JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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plasticmonkey
This is reflected in neither his words nor his deeds. Just because he disagrees with the tea party and libertarian elements in the GOP does not make him a proponent of "unlimited government". That's the kind of extremist baloney that has made dialog between the two sides very difficult.
Posted in: Jobs, energy, values top issues in Obama's State of the Union address
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plasticmonkey
@RomeoR
blah blah blah. A man's impotence and desperation are easy to spot when he resorts to endlessly regurgitating cheap redneck smears he knows to be false. Like Al Gore supposedly claiming he invented the internet. Or that Obama was educated in a madrassa. Real sidesplitters, and it amuses the far right in America to see the liberal pansies get their knickers in a twist over their concern for honest debate.
It doesn't matter if accusations are true, does it? If you throw crap at the wall often enough, some of it will eventually become part of the structure. It's an easy substitute for actually working through the issues. You might try posting a reasonable opinion once in a while, instead of degrading the discourse with infantile name calling.
But I guess willful ignorance and deliberate falsehoods are central tenets of the current power base within the GOP. After all, they're flocking to Newt.
Posted in: Jobs, energy, values top issues in Obama's State of the Union address
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plasticmonkey
Is it appropriate to mark the 1st anniversary of a heart-wrenchingly horrible disaster with underage girls gyrating their backsides for the camera? NHK and Akimoto should be ashamed of themselves. This is not charity. This is using the misery of victims and the generosity of good people to promote a trashy product. For the producers' own benefit.
This kind of media stunt degrades the true spirit of charity and volunteerism in Japan.
Posted in: SMAP, AKB48 among 20 acts to appear on NHK program to mark 1st anniversary of March 11 disaster
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plasticmonkey
@Nessie: the emperor is always well briefed.
Posted in: Man in underwear swims palace moat 'to meet emperor'
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plasticmonkey
If by stellar we mean changing the topic, bullying the moderator, and delivering untruths in grandiose soundbites.
Notice how the right has always mocked Obama for his rhetorical skills (sometimes via the tiresome 'teleprompter' jokes), complaining that America needs a leader, not someone who just makes speeches. But now when Gingrich the 'great debater' is the act in center ring, the far right can easily overlook the man's history of self-aggrandizing, manic, and unethical behavior. Because Newt can talk. He's considered by these same folks as a great thinker because he continually comes up with new half-baked ideas. Never mind that these ideas rarely come to fruition or that they get dumped when politically expedient (e.g. healthcare, social security, Libya). But they sound good, at least to people who are looking for someone to articulate their own bitterness. Newt's the man for that, I guess.
Posted in: Gingrich, Romney begin key Florida battle
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plasticmonkey
@sailwind: ooh, yeah, Solyndra, the scandal that's going to bring down our despicable president.
Hate to break it to you, but any administration is going to make errors. This is not Watergate. Or Irangate. Or starting a war with flimsy evidence. Obama has not deliberately or deceptively charted a path that is a clear detriment to America's honor, responsibilities, sense of justice, or its own population's welfare. And any accusation of ineptitude in economics should surely be backed up by a plausible alternative, which at the moment is essentially a do-nothing, laissez-faire approach.
I think that in large part Obama has served his country honorably and accomplished a lot given the circumstances, as well as the limitations of his office and the political climate. The disdain for Obama goes far beyond what the man's failures would warrant. Where does this hatred of Obama come from?
Posted in: Gingrich attacks Obama in South Carolina victory speech
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plasticmonkey
Must be some Jungian archetypal fantasy. Happens all the time. Get naked, swim, meet God.
Posted in: Man in underwear swims palace moat 'to meet emperor'
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plasticmonkey
That's right. Give specific info on what they're going to cut and how much. As Scrote said, the Yanba project has discredited the current govt in its vague promises to "cut waste".
Posted in: Azumi holds public briefing to explain consumption tax hike plan
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plasticmonkey
I used the word 'puritan' with a small 'p'. That is, a strain of religious fundamentalism that is fairly ecumenical in America (from Baptists to Nazarenes to Calvinists to Methodists to Mormons), and which has a long history of being at odds with Enlightenment thinking in many different ways. The forces against humanistic rationalism cannot be isolated within a single ethnicity or denomination, but in the unique American experience they do share certain characteristics.
Some of your so-called 'rejects from the Celtic fringe' are included in this group, a substantial number of whom settled in New England.
Come on now. No kicking, scratching, or pulling hair.
Posted in: Romney is only no-show at Republican debate on abortion
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plasticmonkey
@unreconstructed: I was not talking about which party the governor of SC belongs to, nor about her race, nor about which party is more racist. I was referring to a clash of ideologies (yes, perennial) that has recently become particularly exaggerated, and seems to have been bred from a historical conflict between North and South. It is more cultural than political, which is why neither party has had a monopoly on enlightenment or ignorance.
Which is why the modern left hates white intellectuals like Noam Chomsky so much, right? I know a combo of hot-button words is supposed to sound good when spouted by drive-by media pundits like Limbaugh, Hannity, or Gingrich, but I always suspected that even you had more sense than to try to pass the above off as a coherent or supportable statement.
You know what I'm talking about, and you know the motivation of those behind the legislation.
