JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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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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viking68
Republicans are too busy nosing around in people's bedroom. Yet, they claim to be for less government. And the argument is more government on the back side to take care of welfare recipients who cannot take care of their children, such as Nessie put it. If the republicans want welfare reform, do that.
Republicans have turned into pure facists supported by the religious right, who hate the Republican candidates but cannot find anyone to support their views and not be instantly labelled a crack-pot, tin hat wearing nut ball.
Then there is the question of religious freedom and the rights of employees to necessary medical care. In the US, we still have the EEOC, which guarantees work unbiased by race, gender, religion, etc. If a religion says no medicine, is that ok? Give employees free prayers and no medical care? It seems the line is being drawn by churches and the Republicans is based solely on religious precepts rather than the right to care for the employee. I feel it should be based on the needs of the employee. The result, legalized discrimination, as long as it supports religious/Republican views.
Posted in: Top Republican wants vote on birth control mandate
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viking68
I thought BoA was strong, but now it is in trouble like the rest. Given my misplaced confidence in BoA, I don't feel that comfortable with American banks.
By the way, is the article flawed or Fitch Ratings wrong?
Posted in: Japanese megabanks rise in credit standings
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viking68
Saw this bridge being assembled. It was a marvel to see being built. On large section was assembled on a barge somewhere near Odaiba. I thought the assembly was an oil rig lying on its side until one day it was being hauled out to the bridge.Three huge cranes picked it up and the crews put it in place over a day.
It doesn't look like it joins anywhere, and it made me wonder if it was a bridge to nowhere. I'll have another look to see if there is traffic. Plus, may need to have a walk across one day.
Posted in: Tokyo Gate Bridge opens to traffic
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viking68
The Hong Kong "A" Flu seems to come on very quickly once past the incubation period, which I don't know how long it is. Some elderly people have died from it this year in Japan.
My daughter caught this flu. Her fever picked up to 39 degrees in a matter of four hours. She was back to her rambunctious self in 30 hours.
So, on a flight to NZ, it would be easy to board the plane with no symptoms and exit with a fever.
Oh, my daughter had her flu vaccine this year. Maybe the length of her illness was decreased, but she still got sick. Tamiflu probably also helped reduce the length of her fever.
Posted in: NZ admits overreacting to flu scare on plane from Japan
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viking68
Thank you for the clarification. A lot of grief for a bit of carelessness. I still have a lot of respect for Harry and his service to his country.
I don't know that there are more incidents like this than in the past. Rather, news travels faster now days. It might be possible that these incidents have decreased overall. (just the analogy of my grandfather in a discussion of whether mass-murders are more prevalent now or whether it is easier to report on them.)
Posted in: U.S. Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan
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viking68
How would you judge prince William for showing up to a party in a full on nazi uniform? His country got bombed by them and should be speaking German now if it were not for the U.S. Was it merely poor judgment, bad taste and offensive, or worthy of prosecution?
These Marines in the war zone feel cutoff from the world, which is different from feeling untouchable. Who can blame them with all the atrocities they see committed around them. One act of stupidity in this environment leads to generalizations like yours. In fact, every minute they are probably worried about being "touched" by a piece of metal or copper jacketed slug or the blast from some explosive.
Posted in: U.S. Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan
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viking68
Agree with what you wrote, very nice and concise. I just can never seem to write that much in just one sentence.
Posted in: U.S. Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan
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viking68
Unfortunately, these young Marines are living in a fishbowl and may not fully understand the trouble they may inadvertently cause in the internet age.
Stupid, yes. I think it is just being adolescent. The scout snipers are a class ahead of the mainstream military. There are still bad apples at the top of the heap, but this Marine didn't kill or rape civis, or something else egregious. The Marines handled the situation correctly, internally. By doing so, they protected the young and valuable Marine from his own stupidity.
