Creepy stuff. Sounds like they want a return to a "kinder, gentler" version of the prewar era...
>If NK attacked and bombed Japan, what would we do? Could I say, "we'd never scurutinize any suspicious person(or agent) because of thier nationality? That's tough to answer.
This is a tough issue in the US as well... It's called "Racial Profiling." Arabs or people with Arabic names often get more closely scrutinized at airports... This doesn't really seem fair, but almost of the people involved in the 9/11 attacks, as well as the 3/11 attack in Spain last year, the attack on the USS Cole ship in 2000, and many other attacks against Americans and allies have been Muslim Arabs. Of course, very few Muslim Arabs actually want to blow up buildings, so it's unfair to treat them all as if they might be murderers, but... It's definitely not an issue with an easy answer.
Personally, were such a thing to happen, I hope you would not harbor resentment toward the NK people. The Koreans are fine people; it's their government that's crazy.
>Not to change the subject, but I'm curious to know whether your nation gives suffrage to whoever live in it but doesn't have the nationality.
If you are referring to the United States, then no; you must be a citizen to have voting rights. Surely Japan doesn't allow such a thing... do they? It would seem quite bizarre to me. Anyway, becoming a legal citizen of the US is a fairly simple process compared to most other countries.
>So they don't have the abilitiy to interrogate any person and put him behind bars?
The Constitution of the US says a lot about this issue. One of its most important parts says that someone can't be arrested unless they are charged with a crime, soon after which they must be allowed a fair trial. If, however, they cannot charge someone for a crime, because of lack of evidence or for any other reason, that person must be let go. So it is illegal to arrest a US citizen and hold them indefinitely.
Where this gets tricky is that this is exactly what we're doing to a lot of terror suspects... Have you heard of the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba? Many people are being arrested (mostly from overseas, but some from America) and imprisoned there while they are interrogated about their connections to terrorist groups. However, as these people are not US citizens, this is not a violation of the Constitution.
This doesn't sit well with some people, who think that the Constitution should apply to the government's behavior to non-citizens as well. Myself, I don't think that should happen, but I'll admit that I do find the idea of what's going on at Guantanamo Bay a bit unsettling.
By the way, I'm not sure how many of you Japanese folk are posting here, since you're all posting anonymously, but I must say that you all have some pretty solid English skills. Good work.
Just to clarify, what I mentioned above about Guantanamo Bay and such isn't anything that came about because of the PATRIOT Act. As far as I know, the PATRIOT Act doesn't define or change any of the rules in regard to arresting and charging citizens, or non-citizens for that matter.
>It's definitely not an issue with an easy answer.
I know what you mean. It all depends on which side you are on, I guess. Actually, I'm of two minds about this matter: People need to be treated fairly
but if my friend fell victim to a crime, would I still say the some thing...?, etc.
>Japan doesn't allow such a thing... do they?
Of course, not. As I see it, though, it seems natural to me. Let me take an extreme example to get to the point: If the number of muslim immigrants without the US nationality greatly surged, had a voting rights and influenced on the way the US are, they could control your nation behind the scenes. That means your rights are eroded, doesn't it?
So it doesn't seem to me a distinction at all if somebody doesn't receive a voting right because they don't have the nationality of a nation. (It's a shame that becoming a legal citizen of Japan needs a comlicated process, though...)
>The Constitution of the US says a lot about this issue.
I adore it. In the Human rights bill case, however, some politicians are trying to leave the committee members as they like to act. No one can interfere with them. Think this is one of the biggest problems the bill includes...
>I'm not sure how many of you Japanese folk are posting here, since you're all posting anonymously, but I must say that you all have some pretty solid English skills.
Well, I've posted often, but I'm not sure exactly how many of us, since we've been staying anonymous.:) I'd say maybe three or four of us. Anyway, I'm very flattered. I know I'm not fluent in English, especially when it comes to everyday expressions. So I sometimes ask questions about some of them in the nihongo board of 4ch. People in there are kind enough to teach them to me.
In the US, only citizens are permitted to vote. However, any immigrant who does not have a criminal record and is willing to spend several years going through the legal process can become a citizen.
>>64
I read on the news paper that more foreign students stay and work in the US after they graduate from the US colleges than ones who get a diploma in Japan, which is one reason why the US keeps staying as the world best power. Some of them will go through the process. I personally think Japan has to follow suit to some degree in this issue.
Well, then, let me go back to the Human Rights bill. Its introduction is being put off now, though no Japanese citizen was tipped off exactly when. I guess it's because they want the information on the bill confined to very limited numbers. We'll continue keeping an eye on what they're going to do.
