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Retiring seniors go on working

2017年5月18日

Japan - Expert

Among the ranks of developed countries, Japan is one of those with labor shortage woes. To tackle such shortage, the country needs to come up with more policies to pull retirees back into the workforce. Florian Kohlbacher, an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Tokyo campus and director of the Economist Corporate Network for North Asia, says that 60 in Japan is still young. Most Japanese people have long, healthy lives. An overhaul in company policies, work culture and seniority policies is needed to encourage seniors to continue working after retirement. People who’ve found jobs after their mandatory retirement want to keep working not only to stay active — they actually…
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Company introduces ‘snowflake test’ to eliminate whiny millennial applicants

2017年5月18日

Business - E

  The Silent Partner Marketing released a questionnaire for job applicants which has gone viral online. The questionnaire, also known as the snowflake test, is designed to eliminate applicants who would whine at work. CEO Kyle Reyes created the test to determine who will fit with his company’s and client’s creative culture. Mr. Reyes defines snowflakes as entitled, liberal millennials who would complain without a strong basis. The thirty-item questionnaire contains a candidate’s view on America, law enforcement, and criticism. Mr. Reyes made this test to see how responsible the candidate is. Other companies would like to adopt this test but was hesitant due to the negative feedback it might…
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Shrimp considered as part of a healthy diet

2017年5月18日

Health - Intermediate

  Over the years, eating shrimp has been not recommended for consumption of patients with health problems and high cholesterol due to its 189 milligrams of cholesterol. This has been believed to be the “bad” cholesterol; however, in a recent study, it shows that shrimp can boost the “good” cholesterol, making it an addition to a healthy heart diet. Aside from its good cholesterol content, this favorite seafood contains healthy nutrients like vitamin B12 and antioxidants, and has no trans-fat. To make shrimp heart-friendly, preparing it with less to no oil at all is the best choice. Baking or boiling it is better than sautéing it with butter or oil….
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Time Warner merges with AT&T

2017年5月5日

Business - E

  Shareholders of the parent company of CNN, HBO, TNT, and others namely as Time Warner casted their votes to approve merging with AT&T amounting to $84.5 billion. Although support from shareholders were highly expected, it would be more challenging to receive a green light from the government since US President Donald Trump criticized the deal when he was still running for the office. He believed that CNN distributes fake news. Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, welcomed the criticism. He also stated that since they are a large company, they handle controversies from time to time as well as hundreds of consumers daily. He also believed that by combining Time…
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How North Korea makes its money

2017年5月4日

World News - Expert

North Korea’s economy is one of the most closed economies in the world but they find ways to get money out of their people. North Korea’s source of foreign banknotes come from selling tons of coal to China every year, exporting other merchandise and basic goods, hacking financial organizations in 18 countries and sending North Koreans to work abroad under force labor. They are believed to work in industries like mining, logging, textiles, and construction. John Park, director of the Korea Working Group at the Harvard Kennedy School, believes Pyeongyang kept a lot of money in China that the government can use to fund its weapons programs. By keeping the…
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Tokyo taxis lowered fare

2017年5月4日

Japan - Expert

Riders delightfully welcomed the new Tokyo taxi fare, which is fairly affordable for people who use cabs for short distances. Leaflets were handed out to the public to introduce the new fare system to interested passengers at taxi stands. Commuters, especially elders, were so pleased to know about the new and improved fare system. The new fare for the first 1.052 kilometers is ¥410. It used to be ¥730 for the first two kilometers. Taxis have stickers of the new fare system in both English and Japanese. This fare revision was set in motion to address the continuous plunge in the the number of taxi passengers. Taxi companies also hope…
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Standford University offers program for older professionals

2017年5月2日

Education - E

  Stanford University opened a new course for retirees who are planning their careers for the next 20-30 years. A former Stanford Dean, Dr. Phil Pizzo, believes that the transition from middle age to retiring age is overwhelming so he opened up an opportunity for retirees to study and do more in life. The Stanford’s Center of Longevity agrees to this plan, saying that universities are not only for people starting their careers, but also for people who successfully ended their careers. Students, also known as fellows have flourished from their chosen careers. Fellows like David Gensler from Gensler, Mary Ittelson from Ittelson Consulting, and Pradeep Jotwani from HP Inc….
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Facebook denies responsible over fake news

2017年4月27日

technology

  Facebook is on a hot seat for fake news circulating on the site. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed his disappointment in the issue as the management too is a victim. It is also speculated that these kinds of news are passed off as fake just because some people disagree with them. Facebook is careful on handling the situation. Mark said that an important part of democracy is to share things that other people might disagree with. Facebook is not going to delete or ban posts just because other people felt offended.   Vocabulary: hot seat – bad situation circulating – to be distributed over against – opposed to;…
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Drug use in sports becoming a crisis

2017年4月25日

Sports - Expert

  According to the poll conducted by BBC, a wide range of substances – both legal and illegal – are taken by amateur sports men and women to support their performance. They also found that 49% thought performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) were easily available among people who play sports regularly. More than 50 types of anabolic steroids are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), the independent body responsible for the list of substances prohibited in sport. The possession of steroids, which are class C drugs, is not illegal under UK law as long as they are only for personal use. Performance-enhancing substances can also include recreational drugs and prescribed medications…
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Foreign interns face tough road in Japan

2017年4月21日

Business - E

  Foreign interns in Japan hailing from neighboring countries find it exacting to adapt and keep their lifestyle. Most of them leave their home countries in hopes of living a better life abroad. Vietnam, one of the countries that contributes to Japan’s labor shortage, offers training about the country’s culture and language to their citizens who will be deployed as technical interns. Despite the project’s success, some trainees disappear in a sudden upon deployment. Problems with pay and inferior working conditions are deemed to be the cause of these disappearances. Some trainees start believing that their dream of living a better life is impossible due to the high cost of…
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