The Eternal Gaijin

As the Chris-hannak-kwanza-mas Eid Season moves on I find myself paying little attention to the news, the world around me or anything else that doesn’t involve Resistance 2 on the old PS3 electronic crack dispenser. So after my absence while we moved and warred on the UK in order to get internet I just want to make a plug for my daily fix of Indexed with this cartoon: Just a quick thought.

...with a what the fuck is wrong with religious people at this time of year. First up with a little criticism, Cenk Uygur, a man with a name like a typing practice exercise, calls out the religious for their selectivity with their source material: Cenk Uygur: Not Another Word on Gay Marriage Until They Execute an Adulterer Two: Dispatches has a series of tales about how learning led to the breakup of good families and deaths and stuff. Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Misology and the Religious Right Three: Apparently there's some backlash against atheists speaking up. The Friendly Atheist has a rundown of the controversy. Who Took Down the FFRF Billboard in Rancho Cucamonga? | Friendly Atheist by Hemant Mehta Four: Amid all the things the US has trying to tear into it at the moment, this is the kind of shit they worry about: Obama's church attendance . Five: More Christmas love from the Westboro Baptist Church over at Dispatches again. Dispatches from the Cultu...

I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong. I usually try to wait until it's long past relevant. This whole election campaign I did not expect Obama to win. In a campaign that preached issues but gave Sarah "Are you fucking kidding me?" Palin goin' rogue, you betcha, it seemed hard to conceive that the personal attacks, the smears, the untruths, and race of both the candidates would slant the contest towards McCain. And I was wrong about that. When the crisis came along (that would be the economic crisis, not the prank phone calls to Andrew Sachs by emaciated Q-tip headed fuckhead Russel Brand) I did fully expect the States to retreat to old, white and grumpy as the safe choice over the younger, smarter and blacker Barak Obama. And I was wrong there. And I'm happy about that. If you're going to be wrong, hope to be wrong about the worst happening. And as Churchill said, you can always trust the Americans to do the right thing, after they've exhausted al...

Over at Nicest Girl, Izzibeth found the lovely, highbrow humour expressed in this graphic . I'm starting to be glad I missed out on the last 2 and a half weeks of this shit. She also has a good list of the racism chucked casually around here: Let's Just Make a List

It doesn't take much to cause the evangelicals to get their panties in a between the butt cheek Gordian knot. I suspect a last minute YouTube blitz should pretty much do it. And let's face it, it'll work. Christian right steps up attacks on Obama - Barack Obama News- msnbc.com

BBC NEWS | Health | Circumcision HIV impact doubted

The Imperial Palace moat for chrissakes. Have you seen the water there? WTF is in it? Naked guy in Japanese moat adventure | Metro.co.uk The guy BTW claimed to be British. Now does skinny dipping and running naked around a foreign city seriously sound like something that a British tourist would do?

I'm starting to believe that there is a correlation between conspiracy thinking and a history of totalitarianism. If it's likely the government is out to get you, and you know it, then you will believe anything after than because it all seems reasonable. PREVIEW: The Truthers' New Friends Since these are not quite Soviet days, there was at least a semblance of debate. Several panelists, including a building expert and (amusingly) a retired KGB analyst, rejected the conspiracy theory. Vladimir Sukhoi, a former Channel One correspondent who was in Washington, D.C., on the day of the attacks and in New York a few days later, spoke movingly of the horrors he witnessed and said that he could not "betray" those memories by lending credence to Chiesa's thesis. Sukhoi also remarked that he had personally seen debris from Flight 77 at the Pentagon, though Chiesa's coauthor, French 9/11-conspiracy theorist Thierry Meyssan, earnestly assured him that he had not. Sukh...

If you don’t read xkcd it’s time to update your RSS feeds. You don’t use RSS? I can’t help you.

As prep for the move goes on I'm a wee behind in posting. But it's the same shit all the time anyway, so fuck it. Caribou Barbie didn't drool on herself mid-"sentence" so she won the debate. A lot of my friends hate Harper but saw him at the least evil choice out of the 70 odd party leaders kicking around in Canada now. Peace, order and good government, my ass. And there's a war on journalism coming. Look I think journalists can be lazy and uninformed at the best of times. There's education and there's the Carleton School of Journalism. But those who are on their game are so far beyond vital that it beggars comparison. So we're stuck with Fox News as well. But the kind of shit going on in the UK is nuts. Bonus Fun: Surveillance society picture contest Get snap happy.

I'd write something, but I am already in my pyjamas. Daniel Kurtzman: Sarah Palin, by the Numbers

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Call for creationism in science Creationism should be discussed in school science lessons, rather than excluded, says the director of education at the Royal Society. Sure it should. "Hey, kids. Before we cover the dominant theory in biology today let's cover some of the failed ideas of the past and present. Open your books to page ID." Rather than dismissing creationism as a "misconception", he says it should be seen as a cultural "world view". Teachers should take the time to explain why creationism had no scientific basis, Prof Reiss said. He stressed that the topic should not be taught as science. Hmm. That sounds reasonable enough. It is a misconception, but one that can be corrected. And what is it that a teacher should do if not teach these concepts? The problem they face is growing as: "An increasing percentage of children in the UK come from families that do not accept the scientific version of the history of t...

Hey, the Dude abides.

