The Eternal Gaijin

Suspected bomb defused in London - CNN.com LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British police say they have defused a bomb in central London. Explosives officers were called to examine a car parked in The Haymarket, a busy street in the heart of central London's theatre district, early on Friday morning, London police said in a statement. "They discovered what appeared to be a potentially viable explosive device. This was made safe," they said, adding that counter-terrorism officers were investigating. CNN Japan has been running this non-stop at the same importance level as Paris Hilton going to jail. The BBC has been showing their golf and soccer scores. Something's askew when you get constant coverage of this on the American channel and the people near it are more concerned about the sports highlights. Maybe it's got to do with this: Government figures 'missing' two million violent crimes - Independent Online Edition > Crime An extra two million vi...

For anyone who has education and/or cares about it, this just goes to highlight the problems with standardized testing. As disclosure I'll say that I've taught people how to take tests and maximize their scores using what they now. But I wasn't also responsible for their subject matter education. The problem is when you have a national curriculum and national standardized testing you get a degrading in skills. Teachers teach the test. The exams test test-taking. The taught material never varies from the highest frequency subjects on the test. Details disappear. Standards raise, paradoxically, as education falls. So how's it working out in the UK? Physics GCSE: 'insultingly easy, non scientific, and vague' | The Register Physics GCSE papers are full of questions that are vague, stupid, insultingly easy, political, and non-scientific. Ta-daa! Just as the model predicts. [Wellington] Grey writes: "I am a physics teacher. Or, at least I used to be. My subject...

CBC.ca Arts - Canada's great classical actor William Hutt dies at 87 The great Canadian actor William Hutt has died at age 87. Hutt, who had leukemia, entered hospital in Stratford, Ont., on Tuesday and died Wednesday morning. Powered by ScribeFire .

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Spice Girls announcement imminent They may reform. It's not like we needed that. It's not like anyone needed that. Powered by ScribeFire .

Okay, I got tagged by Mojoey who runs the Atheist Blogroll. So first the rules must be posted before the response given. Rules: Post these rules before we give you the facts. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them each a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog. So here is the information about me. Habit: I talk to myself. More when I'm alone than around people, though I seem to wander off sometimes into my own thoughtspace and end up in a sotto voce conversation with myself. This also plays into my sense of hearing. Habit: I pull on my beard a lot. Not in a thinking-about-something-beard -stroking-look-intelligent way. More in a do-I-have-split-ends way. Fact: I have a rash on ...

It's not the stuff of movies, but it is an interesting look at the yakuza and women associated with them. Spoiler Alert: The women aren't treated all that well. Blood ties: Yakuza daughter lifts lid on hidden hell of gangsters' families | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited Technorati Tags: Japan , society , yakuza Powered by ScribeFire .

Interesting point, Father Jonathan. Perhaps you could tell us 2 things: Why do you continually drop all over areas you know nothing about in this interview? There are any number of things you have to say about stuff you clearly haven't a clue about, esp the hoary old 'how do you explain the eye' thingie. Seriously, take something from the post-Scopes playbook. What do you, as a priest, actually know? Seriously. What is the content of your training? onegoodmove: Father Jonathan Powered by ScribeFire . Technorati Tags: atheism , catholics , video

And my favourite Mythbuster tells us a bit about how it was made. Blade Runner - Special Effects - 25th Anniversary - MythBusters Appreciation - Popular Mechanics Powered by ScribeFire . Technorati Tags: Blade Runner , Mythbusters , SPFX

Woo hoo, reason has won out over shrill whack-a-doodles: The government has announced that it will publish guidance for schools on how creationism and intelligent design relate to science teaching, and has reiterated that it sees no place for either on the science curriculum. It has also defined "Intelligent Design", the idea that life is too complex to have arisen without the guiding hand of a greater intelligence, as a religion, along with "creationism". UK Gov boots intelligent design back into 'religious' margins | The Register Powered by ScribeFire .

It's a bit of a shame when a Japanese newspaper makes a couple of factual errors in their reporting (budo isn't a style; it's Japanese for martial arts) For the martial artists out there, do remember this quote: A battle has no rules except two: follow your own clear-cut principles and never believe that the enemy plays straight. or possibly this one: Time is life. Americans say time is money, but this is a foreign concept for me. I know my time is very limited here — at the most 120 years — and one third of that I will be asleep. Not to mention that I could die the next moment, so I want to spend such a precious commodity on something true and valuable. This is why I am never late: I take others' time as seriously as my own. But not this one: In the Japanese language words and emotions are perfectly matched. When foreigners speak Japanese, they are much kinder and gentler than when they use their mother tongue. Their facial expressions soften and they are unable to say...

