jamplass's past comments

  • 0

    jamplass

    Cigarette smoking has always been a nasty, dirty, habit. Yet some people still associate it with being "cool" and fashionable. It doesn't help when you see popular celebrities like Justin Timberlake in his new video taking a drag from a cigarette and throwing it into the street. What an irresponsible ploy to maintain popularity and "street credibility".

    Smoking killed my mom, but even so I don't think I would completely ban it. BUT it must be done away from non-smokers in a completely segregated area or outside. I'm tired of having my dinners in restraunts ruined by noxious fumes of cigarette smoke. And if restaurants do not have designated non-smoking areas, smokers think it's their "right" to pollute the air. As people who hate smoke, we need to make our voices clear: we will not support businesses in Japan who do not have non-smoking sections, and we WILL actively support businesses who go non-smoking and hopefully the trend will catch on.

    Posted in: Have Japan’s anti-smoking laws gone too far?

  • 0

    jamplass

    pretty awful, unnecessarily vulgar. And about 6 months too late.

    Posted in: 'Gangnam Style' parody 'Gaijin Style' hits the web

  • 0

    jamplass

    Are desu kedo...

    Posted in: What are some Japanese words or phrases that you think are very difficult to translate into English?

  • 0

    jamplass

    I have to admit that thanks to this news I now know the name of one (former) AKB48 member.

    What is considered "pornography" is probably mostly contingent on the person who is viewing this (and getting turned on). From my perspective, even though this may be considered "pornographic" to some, I don't think it as being overtly sexualized. I think the photographer meant it to be "cute" first and "sexy" second. That appears to be the trademark of most Japanese soft porn anyway. If the boy had been an adult it would not have been cute, but it would have definitely become more sexualized and at least to me "pornographic".

    Is this exploitation of children? Probably. Abuse? We don't know the circumstances of how this was photographed. If both the child and his parents were okay with this I might not be inclined to label it "abusive". But I can totally understand how some parents might see it that way.

    Posted in: Weekly pulls issue over 'child porn' picture with ex-AKB48 singer

  • 0

    jamplass

    The solution: If airlines decide to move someone for whatever reason they should get an automatic upgrade. That should keep everyone happy.

    Posted in: Airlines Qantas and Virgin Australia are under fire for their policy of moving men from seats next to unaccompanied children, causing humiliation to the passengers being moved. The airlines say the policy reflects parents' concerns. What are your views on this?

  • 0

    jamplass

    I suppose Micky can do Davy's vocals. Glad Nesmith is along this time. I'd like to hear "Listen to the Band" live.

    Posted in: Monkees announce 1st tour since Davy Jones' death

  • 1

    jamplass

    A strange case because it involves a female teacher. Unfortunately possession of child pornography is legal in Japan. Not sure what happens if you are the pornographer. This is why ethics courses are so important for teachers' pre-service education. I do hope she never works at a school again. But she probably won't do much jail time, if any.

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  • 1

    jamplass

    The gals are doing lots better than the guys, who are kind of disappointing this year. What happened to "Boys be ambitous!"?. Too many herbivores around these days...

    Posted in: How do you rate Japan's performance so far at the London Olympics?

  • 7

    jamplass

    Are we forgetting that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were strategic military bases used by the Japanese to continue the war? The Japanese military establishment was obviously not very concerned with the safety of of their people, which become even more apparent after Okinawa and the forced suicides of civilians that took place. The bombings were tragic and horrible, but those who claim "Japan was on the verge of surrendering anyway" were not actually present at the time, and are being somewhat selective in the history books they've read (or haven't).

    Posted in: Do you consider the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be war crimes?

  • 0

    jamplass

    I tend to agree that bulling will always be a part of schooling to a certain degee, but there should more clear definitions of what consistutes bulling and teacher and students need to be made explicitly aware of what these are. And there should be stiffer penalties for students engaging in bullying, as well as for teachers who are aware that it is happening in their classrooms but do little or nothing about it.

