start
- NPO法人グローバル教育推進機構（GLAD), Mie
- Salary: ¥230,000 / Month For a full working month. Some months differ.
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bobobolinski
I don't know about skating, but I always thought Troussier did alright at the football. Won the Asian Cup in 2000, and in 2002 drew with Belgium and beat Russia and Tunisia, before going out in the knock-out stage; compare with 1998 (lost all three) and 2006 (one draw, two defeats), he's probably been the best international coach Japan have had. Maybe he didn't make much attempt to assimilate?
Posted in: Is Miki Ando's skating coach a Japan hater?
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bobobolinski
Right, that has a proven track record. Indeed, I can't think of anywhere it has failed.
Posted in: Gadhafi says sorry for UK policewoman's death in 1984
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bobobolinski
Actually, meteorologists can tell you, with some latitude for error, what is going to happen tomorrow. And seismologists might not be able yet to forecast when earthquakes will occur, but the analysis of plate tectonics which has developed through scientific research gives a pretty good picture of where and why earthquakes happen. As for biology, I would like to know which books you are referring to, since the commonly accepted hypothesis, not "fact", is that life began about 3.5 billion years ago. So, when three different groups of scientists examine the evidence and seriously analyze the Turin Shroud, most sensible people would accept what they say until some better analysis comes along.
Posted in: Italian group claims to debunk Shroud of Turin
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bobobolinski
I think that people back in the Middle Ages when the shroud was made would have a lot better idea than we do about what a cloth that had been wrapped around a body would look like. I was a bit surprised that this was still going on, since I the radiocarbon dating had conclusively proved it is a fake, but as the man says, those who believe will always believe.
Posted in: Italian group claims to debunk Shroud of Turin
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bobobolinski
Badge213 at 7.19 commented, > >
"Narita is in Chiba and those are Chiba Prefectural Police Officers. Immigration Inspectors are Federal Government inspectors. None of them are Tokyo Government employed."
Narita is the international airport for Tokyo. If tourists or other visitors are coming to Tokyo they come through Narita, where they will be fingerprinted, photographed, and then after clearing immigration and customs it is possible that they will be stopped in public areas of the airport, around the train and bus departure areas, and questioned by the police. This, to my knowledge, does not happen in any other country. Perhaps Japan, and Tokyo in particular, doesn't really want foreign visitors.
Moderator: Back on topic please. Narita airport is not relevant to this discussion.
Posted in: Ishihara blames Tokyo 2016 failure on behind-the-scenes deals
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bobobolinski
As this report notes, the original intention of coalition forces in Afghanistan was to suppress al-Quaida, but it was not to indulge in nation-building, the establishment of democracy, the eradication of heroin production, to get involved in an intractable civil war between a number of tribal groups and factions, or to go to war with Pakistan. But now we are told these are the objectives, though it is unclear at what point, if ever, any or all of these goals will be met. Perhaps a majority of Afghans welcome the presence of the American airforce and the massive amounts of aid disappearing into the warlords' bank accounts, but I don't believe the British electorate want any more of this.
Posted in: British PM defends Afghan mission
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bobobolinski
And since that will be more or less a permanent problem, then we (US, Britain, et al) are there permanently.
Posted in: British military death toll in Afghanistan higher than in Iraq
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bobobolinski
It's all very well for Mr Brown and his supporters to bluster on about being committed to finishing the task and sticking with it until the end of the mission. But what is the mission? Perhaps Mr Brown, as Mr Blair before him should have, might inform the British public what exactly the mission is and what it will look like when it is finished. Or maybe they don't want to publicize the fact that the western military forces are going to have to be in Afghanistan permanently, with the current rate of death and destruction a minimal level of what will happen in the coming years.
Posted in: British military death toll in Afghanistan higher than in Iraq
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bobobolinski
Samuraiiki and The True,
It's a kid dressing up going to see a fantasy movie based on a fantasy book; nothing to do with cartoons, is it? You will see similarly dressed kids, and quite a few adults, at the premieres in New York and London as well. Oh, and the name's MacArthur.
Article Unavailable
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bobobolinski
[Sarge]
Not really. Goes back to McGovern 1972 at least. It's all part of the game both sides play. So, if Gov Palin isn't up for it, she should look for another job.
