strategist

Wonderful View of Shinjuku, Tokyo

I like this photo of the buildings which tower over Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Happy Birthday!!!

Fellow colleague had her birthday recently. Sometimes we forget to say 'thank you' to those people we work with for all their hard work.

Tokyo Metro Government Building

Took this wonderful photograph of the Tokyo Government Office Building from the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. Never really paid much attention to the building I pass twice a day going to and from the office.

Street Festival in Kichijoji

I snapped this photograph while walking through Kichijoji Shopping District. I'm not sure what they were celebrating but everyone was very happy: Sake-induced happiness I believe. I really love how much the local communities within Japan help bring excitement and energy to the local people.

Roppongi Aliens Try to Recruit Young Boy

I took this photograph right before the young boy's mother ran over and saved her boy from, what I expect would have been, a life in Martian Hell.

Aliens Invade Roppongi Hills

Earlier this month, a group of aliens invaded Minato-ku, Tokyo. These strange-looking aliens attempted to mind-meld with Japanese business people and shoppers. The police were called to investigate but were too afraid to interrupt with the medical experiments being conducted by the alien creatures. I, myself, was lucky to sneak in and take some photographs of these strange creatures. I fear that mankind is destined to a horrible death at the hands of these creatures.

Nakanishi's New Wristwatch

A happy owner of a new wristwatch shows off his new piece of business wardrobe.

Shosei Koda is Murdered in Iraq

Sadness. Resolve. Commitment. Japan must not bow to the terrorists. Never.

(From Japanese news source: Nikkei)

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Govt Confirms Beheaded Body Found In Baghdad As Koda's

TOKYO (Kyodo)--A beheaded body found in Baghdad was confirmed as that of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Sunday.

Speaking at a news conference at the Foreign Ministry, Machimura said the body was identified through a fingerprint match and other physical characteristics.

The security personnel at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad sent fingerprints from and a description of the physical characteristics of the body was sent to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Machimura said.

The ministry cooperated with the National Police Agency experts and confirmed that the fingerprints and physical characteristics matched those of Koda, Machimura said, adding Koda's captors have issued no announcement about the killing of the Japanese backpacker so far.

Machimura called the slaying of the hostage ''extremely vicious'' and said, ''The act of killing an innocent civilian is totally unforgivable.''

''In cooperation with the international community, the Japanese government will be committed firmly to fighting terrorism,'' Machimura said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said later Sunday Japan plans to continue the deployment of Japanese troops in Iraq for reconstruction aid.

An Islamic militant group said Tuesday it had abducted Koda and threatened to behead him unless Japan pulled its troops from Iraq within 48 hours. The Japanese government rejected the demand.

Koda's body was found by an Iraqi police officer at around 9 p.m. Saturday Baghdad time (3 a.m. Sunday Japan time) on a street in central Baghdad. Both arms were tied behind and the severed head was placed on the victim's back, the police officer said.

Koda, 24, became the fifth Japanese casualty in Iraq following the launch of the U.S.-led war in March last year.

Koda arrived Oct. 21 in Baghdad on a bus from Jordan and was seen in the Iraqi capital at least until Oct. 24, apparently trying in vain to look for accommodation, according to local witnesses.

The manager of an Amman hotel where Koda stayed said the Japanese man ignored his warnings against going to Iraq and left to board a bus for Baghdad on Oct. 20, saying he wanted to know what was going on in the country.

In the website video, Koda, with shoulder-length hair and wearing a white T-shirt, said in English his captors were asking why Japan sent its troops to Iraq and then conveyed a message in Japanese to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

''Mr. Koizumi, they are calling on the Japanese government to withdraw Japan's Self-Defense Forces,'' he said. ''They are saying they will cut off my head otherwise. I am sorry. I want to return to Japan again.''

Koizumi rejected the demand to withdraw the troops, saying he will not bow to terrorism. Ground Self-Defense Force personnel are conducting humanitarian and reconstruction assistance work in the southern city of Samawah.

A banner in the background of the video referred to al-Qaida's base in Iraq, a group run by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an ally of al-Qaida who is said to be directing terrorist attacks in Iraq.

In April, militants detained five Japanese nationals in Iraq in two cases, but later released them all. The captors had demanded Japan withdraw its troops in one of the two cases.

Koda's body was found a day after the U.S. military in Iraq told Japanese authorities that a corpse resembling Koda had been found north of Baghdad. Forensic checks later determined the body was not Koda's.

Friedman Votes for GHW Bush

I find myself agreeing with Friedman 100%. Vote for the candidate who best embodies the same spirit and political-thinking processes as GHW. Doing so will help restore the country's strength and moral standing in the world. Only then can the USA stand 'strong and tall' amongst the nations of this planet.

Full article (I hope the NY Times does not sue me.):

The Apparent Heir

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: October 31, 2004

Columnists for this newspaper are not allowed to endorse presidential candidates. But I think this election is so important, I am going to break the rules. I hope I don't get fired. But here goes: I am endorsing George Bush for president. No, no - not George W. Bush. I am endorsing his father - George Herbert Walker Bush.

The more I look back on the elder Bush - Bush 41 - the more I find things to admire and the more I see attributes we need in our next president.

Let's start with domestic policy. The elder George Bush was the real uniter, not divider, the real believer in a kinder, gentler political dialogue. Yes, he had a Democratic Congress to deal with, so he had to be more conciliatory, but it came naturally to him. In 1990, the elder Bush sided with Congressional Democrats to raise taxes, because he knew it was the right thing for the economy, despite his famous "Read my lips" pledge not to raise new taxes. While that 1990 tax increase contributed to his re-election defeat, it laid the foundation for the Clinton tax increases, which, together with Mr. Bush's, helped to hold down interest rates and spur our tremendous growth in the 1990's and the buildup of a huge surplus.

On foreign policy, the elder Bush maintained a healthy balance between realism and idealism, unilateralism and multilateralism, American strength and American diplomacy. He believed that international institutions like the U.N. could be force multipliers of U.S. power. Rather than rubbing Mikhail Gorbachev's nose in the dirt, the elder Bush treated him with respect, and in doing so helped to orchestrate the collapse of the Soviet Union, the liberation of Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany without the firing of a single shot. The nonviolent unraveling of the Soviet Empire ushered in a decade of prosperity and an era of unprecedented American power and popularity.

The alliance that Mr. Bush, Brent Scowcroft and James A. Baker III built to drive Saddam out of Kuwait had so many allies it virtually turned a profit for America. Mr. Bush chose not to invade Baghdad in 1991. Right or wrong, he felt that had he tried, he would have lost the coalition he had built up to evict Saddam from Kuwait. He obviously believed that the U.S. should never invade an Arab capital without a coalition that contained countries whose support mattered in that part of the world, such as France, Egypt, Syria or Saudi Arabia.

The elder Bush rightly understood that it was not in Israel's interest, or that of the U.S., for Israel to be expanding settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. The Madrid peace conference convened by the elder Bush paved the way for both the Oslo peace process and the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, which ended Israel's diplomatic isolation with countries like India and China. It was also the elder Bush who laid the groundwork for the Nafta free-trade accord, completed by President Bill Clinton.

In short, the elder Bush understood the importance of acting in the world - but acting wisely, with competence and preparation. His great weakness was his public diplomacy. He wrongly antagonized American Jews by challenging their right to lobby on behalf of Israel. He could have given more voice to the amazing liberation of humanity that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented and to the American anger over the Tiananmen Square massacre. Although, in his muted response to Tiananmen, the elder Bush kept China-U.S. relations from going totally off the rails, which kept China on a track to economic reform. Although he raised taxes, he never really explained himself. So his instincts were good, his mechanics were often flawless, but his words and music left you frustrated. Still, the legacy is a substantial one. Over time, historians will treat the elder Bush with respect.

