Sinfest

[Lemontree]

Frequently I read short articles online and want to hop on here and comment on them, but feel like its a waste to start entire threads over them, and don't feel as though they have a proper home anywhere else.
(Correct me if I'm wrong.)

So this is for the small stories you don't expect to raise 20 pages of debate.

[Lemontree]

Alright, so maybe this isn't entirely small.. but here's one to start:

[Azmoten]

I normally use the interesting link dump. This is better.
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"Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life."
-Solid Jackson (From Jingo, by Terry Pratchett)

[Lemontree]

The Interesting Link Dump just seems more like a home for random memes, games, and silly shit. So yeah.. thought this might work out easier to sort out the real stories worth discussing.

[mouse]

i never look at the interesting link thread - too random. this works for me.

yeah, with all the talk about a long-term presence in iraq, i wonder how much mccain and others have looked at our history of long-term presences in other countries. it seems there are regularly cases of u.s. military raping japanese women, and other issues of friction between the 'host' country and the military.
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aka: neverscared!

[Dro]

Lemontree, while respect for the host country is laudable, I don't think that is connected with someone that perpetrating a sex crime.

There are plenty of ways cultural sensitivity can be enhanced and that can only help, tho.

[Tesceract]

Why do we need 50,000 troops to be in Japan in the first place?

[Kilgore]

Just in case?
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"Whatever afflicts thee, their asses I shall kick"

-Slick

[Lemontree]

True, maybe it just comes down to the fact that if my feet are ever out of my own country.. I see myself as an ambassador for my home nation. I wish that sentiment was impressed upon military personnel more. Perhaps it is.. obviously there are people that really are just never going to listen or ever care.

But what kind of cultural systems do we have in place for foreign serving members of the armed forces? In long-term occupied places like Okinawa.. it seems like the language and culture should be taught in mandatory lessons, perhaps.

I thought up a much longer response to this.. but it pretty much boiled down to me optimistically whining over "why can't we all just get along? Why can't people be good?" Which is ridiculous, because the world doesn't work that way, and it serves no purpose in advancing the conversation.

Anyway, I'm pissed that the man did not have further charges pressed upon him. I hope the military over there follows up where the Japanese criminal justice system left off. And I hope we can find ways to lessen our presence on the islands and promote healthy cultural exchange.

blah.

[Yorick]

[Tesceract]

[Arc Tempest]

Only the rest of Asia.
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The older I get, the more certain I become of one thing. True and abiding cynicism is simply a form of cowardice.

[ZigZag]

[Aulute]

I don't know if I'd call the Self Defense Force a real army, although the Japanese have been sending some troops to support American military actions. "Defense" against terrorism? Pretty much, though, if someone attacks Japan we'd be the ones doing most of the fighting, since that was kind of the deal when Article 9 was included in the constitution.

I feel so bad about Okinawa itself, though. The islands use to be a separate kingdom, but were annexed by Japan. Then, Okinawa took the brunt of the US land invasion. Citizens were forced to fight as military, and many died. The huge number of troops stationed there is just... not good. Some friends of mine went to Okinawa for Fall Break, and some more are planning to go for Spring Break I think, but I didn't go the first time since I'd heard there was a lot of hostility towards Americans over the last rape incident.

[Rogue]

I've got one to add...

Pregnant woman uses train toilet, baby slips out