JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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1
Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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2
U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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3
Confrontation
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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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rjd_jr
Wow. Just, unbelievable. Disgusting.
So I dearly pray that those previously defending these criminals at all costs recant and see the light. Shooting unarmed Iraqis. Not even warning cars to stop, no indication the Kia was a car bomb. Grenade girl's school. Wasn't even supposed to leave the zone.
Fry these pukes, they disgraced the United States. It's things like these that have endangered the lives of American troops.
Posted in: Blackwater guards accused of using grenades on unarmed Iraqis
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rjd_jr
Exactly JoeBigs. I've seen other message boards where posters were actually taking the sides of the Blackwater guys in other cases over the words of the U.S. military personnel. The U.S. military personnel for the most part have conducted themselves with professionalism the best they can under the circumstances. There have been instances where U.S. military personnel have shot and killed what turned out to be civilians, but with the rules of engagement in place they did best they could and the killings were justifiable. Certainly they didn't go around blasting everything in sight with no sense of their surroundings or concerns for others.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
I'm not disagreeing with you Ossan on your first part, but I agree, using the F-15 fighters in joint training would have been a much better part. I'm more along the lines of what timorborder is discussing in that comparing two distinct groups that shared the same racial/ethnic background is a bit off.
I'm sure the AP writer was trying to use an example of how far the two nations have come, and it is a great thing to point out as indeed two nations that had such a bloody history amongst each other now allies is remarkable. But just thought it could have used a better example that's all.
Posted in: Pearl Harbor ceremony focuses on U.S. response to Japan's attack
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rjd_jr
May their souls forever rest in peace.
I do take one exception to this part from the article:
..."Underscoring how far Americans and Japanese have come since Dec 7, 1941, President-elect Barack Obama in Chicago on Sunday introduced retired Gen Eric Shinseki, a Japanese-American born in Hawaii a year after the attack, as his nominee to head the Veterans Affairs Department."
Sorry but this is a rather poor example of saying how far Americans and Japanese have come. General Shinseki is a Japanese American, and it's not like Japanese Americans on the island were not affected by this savage attack either. Even Senator Daniel Inouye was a guest speaker at this memorial years ago. It would have been far better and more relevant if they used examples of former Imperial Japanese military members attending the memorial ceremony. Obama picking Shinseki is irrelevant to how far relations between Japan and America have come, Shinseki's ethnicity is just ironic that is all.
Posted in: Pearl Harbor ceremony focuses on U.S. response to Japan's attack
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rjd_jr
Good man. He is right. These auto execs truly have no shame begging for handouts when they should be taking a hike for running their companies to the ground. It's not like these execs are gonna be hurting. It's not like the good old days when there was still such a thing as accountability and integrity. CEO's and execs now can destroy company after company, still get rewarded with tons of money and stocks, and to add insult to injury, have no injury to their reputation and can hop onto another cushy CEO job.
Posted in: Obama suggests some auto execs should lose jobs
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rjd_jr
"Notice that for some, there is absolutely zero expression of regret for the deaths of the Iraqi civilians involved in this shooting, as in, "yes it is sad that 17 civilians died, but i believe that these Blackwater contractors involved used self defense."
Just bring the proof.
Let's see now, out of a total of 7 posts here by toofargone, absolutely zero posts expressed any sympathy or understanding for the deaths and pain of the Iraqi civilians. The same goes for the other posters here who are automatically siding with the blackwater contractors (even though it has repeatedly been pointed out that the FBI and other sources have stated that it believes 14 of the 17 killings were NOT justified and in no way shape or form is this even remotely similar to Haditha), a total of four posters and six posts, not any of them expresses any ounce of sympathy for the Iraqi's that were shot and killed, justified or not.
I rest my case.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
http://asilentcacophony.blogspot.com/2006/11/general-shinseki-was-right.html
Abizaid also publicly said for the first time that the American position in Iraq had been undermined by the Bush administration's decision not to deploy a larger force to stabilize the country in 2003. That decision came after General Eric Shinseki, the army chief of staff at the time, told Congress that several hundred thousand troops would be needed. His testimony at the time was derided by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the general was ostracized at the Pentagon before his retirement a few months later.
"General Shinseki was right that a greater international force contribution, U.S. force contribution and Iraqi force contribution should have been available immediately after major combat operations," Abizaid said. "I think you can look back and say that more American troops would have been advisable in the early stages of May, June, July."
Posted in: Rumsfeld nemesis Shinseki named Veterans Affairs secretary
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rjd_jr
Notice that for some, there is absolutely zero expression of regret for the deaths of the Iraqi civilians involved in this shooting, as in, "yes it is sad that 17 civilians died, but i believe that these Blackwater contractors involved used self defense."
Nothing more needs to be said.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
Another spectacular and great move by President Obama. After his disgraceful treatment by rumsfeld and company, the VA can finally have a leader that stands for integrity and character (the beret issue nonwithstanding). A genuine war hero that lost part of his foot in Vietnam, a true class act that never publicly commented or said anything derogatory towards rummy and company. Interesting how bush and all these other people are crowing about the "surge" when in fact it was something based on what Shinseki originally estimated was necessary to stabilize the country. Even General Abizaid commented that Shinseki was right.