So as we approach this critical election of 2004, my advice, dear readers, is this: Vote for the candidate who embodies the ethos of George H. W. Bush - the old guy. Vote for the man who you think would have the same gut feel for nurturing allies and restoring bipartisanship to foreign policy as him. Vote for the man you think understands the importance of facing up to our fiscal responsibilities for the sake of our children. And vote for the man who has the best instincts for balancing realism and idealism and the man who understands the necessity of using energetic U.S. diplomacy to make Israel more secure - by helping to bring it peace with its Arab neighbors, not just more tours from American Christian fundamentalists.

Yes, next Tuesday, vote for the real political heir to George H. W. Bush. I'm sure you know who that is.

[Final comments: Please, for the sake of mankind, do the 'right thing' and vote for the candidate that best can reunite the country and the world against terrorism.]

Japanese Hostage in Iraq: Murdered

The Japanese government has confirmed that the discovery of an Asian body in Iraq is indeed that of Mr. Koda who was recently kidnapped. The Japanese press is all over the story and government officials have been giving press conferences to convey their sorrow to the family and also the country's resolve to maintain the present course of deploying Japanese SDF in Iraq. As the Japanese government considers the SDF on a peace mission, the kidnappers do not agree.

I know it is a hard decision for the Koizumi cabinet to stay the course, Japan is not in Iraq to 'take over' or 'occupy' the sovereign state. Japan's only purpose is to make international contributions to help move the Iraqi nation forward.

Personally, I don't know whether the US has made the world safer with their current military/political campaign in Iraq. What I do know is the US had better fix the problems of the Middle East before the radical fundamentalists begin an all out campaign to bring terror to the rest of the world. Remember the 'pottery barn rule': you break it, you own it. Right now, the US owns the problems of Iraq. For better or worse, the US government and its people will be held responsible for the success or mess they have created in Iraq.

Quoted passage from article: (CNN.)

Al-Zarqawi's group issued online warnings in recent months that citizens of Japan and other countries would be at risk if they were to come to Iraq.

Koizumi has been one of the strongest backers of the U.S.-led effort in Iraq, with his country contributing about $500 million in aid to Iraq and also playing host to a donor's conference to try to garner more financial support for reconstruction.

However, that position has put him at odds with much of his country, where a majority of Japanese people polled opposed his decision to send troops to Iraq.

Japan's constitution doesn't allow troops to take part in combat, so they have been working in southern Iraq on humanitarian missions.

Google Halloween Logo

This has got to be one of my favourites from Google.

Rainy Saturdays

What a horrible day today. Rain, rain, rain. I ran out to the supermarket and then, came back home. I wanted to get out of the house for the afternoon but sat in front of the television and watched a movie on dvd, Freaky Friday. I really liked the movie.

Moveonpac.org: Protect Your Rights!

If you're a US citizen, get ready for the election of the century. There is no doubt that the election next week will be fought both at the polls but also in front of the polling stations. I hope CNN, FoxNews, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, etc. have their camera crews in front of the polling stations.

Expect to see some gun-toting MOFers, sign-carrying fanatics, baseball bat-swinging MOFers who are hell-bent on disrupting your rights to exercise your vote. I am quite sure that many political agents will engage any minority, senior citizen, and young person with physical harm or possible incarceration if they attempt to enter the polling stations.

This election is going to either 'spark a big ass civil war' or 'an all-out riot' in the country. No matter which person wins the election, the world should expect to see the USA preparing for another civil war. The last civil war will pale in comparison to the next one: if we really think America is a melting pot or salad bowl, we are mistaken. America is a car driving off a cliff.

I am so happy that November 3rd is a national holiday in Japan. I am going to watch as much election news coverage possible. I really want to see how 'UGLY' voters and political activists can get. Perhaps, if hell breaks out in the USA next week, the entire country will stop lecturing the rest of the world on civil liberties, domestic affairs or internal political processes. Remember how 'Fed' Florida was in 2000??? Need I say anymore???

Gotta get my popcorn ready and lots of coca cola. Next week will surely be entering.

Oh, back to Moveonpac.org. Here is a wonderful blog about the possiblilities of citizens losing their right to exercise their franchise. (Russell Beattie's Blog)

Check out this website too! (AFL-CIO)

FBI taking a harder look at Halliburton

Is the FBI investigation for real?

Quoted passage from article: (NY Times)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether the Army's handling of a large Iraq contract with the Halliburton Company violated procurement rules, according to lawyers for an Army official who made the charges of improprieties.

F.B.I. agents have requested an interview with the official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, the chief of contracting with the Army Corps of Engineers, on her allegations regarding a 2003 contract with Halliburton to repair Iraqi oil fields, her lawyer, Michael D. Kohn, said in an interview yesterday.

That's Dr. Hunter S. Thompson to you!

No matter how sad I am, Dr. HST sure knows how to bring laughter into my life.

Quoted passage from his essay: (RollingStone)

Presidential politics is a vicious business, even for rich white men, and anybody who gets into it should be prepared to grapple with the meanest of the mean. The White House has never been seized by timid warriors. There are no rules, and the roadside is littered with wreckage. That is why they call it the passing lane. Just ask any candidate who ever ran against George Bush -- Al Gore, Ann Richards, John McCain -- all of them ambushed and vanquished by lies and dirty tricks. And all of them still whining about it.

That is why George W. Bush is President of the United States, and Al Gore is not. Bush simply wanted it more, and he was willing to demolish anything that got in his way, including the U.S. Supreme Court. It is not by accident that the Bush White House (read: Dick Cheney & Halliburton Inc.) controls all three branches of our federal government today. They are powerful thugs who would far rather die than lose the election in November.

The Republican establishment is haunted by painful memories of what happened to Old Man Bush in 1992. He peaked too early, and he had no response to "It's the economy, stupid."

Which has always been the case. Every GOP administration since 1952 has let the Military-Industrial Complex loot the Treasury and plunge the nation into debt on the excuse of a wartime economic emergency. Richard Nixon comes quickly to mind, along with Ronald Reagan and his ridiculous "trickle-down" theory of U.S. economic policy. If the Rich get Richer, the theory goes, before long their pots will overflow and somehow "trickle down" to the poor, who would rather eat scraps off the Bush family plates than eat nothing at all. Republicans have never approved of democracy, and they never will. It goes back to preindustrial America, when only white male property owners could vote.

Things haven't changed all that much where George W. Bush comes from. Houston is a cruel and crazy town on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money and violence. It's a shabby sprawling metropolis ruled by brazen women, crooked cops and super-rich pansexual cowboys who live by the code of the West -- which can mean just about anything you need it to mean, in a pinch.

Houston is also the unnatural home of two out of the last three presidents of the United States of America, for good or ill. The other one was a handsome, sex-crazed boy from next-door Arkansas, which has no laws against oral sex or any other deviant practice not specifically forbidden in the New Testament, including anal incest and public cunnilingus with farm animals.

Unpaid Chinese Migrant Workers-Group Suicide

Read this very sad and upsetting news piece via The Peking Duck about how some corrupt Chinese business operators did not pay wages owed to some migrant workers. Such actions make me so upset. If the PRC cannot clamp down on such activities, I predict there will be a massive revolt against the system. If this occurs, I would not lose any sleep over it. Let the people 'hang the criminals' by their skrawny necks until they are dead - is what I say.

