Immigration Office

I had to take a trip to the immigration office today. Always an event. Since consolidating offices and opening their new and improved branch, it's just been so much fun.

The total trip was over six hours door to door. I thought I'd be in and out since all I needed was a re-entry visa for next week's trip to Guam. I thought wrong. Three hours of waiting to give someone ¥6,000 ($53) to look at the forms I filled out and put a sticker in my passport. Now I'm allowed to come back to Japan on my current visa rather than have it revoked and replaced by a tourist visa for my three day trip to Guam

The new facilities are about as inaccessible as is possible in central Japan. A minimum 20 min. walk from the station...if you know where you are going (I do). The walk is through a container storage area for Tokyo's major international cargo port. I took this photo today:



That's the walk back to the station. Those are full-size tractor-trailer containers. I feel like I should be wearing a hardhat every time I go there.

Also very reassuring to see the sign posted at the entrance of the immigration office stating that the detention facilities are located on the fourth floor.

Less than fun...but it could have been worse, I guess. The wait was just for my turn. Once I was called, it only took about five minutes.

News

Took a little break from blogland. Judging from comments and e-mail, I wasn't the only one. I'll do a catch-up on daily stuff in the next post. This one has been sitting in the Drafts folder for a while.

More than a few of you know what a newsaholic I've become. Somehow, I've gone from king of totally useless trivia to news freak (esp. on issues I feel strongly about). I've had a few casual questions in person, serious inquiries on this blog and a few pretty outrageous ones by e-mail on where I get my information. I thought maybe a post on news in general might be in order.

I'm not even sure where to start. I believe that news reporting in general is at both its best and its worst ever at this point in time. The sheer volume of news available to the average person is staggering. These days it's hard to know what to trust. Major journalists are admitting to accepting government cash, the internet is filled with so much nonsense it's hard to judge, the government is issuing video pieces that are being run as hard news by major networks, photojournalists are being refused shots of U.S. disaster areas (I won't even start on Iraq just now)...even photos can be doctored (by almost anyone with a computer) to the point you can't trust them. My point isn't really so much anti-governmental preaching, it's just that wading through the crap can be a full-time job. I think I'll start with me and segue back to this (that ought to surprise about...none of you!).

I usually start my daily foray with Google news. It's pretty mainstream and getting more so every day, but that's part of what I like about it. It also allows for depth by providing a very easy way of checking multiple articles on the same topic. Mine is set for U.S. preferences.

From there I usually go to whatreallyhappened.com (linked as WRH on this blog). It's a blog that includes comments by the owner on the front page. Read them or not (I agree with a lot of what he has to say, but if you don't, it doesn't detract from the main body of the site)...the vast majority of what is linked is hard news from reputable sources. From there I usually go to informationclearinghouse.com (linked here as: ICH); another very respected site connected to some extremely talented journalists. A lot of what is linked from there was also at WHR, but it's unique enough in its selection to separate it from WRH. These sites aren't people talking about the news. They are sites that link to stories in the news. News the world over. The owners choose what news to link, but that is their choice and doesn't reflect on the stories themselves. From there, I have a lot of sites I check in on from time to time.

Anything can set me off on a new trek. A study released on Aspartame sent me two hours deep...hell, an article on BSE changed my life. Topics that interest me include (but are not limited to): The Middle East in general (Iraq, Israel. Palestine, and Iran in particular), World Politics (U.S., Japanese and the aforementioned countries in particular), Terrorism in general (the causes of it, how it's dealt with in particular), Health and Diet (basically all of it), Depleted Uranium, Ecology...I could go on. I really do spend way too much time at this computer! I don't know if curiosity will kill this cat, but the lack of sleep it causes might contribute.

The more time I spend wading through the net, the more I appreciate the extra time I spend checking the source of what I'm reading. I usually check not only the writer, but who published the piece. Each is equally important in knowing where to place the piece in the grand scheme of things. Fox, CNN, BBC, Pravda, Al Jazeera, local papers and television news sites all the way down to individual journalists, etc. can each have a completely different take on the same topic. There is another thing I picked up along the way: "Follow the money". This will likely come up again in another post on studies (and polls, for that matter) done of about anything.

Much of mainstream media in the U.S. seems to compete for ratings WAY more than they compete for scooping other outlets...or even checking their sources. This isn't unique to the States, but they are a shining example. Maybe it used to be the norm that "scooping" others on hard-hitting, accurate, real-issue stories was the case, but I just don't see it in modern mainstream journalism anymore. "Selling" a piece and the planning for a piece to sell seems more the norm than investigative reorting on major issues these days. Do a comparison of the volume of reports on say the Michael Jackson trial, the Run-Away Bride (sounds like a movie title, doesn't it?) and say, the death-toll in Iraq sometime. Some of the examples are a little dated maybe, but you get the idea, right?

When taking in the news from varied sources you quickly find that they not only report on things differently, they report on different items altogether. What country something is published in makes a huge difference. I read (and watch) news from such diverse areas as Japan, Russia, Briton, China, Syria, Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa...the list goes on. The point is that I like to read them all and try to sort out what's happening in the world from compiling what I've read. It's too easy to watch or read the news you expect to see. You don't really learn much at all. In some countries (and I'm mostly referring to the States), the news seems to be as much about talking points, catch phrases and selling points as it does about the news being covered. When the key point shifts from hard news reporting and investigative journalism to ratings, things really change.