This is me deciding to "Me, too" Ed Brayton here: Dispatches from the Culture Wars: I Love Stephen Colbert With this from The Big Lebowski: Right. Walter, what the fuck does any of this have to do with Vietnam?

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Mid Wales | Vicar admits child porn charges Do I need to comment? Should I say something sarcastic? Didn't think so.

We're happy , yet somehow not nice . Encouraging, yet not really.

Photos later. In the meantime, the BBC had this series on skeptical reasoning and numbers in the media. BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | What the survey didn't say... BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | The myth of counting BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Putting percentages in context BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Just what is average?

Read this: ari_rahikkala: A recapitulation of criticism against the theory of childhood The theory of childhood, also known as child origin, is a damnable, loathsome and indefensible lie. HT to Bronze Dog

He's always saying about dog-cat mixes that they would constitute proof of evolution. Hey, Kent, how about a bird-cat mix? Cue moving of goalposts. Winged cats discovered in western China - Boing Boing In all seriousness though. Winged cats are fucking weird.

I know it's one of those popular videos, but frankly anybody who says we have to know if she believes that there were dinosaurs just a couple of millennia back is hitting the nail on the head. Matt Damon Rips Sarah Palin

Foreign Policy: The List: Obama’s 10 Worst Ideas Foreign Policy: The List: McCain’s 10 Worst Ideas

To Europe. Europe Pulls Ahead of U.S. in Physics | Newsweek International Edition | Newsweek.com

At the risk of drifting into a sub-Lewis Black routine I'll just say that we ought to give this a bit of second thought before we let this shit continue. Faith schools breed terror, says psychologist | Science | guardian.co.uk The study – which he presented at the British Association Festival of Science in Liverpool - was done on extremist Islamist terrorists in India, but that didn't stop him speculating about the effects faith schools in the UK might be having. "It seems to me issues like faith schools are terribly dangerous. The whole idea of setting up these divisions that are based on faith and recognising that is the starting point for people beginning to think of themselves as separate and distinct." Look, there may be an argument for privatising education. I don't fucking think so but there may be one. But this shit is a hell of an argument against it. Maybe the best.

I downloaded Chrome on day one and have been using it in conjunction with Firefox for the last couple of days. I have to say that I rather like it. First of all, the interface is very uncluttered. I like uncluttered. I've been hiding toolbars in Firefox and IE for a while now so having no real toolbars is a refreshing change. There is a bookmarks toolbar that can be displayed or hidden.   The rendering engine works well and pretty quickly. For all the hoo-ha about speed of browsers you hear bandied about back and forth between Firefox (yeah), IE7 (meh), or Safari (blah). Although Safari does render text better than the other two. Set up is easy as Chrome imports everything from IE or Firefox, including saved username and password data in addition to your bookmarks. Transitioning is easy as you can just use your websites like before. Go to your newspapers or forums and your in without fuss. I even sort of like the 3 options tabs: Basics, Minor Tweaks and Under the Hood. It...

Tony Blair, a PM of mixed blessings and curses, has managed to leave a series of footprints that mess the garden of British society and will take a lot of reseeding to fix. One of the worst is faith schools. As an occasional (yet permanent) British resident I signed the petition that the RDF promoted last year. And we were told to go Cheney ourselves. 'Faith schools may be Blair's most damaging legacy' by Polly Toynbee, Guardian - RichardDawkins.net Children start their new schools this week for the 12th year under Labour. Who could have predicted that more pupils than ever will be going to religious schools this term, as the churches boasted gleefully? Pews empty but faith schools multiply. Here you have it. Without a convincing argument religion takes on the characteristics of a childhood disease. This leaves a stale stink like Blue Stratos in a second hand IROC. And that is how to do a series of unconnected metaphors.

From a little trip into Kobe yesterday afternoon.   In front of herbal medicine shop in Nanking Machi The sign for the Kobe Earthquake Monument at Merican Pier. The preserved pier at Merican Park, just as it was after the 1995 earthquake.   Small temple on the walk out of the Merican Park area. Little known fact, unless you read the signs. The park is a customs area, and everyone walking in or out can be subject to search and seizure.  Very odd.

The things that people want you to do. One of the most pernicious trends of our time has been the creeping Christianization of medical services and access to medical services. It's started creeping up into Canada and the UK. So here's just another article that goes from the ridiculous to the ridiculous. Americans choose God over doctors for saving lives | Otago Daily Times Online When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans. An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle." ... When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or injured, nearly 20% of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a hopeless outcome. It's hard to say much to the common person if nearly 1/5 DOCTORS is willing to wait for God. "You can't say, 'That's nonsense.' You...

You can always count on religion for a bit of a laugh, or at least a facepalm. Plan to exhume cardinal is 'homophobic' - Home News, UK - The Independent The Catholic Church is under growing pressure to abandon the "homophobic" exhumation and reburial of the body of one its most famous cardinals, in defiance of his wish to lie for eternity next to the man he loved. Gay rights campaigners have accused the Vatican – which has ordered the disinterment in the first step towards beatification – of attempting to cover up the sexuality of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who died in 1890. When Same-Sex Marriage Was a Christian Rite - Colfax A Kiev art museum contains a curious icon from St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Israel. It shows two robed Christian saints. Between them is a traditional Roman ‘pronubus’ (a best man), overseeing a wedding. The pronubus is Christ. The married couple are both men. ... Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not...