Accorging to the news paper, 70 percent of the Diet members like to turn the contents of the draft into the ones which are more acceptable to us like a nationality requirement (As things a little bit changed, the news paper started reporting about the bill, though you'll find articles about it very small. Now I'm dubious about the Japanese media...) But all we want them to do is repeal the horrible bill itself, because the things we're afraid of will happen if they pass the bill and the law is made effective.
>>67: Well, that's kind of a wide question, so allow me a wide answer. An ideal human rights situation is one in which no person is placed above or below any other person by society or government due to either "accidents of their birth," such as their race or nationality, or by their fundamental beliefs, such as their religion.
If only it could be that simple...!
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/all/display.jsp?an=20050317213
Human rights protection monitors are volunteers commissioned by the Justice Ministry to promote human rights awareness, to check for any violations of human rights and to make efforts to protect such rights in their communities.
The LDP members involved in the bill revision are thought to have decided to include the nationality clause because they think Japanese people are especially sensitive to nationality issues due to North Korea's abductions of Japanese.
Thousands of Koreans with permanent resident status in Japan belong to a pro-Pyongyang residents group.
Here's an article about foreign journalists in Japan and how they often feel they have more freedom when writing for the Japanese press than native Japanese people themselves:
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050322zg.htm
It's very sad to reconfirm the Japanese media won't do what they're supposed to do.. On the bright side, though, I hope non-Japanese jornalists except Dave Spector continue struggling to reach for the truth the Japanese media won't touch.
About what Dave said:
>"The media gets bashed all the time in Japan," he argues. "I >don't see that people have kid gloves on."
I think he's feeling that way because he's on the media's side.
He's fawning up to them. If he had played the roles that he said he was asked for, I would've looked up to him, but what he's been doing is nothing worth paying attention to. He's just a TV talent/comedian. Most Japanese don't take him seriously.
This is one of the things he did on TV:http://my.reset.jp/~mars/btg/document18/yakisoban.html
The ninth picture from the above in the site.
You mean the guy with the gold teapot-looking thing on his head? Wow, he must be one serious and hard-hitting journalist!
Yes, that's him. And sorry the tenth was correct. That being said, what the other journalists said in the article sounds convincing to me. There're lots of secrets in Japan which most overseas people don't know about and which even the Japanese media won't deal with. I hope the true journalists fight against such taboos in Japan. I'm assured only they can do it now that I know the Japanese media is being controled by some horrible organizations just as I thought..
I heard before that things about the media in Korea and China was worse than in Japan.
>One of its most important parts says that someone can't be arrested unless they are charged with a crime, soon after which they must be allowed a fair trial. If, however, they cannot charge someone for a crime, because of lack of evidence or for any other reason, that person must be let go.
Sorry for taking this long to reply to your points. I was wondering if the police in the US are empowered to seach a suspect's place without any permission given by the court before arresting him. The constitution of Japan strictly limites the abilities to do it unless he is arrested red-handed,
so that the police won't put the wrong person to a hard position(though such a system is established, they sometimes cook up a story and take a wrong one to the police station...). I mean to say, although the police' action is limited, why does the human rights commitee have the right to "do justice" according to their standards? I guess no other establishment can do such a thing. Horriblly disgusting and depressing, many of those who want to become a member of the committee are thought to belong to some political/religious organization. The constitution sure gives people the right to believe religion, but doesn't allow them to play God. Japanese Diet members should base their decisions on the Constitution.
Can I ask you something? "A hard position" made sense in my context? I meant a hard life or a precarious position or something like that. I often feel worried if what I really want to say can get across to English-speaking people, because of lack of my English skills..
I haven't been following the thread, but I understand the phrase you used. I am not a native speaker myself (though not Japanese), so I cannot say for sure, but since English is somewhat of a lingua franca on the internet, native speakers get used to a lot of different slang, jargon and peculiar phrases. Don't worry about, esp. American English is pretty flexible in its development.
>>79
Thank you. Now I feel better. Does a "lingua franca" means the most frequently used language to communicate with people from all over the world, right? Anyway, I hope you'll participate in the discussion as well. Thanks again.
http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=lingua+franca&x=0&y=0
Main Entry: lin·gua fran·ca
Pronunciation: 'li[ng]-gw&-'fra[ng]-k&
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural lingua francas or lin·guae fran·cae /-gwE-'fra[ng]-(")kE/
Etymology: Italian, literally, Frankish language
1 often capitalized : a common language consisting of Italian mixed with French, Spanish, Greek, and Arabic that was formerly spoken in Mediterranean ports
2 : any of various languages used as common or commercial tongues among peoples of diverse speech
3 : something resembling a common language
Lingua Franca = 共通語
France = 語?
語 = word/speech/language
>>77
Sometimes. Significant court cases in the US turn on a point of whether the judge decides that the police had "probable cause" to carry out a search without a warrant from a judge in a specific situation. So there is no firm yes-or-no answer to your question.