(The Straits Time Interactive - registered required)

Quoted passage from news article:

According to the workers, a foreman named Wei Xinghua had held back their pay month after month.

'Soon most of us had to survive on one meal a day,' said another worker, Mr Xie Guozhu.

Mr Xie also said Mr Wei had promised to pay him 35 yuan a day. 'He now owes me 3,600 yuan and 200,000 yuan in all to the 20 over workers under him. But Xie is nowhere to be found since more than a month ago,' he added.

As sleeping pills are controlled drugs in China, the workers had bought their pills in batches. Last Saturday, they decided to take their last meal together before killing themselves.

The property developer which Fu Cheng, Mr Wei's company, was contracted to said it had long given the workers' money to Fu Cheng.

Following the suicide attempt, Fu Cheng paid every labourer hired for the project 100 yuan each and sent them home to wait for further news.

The seven workers are in stable condition now.

According to national surveys, more than 70 per cent of China's migrant workers are owed money by their employers who prey on them because there are few safeguards over workers' rights.

Also, unpaid wages in China have reportedly reached an astounding US$15 billion (S$25 billion), much of this in the construction sector.

Suicide threats are common among exploited migrant workers. Some of them perch on the rooftops of their quarters to try to force employers to pay up.

[comment: I sure hope the PRC finds the company foreman and gives him the severest punishment possible - that's right folks - "life in prison".]

International firms doing business in China need to ensure that labourers and/or factory workers are being paid properly. I will refuse to do any business with any company that does business with slave owners or evil businessmen.

World governments need to do more to ensure that evil business owners do not take advantage of workers. If the world governments are unwilling to do so, we can all pray to God that we hope He brings this world to an end quickly and start a new race of humans who might be more kinder to their fellow mankind.

By the way, with over 1.3 billion Chinese nationals, don't you think they could just march down the streets and kill all the evil business people and eventually make their way to Beijing? Now, that would be one event I would love to see and blog about.

Judgeship 101: How to have fun on the job

When I read this little news gem, I had to laugh. Only could a judge find so much humour in sending someone to prison for life. Well, if I were the judge in this case, I would have done much worse to the prisoner. If mocking the prisoner hurt his feelings, too bad for him. You gotta respect a judge like this: cool, calm and straight to the point... "you're outta here!"

(CNN.)

Quoted passage from news article:

"You just made my day when I heard you had finally come home," Criminal Courts Judge Faith Johnson told Billy Wayne Williams, who had been convicted in absentia of aggravated assault after he disappeared a year ago. "We're so excited to see you, we're throwing a party for you."

YAPPSCAM???

Yet Another PayPal Scam??? When will eBay stop these scammers? I would love to sit in a meeting with Meg and the Anti-fraud team from PayPal. Do you think eBay has a team of 'SpecOps' warriors who bust down doors and throttle the fraudsters??? If not, I would love to see Meg set up a team to do just that: Bust (the heads of) the scammers.

Joi: Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

Gee, I never have this kind of problem with my blog. I must do more to get this type of message on my site.

Capitalist Pig: JH - What a guy!

I hope Jonathan doesn't mind my posting his latest essay. (I hope I don't get sued by anyone!)

Read My Lips

By Jonathan Hoenig Published: October 18, 2004

AS THE SAYING GOES, there are only two certainties in this world: death and taxes. While our demise is usually well out of our control, taxes are a man-made phenomenon over which we have a highly direct effect.

As I've written before, the biggest determinant of wealth creation is taxes. It's hard to estimate how influential a role taxes play in the economy and, indeed, in our lives. Taxes aren't just an inconvenience or expense, but a legal obligation we are compelled to pay under threat of confiscation or imprisonment. Lest we forget: Civil wars have been started over taxes, the most notable example being the American Revolution.

John Kerry has made repealing the Bush tax cuts, specifically on those making more than $200,000 a year, the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. He mentions it repeatedly in almost every speech. "I have a proposal for a tax cut for all people earning less than the $200,000," Kerry said during the second presidential debate. "The only people affected by my plan are the top income-earners of America."

John Kerry believes raising taxes on the top wage earners would be fair, economically prudent and morally responsible. And while that sort of populist rhetoric might score well in a focus group, the reality of his tax philosophy is tremendously unfair, fiscally calamitous and morally reprehensible. It's a disaster in the making.

First, about fairness. In speeches, press releases and other public forums, John Kerry campaigns on the promise of returning "Tax Fairness" to America. The essence of the plan is repealing the majority of the Bush tax cuts, essentially raising taxes on the rich.

But to suggest that the rich aren't paying their "fair share" isn't just inaccurate, but downright farcical. The rich pay the vast majority of taxes in this country. According to data from the Congressional Budget Office, the top 5% of wage earners pay 53% of all income taxes. It's a stunning fact: One half of the tax burden is shouldered by a mere 5%. Is that fair? So much for equal treatment under the law, eh?

The bottom 50% of wager earners, those one would assume Kerry hopes to appeal to with his soak-the-rich rhetoric, pay less than 4% of all income taxes. And 40% of all Americans pay no income taxes at all. So while John Kerry is correct that our current tax system is unfair, the truth is that it's not lower-income earners who are victimized, but the top wage earners who are already footing most of the bill.

Not only is Kerry's perspective on the tax burden inaccurate, but the way in which he has proposed to spend the taxes he does collect is economic suicide. John Kerry has promised to use the proceeds from the tax hike to "invest in" everything from "affordable health care" to "better schools" to the "jobs of tomorrow." Indeed, from energy to medical research, there isn't an element of the economy for which John Kerry doesn't anticipate government playing a bigger role. And while it might garner political points with liberals, one doesn't need a Harvard MBA to know that such a mentality is a prescription for financial calamity.

Consider this: Back in the late 1980s, I bought a Macintosh Plus computer, which featured a nine-inch black-and-white screen, no hard drive and one megabyte of RAM. Even with an educational discount, the then high-tech machine cost around $2,000. Fifteen years later, I purchased a drastically superior machine — portable, ultrafast with an immense hard drive, tons of RAM, a DVD player, a CD-ROM drive, a large bright color screen and highly useful software — all for less than $1,500. The functionality increased exponentially, yet over time the price came down. This is what occurs in a competitive, free market. Quality goes up, price goes down.

By contrast, consider a government monopoly such as the U.S. Postal Service. Back in the late 1980s, around the same time I bought the computer, a first-class postage stamp cost 25 cents. Fifteen years later, the mail doesn't get to its destination any faster. You aren't able to track letters in real time or receive a confirmation of their receipt. Heck, you still aren't even assured when a letter is going to arrive! Yet the same stamp now costs 37 cents, an increase of some 48%.

The point is that while private, competitive free markets bring about innovation, progress and lower expense, government programs, even the most well-intentioned, always end up costing more and achieving far less. Yet John Kerry repeatedly speaks out against free-market solutions such as privatizing Social Security and eliminating Medicare. He believes government's role is to provide education and health care, and fund scientific research and retirement benefits — all primarily at the expense of the wealthy few.

Finally, in repealing the Bush tax cuts on those individuals making more than $200,000, John Kerry believes we'd "make our tax code reflect our moral code." It's a clever phrase, and a familiar part of the stump speech he has presented to groups all over the country. In John Kerry's view, it would seem, raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans isn't just a convenient way to pay for one's proposed spending programs, but also the morally right thing to do. In fact, nothing could be further than the truth.

In America, wealth isn't plundered or extorted from one group to benefit another; it's earned through hard work and voluntary trade. So while John Kerry seems to suggest the rich somehow owe the poor, the fact is that those who lawfully earn money have a moral right to keep it, no matter how much they make or already have in the bank.