Posted in: Palin links resignation to 'higher calling'
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bobobolinski
Not being from Alaska, shouldn't comment on this, but the situation seems quite clear. Either Gov Palin is resigning for political reasons or for personal reasons. If for political reasons, like she is going to run for president and doesn't want the encumbrance of being a governor, it seems fair enough, but shouldn't she come out and say so? Or, if it is personal, and she really has had enough of being a public figure, with all the criticism and nastiness that goes on, again fair enough. But isn't there a sense here that it is really reason 1 - political - but that it is too early, politically, to declare as such, so reason 2 - personal - is being put forward. If Gov Palin doesn't like the kind of attention she got since coming onto the national stage, maybe she isn't cut out for the job?
Posted in: Palin links resignation to 'higher calling'
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bobobolinski
Well, while I am at leisure, I could seize the opportunity to point out that the rule should be: i before e EXCEPT after c, EXCEPT for words which don't sound like "ee", EXCEPT for words of recent foreign importation, and EXCEPT for a few other exceptions. Nifty little rule that one.
Posted in: British government spells end of 'i before e' rule
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bobobolinski
The advice to teachers comes not from the "government" as in Mr Brown and his commie pals, but from a 120 page report prepared by the education ministry; ie, by education experts who are looking at ways in which elementary level children can learn to write better. One of the hundreds of recommendations in the report is that the "i before e" rule is confusing since there are so many exceptions. So, before condemning something out of hand, take the veil from your eyes, and weigh the evidence.
Posted in: British government spells end of 'i before e' rule
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bobobolinski
Never really thought much about this subject before, but looked around and found a couple of interesting facts. The oldest person (officially) was a Frenchwoman, Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122. She attributed her longevity to garlic, cigarettes, red wine and chocolate, and finally gave up smoking at the age of 119. Henry Allingham believes he has lived so long because of whisky and wild women. And the majority of really long-lived persons, including Gertrude Baines (115) the current oldest person in the world, have been American.
Posted in: World's oldest man dies at 113
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bobobolinski
I think the point about Henry Allingham, now officially the world's oldest man, is that he is one of only two surviving British WWI veterans. Not militarism, so much as a tenuous living link with history.
Posted in: World's oldest man dies at 113
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bobobolinski
The "showers" argument could be extended though. What about a sports team who change and shower in close proximity? OK for them to bar gays, or people they think might be gays, or whatever? And then, if it is a matter of proximity, where do you draw the line? What about your workplace; if you feel "uncomfortable" with someone there who you have to work with everyday, you should be able to get them fired?
Moderator: All readers, stay on topic please. This thread is about federal benefits to same-sex couples.
Posted in: Same-sex partners in U.S. to get federal benefits
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bobobolinski
The platform at Ogikubo is about four and half feet above the level of the tracks, and the victim was pushed with sufficient force to break a rib. Trains go straight through that station without stopping at considerable speed. If it hadn't been for someone's presence of mind to push the emergency button that boy could be responsible for a man's death.
Posted in: 18-year-old arrested for pushing man onto train tracks at Ogikubo station
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bobobolinski
The platforms at JR Ogikubo are fairly spacious, so I doubt it was accidental. I wasn't there, but the report says the boy grabbed the man and pushed him onto the tracks. Whatever the provocation, it seems like aggravated assault at the least. Some Chuo-line trains go straight through there, and if it had been one of them, they would not have had time to stop. I think everybody involved here has been lucky.
Posted in: 18-year-old arrested for pushing man onto train tracks at Ogikubo station
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bobobolinski
According to Webster's, among other meanings liberalism is "a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard". I'm not sure of Mrs T's attitude towards the gold standard but the rest of it seems to fit her to a t. I think what has happened is that an American Right association of the word "liberal" with reference to personal ethics (eg attitudes towards abortion) with political leftness. Probably Thatcher was not liberal ethically, but she certainly was in her economic policies.
Posted in: Britain to conduct long-awaited Iraq war inquiry
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bobobolinski
No, guaranteed to raise a shudder in liberal circles.<
Er, I don't get this. Surely Thatcher was an extreme liberal in her economic policies, which have been followed more or less by the subsequent New Labour government. Unless you mean political Liberals, which doesn't make sense either, since a move to the right would probably generate a rise in their popularity; it certainly did in the 1980s.
Posted in: Britain to conduct long-awaited Iraq war inquiry