According to the Japanese TV news, the popularity of the Bush administration declined because he tried making a law which is in favor of surviving a female who's been in coma or sufferred what's called brain death(My English vocabulary is small...). Many Americans also feel disgusted when politicians cut a deal with their supportive political body, don't they?
We've been worried that the Human Rithts bill destories democracy, as we said in this thread. But things are getting better little by little. Those who are opposed to the bill planed to set up a big meeting in Tokyo on April 4, where 2000 people can be accomodated. We must stand up against any threat to violate freedom of speech. Now we know that only several politicians have tried to pass the bill before most Japanese didn't know about the bill thanks to the Internet-if we lose access to information that the media don't report then we will lose the right to know. And the politicians can do whatever they want. It's unfair. The bill should be repealed.
Note: a former politician who recieved politically non-acceptable humongous money from some political body(and as a result, was publicly criticised and let go before) is thought to be controling his former subordinates as he like to now.
Sorry.
>before most Japanese didn't know
My mistake
It's >before most Japanese know.
>>86
I see. But no other organization than the police could carry out such a search, couldn't they?
http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/no_gestapo/imgs/e/a/ea923ea6.gif
The images in the site implies that the Human Rights committe will have the most influential power after the law and citizens in Japan will be ignored.
Note:
人権委員会：The Human rights committe
国民：Citizens
立法：The Japanese Diet
行政：The administration
司法：The court house
>>87
yes, that has been very big news here in the USA for the past few weeks, although I haven't heard that it has decreased Bush's popularity.
the woman, Terri Schiavo, has been brain dead for 15 years. Her husband finally wanted to remove her feeding tube and let her die, but her parents disagreed. the matter went to court (many times) and locally, they decided that Terri herself would want to die. However, the Bush administration disagreed, and it turned into national news.
Terri Schiavo died this morning after her feeding tube had been out for the 13th day.
>>62
I thought that the PATRIOT Act did allow for those arrests, but I can't find it in the text now, so I may be mistaken.
>>92
I didn't know about the conclusion of the event. Thank you for your information. Considering how difficult it is to deal with brain death, I can't decide which side was correct.. By the way, I found an artcle about the Bush's approval rating on the Internet:http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-03-24-bush-poll_x.htm
Bush approval slips to 45%, lowest of his presidency
Independent political analysts said the drop may reflect opposition to the White House and Congress intervening in the Terri Schiavo matter.
> Bush approval slips to 45%, lowest of his presidency. Independent political analysts said the drop may reflect opposition to the White House and Congress intervening in the Terri Schiavo matter.
I said I wasn't going to talk any more about this, but this at least give me some faith in humanity back, that people are smart enough not to fall for such utterly cheap populist tricks.
>>94
No matter the public approval now, the bill the crusaders have longed for was passed. Also, Randall Terry and his band of loons have made good use of the matter at hand and have gained reasonable momentum, allowing them to crawl forth from the stones they've been hiding under. Time to lose that faith again!
I heard Fuji TV, one of the Japanese broadcasting systems, finally reported that if the bill was passed, then we'd be faced with a horrible oppression against free speech of Japanese citizens. That was a great progress. Some other discussion program in prime hours(like Cross Fire of CNN) is supposed to take up the issue. Things are getting ahead.
If Chinese people become members of the human rights committee and they decide any comment against anything like the protest now happening in China is discrimination, then we can't insist our human rights be violated... You may think I'm a bit too worried, but the bill is really very flawed and imperfect. What are human rights? What is most important? I think the bill needs reforming.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/797754.stm
>Risky alliance for Japan's ruling party
>It is a risky strategy because many Japanese are deeply >suspicious of the religious sect - the Soka Gakkai lay >Buddhist group - that provides the party's electoral support.
It is obvious The Soka Gakkai is pulling strings behind the scene about the Human Rights bill. The religious fanatics are trying to control Japan. Magagines in Japan often criticise the cult group for what they're doing like they threaten former members of the cult, saying "you let go and die if you get out of our group". What they want is very clear. They want to silence Japanese citizens.
I don't have French language skills, but I read a translation of a French TV program. And it turned out that French people also have the same concern most Japanese have: cult parties often try to invade the politics of their own country-Koumei tou(one of the political parties in Japan) is supported by the Soka Gakkai.
Soka Gakkai is not a cult group. It is more like the USA's right-wing Christian conservatives. Neither Soka Gakkai nor the US's Southern Baptists actually brainwash and abuse their members, unlike most cults. They're just extremely conservative and think they are on a mission from the heavens to help the rest of us see how wrong we are.