John Kerry's insistence that taxes on the wealthy be raised demonstrates his belief that man's wealth is the property of the state, which should be responsible for allocating it in the most "fair" and moral fashion. It's a full-throated belief in a progressive tax system, under which those with more income pay a higher percentage of it in taxes.

Of course, Kerry isn't the only other politician to argue in favor of a progressive tax system. The most famous thinker on the subject was Karl Marx, who along with Friedrich Engles wrote "The Communist Manifesto" in 1848. Listed among Marx's 10 planks for a communist state is a "heavy progressive or graduated income tax." Kerry appears to believe that the proper social system isn't one that protects the individual's rights to trade and keep the results of his productive efforts, but one under which wealth is distributed "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Benevolent? Moral? Hardly. It’s a disgusting, dangerous, and decidedly un-American philosophy that is rotting our Republic to the core.

Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC.

Niigata Earthquakes: Still Shaking

I watched a news clip this morning about the Niigata earthquakes and the aftershocks. They recorded 3 major earthquakes registering a +6.0 on the Japanese scale. More than five quakes registered over 5.0 and a dozen or so more than 4.0. Now, here comes the frightening stat: In total there have been over 400 quakes since that Saturday afternoon. That's right - 400!!!! Four hundred! And the aftershocks are still happening. The people in Niigata are left without homes, the basic necessities (water, food, shelter). The government is doing its best to help but due to the road closures, everything must be flown into the area. Much of the area is tucked away between large hills which are giving way to the aftershocks. Entire hillsides are falling away as they take the many houses down into the valleys.

Today, it is raining up in Niigata and the evening temperatures will drop to eight degrees. It'll be chilly up there. Right now, it is going to be a race against time: Help vs. the next natural disaster - another typhoon ready to hit Japan.

I worry that the entire prefecture will be swallowed up by the Japan Sea.

(Mainichi News.)

Earthquakes still rocking Niigata

Watching the earthquake news coverage sure was depressing over the weekend. So many people are stranded and left to survive in the chilly outdoors. While the devasation is not as bad as witnessed in Kobe in 1995, the psychological damage to the people is immeasurable. I am glad that the national government was more reactive this time around compared to the then-leaders in charge in '95.

It will most likely take years to restore full services in the area. Many of the roads will need to be rebuilt and the same goes for many of the train tracks as well.

We were truly thankful that the earthquake's epicenter was not directly below Tokyo. Had it been, most of Tokyo would be sitting at the bottom of Tokyo Bay by now. Our office tower is not very far from the water and I am sure my computer would be fish bait should a major quake strike the heart of Tokyo.

(Mainichi News.)

My Pregnant Pal - the Nutty Canuck

Just had a wonderful time talking to an old pal who just happens to be pregnant now. (I wonder how that happened!) She is in her sixth month and is not enjoying her morning sickness very much. Actually, she does not like the term 'morning sickness' - to her, it is 24x7 sickness. Yech!

You have got to respect a woman for going through many mornings of sickness, many times with their head stuck in a toilet bowl and many restless nights as their bodies adjust to a growing life inside them. (Kick! Kick! Hey! I need food! - the baby inside demanding attention and food.)

I know my pal will be a great mom - she has so much humor and her husband is a wonderful guy. I know they are going to spoil their child rotten. I hope my wife and I can start our own baby-making factory and our kids to grow up together. It'll be nice to see our kids playing together.

Oh, back to the topic of pregnancy. I think the government should pay huge sums of money to women for haivng babies. Not only are women postponing their working careers, they are helping to keep our world alive. If I were the Prime Minister of Canada, I would pay women a monthly salary to have their babies. While the amount may pale in comparison to their regular jobs, any amount of money can go a long way. Wouldn't it be nice if the government could pay women about $15,000 per pregancy? Shouldn't the government spend money on rewarding people for having children instead of feeding money to that money-grubbing monster called 'the military industrial complex'???

Getting back to my pregnant Canuck friend, I sure hope she does not let the child become an extreme right winger, aka 'The Conservative Party of Canada'. It is a shame what has happened to the old political party of 'Dief the Chief'. I guess deep down I am unhappy with what Peter MacKay has done to the PC Party. While I count myself as a person who falls more on the right of the political spectrum, I do not want them to take over the country. As long as the extreme right wing wants to change the face of Canuckland, I will put my support behind the Liberal Party. At least with Paul Martin, you know where he is coming from. The Grits may be incompetent but you can understand them quite easily. As for the Right Wing of Canada, they will only lead Canada down the same path the religious right wing of the Republican Party is taking the USA: Christian Crusades and global domination of the masses. I will not allow any government or political party to hijack my religion.

Update: Niigata Earthquakes

It is about 20 minutes before noon Sunday, October 24th and the press is saying that the death count has reached 15 people. The number of injured exceeds 700 people. Rescue crews are trying to do searches house by house. It is bad and it might get worse. Scientists believe more earthquakes are coming as the tectonic plates continue shifting. Yikes - that's all I need .... more restless nights.

Massive Earthquakes Hit Japan, AGAIN!!!

The earthquakes started punishing northeastern Japan just before 18:00 today. We felt the earthquake even down here in Tokyo. I heard it measured a 3 on the Japanese earthquake scale. Let me tell you that even a "3" is frightening. The epicenter of the earthquake was a "6". The area was hit with at least three quakes that measured over "6". About a dozen more were felt but they only measured in the "4" or "5" range.

The news stations are doing massive coverage on the quakes. The fires have begun. The firefighters are trying to rescue those still trapped in the rubble. Since the Kobe (Hanshin) earthquake in 1995, rescue workers know that they must locate and rescue as many people as possible in the first few hours. In Kobe and the surrounding areas, many of the 5,000+ people who perished did so as a result of the fires. Time is against the rescue workers in Niigata: they must get people out of the paths of any raging fires.

Right now I am wearing some outdoor gear: all purpose weather pants and a downfill vest. I have my earthquake kit near the door and another backpack filled with important documents and other life-saving materials next to the door. I have packed as many flashlights (approx. 5) in the bags with extra batteries. I hope my first aid/medical kit will help out in any dire emergencies. I haven't check the kit in over a year. Gotta make some time to rotate some of the medical supplies into my regular stuff tomorrow.

NHK and the other television stations are broadcasting emergency telephone numbers for those who wish to leave a message to loved ones. With the access number, I could phone in a message into a main switchboard (computerized) and my family could call the same number and access my message... or vice versa. I really like this idea. I am unsure whether all of the telecommunication centres are still up and running in the north. What I do know is that many houses have lost their electricity and water. I think many of the homeowners have shut off their gas lines just in case the next temblor causes a break in the gas lines.

Gosh, I cannot help but remember that morning in January when the Kobe earthquake changed the landscape of the Kansai region.

E-voting: The Biggest Threat to Democracy

Does anyone really believe that e-voting is going to help foster democracy? I forsee a time when one vote does not equal one vote. Those groups who control the technology will control the country. Owners of the machines can manipulate the election results and put into power anyone they damn way please. Perhaps, the voting machines will install 'some narrow-minded, warmongering, xenophobic politician' into the White House. God help us all if we allow a person to lose the right to vote.

Future presidential candidates should buy the voting machine companies instead of spending millions or billions on attack ads. He/she who controls the voting machine, controls the election. Frightening thought.

GOOG vs YHOO: Who is King?

I would like to see Yahoo stay on top but the new challenger, Google, is helping shake up the entire internet sector. As GOOG sets new standards and continues innovating, I am sure Yahoo will do its best to catch up and surpass them. This is going to be a great battle: Googlers vs Yahooers. My money is on Yahoo (literally). Yahoo is in my portfolio while GOOG is not.