Watch the pundits do that 180 turn: -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You." Addendum: More at Dispatches from the Culture War .

A lot of bits have been spilt on untilled LCD screens covering McCain's choice of vice-presidential running mate. Most of it has been centred around babies or her experience, or whether she really has the potential to woo Hilary voters and PUMA-types. There's been talk of how poor the vetting process seems to have been around her. Apparently there's been talk of whether she should leave the ticket or not. Okay, first of all, I don't think she's a great choice. She's a social conservative who seems to have the same sorts of big government authoritarian tendencies we've come to know and loathe over the last eight years in particular. I don't care much about her (grand)son or her daughter. Really. Couldn't give a flying obscene sexual reference. I am bothered by her apparent callous indifference to knowledge and science. She's red meat to the far lefties and a strong facepalm headshudder to the sinθ lefties, like me. I don't think t...

I don't know they actually changed the country, but they did help us change what we thought of ourselves. This is a good slide show from the old Globe 'n' Mail. Keep an eye out for Stanfield, the best prime minister we never had. Also he makes comfortable underwear. I'm sure that's him. globeandmail.com : In Pictures

Well, that should cover the American Pledge issue. -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

How could anyone even consider voting for someone this uninformed? -- From: The Eternal Gaijin Lost Somewhere in Kobe, Japan "Words Cannot Describe What I Am About To Tell You."

In Northern England, a councillor is standing up to encroaching Big Brother like surveillance by protesting new 'spy' CCTV cameras. Councillor's spy camera anger - Lancashire Evening Post A councillor is threatening to block Big-Brother-style CCTV cameras from spying on his house – by letting his trees grow. Okay it's not a crowbar to the thing but it's still a good start. I mean who's big idea was it to install these wired up invasions of privacy. Coun Richardson backed the cameras when they were set up almost 18 months ago – but is now fuming as one has been erected close to his front door. He said: "I didn't expect one to go up where it has gone up. There are people watching me coming and going outside my house." Oh. Slammed your cock in the door on that one.

猛列 - mouretsu - severe Example 猛列な雨 - mouretsu na ame - severe rain. I wonder why this would be relevant.

Measles is back, and it's because your kids aren't vaccinated: Scientific American Blog If you didn't vaccinate your kids, you too could find yourself partly responsible for the resurgence of a disease thought eliminated in 2000. Measles—a highly contagious disease-causing virus—is making a comeback in the U.S., thanks to parents fears over vaccines. Fifteen children under 20, including four babies, have been hospitalized and 131 sickened by the red splotches since the beginning of this year in 15 states and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. I don't have anything to say here that I haven't said before. It's okay if you're so stupid that you want yourself diseased out of the gene pool, but vaccinate your kids and give them a chance to grow up healthy. 'kay, fucknutz? Kthanxbai.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | London | Cash-in-buttocks man in M25 ban A man who stole cash and belongings from train passengers has been banned from entering London for two years. Peter Abbott, 46, repeatedly boarded trains to take items from overhead racks, Southwark Crown Court was told.

Wait for the guy who says that it could have a chilling effect on religious schools. Now as an experiment, just try to say that as if it were a bad thing. Give it a try.

Plods say it's OK for them give out your DNA | The Register The National Police Improvement Agency has defended allowing companies access to the national DNA database. Sure it's okay. Keep in mind that a lot of police volunteered their DNA for the database to show confidence in it. It also said that the police, many of whose officers have added themselves to the database voluntarily, rejected a request for their DNA samples to be used in a research project. Your secrets are safe with us. Just not as safe as our secrets. Your rights: as inalienable as a sugar sculpture in a typhoon.

...there is a systemic problem. How did Jon Stewart become the most trusted name in news? I love the man, but it boggles the mind. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Jon Stewart lectures reporters on coverage « - Blogs from CNN.com

People, people, people and the reasonable hand-drawn facsimiles next to you: Vaccines are good. Your religion has nothing to say about them. You who think it does are putting everyone at risk of shit that hasn't been an issue in my life time. Yes, you. I'm looking at you. Get vaccinated. Get your kid vaccinated. Or stay the hell away from the rest of us, you pestilent knob. 'B.C. health official says mumps outbreak began with unimmunized religious group' by Canadian Press - RichardDawkins.net

Lazy and thinking my iPod can do my posting for me. My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mamma Frank Zappa These Days Johnny Clegg and Savuka Tu Mile Dil Khile Best Hindi Hits Temple of Love (Extended Mix) The Sisters of Mercy The Chemical Workers Song (Process Man) Great Big Sea I Kill Children Dead Kennedys Shut Up and Listen Hothouse Flowers Superstition (Live) Stevie Ray Vaughan Jarhand Immaculate Machine Everytime I See Your Picture Luba Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Why I Love Virginia Postrel Andrew Sullivan

Two good friends PL and RW are getting married today back in Canada. With the upcoming move, Mrs Gaijin and I aren't able to attend the wedding. But we want to extend our best wishes, love and congratulations to both of them as they begin their lives together. All the best to them both.

