Emperor's Birthday Photos

Well, we got downtown, and the weather was fine. The palace grounds are really beautiful. Lots of people were running through the park area even though it was crowded with well wishers. It's probably a great place to exercise or just take a walk on a nice day. The part of the castle that is open for the birthday celebration is not open the rest of the year except tomorrow (New Year's Day), however.

First, we entered from Sakuradamon station on the west side of the grounds. Boy and girl scouts were waiting to give us paper Japanese flags to wave. After that, we got in the queue to be scanned and searched by security. It looked like every cop in Japan was out that day, and they appeared to have deployed the best looking female police to the front lines, I must say.

Then, on through the gates with the masses:

Lots of press was waiting for the big moment:

And after 20 minutes of patient waiting, the crowd goes wild as the royal family appears in their little bullet-proof box:

The Emperor spoke for about 5 minutes wishing everyone well and thanking us for coming to celebrate his 76th birthday. Then, we all had to leave so the next crowd could come in. He was scheduled to make 3 appearances that day.


Security was patrolling the moat, as well. Just a beautiful place, though.


And, of course, the Right Wing Nutter fan club was on hand to play their nationalistic music over the speakers in their custom vans.

Apparently, they have palace guards similar to Buckingham. These guys stare straight ahead and do not move or talk. I think they need some big furry hats to complete the ensemble, however. Not quite impressive. Just sort of creepy.

All in all, a fun day in a beautiful part of Japan, right in the heart of Tokyo. I would go again.

Happy Birthday

So, we're headed down to Tokyo to wish the Emperor a happy birthday tomorrow.

In Japan, the Emperor's birthday is always a National Holiday that moves around with each different Emperor over time. There are only two times a year when the general public can go to his Imperial Palace Grounds in Tokyo to view him and his royal family; his birthday and New Year's Day. The current Emperor's birthday happens to be the 23rd, so it's two times in two weeks during his reign.

It sort of reminds me of Groundhog Day in the U.S. Perhaps it's irreverent, but if you've seen photos of the Emperor, it's like he's a little groundhog guy who comes out of his palace to wave for a few minutes to his adoring masses, then goes back inside until next year. Probably not something I'd go and do every year like the Nationalist black van driving wing-nuts, but something I figure a cat ought to do at least once. They hand out little Japanese flags and everyone goes crazy waving them and yelling greetings to the royal family. There is also a guest book which "will be duly forwarded to its highest destination as the expression of your warm congratulations". I guess you can also leave a business card, so maybe I'll do that. He'll probably give me a call to say thanks later. Right.

In any case, we'll see if we can get a few photos that aren't too crappy and far away to post.

What You Didn't See on CNN and NHK

It is wonderful to have President Obama in Japan, and we hope that he will be able to return for a longer visit next time. He has stated that he would like to go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that would be an excellent experience.

However, just to comment on the media coverage here and in America, CNN and NHK have largely (and I say largely because I have not watched every minute of coverage) failed to report on protests in Japan accompanying the visit. Some protests have been relatively "positive" in nature, such as protesting to encourage the President to continue promoting the elimination of nuclear weapons and encouraging climate change legislation. Some has been "negative", such as those protesting the move of the base at Futenma.

You can see it here.

And read about it here.

UPDATE: NHK is airing a piece from BBC World News, and they did report briefly on the protests. Good for them, although the focus of the piece is on efforts by the U.S. and Japan to not offend China. For example, by not visiting the Yasukuni Shrine where war criminals from WWII are enshrined and also not visiting with the Dalai Lama ahead of the visit to Shanghai later in this trip.

Next

So, why, exactly, is no one asking who put a damn loaded Uzi in the hands of an 8 year old under the direction of a 15 year old?

WTF?!?!

The parents have no culpability?

The society that thinks it's OK to have loaded Uzis available to whomever the hell wants to put their hands and their childrens' hands on them has some serious issues that must be addressed.

Why is it normal and acceptable for such dangerous weapons to be made available to the general public?

You can not write gun control legislation preventing such persons as MAJ Hasan, an Army officer, a doctor, etc. from acquiring weapons that can efficiently kill, short of banning all guns from public possession entirely.

If these guns continue to be available, and parents continue allow their 8 year olds to be supervised by 15 year olds, and the society does not find anything seriously wrong with "cop killers" being available at the local "Guns Galore", then people will continue to die unnecessarily.

This is beyond ridiculous.

Special Edition Update

WTF!

I can't blog fast enough or often enough to keep up with the mass shootings in the U.S.!

This is just sick.

Out of Control. Special Edition

In the wake of a shooting spree by a US army psychiatrist at Ford Hood in Texas, below is a glance at some of the worst mass shootings in the US in recent years:

November 5, 2009: The army says 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a shooting rampage at its Fort Hood base in Texas. Army officials initially said the suspected assailant was among the dead, but later said he survived and was hospitalised.

April 3, 2009: A 41-year-old man opened fire at an immigrant community centre in Binghamton, New York, killing 11 immigrants and two workers. Jiverly Wong, a Vietnamese immigrant and a former student at the centre, killed himself as police rushed to the scene.

March 10, 2009: Michael McLendon, 28, killed 10 people, including his mother, four other relatives and the wife and child of a local sheriff's deputy, across two rural Alabama counties. He then committed suicide.

February 14, 2008: Former student Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, fatally shooting five students and wounding 18 others before committing suicide.

December 5, 2007: Robert Hawkins, a 19-year-old US citizne, opened fire with a rifle in Omaha, Nebraska, at a Von Maur store in the Westroads Mall, killing eight people before taking his own life. Five more people were wounded, two critically.

April 16, 2007: Cho Seung-Hui, 23, fatally shot 32 people in a dormitory and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, then killed himself in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

February 12, 2007: Sulejman Talovic, 18, killed five and wounded four at the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was then shot and killed by police.

