JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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Confrontation
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U.S. Navy investigating how parts fell off aircraft near Atsugi
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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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taniwha
Better than a crap spin article from Christian Monitor go here for a reasonably broad history of Somalia. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0861179.html
Posted in: Crew retakes U.S. ship from Somali pirates; captain still held
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taniwha
'About the topic at hand. You backed away from our discussion the other day where you were defending the crimes of armed kidnappers prepared to kil hostages to get the ransoms they were demanding.'
Madverts
If you want we can take up right now where we left off. The only reason I pick up on old threads is if the post is genuine and worth a sensible reply. Yours wasn't. One liners are fine if they are wit. But if you expect a discussion that comprises of reactionary back hands you won't get if from me.
You call them kidnappers. I see that's a popular label fixed to this crime by the media. But the fact remains these were pirates who held the captain hostage, and so far as the facts stand it appears, that given they allowed themselves to be towed by the warship that they were about to save their own rear ends and get themselves back home. Remember we are discussing teenagers here, the eldest was 19 years old. They had not killed anyone.
You want to call them kidnappers, fine. Even kidnappers under those circumstances, no longer control the situation. The fact Prez Obama authorized lethal force, and that they, all three were dispatched while sitting quietly in a boat under tow speaks for itself. This was about bloody politics in the style of the Bush administration. Nothing has changed in Washington, except for the banners and a few faces the American ruling elite are intent on pursuing their own ends using brute military force to subjugate their opponents and smash their enemies. The language is that of pure gangsterism, and the corporate media are baying like a pack of rottweilers at their masters' heels.
Posted in: French seize pirate ship as threats mount on U.S. ships
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taniwha
".The Bush regime was responsible for inciting hate towards the French, but as I said, that dark era is over. We now have an intelligent human being as opposed to a simpleton in the Whitehouse, and a pro-American president in the Elysee..."
What a load of over ripe verbiage about what? A prezident who reacts to a hostage situation with three teens holding one captain in a boat already under the control being towed by a US warship, by having three separate snipers used to hitting a target a mile away kill the teens huddling down in the boat. That's one sniper for each kid.
All the utter crap posted on these threads on this sad episode has imitated the total poison being spat out by much of the mainstream US media. Some of that 'journalism' appearing on this story has amounted to fully fledged fascist drivel.
Face facts here. The taking of the captain as hostage was not in itself a devastating confrontation that calls for immediate and extreme measures such as killing all three hostage takers. The norm for a hostage situation is to defuse it with as little life lost as possible, not to blow out the brains of the criminals.
Because the prezident has supported the executions the money points towards the reality that this situation was exploited for political reasons. What has Prez Obama got for himself and his administration out of this bloody episode? He has effectively got those of his critics amongst the hard right in the ruling elite as well as in the military on their back foot. Now they know he's the man who will take those hard decisions to snuff out young life in a moment.
The fact that it was the White House that officially announced Obama's authorization of deadly force underlines that the decision to kill those Somali kids was already signed and sealed the moment that life boat was put under two by the warship.
Posted in: French seize pirate ship as threats mount on U.S. ships
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taniwha
Let's look at the reaction of Prez Obama's administration and the pentagon to the first act of piracy by the Somalis on a US ship. They kill the pirates. This is followed up by a statement from the Prez; 'I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region and to achieve that goal. ... We have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise.'
This is surrounded by veritable applause for the letting of pirate blood by the US mainstream media. WSJ had this; 'With all the world watching, the US Navy couldn’t afford to be long stymied by sea-faring kidnappers. No doubt Mr. Obama would have been criticized in some quarters though not by us had Captain Phillips been killed once the order was given to shoot the pirates.'
US News & World Report called the episode 'a defining moment' for Obama, showing that 'the new commander in chief will apply American muscle in a crunch.' Yes, a defining moment, almost like the snapshot moment when Prez Bush stepped onto the deck of the US aircraft carrier to proclaim victory, or the moment he stared into the TV screens of the world and proclaimed that any country not with the US is against them.
At this point in time there are at least 200 sailors kidnapped by Somali pirates, the majority are from South East Asia, including the Philipinnes. Just how the Somali pirate overlords who reacted by saying they will retaliate to the killings is anyone's guess. But one thing is for certain, the brutality of the US president's actions will likely lead to the loss of life of many who venture into those waters, let alone those who are being held hostage right now.