I really enjoy getting my information from as many sources as possible. I even get a kick out of the differences I find. I don't know how closely what I get relates to the actual facts (although I suspect I get closer than some), but it sure is interesting. Talking about it (or more accurately writing about it) has made me friends and it's gotten me threats.

In a casual conversation (esp. after a few drinks with someone that seems interested), I'll throw out bits of this and that. I'm much more careful when I write. I wasn't kidding before when I said that I was considering a blog just on news issues. This blog started as a lark to give my family and friends no longer in Japan an easy way to get a little extra on my day-to-day life. It has changed somewhat to become a test of sorts. I throw a bunch of stuff out and see what reaction I get. Doing a real news/opinion site would require creating an original site, sponsors and the like. I'm not sure I'm up to all that just now...the variety is kind of fun too!

My response to this site so far has been as varied as the posts. I don't get as many responses from comments on the food I cook as the news I choose to care about. Go figure! I can say that the intensity and volume of comments tends to relate to the importance of what I wrote about. I think that's a good thing. I'll still be writing about the idiot answering cell phone e-mail while riding his bike...in my warped view of Life, that's a form of news too. :-) Bigger issues will also be fair game. Be warned that the current U.S. administration is just begging me to put up a few posts..by their actions, not at their request ;-)

As always, keep the comments coming. Be amused, be angry, think, read, research and refute, just kill time. It's all good!

Rita

Someone commented to me recently that perhaps negative ramblings about the government don't actually amount to anything in the grand scheme of things. To really be involved requires more than talk.

I couldn't fault the logic. Still, with Rita bearing down on the States, I feel that all the talk about Katrina will lead to a lot less of the same problems that occurred there from recurring elsewhere. I think (just maybe) if enough people are both angry and vocal about their anger, maybe it really does amount to a little something.

If Rita hits hard, I hope I'm not proven wrong.

The best of wishes to all in the path.



P.S. As insane as I am about walking around in violent weather, evacuate means just that!

Random nothing

Thought I'd throw out a piece or two of random nothingness before putting up another serious post.

After a particlarly bad trim job followed by a botched fix, I ended up shaving off my 'stash and beard last night. I realized (yet again) that I have no chin and even less lip. Kind of weird when I look in the mirror. It does give Taka something other than offering me shots of Lemon Hart to get a chuckle out of. I'll give it a few days and then will likely start allowing the increasingly grey mouth and chin disguise to begin growing back. Who'd of thought that trimming a goatee can be so hard while keeping a head shaved is easier than dealing with haircuts?

Fell asleep on the sofa yet again last night. Woke to finish making the rest of Taka's bento, fix rice, and deal with the trash to be put out...at something like 4 a.m.. Why doing this kind of stuff after just two hours of sleep can make me too awake to go to bed, I have no idea. I'd say that it'll make it easy to get to bed early tonight, except that I'd jinx it.

No water in the building today from 9-4. I've known about it for something like two weeks. Wouldn't you know that that's exactly when I needed it to get ready for work. At least I prepared a little...showered and shaved last night, so I was clean and ready to go. Had enough bottled water for brushing, and breakfast was covered. Thought I was sooo prepared. Didn't quite realize how much water it takes to rinse the toothbrush let alone rinse a juice glass...and I won't even dwell on the bathroom.

I've been waiting to make sure the company I started writing for gets money into my account before getting serious about the next installments. In the meantime, I've been just going flat-out crazy on this damn blog. If it weren't for the great music in here and my uncanny ability to bug Taka to the irritation zone while she's watching TV, who knows how much time would be spent online. Gotta say, I'm currently spending more time here than I'd care to consider right now.

The title said it all...this is just a bit of random fluf. Figured it'd give all of us a break from the increasingly serious stuff I've been posting. If that's what you like though, fear not, I have stuff waiting to go. It sits waiting in my Drafts folder...consider yourself warned! :-)

More diet stuff

29 posts and more than a few comments related to the posts in just over a month. Someone (that'd be me!) needs to get a life!

In past posts I've talked about the whys of why Taka and I eat they way we do. I've mentioned a few of the benefits, but have only really talked about the weight loss and general feelings of health, etc.

Our diet has evolved from the early days of deciding to forgo meat and meat-derived items. The first of several changes was to stop all dairy products. Of all the things I occasionally miss, cheese and cooking with butter and cream would be way near the top of the list. There are free range items that are hormone and antibiotic free, but we have felt so much better since giving up dairy that we decided to just stay with it. Most of our diet decisions have been mine (I'd never force Taka to follow...as if I could force her to do anything she didn't want to do...), but Taka has joined the ride to her benefit. One thing she's noticed since our diet change is that her skin is better now than it's ever been.

You always hear about how much better vegetarians and people with macrobiotic lifestyles feel. There's a reason for this. They do! I wonder though, if it is largely from the huge amounts of chemicals that have been eliminated from our diet (I'm guessing that it's true of any vegetarian, macrobiotic, and/or organic lifestyle). While the Japanese diet has long been regarded as very healthy, I'm beginning to think that a large part of that is how fresh and relatively free of chemicals it is when compared to the modern Western diet. As the Japanese diet continues to westernize, I think they will find many of the same health issues here that have been plaguing the West for a while now.