October 2, 2006: Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, shot to death five girls at West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania, then killed himself.

March 21, 2005: Jeffrey Weise, a 16-year-old student, killed nine people, including his grandfather and his grandfather's companion at home, and then five fellow students, a teacher and a security guard at Red Lake High School in Red Lake, Minnesota, before killing himself. Seven students were wounded.

March 12, 2005: Terry Ratzmann, 44, gunned down members of his congregation as they worshipped at the Brookfield Sheraton in Brookfield, Wisconsin, slaying seven and wounding four before killing himself.

July 29, 1999: Mark Barton, 44, a former day trader, killed nine people in shootings at two Atlanta, Georgia, brokerage offices, then committed suicide.

April 20, 1999: Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, both students, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before committing suicide in the school's library.

March 24, 1998: Andrew Golden, 11, and Mitchell Johnson, 13, killed four girls and a teacher at a Jonesboro, Arkansas, school. Ten others were wounded in the shooting.

October 16, 1991: George Hennard, 35, smashed his pickup lorry through a Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen, Texas, and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people. At least 20 others were wounded.

Quick Hit

Just logging in to note that Joe Lieberman is a dope, and here's to hopeing those Connecticutters do us all a favor and remove his awful presence from the Senate the next chance they get.

That is all.

Professor Obama, the Japanese are Listening

A new popular way to study English in Japan.

Nobel "Peace" Prize my behind. In your face!




That's my President.

Fantastic.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Link'd: Tobias Harris Puts Our Election in Perspective

Observing Japan is on the job.

If you check his current live-blogging of our election, you will see that it's a landslide victory for the DPJ. Not sure if that will mean big changes in Japan, but it's a sure sign that the Japanese people are not happy with the status quo. Giving the DPJ a chance to prove themselves and sending a strong message to the LDP that they had better update their politics to serve the people more effectively.

Mr. Obama, please meet Mr. Hatoyama...

Link'd: Until Medical Bills Do Us Part

I rather enjoyed this sometimes serious, sometimes tongue-in-cheek article on the current U.S. health care system's effectiveness.

I am also very familiar with a case of early onset dementia and some of its effects. Unlike "M." in this article, the case I am familiar with was saved from a similar fate by a socialized medicine system.

If only she had been so fortunate.

Good luck America.

No Control Part, geez what are we on now? Three?

It's so great that in America you are allowed to legally get two or more guns small enough to fit in a gym bag that have the capacity to hold the 52 bullets fired plus whatever was left in them. That way, you don't have to do all that bothersome reloading when you're down at the health club killing women indiscriminately.

Did I mention that I am in favor of stronger gun control? You know, like no guns for anyone but law enforcement and military. I mean, seriously, if King George's (no relation) troops aren't stationed on every corner to "protect the peace" of the colonies any more, do we need this? We have what the Constitution provides for in our National Guard. I really don't think original intent was for health club murderers to have access to whatever damn weapon they like.

Link'd: Amazing Human Abilities in Battle Save Lives

It's interesting the limitless power of the human mind to amaze and do things that don't seem possible on the surface. What is it that tips one off to a hidden IED? This is a fascinating look at what some Soldiers experience over in the "box".

Link'd: Japanese Women Look to Hostess Jobs

With the economy in the toilet, one wonders where the men get the discretionary income to pay for hostess club women these days. However apparently, the women are making out quite well, and old moralities don't apply as before. This is an interesting aspect of Japanese sub-culture if you have not heard of hostess clubs. Just talking and flirtation, no nudity or sex. But, can be very expensive.

Link'd: Japanese Herbivore Men

OK, so don't you just have to click on a link that is titled "Japanese Herbivore Men"?

Dontcha?

Link'd: Why Americans are the Worst Vacationers

This is soooooooooooo true in many cases.

Guilty, as charged, we are.

Link'd: Death of a Party

If this is the future of their leadership, the U.S. is going to need a new political party.

Smile Everyone!

Another example of superior Japanese customer service.

Cool Sushi Chain

So, there's this fantastic sushi chain here called "Kura Sushi" that I was recently introduced to.


You can make a reservation via cell phone web site, but we made a last minute decision to go, so we showed up with the rest of Japan on Marine (Sea) Day and took a number. Our number was 427 and they were on about 350. It was a 2 hour wait, but well worth it.

It's an interesting set up. The staff seats you, and they have a bar counter for individuals or smaller parties as well as 4 person booths. That's as large a party as they can handle. The place isn't that large overall. The staff on the floor only seats you and cleans tables. Everything else is self service, such as the water, tea and beer; or automatic like the sushi. There is a team of sushi chefs in the kitchen furiously making tasty bites. What you do is sit at your table and use the touch screen above the conveyor belt to order everything you want. Next to the table is the conveyor belt constantly running sushi, soups, fruit, cake, etc. past. You can pick up anything you want off the belt. They have this in America already, I know. However, the touch screen ordering is cool. You can page through sushi photos and order by name or picture if you can't read Japanese. Then, back in the kitchen, they make your order fresh and put it on the conveyor belt in a red plastic bowl so that other tables know it's destined for a particular customer and they won't touch it, unless they are like sushi pirates or whatever.

The way it works next is that each dish has a chip stuck to the underside.


The computer can detect when your requested order is coming on the conveyor belt via this chip. It then pops up a warning image on the screen and tells you which order is coming. Usually, you have several orders in the system, but it knows which exact sushi is on its way to your portion of the belt. You just look for the red plastic bowls with your plates and food on top and grab them as they roll by. Any sushi that rolls around the belt for more than 5 minutes is automatically dumped so everything stays fresh. Whenever you have cleaned a plate, you drop it down the slot under the conveyor belt at the end of your table.



