Monday, May 07, 2007

Gibsonsque

It’s like something out of the SF novel Neuromancer.

Takeshi Yamashita does not look like a homeless person.

From his carefully distressed jeans to his casual-cool navy striped T-shirt, he is every bit the trendy Tokyoite.

Yet the 26-year-old has been sleeping in a reclining seat in an Internet cafe every night for the past month since he lost his steady office job and his apartment.

It’s cheaper than a hotel, offers access to the Internet and hundreds of Manga comic books, and even has a microwave and a shower where he can wash in the morning before heading off to one of his temporary jobs ranging from cleaning to basic office work.

Asked how long he plans to go on living like that, Yamashita smiles and shrugs.

“I hope the situation in Japan will improve. The new Japanese generation doesn’t have any money, and many young people don’t have any motivation. I don’t have money, but I have a dream,” he says, sitting in a cubicle with a PC and a stack of comic books.

So what is his dream?

“I don’t know. Maybe some ordinary job in an office.”

Sunday, May 06, 2007

A Great Day for France

The end of a long era. Socialists are out in France. A conservative is in.

Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has won the French presidential election, according to projections made from partial results.

Mr Sarkozy is estimated to have won 53% of the vote, compared to 47% for socialist Segolene Royal.

The turnout was the highest in decades at 85.5%.

Mr Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, takes over from the 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, who has been in power for 12 years.

The socialists really let France go to the dogs. And the people knew it. Even though France is a pretty left wing country, it’s obvious that the majority have realized their mistake in trusting socialists all this time. Sarkozy offers a new direction for France. He wants to make it more freewheeling and prosperous like the US, which means he will eliminate a lot of the anti-capitalist measures and laws that the socialists imposed. This will mean a lot more jobs will be created which should go a long way to calming down the restless youth population.

He should also be the best French ally the US has had since DeGalle. Maybe since Lafayette.

UPDATE: More on his win

“The French have chosen to break with the ideas, habits and behaviour of the past,” he said. “I will restore the value of work, authority, merit and respect for the nation.”

He would also rid France of its habit of “repenting” for its past historical sins. “This repentance is a form of self-hatred,” he said.

That’s something we need more of here, also. 

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Telemarketers vs Crazy Broad

Desktop DuJour

The universe is incredible.

Fred Thompson on the Presidency

A video interview.

How Far We’ve Fallen

The difference between 1973 and 2007. They play this as a joke, but it’s true. I was in high school in 1973. This is pretty accurate (except for the first one). The principal would have sent him home, but I went to school in San Diego.

Frankly, in 1973 we had problems, but they are a lot worse now with all these stupid laws and regulations. I shudder to think how much worse it will get. 

David Blaine-ish

Pretty funny.

Friday, May 04, 2007

REVIEW: Spiderman 3

I loved it.

They did a great job of putting three antagonists in the story and tying up all the loose ends in the finale. That’ quite an accomplishment. There was also the right blend of soap opera and action in the film, very suitable for Spidey.

Great special effects. Great credit sequence. The villains were all handled well.

My only complain was Spiderman did more of his stuff without his mask. It was really a bit too much, if you ask me. I know actors hate wearing masks because they want to show their acting, but please, this is a Spiderman movie. And Peter Parker gets plenty fo face time as it is.

The humor was all well handled. All in all, I think I like this one the best of the three. They managed to continue the story in a logical, believable way while bringing closure to the Harry Osborne story. 

Psuedo-science vs Real Science

This article does a great job breaking down what the signs of junk science are. And what do you know, many of them apply to the man-made global warming theory. Those who question or insult the skeptics are not being very skeptical themselves. Junk science preys on the human desire to believe in something. So it often tells people what they want to hear. After the environmentalist movement started this drumbeat of “humans are killing the planet”, it was easy to convince a lot of people to believe in man made global warming, even though the science really shows the earth is going through natural climate change brought on my a solar cycle.

But there’s no money in something being natural. If you guilt people, you can separate them from their wallets. That’s what junk science often attempts to do. Sell people some bogus invention. And this is why we need to look at the whole global warming thing with skepticism. 

Thursday, May 03, 2007

GOP Debate

Mitt Romney, Giuliani and McCain came off the best. Rudy Giuliani was more boring than I expected. But he articulated himself well.  McCain was the most forceful. he did show leadership qualities and I have always liked his position on pork. The problem is, we know him too well by now and he has made too many missteps in the past.  I also think Ron Paul came off well if you agree with him, and I do in some areas. I am probably more of a libertarian than a conservative, but I don’t entirely agree with the libertarian party on everything. I do think Ron Paul did a good job of stating his positions and standing out. The problem for him is, his ideas are so radical, I doubt he will get gain much traction.

All the others were basically more of the same. A bunch of old white guys with the same positions. Three of them don’t believe in evolution (Tancredo, Brownback, Huckabee). All of them said they would be fine with Roe Vs Wade being overturned, if it were. Giuliani was the only one who said he would be fine with it standing as is. But he said he was against anyone getting an abortion. All of them are for lowering taxes or keeping the Bush tax cuts intact.

Ultimately, I think the three I mentioned are the only ones who will be in serious play. But Fred Thompson, if he gets in, could be the dark horse to upset the applecart.

I do think Tommy Thompson’s idea for Iraq was a good one: give the citizens 1/3 of the oil profits. That would make them love the government and not want to rock the boat. But if you think WE have an illegal alien problem...watch what would happen there.

All in all, Romney probably came off the most presidential. Giuliani was fine, but not as dynamic as I was hoping. McCain was feisty and showed he still had what it takes. But I think the honeymoon is over for him and he will have a hard time winning the nomination. Ron Paul might be a spoiler in the Ross Perot mold, but that remains to be seen (A Drudge poll shows him coming in a close third to Giuliani.)

For now, those four are probably going to lead the race for the nomination. If Thompson enters, all bets are off.

By the way, I think it’s telling that the Democrats refused to debate on a Fox affiliate because they claimed Brit Hume was biased. But th Republicans went on fanatically anti-Republican MSNBC (home of Keith Olberman) and was questioned by Chris Matthews an ardent Democrat and former Carter staffer. Not a pep of complaint. What a bunch of crybabies the Democrats are. Or is it that the nutnet roots people have them running scared. If the Dems are afraid of some crazy bloggers, what kind of courage would they show against crazy terrorists?