Pentagon officials are asserting that a land attack by US forces is a strong possibility. That would be a convenient direction to move the US led new world order. Wasn't so long ago that Prez Bush moved 30,000 troops into Somalia on the pretext of a 'humanitarian intervention'. Just prior to that happening (1992) the US had been backing Mohammed Siad Barre, that guy was another corrupt dictator but at the time 1970's to 1980's he managed the US's cold war client state effectively if not efficiently. It became a base for US military. When the US decided they no longer wanted the place, following the end of the Cold War, they let the place slide. Somalia turned into a chaotic catastrophe that had been gutted out by two decades of US supported corrupt governance. That got us to where we are now.
And now what's in Somalia for the US ruling elite, fronted by Prez Obama's team. Quite a lot as it turns out. Potentially Somalia has been pegged as a potential source for oil. Quite apart from the oil deposits beneath the ground, there's the fact it has the longest coastline of any country in Africa, all along the route taken by 12% of the world's oil carrying tankers. The same coastline that following the impoverishment of Somali, a direct result of US support of the dictatorship over two decades, became a toxic dumping ground for waste (including radioactive), even while foreign fishing boats plundered the fish from the waters.
It's a cynical game being played with Somalia. Pity no one remembers more than 12 months back and relies on the US mass media for information.
Posted in: U.S. sea captain freed from pirates in swift firefight
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taniwha
Madverts.
Let me paraphrase you then. Criminals should be summarily executed without trial, simply because they are criminals. Let's not forget although they wanted big buckaroos and kidnapped a captain, the only people injured or killed were themselves, they didn't get a dollar, and the captain was returned, stressed but apparently okay.
Posted in: Somali pirates vow retaliation after captain freed
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taniwha
'No, in the old days they were followed inland and dealt with.' Reactionary and meaningless, but then so was my throw-a-way 'old days'. No, pirates were put on trial, maybe they were taken back to England for the even in leg irons, or maybe it was Jamaica, or somewhere else closer to their point of capture.
My point is this. Governments prosecuted pirates forcefully, yes, but with an attempt at least to act within the law. In this day and age it seems, criminals are simply stomped on. What I am defending here is not crime, it is law.
Prez Obama has proven himself and his administration to be entirely no different in direction to the predecessor. Prez Bush when had the enemy in Iraq executed, and in the case of a few even went so far as to have their dead bodies displayed on evening TV across the civilized world. Prez Obama may posture as something more sophisticated, but he is not. He is exactly and entirely the same in purpose.
The first US ship to be attacked by pirates results in government ordered killings. Welcome back to the new order of the Prez Bush administration - which point of fact was never replaced by anything different as it will become increasingly clear to even the most ideologically blinded of Democrat supporters as the months roll by.
Posted in: Somali pirates vow retaliation after captain freed
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taniwha
I don't believe the fuss here. For as long as I can remember upon arriving in Japan, women friends were sharing rooms together just as a cheap, convenient, and doubtless comfortable source of accommodation when traveling in Japan. Usually love hotels back in the 1990's because they were cheaper by far.
What the heck is the problem of women want to go sleep over in a hotel by themselves? Especially in Japan. Beats having to spend 30 minutes with a male partner while they first get themselves primed with alcohol, then bam into a hotel, let mr smooth get down to business, not a lot of talking, ooops and that's it, then bam back out the door again. And likely all in all in less than 3 hours. Some kind of relaxation that would be.
By comparison a leisurely evening to spend anyway she likes in her own company. I wouldn't think there to be a difficult choice to make between the two scenarios for most women.
Posted in: More women enjoying a night out alone
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taniwha
Who would want to defend the pirates? I mean so what if they were aged 16 to 19 years old, yanked up to with in pitching distance of the warship and summarily executed by three crack killers from the US armed forces.
In the old days they were at least given a trial before facing the executioners. But there you go we are now all apparently under the watch of the new world order. If Prez Obama tried a little harder he could probably walk like Prez Bush, he can certainly talk the talk. Surprising how little has changed under this 'new' administration.
At least Prez Obama has proven his mettle. He can order the killing of any little man he likes. All he needs now is the half gallon hat.
Posted in: Somali pirates vow retaliation after captain freed
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taniwha
Actually, should make that a 'fact' rather than a fact. There seems to be a lot of variation in the percentages of Arabs said to make up the population in what is now Israel, pre-1948. But one thing is clear, since 1948 the numbers of Christian Arabs that make up the population in that particular part of the ME have been in steady decline. Me thinks it rash if one were to assert there to be no association between one and the other.