The plate drop slot is pictured above, just under that hot water tap handle attached to the side of the conveyor belt table. You can make your own green tea with the hot water, as they supply green tea powder in a covered cup on each table. After every 3 dishes you drop, there is a little video played on the screen and you can randomly win a game. If you win, there is a hopper at each table above the conveyor system containing little hollow plastic balls like in those coin operated machines that have toys inside. The ball drops out and contains a prize of some kind. We won a coupon. The computer continues to tally how many plates you have dropped and you are billed accordingly. They don't bill you based on what you order, so if you change your mind and never pick it off the belt, that's cool. You are only billed for what you drop down the slot, plate-wise. And this is the best part: each plate is 100 Yen (about a dollar). The four of us ate like famished wild boars and the total bill was about $38.

Amazing, and fun, and healthy. Very nice.

Link'd: DailyKos Hate Mail - Too Funny

Too Funny.

IPA

I am currently brewing / carbonating some IPA with my well used Mr. Beer kit.

That's Biru-san, for you Japan-o-philes, I suppose.

Yummy!

Link'd: Weather Channel Retrospective on the King of Pop

I do enjoy the Borowitz Report.

Link'd: WTF? From TPM

They can't be THAT stupid, can they?

Gay Demons on the Loose in the Northeast!

Oh my!

Better get a copy of this book.

Pizza Time in Japan!

So check these pizza "flavors" and prices in the latest Dominos flyer in my mailbox this morning:

Headlining is the "Sirloin Steak Pizza" which debuts at $28 for medium and $42 for large. That's a Japanese large, by the way, which is NOT American large. For further examples of this large deception, please see T-Shirts, pants, drinks, etc. One of the few true "larges" is the dai-jockey or large draft beer. They do that VERY well over here. But I digress.

Also in today's flyer are the following:

"Iberico Pork with Tomato Sauce": also $28 for M and $42 for L

"Quattro Meat Max": $26 M, $39 L

"BBQ Garlic Chicken" (which is freakin' delicious!): $23 for M, $35.40 for L

"Tropical", which has tomato sauce, ham, pineapple, corn, and onion (corn?): $20 M, $31 L

"American Special", tomato sauce, pepperoni, onion: $15.80 M, $25.20 L

"Chiki-Teri" (Chicken Teriyaki): $25.40 M, $35.20 L

Side order of pasta topped with fish eggs and squid: $10.50

Fried potatos stamped in little smiley face shapes: 10 for $4.80

In case you are unaware, we have many American fast food chains available here. McDonald's is the most prevalent (read: freakin' everywhere on every corner). The Mickey D's in my neighborhood is very clean, has a separate filtered smoking room (death chamber), and has the most polite helpful staff I have ever encountered in any fast food restaurant. Apparently, having McDonald's on your resume looks good here because of their excellent local reputation. Quite contrary to the "Most Disgusting Carl's Jr. in the World", which currently exists to my great dismay near the 15 / 40 split in Barstow, California. Yuck.

Back to Japan. We also have plenty of KFC's. I may have previously mentioned the local habit for getting a bucket of the Colonel's best at Christmas time.

I have also recently discovered a Burger King off base. I had previously heard that the only ones left in Japan were on the military bases, so that was a nice surprise. The U.S. Military and the King seem to have made some sort of unholy alliance years ago because every base I can think of has one. Weird. I heard a rumor that there might be a Taco Bell in downtown Tokyo, but that is unconfirmed at this time.

We have butt loads of Starbucks and Tully's (for you Seattle-tonians, or whatever you call your coffee addicted selves).

Pizza Hut's abound, and one of the local franchises gives you half price take out every month on the 8th through the 10th. This is because here, Pizza Hut is pronounced more like "Pizza Hatto", including pronouncing the "z's" like "z's" rather than as in "Pitsa". The "Hatto" part is where the discount dates link occurs, however. 8 is "Hachi", so that's where you get the "Ha" for "Hatto". 10 is a bit different. 10 is normally "ju", pronounced "jew". But 10 is also "to" pronounced as in "toe", so there is the back end of "Hatto". So, now you have 8 - 10 from "Hatto", thus the dates of the half price discount. Cool language sometimes.

We also have Wendy's, Subway, Denny's, Little Caesar's, Yoshinoya (Duh), the list goes on. Most times the menu is largely the same as in the U.S. with some modifications catering to local preferences, kind of like the way Chinese food is adapted to each region for a more local presentation.

Well, that's all for today folks!

Bon Apetit!

National Health Insurance Minute

Well, I don't know where you stand on the U.S. government's potential for increased involvement in the nation's health insurance. I think it's probably obvious where I am on the issue. I'd like to see a national health insurance system, although I understand we can't get there over night.

You can't just obliterate the private insurance companies in a relatively short time period, as much as you might want to. Too many jobs are currently tied in there. However, over time there would be replacement jobs. It's pretty clear, particularly in light of the Baby Boomers' retirement, that the need for health care workers and health care administrators and bureaucrats is going to increase in the near future. After the Baby Boom passes on, the nation will go through a natural retraction in that industry. If we still have a mostly private system at that time, companies will go out of business and people will lose jobs accordingly. If we have a primarily government run system, I would speculate that the system would be more capable of retaining employment for most workers despite decreased demand. That's where government entities fit in the economy, into market failures, such as utilities. I'm way out of my league writing on this subject, but I am interested.

Oh, and by way of comparison, my Japanese National Health Insurance bill for a family of two is $75 a month. I think Blue Crud was about $400 - $500 a month.

Nice.

Japanese Driver License Part 4: Veni Vidi Vici

Mission Complete.