(CBS Market Watch.)

Laura Bush for U.S. President?

What do you think about Laura Bush running for the Office of U.S. President instead of her husband? I think it would be a grand idea. She is obviously more suited to the position and we all know that she is much more intelligent than her husband.

Everytime I see her on television, I cannot help but feel that she would/could make a better leader of the USA. Would it be legal for GW to step aside should he win another term and let his wife take over? I'm sure Dick wouldn't mind. As for the Senate President - I don't think he is cut out for the job anyway.

How does this sound --- President Laura Bush. Sounds nice to me. A very classy woman indeed.

(CNN.)

Med School? Never!

After reading Gina Smith's blog about med school, I am definitely happy that I did not go to med school. Yech!

(Gina Smith's Blog)

Bush Relatives for Kerry

Is this site real? (Web site) If so, I hope I don't go and piss off my relatives one day...

Meg Whitman for U.S. President in 2012

With a successful run like Meg's over at eBay, I wonder if the voters will try to bring her into the 'wild and wacky' world of U.S. politics in 2012. I sure hope so. Imagine having business people actually running the country instead of veteran politics who are so detached from the world of reality. While I am sure both current U.S. presidential candidates are nice men, I don't know how they would fair in the rat race world of corporate America. And, isn't it about time we let the women run the country? I mean - look at the "State of the Union" - it has never been so bad for as far as our memory serves. Imagine an entire White House Cabinet made up of women. What a wonder world it can be........

(CBS MarketWatch)

I met Meg back a few years ago. Lovely woman - very intelligent.

Republican Party's Dirty Tricks???

I don't know if I can ever trust the Republican Party again: John Kerry and John Edwards left off voting ballots. This is no lie. Somehow, the names of the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President have been left off some ballots. I am sure the Republican Party and their religious followers claim no foul but, let's look at the facts: This happened to the Dems. Now, what do you think if the Republican names were left off the ballots?? You could expect that GW would sign an Executive Order to look into the matter and assassinate those responsible. Or the 'religious right wing' and their 'proxies' would swoop down upon the instigators and ruin their lives.

After trying to follow this year's election, I am beginning to doubt whether or not the USA is a beacon for democracy. If the USA can't get their own 'political and voting house' in order, how the F*CK do they expect Iraq, Af-you-know-where-stan, and other countries get their own citizens to vote. It is inconceivable that a world superpower cannot get its act in gear. Too hard to understand.

(Criminal Act: JK & JE left off absentee ballots)

Quoted passage from news article: (see blow up of image file)

Some absentee ballots distributed to Hamilton County voters do not include the name of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, local election officials confirmed today. Because of a printing error -- limited, election officials believe, to only a few ballots in the Forest Park area -- absentee ballots recently mailed out exclude the Democratic presidential ticket of Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards.

"It's a screw-up," said Tim Burke, chairman of the Hamilton County Board of Elections. "This just feeds the paranoia that's out there. The tragic thing is that even though I think we will have a very fair and accurate count here, this will cause people to question the accuracy of our operation."

Although election officials believe only two voters have received the inaccurate ballot to date, Burke said he is worried that the mix-up "will open us up to all kinds of questions and concerns." He also conceded that some may question whether the problem is, indeed, limited to only a few ballots.

"I'm happy we're talking about a very small number," Burke said. "But it's something that never should have happened."

One of the voters who received the inaccurate ballot said today she "just couldn't believe it" when she opened her absentee ballot envelope and noticed that Kerry's name was missing.

[Final Comments: Would the F*ckers who are screwing around with the election stop it right now? Or else I will call 'the Guy upstairs' and get you into trouble.]

God speaks to Sinclair Broadcasting

New Mission from God: The FCC must stop the monster/false agent before God has to do the work. Let God do His work in His own way. No agent and/or no media source needs to do the work of God. Let God be God and let Sinclair Broadcasting be just another media service. Do not go forth and pretend to be Me. I have My own voice.

----------GodSpeakstoSinclairBroadcasting----------GodSpeakstoSinclairBroadcasting---------

Will the company's share price take a huge hit from its plan to air a documentary on John Kerry in some of the battleground states? I sure hope so. Gosh, I need to short the shares. This might be easier than shooting fish in an aquarium tank.

Now, how does the company's CFO or IR staff reconcile with investors and analysts that the company's shares are being driven down just because those at the top want to maintain their right wing control over the executive branch of the government? Will keeping GW & Dick in power further the right wing cause? If so, how will it help the bottom line of the company? [I would like to join the next earnings announcement conference call with their CFO: How I would love to laugh in the person's ear and how poor their corporate strategy is.]

I wonder if such a question will be on a future CFA Level III examination. It would be nice to test how CFA candidates run the numbers, the ethics, the impact of such a move by Sinclair Broadcasting management on the company's shares. Does this mean the existing shareholders can sue the management for intentionally cause harm to the company? If not, why not?

(Read Jay Rosen for more insight into Sinclair Broadcasting, stock markets, the Presidency, the right wing conspiracy.)

[Thought to myself: Do you think Sinclair Broadcasting would buy TypePad in order to shut down the bloggers of the world? Will Sinclair Broadcasting buy up Google just to shut down Blogger? Gee - I had better buy up some Google shares just in case Sinclair Broadcasting files a 13D and then a TOB for Google... now, wouldn't that be funny if a multi-cong like Sinclair Broadcasting starting gobbling up free speech channels in order to further their agenda? Or is it already happening??? Now, that is a frightening thought!!!]

Quoted part of Rosen's blog:

But we have to adjust our sense of what Sinclair wants and how it works. It isn't a normal company seeking goodies from the Federal government-- forget all that. It's a political empire seeking to expand its influence and win a reputation for applying muscle where needed. That's the upside of the Stolen Honor furor. Think Machiavelli, not Adam Smith.

Office Problems

What does one do when one cannot stand working in the same office with a rude person? I can imagine some person with a MBA telling the person to confront the other one and explain the problems. Not a bad idea most of the times, but what happens when the other person gets violent? How about sending an anonymous email? No luck. Anything sent electronically can be traced back to the person's computer. So, what about sending a bunch of flowers with a warning? It might work but what happens if the florist's screw up and send black (dead) roses?

Update: Bobby Fischer in Japan

Hollywood has got to make a movie about Bobby's life abroad and the Bush Family pursuit of the former World Chess Master. I would pay money to see this made into a movie. Now, I wonder who would play the main characters: Bobby Fischer, GW, GH, and Koizumi.

Bobby Fischer 'ambushed' by U.S. gov't plot, new lawyer says From Mainichi News Japan

Bobby Fischer is the victim of a U.S. government plot inspired by the Bush family and his outspoken comments against them, supporters said in a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo on Monday.

Fischer's newly appointed American attorney Richard Vattuone accused the U.S. government of "ambushing" the chess genius to get him arrested by Japanese immigration authorities.

Vattuone added that U.S. authorities had committed gross violations of U.S. law in their handling of the case since Fischer was first detained at Narita Airport on July 13 on alleged immigration law violations prompted by an alleged attempt to travel on a purportedly revoked passport.

John Bosnitch, head of the Committee to Free Bobby Fischer, also blasted Japanese and U.S. authorities over the way the grandmaster has been treated.

Edward McKeon of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, one of the officials Bosnitch and Vattuone specifically targeted in their Monday attack, said he did not have any authority to speak about the Fischer case.

