The Eternal Gaijin

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...