A great choice for the country.
Posted in: Rumsfeld nemesis Shinseki named Veterans Affairs secretary
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rjd_jr
It is said that one Blackwater employee at the scene in fact had to point his weapon at another simply to get him to stop shooting recklessly. Again the FBI determined 14 of the 17 murdered was not justifiable self defense or the like. And 3 of those were 'maybe' justifiable.
Again, people need to stop hiding behind this 'us and them' mentality that excuses the slaughter of innocent civilians, or diverts attention and accuses those of seeking justice as being 'america hating lefties.' Political affiliation has absolutely nothing to do with conducting yourself responsibly in another country. Shame on those that would use incidents like these to further their political agendas and biases.
Imagine if some Iraqi private security detail went around recklessly shooting all over the place like cowboys and killed 17 American civilians. Or even a fraction of that. There would be outrage and condemnation. Yet because these are Iraqis and the contractors Americans, it is perfectly allowable to excuse their behavior and rather dubious record in Iraq of shooting first and asking questions later. Ultimately hiding behind some immunity clause giving them free reign to further damage relations with Iraqis.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
Don't be confused by the name calling and diverting of attention my friends, the fact that these PMC's were utilized in such great numbers, and with little regards to oversight and accountability, can be traced to the bush administration. Authorization of force and conduct has little bearing on ACTUAL conduct. Don't let people confuse the two. For example civilian police are authorized to use deadly force in certain situations. That does NOT give them carte blanche to go around acting like cowboys and shooting everything in sight.
Moderator: All readers stay on topic please. Posts that do not refer to the Blackwater case will be removed.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
The FBI of all organizations had determined that 14 of the 17 killings were NOT justified in this incident.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16288417
And Bush and others responsible for this Iraq debacle do share responsibility for this and other incidents. The fact is arrogants like rumsfeld thought that the iraq war would be a quick and dirty affair, go in, "liberate and be greeted with open arms," move out, and live happily ever after. Ignoring the advice of experts like General Shinseki (bless him he is going to be named V.A. secretary tomorrow, take that rummy), the bush administration realized that they bit off waaaay more than they could chew, and thought that using private contractors was the answer to increasing troops. As the U.S. is not signatory to Geneva and Mercenary conventions where mercenary type activity is specifically forbidden, the use of PMC's like blackwater was thought to be the answer. Estimates of their numbers ranged as high as 100,000 in Iraq at one time. With the lack of oversight and accountability, these PMC's were basically free to act as they please, shoot first.
Really, people need to be more sympathetic towards the Iraqi civilians. How would people feel if Iraqi private contractors went around shooting American civilians and killing them.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
It's a shame Blackwater has brought so much misery to the people of Iraq and really made things hard for the U.S. military with their methods.
Posted in: Charged Blackwater guards ID'd: All decorated vets
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rjd_jr
Posted in: Name your five most memorable movie scores.
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rjd_jr
Oh my gosh, she seemed to have completely disappeared off the map. She was and still is one of the finest Jp women I have seen, so it's nice to see her back again. And the usual blurb about her love life. Nice to see Hinano san back.
Posted in: Hinano Yoshikawa releases photo book to mark 15th anniversary of her debut
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rjd_jr
Good, let these terrorists and thugs know that there are limits to activism. People here and elsewhere would never condone groups like the ALF bombing meat plants and attacking meat plant workers, or bombing animal testing facilities. I don't care if it's the U.S. or Japan, there's a right way to do things and a wrong way. And so on and so forth, people there is a reason why some activist groups have rethought their methods in terms of the whale issue and resorted to public awaresness campaign, not acts of terorism. I don't care if it's the U.S. or Japan, there's a right way to do things and a wrong way, no double standards.
Posted in: Japan to arrest anti-whaling activists, newspaper reports
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rjd_jr
Truly this 'president' has no shame. Notice how he is finally, after all these years in office painting a glowing, rosy picture of everything in the world, starting to admit the painful truths. The economy is in a recession. The auto companies may tank. Pre war intelligence in iraq was regrettable. And so on and so forth.
He reminds me of someone on their deathbed making a final set of confessions to purge his soul of guilt and atonement for past wrongs. Truly pathetic.
Posted in: Bush says automakers may not survive
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rjd_jr
This is what torques me. In any other industry, CEO's and execs should and are ultimately held responsible for their company performance. If company takes a dive, then they take a hike. They can't go around crying to the government for help because of their own screw ups.
Posted in: Avoiding blame in the auto industry crisis
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rjd_jr
What an idiot teacher, who in their right mind in this day and age would do something so stupid. What, vivid verbal descriptions and photographs are not enough? Idiot. Very indicative of a racist mindset in the country (sarcasm).
Posted in: White teacher apologizes for binding black girls in slavery lesson
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rjd_jr
Oh well, it's what the court decided. I'm willing to bet most will side with the American father in this case, just a wild hunch. Though he didn't say anything about taking him to the U.S. and keeping him there.
Posted in: Nebraska court rules Japan has jurisdiction in child custody case