The Eternal Gaijin

Grumble begins. I got this ad through the post today.in with an ad for Molly Maid. (You tell me the connection.) The ad features a large sketch of Albert Einstein (and who could argue with him?) over a back drop of stars. The headline starts: "We use only 10% of our mental potential." ( Okay, weak start. I guess you could look it up at Snopes or you could repeat bullshit unthinkingly and unwittingly add a bit of personal credibility to it ) The text continues: The world-famous mathematician Albert Einstein made a startling statement, "We use only 10% of our mental potential." ( Did he even say that ? At best it's probably a misquote ) However he did not say how to improve this. (Mind you he was a physicist. Not really his research area.) Yet now L. Ron Hubbard ( Yikes! ) in his research ( peer-reviewed, of course ) has not only proven these words to be true ( didn't I already link to Snopes? ), but more importantly, he has also demonstrated how to tap into ...

I am: Isaac Asimov One of the most prolific writers in history, on any imaginable subject. Cared little for art but created lasting and memorable tales. Which science fiction writer are you?

A comment I left at The Austringer. < http://austringer.net/wp/?p=493 > Beautiful job. Every time they through out the 'problem for evolution' or 'science can't explain' cards someone comes along with the left bower and takes the trick. It just goes to show that they never let a fact stand in the way of an opinion. -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

, you're now logged in! Below you'll find your test result. After, continue on to your homescreen to discover what we're about. continue to OkCupid homescreen > Naturalism You scored 65 Objectivism, 57 Naturalism, and 60 Cognitivism! There are moral facts, they can be reduced, and they can be the subjects of true or false propositions. You are probably a Naturalist. "Different philosophical doctrines travel under the heading of “naturalism.” We can usefully distinguish two broad and important categories: methodological (or M-naturalism) and substantive (or S-naturalism) (Leiter 1998; cf. Railton 1990 and Goldman 1994). Naturalism in philosophy is most often a methodological view to the effect that philosophical theorizing should be continuous with empirical inquiry in the sciences. Such a view need not presuppose a solution to the so-called “demarcation problem”—i.e., the pro...

      So here are a couple of photos of the flat, the mosque next door and our Tube station. Just so you know.

And the villain next door is Kumar from /Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle/ (/Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies/ for those in the UK) So I'm starting off not taking the terrorist threat du jour seriously. Sorry to Kal Penn but he doesn't exude menace or gravitas. Somewhere in the 3rd episode they pan past a bunch of terrorists at a detention centre (let's leave the politics off for a moment) and I couldn't help thinking to myself, "Gee, that guy looks like Shaun Majumder." In the 4th episode I realized the second he spoke almost unable to sound menacing or Middle Eastern through a haze of Newfoundland accent that it was indeed Majumder. And the threat of the nuclear bomb seemed to dissipate. I half expected him to say something along the lines of "Well, we're ready to blow up the infidels, now let's go club a baby seal and eat some cod while drinking screech." or something else that would load a bunch of cliches into a single sentence. Stil...

I'm not a fan of musicals Except this collection. http://www.unsoughtinput.com/index.php/2007/01/19/the-best-musicals-are-fake-musicals/ -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

But it did my head in by the 7th dimension. http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

I'm not really sure what I was reading that referenced this series of vids but humorously blasphemous is the way I'd describe it. Ep 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf8q9QHfhI Ep 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzuxyq3ltls Ep 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvWdkz8Ra54 Ep 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaZDcS-rMf4 Honestly, number 2 (Convincing new hire Jesse -- Jesus? Sorry Jesus -- to live a sinless life and be crucified in return for being made full partner) and number 4 (Mr Deity gets his voicemail.) are the best. -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

There's a quickie over at Dispatches from the Culture War < http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/ > on Mr Hovind < http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/01/hovind_gets_10_years_in_prison.php >. -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Through Pharyngula < http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/ >: I've had a bit to say about Kent Hovind (PhD in FlintstonePaleontology). You won't have to scratch behind the ears too much before I'll cough up that I think the guy is a dishonest sleazeball. I don't know if he believes what he spews, but I can say he hangs onto it and voms it forth no matter what. He's been shown again and again that his crap is false, claims that he'll change his presentation, and neatly omits to. So when he's sentenced to 10 years < http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701190332 > for tax evasion and such I just get such a warmfuzzy. By the way PeeZed Myers had a link to Shelly the Republican's prayer request < http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/2007/01/19/urgent-prayer-request.aspx > to have Dr Flintstone get off (in a non-prison shower sort of way) In related news the Canadian spy coin scandal of 2007 is over < http://www....

Our stuff got moved out on Monday. My wife went to Heathrow to catch her plane to Osaka, via a couple of days in Ottawa. And the dog is not happy. He's a real momma's boy and has been sitting around being a sook all day. A quick video. This is the most I've seen him move since she left this morning. I'm hoping to document Japan as we move there and stay in the country. There's no shortage of things to see in 15 second bites. That's the limit on my camera. I could do more I'm sure but I don't want to fool around with editing at the moment so it's just the mpeg capture for now.

I sometimes wish I had the balls to do something like this. Don't you wish you'd done it?

In Xi'an, China my wife and I met him at a book signing. He makes a bit of money on the side as the guy who found the terracotta warriors < http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21015004-17102,00.html >. -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Wandsworth, London "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."