Moderator: Back on topic please.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Sarge
Here's a fact that might interest you. Around one third and upwards of the total Arab population in what is now Israel were Christian. That was before Israel declared itself a state and set about freeing up the living space by ejecting or killing the Arabs.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Sabiwabi Not sure by "a third party" that you were actually alluding to North Korea but anyway.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Sabiwabi
The situation existing between Japan and China is tricky. Before the 'financial crises' I would have been inclined to believe that most of the nationalistic rhetoric from both sides was aimed at coalescing internal support for the present political structure; maintaining the political status quo. So long as the global economy was actually working both countries had been bought together in a totally symbiotic relationship based on trade. Now though things the environment right around the globe means that at this point anything could happen, almost anywhere.
Any major power taking pre-emptive action on some relatively new target nation, even the most seemingly minor remote speck of the globe at this point could spark something much bigger.
I think you are right to note that the parallel between Israel testing its 'anti-Iranian rockets' system, and Japan threatening to use its own 'anti-North Korean rocket' system. I do think though that the whole North Korean rocket launch thing was aimed, all but totally at an internal domestic audience inside North Korea, that is, rather than intended as a warning to its neighbors.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Madadverts
What investigations are you talking of? So far as I know there are none. Israel's military police closed internal investigation after only 9 days. The talk of investigations from the international arena are so far at least just talk.
The nation's military advocate, General Brigadier Avichai Mendelblit, shut down the military police’s criminal inquiry. That was Israel's 'official effort' set up to investigate allegations by Israeli soldiers of misconduct by the Israeli Defence Forces and serious violations of the IDF’s rules of engagement during Israel’s attack on Gaza. Mendelblit himself said the soldier's stories amounted to nothing but "hearsay", and therefore... no need to go into any prolonged/real investigation.
Well, as you know, having been reading and posting the board so many years as you have, Taniwha states any personal politics up front. The answer for concerns like those you consistently express is for the world to move on from the zombie capitalism to something truely democratic, rational, and scientific (rather than the present mystic workings of charlatans and pirates). So, no, nothing hidden here pal, apart from the uninteresting personal details kind of stuff :)
The situation in Israel regards the Palestinians brings to mind nothing less than apartheid era South Africa, except of course that the White regime there was somewhat more restrained by comparison. Punishing Hamas for rocket attacks does not justify the kind of butchery we have seen exacted on Gaza, and nothing justifies the systematic repression of an entire people. You don't appear to know the history of modern Israel. Most Palestinians alive today are likely to have members of their family who were actually present in what is today known as Israel when the Kind David hotel blown by Irgun.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
"Tit for tat"? Lets see, three weeks of attacks on Gaza killed 1,400 Palestinians. How many Israelis killed by Hamas rockets over the years? I will let someone find the figure, the one that comes to mind is 4.
Surgeons working in hospitals have reported that the IDF's own rules of engagement have little to do with international agreements, because quite apart from 1,400 Palestinian deaths, the majority being women and children, the numbers of people maimed was far greater due to the weaponry used. These injuries were consistent with stories from people on he ground during the attack that white phosphorus, banned internationally as a weapon, and DIME were used in the seriously built up urban zone that is Gaza. DIME is a new weapon, one that explodes with enough force to literally tear bodies apart when it hits them.
The IDV, just prior to the attack were issued with pamphlets quoting extensively from Shlomo Aviner, a hard-line rabbi who compares the Palestinians to the Philistines, the Biblical enemy of the Jews.** “When you show mercy to a cruel enemy, you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers... This is a war on murderers.”** He also cites a biblical ban on “surrendering a single millimetre” of Israel."
Lets also leave aside for the moment Israel's full scale air strike against Lebanon last year, and its more recent missile attack against a target in the Sudan, and talk about Iran.
Who better to go to then the Prime minister himself Benjamin Netanyahu who the very day he was sworn in signaled a break with the 'two state solution' regards the Israeli-Palestinian ongoing conflict, but wait up that came right after he threatened to militarily strike Iran.
According to Jonah Goldberg of the Atlantic, Netanyahy directly threatened Iran. The primeminister's military advisers were quoted as saying that Israel could act "within months" and was capable of carrying out the attack with or without Washington's approval. One adviser had this to say**: "The problem is not military capability, the problem is whether you have the stomach, the political will, to take action."**
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Good sentiments, but unfortunately you are talking about, in the case of Israel, a nation that in less than five years has made how many large scale military strikes upon its immiediate neighbors? and dropped a missile or two on far away neighbors? I can't remember exactly, help me out here.
