Friday, December 07, 2007

Fukuoka in the news.

It is to laugh.

5 students arrested for dealing marijuana at Fukuoka prep school - Mainichi Daily News:
"FUKUOKA -- Five youths have been arrested for trading in marijuana at a major preparatory school here, police said. The five, aged 18 to 19, stand accused of violating the Cannabis Control Law. They include one student at Kawaijuku Preparatory School in Chuo-ku, Fukuoka, and several vocational school students."

Heh.

MUSCLE WITH ATTITUDE - ATOMIC KITTEN: Women are from Venus... :
"Rules for men's happiness
1. It's important to have a woman who helps at home, who cooks from time to time, cleans up and has a job.
2. It's important to have a woman who can make you laugh.
3. It's important to have a woman who you can trust and who doesn't lie to you.
4. It's important to have a woman who is good in bed and who likes to be with you.
5. It's very, very important that these four women don't know each other."

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Which Chow Yun Fat are you?

These are important questions.







Which Chow Yun Fat Are You?




You are John Lee, exotic assassin from The Replacement Killers. Often, you feel as if everyone around you is speaking a strange foreign language. You speak tersely, going directly for what you want without much preamble. Watch out for men with submachine guns that look like briefcases.
Take this quiz!








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Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Some people just need to be kickfucked to death.

...otherwise known as "why I have no use at all for religion."

I'm all for sending them straight to their god. You know, in a "this isn't a direct threat, don't sue me kind of way."

God... the religious... these people are the enemy.

Just one more biblical level plague, is that too much to ask?

Warren Ellis » God Hates The World:
"The Westboro Baptist Church (that “God Hates Fags” crew from the heart of Jesusland USA) presents their cover “We Are the World,” rewritten and retitled as “God Hates the World.” The following spectacle managed to be both surreal and fleshcrawlingly creepy at the same time. I’m fairly sure all the people on screen are related to each other. If you can stomach it, the last twenty seconds are as close to pure evil as I’ve seen today."


http://view.break.com/278059 - Watch more free videos

What do you know?

And why do you know it? Whose story did you choose to believe?

Apropos of nothing, here some Pakistani students blow an ABC reporters mind by explaining how Bin Laden works for the CIA.

"Good Morning America host Chris Cuomo is schooled by four Pakistanis on Bin Laden's CIA connections. Cuomo seems surprised."



That's just crazy talk, right?

...

Who do you believe?

Why?

Beatboxers and Hambone got nothing on Bobby McFerrin.




Speaking of hambone... this gets props cause of the NC connection.

"This starts out at a normal pace and then increases in tempo to a blazing finish. Shot in North Carolina back in early 1990's while visiting my brother. Enjoy!"

"Merry Christmas, From Chiron Beta Prime."

It being December, I now wish you the finest of Holiday Greetings.

Merry Christmas Internet!

[Plus Robots.]

Inspiring - "Saying Good-Bye to 20 Years of Debt."

And vaguely familiar.

Well, the beginning part, anyways...

Free at Last! Saying Good-Bye to 20 Years of Debt ∞ Get Rich Slowly:
"Twenty years ago I was a freshman in college. I was a poor kid from a poor family, but my roommates came from wealth. In order to fit in, I went out and picked up a department store credit card. I bought some new clothes, an electric shaver, and a bottle of cologne. From that day on, I’ve been in debt.

...When my father died in 1995, I received a small life insurance settlement. To my credit, I applied this money to debt, and for a few years my balances declined. But then I returned to my profligate ways, buying a new car, buying computers, buying any toy I wanted. By 2004, I had accumulated over $35,000 in debt.

...It took a lot of time and effort, but these actions have finally paid off. Today I wrote a check for the last of my consumer debt. I am now debt-free, except for my mortgage."

How he did it, at the link...

The Meaning of Life? A vehicle for bacteria.