Sumo career goes up in smoke | The Japan Times Online Wakanoho has become not only the first active sekitori wrestler to be arrested, but also the first active wrestler to be dismissed in sumo history. His arrest on suspicion of possession of marijuana shows that the sumo association's ability to teach its wrestlers proper behavior has weakened. The Russian wrestler is suspected of possessing a cigarette containing cannabis on a street near JR Kinshicho Station in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, on June 24. His alleged offense came to light after a wallet he lost was turned in to police. It contained the cigarette and his alien registration card. Police also seized a cannabis pipe from the Magaki sumo stable to which he belonged as well as from his condominium. It's not like weed is a performance enhancer. It was a bit of a toke. You don't think you're over-reacting, do you?

David Miliband, who with 999 other members of his extended family could form one band, is coming closer to No. 10 as the premiership of Gordon "I'm not as miserable as other Scotsmen, really" Brown swirls the drain. Now, we already know that the Lib-Dem leader is an Atheist, but how do the members of the current cabinet fare? AC Grayling has a good column here discussing the benefits of an atheist PM: When Labour cabinet members were asked about their religious allegiances last December, following Tony Blair's official conversion to Roman Catholicism, it turned out that more than half of them are not believers. The least equivocal about their atheism were the health secretary, Alan Johnson, and foreign secretary David Miliband. Whoa, over half? And North America is stuck with a bunch of god-blowers? Grayling makes a couple of other good points: Atheist leaders are not going to think they are getting messages from Beyond telling them to go to war. The...

Did Harper stand up for Canadian sovereignty? Canada requires ship registration in Arctic - Yahoo! News Canada's prime minister moved to firm up control of disputed Arctic waters Wednesday by announcing stricter registration requirements for ships sailing in the Northwest Passage. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said all ships sailing into the Canadian Arctic will be required to report to NORDREG, the Canadian Coast Guard agency that tracks vessels on such journeys. Such registration is currently voluntary. Did Harper just stand up to the constant grandstanding of the US and Russia about OUR northern waters? The more I read the article, the more I think he did. I'm looking for the weasel door he left himself to crawl out of. Bets on how long before he goes to pieces and we get hit with shrapnel?

So here we go again. The same chestnut. We're on our way again. Wife transferred back to England. Dog needs shipping. He's going to hate that. Us flying. I'm going to hate that. Job hunts. Passports (me). Packing. Uncluttering. I get sentimental over clothes ('I went to university with this t-shirt') and asking me to throw away a book is like asking Lance Armstrong to chuck out his remaining nut. Panicking (more her than me). Tension fuelled sleepless nights (more me than her). So the countdown to England has begun. We're gone at end of September. Rev, I leave Japan to you. Take care of it until I get back. And try not to let this happen too much:

In a poll in the states has shown that people are coming around to a more reasonable point of view: Pew Research Center: Public Support Falls for Religion’s Role in Politics Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters. For a decade, majorities of Americans had voiced support for religious institutions speaking out on such issues. I might also note that they're coming around to what is the American constitutional point of view. Four years ago, just 30% of conservatives believed that churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics. Today, 50% of conservatives express this view. Really, conservatives? Wow. Is this a shift from poll to poll or are people actually learning the lessons of the last 30 some years of religious entangl...

I don't see why that should end. Canadians Separate Religion from Politics: Angus Reid Global Monitor Many adults in Canada believe politics and religion should not mix, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 66 per cent of respondents think it is inappropriate for political candidates to talk about their religious beliefs as part of their political campaigns. Let's compare that to the espoused leanings of the religious in the US, shall we? Hunh, look at that. I don't even need to look it up. I just have to remember the Rick Warren debates from last week. Speaking of the Rick Warren Commission, check this out: In addition, 82 per cent of respondents believe it is inappropriate for religious leaders to urge people to vote for or against a political candidate. Pope, keep it under your enormous hat. Rick Warren, shove off. Anybody who is part of any group with Family in the title, STFU.

I found this video of Richard Dawkins reading his email. For those of you who don't know who Richard Dawkins is, turn on a TV to a British programme once in a while. Jeebus. Friend JHB turned me on to The Blind Watchmaker at an izakaya in Kawasaki many years ago. When travelling in India I found River Out of Eden and Climbing Mt Improbable , both of which I devoured on bus rides around Tamil Nadu. Read those and every other thing he's written. Richard Dawkins reads his email The vitriol on display is amazing. If I was getting email like this I'd be less generous than Dawkins is.

Big Congratulations to Friend MY from Tokyo on her sixth place finish in the marathon in Beijing on Sunday. You were absolutely brilliant!

Ever wonder? Ever wonder what goes on in the head of someone who lives in a conspiracy filled world? Me too. Personally I think it's probably a bit creepy in there. Like a cobweb filled library with the shelved knocked over. Like being trapped in Rush Limbaugh's psyche. First up, the top 10 conspiracy theories in the UK. UK news in brief | UK news | The Guardian · 1 Area 51 exists to investigate aliens (48%) · 2 9/11 was orchestrated by the US government (38%) · 3 Apollo landing was a hoax (35%) · 4 Diana and Dodi were murdered (32%) · 5 The Illuminati secret society and masons are trying to take over the world (25%) · 6 Scientologists rule Hollywood (17% ) · 7 Barcodes are really intended to control people (7%) · 8 Microsoft sends messages via Wingdings (6%) · 9 US let Pearl Harbour happen (5%) · 10 The world is run by dinosaur-like reptiles (3%) As far as each of them go -- uh, sure. Reptiles. Like that could happen in Canada. Nine months of the year our leaders would be runn...