I think that one of the biggest mistakes a person that wants to eat healthier can make is to start buying mass-produced items that sell themselves as "healthy" for whatever reason. "Low Fat" means little health-wise if it's because what would have created the higher fat levels has been replaced by four different chemicals with seven syllable names. There are more chemicals in the average American diet than there is actual food. It's fascinating in a horrifying way. I read somewhere that there are something like 1500-2000 man-made chemicals in an average weekly diet in the States. I thought that sounded really high until I discovered how many single ingredients are actually composed of multiple chemicals (often created from others still). Do I feel better because I don't eat meat or dairy, or is it the masses of chemicals I've eliminated from my diet? At this point I just don't care. I feel great.

When we went to Saipan I was fascinated by the supermarkets. Why I judge each country on their food shopping is a mystery that way pre-dates any dietary change on my part. They were so very American (yes, I realize Saipan is an American territory). The biggest shock, and I suspect it will be true when I next visit the States, was the sheer volume of pre-prepared foods. A quick label check on any of them, and I felt right at home (Japan). I really understood less than 20% of the ingredients...and I know my way around a label better than most.

I think a great first step for anyone that wants a healthier diet would be to just not eat or drink anything that has a label you can't fully understand. For most of you this will eliminate nearly everything you eat or drink on a daily basis. You might recognize the phrase "partially hydrolized vegetable oil", but if you can't explain how this oil comes to be hydrolized or how it could be partially hydrolized and why this is a good thing or a bad thing (Side note: bad thing), then you just can't have that product. Just learning what some of the label means will lead to a major shift in eating habits. I challenge any of you to fully explain the ingredients of a diet cola. Side Note: Aspartame is really, really dangerous on several levels.

I truly believe that the reason Taka and I feel so much better, have more energy, etc. is as much from our extremely dramatic decrease in consumption of artificial ingredients and chemicals as it is from the semi-macrobiotic lifestyle.

It's so easy to just blow this all off. There are studies about studies of studies for just about everything. You can make the point that paying attention to these things will just lead to your discovering that everything in the world is bad for you. True enough. I could do a whole other post on that alone (Hmmm). Still, I'm talking from personal experience here. More than a few of you are in for a big surprise if you haven't seen me in a few years. In two years I've gone from 189 lbs. (86 kg. My personal heaviest ever) to 65 kg. (143 lbs).

I don't actually eat as well as I should sometimes, and I kind of tend to just not be hungry when it's hot and humid (which covers a significant part of the year here)...no doubt that has a little to do with things. As strange as it sounds to talk about not eating well while keeping this kind of lifestyle sounds, those of you that do (or have) know what I mean. I expect my weight will rise a little if I ever get around to working out again...but this time you should actually be able to see the muscles (something that didn't happen the last time I was more or less in shape)!

Changing your diet wouldn't be easy for most of you. It involves food shopping pretty much every day. Way more time in the kitchen and way more discrimination when eating out. Going out with friends can be a real challenge for Taka and me. We still eat seafood, so as long as we're careful about butter and the like it's not too bad. In all, it's not as bad as it sounds...especially in Japan. Once you get used to the diet (it takes a while), there are a lot of things you can make and freeze. There are places that sell snacks and restaurants and bars that sell about anything you'd want...and they are not full of aging hippies (some of them aren't that old...just kidding)! Packing lunches is way more common here than elsewhere, but what a way to eat better!

Whether the benefits of changing your eating habits are from the elimination of meat and/or dairy and/or meat and dairy derived products or whether it's the fact that your diet will necessarily be much lower in man-made chemicals is almost a moot point. You will be healthier than you've ever been before. You'll feel it. This isn't from a study. I live it. Taka lives it. Several of my friends do too. It's the real deal.

Any radical diet change should be done carefully. Anyone with real plans to do so should be careful and consult someone that knows what they are doing (while a doctor is probably a good place to start, even a lot of doctors aren't too good about this kind of thing).

Time to shop for dinner.

House party

Inviting people to your house is very rarely done in Japan. It seems to be even more rare in Tokyo than other places in Japan I've lived. Yesterday, Taka's manager had us over for dinner and drinks. Her husband was out of the country, so it was Taka, a temp worker in their department (although temp workers here would be considered full-time in most countries) and myself.

She was an excellent host. Every dish she had, Taka and I could eat. They were all great and there were several notably wonderful dishes. Taka is actually trying to make one now as I type this. It's funny how many people will apologize for how simple a dish is, when that's what makes it so wonderful.

I try to avoid names other than mine and Taka's here, so some of what I write will sound a bit stilted. Sorry, but the innocent must be protected almost as much as I need to cover my ass.

The condo was on the 31st floor of a building just outside of Tokyo. The view was nothing short of incredible. The balcony view covered more than 180 degrees. I've been to observation lounges, etc., but to have a view that incredible from your living room is just amazing. I wouldn't even need a television. The view would be enough. It was seriously amazing.

The company was great, the was food wonderful, and the alcohol flowed. Taka's co-worker had pictures from her recent trip to Nepal. Her husband is a professional photographer, so they were great! We thought we'd be there just a couple of hours, but had such a good time that we barely made the last train (after arriving around 4:00 p.m.). Truth be told, we needed a taxi for the last little stretch home.

Today was spent mostly relaxing. Had a great dinner (pasta and a spinach salad with a hot oil dressing). Before dinner was a bit of an experience though. Taka wanted to get some Lemon Hart Rum. She had it somewhere recently and wanted to use it to make a Mojito. Hemmingway's favorite drink wouldncha know. Since I have more mint growing out back then I know what to do with, it's a pretty good fit. Her suggestion was that we try a little of it straight first (kind of surprising from her, but I was game). She had a little on the rocks, I did a little half shot straight up.

