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Pork barrel politics
WotD: Pork barrel politics People, Japanese and visitors to Japan, often ask me why I chose to live in the countryside, especially Wakayama. My answer is dependent on pork barrel politics. Pork barrel politics is government spending intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support. In the extreme, it’s politicians openly…
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Call the shots
Phrase: Call the shots Whether you call them the top brass, boss, or head honcho, every organization needs a leader, someone to call the shots. Being a leader is perhaps one of the hardest things in the world because no matter what you do, someone will second-guess it. The sad thing is that the ones…
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Hit-or-miss
WotD: Hit-or-miss Growing up as a small child, like all little boys, I thought my father was Superman. He was big and strong and had all the answers to all the problems. Then I realized that much of what he did was hit-or-miss. The adjective hit-or-miss describes a situation or action that is as likely…
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On the go
Phrase: On the go Here’s a phrase for all busy people out there and not-so-busy people too – on the go. Life seems to speed up the older we become. Don’t worry too much; it’s not just you. I would say most people are always on the go, either busy with work, running errands here…
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In a vacuum
Phrase: In a vacuum Japan is a country and an island chain that often appears to exist in a vacuum. The people speak a unique language not spoken anywhere else and are seldom deeply interested in overseas affairs. Unfortunately, this is a significant issue because absolutely everything that occurs in remote corners of the world…
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Past your prime
Phrase: Past your prime You never expect it to happen, but one day you will wake up and realize that what they say is true. That’s the day you have to admit you’re past your prime. That’s why they say youth is wasted on the young. Of course, we older guys try to tell the…
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Brain drain
WotD: Brain drain We’re living through a period of high inflation and are watching our hard-earned cash go down the drain as prices rise higher and higher. If this continues for much longer, many areas will begin to experience a brain drain. A brain drain occurs when many educated or highly skilled people leave one…
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Strong suit
WotD: Strong suit While a power suit is something you wear to appear competent and confident, your strong suit is something at which you excel. Most people can very quickly create a list of the things they consider weaknesses, such as public speaking or sports. Ask them, however, to create a list of their strong…
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Power suit
WotD: Power suit The power suit is a flashback to the 1980s, but it can still be relevant today. No, I’m not talking about the suit Robert Downey Jr. dons in the Iron Man movies. I see we need to define things before we go any further. In the 1980s, the power suit was characterized…
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Change things up
WotD: Change things up If the pandemic taught us anything, it taught us that sometimes we must change things up to gain a better appreciation for what we already have. For sure, a change is as good as a holiday, but doing it for the sake of making a change is not such a good…
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