Vattuone, who was given "just two minutes" to meet his client privately before U.S. Embassy officials started a hearing on Friday last week for Fischer's appeal against the revocation of his passport, said the U.S. reaction to the chess champion's case had been among the worst he had experienced in 15 years of practicing law.

"There are some grotesque abuses of governmental power, violations of due process and human rights. And I would say an utter waste of taxpayer's money in prosecuting Bobby Fischer - a chess player," Vattuone said.

Fischer is currently in the East Japan Immigration Bureau Detention Center in Ushiku, Tochigi Prefecture, where he is fighting a deportation order, applying for refugee status with the aid of his Japanese lawyer Masako Suzuki, trying to marry Japanese women's chess champion Miyoko Watai and taking a number of other steps to avoid capture by U.S. authorities, who after ignoring him for almost a dozen years suddenly started tracking him down a few months ago. Fischer has applied for provisional release, the Japanese equivalent of bail, but has been refused and is applying again.

U.S. law enforcers want Fischer because a grand jury indicted him in 1992 for having earlier that year played chess in Yugoslavia, which was then under economic sanctions placed by an Executive Order issued by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush.

Vattuone argued that the Executive Order and the statute making a violation of an Executive Order criminal are "un-Constitutional, vague, ambiguous and eventually we will challenge those."

Vattuone listed a slew of other alleged misdeeds by U.S. government officials in response to Fischer's case, including the imposition of arbitrary time limits, ignoring deadlines they had set and destruction of the chess champion's passport, many of which added up to show that U.S. authorities had pre-judged Fischer's fate. He was also furious that Fischer's continued detention prevented him from having the time needed with his client to fight the case.

"Bobby Fischer is not a robber, he's not a murderer, he's not a traitor, he's not a thief. All he did was play chess," Vattuone said, before condemning the U.S. Embassy for not helping him get out of his cell in the same way U.S. consular officials stepped in last month to ask Indonesian authorities to release U.S. and foreign nationals detained in that country. "Why the disparate treatment? It's because of Bobby Fischer's political opinions. Petty, vindictive bureaucrats are out to get him. In my opinion, they should go after real criminals, terrorists and people who are trying to do real damage to others. They should not fritter away limited resources by trying to create criminals."

Fischer has expressed virulently anti-Jewish opinions and lauded the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, as well as unleashed considerable vitriol against American and Japanese politicians, including President George W Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Bosnitch says the initial Executive Order that made Fischer a fugitive and the rigorous manner it has been pursued in recent months indicates a Bush family "vendetta" against the grandmaster.

"(Bobby Fischer) was, is, and continues to be, a victim of U.S. persecution. The United States has violated numerous of their own rules in this process. Bobby Fischer's rights have also been, as you know, flagrantly violated in the Japanese appeals process of his arrest and handling in the deportation matter. His passport was revoked in a trap," John Bosnitch, head of the Committee to Free Bobby Fischer, said. "This was not a routine matter. We now have the documentation to prove that to you."

Bosnitch provided a U.S. government internal document dated Nov. 18, 2003 which suggested U.S. government authorities moved to revoke his passport as a means of carrying out a "backdoor extradition" considering Fischer cannot be legally handed over to American law enforcers because what he is accused of doing is not recognized as a crime outside of the United States.

Bosnitch and Vattuone promised to exhaust every administrative and legal channel if need be to ensure Fischer's freedom.

(By Ryann Connell, Mainichi Daily News, Oct. 18, 2004)

Sinclair Broadcasting Stock Takes Hit

Question to corporate lawyers: If Sinclair Broadcasting company management did air the John Kerry documentary on its stations knowing full well that such actions would hurt its businesses, could the company's shareholders sue management? And if not, why not?

The last thing I would ever want is for one of the companies I have put money into is to play politics with the business. As an investor in Yahoo! I would hate to see Terry, Dan, Susan, Jerry and the rest of the Yahooers use the Yahoo platform to spew political rhetoric to the internet masses. I really don't care whether the Yahoo management prefer Bush or Kerry in the upcoming election. All I care about is how much value they can bring to the company and thus, increase the value of my holdings in YHOO.

I would like to see the SEC and/or Congress to go after companies that willingly bring destruction to their companies in order to further a political cause.... What am I say here.... Congress is controlled by the Republicans who are in turn controlled by their religious base of supporters who are in turn supported by their extreme religious zealots who are in turn controlled by HIM. And you know who 'HIM' is, right???

(CBS Marketwatch)

From news story:

The shares dropped amid fresh concerns on Wall Street, with analysts fretting over what looms as a loss of advertising revenue for Sinclair. Some securities analysts, who demanded not to be quoted on record, said that they're concerned about the potential development.

Sinclair, which owns the largest chain of TV stations in the United States, had told its stations to broadcast a documentary that accuses Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of betraying American prisoners during the Vietnam War.

The film, titled "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," is to be shown during prime-time hours before the Nov. 2 election. The stations owned by Sinclair reach approximately 24 percent of U.S. television households.

"Stolen Honor" focuses on Kerry's 1971 antiwar testimony to Congress about U.S. atrocities and suggests that it hurt Americans who were still being held in Vietnam.

Kerry's campaign has called the documentary "lies" and "a smear."

The media and the entertainment industry have often found themselves in the spotlight in the run-up to this year's presidential election.

Joke Time!

WARNING: The Surgeon General advises that laughter can lead to severe health problems such as coughing up a lung, squirting milk through one's nose, splitting a gut, and fainting.

If you do not like political, sexual or plain ol' fashion humour, please don't read any further. Just go find yourself some dictionary and read that instead.

Joke from engineering friend:

A couple attending an art exhibition at the National Gallery were staring at a portrait that had them totally confused. The painting depicted three black men totally naked, sitting on a park bench. Two of the men had black penises, but the one seated in the middle, had a pink penis.

The curator of the gallery realized the confused couple were having trouble with interpreting the painting and offered his assessment. He went on and on for nearly half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of African-Americans in a predominantly white, patriarchal society. "In fact", he pointed out, "some serious critics believe that the pink penis also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression expressed by gay men in a contemporary society".

After the curator left, an Irish man approached the couple and said, "Wouldyou like to know what the painting is really about?"

"Now why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator of theGallery?", asked the couple.

"Because I'm the guy who painted it," he replied. "In fact, there is no African-American representation at all. They're just three Irish coal-miners. The guy in the middle went home for lunch."

The Power of the New Beast?

Sinclair Broadcasting is stepping over the line: It should not force its stations to pre-empt broadcasting just in order to help further the religious right causes. If Sinclair Broadcasting is allowed to serve as an agent of the 'extreme right', does this mean the end of free television?

I hope Sinclair Broadcasting takes a long and hard look at what it is about to do to the country and to politics. If left unchallenged, I would not be upset if Soros gobbles up television stations around the world only to fight back the 'religious crusades' of the New Right. As I am a Christian, I do not like how the New Right is about to ignite a global war of religions. Mankind has come too far to let the world go up in a pile of smoke just to please a few extremists.

Heck, can't they play fair in the USA? I'd like to focus on other issues out there and this 'US Presidential Election' is getting far more attention than it truly deserves. For f'ing sakes, I want to focus more of my blogging on other issues that matter to me such as (1) my lack of rack time, (2) money, (3) money, (4) money, (5) more money, (6) funny people, (7) funnier politicians, (8) gold & oil, (9) the letter "M", (10) good fiction novels, and (10) my investments. So, I hope the US states don't screw up the November election like they did in 2000. Shit - all I need right now is another Florida voting disaster to 'make my day'.

(NY Times)

Dear God: Please stop this planet now!