...this thing should pretty much wreck Kobe and Osaka. Boing Boing: Giant Gigantor statue in Kobe Powered by ScribeFire .

Is the US funding itself against itself? Sure seems that way these days. BBC NEWS | South Asia | Afghan opium production 'soars' Powered by ScribeFire .

I can hear the bullshit cannons being fired up by the right-wing blogosphere already. CTV.ca | Tories blasted for handbook on paralyzing Parliament HT to Canadian Cynic Powered by ScribeFire .

...we'll move on to whether or not to bless interfaith marriages before we get to inter-racial marriages. Anglicans vote No on blessing same-sex unions Powered by ScribeFire .

-- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Parks in Asia are a hub of activity. To get a feel for a country or city in Asia you should visit the parks. When my wife and I visited China we spent time in the parks watching people. Near the Temple of Heaven in Beijing we watched jugglers and ballroom dancers. At Little Ritan Park there was a former gymnastics coach doing a bars routine on some monkey bars. And street food. In Japan we have a temple down the hill that is a great place to watch middle aged men doing warm up exercises before heading off to the hiking trails. Tokyo's Ueno Park is the place to see just about everything you can imagine, from blue-tarp homeless towns to buskers, to drinking to...oh you get the point. Sure, I knew that there was always something going on in Setagaya Koen (Setagaya Park), which is close to Ikejiri Ohashi Station on the Tokyu Denen-Toshi Line. There is the mini steam train that chuffs around its 300-meter track to the delight of young passengers. There's a "traffic park" w...

I've joined the Atheist blogroll. Out of all three versions of the Java script available, I liked the marquee version best, so it appears over there on the side. No, a bit further down. Back up a bit. There, that's it. I hope this helps keep the fans from Christiangoverment.ca happy. And through Pooflingers Anonymous I bring you a Kent Hovind song Double HT to Pooflingers Anonymous -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

These people are fucking nuts. Westboro Baptist , subject of that painful to watch Brit doc The Most Hated Family in America , has a music video out. It's a bunch of Class A hate filled whack-a-doodles spilling vile bile out to the tune of We Are the World . Grotesque. Key bits Snark in Red : You'll eat your children. (Yeah, you'll eat them!) Baby, it's the other other white meat You face a fiery day for your proud sinning (so just stop it!) It's too late to change his mind So enjoy the sodomy. It won't do any good to listen to these shitheads anyway. There's a cute little tiny tot who has a solo at the end singing the chorus. I have no snark for that. That makes me well up. How does a family get so twisted that this seems the way to raise a kid? http://view.break.com/278059 - Watch more free videos onegoodmove: God Hates The World Powered by ScribeFire .

Link to Accompanying Story: Link Nice bit of work this. -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Mingle 2 - Online Dating Saw this done on a few blogs over at Science Blogs and got to wondering: Can I get it into the red? Ta daa. The Aristocrats!

Can one love a love hotel? I've been in a couple over the years and I think they're really fascinating. There's no doubt that they're a completely different experience to that sleazy little wouldn't touch it with Marigold gloves on place outside Hamilton. Clean, upstanding (funah, funah) and, dare I say it, moral they're an essential part of the Japanese experience. Today a short look at them in the Japan Times. 'Rub hotels': Vegas in a box | The Japan Times Online Powered by ScribeFire .

ISTP - "Engineer". Values freedom of action and following interests and impulses. Independent, concise in speech, master of tools. 5.4% of total population. Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI) -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

God Is Not Great? on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC Powered by ScribeFire .

Jerusalem's pride march would have been two days ago and guess what: it attracted a dude carrying a bomb. Unusually, there's not cause for panic. He wasn't Muslim; he was Jewish so that makes it okay. Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Jerusalem Pride Goes On Full Article: Suspect seized before Israeli gay parade - Focus on Israel/Palestinians - MSNBC.com Powered by ScribeFire .

A number of weeks back I had a couple of links to Xian terrorism in the US which was going unreported. Respectful Insolence has a quick mention of people who are celebrating a whack-a-doodle who killed a doctor and his body guard. Sick bastards. Respectful Insolence: PZ and archy just ruined my day Powered by ScribeFire .