    That said, the above may be more complicated by the nature of bullying in Japanese schools. There appears to be more group bullying happening--singling out and austracizing of students, and it is often the more academically-inclined students who are doing the bullying against lower ability students, who they resent because they take more time and attention from the teachers. This may be a reason why some teachers decide to tolerate bullying to a certain degee--until of course it goes too far, results in a suicide and gets national media attention until the next time.

    Posted in: What can realistically be done to stamp out bullying at schools?

  • 1

    jamplass

    I hope he includes tracks from his Kuwata Band days. I don't think they're even available on CD.

    Posted in: Keisuke Kuwata to release greatest hits album

  • 2

    jamplass

    The consumption tax and now the nuclear issue. It's kind of remarkable that Noda has been in office this long. Although as most of us agree, his days are certainly numbered...

    Posted in: Energy unrest

  • -3

    jamplass

    Gee thanks Japan Today! I now know where to go for my soft porn in the morning. The double entendre caption is oh so clever too!

    Posted in: Best breasts and wings in town

  • 3

    jamplass

    The reason Gaga gave for cancelling had more to do with concerns for safety of her and concert goers. Given that a large proportion of the violence in this world is perpetuated by fundamental Muslims I think she was justified. I feel bad for her fans in Indonesia, but the country's leaders are obviously not ready to embrace diversity and freedom of expression. So they can watch her concert on a pirated DVD instead. Maybe in a few more centuries...

    Posted in: What do you think of the decision to cancel Lady Gaga's concert in Indonesia?

  • 1

    jamplass

    Uniqlo aleady has store(s) in Ginza, so I'm not sure what the "flagship" one will accomplish. Their clothes are of quality and functional, but not necessarily stylish or unique in any way.

    Posted in: Uniqlo has hit a ceiling domestically and can’t grow like before. They have to do something to get out of this situation, which is to set up shop in Ginza and show people they are back cooler than before.

  • -3

    jamplass

    While this is disturbing it really is no surprise at all. Ishihara has been spouting the same nationalistic drivel for god knows how long and Kawamura, although he's new and youngish represents one of the most conservative cities in Japan.

    BTW, Irish Chang's book has been criticised for very good reasons. The Chinese photos that are bandied about as "evidence" are complete fabrications. The best research on the Rape of Nanking has been by Japanese scholars, most of whom agree that yes, it did happen, yet the actual numbers of Chinese killed is probably a third of what the Chinese government claims.

    Yet, denial of the Rape of Nanking is another thing--ignorant, and Japanese need to be educated about this important pat of their history.

    Posted in: Ishihara agrees with Nagoya mayor's Nanjing massacre denial

  • 0

    jamplass

    This is a very interesting question. Brian McVeigh wrote a book about it (Wearing Ideology) unfortunately I have not read it. On the one hand, uniforms let kids know that education is important, that they belong to a school and they have a place. On the other hand uniforms work against individualism and creativity. In the classes I've taught most students though uniforms were a good idea. Personally I think it should be optional.

    Posted in: What do you think of school uniforms? Should schools even have uniforms?

  • 0

    jamplass

    Or, Omori could have been sent to India in order to cover up his role in the scandal. More intrigue there if you ask me. And he offed himself for something he did and was remorseful about, so yes, I think "shame" had something to do with it as well.

    Posted in: Olympus executive in India dead in apparent suicide

  • 0

    jamplass

    The stats say that more women attempt suicide but more men actually go through with it. This has to be related to the company scandal. You just don't hide the loss of billions of yen and think that there won't be consequences. The book/movie will be fascinating and a best-seller when it comes out.

    Posted in: Olympus executive in India dead in apparent suicide

  • 4

    jamplass

    I'm assuming this was a translation from a Japanese article, so this misinformation is what the Japanese regularly read (and believe) about "foreign criminals". But for the reasons already given by others it's very slanted and exaggerated.

    Posted in: Putting a price tag on jailing foreign criminals

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