JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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2
To be healthy, live in the big city
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3
Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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4
From carnivores to herbivores: how men are defined in Japan
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Why do Japanese change their attitude when they communicate with foreigners?
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- English Instructor (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe)
- Berlitz Japan, Inc. (ベルリッツ・ジャパン株式会社), Kansai
- Salary: ¥125,000 ~ ¥250,000 / Month
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- FT English Teachers for Kids - Osaka
- Kohgakusha Co., Ltd. （株式会社興学社）, Osaka
- Salary: ¥255,000 ~ ¥275,000 / Month Travel Expenses, Encouragement of Japanese learning*
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- Translator
- ZAIHON, Inc. (日本財務翻訳株式会社), Tokyo
- Salary: ¥6.0M / Year Negotiable
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yabits
It is plain to see what happened here: President Walensa -- and I use the phonetic spelling of the last part of his name (Wałęsa) -- initially supported the Occupy Wall Street group. Why? Because he knows the bankers and financiers are on the wrong side. There could have been no other reason for his initially coming out on the side of those protesting against Wall Street.
So that is the honest position -- minus any outside "influence."
Of course, what has now happened is that the lying right-wing of the U.S. have "reminded" him of the nice donations they are making to his foundation in order to ensure that his message and actions never stray from their own line. He's being totally duped and it's pathetic to see. He foolishly believes that today's Republicans are like the the Ronald Reagan he fondly remembers.
Andrzejewski, and/or the people around him are liars. (It's clear he doesn't speak Polish.) Walensa was asked, "Is there a justifiable worry that America is making a move more towards socialism?", and his answer was somewhat equivocal. "Not so much" is what he said in Polish, while warning about the bankers and government bureaucracy. In no way did President Walensa state that "America is sliding towards socialism." In fact, he indicated that government has to provide health care and "help" for people, but citizens must also "pay attention to" bureaucracy and waste.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
Outstanding, Mr. President.
Mission Accomplished.
Posted in: Obama announces total U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq by year's end
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yabits
Yes, exactly as it is here in the United States too, where most places of work are like dictatorships, where, it is said, "He who has the gold, makes the rules."
The communists would often hold sham elections where the results were a given before votes were cast. The same as stockholder elections in a "capitalist" system.
You speak of freedom. I believe the OWS movement would do well to revisit the "Four Freedoms" that Franklin Roosevelt articulated nearly 71 years ago, and adopt them as a key component of their goals:
"The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world."
"The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world."
"The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.
"The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction in armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world."
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
All organizations -- all of them, including unions -- have the opportunity to become corrupt and counter-productive. But that doesn't mean the concept of the union is a bad thing, or that corruption is inevitable. I believe America desperately needs organizations that look out for the interests of working people, and I'm hoping that one thing that comes out of the OWS movement is a revitalized trend towards workers joining together to defend each others' interests.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
The question is not satisfactory in that the person who has the money is not directly paying the poor person(s) who have need of it to survive. A society generally decides that poor people, especially children, should not starve or be thrown out in the cold -- especially in a country that considers itself the "richest on earth." Once a society makes that decision, then tax monies are directed to assist in that purpose.
The question is the same as asking why one guy who is paying more in taxes has to subsidize firefighters to put out blazes in houses and buildings that don't belong to him.
A good question would be asking how much of a dollar paid in taxes by the wealthy person is actually going to help the indigent. Probably not more than a nickel of it. So one wonders why you are making such an issue about it.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
I would agree that if, and only if, the economy recovers very quickly, many who are there protesting will leave and go out to earn money.
But what has happened to our economy has been so devastating -- especially housing values that had wildly over-inflated and are forecast to be in a depressed state for many decades -- it is not likely that there will be a recovery of the type that would take the fuel out of what is driving OWS. Economic calamities make for monumental social upheaval, especially where the people have been conditioned to expect much from their economic system, and it fails to deliver.
So I see your prediction as more of a hope -- a sign that things have improved. But I don't see that improvement happening very soon. The system needs to change fundamentally. You can't have a relative handful of people who engineer a massive financial collapse and then continue to benefit and profit from what remains while millions suffer.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
Through my family, which emigrated from Poland a generation before me, I am somewhat familiar with the Solidarity movement in that country.
There was no overt goal to overthrow the government. What was felt was that the old system would lose legitimacy and fall away of its own accord the more that a greater number of Poles came to see that they could build a better system that wasn't so tied to the Soviet one. Actually, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Poles have elected communists and socialists to hold office as well as free-market advocates. I don't believe that could have happened if complete overthrow was the goal.
And it's from that example that I believe OWS leaders -- as they emerge -- should be learning from. I have little doubts they will be studying it carefully. I was delighted when Solidarity leader Lech Walensa lent his support to OWS.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
Anyone who looks up the name Peter Drucker will find that he was one of the most highly-regarded and astute observers of American management in the 20th century -- whose advice was sought by executives around the world.
Drucker once said something like this, and it left a lasting impression: "Every power must be checked and balanced by a countervailing power, or else it becomes self-destructive. Therefore, there needs to be something like a union, if, for no other reason, than to protect management from its own occasional and colossal stupidity."
Does that mean ordinary workers run the company instead of? Not at all. But they certainly help to run the company, and the company that increases their level of participation will be far better off for it.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
First of all, I can't speak for any liberal besides myself.
To answer your question, to maintain schools, police, firefighters, military, old age pensioners, prisons, widows and orphans, etc. requires tax dollars.
Are you asking if the children of the man who could not afford to have them should not receive any assistance whatsoever and should therefore be left to their own devices rather than be assisted from public funds? And what should be done with the man? Should he be put in prison? (Prison requires a lot of public expenditure for its maintenance and staffing, not to mention the cost to society for many of the crimes that send people there.)