Firedoglake has a bit about Seymour Hersh's investigations into Torture: Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Violations Huffington Post feature's Sam Harris's defence of torture adapted from his book The End of Faith : Sam Harris: In Defense of Torture - The Huffington Post Ultimately I don't think that we can come up with a scenario where torture can be justified, and on the balance of probabilities it'll always cost more that the value returned. Sorry Sam, even sanitized it's bullshit. Powered by ScribeFire .

You know, in the few minutes since I found out I was in the firing line from Christiangovernment.ca I just wanted to say 'Hi,' again Victims of the Christian Faith 20th Century Church Atrocities * Catholic extermination camps Surpisingly few know that Nazi extermination camps in World War II were by no means the only ones in Europe at the time. In the years 1942-1943 also in Croatia existed numerous extermination camps, run by Catholic Ustasha under their dictator Ante Paveli, a practising Catholic and regular visitor to the then pope. There were even concentration camps exclusively for children! In these camps - the most notorious was Jasenovac, headed by a Franciscan friar - orthodox-Christian serbians (and a substantial number of Jews) were murdered. Like the Nazis the Catholic Ustasha burned their victims in kilns, alive (the Nazis were decent enough to have their victims gassed first). But most of the victims were simply stabbed, slain or shot to death, th...

Canadian Cynic: I'd like to thank the fucking academy ... Canadian Cynic got himself listed up in the newsletter of the folks (I use this word ironically) at www.christiangovernment.ca . And guess what: so did I. They didn't really get the main blog (not sure why) over here at Blogger, but the caught the Vox one that I cross post to most of the time. Oh, if anyone has any ideas on how to get Scribefire to work with Vox, maido okini... Also noted were Rational Reasons Unrepentant Old Hippie Galloping Beaver (who tipped CC off to this. Thanks GB) I'm in proud company. I feel like I'm getting some love. Especially when lumped in for this kind of treatment: You can see from these examples why Secular Humanists should not be taken seriously and why they should not be considered a serious threat to the Christian vision for a free and democratic social order and a civil government committed to the rule of law and the principle of equality before the law. Tyranny never could s...

A lesson for Nova Corp. | The Japan Times Online Powered by ScribeFire .

People amaze me. Sometimes it's the idea that there are atheists around: AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Rise of the New Atheists I mean: really. Is Richard Dawkins really that angry? Pretty mild compared to most political invective in the United States. The Bible and Sex. Biblical sex -- it could knock your socks off Masturbation? There is no prohibition against it in the Bible, Hornsby says. The famous Genesis story of Onan, for instance, has nothing to do with masturbation being bad. Whew. Dodged a bullet there. Ooh, look how the Christians love each other: Brownback aide chided on anti-Mormon bid - Yahoo! News Among the statements: "Theologically, the only thing Christianity and the LDS church has in common is the name of Jesus Christ, and the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith" and "The LDS church has never been accepted by the Christian Council of Churches." Powered by ScribeFire .

You can get the first 3 laws right, but they'll only remember the fourth one. Newton's fourth law: We'll die in 2060 | The Daily Telegraph Technorati Tags: predictions , newton , news Powered by ScribeFire .

My Monday YouTube cruise has yeilded a bit of info on Life on Mars . If you haven't seen it, LoM is one of the best TV shows of the last couple of decades. Original, dramatic, tense, exciting, other adjectives -- just plain great. The short version is this: Twenty-first century copper Sam Tyler (John Simm) is working a difficult case when he's hit by a car. He wakes in 1973 as a police officer transferred from Hyde to Manchester, where he grew up as a toddler. The story combines science-fantasy with the fish-out-of-water feeling as Sam tries to both fit in with the others and drag DCI Gene Hunt, the rough, tough, prejudice and quintessential 1970's Brit copper, into the 21st century. They did two series of about 8 episodes each which is one of the things that makes it beautiful. The producers left you wanting more. Unlike Firefly, which was made stronger and more poignant by its cancellation, LoM was always planned to be 2 series long. It's an ending that enhances the...

You Should Learn Japanese You're cutting edge, and you are ready to delve into wacky Japanese culture. From Engrish to eating contests, you're born to be a crazy gaijin. Saiko! What Language Should You Learn? Powered by ScribeFire .

