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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California court to decide if SeaWorld whales are illegal 'slaves'
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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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yabits
Yes, and the ratings have gotten ever-lower after the infection of the Tea Party rabble.
Posted in: Romney makes big push in Iowa
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yabits
The laws on the books enable the various political parties to establish their own rules for who can participate in non-general, party-specific caucuses and primaries. If the Republican Party of Iowa decided to require a photo ID for all caucus participants, the only way an ACLU or anyone else would even think of initiating a lawsuit is if there was a Republican plaintiff.
So rather than leading by principle and example, what the Iowa Republicans are demonstrating is that, when a group is nearly all-white and conservative, a completely different set of rules and principles applies.
Posted in: Romney makes big push in Iowa
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yabits
Whoa there. Just because a statewide initiative failed doesn't mean that Republicans are prohibited from requiring it for their intra-party elections. That is, if they truly believed in it in principle.
Posted in: Romney makes big push in Iowa
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yabits
If I have a problem with anyone, it is with hypocrites. Like when the Republicans were out of power in Congress and they whipped up this contract on America, in which they wanted to enact term limits. Then, when their party controlled Congress, they never made the slightest effort to push for it. Not the slightest effort.
And so it goes with the Republicans of Iowa. Seems if voter ID is such a serious issue, the party should be setting an example in each and every primary and caucus: elections whose process and procedure they entirely control.
In the past seven years, out of millions upon millions of votes cast in the entire United States, less than 100 cases of voter fraud have proven to have had any validity. Kind of makes your statement sound like loony tunes.
Posted in: Romney makes big push in Iowa
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yabits
Amazing how when a Republican electorate is 97% white, as it is in Iowa, voter ID isn't considered necessary.
Posted in: Romney makes big push in Iowa
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yabits
Interesting note on the Iowa Republican caucus: Those voting in the caucus will not -- repeat, will NOT -- need a government issued photo ID.
The makeup of Iowa Republicans who attended the last caucus was 97% white. Perhaps this is the main reason why voter ID is deemed to be necessary..
Posted in: Romney makes big push in Iowa
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yabits
Dr. Garcia, I hope you are still reading this board. Others may have advised you to be cautious on the type of visitation your ex-wife can be allowed with Karina. After reading all of the irrational, unfounded, and hate-filled smears against you, I would like to add my voice to those advising caution.
You must be very mindful of and prepare for the worst case scenario: It is not all that unheard of for a Japanese mother to plan an act of suicide and take her child (or children) with her. Your ex-wife must mentally prepare for and accept the prospect of a life without the ability to raise your daughter where she prefers to raise her. I believe it extremely likely that the months in prison have fostered a bitterness and desire for revenge in her that simply must not be counted out.
Left to your ex-wife's devices, I have a terrible feeling of foreboding about Karina's safety. I hope you understand where I am coming from, and give careful attention to the role of suicide-murder in Japanese society. More than anything, I hope my feelings of concern about this will prove to be ill-founded.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
That is ludicrous. Once the woman broke U.S. child abduction laws, it was all her doing.
Her irrational and often-vile defenders have heavily influenced me to have almost zero sympathy for her.
When you break the law to the point of hurting a child by almost completely denying parental access to a father, there can't be enough "might" to make things right. That Dr. Garcia is willing to enable his vindictive ex-wife to have liberal contact in the future -- far more than his ex-wife allowed him while she had the daughter -- speaks highly to his character.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
With the odds of any foreign national winning a joint custody battle in a Japanese court system being close to ZERO, the true underdog in this case is/was Dr. Garcia. It is to him that the second greatest injustice was done, the first being to his daughter.
Calling the mother the "underdog" is a bit like calling a bank-robber the underdog because the odds are in the bank's favor that he won't get away with it. By showing utter contempt for U.S. laws and then coming to Hawaii to renew her green card, the mother is like the bank robber who goes back to the very same bank to open a deposit for his takings.
The scatological references reveal a very small and pathetic point of view, and are an extremely poor defense of the woman's position. They also serve to reinforce the conclusion that genuine justice has been achieved in this case.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
Oh, I'll definitely count it out on the Democratic side. Unless, that is, something physically happens to President Obama -- and nobody, I would hope, would wish for that.
Posted in: Gingrich suffers setback in Virginia
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yabits
@Yubaru: I am in complete agreement with you.
Posted in: Man arrested over death of elderly man who rebuked him for ignoring red light
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yabits
Again, this very argument works against the Japanese. Accept it or not, there are many people in the world who are just as kind as Japanese people. The assumption by some Japanese that they are kinder (ie: superior) than everyone else causes some among them to then make a natural leap to the thinking that it is therefore perfectly OK to abduct children of mixed-nationality marriages.
