language + rhetoric
How (not) to make a video
A video I won’t be imitating any time soon, unless I ever want to put people off. Altho the speaker is facing the camera, he has his eyes closed or looking off-screen much of the time. I don’t get the feeling he is really interested in talking to me. It looks like a self-indulgent rant. [...]
Another short, well-made video
Here is another interesting short video. It is professionally made, and I don’t aspire to make anything this slick – it is not worth my time to learn how to do so. I like the background graphics. Watch for the ones that pop up when Ferguson says “Lehman Brothers”. I prefer a speaker on video [...]
German video with English subtitles – reporter gets thrown out of EU building for asking questions!
In a former life, I studied German, but it’s now a little rusty, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this recent, interesting video in German with helpful English subtitles. It seems to be some boring story about a TV reporter getting thrown out of the EU parliament building for being rude and impertinent to [...]
Public hoarding old rice over fallout fears | The Japan Times Online
“The buying spree indicates deep public distrust in the government’s handling of the food safety issues…” I disagree. It’s simply common sense. The public realises that the government is physically incapable of guaranteeing the edibility of rice all over the country. To do so will mean checking for radioactivity in every rice stalk in Japan. [...]
#Fukushima Teacher Pressured to Resign Over His Effort to Protect Children from “Invisible Snake” (Radiation) | EX-SKF
We humans are so susceptible to words. First read this headline (and the article, if you want). Sounds like a clear-cut case, doesn’t it? Teacher tries to warn his students about radiation risks. School authorities don’t like it because it “creates fear/panic” (the big no-no). Teacher “quits”, or was he pushed? Fukushima Teacher Muzzled on [...]
Entertainer gets 3½ years for drugs | The Japan Times Online
If possessing and using stimulants is “heinous”, what is murder? Judge Miyamoto needs a reality check. Entertainer Masashi Tashiro was sentenced to 3½ years in prison Friday for using illegal stimulants and possessing cocaine, marking his third incarceration for illegal drug use.Presiding Judge Takafumi Miyamoto of the Yokohama District Court said the 54-year-old entertainer’s use [...]
English Secession: Last Post – Against Secession
This blogger, “English Secession”, is apparently throwing in the towel, but in doing so, he makes some cogent points about why it is so difficult to convince anyone of anything that relies on facts and reasoning as opposed to emotional appeal. Beliefs are emotional, and any emotional appeal beats reasoned debate with the masses. … [...]
Japan man arrested collecting schoolgirl saliva | My Sinchew
A 55-year-old jobless Japanese man has been arrested in Tokyo for having three schoolgirls spit out saliva and filming them in the process, police said Tuesday. Toshihiko Mizuno was caught in Tokyo on Monday on suspicion of “habitual indecency,” which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail or a fine of one [...]
Be objective, not sensationalist, foreign media told | The Japan Times Online
It’s official: foreign media sensationalized the Fukushima crisis and were even factually wrong. Shock! Horror! Shorely not!! Interestingly, or perversely, some foreigners in Japan seemed to believe the sensationalist press rather than the restrained Japanese one, precisely because the restrained reports gave the impression of witholding information, leading to mistrust. Tokyo has been asking foreign media [...]
Still No Need to Panic About Radiation Leaks at Fukushima? | Japan Probe
Lost in translation! Well done, Japan Probe. The original article includes a list of useful, informative links. Check it out. The comments are fun, too. As time goes by, there hasn’t been much of a decline in the international panic and fear over the situation at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Reports about leaks localized within [...]