Arrived early, submitted all paperwork, answered all gestapoesque questions correctly, filled out application, completed eye exam, sat for photo, recieved Japanese driver license. Four hours of life gone.

I still feel guilty like I got away with something, but I'm fairly certain I followed the letter, if not the intent of the law/treaty, etc.

Feels good. Think I'll celebrate a bit.

Yatta!!!!

Japanese Driver License Part 3: Back for More

So, they say that performing the same activity time and again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. While this may apply to the Chicago Cubs and their fans, I do hope that it does not apply in my case.

I am tasking myself with a return to the Japanese DMV to attempt once again to acquire a Japanese driver license. With my pile of paperwork in hand, I hope to convince them to just give me a license with no test at all. Sounds like pie in the sky? Perhaps. I don't want to set the bar at the same height as last trip. I am raising my expectations.

Actually, since I have recently, and hopefully temporarily, separated from active duty, there appears to be a procedure whereby one can acquire a driver license after proving you are separated. It appears that the logic is that you have been driving on the roads of Japan already with your SOFA license, so why not just give you your Japanese license once you no longer qualify for SOFA status. This sounds too good to be true, however I am a glutton for bureaucratic punishment. Thus armed with a new approach and even more documentation than last time, I will make the trek to the DMV and hope for the best.

Wish me luck.

Link'd: Beer, beer, beer, beer

What's up, My Economist!

Stephen Colbert is in Iraq this week

Even if you don't watch the Colbert Report after the Daily Show on Comedy Central on a regular basis, I'd highly recommend this episode to you.

Stephen is on a USO tour this week, and the first episode's interview finale with Gen. Odierno is priceless, particularly when the Commander In Chief makes a guest video appearance. At least check the third segment of the show for a great laugh.

Link'd: Pro Government Health Insurance Option

Bob Cesca is one of my favorite bloggers on the Huff Post.

I've had Blue (you must go to this one hospital and no other, and we don't care if you found a Japanese speaking doctor for your wife elsewhere, screw you) Cross, and now I'm enjoying Japanese National Health Insurance. And yes, I can see doctors who speak English if I don't mind doing a bit of searching and/or traveling. It's allowed.

Yes We Can.

Good luck America.

Hugo Chavez 1 - Coke 0

Well, I do enjoy an ice cold soda from time to time, particularly with pizza. However, I think it's generally acknowledged that a drink that has no nutritional value due to basically being water with chemicals mixed in is probably not the healthiest drink to choose.

Or, it could be because Coke Zero tastes like ass, and only Venezuela has the cajones to say so.

I report. You decide.

Link'd: Great Article on the Cost of American Health Care

Heard about this article on KCRW's Left, Right and Center podcast.

It's a bit lengthy, but quite insightful no matter what solution you feel may be appropriate to address the ridiculously high cost of health care in the U.S., particularly when compared with other industrialized nations.

New Movie

Just saw an ad on TV.

This movie looks freakin' great!

Ridiculous female Chan-esque action with lots of gratuitous violence and kicking guys in the head.

Watch the trailer for some fun action shots.

Oink!

If you're faced with an enemy employing war elephants, get yourself some piggies.

That's what I did, and I haven't been attacked by war elephants since. So, that proves that what I did prevented the unrealized war elephant attacks from happening, right?

Right?

Still Cheney After All These Years

New York Times

McClatchy

Part 2: Why We Dry Laundry Outside

The main reason we dry laundry outside in Japan is cost, Yen, Ducats, bucks, dollars, scratch, etc.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Despite limited natural gas resources, Japan is a large natural gas consumer and must rely on imports for virtually all of its natural gas needs. Lacking international pipeline connections, today Japan is the largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world and currently accounts for about 40 percent of global LNG imports."

Basically, Japan likes natural gas (NG) because it's relatively environmentally friendly compared with coal, for example. However, lacking sufficient local deposits, we import it in liquid form and end up paying global prices. In the U.S., where there is a much greater national supply, consumers enjoy a relatively cheap fossil fuel and can afford to run NG clothes dryers. We sometimes pay up to twice as much per mmBtu here. My apartment's gas bill, for example showed equal consumption when compared with my previous U.S. home, however the total cost was 200% because of the higher NG rate paid. Having a NG clothes dryer would be a luxury here most would not care to afford. It would markedly increase our consumption on an individual and national basis, which would drive prices even higher.

We use electricity for most automatic drying and also for heat. A country with as little natural resources in the way of fossil fuels like Japan relies heavily on nuclear power, which is relatively cheap. Your nuclear reactor is producing electricity at 3 cents per kWh, whereas coal and NG are much higher, from 6 - 12 cents, depending on the efficiency of the generator and the fuel. Thus, although we don't produce all of our electricity from nukes, we have enough to bring down the price per kWh overall to a usable level. We have air conditioning units that mount in the wall above the sliding glass doors of our apartment. They blow hot or cold, so you use them year round, once again avoiding excessive NG consumption, compared with typical American NG fueled furnaces.

This topic generally drives disputes over Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), for example in the East China Sea's Chunxiao gas field, which both China and Japan claim access to. A good segue to Part 3...

Free Audio Book

You can download a free audio book from Audible.com here. It's by David Plotz of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast.

George is on Holiday

George is on holiday and won't be able to complete the next portion of his scintillating series on Japanese laundry habits until his return in late May.

Ciao!

Part 1: Japanese Weather Forecast

In Japan, the weather forecast is notoriously accurate. That's a nice facet of living here. You can count on the TV weather forecaster to be competent and correct. There are also some nice weather sites such as Japan Meteorological Agency's and Tenki.jp.

It was a constant disappointment living in the States when you'd watch the TV forecast and get the weather for Chicago or L.A., for example, which would inevitably be significantly different from where you actually lived. Because you are in their TV market area, however, you are left guessing just how different your personal experience will be.