Segregating blacks from whites was not the result of big government policy. It was any easy policy to enact and enforce because it rode together with a culture of bigotry. The common white Southerner encouraged government discrimination against blacks, and eagerly carried out the law (and sometimes surpassed it). In the same way that many Christian evangelicals today favor a smaller government role in taxing their earnings, but a larger government role in making sure gays can't get married or terminal cancer patients can't smoke dope.
Posted in: Romney: Tightening presidential race 'exciting'
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plasticmonkey
It's entirely appropriate that this GOP identity crisis is playing itself out in South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies proudly. The battle of this presidential race really is about the relationship between government and the people who it represents. The nation is divided by this, and it has been carried over unresolved since the Civil War. On the one hand there is the legacy of the founding fathers and their belief in the power of rationalism and the potential of government as a unifying locus in which there is dialogue about the greater good of the nation. On the other hand, there is a strong tradition, particularly born of the South, that exhibits a strong distrust of educated elites and the power of collective intellect to solve problems. These people rely on the perceived superiority of their own provincial cultural identity as a moral arbiter of who has and who has not. Let the "best" man win, and by whatever means, even if that means blacks at the back of the bus or more toxic waste into the Gulf. Keep the government off the big man's back (unless it's on the losing end). It is no surprise that the South with its Machiavellian traditions continues to exert disproportionate influence in the military, that Jim Crow laws are being resurrected to protect the frightened white man in South Carolina, or that Gingrich can woo these people with his cynical burlesque of intellectualism.
Posted in: Romney: Tightening presidential race 'exciting'
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plasticmonkey
The surge of Newt shows how clueless many GOP voters are in terms of what they want. Newt has swung wildly on all issues--the economy, family values, foreign policy, etc.
Since Newt has made a point out of pinning the unemployment problem in S.C. on blacks, isn't it ironic that the economy would be of such concern among white GOP voters there? After all, S.C. has gone out of its way to make sure these blacks are kept away from the voting booths. Oh, right, they don't vote GOP.
Posted in: Surging Gingrich blasts U.S. media, Republican rivals
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plasticmonkey
Mature societies naturally move toward secularism. And given the deliberately secular intentions of America's founding fathers, the US too would follow this path were it not for an anti-rational puritan strain (now largely evangelical and southern Baptist) that would rather institute a theocracy that dictates "morality and family values" (but leaves corporate behavior unleashed). Gingrich the historian indeed.
Posted in: Romney is only no-show at Republican debate on abortion
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plasticmonkey
With an attitude like that, it's no wonder that most of Woody Allen's films in the past 30 years have stunk. Everyone is supposed to overlook this director's appalling record for the sake of a handful of gems. Same for Coppola, who hasn't made a decent film since attempting to make Apocalypse. There's just no vision in it anymore.
Woody has long ago vanished into the black hole of vapid retellings of anxiety-laden upper-class Manhattan Jewish lore, minus the heart.
Posted in: Sun shines again for Woody Allen after 'Midnight'
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plasticmonkey
Another word for Huntsman is Nimrod, but that title should go to someone else (take your pick). Huntsman lent some gentility to an otherwise shameful GOP primary race. If this freak show does not eventually become a great embarrassment to the Republican Party, it should ring an ominous bell for the future of American politics.
Posted in: Huntsman to drop out of U.S. presidential race
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plasticmonkey
It bothers me that I cannot fathom the deeper irony of this commercial that causes less cynical creatures to wet themselves with laughter.
Posted in: TV commercial of the week: Sukiya with TOKIO
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plasticmonkey
Big Mac, breakfast of champions.
Posted in: McDonald's renews Olympic sponsorship through 2020
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plasticmonkey
from a related story:
What I get from this story makes me think Tanaka was chosen for other reasons. But then again, how often has competence been of importance when choosing ministers?
Posted in: Portraits of 2 new cabinet members
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plasticmonkey
A consumption tax raise is necessary, but it should be part of a larger plan for fiscal reform. People are rightly suspicious of a government (politicians and bureaucrats) with an arrogant and cavalier attitude toward spending taxpayer money.
18% of the national budget is spent on local revenue grants, which amounts to handouts to rural bureaucracies to spend as they please, often on wasteful projects and programs. A sinkhole for useless public works projects. For greater accountability, the prefectural governments need to be more independent in raising revenue and spending and stop thinking of Tokyo as their sugar daddy. Grow a real economy.
Raise the cigarette tax.
Institute a luxury tax. If you can afford a Rolex, you can afford to pay a little more for it.
Lower corporate taxes and eliminate the plethora of loopholes.
Make pension payments mandatory. Give everyone a number and get them in the system when they get their first part-time job, and no exceptions.
Tax income on religious organizations that exceed their expenses on basic salaries, upkeep, and charitable donations. It's a travesty that places like Meiji Shrine pay no taxes whatsoever while their priests drive around in Benzes and live in palatial houses.
Cut the amakudari crap and throw violators in prison.
Then they can include a consumption tax raise.
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plasticmonkey
JT NEWS FLASH -- Bimbo actress has been hired by a hair care firm to say that she would like to change her hair color.
Posted in: Satomi Ishihara desires image change