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BBC NEWS | UK | Allegations against police rise
We say the increase in allegations is positive thing because it points to... more confidence in the system
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Digging up the causes of overtime work in Japan - The Mainichi Daily News
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The end of playtime? - Home News, UK - The Independent
In his book Paranoid Parenting, the sociologist Professor Frank Furedi describes the culture of fear that has led parents to restrict their children's movements outdoors. Professor Furedi complained that in 1971, eight in every 10 eight-year-olds were allowed to walk to school alone. Today it is thought to be fewer than one in 10.
There has been growing concern that health and safety fears have stifled schools, encouraging them to ban traditional playground games such as conkers, snowball fights and cartwheeling, or prohibited pupils from doing the backstroke in swimming lessons. Last month, John F Kennedy Primary in Washington, Tyne and Wear, banned the sack race and the three-legged run from sports days – in case the pupils were hu
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Observing Japan: On Japanese nationalisms
A response to an op-ed in the Japan Times, 2008.
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How to Define Japanese Nationalism | Japan Probe
Here is his definition of nationalism:
“Put succinctly, nationalism is a principle that asserts the people as the privileged principle of political life. But this principle of the people is more than a political one. It makes certain claims that go to the heart of identity, individual and collective, and as such it can place itself in a conflicting relationship with the state. It certainly did so for much of modern Japanese history.”
Professor Doak also points out that the English word “nationalism”, besides often being used imprecisely, is basically a rather vague term that can be variously translated into Japanese. He makes a distinction between minzokushugi (ethnic nationalism) and kokuminshugi (civic nationalism), the former being populist and chauvinistic, the latter a healthy form of nationalism essential to any democracy. To simplify, it could be said that at times in its modern history Japan has suffered from a surfeit of the former, and at all times a shortage of the latter. That view reconciles the apparent dichotomy of the excessive pride some Japanese display toward their country’s culture, language, or seasons with the general cynicism and apathy felt toward domestic politics; and also explain what Japanese people mean when they say that they and their compatriots lack nationalism.
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25,000 foreign school children in Japanese public schools | Japan Probe
According to Kyodo News, 25,411 foreign children are attending public schools in Japan::
A breakdown by mother tongue indicates the largest group of such children spoke Portuguese, accounting for 40.2 percent. A majority of them are thought to be Brazilians of Japanese ancestry. They were followed by Chinese speakers, forming 19.9 percent, Spanish speakers at 13.7 percent and Tagalog speakers at 11.4 percent.
By prefecture, Aichi had the largest concentration with 5,030 children, followed by 2,631 in Shizuoka, 2,601 in Kanagawa and 1,913 in Tokyo.
Many of the children do not speak Japanese as their native language, and a government survey states there is a need to provide more opportunities for foreign students to learn Japanese as a second language.
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Energy companies may face windfall tax as British Gas poised to raise bills by 20 per cent - Home News, UK - The Independent
The committee report warns that if the Government "remains committed to eradicating fuel poverty" it must have in place "policy instruments specifically designed to achieve this aim that do not rely on ongoing subsidy of fuel bills. A great many households face a difficult winter; it is imperative that the Government reviews its approach to fuel poverty and does so urgently."
The report also says: "The Government must consider whether the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and Warm Front should be more precisely focused on helping the fuel-poor and whether synergies between the initiatives can be more actively exploited."
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Parents plead for lessons on homework | Education | The Observer
a typical working parent was spending a total of just 35 minutes a day 'looking after' children,...
Parents feel increasingly unable to help their children with homework because they find it too difficult to understand. A study by the General Teaching Council for England has found that parents 'across the social spectrum' are calling on teachers to run sessions that will help them to understand the curriculum and modern teaching methods. They also want schools to provide them with 'homework accompanied by worked examples' so that they can better support their children.
The research highlighted mathematics and science as particularly difficult for parents because the way in which they are taught has changed so dramatically from when today's adults were children. Many also feel teachers are increasingly remote figures with less and less time for parents, especially in secondary schools.
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Christian protests may leave Philip Pullman's trilogy as one of a kind - News, Film & TV - The Independent
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