After gagging, sweating and every effort I could think of to avoid it, I ended up spending ten minutes in the bathroom losing everything I've ever eaten in my life. It was embarrassing for me, and (after the having to listen to me part was over) more than a little amusing for Taka. It seems that Lemon Hart Rum is 151 proof (75.5% alcohol)! Nevertheless, I even shocked myself. When I think of all the nights spent doing shots of tequila chased with beer....Maybe it's the diet, but I suspect I'm just getting old *sigh*. For the next week (minimum), I have to deal with Taka catching my eye, pointing to me, pretending to drink a shot, then laughing. Glad I can make her life more amusing...

Not natural

Four-thirty this morning I found myself cooking salmon. I had fallen asleep on the sofa, but promised Taka I'd do the salmon for her bento. By five(ish), I was washing dishes.

This is not a natural act.

As much as I would have liked to put off the clean-up phase of the whole thing until a more reasonable hour, that just wasn't possible. Aside from the obvious reasons (esp. after broiling fish), there are issues those of you in the States that have never spent an extended time abroad need to consider: No dishwasher other than yours truly and trash does not go out everyday. There aren't any outside trashcans or dumpsters, so (for the most part) everything stays inside until just before you need to put it out. In this neighborhood, burnable goes out on Mondays and Thursdays, unburnable on Saturdays and bottles, cans and recyclables on Fridays. Cleanup and sealed bags are important things here.

The scary thing is that by that time there were actually neighbors up and cooking as well. Breakfast, bentos, who knows? All I know is that it's just not natural. It's entirely possible they would think the same thing of me rolling out of bed around noon...but I know I'm right.

Okay. I go to extremes. There's no way I should be up so late or rolling out of bed that time of day. I wouldn't have if I'd had a job scheduled today, but it's a little frightening to think that some of my neighbors may have considered my cooking and washing dishes a normal thing at the five o'clock hour. I have an image of the obasans nodding their heads approvingly and thinking, "She's finally learning." (there's just no way they could wrap their heads around the fact that a man was doing any of that).

Random stuff:

Next week has two holidays. One Monday and one Friday. A three day work week for the normal (Taka included). Haven't tried yet, but I can already guess that roughly half the Japanese I ask will maybe at best be able to tell me what one of the two holidays are.

Another cool, breezy day. This time the weather idiots got it wrong (maybe they actually do flip a coin!). It was supposed to be hot. No complaints though, I love this weather!

Dinner shopping, etc.

This one is a mild, pseudo rant on what amounts to my daily shopping.

Because of my schedule (or lack of, these days), I pretty much do all the food shopping and cooking.

There are three main supermarkets within a ten to fifteen-minute bike ride from here. I generally go to all three of them (at least once) to shop for any one given day's shopping. Why? Partly because I'm stubborn and vindictive. I refuse to give in to any company insulting my intelligence or willingness to go elsewhere (within reason), even if it amounts to just a few cents (yen) here and there.

One small case in point: My favorite vegetable juice is ¥298/liter at one store and ¥354/liter at a store you can practically see from there. The sneakiness lies in that the more expensive store is much cheaper than the second for other items. Generally speaking, one is best for produce (and occasionally seafood), one for dry and canned goods (etc.) and one for variety (however all of this seems to randomly shuffle from time to time). I can get a can of diced tomatoes for ¥100 from one store and the exact same can at the other two for something around ¥168. These aren't sale prices, just everyday pricing.

On the one hand, these are trivial amounts of money (though I imagine they would add up over the course of a year). On the other hand, taken as a percentage, some of these things can show a 35-40% difference in price between stores you can walk to and from in less than five minutes. I guess if you shopped at just one of the stores it'd all equal out in the end, but what fun would that be?

My petty and vindictive side comes out when I'm in a bad mood and not in a hurry. I've been known to ask any staff nearby, "Is this spinach really ¥259? Wow, look at this (reaching into my bag and pulling out a bigger bunch that looks nicer). I just got this at Cerca for ¥198". Then I walk away muttering loud enough to be heard about how expensive this place is. I've done this at all three stores on different items. I can't do it often, because they would catch on, but my Japanese is just good enough to manage all that.

Another thing that bites my butt is the fact that some (if not all) stores selling food use the old "bait and switch" scam. The most common example would be with a thing like chips (crisps) sold in convenience stores. A new flavor (flavour...okay, now I'm getting carried away!) by some big international company like Frito-Lay is introduced. As soon as a market is developed, It is taken off the shelves and replaced by a much poorer quality knock-off from whatever Japanese company is associated with, or has the most leverage with the store. In my case, I wouldn't care, except that it runs through the whole gambit of products in all the stores. One of the places near here used to sell this excellent Thai curry preparation ensemble (imported from Thailand). I loved it, and I wasn't the only one. The stock seemed to move fairly well. One day I went in (to buy just that, wouldn't you know), only to discover that it was no longer stocked and that it had been replaced by a Japanese brand that was not only (very likely) hideous judging from the brand and just eyeballing the packaging, but was so full of chemicals that I couldn't even try it to give myself the satisfaction of knowing I was right about the quality and taste. To add insult to injury, it was like 50% more expensive than the imported stuff.