A really excellent feature of these forecasts is the sentaku (laundry) forecast. In case you were unaware, in Japan almost everyone dries their laundry outside on plastic clip hangars suspended from a pole on the veranda. This goes for both apartments/condos (or "manshyon", which are not the mansions we think of in American English, but that that's another post entirely) and private residences. The plastic hanging devices have one or two larger sized hooks to suspend them from the pole (commonly a long aluminum pole suspended horizontally by hooks mounted to the overhang of your balcony/veranda), then small alligator clips to connect various pieces of laundry. The whole laundry hangar folds in half to save space during storage, as well.

The laundry forecast will tell you how good the weather will be that day for hanging and drying laundry. It really pays off if you put some out and have to leave home. You can figure out ahead of time whether or not this will be a good idea or rather if it will likely rain or be so windy you'll loose your skid marked tighty-whities when they are blown into the neighbor's veranda.

Laundry drying outside was one of the first things I noticed here as most residential buildings were covered in laundry on nice weather days. In America, when one travels somewhere, whether it's rural or downtown, and sees laundry outside, the typical first impression is that the area is not very affluent. Here, it is pervasive and generally has nothing to do with income levels. Sometimes in the winter when it's particularly dry, we hang our laundry inside to help humidify the air in our apartment.

I have begun to notice that I'm becoming slowly inured to this type of thing the longer I am here, so I am going to try to "re-notice" some of the oddities or differences herein for the benefit of those of you who don't live here.

In Part 2, I'll discuss the main reason we dry our laundry outside here.

In Part 3, I'll discuss the historical significance of the main point of Part 2.

Link'd: Krugman Article

I think this article by Paul Krugman nicely summarizes several points I have been making of late (mostly to myself since my family is not interested in my rants other than to poke fun at me for being an incensed maniac at the kitchen table).

The idea that investigations and "looking back" at what appear to be obvious violations of U.S. and International Laws would somehow distract us from fixing the economy and the plethora of other problems plaguing the U.S. right now seems spurious at best.  I was happy to see in print the obvious argument that the individuals tasked with the economic recovery would certainly not be distracted from their missions in order to perform what is the Justice Department's job.  Unfortunately, the MSM talking heads consistently fail to bring up that simple point.  It's not that difficult to notice that there are plenty of appropriate personnel available to look into potential crimes without burdening departments already fully engaged in such things as economic and energy policy.

I also enjoyed his asking the question "What political consensus?".  What exactly is the downside risk of such probing, considering the Party of No hasn't joined in any of our reindeer games thus far anyway.  If you want to be outside the process and obstruct in lock-step, then I guess that's your prerogative.  If you want to tea bag each other to make yourselves feel better, then you are welcome to exercise that freedom, just as the majority of us are welcome to exercise our freedom to make fun of your efforts.  However, when your focus on non-issues drives your party to the point of distraction and leaves you out of the dialogue, it is difficult at best to empathize with your complaints about the agreed upon course.

Krugman is also likely correct that many of the individuals currently calling for us to "just move on" (on both sides of the political spectrum, mind you) have a personal stake in not looking back.  Many people were undoubtedly aware of the torturing.  Some supported it vigorously, but perhaps just as culpable are those who stood idly by and did nothing to prevent it or at the very least publicize it.

America did execute Japanese war criminals for waterboarding

Kind of hard to argue with the precedence we've already set ourselves, don't you think?

If we don't follow up in kind with our own torturers, do the families of those tried, convicted, and in some cases put to death then have just cause to seek reparations and official apologies from the United States?

I'm at a Loss for Words...

I am ready to go home now.

American culture is officially dead.

Please note these are available in "Happy":

and "Determined":

Homecoming

So, it's good to be back home for a short visit.

It's great to see my family and friends whom I miss very much despite my current love affair with my new home country.


I also miss White Castle's jalapeño cheeseburgers.

I do not miss Chicago's traffic jams.


I do love Bucktown.


However, I still do not love, like, nor support the Cubs.


Just look at me. I'm a black and white cat. Even the very fur on my back holds its allegiance to my beloved South Side Hitmen.


Go Sox.

Upbeat Thought for the Day

I'm no poetry guru, but I really enjoy this site.

I will remember what I was. I am sick of rope and chain --
I will remember my old strength and all my forest-affairs.
I will not sell my back to man for a bundle of sugarcane.
I will go out to my own kind, and the wood-folk in their lairs.

I will go out until the day, until the morning break,
Out to the winds' untainted kiss, the waters' clean caress.
I will forget my ankle-ring and snap my picket-stake.
I will revisit my lost loves, and playmates masterless!
                                    
                                     Toomai of the Elephants.

Some things that make me uncomfortable

This

And This

And This

And more of this

Link'd: Today's "Party" in Boston is Weak Tea

Today's "Party" in Boston is Weak Tea

by Dana Houle

Wed Apr 15, 2009 at 04:50:05 PM PDT

On December 16th, 1773, three ships were docked in Boston harbor filled with cargoes of tea from the royally chartered East India Company. The previous year, in a scheme to help fund colonial rule in India through the East India Company, the crown had decided to dump tea cheaply on the American colonies, but with a tax added to raise revenue.

American colonists drank prodigious amounts of tea, but it was almost all contraband tea. Dumping cheap tea on the American market would hurt the business of the contraband smugglers, many of whom had high status in the colonies. It also was a tax on colonial tea-drinkers, who had no representation in Parliament. Thus, it was taxation without representation.

A crowd of about 7,000 people assembled near the harbor. That night, after a town meeting in Boston's South Meeting House, around a hundred men, led by Sam Adams, boarded the vessels and dumped all 342 chests of tea in to the harbor.

