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I've been clicking really gently the last few times, but i couldn't say for certain that I didn't click too suddenly the first time and spook it.

I meant what's the kind of moral objection rather than the pragmatics, but point taken. Even having higher taxes on the bad4us and lower on the good4us I'm saying, might not really be that bad. I mean sure, it's designed to coerce people into behaving a certian way, but pleanty of stuff is made to do that. And this one isn't really coercing people into anything too dislikable.

Yeah, I am, it just doesn't seem to like me

Into the Wild is probably better if you're not familiar with the basic premis.

I UNDERSTAND IT SEAN PENN, I UNDERSTAND, YOU DON'T NEED TO MAKE IT MORE CLEAR TO ME! I GET IT ALREADY!

And yeah, maybe awakening that sense of 'hey i can be more/different/grow/develop is the little worm that needs to wake up, not 'be different, and do it like this, ok'.

I think the pot was meant to help generally, not for the writing. Just reading that little post again.

Actually, why not give tax breaks for joggers and vegetarians?

People respond to incentives, we might as well have some that help out society. And nothing stops you making your own/paying the extra, whattever.

(I'm on the soda here not the punishment)

I( just got back from a week holiday, that's that link to? its dead or off limits to me.

I'd have to disagree with the 'completely out of their minds'.

There's a lot of subtle cultural stuff you have to work out before you 'get' Japan, but once you do, you can let go of the 'wacky wacky wacky' kind of portreyal that we get in the west.

That's not to say that everything is fine and dandy. Male/female roles are still what we'd call outdated. MEntal ealth is largely misunderstood. Social pressure, especially in high school has a devistating impact. But as far as the Honne/Tatamae concept goes, it's not the kind of social imprisonment that it's tempting to portrey it as.

Yeah, point taken.

I'd say healthy to a point, perhaps, but it certainly is a contributing factor to the ridiculous social pressures Japanese face. There's a number of other issues at hand as well though.

Tatamae, not Tatami. The opposite is honne (one's sincere feelings)

In a way the Japanese do things the healthy way by really embracing the duality of public and private face instead of denying it totally.

I would epically love to request an author account.

as posted in the fecebook thread, i finally got the damn pdf maker installed, where were those templates again?

What is this pdf maker you speak of? And will publisher do the trick also?

Well Japan is a real country of contridictions. The same social rules that enforce a strict code of behaviour is the same set of rules that alow people to publically expose their eccentrisities without fear. It's a country where the language you use to your boss is hyperpolite, and everything you say in discussion is based around emphasising your inferiority, but it's socially accepted that on Friday night drinks you may trip out and begin abusing your boss. And then the next day its like nothing happened.

Japan loves new suff is a kind of fetyishy hive mind kind of way, jumping from one thing to another quickly, but the social rules are fairly solidly in place. One of the important things though, is that most your alternative groups still operate within this social structure, it's just it's an 'as well as' not 'instead of'.

OK for now I've set up intermittens@gmail.com, and will be posting the letters in a thread here... hopefully a temp solution.