Not to mention applying the full power of its conventional military on striking on a comparitively defenseless would be state that just happens to constitute one of the most (if not the most) heavily populated urban zones in the entire world. Could also mention here you are talking about a government who during the latter strike have been accused of multiple crimes against humanity by the UN Secretary General amongst several other internationally respected NGOs that have had the opportunity to look at the evidence. Remember too, Israel promised an investigation following reports of war crimes by their own soldiers, and now just 9 days later have closed it down.
Could also mention that you are talking about a country that has just put in place an extremist right wing government, as I mentioned before. That means measurably more extreme than the one that pursued all of the above accomplishments. Just bear witness to what the new FOREIGN AFFAIRS minister has said.
"We are also losing ground every day in public opinion. Does anyone think that concessions and constantly saying “I am prepared to concede,” and using the word “peace” will lead to anything? No, that will just invite pressure, and more and more wars. "Si vis pacem, para bellum" - if you want peace, prepare for war; be strong."
Yeah, that is the words of Israel's incoming foreign affairs minister Avigdor Liberman, right after this: "The claim that what is threatening the world today is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a way of evading reality. The reality is that the problems are coming from the direction of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq."
A strike on Iran by this lot is extremely likely if past behavior is anything to go by. This is the character of the government there. And by the way, the conditions for Israeli working class members of the population have deteriorated rapidly within the state. The manner in which a government deals with its problems without is mirrored by the way it deals with problems within. Dissent in Israel is growing.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Israel may have "got their butts kicked" but their belligerence and role as the US proxy makes them very very dangerous, and liable to kick off a major war in the Middle East.
An attack on Israel by Iran will pull in the US. Any strike on Iranian targets by Israel is likely to result in counter attack by Iran. The government just formed in Israel is of an extreme right wing character, it is not boding well for the future. But, this is precisely the kind of developments at a national level that one might expect as the decay of capitalism at a global level sees it become a lurching and stumbling zombie consuming itself.
Posted in: Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles
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taniwha
Blaze 524 Yes, you made a good point. My points were also good, just irrelevant as reply to your post... ha ha. Game to you.
Posted in: U.S. questions growing Chinese military power
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taniwha
Hope the typos above don't confuse too much.
Posted in: Big summit, small hopes; G20 leaders meet on economy
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taniwha
Good to see the reactionaries in form inviting the "socialists" to comment. It would be too much to ask for more inventiveness from such no-hope perspectives.
Any leader appearing out the G20 is a proponent of capitalism, and cannot therefore be socialist. They can though pose as 'socialist' as defined by social democrat politic. But to call the leadership of the US and France socialist as posters have done reveals no understanding of what socialism means, let alone capitalism, and clue about the reality of this event that has been called so many names, but lets call just settle for the 'collapse of capitalism' - at all.
This summit can provide no solutions.
Interestingly Roosevelt was taking a holiday on his yacht at the time, and apparently refused to attend the meeting of world leaders in London for that reason. He has been ever after blamed by a good few for America's long plunge into the Great Depression. Roosevelt was though, a clever leader, and the 'New Deal' provided the illusion of better times ahead, that capitalism needed to divert the general public from joining with the very real socialist movement that was building up in the US at that time.
There is no hope of such a 'New Deal' now though. These are far different times. And this gathering '2nd Great Depression' is the result of far worse fundamental conditions then back then.
Posted in: Big summit, small hopes; G20 leaders meet on economy
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taniwha
Blaze524 Your world is almost yesterday.
Not only China, but India, Russia, and Israel have the means to project military might.
The US has military dominance for just as long as it can continue to fund its own military R&D. Everything it has now will be obtained tomorrow by most of those powers. It is a matter of sustaining the dominance by being able to fund it. At the moment, China clearly has more reserves of wealth than does the US and given time will be able to take a technological lead over the US once the point has been reached where the value of the dollar collapses.
All that 'neato' military hardware you talk about, the aircraft carrier etc, can fall into rusting heaps when they can no longer be maintained. It was only a couple of decades ago that the USSR collapsed, and with it began the rapid deterioration of its military hardware. Yesterday Russia, tomorrow the US. So it goes on. You are living in yesterday still.
Posted in: U.S. questions growing Chinese military power