I fear the worst is about to happen: total global war. New religious crusades will begin under the banner of 'Saving Mankind from Evil'. The leader or crusader in charge will come from the USA. The religious right will send their legions of soldiers to foreign shores to indoctrinate the masses.

Far-fetched? Possibly. Could it happen? You bet it could.

Read the New York Times article that forsees a massive shift in the way the world will be in the years ahead under a Republican White House, Senate and House... add the Supreme Court and you have got one power political/religious force.

So, please God, please stop the planet and let me off. I wonder if the Martians will take us in.

A concerned human on the planet,

Strategist

( NYTimes Article)

Much larger excerpt from NYTimes to help you understand what is happening:

The faith-based presidency is a with-us-or-against-us model that has been enormously effective at, among other things, keeping the workings and temperament of the Bush White House a kind of state secret. The dome of silence cracked a bit in the late winter and spring, with revelations from the former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke and also, in my book, from the former Bush treasury secretary Paul O'Neill. When I quoted O'Neill saying that Bush was like ''a blind man in a room full of deaf people,'' this did not endear me to the White House. But my phone did begin to ring, with Democrats and Republicans calling with similar impressions and anecdotes about Bush's faith and certainty. These are among the sources I relied upon for this article. Few were willing to talk on the record. Some were willing to talk because they said they thought George W. Bush might lose; others, out of fear of what might transpire if he wins. In either case, there seems to be a growing silence fatigue -- public servants, some with vast experience, who feel they have spent years being treated like Victorian-era children, seen but not heard, and are tired of it. But silence still reigns in the highest reaches of the White House. After many requests, Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, said in a letter that the president and those around him would not be cooperating with this article in any way.

And another quoted passage:

In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

Who besides guys like me are part of the reality-based community? Many of the other elected officials in Washington, it would seem. A group of Democratic and Republican members of Congress were called in to discuss Iraq sometime before the October 2002 vote authorizing Bush to move forward. A Republican senator recently told Time Magazine that the president walked in and said: ''Look, I want your vote. I'm not going to debate it with you.'' When one of the senators began to ask a question, Bush snapped, ''Look, I'm not going to debate it with you.''

The 9/11 commission did not directly address the question of whether Bush exerted influence over the intelligence community about the existence of weapons of mass destruction. That question will be investigated after the election, but if no tangible evidence of undue pressure is found, few officials or alumni of the administration whom I spoke to are likely to be surprised. ''If you operate in a certain way -- by saying this is how I want to justify what I've already decided to do, and I don't care how you pull it off -- you guarantee that you'll get faulty, one-sided information,'' Paul O'Neill, who was asked to resign his post of treasury secretary in December 2002, said when we had dinner a few weeks ago. ''You don't have to issue an edict, or twist arms, or be overt.''

In a way, the president got what he wanted: a National Intelligence Estimate on W.M.D. that creatively marshaled a few thin facts, and then Colin Powell putting his credibility on the line at the United Nations in a show of faith. That was enough for George W. Bush to press forward and invade Iraq. As he told his quasi-memoirist, Bob Woodward, in ''Plan of Attack'': ''Going into this period, I was praying for strength to do the Lord's will. . . . I'm surely not going to justify the war based upon God. Understand that. Nevertheless, in my case, I pray to be as good a messenger of his will as possible.''

Machiavelli's oft-cited line about the adequacy of the perception of power prompts a question. Is the appearance of confidence as important as its possession? Can confidence -- true confidence -- be willed? Or must it be earned?

USA: The New Global Empire

Ridiculous? I dunno. Read William Gibson's blog to understand the 'new reality'.

Quoted passage from Gibson's blog:

The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"

I don't know whether or not I should continue my plans to do some post-graduate training in the States or pursue another degree via Europe.

GW: Social Security Disbanded?

If GW wins a second term, will he privatize Social Security? If so, what does this mean to the elderly? Well, according to Kerry, privitzing the program will end up costing seniors more and providing them with fewer benefits. As such, does GW's plans come from the movie, Logan's Run? Are you old enough to remember the movie starring Michael York and Peter Ustinov?

In the movie, old people are thrown away like garbage. In a world where only the young can live, anyone over a certain age is led away from society. As I listen to GW's plans on 'helping' the elderly, I can't help but think of the movie. Is the GOP willing to throw the generation of hardworkers who helped make the USA a great nation? Is the GOP willing to turn its back on helping retirees enjoy their remaining years in peace and dignity? Well, if GW and the Band of GOP right wingers get their way, you can bet that the entire US economy is headed for a downward spiral.

With its looming 'twin deficits', the US is dangerously becoming a 'nation living on borrowed time'. Once the world's financial traders/players give up on the US, we can expect to see rampant inflation and a severe loss of confidence in their economy. As everyone, including myself, start dumping our US investments and money market holdings, I can see the end of the country. The only way the USA can help turn back and get off the road of fiscal stupidity is to stop any moves to privatize Social Security or any other general welfare program.

Yikes! If GW wins, time to move my money out of the USA.

Quoted passage from news article: (read CNN)

Citing government figures including the Economic Report of the President 2004, Kerry said, "Even the president's own economic advisers say his plan will blow a $2 trillion hole in Social Security. And guess who will pay for it. You will. America's seniors are already facing higher prescription drug costs, record high Medicare premiums, and higher gas costs. With family budgets being stretched to the limit, the last thing seniors need is the president's 'January surprise.' That's a surprise we can all live without."

NY Times for John Kerry

Now that the NY Times has come out on the side of John Kerry, how long will it take for the Republican Party to destroy the NYT? What right wing political operatives and fanatical right will swoop down upon the NYTimes building and destroy it? I hope the NYPD and the national guard are ready to defend the NYTimes from mayhem and destruction should GW lose the election. I worry that with GW's loss to John Kerry, the extreme right wing of the Republican Party will become the next threat to the USA and its safety. If we think that external threats will give the entire region pause, wait until the fanatical right come charging into NYC and DC. John Kerry will need to heal the nation fast. If John Kerry were smart (and I sure hope he is), he will appoint centrist Democrats and Reagan Democrats to key cabinet positions as a way to help bring the nation together. I wonder whether future historians will see the 2004 Elections as the pivotal point in America's history: Either America comes together or breaks apart into three or four small countries.

Quoted passage from NYTimes (full op-ed):

Mr. Bush installed John Ashcroft, a favorite of the far right with a history of insensitivity to civil liberties, as attorney general. He sent the Senate one ideological, activist judicial nominee after another. He moved quickly to implement a far-reaching anti-choice agenda including censorship of government Web sites and a clampdown on embryonic stem cell research. He threw the government's weight against efforts by the University of Michigan to give minority students an edge in admission, as it did for students from rural areas or the offspring of alumni.

Tragedy will help feed xenophobia in USA

I watched this breaking news story on TV this weekend but was not aware the truck was hauling illegal immigrant labour until now (read CNN). The numerous deaths and the destruction caused to the area will only help fuel the anger that some people in the border states feel about illegal immigration and the federal government's unwillingness to address the problems. While many media pundits advocate amassing US troops along the US-Mexican border, the regular people will not stand for it.

If the USA is so hell-bent on keeping out illegal workers, then it must address the labour shortage problems. Labour wages are so low for many forms of employment that no American is willing to toil in shit and rubble for a few bucks per hour. Anytime the feds want to raise the minimum wage, small businesses begin calling up their congressman/woman. The only way many US companies can compete either domestically or internationally is to keep their labour costs as low as possible, thus the need for illegal immigrant labour.

