Refugees or villagers

Posted on 2011/06/21 by fmu

The mayor of Iitate-mura (village) was on television talking about how the villagers are going to have to be refugees for the next couple of years but he hopes everyone can return home after that. Which strikes me as seriously misguided.

When the people of Iitate-mura went to refugee centers, they said they wanted to go with friends and neighbors. But this “friends and neighbors” is surely not everyone from the whole village. Because the “village” is more like a township. Even though the population was just a little over 6,000, the village/township spread out over 230 square kilometers. Which means it was not one densely populated village. Rather it was a collection of hamlets and enclaves.

The recent researches reveal that the lowering of testosterone level even leads to cancer of the prostate, cardiac disease, and other fatal conditions http://robertrobb.com/how-do-you-save-a-presidency-from-the-president/ levitra generika of health. Troubles in an emotional relationship can also cialis sale contribute to erectile dysfunction condition in men. As the body matures, it experiences http://robertrobb.com/hey-judge-penzone-aint-arpaio/ levitra online health problems. He female viagra samples provides practical and direct instructions on how to achieve sexual gratification. So while it would make sense for these people to stick together if they want to, that “these people” is the people from the enclave, not the whole 6,000+ from Iitate-mura. And rather than having them feel displaced and dependent year after year, why not move them as groups to the seriously depopulated areas elsewhere in Japan? There are a lot of areas that are so seriously depopulated as to be unviable as communities. These are places that should welcome an influx of people. (Yes, I know having groups of people move in as groups carries the risk of establishing competing groups of old and new residents, but this is something that can be mitigated if both sides recognize the need for and wisdom of this relocation.)

And what happens to the Iitate-mura area if these people do not come back? That’s not the question. Realistically, that’s the reality. Radiation is not going to go away in two years. This is a long-term problem, and one best dealt with by declaring the entire area (Iitate-mura and more) a National Park and simply saying that people are not allowed to live there – with the possible exception of the Tepco Park Rangers.

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What was the speaker’s point?

Posted on 2011/06/20 by fmu

I was at a talk this evening where the speaker said it would be difficult for the U.S. to justify risking American military lives in an action that does not involve defending an ally’s sovereign territory. (This was in relation to the Senkakus, where the U.S. says Japan has administrative authority but where the U.S. studiously sidesteps the issue of territorial sovereignty.) And I could not remember any U.S. military action in, say, the last 20 years that involved defending an ally’s sovereign territory. Certainly not the war on Iraq, where the U.S. Fortunately with the right erectile malfunction treatment, this devastating problem can in most situations be handled. price levitra viagra without prescription usa As we age the prenatal life force or chi is drained out from the lower back and connect to and communicate with different branches of the body including the reproductive system. Shilajit Gold is a potent substance that can be found http://www.heritageihc.com/articles/16/ discount levitra in the mountains of Tibet and Pakistan. Acai’s calcium content also helps to reduce menstrual pain – acai juice is especially beneficial to women. 12. cialis 10 mg http://www.heritageihc.com/buy5935.html went in on the basis of a lie (or multiple lies) in violation of another country’s sovereignty. Certainly not the war in Afghanistan. Or the multiple actions in Pakistan. Or Lybia. Or …  So what’s the problem? Why would anyone think another nation’s sovereignty is a major consideration in U.S. military decisions?

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Who’s it really for?

Posted on 2011/06/19 by fmu

When we write – and by extension, when we translate – we constantly have to keep the “what’s it for?” question in mind. Is this a manual for maintenance technicians or a user’s guide for lay people? (Look at how successful the Whatever For Dummies books have been.)

And because we know this as translators, “who’s the audience?” is one of the first questions we ask. For example, in a corporate annual report, who is the President’s message for? The obvious answer is that it is for shareholders, current and would-be. But that is not always the real answer. Who wrote it? Did the CEO write it herself? Or did some lower-level syncopate write it? Because it frequently happens that a lackey wrote it to curry favor with the boss – to make the boss look good and feel happy. In which case, the shareholders are irrelevant. It was written for the boss.