My recent couple of days in Halifax highlighted changes that have gone on in the town since my childhood. The Citadel is now a buzzing hive of educational activities; the Waterfront has revitalized. There are endless tour opportunities. The Public Gardens are better than ever. Not all the food is deep fried. Many, many changes. Some things have stayed the same. The Citadel hasn't been relocated. Stan Rogers is still the Zeus of the local gods. The Harbour is still the same crystal clear black colour it always has been. Now to be fair, something I can occasionally be, the North Atlantic is never going to be blue like the Carribean or gin clear like the beaches of Southern Sri Lanka due to algae and the nutrient rich water. You want rich fisheries, you don't get clear water. Halifax Harbour was for decades a cesspooll, or a septic tank, that you wouldn't want to touch with your hands, let alone let your dingle dangle into. But, as was announced when I was there, a clean up pr...

Holy fucking hopping shit! I cannot believe that the refraction of light is something that baffles this lady! Has she never watched a nature documentary that features a waterfall? See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor . Please, please, please tell me this is a joke. HT to the Bad Astronomer .

This , this took a fucking inquiry.

An occurrance out west in Canada had everyone buzzing . A bus travelling through the Prairies. A guy gets up. And stabs a fellow passenger. And beheads him. And chases the other passengers out of the bus with the head. Shocking? Yes. Symbolic of the direction of Canadian society? Fuck off. Page A10 of the Globe and Mail (4 Aug 08) shows that I'm not alone. And my fellow Canadians showed some remarkable sense: "Now, some of your callous readers suggest they should have stayed and fought. Humans have a nanosecond to choose between "fight or flight." Fortunately, they chose the latter." or "While the bus line might consider metal detectors, the randomness here is unique." or "I may be trading sensibility for sensitivity and can understand the gut reactions most people have had to this incident, but it tells us absolutely nothing about or society, our citizens, our public safety, or public transit." or   ...

A memorial service is not a time of joy, no matter what anyone says about celebrating a life. A tiny little town in Nova Scotia can support a surprising number of Tim Horton's. The smaller the town the fewer the teeth. The smaller the town the wider the person in the stretch pants. Apparently you can't own too may ball caps. Margolian's must be one of the best departments stores there is. I don't care if people are calling it Dayle's now. It's Margolian's to me. Drivers are incredibly courteous. They continually cede right of way to you so you can make your left turn. Um, wow. You can talk to anybody. Anybody. It's like the anti-London. Ornate tattoos with Asian characters or designs are for jackasses. There's nothing like a good blue ink forearm tattoo of an anchor or heart and dagger. The Little Downtown Diner has amazing ribs. Nothing happens in small town Nova Scotia on the weekend. Nothing happens in large town Nova Scotia ...

On Northwest Airlines, the movies could not get worse. 27 Dresses has almost no redeeming features. Be Kind, Rewind has a few redeeming features. Also, the service could not get much worse. Throwing around eggs, chicken and boil in a bag rice does not make oyako-don. You can't stretch your legs enough. Children should be muzzled or part of checked luggage. Your iPod batteries never last long enough. Neither do laptops batteries. Nor your Nintendo DS. Old women love to speak Japanese to you. Old women you speak Japanese to and help through American customs will give you cookies. Seven hours is enough time to exhaust all the entertainment possibilities of Detroit airport seven times over. Hamburgers are cheap and plentiful. The guy in front of you in the line has had dozens already today. Good luck getting around him no matter how wide the concourse. There is no visible source from them, but there are hoboes inside the secure area. US Customs is friend...

There have been several contributing factors to this feeling of grumpiness. First of all is the weather. Now it's a well know fact that Canadians love talking about the weather so I have no plans on slowing myself down here. Fucking humidity. Just walking up the frakking hill to the house leaves me sweating for a half hour. Walking! You should smell me when I get back from a jog. If you want to understand what it's  like in Kobe in the summer, buy a treadmill. Put it in a steam room (push the fat Finnish guys in towels over a few seats to fit it in) Jog for half an hour or so. That's the feeling I get just checking the mail. What's that? Could I get into some details? Possibly something involving undergarments? Sure can. The sweat of just walking down to the main road, a hundred steep metres is enough to run down my back like a salty Niagara that soaks into a cotton briefs Gaspe Peninsula that gets stickily wedged into a my Northumberland Straits. And while the...

There's no doubt that there's endless potential for abuse of power with the sweeping increases in police remit and removal of oversight that has occurred over the last few years. It will continue to get worse. And worse yet we'll come to accept it as just part of life, like traffic jams. BBC NEWS | UK | England | Terror police detain disabled boy A police force has apologised after a disabled child and his parents claimed they were detained at a Channel crossing point under the Terrorism Act. How did this happen? Well... Ms Maynard, a legal advocate, said the officer, who failed to identify who she was, asked for the family's passports then asked "who's the boy?" "My son is mixed race and the officer then told us, 'I believe you are child trafficking'." When Ms Maynard asked the woman officer if she would be asked the same question if her son was white, she said the officer replied: "Are you accusing me of being a racist?" To a...

These things make me laugh and despair. How is it even possible that this is what people think 999 is for?