A quick search of the intertoobz doesn't give the population of Boston at the time. But 17 years later, the first official US census found Boston's population at a little over 18,000; given the population growth trends of the time, it's probably safe to say that Boston's population in 1773 was around 15,000.

So, for the Boston Tea Party, the crowd was a little under half the size of the entire population of Boston.

Today, some people angry that they have both taxes and representation, got together in Boston. Fox News, which has been trumpeting these gatherings for days if not weeks, reported that the crowd was about 500 people. The current population of the city of Boston is over 600,000 people, and the population of the Boston metro area is close to 5 million.

So, fun with numbers:
Crowd at Boston Tea Party=7,000, equal to 46% of population of Boston

Crowd at Boston Teabaggers's Party= 500, equal to 0.08% of population of Boston.

BTW, the original Boston Tea Party didn't have free advertising from Fox News.

Even Homeland Security is Afraid

So, the potential and actual rising gun violence has peaked Homeland Security's interest/focus/concern. By the way, I still hate this terminology. It's grates on me like "War on Terror" did. It just makes me sick. When did we start using "Homeland" instead of United States or America or U.S.?

Ojii-san! What a big whip you have!

Oh, you crazy Japanese!

Link'd: Taxing Matters

This is a good summary article on what the real trend in our tax codes has been since the 80's.

I'm sick already of watching "Teabaggers" rave against who knows what. 95% of America got their taxes cut already under an Obama administration that is barely 3 months old. This cut came immediately in the form of reduced payroll taxes. Immediate relief, that is, as opposed to waiting until you have to file next year or sending out paper checks that cost the government money to distribute.

So, what the heck is the protest? It's a sham payed for by right-wing billionaires and inflated by Fox Noise Channel partisan hack hosts. Seriously? Teabagging? Am I supposed to be enraged on behalf of those individuals making over $250K that got a tax increase back to the Reagan era rates? Boo friggin' hoo.

59

Truly sad.

No Control

So, there have been 57 humans murdered by other humans using firearms in the U.S. during 8 different rampages in the last month. This, of course, is in addition to the countless non-mass murders using firearms during that same period nationwide. In the linked article, it states that "Gun enthusiasts say there is no way to prevent human beings from committing insane acts _ whether they have a gun permit or not. And studies conflict on whether stricter gun laws lessen gun violence." I would probably agree with the first sentence. However the second? Bullocks.

According to this 2002 data, the U.S. had 9,369 such murders over the year while Japan with roughly half the population crammed into a land mass the size of California had just 47. America is 4th from the bottom of this trash heap of statistics behind South Africa, Colombia and Thailand. Yep, it's clear that the legislators and lobbyists are doing a great job protecting America from itself when we're keeping such august company.

Well, We Dodged Another Bullet

I borrowed this photo from the Huff Post. They rock.

I didn't detect any falling debris from the North Korean missile, ahem, communications satellite launch this morning at 11:30. Actually, I was at the gym punching and kicking away. Caught the news on CNNJ when I got home. They actually did a nice job and interviewed some of my friends at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as going back over a time line of North Korean missile activities including sales to nations on our "bad people" list.

I would encourage everyone reading to do two things:

1 - Please use Google Maps or whatever your favorite mapping site/software is to examine which is closest to North Korea: Hawaii, Alaska, or Guam. Please also note that the MSM talking heads routinely refer to North Korean missile technology from the perspective of what chances it has of reaching Hawaii or Alaska as if those are the two closest U.S. targets to the launches. Then, do a quick Google or other search to determine that Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas are U.S. Territories and thus are inhabited by U.S. citizens. Once you have accomplished this, you will be 100% smarter on the subject of North Korean missile technology potential than any talking head such as Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blitzer, et al. This is, of course entirely ignoring the fact that we have thousands of American military personnel (and cats) stationed in South Korea and Japan that are well within current missile range, including the shorter range Nodong missiles.

2 - Please read the ten basic articles of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between Japan and the United States of America. This should only take you three minutes or so. Please read Article V twice and you will understand more about the U.S. obligation to protect Japan from attack than most people on the planet, including in our own State Department in Washington, D.C.

"And there is a Japanese idol at Kamakura"

Buddha at Kamakura



O ye who tread the Narrow Way
By Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,
Be gentle when "the heathen" pray
To Buddha at Kamakura!

To him the Way, the Law, apart,
Whom Maya held beneath her heart,
Ananda's Lord, the Bodhisat,
The Buddha of Kamakura.

For though he neither burns nor sees,
Nor hears ye thank your Deities,
Ye have not sinned with such as these,
His children at Kamakura,

Yet spare us still the Western joke
When joss-sticks turn to scented smoke
The little sins of little folk
That worship at Kamakura --

The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterflies
That flit beneath the Master's eyes.
He is beyond the Mysteries
But loves them at Kamakura.

And whoso will, from Pride released,
Contemning neither creed nor priest,
May feel the Soul of all the East
About him at Kamakura.

Yea, every tale Ananda heard,
Of birth as fish or beast or bird,
While yet in lives the Master stirred,
The warm wind brings Kamakura.

Till drowsy eyelids seem to see
A-flower 'neath her golden htee
The Shwe-Dagon flare easterly
From Burmah to Kamakura,

And down the loaded air there comes
The thunder of Thibetan drums,
And droned -- "Om mane padme hums" --
A world's-width from Kamakura.

Yet Brahmans rule Benares still,
Buddh-Gaya's ruins pit the hill,
And beef-fed zealots threaten ill
To Buddha and Kamakura.

A tourist-show, a legend told,
A rusting bulk of bronze and gold,
So much, and scarce so much, ye hold
The meaning of Kamakura?

But when the morning prayer is prayed,
Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade,
Is God in human image made
No nearer than Kamakura?