Something similar I read, maybe it was scifi, or maybe that madman Terrence Mckenna, that postulated that humanity was evolved as a message delivery system for DNA through millenia. Code in DNA, imbue the bags of water and tissue and meat with huge self defense and self preservation drives, and voila! Your message is guaranteed delivery in 10,000,000,000 years.

Bacteria, viruses, DNA all outnumber us exponentially by huge factors. Maybe we're the byproduct, not the purpose?

Boy, that'll kick the ego right in the nuts, won't it?

Kinda takes the pressure off though.

Your body has 10x more bacterial cells than human ones - Boing Boing:
"Carolyn Bohach, a microbiologist at the University of Idaho claims that our bodies contain 10 times more bacterial cells than human ones (bacterial cells are a lot smaller and thus occupy less volume). Human genome researchers believe that at least 40 of our genes are bacterial in origin."

"George Bush says 'we are losing the war on drugs'. Well you know what that implies? There's a war going on, and people on drugs are winning it!"

Bill Hick's wisdom reaches out from beyond the grave -
"George Bush says 'we are losing the war on drugs'. Well you know what that implies? There's a war going on, and people on drugs are winning it! Well what does that tell you about drugs? Some smart, creative motherfuckers on that side."

New article in Rolling Stone on Losing the Drug War is getting attention.

Slate's Jack Shafer on Rolling Stone drug war article - Boing Boing:
"Wallace-Wells captures the complete costs of the drug war better than any journalist I've read in a long time. He documents how the federal government has dropped about $500 billion combating illicit drugs over the past 35 years. Nearly 500,000 people sit in jail or prison for drug crimes, 'a twelvefold increase since 1980,' Wallace-Wells writes. For all the money the government has spent and all the people it's jailed, it's still failed to make a long-term impact on the availability of drugs. The militarized drug-control techniques favored by the Bush administration, he reports, have increased violence and political corruption abroad, violated human rights, and destabilized several Latin American nations."

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Drowning Pool supports the troops. Special Bill O'Reilly smackdown bonus.

Crooks and Liars » Bill O’Reilly vs. The USO & Drowning Pool

I am definitely good at that second one.

16 years strong!

"

The mind reels at the audacity and the stupidity...

And remember kids, anybody can be labelled a terrorist. And they don't have to tell you why...

Maybe we should just call them gulags and be done with it?

Crooks and Liars » Suicide As A P.R. Tactic To Make U.S. Look Bad?:
"US Navy Cmdr Andrew Haynes said there was “an impressive effusion of blood” but the prisoner was treated by guards and taken to the prison clinic.

Officials would give no details of the man but lawyer Zachary Katznelson said the inmate had been held without charge for nearly six years.

Cmdr Haynes said “self-harm”incidents were a tactic to discredit US forces."

Right. Because it’s impossible to imagine why someone left to rot in a prison for six years without charges, doomed to indefinite despair, would have any legitimate reason to want to end his life-except to make the people holding him look bad."

"...long hours are almost always self-inflicted."

Too true.

Stress: Unhappy? You May Just Be a Perfectionist

God has a lot of Class 1 Felonies to account for...

The blindingly obvious.

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Give Up the Toad Now:
"This just in from the Associated Press:
'Law enforcement authorities have discovered that people are willing to go to great lengths to get high.'
If that's a recent discovery, it explains a lot about drug policy in America.
..."There are a lot of things that are created naturally but they are still not legal," he said.

Evidently God committed some serious felonies when he created all those psychoactive plants and animals. Manufacturing with intent to distribute on such a massive scale probably would trigger a life sentence even for Him."

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

My birthplace becomes more inane.

My own island kingdom, is that really so much to ask? Cause everyplace else seems more and more unintelligent.

NC continues it's descent into dumbness.

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > How to Lose Your License Without Really Trying:
"Careful about doling out glasses of spiked eggnog to the college-aged kids in your family this Christmas. A glassful could cost you your license, even if no one gets near a car.