With the heat and humidity being what it is, I just can't be arsed, so here's a random ten from the iPod and sod all else until tomorrow at the earliest. Pepper Butthole Surfers Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity Holst Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk Frank Zappa Thief Our Lady Peace I'll Find My Way Home Jon and Vangelis Round and Round Frozen Ghost Shaving My Neck Gene Loves Jezebel Deeper Underground Jamiroquai Good Nurse The Constantines Sure as I'm Sitting Here John Hiatt Inevitable conclusion: My iPod is a fucked up place to inhabit.

  Dotembori is one of the main entertainment districts in Osaka. It's famous for food, noise, drinking, the Kuidaore drumming robot (RIP) and, at one end, just a hint of hentai. One time the wife and I were after a bite to eat at Kuidaore and took in a bit of a stroll around the area. For those of you who haven't been, it's a lively, vibrant area with any number of drunken revellers stumbling around. Down at the end is a slightly dodgy end culminating in a small storefront that offers this sign: If you can't read that it's: Masturbation room of oncoming generation. Explain it does not what they are on coming.

Just be careful which naturopathic doctor you go to. Sure not all of them are wanted for crimes against humanity, but can you afford to take the risk? Wanted fugitive Radovan Karadzic developed alter ego as New Age doctor - Times Online The mysterious old man with the flowing white beard who exuded spirituality and became a celebrated alternative healer went by the name of Dr Dragan David Dabic. Yesterday he was unmasked as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, living an extraordinary double life in the midst of those seeking him for war crimes. Radovan Karadzic may have been lionised in folk songs by Serb nationalists for his ability to avoid capture. Not even his most imaginative supporters would have guessed that he was hiding behind a New Age persona, providing a bio-energy boost and “human quantum energy” for clients in a Belgrade suburb.

The amount of woo and magic in Japanese daily life amazes me. I should probably do a post on it somewhere along the lines. There's magic water, palm readings, blood type astrology, wish boards at shrines, nutrition woo up the wazoo...the list goes on. So it just doesn't surprise me to see this headline courtesy of the Times. Acupuncture used to improve flavour of tuna for sushi - Times Online Their prized terriers are given samba-dancing lessons, their choicest beef herds are treated to daily massages and now, in an effort to produce the most delicious sushi in the world, Japanese tuna are to be given acupuncture. What possible use is accupuncture for a fucking fish? The company in Osaka that patented the technique claimed that calm tuna thrashed about less in their death throes. Once the fish have received the brief treatment the blood becomes purer and the flesh has a better flavour, Toshiro Urabe, the president of the Osakana Planning Company, said. The tuna do not need to b...

Thief swipes cabinet minister's laptop from Salford office | The Register Gordon Brown’s government has lost another batch of sensitive information, this time courtesy of one of his own cabinet ministers. A laptop belonging to Hazel Blears, the Communities and Local Government secretary, was stolen from her constituency office in Salford over the weekend, it emerged this afternoon. Whoa. Stop press. Not a Laptop. Desktop. Someone smuggled (under a trenchcoat no less, in a detail that I just made up while drunkenly typing this) a DESKTOP out of the office. Gov claims 'password protection' OK for sensitive docs | The Register Meanwhile, it emerged that contrary to initial reports, the missing PC wasn’t a laptop but a desktop. So not only was sensitive information wrongly downloaded, it was downloaded to a machine that by definition would have spent its days in Salford, rather than being kept close to the minister’s side. I want to be more sarcastic but alcohol and sheer exasp...

Periodically, when living in a city that was bombed shitless somewhere in the last 60 years, this sort of thing happens: News from The Associated Press About 5,400 residents were evacuated in Osaka in western Japan and flights at nearby airports were rerouted Sunday as army experts disposed of a large unexploded bomb believed to have been dropped by the U.S. military during World War II, authorities said. Brilliant. At least I won't have to worry about this sort of thing when we're back in London.

This will be in my brain all day.

I'm an unabashed fan of Batman Begins and a lot of the credit goes to Christopher Nolan. And I'm really looking forward to The Dark Knight. (After this can we have a moratorium on the Joker?) But imagine for a moment a different hiring decision . Chilling, isn't it? HT to IESB

Holy Hell! There's still a Nazi war criminal out there? (Where the fuck is the interrobang on this keyboard? Bloody Japanese keyboard) What was he, the last guy into the Hitler Youth? If you took a picture of my grandmother from that era, you'd be able to match it to anyone in her retirement home. I'm not saying don't go after this guy, but I am saying good luck. You may need it. BBC NEWS | Americas | On the trail of 'Dr Death' Aribert Heim's crimes rank among the worst of the Holocaust, and after a hunt that has spanned almost half a century, Nazi-hunters believe they are closing in on him.

So how's that split coming? Pretty well by all indications. First of all, they've decided for now not to split from the Anglican church, just to start a new church in the church and liberals can't join it. But it's not a split. Evangelical Christians sign up to a 'Church within a Church' -Times Online It's up to you to figure out the difference. Remember it's all about equality, just some being more equal. Anglicans in England formally accept the idea of women bishops While Anglicans in some countries fight about the place of homosexuals in the church, the parent church in Britain has decided a point already settled in Canada: women can be bishops. Yeah, that'll bring 'em back to the table. The funny part? The conservative types, as laughable as their hatred of everything post-1400 can be, are in the right biblically and theologically.