One night I was really pissed at what used to be my favorite store for all the imported stuff they carry. They have been through some kind of management change and have whittled down their selection of imported items to almost nothing. I requested to talk to the stock manager and told him how much I USED to like their imported foods section and how disappointed I was with the changes. I didn't like the answer and challenged him to show me how the current selection in say the Italian foods section differed from a 7-11. The only two things he could come up with were volume (amount, not variety), and price.

They all hate me (not that that bothers me!). And there's about zero chance that I'll affect any change whatsoever. This is a country that is just filled with people whose entire attitude on this kind of thing is, "Shikataga nai". This translates to, "It can't be helped." but more loosely means, "There's nothing you can do about it, so why worry?". Still, the occasional lashing out does make me feel a little better from time to time.

Side Note: I'm not really singling out Japan, I'm sure this happens in lots of countries, but there really are times I feel like I'm living in a vast herd of sheep. I single out Japan because I live here, I'd probably be beat-up or arrested (or both) if I lived in the States and publicly aired my rants there. (there is a plus side to: "Shikataganai"!).

We live near a tourist spot. Because of this the "shotengi" is pretty much tourist-oriented. There aren't really all that many small family-owned shops for food and the like around here. Our next place will likely be closer to the downtown area (not that we have any plans to move in the near future). Then maybe I'll be able to get more organic stuff (and no doubt long for the days when grocery shopping was so inexpensive).

Did I start this out by saying it would be a mild, pseudo rant?

As if that were possible when I start on a rant!

This weekend

Generally speaking, I need to lighten up a little if I want to hear anything (good) at all from my family about this blog. I seriously hope to inspire a few inquiries into some of the more serious issues and opinions I've been writing about with greater and greater frequency, but realize that it's the day-to-day stuff that a lot of you are most interested in...go figure (besides, I don't want to sound like a raving maniac all the time).

Wow! I just had some grapes. Huge, dark purple, seedless and so sweet I'm having a sugar rush.

This has been a pretty casual weekend so far. Taka had a really busy week (not getting home until around 9-10 most nights), so we've mostly just been relaxing. I made green Thai curry for dinner last night. It was great! I wish I could take full credit for it, but I can't. The roux and most of the dried herbs where from a box (imported from Thailand). I generally add quite a bit to what's called for and do things in different order from the instructions. That doesn't always work, but last night's version was very tasty. It required wiping sweat from my bald head more than once (I really do shave it!). I need to try and figure out how to do this from scratch...some of the ingredients are gonna be tuff though. I can grow lemon grass and basil, but don't even know where to find kafir lime leaves.

Another family in the building moved out yesterday. They had a boy about 1 1/2 yrs. old and another child on the way soon. My bet is that a couple with one or two children and one on the way will replace them. Sometimes I feel like I live in the maternity or pediatric ward of a hospital. Judging from some of the kids around here, it could even be the pediatric ward of a mental hospital. The good part is that every time people move out of this place, a grand effort is made at making it look a little better. That, I like very much.

Taka was hinting that she wants to go out for dinner tonight. If she can motivate herself off the sofa and I can motivate myself off this computer, then we're thinking about a trip to Ginza and maybe a little Indian food tonight (we eat mostly Japanese during the week, but weekends can be pretty international). A friend told me about a place she likes, and I thought we'd check it out...if that doesn't work, we'll head to the place we went to last time (non-dairy vegetarian okay). Now I just need a mantra to give me the willpower to avoid the Apple Store!

Whoops! Nix all that. A major thunderstorm just passed through (or at least the worst of it has passed). I even shut down the computer for an hour. It was pretty intense...so naturally I had to go outside and watch. Unexpected and plan-changing, but pretty cool for all of that. There is now a small pond just behind our balcony.

Can't resist

I just can't resist sharing the latest thing to shock and disgust me over the Katrina debacle. I'll keep it short.

A Halliburton subsidiary just started dipping into its first of what is likely to be many contracts for the cleanup and rebuilding of New Orleans ($500,000,000). As unbelievable as that is (take a look sometime at how much money they have criminally wasted in Iraq; it involves a few more zeros than already mentioned so far), this is almost old news at this point.

Here's the real kicker: Bush just signed an executive order that allows contractors in the disaster area to pay less than minimum wage.

Giving Halliburton yet another no-bid contract that starts at $500,000,000 isn't enough? He now has to give them the right to pay workers less than minimum wage?

The poor and disenfranchised in New Orleans will never be able to get their heads above water!

Homemakers' rush hour rant

Yesterday I was actually called a "metrosexual". All I was doing was discussing a chickpea salad recipe, discussing the advantages of a pressure cooker and commenting on the food shopping in this neighborhood...it's not like I was discussing the latest fall fashions or anything! :-)

This post is not about that though. It's about rush hour. Rush hour for the homemaker (in Japan, "homemakers" should be read: "housewives"). For better or worse, I often find myself in this position these days. Our schedules, our diet and the fact that Taka takes a bento to work everyday play a big role in this.

Rush hour for homemakers has a lot of parallels to what most people would think of when they hear someone mention rush hour and Tokyo in the same sentence. It's crowded, it's crazy and everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere. It happens in waves, there are lines to be waited in, shoving and rudeness, dirty looks, tongue clicking and shaking of heads all mixed together with the polite and the resigned.