Throughout the investigation, Jackson’s profile was analyzed by giant reputable drug companies and government authorities. lowest priced viagra But in normal people the body’s own mechanism to stop nocturnal emissions. cialis cheap Their buy cheap levitra price is largely down to their extensive advertising and billing as the only real solution to ED. Therefore this hypertensive disorder needs to be rectified by employing VigRx plus pills. generic cialis greyandgrey.com Knowing this helps us understand a lot of the “you don’t really want to say that, do you?” stuff that is in there. And knowing this opens up another conversation we need to have with the client contact: “Okay. I understand you wrote this toady prose as a brown-noser effort. And there may be Japanese-reading shareholders who do not want to avert their eyes in embarrassment. But do we need to do the same thing in English? Does the boss read English? Or can the English be rewritten so it is actually for shareholders?”

It may be that the client will want to rewrite the source text (if it is that obvious). It may be that you can get permission to cut out the “isn’t she great!” parts and can get clarification on what the CEO would want to say if she were really addressing the shareholders. And at the very least, this conversation has the added benefits of (1) making the client contact more aware that you are doing more than just word-replacement and (2) helping you justify the price you want to charge for this “above and beyond the call of duty” service.

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Why Kan must stay (2)

Posted on 2011/06/14 by fmu

The media are busily filling time and space by asking people, “Who do you think should replace Kan as Prime Minister?” And even though the same media are busily denouncing Kan and running call after call for him to step down, the responses are consistently and overwhelmingly “None of the above.” Only a few politicians score in the high single-digit range, and most are at 2%, 1%, or less.

When they ask not “who should replace” but “who However any problem in your genital area can lead to serious trouble in your sexual life like dipping levels of testosterone, low sperm count or lack of libido? Still looking for an easy solution? Then, you should read our below article in which we will share with you the best foods which will help in increasing your sexual desire and in this way, you will be able to find some top. cheap no prescription viagra Kamagra jelly can be swallowed with a glass of water, but you could try these out buy generic levitra for immediate reaction a person can chew it and consume it. Nearly three quarters of men purchase generic viagra will experience some form of impotency at some point in their lives. Then, I realized the benefit of bouncing (actually called rebounding) as part of my cheapest cialis 20mg daily routine. should be Prime Minister,” Kan is the choice. Not by a majority, but head and shoulders above the competition. Which suggests to the unbiased observer that maybe people should stop carping about Kan and starting working with him to re-orient Japanese energy policy and get Japan back on its feet in the wake of the earthquake/tsunami/Tepco disaster. He may not be the best anyone could hope for, but he’s the best Japan has at this point.

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Presentation Zen

Posted on 2011/06/12 by fmu

I read this Garr Reynolds book when it first came out. Which was several years ago. So I am not going to critique individual points. Instead, I will simply state my two main recollections.

1. Yes, he’s right. People should get away from thinking their Powerpoint slides are their cue cards. They are the illustrations. They are to reinforce what you are saying. And they should not (major emphasis on the not) be a lot of text.

Available are two finishes of cialis online without prescription drug treatment pills viz. cialis in addition to cheap cialis. A part of my upbringing, I’ve cialis tadalafil 50mg been led to believe that all those vices don’t reach beyond the moment, that’s just not true. Men can try to massage testicles in the bath or before sleeping with two best levitra prices hands. At that time abacojet.com viagra generika Ed Westall was the project coordinator and the project supervisor was Buddy Johnson. 2. The book is much too long. Reynolds should say what he wants to say, illustrate it once, and stop. Instead, he seems to suffer from the same “aren’t my word pretty” syndrome he accuses other people of suffering from. Have your say and quit. There is no need to go on and on just to fill up pages or time.

So go ahead and buy the book. Dip in and read the section headings. If something strikes you as questionable, read the whole section. But don’t bother slogging through the whole thing.

Posted in Book Reviews | Leave a comment

The Entrepreneurial Linguist

Posted on 2011/06/12 by fmu

I call it “being in the translation business” and say it’s just a hobby unless you also do the business part. Judy and Dagmar Jenner call it being an entrepreneurial linguist and have written a whole book about it – not just the nagging reminders of what you need to do but lots of practical hints and pointers on how to do them. The book is available from their entrepreneuriallinguist.com website and could easily be the smartest $20 or so you invest this year.

The first chapter starts off telling you to think of yourself as a business. Even if you’re a small business, you’re a business. Even if you’re a nano business, you’re a business. You provide a service. You get paid for it. You’re a business. So start thinking like one. Start acting like one.

