JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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To be healthy, live in the big city
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Teacher nabbed for using miror to peek up girl's skirt
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Japan's nuclear safety standards flawed, says commission chief
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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
Bush may be history, but all of the supporters who endorsed his lies and turned a collective blind eye to the damage he was doing are still very much with us and still spouting their mendacity.
They should be history too, such is their total lack of credibility.
Posted in: Obama pledges to halve U.S. budget deficit in 4 years
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yabits
And we should never, ever forget how George W. Bush portrayed those projected surpluses back in 2001: With the national debt standing at over $5 trillion when Bush came to office, Bush called the surpluses an "overpayment" (!) that had to be "refunded" to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts.
Did Bush apply the same logic when deficits started to appear -- that they were an "underpayment" requiring hikes in taxes? Not on your life. He could not be honest with the American people about anything, and neither can his Republican enablers and apologists.
Posted in: Obama pledges to halve U.S. budget deficit in 4 years
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yabits
What? Are you hoping that enough of us American voters and taxpayers will go full retard and forget which party it was that mismanaged us into this mess?
I will make a prediction: If the stimulus works and this economy starts to turn around over the next year, Republicans -- those that are left -- will give credit to the Bush tax cuts of 2001.
The Republican plan of attack is always so easy: Fire an arrow and, no matter where it lands or who it hits, paint a bulls-eye around it. If it really causes some damage, try painting the arrow blue.
Posted in: Democrats, Republicans spar over stimulus money
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yabits
And Lord knows there wasn't any government spending going on during WWII. What I would like to know is how the economy could have recovered back then due to the highest marginal income tax rate being above 90%. That's ninety percent. According to Republican ideology, only economic disaster could result from such a condition. And yet the US enjoyed tremendous growth and prosperity through most of the decades of the '50s and 60s.
Posted in: Democrats, Republicans spar over stimulus money
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yabits
Or up, as in the case of 8-year-olds leaving coal mine employment.
Posted in: Democrats, Republicans spar over stimulus money
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yabits
Because I am an American who often has to deal with many other Americans whose intellectual integrity is not very high, offering a criticism of Chavez would likely be misconstrued as justifying the grossly wrong-headed response to his regime that the previous US administration took.
In other words, once the United States removes the beam from its own eye, we'll be in a better position to comment on the speck in Chavez's.
Posted in: Chavez win sparks opposition warnings
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yabits
How dare you call Curious George ugly.
Posted in: U.S. tabloid cartoon appears to link Obama to chimp
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yabits
Just wondering: How many "former Iwate prefectural assembly members" have gone on to become wrestlers?
Posted in: The Great Sasuke arrested on suspicion of assaulting man on train
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yabits
On the other hand, when you piss off a wrestler expect to pay the price.
Posted in: The Great Sasuke arrested on suspicion of assaulting man on train
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yabits
I thought it a bit odd that the title would have NHK not saying "Good-Bye" to the show. Oh, well.
As for the controversy about Patrick Harlan, my not living there but visiting Japan about twice a year (over 25 years), I didn't find him to be all that different from many other gaijin-tarento. But in fairness, I have not observed him more than once or twice, and so may be missing something. I think the whole thing boils down to the issue of stereotyping. I have noted the tendency by most Japanese to be very comfortable with the behavior of non-Japanese when that behavior fits within a pattern of their expectations.
I am not talking about good manners. But to give an example, I was once asked to make a short video presentation to a Japanese audience and, during an early take while I was rehearsing it, made an error or two in pronunciation that I self-corrected. To my surprise, one of my hosts asked me to purposely mispronounce those segments in the final take so as to give them a more authentic "gaijin flavor."
All that said, I don't think that playing to stereotypes does any good and probably does a fair bit of harm -- both to the audience as well as the individual who engages in it. But that is just my opinion. I've enjoyed reading the discussion here.
Posted in: NHK says sayonara to 'Eigode Shaberanaito'
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yabits
The side that first recognizes that they are essentially no different from their enemies wins. All manner of injustice and atrocities come about from a failure to acknowledge that basic precept.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
What should also not be forgotten is that several hundred Japanese-descended immigrants living in South America (Peru, mainly) were transported to the US to be put in camps. Lose your country and get locked up too.
Also put into camps were native Alaskans -- Aleuts -- who lived in the island chain that bears their name.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
And I think you have just supported everything I claimed earlier. More than a few Americans are nothing but little, heartless bundles of hate and mistrust.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
No matter whether we were supporting Saddam or destroying the country in order to "liberate" it, it is hard to fault the Iraqis for being cynical and for thinking the US is only in it for themselves, especially for those who have profited from the war. The cheering by Iraqis over the shoe-throwing incident is an indicator just how massive the folly of this war was.
Moderator: Readers, Saddam Hussein is not relevant to this discussion.
Posted in: Iraqi says he threw shoes at Bush to restore pride
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yabits
I can: their mind-set was one of cowardice given to rumor-mongering and fueled by hatred and race-prejudice. As it was with so many of the policies directed towards the Chinese and Japanese immigrants who came to help build the United States. Any nation professing that "all men are created equal" and committing these kinds of acts was living a lie.
Things are better now, but mainly because of the rise of women and non-white males to positions of power over the last few decades.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
Gee, now there's a great example of damnation by faint praise if there ever was one.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
Those with a nationalist form of pride who feel the US can do little wrong, also like to rewrite and revise history when they can get away with it. It's the United States of Amnesia.
One little historical fact is that, yes, the US admitted the wrong, but it took MANY decades for the US to reach that point. And many within the US still tried to defend the detentions.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
Bush and Cheney remind me of the CEOs of companies that are going into a death spiral, and still get in front of people and lie through their teeth about how things are positive. People who can see the truth have the choice to put up with the pretense or respond in a non-violent way.
What is most revealing about this incident is how much other ordinary Iraqis have applauded it. Towards Iraq, Bush acted as the little punk with a big chip on his shoulder, and it is a great tragedy that so many Iraqis, Americans, Brits and others had to suffer and die as a result of his folly.
Posted in: Iraqi says he threw shoes at Bush to restore pride
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yabits
A very wise perspective.
Any person, group, company, or nation that expresses certain values can be assured that, at some time, those values will come under test. The WWII internment of Japanese-Americans is an example of failing the test. Many of the actions taken by the US government since 9/11 also constitute falling far short of the ideal.
Posted in: Events commemorate unjust WWII Japanese-American detentions
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yabits
The false belief that just because a person is black, it somehow makes them into an expert on racism prompts another question: What disciplines would enable a person to be an expert on such a thing? I suspect the real experts would be found to have a background in a study of many cultures, such as anthropologists and sociologists.
I think that if racism has become much more covert, and I believe it has, then a good way to fuel a discussion on it might be to point out all of the fear and denial that comes with the "no-talking-about-race" rules. I applaud the AG for taking a courageous stance, as unpopular as it may be.
Posted in: Attorney general says U.S. cowardly on race matters