Now everyone is trying to burn these young Marines to just to breathe new life in their personal history and causes. I don't for one think without more information that this is a case of white supremacy or bigotry. Otherwise, more information would have surfaced. Even if it were intended as an SS symbol, it would be rare for the Marines to have a white supremacy connection at the sniper scout level. And Yes, I know having been in the Marines. White supremacy groups are only a step away from terrorism, if not actual terrorists. Marines know that and tend to stay away from affiliating with the enemy lest they blow their whole career and end up in jail, or worse get someone killed.
I don't condone it, but I feel it is more a fascination with an historical, effective and fanatical fighting force that believed in their twisted cause. SS was fascism at its worst. My grandfather fought against them during WWII. According to him, as a military, the SS were tough, professional and didn't surrender easily like the regular German army.
People in the military are not so stupid as to fail to distinguish between an understanding of the good and and an understanding of the bad. Not everything is black and white.
Posted in: U.S. Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan
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viking68
In case everyone missed the latest NRC risk study:
The study found there was "essentially zero risk" to the public of early fatalities due to radiation exposure following a severe accident. The long-term risk of dying from cancer due to radiation exposure after an accident was less than one in a billion and less than the U.S. average risk of dying from other causes of cancer, which is about two in one thousand.
The study doesn't mention the risk of a third-eye popping out of a fishes head ala the Simpsons.
Posted in: 8.5 tons of radioactive water leak from Fukushima plant
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viking68
The empathy I see from him relates to knowing what people want to hear. He doesn't and can't relate to the poorest Americans. He's been well off his whole life and probably has been hungry at most ten minutes from late waiters or cooks.
What was Ross Perow's gaff (can't remember how to spell the name now)? Those people or something like that.
Posted in: After Florida win, Romney makes gaffe on poor
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viking68
I used some a less expensive Sony model. The noise cancellation wasn't profound, but it did lower the drone of the engines and made it easier to listen to the movie I was watching.
If you are looking for noise cancelling earphones, I would suggest you consider an over the ear model with cups so the speakers don't rest directly on your ears. On a long flight, my ears started to get uncomfortable with the pressure of the speakers directly on my ears. I like Bose speakers (have a surround sound in the US and some earbuds), but the price for their headphones are steep.
Also, I don't know if there are any differences in noise cancellation from one product to another. The Sony model cancelled out some of the constant low frequency sounds of plane engines, but I don't know if other models would be preferable.
I would recommend getting a pair of headphones with a noise cancelling feature if you are flying a long distance. I just don't know which one would be best, performance and cost-wise.
Posted in: Keeping the noise out
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viking68
I like Darvish. He is cool. Maybe a little cocky with statements about being the best, but hey, when did being the best or wanting to be the best become a bad thing. Give him a year against the steroid greats of America, and he may get a little more humble. If he can outdo Nolan Ryan, I'll have that much more respect for him.
Just a funny point. Darvish was photographed wearing a marijuana t-shirt in America. Some reporter asked him why the t-shirt, he said something like, Japanese don't pay attention to the English written on shirts..... He just threw it on.
His younger brother got in trouble for pot. So, I believe he knows what it is about. The American press will not let him slide too easily. Give the press some time to get into attack mode, if his new handlers don't help him out, he is going to get killed by the press and Polyanna style American conservatism.
Posted in: Darvish holds farewell news conference for 10,000 fans at Sapporo Dome
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viking68
Hatsoff, thanks for the post.
Obviously I am no expert. I wrote because I saw a lot of bad information and don't want people to perpetuate false fears.
I've already seen people move from their mansions in Tokyo to a "safer" place, in Tokyo, because of cesium readings in soil. They don't realize that their is little risks associated with cesium in soil unless they are growing their food in the soil.
Ultimately, their highest risk of exposure would remain the same no matter where they lived in Tokyo. That risk involves unknowingly buying contaminated food or drinking contaminated water.
I filter my water using reverse osmosis. The EPA says RO filters can remove alpha and beta emitters. The tap water should be safe, but there were a few cases where the government and people were caught off guard and the water had contamination. I don't trust the government or businesses. They intend well (most of the time), but they are no omnipotent.
