News for November 27, 2006
Some news this morning:
-The scripted Q&A townhall meeting scandal continues to grow.
-Nonpayment for elementary/junior high school lunches in 2005 totalled more than 1.8 billion yen, or 0.53 percent of the amount that should have been collected, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey. Uh oh, better force those poor people to pay up!
-More new stories and opinions for today at Trans-Pacific Radio!
Afternoon update:
-Bullies might actually get suspended from school? I’ll believe it when I see it. Also, Foreign Dispatches has posted an interesting take on the bullying issue.
-AU has created a cell phone with digital radio capabilities. Neat.
-The Yomiuri Shinbun reveals that 70% of local government heads are against term limits. You think?
-A foreigner’s look at the savage Japanese, from the June 15, 1852 edition of the New York Times.
-A survey has found that 28% of workers in Tokyo/Osaka work over 12 hours a day. Horrible.
-Used Pachinko machines, which are being thrown away and eventually shipped to recycling facilities in China, might pose a serious risk to the health of people and could be considered hazardous waste under international law, complains the Japan Times.
-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Europe in January to drum up support for Japan’s tough stance on North Korea.
-Why is Hyundai failing in Japan? Some have reluctantly admitted that using Korean wave stars to promote their brand has been a failure, mainly because the only fans of Korean dramas in Japan are old housewives that don’t usually purchase large sedans.
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Well, it’s not quite that simple. Sure there are people that can’t afford to pay full price for lunch everyday, but I’m highley sure they’re not everyone. On that たけし教育白書 they interviewed some Mom’s as to why they didn’t pay the lunch fee, and their answers were like: (1) even if we don’t pay, the school still feeds our children, so why should we pay (2) we didn’t force our kids to go to school, the government made a law that says they have to, so the government should pay for the food itself etc. There was one women who did say that the lunches were too expensive (at about 1500 yen a month). When asked how much her childs cell phone bill was, she said it was over 10,000 yen.
I think the problem is todays adults were raised with no responsibility. Their parents generation was dirt poor, and had a bad life. When the Japanese ecconomey grew, their parents wanted to be sure the children had no troubles in life, a better life then they could have. However that ended up in irresponsibility. Now those people are raising children, and the problem is getting worse exponentially every time.
Geesh, that got long.
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Yeah, they did go to houses and ask people about the nonpayment thing on that program, and many of the families did not appear to be living in poverty. However, 0.53% is incredibly low if you ask me, and it seems that it would be reasonable to assume that a significant number of those people are economically unable to pay for the lunches.
But really, why isn’t the media asking more important questions, such as: Why do teachers have to pay for school lunches? The kids pay about 1500 yen a month, and I have to pay 6000 yen for the same meals. What a rip off, man.
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wow that was a pretty messed up story about the shipwrecked americans. geez, wtf
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yea, and it suprised me even more that the japanese hated the british. could anyone shed any light onto why his was?
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WujuouMao:
I’m guessing that it was probably due to Britain’s imperialism in Asia, particularly it’s actions in China, and a Japanese fear that they could be next.
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