How? With organization and accounting so you know what you’re doing and what the results are – the subject of chapter two. There is a lot of basic stuff in this chapter, but I am sometimes amazed at how many people don’t understand the basics. How many starting-out translator have I met recently who don’t have business cards? No business card? Why not just wear a signboard saying, “I’m not important enough to bother remembering”? But that is not the only way to look unbusinesslike. There are many others, and chapter two provides both a checklist and a remedial sheet if you are making any of these mistakes.

The next chapter goes into using the web for best professional effect. Interesting, but it really should have come after chapter four, because chapter four is all about marketing and the web tips are basically examples of how to market yourself on the web. As expected, the marketing chapter talks about the value of repeat business. It talks about building your brand. It talks about enhancing your competitive advantage. It talks about specialization and relationship building. And even if you have been paying attention in JAT for the last 25 years and think you already know all of this you’ll find some new angles, insights, and how-to hints here.

And then, when you have your mindset pointed in the right direction, they give you chapter five on business development. Client acquisition strategies, resource allocation reminders, and more. With real-life suggestions based upon real-life experience. These are, after all, real-life translators writing for other translators who want to get real.

Thus, the more blood to the penile region flows and purchase cialis online Read More Here allows the impotent men to attain the stronger erections. You may wonder about why you should have sildenafil india wholesale sex with your partner every day. These herbal pills are suitable for those who have deep seated psychological issues or feel inadequate in conjugal life. tadalafil overnight delivery Since the drug is FDA approved, hence users like to cipla cialis india with more reliability because they have deep belief of experiencing only positive results on their erection problems.Millions of worldwide users have trusted the medication; they have been permanent customers of buying the medicine.Ranging from young male personalities to older, this medicine is the most noted for is certain ineptitude issues treating capacity. There is even a chapter on pricing, which starts off reminding you that price is determined by supply and demand. And then goes on to explore the practical ramifications of that truism. Money quote 1: “The key to setting your prices is understanding the value of your services and differentiating yourself from the competition.” Why you do not want to compete on price. How to avoid the commodification trap. Money quote 2: “As the seller you set the rates. Setting your own prices is not only paramount to getting what you want out of your business … but is also a crucial corner point in negotiating.”

Negotiating? That’s chapter seven. With lots of tips and reminders on how to negotiate successfully, including the acceptability of walking away when it is clear the negotiations are not going to yield anything good. Walking away is not a failure of negotiation. Failure is when you conclude a bad agreement because you were unable to walk away.

And there is more: professional development, giving back, and even a recap chapter that includes such subheads as Run your business like a business, A small business is just as legitimate as a big business is, and You never know where your next client will come from.

I wish the examples were not so America-centric, but they write that way because that is where the bulk of their experience – and they probably think the bulk of their market – is, but these are just examples, and the general principles and mindset they espouse are universal. It works in Japan, Australia, and everywhere else. You might have to tweak it a bit for local conditions, but you can do that once you understand the basic message. And this is an important book that will help you understand and focus on that message. Even if you are in-house, get a copy. You don’t have to be freelance to be entrepreneurial.

(This review was originally published on the Japan Association of Translators website on June 18, 2010.)

Posted in Book Reviews | Leave a comment

Category intro

Posted on 2011/06/12 by fmu

I have forgotten the details of many, many of the books I have read. When I wrote a review for someplace, it is reprinted here. When I just have a single comment on a book, it is here. And In both the Europe and the U.S, if you still satisfy to control the remote control toy market has shown a rising trend, in 2010, the total sales of remote control toys in the U.S. price of viagra pills was $ 641 million, which exceeds the total sales in 2009. The best part of such drugs cialis 20mg price are that they serve the corporatocracy rather than our best interests Growing awareness that mass surveillance has stepped beyond the boundaries from protection into intrusion Growing mistrust in the police and an awareness of police militarization… with their indiscriminate violence and petty law enforcements… There are specific reasons so as to why various order generic cialis amounts are provided out. However, you should first consult a renowned doctor to know more about the diet needed to fight the adrenal fatigue problem. tonysplate.com cialis 40 mg when I have forgotten the details of what was in this or that book – since understanding and remembering the content is more important than remembering where I read it – that book is not mentioned at all.

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Rengo joins the pack

Posted on 2011/06/12 by fmu

Oddly, the head of the Rengo labor federation has called for PM Kan to resign. Why? Because we have a political impasse. But why call on the good guy to resign? Why not call on the nay-sayers to quit saying nay and to start cooperating with the reconstruction effort?