If the mother truly cared about helping to bring up her daughter, she shouldn't have abducted her the way she did. It is completely perverse to put the blame on the father -- who acted as any father who truly loved his child would act. It is also very cruel and unkind to assume that the man's family and relatives are not just as capable of showing kindness to a child as anyone else.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
You are 100% wrong.
The father can NOT impose orders. The parents can go to a court of law to make a plea, and the court decides. Here's where the problem lies entirely with Japan. Because of Japan's well-known rotten system of protecting the Japanese parents who have abducted children and have, in effect, denied or severely curtailed the rights of the other parent with regards to custody or visitation, any astute court system would be extremely reluctant to give a Japanese parent the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
The use of the word "even" suggests that his case on behalf of a naturalized American -- his daughter -- should be given less serious consideration. That may be how the justice systems of other nations work, but I'm very proud with how this case has been adjudicated.
The mother indeed did a rotten thing because a very rotten system in Japan specifically regarding these matters let her get away with it. If Japan's system did not accommodate international child abduction, it is far more likely that these cases will be worked out much more to the benefit of the children involved.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
I am an American and I don't have the sense that our laws and customs are superior OR inferior to the rest of the world. The struggle for justice is just that: a struggle. I believe it would seem wrong for most justice-loving people in the world for one parent to take a child and prevent all contact with the other parent for no other reason than that the parents can't get along.
I believe it is a vision that has much wider basis than you are willing to give credit. The last time I looked, The Hague was not in the United States.
I think that you have a very visceral and fundamental hatred of non-Japanese, which makes any comments you make on this rooted in bias and injustice.
Posted in: Girl reunited with father in U.S. 4 years after being taken to Japan by mother
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yabits
Seriously, the best one from my childhood duplicates sensei258's experience. Getting my first bicycle is something I'll never forget.
As an adult, the best memory came from an event that happened around 15 years ago.
The event was a business trip during Christmas week that was going horribly wrong at every turn, and could have given Planes, Trains, and Automobiles a run for its money. I was supposed to go to Bettendorf, Iowa, and had to fly out from Atlanta to Moline, Illinois, via a connection in St. Louis on TWA.
The shuttle driver to the Atlanta airport was "inspired" to take a different route that ended up getting us stuck in traffic for over an hour. Running to the gate, I was confronted by the fact of the only TWA flight all year that left exactly on time. I got a later flight to St. Louis that arrived just as my scheduled flight to Moline was leaving. (Yeah, my flight was 30 minutes late -- more typical for TWA -- leaving Atlanta.)
The last flight to Moline could not leave because of an incoming winter storm that shut down everything, including St. Louis. Rental cars were not to be found, and I was able after an hour or so of searching to find a room in a cheap motel. I spent an awful night freezing and swearing that I would strangle that shuttle driver the next time I saw him -- his stupid decision setting in motion this awful chain of events.
After a lousy night with little sleep, I got back to the St. Louis airport in an ugly and foul mood. Think Steve Martin at the car rental counter times ten. However, while waiting in line at the ticket counter for the airline, I heard a group of carolers -- elementary school kids -- singing Away in a Manger. I turned around and saw them: all African-American kids, maybe a school or church group.
I turned back around again, with tears welling up in my eyes, as I listened to them recount the tale of another night of hardship so long ago. It was the young voices and the southern accent that was tearing away at me. When they came to the line that goes, *...but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes," whatever anger I had completely melted away. I don't believe any of those kids could have realized that their earnest and tender voices saved a lost soul on that very day.
Posted in: What are some of your fondest Christmas memories?
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yabits
No worse than Reagan's or Clinton's at the same period during their first terms -- and that despite the far greater challenges facing President Obama and the nation.
Posted in: Obama declares victory for Americans as tax deal reached
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yabits
Wrong. The average is $40 a paycheck, averaged on 1.5 week pay cycle. (As the vast majority of Americans are paid either weekly or bi-weekly. That's around $120 a month.
Posted in: Obama declares victory for Americans as tax deal reached
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yabits
When the president submits a budget to Congress it does not go for a vote. It is clear that you are not aware of the budget process and the role of Congress in it. Blaming a clear Congressional failure on the president may make for a nice talking point, but it's clearly divorced from reality.
Maybe that's why President Obama's favorable ratings have been climbing as of late and Congress's has never been lower -- despite or more likely because of the right-wing Republicans.
Posted in: Obama declares victory for Americans as tax deal reached
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yabits
Yes, you said that. The sad part is that it is not true. President Obama's Office of Management and Budget has indeed submitted two yearly budgets (for 2010 and 2011) to Congress, just as his predecessors have done. Anyone who tells you otherwise is dead wrong.
Posted in: Obama declares victory for Americans as tax deal reached