You Are Not Stupid You got 10/10 questions right! While acing this quiz doesn't prove you're a genius, you're at least pretty darn smart. Are You Stupid? Powered by ScribeFire .

Christianity advances a federalist model of civil government: Christian civil government reflects the principles of decentralization of authority and division of power. Which is to say that centralist models of government are incompatible with a Christian view. Centralist models seek to centralize as much civil power as possible in the highest level of civil government, and to centralize as much governmental authority as possible in the civil government, at the expense of self-government, family government and church government. (Socialism is a centralist model of government.) Uh, since when? I know you can prove anything using the Bible (or as Homer Simpson once said: Facts? You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true), but come on... Christian Government - Timothy Bloedow - State vs. Church HT to Canadian Cynic Powered by ScribeFire .

Two days ago the Japanese Government 's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) knocked a local language school chain with a suspension of operations - specifically they are not allowed to engage in any new long-term contracts for 6 months while they restructure their entire contract system. This could be a really big blow and knock the giant of the industry here back on it's heels opening the market for a more vibrant set of choices or even be a death blow depending on the state of the finances of NOVA. NOVA is the largest of the chain language schools here and has always had a bad time in public relations. This is a combination of mildly stingy conditions, some PR mis-steps and just being the biggest target. I still have a couple of friends working there and it's obvious that everything is not sunshine and cotton-candy, it's also not a bad place to work. Whatever you read in the notice boards and blogs, make sure you have a shaker of salt handy. All of this ri...

The geniuses in the US who thought of ideas like "last throes," "greeted as liberators, and "bring it on" have now decided that it might be a good idea to arm insurgents (!) in Iraq (!!) themselves (!!!) in order to get them to fight against Al-Qaeda (!!!!). Now for those of you who might want to look it up, see how Osama Bin Laden got his insurgency experience in Afghanistan some 25-odd years back. Who armed him? So what's going on in Iraq? The US military in Baghdad is trying to portray the move as arming disenchanted Sunnis who are rising up in their neighbourhoods against their former allies, al-Qaida and its foreign fighters. But the reality on the ground is more complex, with little sign that the US will be able to control the weapons once they are handed over. The danger is that the insurgents could use these weapons against American troops or in the civil conflict against Shia Muslims. Similar efforts by the US in other wars have backfired, the most...

It's nice to see that the Natural Selections column in the Japan Times is very blunt in referring to creation stories as 'cute:' Cosmic eggs and Abrahamic stories of God creating the heavens and the earth are cute enough, but they're only stories. Oooo, I hear the Liberal Media speaking... Wait, does Japan even have a Liberal media? Interesting... Religion's cute, but creation chemistry is complex | The Japan Times Online Powered by ScribeFire .

A quick post over at Pharyngula leads us through a longwinded affidavit filed by Kent Hovind. And when you see the mind at work, ooo boy, stand back. Pharyngula: Hovind's criminal memoirs Powered by ScribeFire .

Just a nice little round up on swearing from Slate.com How does a dirty word get that way? - By Michelle Tsai - Slate Magazine The British Empire's second-greatest gift to the world. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine Why Bush should swear more. - By John Dickerson - Slate Magazine When do papers print the F-word? - By Dan Kois - Slate Magazine Deadwood's linguistic brilliance. - By Matt Feeney - Slate Magazine Powered by ScribeFire .

Orcinus has a vid of the best of Ric Mercer ( This Hour has 22 Minutes ) and his Talking to Americans schtick with explanatory text for our Southern Cousins. Orcinus Powered by ScribeFire .

It was inevitable. There has developed a 7/7 Truth Movement. Reason has a short blurb about the start of the movement. Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Loose Pence: The 7/7 Truth Squad Suffice it to say, it basically relies on some contradictory eyewitness testimony, as if two people ever see the exact same thing, and the usual smoke and mirror innuendo that conspiracy theories always boil down to. Reason provides a link to a troofer video which I'll embed here: What to say about that? Do I think that governments don't try to cover stuff up? No. Do I think that they don't spin, fabricate or manipulate? No. But, and here's the big but, this is what happens when they try and cover up: The Bandar cover-up: who knew what, and when? The Guardian BAE investigation Guardian Unlimited They get busted. So I'll turn over to Penn and Teller for the final word on Conspiracy Theories: Bullshit ! Powered by ScribeFire .