Now Aum Shinrikyo, those guys were (are?) a real cult.
significant part of LDP's nostalgic way of behavior comes from the fact that shinto shrines have supported the party. so soka gakkai, which is one of buddhism sects, might dissent in many points, especially in religious or spiritual conception of history.
Shitty thread Wasshoi！！
＼＼ Shitty thread Wasshoi！ ／／
+ + ＼＼Shitty thread Wasshoi！／+
∬ ∬ ∬ ∬ ∬ ∬ +
+ 人 人 人 +
（＿） （＿） （＿_）
+ （＿＿） （＿＿） （＿＿） +
. + （ ＿＿ ） （ ＿＿ ） （ ＿＿ ） +
（ ´∀｀∩ （´∀｀∩） （ ´∀｀）
+ （( （つ ノ （つ 丿 （つ つ )） +
ヽ （ ノ （ ヽノ ） ） ）
（＿）し' し（＿） （＿）＿）
Its Funny many americans are washed their brains by Chinese commy's" Militalist Japan Propaganda" & some stupid nationalist
LDP guys (Koizumi Aso Nakagawa)playing the free actor of the Chinese Propaganda
Think! Why commy continuously digging the memory of 60years ago.
CIA report that Y2000 china's Purcaseing Power Pariry GDP
become NO2 of the world
And 2006 China's PPP GDP is Twice of Japan's PPP GDP
That mean
Even Japan go to Militalism and try to compete military expenditure expansion----Japan will bankrupt before china--- like USSR bankrupt before USA----Because China's PPP=Actual GDP is twice of Japan
Listen!
There is big difference of Price level between US/JPN and China
And China can employee 1Million troops with same amount of
Only 50000 of JGSDF troops salary
So when you evaluate potential military strength from GDP,you should compare Purchaseing Power Parity Base not Exchange Base
OKay I figure out Military Expenditure
Excahnge Base
US 400-500Bil
Rus 55Bil
China2004 60Bli
China2005 80Bil
China2006 100Bil
JPN 2006 47Bil
PPPBase USD
US 400-500Bil
Rus 110Bil
China2004 240Bli
China2005 320Bil
China2006 400Bil
JPN 2006 47Bil
PLAAF Fighters2400 USAF Fighters3600 JASDF260
PLA Tanks 7010 USArmyTanks7000 JGSDFTanks 600
PLAN Sub 60 USNPAC FleetSub35 JMSDF Sub16
Hello? Where is Militalist JPN?
Militalist with ONLY 600Tanks 260Fighters 16 Sub?
Very Funny Joke made in RED CHINA
Evil New Facist doing respect celemony for OLD Evil Facist at war Shirine
Evil New Facist going to Nuke armament and establish New Nuke Empire like USSR
So dramatic SF Movie like Star Wars, we shold prise Golden Razzy award to Mr Stupid Koizumi & Mr Aho & Nakagawa The Drunker
But before you believe Commy's propaganda Film
at least Check the statistics then you will aware how commy
scare that US aware china's Mil Expanding and stop it
Commy's Trick is by anouncing "Hey World NO2 GDP JPN GOING TO MILITASLIST!" and let US chase it, for prevent US Aware THE FACT actually world NO2 is China and China's PPP Mil Expebditure have already chaught up US
It seems to be Korean common sense
Jesus Christ is a Korean
Tom Cruise is a Korean
Carl Lewis is a Korean
Michael Jordan is a Korean
Queen Elizabeth is a Korean
American ancestors are Koreans
A Korean forges it
Don't be reading Japan Today and be freaking out. Many of their articles were written with anti-Japan agenda funded by you know who (e.g. our real totalitarian neighbors to the west). You have to know where the writer is standing when judging left vs. right. In Japan, most stand on the extreme left (or unpatriotic). From where they stand, everything will look right and nationalistic. You also have to be aware that the writers will use every method available to quill any movements that would not be beneficial to their sponsors. Labeling (e.g. calling the registration and various issues with words such as totalitarian and nationalistic) is one of the most frequently used methods.
This is one of the often looked-over cost of freedom of speech. China and North Korea don't have this problem. The receiver/consumer of the information need to be really smart about what to believe and what to just toss out of the window. So don't freak out. Think for yourself.
Below, I'll give you an example of how different "middle of the road" is between Japan & US.
I'm a parent with a kindergarten-aged child in US. It really, really, really, blew me away when I saw one of the "school performance," where kids yelled out "I'm proud of soldiers who gave their lives to this country." I personally think above is healthy, but in Japan, this healthy expression of patriotism would be considered extreme right & extremely nationalistic. The leftist media will have a field day if any kindergarten ever taught their children to say this, so this simply doesn't happen in Japan. US's middle of the road (at least good/mainstream enough to teach a 5-year old) is beyond extreme right in Japan.