Kipling - 1892

So, I Joined a Gym

It's getting to be that time in my life where I can't drink all night, snap back the next day and still keep a flat stomach. So, it was time to start an exercise / training program. Back in 2000 - 2001, I was studying Tae Kwon Do in Chicago. I was in the best shape of my life at that time.

Since then, I turned 30, then 35, etc. Not quite the same perspective on health and fitness now in my "mid" 30's. If I was from Okinawa and could reasonably predict living to be 100, that would be one thing. However, I'm probably further along the life scale than your average Okinawan, so now I gotta work to stay fit. Woe is me.

Every day on the way home from the train station, I would pass this kick boxing gym where you could see in the window and watch guys punching and kicking. It looked like a lot of fun, so we finally stopped in to check it out. I went to a trial lesson and it was a blast. I got a great workout, the other students are nice people, and the instructor even speaks pretty good English so he can help me understand why I am such an inadequate grasshopper on a regular basis.

Actually, he's taking good care of me and I'm learning a lot. It's a heck of a stress release. After a trip there, I'm too tired to feel stress or much of anything. Today, my left wrist is killing me from hook punches I did incorrectly and my left shoulder is "dead" from the wrestling portion of last night's class. It turns out the gym isn't just kick boxing, but also mixed martial arts. We study some MMA moves in addition to standard kick boxing punching and kicking. It's a bit different than Tae Kwon Do was, but extremely satisfying in much the same way.

My Favorite Sumo Wrestler

Asashoryu or "Morning Blue Dragon" is my favorite Mongolian Ass-kicking Machine. He's currently undefeated at the March bouts, along with fellow Mongolian Hakuho. We'll see if they meet as undefeated on the last day again like in January. Hopefully, from my perspective, with the same results.

In May, we hope to have the opportunity to get a 4 person box and go to Tokyo to see a day of live matches. Right now, the bout is in Osaka, which is a bit out of my usual way.

A Moment of Silence

Just a quick post to let you know that I have not been slacking, but mourning. For, as you are most likely already aware, a great cat of American history passed recently. Socks, the Clinton's White House cat left us at the ripe old age of 18. He was a patriot, a friend, and although the Obama administration seemingly refuses to acknowledge it, Socks was clearly the first half black, half white "cat" to take up residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

This blog's for you, old buddy.

Japanese Driver License Part 2 (a.k.a. That's what you get for telling the truth)

OK, so I went to Google Maps and recon'd the route from our apartment to the DMV. No big deal, just a couple of highways, no tolls, and a couple of turns. The main difficulty with such a drive is that our tiny family car has no Navigation Computer or "navicom". There is no guarantee that the road you want to turn on to will have a name or a number clearly marked. Most Japanese roads have no name at all, actually, which is befuddling for an American, to say the least. Lord knows how the postmen deliver the mail in this country, but they do with mysterious accuracy. Except for the guy who apparently throws various random pieces of mail into the rain gutter outside my in-laws' mailbox. Weird. In any case, Japanese road systems and navigation are best left for a separate post, I think. It would take too much time to explain here.

We got up early because as I believe I previously described, you have to be there within a 30 minute window or you are out of luck, and if it's crowded you may be out of luck anyway because they only take so many applicants per day. Also, there was a small paper sign there on the window indicating that on particular dates they would only take up to 12 applicants. Luckily the day we went was not busy, nor limited. We found free parking close by, signed in on the clip board and I was number 3 on the list. Seemingly going very smoothly at this point. Man, I was ready. I was even prepared to take the true false test and the eye exam which have some challenges you may not think of at first. On the true false test, you must mark your answers Japanese style: "O" for True and "X" for False. Then, the eye exam is a series of "C's" on each of which you must tell them which way the ends of the letter are pointing: up (ue), down (shita), left (hidari), or right (migi) in Japanese. After not getting lost on the way there, I should have been alerted to the fact that it was too easy thus far.


My name is called, and I go up to the desk. I lay out my translated California license, my passport, foreigner card, etc. I'm ready for anything except what the guy asks first. "So, are you in the military?" I think the haircut gave it away. As an officer and a gentleman, honor is my touchstone, so of course I say "Yes". Please revisit Part 1 below to read about my buddy who was failed after telling the truth in order to further appreciate the irony of my own situation. Doh! My first and last mistake of the day. I thought the 10 question true or false test was going to be my greatest challenge of the day, and I ended up failing the one question test that I didn't anticipate. Always expect the unexpected, but no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

So, it turns out that when you're on SOFA status and you have a military license already you are not allowed to have a concurrent Japanese license. Something about not wanting you to rack up 5 accidents and 20 parking tickets on one license and then just whipping out the clean one the next time the cops stop you. How paranoid of them, with me being so honest and all. It seems that when you are a month out from the end of your tour, you can get paperwork indicating that this is the case and you can return to apply for your Japanese license. Great.

Thus, dejected at the time, effort and 3,000 Yen for translating my old license wasted, but still authorized to drive on the wrong side of the road, we left and went home empty handed except for the experience. One more well planned mission with no tangible results. There is always a silver lining however, as it turns out that the DMV is one of the best places in Japan to watch flocks of 20 year old girls in short skirts as they come to take their tests. ;-)

Japanese Driver License Part 1

Tomorrow, I go to the DMV, or whatever they call it, to complete part 1 of my drivers' license fiasco. If you Google "Japanese driver license", you will begin to understand why I use the term "fiasco".