North Carolina is taking bans on booze to a new level as part of a passel of legislation that also bans alcohol inhalers and changes requirements for ankle bracelets for boozers:
As of Saturday, people can lose their driver's licenses for providing alcohol to anyone under 21. The penalty is important because many underage drinkers get alcohol from friends or family members, said Craig Lloyd, the executive director of the North Carolina chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The law means that, theoretically, parents could be punished for giving a glass of wine to their 20-year-old son or daughter, even if the 20-year-old never gets behind the wheel.

Lloyd said that's not excessive."

You also have to love the making of alcohol inhalers illegal. See, it's not the substance that's bad. That's okay. [So say our friends in the alcohol lobby.] It's the potential that someday the marketing for the same substance may skew in a way that could possibly be bad. For the children.

Kill me now.

You have fewer friends than you think.

Your awesome of the day - Bear Massage!

Massage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"In Romania some illnesses were treated by a massage in which the patient was treaded on by a tame bear."

Monday, December 03, 2007

Perhaps the finest business meeting of our time.

Overheard in the Office | Except for Larry, Who Can Keep the Tutu:
"Coder #1: I just can't work in these pants!
Coder #2, raising hand: Seconded!
Boss #1: No! Motion fails!
Boss #2: Indeed -- pants remain a workplace requirement!

7255 East Hampton Avenue Mesa, Arizona

Overheard by: Chris Cardinal"

"Time, time, time..."


One of my favorite pics, now officially backed up online.

Barring, you know, an electromagnetic pulse that wipes out all the world's hard drives in a The Day After scenario.

Excuse me now while I go look for my youth.

<*cries softly*>

The Speech Presentation - Chikuzen Area English Exchange.


A few of my Jr High Kids at the Chikuzen English Speech Presentation and Exchange. They had practiced really hard this past month, having survived our own Jr High Elimination contest, and they all did really well.

A couple of them gave performances that probably exceeded any previous effort. Which was really awesome to see and hear.

Prepping and Posing.


A thank you note from one of the kids. They definitely know how to do "kawaii" in Japan. Warms my cold, dead, unfeeling heart, it does.

New at Reason: Drew Carey Defends Poker

Cops bust VFW vets for charity poker games. What amazing douchebaggery.

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > New at Reason: Drew Carey Defends Poker:
"In his latest video for Reason.tv, Drew Carey examines a paramilitary-style raid on a poker game at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1837 in Dallas, which has now been forced to close its doors.



"This story highlights the hypocrisy that surrounds gambling in this country," said Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason.tv. "States will gladly take your hard-earned money if you want to play the government's lottery. But if you sit down with some veterans to play Texas hold 'em you may end up with cops, in full riot gear, busting down your door. No one gets hurt when consenting adults sit down for a game of cards. And there's no reason for the government to get involved.""

Cold Mask.


It's almost a guaranteed lock that, despite living in Japan, I will never wear a cold and flu season mask.

However, Sandy's creative purchasing, and ode to the Dark Knight, will now be forever immortalized online before adding it to the JET-ALT sickness/doctor visit lesson materials.

Glasses I almost wouldn't be ashamed of wearing in public.


Of course, getting glasses in the 6th grade, when you're already kinda a bookish geek, and they help cement it, pretty much guarantees you'll always hate wearing glasses in public.

But these are as stylish a couple of pair as I've ever owned.

Which is just sad, really.

The irony...

...of high-fiving my adorable 6 year old Japanese elementary school students on the bike ride home, all while NWA is blasting through my earbuds, has not escaped me.

What has escaped me, till just now, is that NWA's last CD was out in 1991.

Jesus... old.

Korea wins the immigration policy "Retard-Off" of 2007.

It was a close race, what with the brown skinned paranoia of the US battling with the Japanese fascination/distrust of all things gaijin, but the big winner is clearly South Korea, with its inane new policy.