In the US, there's a certain apoplexy that the religions right feel when ever the word atheist (BTW: Booga-booga) is mentioned. There's no real understanding the strident responses to a few books making fairly reasoned and low-key arguments about G-d. The reaction is well in excess of any criticism. It's well put here in this review of the situation: Review: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books Money quote: Anyway, you can see why atheists snigger. The first real taste of their own rhetorical medicine and the godly are reduced to incomprehensible, frothing rage. BTW: Militant Atheist Technorati Tags: atheism , Dawkins , God Delusion Powered by ScribeFire .

Speaking here: U.S. a theocratic state, says former Canadian ambassador Former New Brunswick Premier and Ambassador to the US, Frank McKenna made several points about the current social and political climate in the States. Most importantly he states, “Right now the United States is in many ways a theocratic state, not dissimilar to some of the other religious states in the world where religion has a huge part to play in government." The article continues: He referred to a current congressional investigation in Washington into whether partisan political and religious loyalties were used in the hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys and immigration judges. He also alluded to a report that 150 graduates of a Christian evangelical school have worked at the White House in recent years. By contrast, he said in a speech to a business audience hosted by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, "Canada is truly a secular state. Religion and politics do not mix in this country.” The fact is tho...

...but always good. Top Ten List Powered by ScribeFire .

HT to One Good Move Evolution: Did Humans Evolve? As long as you're not a fundie, theocrat or home-schooled, then the answer is: Yes. Powered by ScribeFire .

...or master terrorist with a gold medal winning plot. A couple of links defining 'major terrorism plot broken up.' Crooks and Liars » "Looneyism" vs. Journalism Defining Threats Experts cast doubt on credibility of JFK terror plot - Yahoo! News Powered by ScribeFire .

The London Underground system, in all it's glory is applying the best in mid-19th century technology to the 21st century problem of London's increasingly scorching summers. Having passed last summer in London and noting how the buses hit 50 degrees and the Tube hit 44 or so, I frequently remarked on, expressed amazement at, and bitched about the total lack of air conditioning on the mass transit system in the city. So this year they've come up with a plan that avoids the issue of any difficulties putting in air con by installing blocks of ice in the cars on the Picadilly line. I assume the contraption was designed and patented (that's pay-tent for my British readers) by Dickens himself. Seriously, ice not air con. I don't get to say, 'WTF?' nearly enough in an average day. Tube trains to be fitted with blocks of ice to cool down passengers | the Daily Mail Powered by ScribeFire .

Interesting post at Crooked Timber on the early Xians rejecting pagan rituals. Crooked Timber » » The Original Atheists HT to Pharyngula Powered by ScribeFire .

1: I'll stay in Japan where it could never happen. 2: Is this Poe's Law? I can never tell when stuff gets as Swiftian as this seems to be. Fredericksburg.com - Drug-free should also include alcohol HT to FARK Powered by ScribeFire .

Trip proposed to centre of Earth via Arctic hole Powered by ScribeFire .

Friend DEG spends a lot of time in the JREF forums dealing with troofers. I don't know how he does. There's an amazing ability of these people to avoid any semblance of reality. As outlined in this film: -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

Bronze Dog and Weapon of Mass Instruction have a whack of back and forth in the comments in this post: The Bronze Blog: An Interesting Thought Reading it is like naming the colours in an acid trip; they just keep speeding away from you. Bronze Dog is that one friend who tries to talk you down from the ledge. Weapon insists that he can fly Powered by ScribeFire .

Dammit. P. Zed Myers over at Pharyngula has noticed that Alta. just opened a creationist museum. It looks like the product of the great Canadian decision-making process which, in the words of a university prof I had at good Ol' University of Ottawa (Go Gee-Gees!) goes like this: think small; divide by two. Which makes P. Zed comments: Ha ha, pathetic Canadians. They've put up their own creation "museum" —just look at it. It's feeble . It's like someone took a cheap suburban ranch-style home and put a sign on it and started charging admission to come take a look at their knick-knack shelf. Ha! Pharyngula: In which American superiority manifests itself! Take a look at the picture; it's pretty pathetic compared to the glitz and glamour of the 'Merkan version. And over at Canadian Cynic , CC has a post up about the whole deal. Canadian Cynic: And for those of you who want an alternative to actual science ... Any snark on my part could not possibly do jus...