My grandfather was a rock hound for his whole life. Several times he took me out to the Joggins Fossil Cliffs. He insisted that it was one of the best places in the world for fossil hunting. Now keep in mind that he never really saw the need for travel, saying that Amherst, Nova Scotia had everything you'd ever want to see. Amherst, the Gateway to Cumberland County. He has, however, been vindicated on the Joggins issue. Nova Scotia's Joggins fossil cliffs named World Heritage Site Nova Scotia's Joggins fossil cliffs, regarded as the best record of life in the Coal Age 300 million years ago, have been added to the exclusive ranks of World Heritage Sites designated by UNESCO.

This is apparently because of this . And that clarification takes 10 minutes off my community service.

If this guy is right, and facts can't win over conspiratorial thinking, we're all pretty much fucked in the ear. Why facts won’t demolish the conspiracy theories | spiked Sometimes it appears as if Western societies have regressed, adopting a medieval attitude towards calamitous acts. Back in the Dark Ages, people regarded accidents, disasters and other acts of misfortune as the work of hidden forces. Accidents did not happen, apparently – they were intentionally caused, either by divine or malevolent forces. Misdeeds were often said to have been caused by people who had been manipulated by ‘evil forces’.

And why do I care? Well, cause it's an Ahmadiyya mosque . I've mentioned the persecution that they go through in Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and so on because the hard core fundamentalists don't consider them as actual Muslims. (Remember, there is no compulsion in religion.) This mosque looks to be the biggest in North America, following on from the Merton Mosque which is the largest in Western Europe. If you're in Calgary, drop by and see it. It's bound to be a nice building.

Shorter Jacqui Smith: Photography isn't illegal, but I'll leave it up to the police whether or not to arrest you for it. UK Home Secretary green-lights harassment of photographers in public places - Boing Boing

'Nuff said. Local councils in the UK use CCTVs to spy on dog owners, cute butts - Boing Boing Nobody's Business: Cops Bully Videographer, Videographer Wins Bert P. Krages Attorney at Law Photographer's Rights Page

And all this time I've been wondering if the WTC 7 could have actually fallen due to damage and gravity. Soon, I'll know. Thanks BBC. It's what your license fee is for. BBC NEWS | Americas | Third tower mystery 'solved'

Let's start with an admission. My anti-establishment streak loves his contrarian stance (Iraq War not withstanding) on so many subjects. He's got a great way with words, even on the Iraq War. And anybody who listens to Rabbi Gordon Schumway 's definition of god and dismisses it as so much " white noise " gets some respect from me. His stance on waterboarding, et al has not had my support. Categorically not. Anyone who even acknowledges, let alone promotes, the horrible euphemism of "enhanced interrogation techniques" loses several points on his personal status Nasdaq right there. To his credit, when challenged he underwent waterboarding. And lo', he hath seen the light: Believe Me, It's Torture: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drow...

I just don't know what to say to people who call a phone number they saw on the telly. Dr Who fans' anger as 2,500 try and call Doctor's mobile number shown during show | Mail Online More than 2,500 fans - whipped into a frenzy of anticipation after a cliffhanger ending in which it appeared that star David Tennant might be leaving as the Doctor began regenerating - dialled it before the last episode aired on Saturday. One fan complained: 'They showed that number so many times, as if they were asking for it to be called.' But their attempts to contact their hero on his personal number - 07700 900461 - came to nothing when they discovered that it would not connect-Writing on the BBC's website, one disgruntled viewer said: 'Grrr - I phoned the Doctor's phone number but there was just an annoying network message. 'What's the point in showing a phone number if you're not gonna use it?!' What the fuck did you think was going to happen...

Is there even a need to play Spot the Bullshit Logic with this crank. Charles "Chuck" Colson: There Are No Atheists - On Faith at washingtonpost.com Yes, even atheists pray because the image of God is implanted in us. [snip] I have, in fact, never met an atheist. When a person professes to be one, I ask him to offer me the proof that God does not exist. I’ve never had anyone successfully respond to that question. Most retreat and say they’re really agnostics. I then ask them if they have examined every religion exhaustively. Their answer is usually no. I explain they cannot be agnostics unless they are sure that God can’t be known. There are no atheists. There are simply people whose pride overwhelms their innate knowledge. Found this through the comments at Dispatches: Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Only Christians Pray

I don't think it's a secret that I'm against no-fly lists and other silliness. If it is a secret, you haven't been reading this blog. (If stats are any indications non-readers number just over 6 billion; it's like being the anti-MacDonald's) So now the US no-fly list is around a million and generous estimates indicate that the number of actual or suspected terrorists is under 30, possibly under 20 while the number of Bush regime critics is close to a million, including Teddy Kennedy and Nelson Mandela. Well, up until now. Mandela, at the age of maybe 160, is no longer an existential threat to the US and its freedoms. Well, done Nelson. BBC NEWS | Americas | Mandela taken off US terror list

'Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat' by Daily Mail - RichardDawkins.net

I actually swear less than most pages on the net? How the fuck is that possible? In real life I'd make a sailor with Tourrete's Syndrome blush. Bollocks. OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets Bonus: To see what happens when you use this to compare yourself to civil conservatives, follow this link .