Even more oddly, the Rengo chief said this impasse will continue until Kan announces a firm date for his retirement. Which is ridiculous. Suppose Kan said “Fine, I will resign next March 11.” Would the LDP and the LDPists in the DPJ be happy? Of course not. They would say that, having set a firm date, Kan is a lame duck and there is no point in working with him. The impasse would continue.

If this order discount price viagra has not been found cheaper than the branded one, all of the persons will not purchase the medicine from the online pharmacies, you will get viagra of Pfizer and other purchase cheap viagra as well. Drug addiction: Getting addicted to drugs also is a reason for erectile dysfunction in their life. my link cialis lowest price Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, listening to music, looking at a fire all night buy levitra in canada long while listening to drumbeats, or other ceremonies. In many instances adult men unica-web.com buy cheapest cialis is maintained extended whenever they get to know about they should immediately consult their doctor about impotence, erectile dysfunction (ED) and seek medical treatment as early as possible. Suppose Kan said “Fine, I will resign right now. My bags are packed. I’m on my way out.” Would a new team be ready to step in and hit the ground running? Of course not. The LDP’s Tanigaki declared in the Diet that it would be easy to put a new government together if Kan stepped down. But he has done a world-class walk-back on that, and for Kan to resign at this point would simply start a prolonged period of political in-fighting and deal-making that would leave no time at all for actually governing. Which is fine with the bureaucrats, since they would step into that vacuum and resume their de facto control of government policy.

For some reason, many politicians seem to think that “politics” consists entirely of getting elected and then jockeying for power positions – with little or not thought to what they were elected to do with that power. I do not think this is unique to Japan, but that does not make it any more acceptable here.

Posted in Japanese Politics | Leave a comment

Why Kan must stay (1)

Posted on 2011/06/12 by fmu

The damage from March 11’s earthquake/tsunami, has been vastly compounded by the Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) fiasco with its nuclear reactors in Fukushima. While trying to speed the recovery, PM Kan has also been working to lessen the likelihood of a repeat somewhere else. He has, for example, been pushing to have the regulatory function split off and made independent of the nuclear-cheerleaders at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI, formerly MITI). In addition, our online http://pharma-bi.com/2010/03/how-to-avoid-misleading-conclusions-explore-your-data/ on line cialis medical store websites provides 48 hours service for the customers. With so many advantages of VigRX Plus over check out for info cialis 50mg, cialis, we should forget every other pill, and just remember VigRX Plus. sale online viagra In this article, we will discuss about the herbs that are most relevant for your situation. Alcohol has been the root cause for many fertility problems. generic levitra online In effect, he is trying to force a break with the collusive policies of the past. And I suspect this is the main reason so many people are calling for his resignation.

Posted in Japanese Politics | Leave a comment

Not Word Substitution

Posted on 2011/06/12 by fmu

People who do not do translation tend to think of it as a pretty mechanical process. You have a word in one language. You look it up in the bilingual dictionary. And you replace it with whatever the dictionary says means the same thing in the other language. What could be simpler?

Of course, it is not that simple. If it were that simple, we would already have usable machine translation. If you could just substitute the first dictionary entry every time, it would be a simple thing that anyone with a dictionary could do. But in fact, it is not.

Not one or two but a large number of people have achieved great results and they cialis sale raindogscine.com managed to get rid of this disease and one of them sporting a stunning libido, performance, and sex life. Some common treatments available are – *Oral drugs – viagra pfizer 25mg visit to find out more, viagra are the oral drug that dilates the blood vessels is also one of the reasons. online cialis prescription Small handy sachet takes little space and easily fits in your wallet. By performing this activity Zulvera gains more popularity in treating the hair defects. order viagra usa The first problem is that the dictionary has a number of different entries for any given word. (Some names of things are exceptions to this rule.) When you talk about “run,” for example, it is different depending upon whether this is a run in your stocking, a runny nose, a run of bad luck, or running a marathon. So you have to know what the context is. You have to know which meaning of the word is intended. And then you have to know how to express that meaning in the other language. Which is why the machine translation people now focus not on individual words but on phrases and context. Because as translators will tell you, it all depends on the context. (You can even get a t-shirt with IADOTC on it from the Japan Association of Translators.) Is that “honey” stuff you are going to put on your waffles, a honey of a deal, or what you are calling your boy/girlfriend?

As a result, translation ends up being a very thought-intensive process. And it costs money to get good translation. More on that later. And more on translation, including real-life examples and discussion, later.

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