English Teaching Visa Procedures in Korea Now Require Fingerprinting, Drug Test, HIV Test : Japan Probe:
"The Justice Ministry has announced that starting in less than two weeks foreigners who teach English will be required to provide their criminal record and undergo a medical checkup to renew or receive a visa. In many cases, the new requirements will force English teachers to return to their home country to get the criminal record check. Many embassies here have already announced they cannot or will not conduct such a service.

...The US and Canadian embassies have already informed the South Korean government they cannot carry out criminal background checks, creating a very difficult situation for Americans and Canadians currently teaching in Korea to renew their visas should they want to stay. Those applying for new visas will also have to go through an interview at a South Korean consulate in their country before having their visa applications approved (this is in addition to their criminal background and disease tests).

...Korea blogger Michael Hurt has posted harsh criticism of the new rules, which he believes were enacted because of xenophobic fears spread by exaggerated media reports of criminal English teachers... "Treat all foreign teachers like criminals, and force them to produce these documents every time they apply for or even RENEW a visa. So, now the hagwons and schools will be more apt to hire the many more foreigners working here illegally on tourist visas, while the number of the vast majority of completely non-child molester, non-drug runner foreigners willing to put up with an extended life of being treated like a child-molesting, AIDS-ridden, drug abusing criminal will surely decrease.""

"Cherry Chocolate Rain" by Tay Zonday

From internet meme celebrity to Dr Pepper salesman in 3 months. God Bless America.

On the other hand, Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper is totally something I would buy if I was back in the the States. I envision a tasty amalgam of Canfield's Diet Chocolate Fudge Soda + the old Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper.

Aspartame-y brain cancer-y goodness, indeed.



...Man, I really want some now.

I'm simple.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

The hubris is UNBELIEVABLE.

What. The. Fuck?

Warren Ellis » America Can And Will Kidnap Anyone Anywhere Anytime:
"America has told Britain that it can kidnap British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.. No, really..."

More police tasing idiocy.

Balloon Juice:
"Got it? The Trooper screwed up, pushed the situation when he didn’t even need a signature, refused to make any attempts to defuse the situation, then didn’t behave correctly (turned his back on Massey), but the tasering was ok because it was a “scary situation” for the cop. Ain’t being a cop great! You can screw up every part of your job, have your superiors admit publicly that you screwed up, and you are still justified doing whatever you want if you can claim you got ‘scared.’ It is time to take the toys away from the police and teach them how to do their jobs without the quick “fix” of the taser."

How is it that they already don't have enough to do?

Seriously?

Balloon Juice - Not enough Crime:
So the cops are trying to gin some up:
Nine months ago, a similar police decoy program called Operation Lucky Bag was effectively shut down by prosecutors and judges who were concerned that it was sweeping up the civic-minded alongside those bent on larceny. Shopping bags, backpacks and purses were left around the subway system, then stealthily watched by undercover officers. They arrested anyone who took the items and walked past a police officer in uniform without reporting the discovery.

Now, a new version of the operation has started to catch people in public places outside the subways, and at much higher stakes, Criminal Court records show.

Unlike the initial program, in which the props were worth at most a few hundred dollars, the bags are now salted with real American Express cards, issued under pseudonyms to the Police Department.

Because the theft of a credit card is grand larceny, a Class E felony, those convicted could face sentences of up to four years. The charges in the first round of Operation Lucky Bag were nearly all petty larceny, a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail.

...As noted in the comments:
It’s a twofer: you discourage good Samaritans (who might actually try to return the purses) while at the same time promoting a view of the police as a sneaky organization out to get you.

Idiots. Maybe if everyone reports them as suspicious packages and it costs them an arm and a leg to scramble the Homeland Security apparatus, it will nip this bullshit in the bud.

Europe is different than America.

Maybe it's something in the water?

They seem... what's the word... kind of sane?

The Worlds Best Country to live in - Michael Moore edit