How should all that be paid for? Since you can't be advocating for executing the man and his children -- which would be the cheapest and best way to ensure they didn't become a drain on society -- what is your solution? The liberal solution would be putting programs in place to work with the man to help him raise his skills and find productive employment so that, rather than being a drain on society, he becomes a contributor. Perhaps even able to work for the wealthy person you gave in your example.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
What? Are you saying that Barney Frank cast some kind of spell over the Republican leadership? That it was a mystery why they could not fulfill their roles as leaders? (Frank, for his part, has stated that he wants to know why, if he had that kind of power, why the Republicans went ahead with the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the invasion of Iraq -- both moves that he adamantly opposed.)
Suffice to say that the Republicans -- having the majority in both houses of Congress and White House -- were in the best position to rein in the abuses (such as they were) and make the proper reforms. It was they, and not Barney Frank, who bear the primary responsibility for their own failure of leadership which led to the economic collapse. No honest person can deny that.
Ultimately, the reason why it isn't "clear" to you is that you've conditioned yourself to total denial when it becomes abundantly clear that the Republicans played a very major role in the financial debacle.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
Having grown up through the 50s and 60s, I know enough about human nature to understand that things always seem worse now. For his part, Martin Luther King Jr. was absolutely despised by a majority of whites. More than a few cheers were heard in white neighborhoods when he was assassinated. And now, several decades later, white conservatives -- who staunchly opposed honoring him with a day -- talk like they were for him all along.
The last 4-5 years of King's life were dedicated to the cause of economic justice -- which is a primary goal of these OWS supporters. Many people, and in increasing numbers, are coming to view the current capitalist system in America as a great evil. Once that viewpoint is accepted, the next step is finding out if other people feel that way. We're in that phase right now: Finding out that more and more people view the current system, the way it has been run from Wall Street, is evil made manifest. This does not mean that some aspects of the system are not without their good parts and should be kept and built upon.
I don't believe there has been a movement in American history that has attracted this many people from such a variety of backgrounds, in this short a time. As well as having spread to over 1,000 locations across the planet.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
Perhaps they can get Murdoch to plant some bugs or wiretap the OWS supporters to find out what's really going on.
Posted in: Do you support the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement which is spreading globally?
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yabits
So most executive management of the film industry is run by conservative-business types.
So what?
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
Ah, here you are being more than a bit disingenuous. Here you appear to be claiming that -- while ratings from Standard & Poor's and Moody's have been trusted and relied upon for years -- the common investor should have been smart enough to outguess the ratings agencies as it regards a given investment.
Please explain what checks and balances were on the ratings agencies?
Only a relative few were able to see through the smoke and mirrors and know there was something seriously wrong. Michael Lewis wrote about them in his book, The Big Short.
Posted in: Do you support the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement which is spreading globally?
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yabits
I completely disagree. Only a decently educated and active citizenry, ready to engage in collective non-cooperation and non-violent resistance to any authority which seeks to usurp their natural rights can secure freedom. That is precisely how many of the countries of the former Soviet bloc secured theirs.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
I believe the proof needs to be presented to you one simple, logical step at a time. So first, do you require proof that very high risk mortgages were, in fact, bundled as securities and rated AAA?
Posted in: Do you support the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement which is spreading globally?
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yabits
So said Republican foreign policy "guru" Newton LeRoy Gingrich. He's the GOP's "mind" and therefore we can expect Gadhafi to make a fool out of the United States.
Of course, the U.S.'s 9-year invasion/occupation of Iraq was a masterstroke of genius.
Posted in: Pulled from drain pipe, Gadhafi was shown no mercy
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yabits
Tigermoth, you've expressed your hate for the 1960s and current OWS protesters several times. I have not expressed hatred of anybody. And, yes, that does matter. It's the difference between the truth and lies.
Anyone who can provide reasonable evidence that such a thing occurred can contact the author OR print a rebuttal to counter the many examples in his book which he researched and found to be without merit. That is what is done to get to the real truth of things in civilized countries. It is also grossly unfair and un-American to attempt to tar an entire movement of people for an action that certainly must have been an extremely isolated case, if it occurred at all -- which I don't believe it did.
No we're are not talking about that. We're talking about more democracy in the workplace and in the economic sphere. Germany is far more capitalist and competitive, and they exercise much more democracy in the workplace -- with higher union representation and also employee representation on the executive board. There are abundant examples of companies run more according to democratic principles, especially with regards to salaries and bonuses.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
You are not here for legitimate argument, Pauly.
If you were you wouldn't have avoided a straight question when asked at least three or four times as to how the leadership of the Republican Congress could have let Barney Frank rule the day in a committee he was a minority member of -- as well as in the general House that the Republicans controlled.
The reason a right-winger won't answer it is because it would immediately shift whatever responsibility they are trying to falsely pin on Frank right bank onto those in charge of Congress and the White House at the time: the Republicans. So much for your legitimate argument.
Posted in: Occupy Wall Street movement flexes muscles one month on
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yabits
I don't believe that is the issue at hand. I believe it has far more to do with their futures -- and what the people who've gotten away with creating the financial instruments of mass destruction have done to make things perilously difficult for so many millions of Americans -- as well as for people all over the world.
The amount of risk is associated with a rating, with the lowest-risk investments being designated as triple-A. What the Wall Street gang did was to pay to have extremely risky investments rated very highly so that the most conservative investors -- the ones most adverse to risk -- would pour money into them. Your little Investment 101 dissertation seems to neglect that.
Well, Butler mentions organized crime figures. They've modernized too, but it's still the same game. The same is true with the bankers. You want to bury your head in the sand and pretend it's all wonderful and on the up and up, be my guest.
Posted in: Do you support the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement which is spreading globally?