I had to take a train 40 minutes downtown Friday to get my California license translated. Luckily, I had saved my old license that was issued in 2004. I got a fresh one in August 2008 before I moved because my old one was expiring in late 2009. I figured I would save myself the hassle of jumping through my butt to get a new one on any potential vacation/visit to the U.S. in '09 by getting a new license that would last 5 years. It turns out you have to show that you have to have stayed in the issuing country for at least 90 days after you get the license, which I did not. Not sure why that would matter since I've been driving since I was 16, but I suppose they have no way of knowing that. On the other hand, if I had stayed there 90 days afterward, there's no guarantee that I had ever driven other than to pass the test, nor any guarantee that I'd driven at all during the 90 day period. Still not sure what's up with that, but this is Japan and there are many rules everyone must follow to promote mutual harmony, yadda, yadda.

The process is basically easy and all evidence indicates that it is unnecessarily cumbersome in order to extract a certain amount of monetary compensation for giving you a Japanese license. Japanese citizens pay thousands of dollars to private driving schools because they are forced to by the system. Then, the Japanese government treats them as "professional" drivers. This results in such things as both parties being at least partially at fault, regardless of the circumstances of a given accident. If one is considered a "professional" driver, then surely one could have done something to avoid the accident. You know, like not emigrating here in the first place. Whatever. Bottom line is that most gaikokujin don't pass at the first go. You pay fees for application, photos, test car rental, etc. It all adds up to 5,000 Yen or so, I guess. We'll see. Then, after they fail you the first time, I hear you are "invited" to attend their Saturday one hour class/practice session taught by the same guys who do the testing for about 8,000 Yen or so. Are you starting to understand the system yet? My buddy did pretty well on his first test, but before the tester told him whether he passed or failed, he asked him whether or not he had attended their Saturday class. So, being the honest guy he is he says "No, I didn't". Then, the guy tells him, "Oh, well you didn't pass today, so I'd recommend going to that class". Hmmmm. Interesting sequence of events. In any case, we all pass in the end, although my buddy met a guy from Brazil there who'd taken at least 6 tests and gave him all kinds of great tips on the course. Another odd thing is that they pair you up like in high school driver's education during the test. So, one joker is sitting in the back seat watching the first guy fail. Seems like an advantage, but maybe they're harder on the second bubba. Who knows.

Tomorrow is only step 1, in any case. All you can do the first day is fill out the paper application, take the eye exam and the paper test. For foreigners translating their home country's driver license, the paper exam is a joke. It's 10 true or false questions. You need 7 correct to pass. You will probably miss one or two due to vagaries of the question or the Japanese system, but the test is given in English, and common sense helps you pass no problem, from what I understand. Assuming the best, you get an appointment for your practical exam. Gotta miss work for that I suppose. They aren't open weekends. Also, they only take applications from 0830 - 0900. At 0901, you are screwed. Come back again later. Sorry it took you an hour to get here, blah, blah, blah. Tough love.

The great irony of my particular situation is that I will drive myself and my lovely wife/translator (From the prefectural web site: * We do not have translators in house, so please furnish one yourself.) to the DMV tomorrow morning. I have a SOFA license, so I can legally drive here anyway. Maybe I'm just being masochistic, but I feel the need to have an actual license for the long run.

Wish me luck!

2009 02 15 Notes

So, we went to the mall to get towels, shelving (which we forgot to buy and will have to go back for), and groceries. Of course, we also ended up buying a new rice cooker and a paper shredder, which we needed but weren't planning on buying today. We definitely needed the shredder since I mucked up our older one with some sort of unidentified adhesive or plastic, much like I killed the one before that. Seems like a pattern.

In any case I saw this:

and I thought, " I gotta get me some of that".

It was great, by the way.

Then, I noticed a certain

Which, at the book store seems to have taken the form of Obamamania.

Good for Japan. "Audacity of Hope" is an excellent read. Particularly the chapter on his take on foreign relations.

Graduate Degree in Trash

Does your municipality require you to study and follow a trash schedule such as this?



Mine does.

• Sunday is a trash holiday
• Monday is burnable trash (a general category for stuff that doesn't fit into the others, however I suppose they assume the average citizen's level of common sense because really, what can't you burn with the proper fuel or accelerant?)
• Tuesday is recyclable paper such as white paper, newspapers, and cardboard. However, don't just put your cardboard out as is. You have to break down all boxes and fold into roughly 2 foot by 1 foot pieces wrapped in packing tape, which is nicer than how I generally wrap Christmas presents.
• Wednesday is a trash holiday except for 2 summer months when I think they take burnable trash an extra day a week.
• Thursday is for pet bottles, glass bottles, and steel cans
• Friday is burnable trash again
• Saturday is for plastic and styrofoam

If you have large objects, you have to pay for a sticker and properly dispose of them, which is quite expensive. Or, you can hail one of the recycling business junk trucks as they cruise the neighborhood a couple times a week shouting at you over a loud speaker the list of crap they will take from you. You probably have to pay them, too, but perhaps not as much. In any case, this system leads to many abandoned washing machines, bicycles, and even cars. Our trash point in particular has had a bicycle sitting there for a month. No one will touch it so it rusts. I could have fixed it by adding a seat and new tires, but then you get in trouble for having a bike that's not yours. In America, it's finders keepers for the most part, but here you can get into trouble even if what you're doing is essentially a good deed. So, again, the bike sits and rusts and is generally a blight on our street.

Do you know how to use your microwave/range?

I don't.

We bought a new $800 range/microwave, and I have no idea how to use it. It came with a massive manual. All it really has are 6 buttons and a dial. Of course since everything is written in Japanese it's an extra challenge. It seems to run forever to reheat food, although I was able to brown a pizza this morning for a snack.






These are, of course, crappy camera phone photos, but you get my drift. Besides, I'm an amateur with no opposable thumbs, so what do you want.

So, this is my blog

I'm an American cat living in Japan, and I needed an outlet for my experiences and thoughts, so here it is for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!