I've frequently mentioned our now 4 and a half year old Norwegian Buhund, also called a Norsk Buhund and Norwegian Sheepdog. Many people (now totalling almost 3/4) have asked, what kind of dog? Well, courtesy of YouTube, here are two videos the first giving a summary of the breed, the second neatly encapsulating the experience of living with one.

Anything you can do to fight back is good. This is something you need get on board with before most of the population of Canada becomes unknowingly criminalized. Boing Boing is doing a great job with this issue and is the source of most of these links. Michael Geist - The Unofficial Canadian DMCA Background Document Michael Geist - Report Says Canadian DMCA To Include $500 Fine Per Download Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice loads the DMCA, aims it at Canada's temple, and pulls the trigger - Boing Boing Michael Geist - The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print Canadians: write to your MPs about Canada's disastrous new copyright bill - Boing Boing Copyright for Canadians » Header Only What question do you want to ask Canada's Industry Minister about the Canadian DMCA? - Boing Boing Canada's DMCA: public service announcement - Boing Boing Canadian Industry Minister lies about his Canadian DMCA on national radio, then hangs up - Boing Boing Dance mix of Canadian Ministe...

Ten is all you can do? Christus, watch Olbermann for a week.

Ah, the Church of England. If you're English, don't attend church or have religious views, if you don't believe in either relgion or God then when asked to fill out forms you put "CofE" next to "Religion." The sweet mediocrity of the Anglican Church is often in stark contrast to the increasing conservatism of the Catholic pontificate and the fire-and-brimstone insane rantings of large numbers of American Baptists and most American public religious figures. So what's going on now? Well, it looks like they've found a bunch of Anglicans who can unite around the fact that they don't like how women and gays are being treated by the church. And it's threatening schism. The irony here is that the ones threatening to leave are, of course, the one's united against equality or fair treatment of gays and women.(Is it even ironic anymore? Aren't the most religious ones always against extending the love of Christ to everyone?) BBC NEWS | Spec...

I forgot Canada day yesterday! Happy 141st to the great Dominion of Canada! Oh, and I guess I should say Happy Anniversary to my wife as well.

More so than anything else I'll write today. Link

Through The Galloping Beaver : A wonderful look at the problem of degree mills and the unwillingness of Canadian (and other) media to question credentials. I dedicate this to Kent Hovind. The harm of diploma mills at Bene Diction Blogs On

Via Boing Boing Somebody, somewhere (the UK) thought this would work. Airport-style security for UK rail stations blocked | UK news | guardian.co.uk Plans to instal airport-style x-ray machines in every London underground and mainline rail stations across the UK were ruled out today amid fears of a passenger rebellion against journey delays. A handful of bag screening machines and bomb detection dogs will be placed at tube and mainline stations in London and other cities instead, the Department for Transport said. A trial found that introducing airport-style checks would be impractical and antagonise the public. Jeezus, people. This is going to collapse under its own weight. Plus, how hard is it in London to walk to the next station? What's it take, five minutes? Westminster got security? Walk to Embankment. It's right there!

Over at Debunking Christianity Dr Hector Avalos takes the Darwin-Hitler Axis meme over his knee and spanks it pretty good. Always good to watch. Debunking Christianity: Avalos Contra Weikart: Part II: Weikart's Seven Darwinian Aspects of Nazism

Security: we take it seriously until someone really, really complains. Muslims may not have to undergo sniffer dog checks in UK-UK-World-The Times of India Muslim passengers may not be touched by sniffer dogs of the British Transport Police after complaints that the practice is against Islam. According to the religion, dogs are deemed to be spiritually “unclean”. A Transport Department report has raised the prospect that animals should only touch passengers’ luggage because it is considered “more acceptable”, the Daily Express reported. The ban may restrict the efficiency of sniffer dog squads which have been trained to spot terrorists at railway stations. On Thursday night, British Transport Police insisted that it would still use sniffer dogs with any passengers regardless of faith, but handlers would remain aware of “cultural sensitivities”. The Transport Department report follows the trials of station security measures in the wake of the 2005 London suicide bomb attacks. In one tri...

Smarter. More Smarter? Much more smarter. Yeah, that's us, ennit? Walter Shakespeare?! How only one in 20 Brits score top marks in tests designed for seven-year-olds | Mail Online But the number of adults who struggled with the answers paints a disturbing picture of a nation of dunces. In a test carried out for an information website, many were unable to answer questions aimed at children as young as seven. And some were guilty of the most appalling howlers, including giving Shakespeare's first name as Walter, the capital of Sweden as Oslo, and the cube of 2 as 24.

A couple of odd thoughts that struck me: What is the sugar content of the average skeptic's diet? I'm guessing that this is the only case of giving 110%. Is bald and beard an actual uniform or just a peer-pressure thing? I didn't know. I've just grown my hair back after a decade of shaving my head. Well, I didn't grow back the front, but that's not my fault. When ever stuck for words or in a conversational cul-de-sac, make a Trek, Firefly or Dr. Who reference. That'll paper over any problem. Example: A: How can you support the invasion of Iraq? B: The problem was putting the Packlids in charge. A: Heh, that was a good episode. There's a strong libertarian bent in the room. Go on. Pick a fight. Say something like: "I like what Obama has to say about wealth redistribution." Or: "Gay rights? I don't support rights for anyone not recognized in 1776. Freedom for the already free!" Anyway that...