2010-07-10, 23:59 | Link #8121 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Age: 35
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2010-07-11, 00:05 | Link #8122 | |
Komrades of Kitamura Kou
Join Date: Jul 2004
Age: 39
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2010-07-11, 00:10 | Link #8123 | |
Not Enough Sleep
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: R'lyeh
Age: 48
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Prepare for more French Jokes as this case get more coverage.
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2010-07-11, 01:33 | Link #8124 | |
I disagree with you all.
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Alas, I can't say anything about Polanski. On another, more joyous and yet slightly relevant note, I've heard we're considering making hostages who didn't have a legitimate reason to go into a danger zone pay for their own damn rescue. I wonder if her family would have asked for her rescue if it meant they were all going to be in debt for the rest of their lives? |
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2010-07-11, 04:07 | Link #8125 |
Takao Tsundere Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Classified
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Fifa 'pressures' Mandela to attend World Cup final
Just leave Mandela alone. I don't want to know the day he gave out the world cup was the last day of his life.
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2010-07-11, 07:10 | Link #8126 |
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
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I did a quick search and found to my surprise that no one seems to have yet mentioned the sumo scandal. Public outrage reached such levels that the NHK has chosen not to cover a major tournament for the first time in over half a century. For a institution so deeply rooted in Japanese history and traditions, this has to be a loss of "face" of near epic proportions.
I suspect that the tie to yakuza makes this scandal even bigger in the public's eyes than if the wrestlers were betting among themselves, or using third parties to bet overseas. To me this just demonstrates the futility of attempts to ban human vices. Eliminating legal outlets for drinking, gambling, drugs, or sex, to name the obvious ones, just creates opportunities for criminals. As we can see from the recent horrible events in northern Mexico, the consequences of our efforts to prosecute a "war" on drugs has led to the loss of hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives and the assassination of public officials. According to the AFP article below, gambling on certain sports in Japan is legal, but baseball is not one of them. Can any of our Japanese colleagues explain this distinction? http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...AKkgnTtAH6YbHA To an outsider, what makes this especially surprising is that the wrestlers weren't actually betting on sumo, but baseball. I can understand the outrage when people like Pete Rose bet on the sport they played or managed because the conflict-of-interest issues are obvious and paramount to the integrity of the sport itself. (Even worse, perhaps, is betting by umpires and referees, but they don't have the public exposure of someone like Rose. Remember that the officials make the least amount of money of anyone on the field/floor yet have the power to change the results in an instant.)
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2010-07-11, 10:09 | Link #8127 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1634703/
I would say it's mostly paranoia; Internet ( or the U.S.) do not create the ''unrest'', it just help to spread it.
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2010-07-11, 11:13 | Link #8128 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Age: 35
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2010-07-11, 17:57 | Link #8130 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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(though I wonder how often the sumo games are 'advantaged' pre-game at times anyway). In fact, I believe at least some of the reports mentioned that the scandal broke open the instant a mobster threatened to blackmail one of the wrestlers for money or he'd reveal the wrestler was betting. I've been mostly catching up with the story on the NHK Worldlink news program which started airing in the evening on my PBS station recently. Its pretty interesting and gives me a companion news program with an asian perspective to watch along with BBC World and Euro Journal. http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/newsline/
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2010-07-12, 04:52 | Link #8131 |
Takao Tsundere Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Classified
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Naomi Campbell to testify at Charles Taylor trial
I wonder if Naomi is gonna tell the truth or lie to protect herself over at The Hague.
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2010-07-12, 10:52 | Link #8132 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Swiss free Polanski, won't return him to the U.S.
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2010-07-12, 12:17 | Link #8133 |
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
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I don't think that an endorsement by Woody Allen is especially persuasive when it comes to this case.
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2010-07-12, 12:51 | Link #8135 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
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One last tip: Never doubt the octopus! |
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2010-07-12, 13:45 | Link #8136 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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Or that if you just wait it out, eventually not enough people care. Problem is, the US prosecutors *DROPPED THE BALL* in responding to Swiss inquiries. This was a case of Swiss basically labeling them as either incompetent or more interested in grandstanding than doing the work.
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2010-07-12, 13:47 | Link #8137 | ||
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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2010-07-12, 15:41 | Link #8138 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Age: 35
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Well what we have learned about the World Cup is that soccer/football, yes I'm willing to call soccer football, but I'll just use futbol to not confuse American fans is that the World Cup's importance could barely compete with the spectacle that was Free Agency 2010. With a city in ruins after the mother of all betrayals took place at the Hartford, Conneticut Boys and Girls Club, the United States and NBA/Basketball lovers either felt their hearts yanked out with the sacking of Cleveland or the formation of the a super team, or the destruction of humility in sports. This cry has reverberated so vehemently that even with the All-star MLB Week starting today, the talk of LeBron and his antics, his lack of poise, Dan Gilbert, and the betrayal Cleveland has suffered, has shown that the NBA has skyrocketed to prominence and I dare say to the stature of the second most important sport in America. Even an episode featuring Jerry Jone and NFL could not assuage the press and sports fans from talking about this decision that will shake up the Eastern Conference.
As one commentator put it, Americans like rules, and the fact that stoppage time isn't properly defined is one thing that really drives American viewers nuts, although I find that somewhat untrue because although I love rules and the preciseness of football, I still enjoy things that aren't based on rules such as Around the Horn. 4 year breaks and a lackluster performance by the American team in the World Cup just isn't good enough to capitivate Americans. I mean other than the Olympics Americans really enjoy having the best play here, just look at the international team and whos playing on it for the FIBA gold, Kobe, Lebron, Wade, Williams, are all sitting, because unfortunately the global stage is not nearly as prestiguous as the National one in Basketball unless your talking Olympics. Maybe someday when we have a kobeesque player in soccer or a dream team for national soccer, will it really proliferate here. O ps, lol at Bloombergs buy BP, what is this world coming to. |
2010-07-12, 16:45 | Link #8139 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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Millions Watch Rich Guy Get New Job
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2010-07-12, 17:44 | Link #8140 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Age: 35
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What we start to realize is that in this day and age race is still and ever so strong sentiment that swaths over the nation, in the comments section of the article talking about Jesse Jackson's detection of racism and slave owner mentality found in Dan Gilbert's letter, it seems that even after a black president, race still is a topic this nation is not yet ready to truly address. Every time I hear a pundit proclaim the race barrier, and the stigma of race is finally over like Chris Matthew who "forgot the president was black" or the many gaffs made by democrats during Obama's election, have been all re-surged based on these statements made by Gilbert and Jackson. Albeit these comments are made on the internet and hidden by the veil of anonymity, they do offer a peculiar look into how we think about subjects such as race and class, and only the most vocal vocalize those opinions the idea that these biases are somehow gone in this more progressive era is not the promise land that Martin Luther King Jr. promised in his speech in the capital. It's sad that a man such as Jesse Jackson still maintains power in the way he does, and that something that is really based on money and championships is being co-opted into a rallying call for racists in the nation to rejoice that racism is in fact live and well in this country. |
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current affairs, discussion, international |
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