For any one of a hundred reasons, I usually find myself shopping at this time. I guess the worst of homemakers' rush hour around here is something like 4-6. That's the time of the frenzied older housewives in that mad push to get what they need and hurry home to get that dinner ready. God forbid they not have that dinner ready exactly on time. It might reflect badly on them, so god help anyone that gets in their way to fulfill this urgent quest.

Parking at rush hour can be hell. I'm talking about bicycles. It seems the older a woman is, the more she feels that it's her right to just park that bike anywhere she pleases. Remember that we're still talking about people young enough to ride a bike to the store for shopping...and more than able to shove anyone in their way aside. These are the same women that literally run to the door of a train, knock people out of their way and rush to an empty seat in order to rest their tired, elderly, weary bones. If their bike can be close to the entrance but needs to block the door a little, so be it...forget the fact that it's nowhere near the designated parking area. Handicapped parking? Forget it! Apparently the definition of handicapped is anyone not actually playing professional sports or on the Olympic team.

There's a guy that works at one of the larger supermarkets in my area. He's past the usual retirement age and his main job is to keep the bicycle parking area orderly. He has completely given up long ago. He just tries to look busy these days. I'm sure hours of picking up and moving locked bikes is more than a little tiring for someone his age. It'd be tiring for me. That's not why he gave up though. I can't even count the number of times I've seen him being yelled at by some middle-aged housewife for moving her bike. A few months ago I watched him try to go proactive. That resulted in his being yelled at and belittled by women that hadn't even locked their bikes yet. His job is primarily during rush hour, but these days he does little more than pick up trash from the parking area (when it can get to it through the bikes).

The second wave of homemakers' rush hour would be the working women (who work but still need to get that dinner out in reasonable time...then there are dishes to wash, bentos to make, baths to get ready, etc.). While this wave can be just as frenzied, these people have a better grip on playing well with others and shopping at this time can be pretty busy but it's not usually too bad.

Just getting to the stores by bike during rush hour can be hell on earth. People these days seem to believe that paying even the slightest attention to your immeadiate surroundings when walking or riding a bike just isn't necessary...but that's a rant for another day. Right now I'm having a six-pack attack. It's time to head to the store...and since it's Friday I think I'll even ask them to super-size me.

Katrina: American shame

NOTE: This post makes my last Katrina post seem mild. I've repeated myself a little because I plan to use this elsewhere as well. I urge you to be upset at this...but not at the person who wrote it.

I’m ashamed.

Katrina was a storm. Not the biggest and not likely to be the biggest even in the near future. Get used to this kind of news because global warming pretty guarantees this to escalate. If you can't wrap your head around that, call it "Intelligent Design".

New Orleans is below sea level. Use it as an example of what you can expect in the reasonably near future. Fifteen or twenty years from now, that could be pretty much every major coastal city in the world (most major cities are coastal cities). I predict that engineers from the Netherlands will be in pretty huge demand over the next few decades.

This isn't really about ecology though. It's about how ashamed I am of the U.S. government'’s emergency management.

I'’m pretty sure that most of you are aware of the adage that prevention is the best medicine. The situation in Louisiana is going to cost us tens of billions of dollars when hundreds of millions would have prevented the worst of it. And it goes without saying that the lives lost can never be replaced.

Know that Halliburton gets the contract for clean-up and restoration. It's already a done deal. Big business is already looking to snatch up the property of the dead and thanks to a recent Surpreme Court decision can pretty much take what they want (with government approval and the newly approved Eminent Domain Laws).

Why does a city FEMA listed as one of the three most likely disaster sites in the U.S. in a 2001 report not have a plan to evacuate tens of thousands of people without cars and/or money for bus tickets and hotel rooms? Why is FEMA turning away tankers of water and shipments of relief aid? Why are they refusing entry to the city of what amounts to thousands of volunteers? Why can people in evacuation centers not even find out where buses are going to take them, let alone when they'll be arriving/departing? Why are the dead being shipped out faster than the living? Why are parish presidents so frustrated that they break down and cry on national television at the helplessness they feel, despite the surpreme efforts they are making to save people and their city?

Why?

Are these unreasonable questions to ask of country that considers itself to be the greatest on earth?

Why are white people finding or getting necessary supplies while non-whites doing the same thing are looting? I’m not really playing the race card here. I’m just calling it the way I see it. The poor (of every ethnic background) are disproportionately dying and suffering in this tragedy. I'm sure looting is occurring, but is it looting if you break into a place to get food and water for your family?

Am I ashamed for no good reason? Enlighten me please!

The island nation of Cuba has had worst storms than this. Ivan destroyed more than 20,00 homes and not one person died. With the billions and billions of dollars spent on Homeland security we can't be safe from a storm?! We can’t handle evacuation and adequate food and water supplies for a storm?! I won’t play the “Where was the National Guard?" card either (we all know they are in Iraq) ...okay, I guess I did.

Am I the only one to see the multiple articles in the news where military commanders refer to this situation as a "combat mission to get the city under control"? Is it necessary to make people wait hours in line so that they can be frisked before entering an evacuation center? Am I the only one to be shocked at the fact that ten year old children are being frisked by military personnel armed with automatic weapons before they are allowed on evacuation buses?

What's up with contractors trying to repair a canal being shot and killed by police for carrying weapons to protect themselves while trying to perform a service in a disaster area? What's up with using this incedent as further reason to call the area a war zone?! Why weren't police informed that armed construction crews (under government contract) were in the area. Why did they shoot before finding out? I find it impossible to believe that those workers opened fire on the police, so I guess the police would have to take the blame on this one.