As long as the federal government does not address the need for an increase in immigration, problems will continue and rip apart the country. Perhaps, another civil war is brewing under the nation's very nose. I wonder how the Republican and Democratic parties will respond when vigilantes begin gunning down illegal aliens who cross into Arizona and Texas.

Is America at war with itself and does it have the guts to stop complete chaos from breaking out during the next four years?

Sinclair Broadcasting: The Capital Gang at CNN

Just finished watching a segment on CNN about Sinclair Broadcasting's plans to air the 'highly explosive' video called (I think) "Stolen Honor". Huh - sounds to me like Sinclair Broadcasting is playing dirty politics with the voters. If Sinclair Broadcasting is smart this is what they should do (and if they choose not to take my advice, they should fire their corporate strategists and hire me!):

[NOTE: Anyone who is offended by my political commentary should head elsewhere for their blogging news.]

1.) Buy all the movie theaters in the USA (and the world) and show the propaganda film for free
2.) Buy up all the book stores in the USA (and the world) and burn all books that do not support and endorse the relgious right's view of the world - man with woman making lots of babies and the rest of the world can burn in you-know-where
3.) Buy up all cloning facilities in Europe and begin cloning little GW's for the eventual takeover of the world
4.) Buy up all television companies and begin running 24x7 religious channels with the central theme of 'make white babies'
5.) Buy up all liberal or left-leaning newspaper companies and turn them into 're-education centres'
6.) Buy Canada and convert us into 'gun-loving', 'bible-thumping', 'convict-hanging', 'warmongering', 'white-man pushing', and 'nuclear-bombing' people

I don't expect Sinclair Broadcasting to listen to me but, I hope they will pay me to write 'political satires' about them just to show the world that they, Sinclair Broadcasting, can take a joke..... that is, I hope they can take a joke.

The True Presidential Debate

How I wished this was the transcript of the final debate between GW & JF. Life should be this funny.

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Debate, Declaim, Debacle
By DAVID BROOKS

Published: October 16, 2004 (NY Times)

SCHIEFFER And our first question goes to Senator Kerry. Sir, your spending plans will cost over a trillion dollars. Your combined tax plans will cost $500 billion. How are you going to balance the budget?

KERRY Bob, I'm glad you asked me that question, but before I dodge it I'd like to thank you for moderating this debate, I'd like to thank Arizona State University for being such wonderful hosts and I'd like to thank Dick Cheney's daughter for being a lesbian - in case anybody didn't know.

Bob, as you know, this nation is on the brink of an apocalyptic catastrophe. Civilization as we know it is hanging on by a thread. Our culture has collapsed, our economy is in tatters, the human spirit is extinguished, children never laugh, God is dead, and families like Dick Cheney's are ashamed of their daughters, one of whom is a lesbian. All of this is because of George Bush.

Did you know that right here in Arizona the average share of the national debt on a per capita basis is rising faster than the inverse of the median lost wages ratio of the typical swing voter in Ohio, Missouri and Florida combined?

Bob, when I'm president, we're going to have a president as gloomy as this country should be. But the difference is that I have a plan to balance the budget. In fact I have seven plans. Seven and a half if you count the one I was working on in the limo, not even counting subclauses. When I'm president, our country is going to marry a really rich country, which will pay for everything. Thank you.

SCHIEFFER Mr. President?

BUSH You need a plan. I know that. I'm president. I wake up every day looking for a plan. In fact, I supported Mitch McConnell's plan. But my opponent voted to raise taxes 1,500 gazillion bazillion times. He even voted for some of my budgets, which have created deficits as far as the eye can see! He's a liberal!

The first thing we need to do is cut back. I'm not going to have a flu shot this year. I'm not even going to take a Tylenol. I'm going to have a root canal right here on this stage without Novocain. But we also need to declare an international war on deficits.

I'm excited about 19-year-old girls in Afghanistan who are voting in favor of the line-item veto for the first time ever. I'm excited about the millions of Iraqis who have been liberated from Saddam's Hussein's trial lawyers and their frivolous lawsuits.

SCHIEFFER According to the prearranged rules of this debate, each candidate will now have two minutes to spew forth sentimental blather in order to connect with the American people.

KERRY Thank you Bob. I'm a Catholic. I was an altar boy. In Nativity plays I was usually cast as one of the posts holding up the manger. I know that a lot of people are tired of politicians who just tell them what they want to hear. America, I want to look you in the eye and pledge I will never pander to you.

Spirituality is important to me. I've always felt that we humans are insignificant maggots scuttling across the muck of the universe, and that life itself is just a meaningless moment of agony between the suffocating stench of the womb and the foul decay of the grave.

SCHIEFFER Thanks for that uplifting message. Mr. President?

BUSH America, we've been through a lot together. Imagine how bad things would be if I'd made any mistakes. But we've come through it.

We haven't enforced the Dred Scott decision. And what about my timber company? Can you believe the networks? Oh, never mind. Do you want some wood? How late does this go, anyway? I'm losing it.

SCHIEFFER As I was driving in tonight one thing occurred to me: All three of us are surrounded by strong women. What the hell are we doing up here? Why aren't they running the country?

KERRY Bob, it's true that I am married. She's my second wife, to be precise. Can't recall her name at the moment, but she's fully funded. And I've got two beautiful daughters. Heterosexuals, both of them.

I want to tell you about my family unit and what it means to me. We're in the 79th percentile in most demographic categories. Our compatibility fitness score is within the standard deviation for median households worldwide. ...

U.S. Presidential Election 2004

Thank God that the election is just around the corner. With a little more than 2 weeks to go to the 'horse race', I, for one, will be glad that all the 'mudslinging', 'name-calling', and 'stupid thinking' will be over.

I'll have to take a look at my investment portfolio and see where I should shift my money in case Kerry-Edwards win.

Sinclair Broadcasting: Truth or Dare

There is a lot being written up about Sinclair Broadcasting's planned airing of 'anti-John Kerry' propoganda in key 'battleground states' in the run-up to the November election. While I don't condemn their actions, I find it poor sportmanship for a corporate entity getting so heavily involved in politicizing the free airwaves.

If Sinclair Broadcasting is a 'secret arm' of the RNC, then they should just come out and announce their political affiliations. I detest any corporate entity pretending not to be a political tool of either the RNC or DNC. The public deserves to see the truth. Anything less than 'public disclosure' by Sinclair Broadcasting is downright evil and immoral.

Late Night at Office

Stayed at office until a wee bit past midnight. I am very sleepy now. I got about 3 hours of sleep and am now back at my desk banging away at some financial models. Gee, how little sleep one can get without needing bucketfuls of Starbuck Lattes to keep oneself going. I am on my first latte now and expect to down about a barrel full by the time I leave tonight.

If someonen told me that I would end up working 8 hours of overtime in the 'Rat Race World', I would have studied harder at university and studied how I could game the 649 Lottery and win millions upon millions in cash prizes. Well, no such luck there. I studied psychology and ended up slaving away in front of a computer. Funny world, eh?

U.N. Oil-for-Food Scam

Just when you thought you had heard it all: Another scandal to rock the globe. Is there any wonder why many people have given up on the rest of the world???

Quoted passage from op-ed piece: (NY Times)

The former French ambassador to the U.N., Jean-Bernard Mérimée, is listed as receiving vouchers for 11 million barrels of oil from Saddam, the proceeds from which would beat a diplomat's pay. Another of President Jacques Chirac's friends receiving Saddam's U.N. largesse is Patrick Maugein, "whom the Iraqis considered a conduit to Chirac," according to the report.

U.S. Presidential Debates: No. 3

Had to miss the debate. What did I miss? Anything? Something? Nothing?