There likely is no benefit from filtering my water to 99% purity. However, it makes my wife feel more secure about our 6 year old. So, it is worth the time and effort to minimize the anxiety.
My understanding isn't completely accurate (thank you for the post and welcome clarifications), although I believe my conclusion is correct, i.e., ingestion of cesium is the real risk and cesium in concrete (probably the best place for it since it is less likely to get into the food chain and us) shouldn't raise a concern.
Posted in: Radioactive crushed stone may have been used in over 80 buildings, METI says
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viking68
Concern, anxiety (a negative emotional state in which the threat is not present but anticipated), fear (negative emotional state triggered by the presence of a stimulus that has the potential to cause harm). Just want to keep everyone's amygdala in check.
We shouldn't avoid safety issues, but we shouldn't overstate them and become disfunctional because we are overcome with anxiety.
Posted in: Radioactive crushed stone may have been used in over 80 buildings, METI says
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viking68
Huh!?!?, if I thought that, I would have been long gone.
A piece of paper will stop a beta particle. The air after a few feet will stop a beta particle.
The idea of radiation generates more anxiety than is deserved. No, I don't want to live near the plant. I would be more likely to get dosed from food or water living there. Or, I can rely on the government to test my water and food, NOT.
Posted in: Radioactive crushed stone may have been used in over 80 buildings, METI says
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viking68
Here is the EPA's website discussing beta particles: http://epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/beta.html
I also sat through a Q&A with a panel of U.S. experts on radiation exposure last year. Their opinion was ingestion of beta particle emitters like cesium will dose you. Since cesium's half life is 30+ years, you will be getting continual doses of radiation for many years, which may or may not lead to malignancy.
However, you can take a bath in water saturated with beta particle emitters and have no health effects. Unless, you drank the bath water. The experts made a big point of this.
Therefore, living in the building for 60 years or kids licking the walls will do nothing but cause anxiety.
The U.S. experts did not mention gamma radiation in relation to cesium, but they found no reason to be concerned with non-ingested cesium. My conclusion based for their admissions was there were no gamma ray risks with iodine, cesium, or strontium.
Posted in: Radioactive crushed stone may have been used in over 80 buildings, METI says
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viking68
ALARMING Rate? It will continue to be emitted for a long time, but cesium is still only dangerous if ingested.
I understand the questions of why being the more important one.
My "why" concern is, what is slipping by the grocers. Food irradiated by cesium will dose you. There is a question of the dose that will hurt you, as in how many tons of contaminated food do you have to eat before it becomes a minute statistical blip.
Still, at the end of the day, only a handfull of people outside of the power plant will actually have radiation affect their lives, aside from alarmist fears.
More people will die from eating contaminated food from China, die in one day from car accidents, etc. than will be impacted by radiation.
It is just more alarmist news.
Posted in: Radioactive crushed stone may have been used in over 80 buildings, METI says
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viking68
Radioactive cesium is a danger to humans . . . if consumed.
At these levels, you would probably have to eat half the building to have any statistical bump in your radiation risks.
Who is going to be eating crushed rocks? How is cement going to enter the food chain? Where is the reason for concern?
No new information here, unless you need to feed your pet, paranoia.
If there were alpha particle emissions (from uranium, plutonium, etc), then I can understand the concern because you can get irradiated by standing near the source of alpha particle sources.
Looks like there may be some cheap and safe mansions for sale soon.
Posted in: Radioactive crushed stone may have been used in over 80 buildings, METI says
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viking68
I heard that one of the kids looks like the male baby sitter and that is the reason for the divorce.
If this is the case, good for him for getting the divorce. It would also explain why no monetary compensation will be paid to the mother and no splitting of assets. Sounds like a good deal for him.
Of course, the kids will suffer not having their father around, and that is a sad but common fact in Japan.
Posted in: Yu Darvish divorces TV celebrity wife Saeko
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viking68
Apparently, there is a 12 year sentence awaiting him just for abandoning the boat.
Posted in: Italy cruise wreck rescue halted; captain under house arrest