What happened to the America I grew up in? Do not DARE tell me terrorism! What did the people of New Orleans do to deserve this?! The current administration has morgaged a U.S. city to help fund an illegal war based on lies and can't even manage to come up with the most basic of rescue efforts. The next time you look at how much money is being spent on Homeland security, think of the wonderful job being done right now in New Orleans. If they can't handle a storm, how are they going to do in a major terrorist attack anyway?

I admit that I don’t trust Mainstream media to accurately report the death toll, but even they are hinting that it may be in the tens of thousands. This was a storm! One that was tracked and expected. It happened in a city that was a well-documented safety risk weather-wise.

Being sympathetic is good. Volunteering and/or donating money to aid organizations is better. Disbelief, Shame and Anger are good. The people of New Orleans and surrounding areas are suffering horribly. Much of it could have been prevented. Much of it could have been handled better. Much needs to be done RIGHT NOW!

While not ignoring the current situation, lets work to make this better. Lets work to make sure it doesn’t happen this way again. Lets pay a little more attention. Lets put people in charge that can and do run things the way they need to be run. Ask people in New Orleans if they think that's the case right now.

Wake up America! Pay attention. Look at things objectively. Think, read, and think some more. Take the time. The consequences affect each of you. How much are you paying for gas right now and why? Nothing less than five reasons is enough, and four or five explanations for each of those reasons would give you a good start.

Sounds like a lot of work? Think about it next time you fill your tank. Look up one little piece of it each day you fill your tank. (I like that. The people checking the most will be the people that need to check the most).

Okay, ecology was a big part of this. It started with shame though. What’s happened, happening, and should be happening in Louisianna are on my mind a lot recently. I'm American but don't live in the States. If you had any idea how the U.S. is viewed abroad now, you would be that much more ashamed of this debacle.

Don’t beleive me straight out. You may not even know me. Don’t believe the news you watch before you go to bed each night either. You don't know them either. They are more loyal to the commercials they show anyway. Read and think. Try to read between the lines. Disbelief is okay. Always check multiple sources for every bit of news you see or read (preferably sources from multiple countries). Listen to me but don’t believe me. Try to prove me wrong.

The blame game is about to start even as I write this. Make sure it goes where it belongs. What ever happened to that The Buck Stops Here sign that once sat on the president's desk? Someone remind the current president that it wasn't referring to money before he puts it on his desk for the next photo op.

No disrespect is intended to anyone doing their best in a horrific situation. My thoughts are with you. I know that for every shaming story I've referred to here, there are likely hundreds of heroic encounters. I've seen how situations such as this can bring out the best in people. I just can't abide by how the government is handling this. It really is shameful.

A little lighter (2)

..and the thing was so small you couldn't believe it!

Just kidding (read the title of the post again).

Two posts in one day (even if one of them is just a picture I found and really liked). I really need to get a life!

As much as I enjoy writing the more serious stuff, I'll limit it. If I need more, I'll consider another blog with a theme.

My insomnia has flared up again. It could be tied into the heat, humidity, etc., but I've had less than 13 hrs. of sleep in the last three days (and more than half of that was in a chair). None of that has been in a stretch of over two hours. On the plus-side, alcohol consumption really drops when you wake up punch-drunk! ;-)

(That was written last night. I actually got a decent night's sleep last night)

Yesterday's original plan was to go to a kind of an organic farmer's market event held by a company we often catalogue order from. We've been there before and loved it (the place more than the event). It's in a beautiful location next to a river at the base of the central mountain range on this island. The problem is that it takes more than two hours each way. Between Taka's busy week and my lack of sleep, we just blew it off. When it cools off a little, we'll head out that way and maybe do a little riverside picnic. It really is a beautiful place.

This is what the outdoor part of the restaurant looks like. It's from their website (I don't know any of these people).



The outside (from the front) looks like a large Pennsylvania-style barn. Do a Google search on Alishan and you should find a lot more.

We woke up to a power outage this morning that included water. You would have laughed to see me sitting in the office by a computer with no power trying to figure out what to do with my morning. You probably would have laughed less at the mood around here when we were trying to get everything reset after the power came back on. The phone took about an hour and several flare-ups of temper. I shouldn't complain though, it was the first time in four years that the power has more than flickered off then back on.

We knew it was a neighborhood-wide event because of the people living behind us. There's kind of a dead-end ally behind our building that we share with some houses. Three or four individual homes all filled with the same family. Old-school Japanese. They were really freaking over what to do for lunch because it was almost 12:00. They were more concerned over not being able to have lunch right at 12:00 than they were over the power outage, because "Hey, it's 12:00. Where's lunch?!". The power was back on by 11:50, but they had already rushed off to a restaurant.

The power was out less than two hours. I'm gladder than most because I've spent something like five times that cooking and freezing stuff over the last few days. Insignificant compared to what's going on elsewhere in the world, but never underestimate my ability to make the life of everyone around me miserable when I'm pissed off.

It's actually kind of cool and breezy today. I think I'll head out to the stores before the rain hits.

Too late. The skies just opened. Just the thought of going out is enough to bring on the rain. Maybe I ought to do a tour of drought stricken areas...

Looters be warned

Considering the circumstances, this probably isn't funny. It's likely more truth than I'd like to think about, but I wanted to share it anyway.

Katrina and the news (Updated)

SideNote Completely Unrelated To This Post:All comments will require an extra step in an attempt to foil the evil hoards of blog spammers that think they can profit through F%&#ing with this site.

NOTE: This one qualifies as a serious post. It's one you may not want to read if you're likely to get upset over my frank comments on my opinions.

In e-mails from friends and family over the last week or so, I've heard many comments on the horrible disaster that is continuing in New Orleans. Everyone mentions Katrina and how horrible it all is. Not one person has mentioned how poorly the whole situation is being delt with. If you know where to look, there are virtually hundreds upon hundreds of articles in the news on just that...and trust me when I say that these are not the kind of things you are likely seeing on the evening news.

Most of those articles are easily available to each of you by clicking on my link to WRH or ICH. As they are news blogs, the news reported reflects the opinions of the person who runs the blog. Don't let that throw you though, the vast majority of what is on that site is directly from reputable news sources. This is stuff that you'll not be getting on CNN, Fox or the rest of what you likely see on TV or read in papers. Even the stuff that does come from CNN, etc. is so completely under-aired, you probably never saw it.

I urge all of you to be critical of what you see and read in MSM (MainStream Media).

One interesting tidbit involving Katrina is that nearly every photo or scene of white people going into stores for food and water describes them as "finding" survival necessities. Every one that features a non-white person doing the exact same thing describes them as looting. I couldn't make up anything this good. Check it out for yourself.

Or this: There are 500 airboats packed with supplies (mostly stocked out of the pockets of the owner/pilots) in Florida that can't get permission to enter the area (while the mayor of New Orleans is begging for help from any direction). Canada has an elite disaster assistance team ready to go...they can't get permission to help.

Another thing I can't resist adding: There's a Tuesday night conversation with a paramedic in Gulf Port, Mississippi reported on Free Republic. He described scenes of bodies hanging in trees and entire families found drowned in their homes. When told the official number of dead, "he got very quiet," then said "dude, we are picking up 30 at a time...thousands are dead. Why aren't they saying...? I guess I better shut up then - don't give my name."

How many times have you heard or read little side comments in the news stating that the people there "chose to stay"? A good question to ask about that would be, "Exactly how many people with no cars and not enough money for a bus ticket or hotel room do you think could evacuate?" You don't see a lot of middle or upper middle-class families having to be rescued (or pulled dead from their houses) do you?

Did you know?: This disaster probably couldn't have been completely averted, but in 2001 FEMA listed a hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three most likely disasters to occur in the U.S....just before Bush cut flood control spending in that area by 44% to help fund the war in Iraq. Since 2001, the Army Corps of Engineers has requested $496 million for that project but the Bush administration only budgeted $166 million, according to figures provided by the office of Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.

(Bush) immediately signed a $10.5 billion (that's billion with a "B") disaster aid package passed by Congress — an amount he repeatedly called "just the beginning" of federal expenditures for storm relief. He issued a memorandum saying Hurricane Katrina had created a "severe energy supply interruption" that could damage the national economy, and formally authorized a drawdown of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I wonder how much less money would have had to be spent if he had just allowed the Army Corp of Engineers to prepare for this before it happened?

Guess what?: Any idea who already has the contract to cleanup/re-build the city? That's right! Halliburton. Interesting, huh?

The list goes on.

Don't take my word for it. Don't take any one person or source's word on it. Read and think. Read between the lines and think. Read news from outside the U.S.; it'll often give you more info about what's going on in the U.S. than anything you've seen living there (ask virtually anyone that has lived outside the U.S.). Anyone reading this has an internet hookup and a computer. The news is out there. Don't believe it because you read it (this is especially true on the internet), check the same story from different sources. Every bit of news you read or see comes from someone or some entity with an agenda. If you only watch/read U.S. mainstream media, you are definitely getting all your information from a source with an agenda. Guessing the agenda doesn't really require much more than a little thought and a trained eye.

Sound like a lot of work? It can be, but living with blinders on has it's consequences too. How much is a gallon of gas going for these days? Why?

Sermon over.

My heart goes out to everyone affected by Katrina (the current administration exempted). I can only hope that if a disaster of this magnatude strikes Tokyo, things will be handled better...of course, had Katrina done this damage in Washington D.C. or Crawford, Texas, I imagine things would be handled better too.

Chicago and other banalities

Last night I went to the road-show version of Broadway's Chicago. Taka couldn't go due to a work trip she couldn't get out of. I went with a friend. No doubt we were the only straight men together to see this musical.

It was really good. Way different from the movie. Even with my very limited knowledge of Broadway, this just screamed of Bob Fosse. This was kind of old-school Broadway. A very good night out.

I've had a comment from my only regular viewer that I haven't been posting everyday anymore. Get over it Dude! :-) I get more blog spam (there's a name for it, but I can't be bothered to check just now) than legit comments. I have a backlog of stuff to post...I'm just pacing myself.

I need to do something with the last of the fresh stuff sent in the last two care packages by Taka's Mom and Grandmom. Lots of eggplant and onions. Pasta sauce sounds like the ticket. Thank god for freezer space. That's something we haven't always had. The size of the fridges here can be shocking. Ours is great. It's saved us hugely just for the fact that I can cook and freeze a lot of stuff...and this time of year, I like that it automatically makes ice from bottled water (he says, taking another sip of his Southern Comfort on the rocks).

Anyway...

Off to the store(s)