June 14, 2008 archive

Random Japan

Here and there

In a story that made headlines around the world, an escaped pet parrot named Yosuke was plucked by police from a rooftop in Nagareyama. He apparently later told a vet, “I’m Mr Yosuke Nakamura,” before providing his home address.

Cheaters sometimes don’t prosper

Customs officials at Narita were left red-faced after one bonehead officer put $10,000 worth of weed in an unsuspecting passenger’s luggage to test out his drug-sniffing dog. Unfortunately, the mutt failed to detect the dope and his handler forgot which bag he put it in. As of press time, no one had returned the drugs, although one passenger bound for Vancouver reportedly ate seven meals on his flight home.

Bush Impeachment Polls

Thanks to Dennis Kucinich and his submission of 35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush, impeachment talk is once again in the air!

Although, there are not many polling companies who have asked the question, “Should George W. Bush be impeached?”, there have been a few. And, it’s time to catalog those in one place and take a close look at what they tell us.

With impeachment diaries once again popping up and heated discussions on whether or not impeachment is warranted, popular or stands a chance of succeeding, are regular topics again. And many in the blogisphere seem to have some misconceptions. I’m going to focus on public perception here.

Here’s what we know…

Friday Night at 8: Gathering Together

Ben E. King – Stand By Me

Got the idea for this essay from my all time favorite diary by buhdydharma, written on November 20, 2006, which begins.

Gather ye round my Brothers and Sisters, come sit by the fire with the children and the ancestors and the listening spirits and I shall tell to you a tale. Spun by a madman from whole cloth and cast upon the seas of reality to drift where it may through the warps and wefts of space and time. A tale of stunning hope and hope denied, a tale of great victories….and and the same sad tale of tragic defeat. A tale of the impossible realized and the possible left undone, the tale of us and we. All the same story all the same story all the same story. and so, and so, and so,… and here we are. Still and again. Always and now. Now and forever.

I think about the people I know and so many of them are just outstanding human beings.  I don’t have a lot of friends, but I do have a few, and I have many good acquaintances here in New York City.  So I am never lonely.  I also have a gathering of people who share my spiritual practice.  Yes, I am very fortunate.

But there is another kind of gathering together, and the folks I’ve spoken of above are not part of that.  When I invite them to this gathering, they are not interested and some of them think me quite mad to even suggest such a thing, they with their busy lives.

A Victory for (Real) Democracy in Iraq

The Iraqi Parliament has won a significant if tenuous victory in their struggle for democracy.  AFP is reporting that Prime Minister Maliki is at least temporarily conceding that he cannot ram Bush’s Status of Forces Agreement through the Iraqi parliament.

Maliki says talks on Iraq-US pact deadlocked

1 hour ago

AMMAN (AFP) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday that negotiations with the United States on a long-term security pact were deadlocked because of concern the deal infringes Iraqi sovereignty.

“We have reached an impasse, because when we opened these negotiations we did not realise that the US demands would so deeply affect Iraqi sovereignty . . .

Maliki’s claim that he did not “realise” anything about the US demands is fatuous.  Maliki signed the original November 2007 Declaration of Principles upon which the current contested Status of Forces Agreement is based.  This is a victory for the Iraqi people, not their Prime Minister.

A few more words about this below.

Bite Size Bad News 6: The “Staycation”

I know, I know, the last thing you need is another reason to hate Wal-Mart.

But check this out. Last month Wal-Mart management filed with the patent office to scarf up the rights to a neologism (one they had nothing to do with coining, incidentally): “staycation.”

The idea is pretty clear–what with layoffs, inflation, a recession and $4 a gallon gas, many of us aren't going to be doing much vacation traveling this summer, so let's hang around the crib and Have Fun! It's a Staycation!

Rand McNally, the map people, did some polling, via Harris, in April: 57% of American families are trimming their vacation plans this summer, with only 15% of us intending to travel for more than five days. One in ten are canceling vacation plans altogether.

With their trademark application at the US Patent Office still pending, Wal-Mart went ahead yesterday and rolled out a widget you can install on your home computer so that every day you can see a nifty new suggestion for Big Fun on your stay-at-home vacation. Most of them, oddly enough, involve the purchase of a barbecue grill, an “inflatable outdoor movie screen” or some other piece of crap from Wal-Mart. (See the press release at this business news site–I'm not linking to the swine.)

I wonder what they'll come up with if millions of us find ourselves on permanent “staycation” as the economy continues to go pear-shaped. Waterproof cardboard box liners to keep your new residence dry? Lightweight plastic trays to sell apples and pencils from? 2 for 1 squeegees for the entrepeneurially-minded? Have a nice “staycation”…

 

[This is the latest in a series of short looks at the economy under the heading “Bite Size Bad News” I've been posting over at Fire on the Mountain.]

Through the Darkest of Nights: Testament XXII

Every few days over the next several months I will be posting installments of a novel about life, death, war and politics in America since 9/11.  Through the Darkest of Nights is a story of hope, reflection, determination, and redemption.  It is a testament to the progressive values we all believe in, have always defended, and always will defend no matter how long this darkness lasts.  But most of all, it is a search for identity and meaning in an empty world.

Naked and alone we came into exile.  In her dark womb, we did not know our mother’s face; from the prison of her flesh have we come into the unspeakable and incommunicable prison of this earth. Which of us has known his brother?  Which of us has looked into his father’s heart?  Which of us has not remained prison-pent?  Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone?      ~Thomas Wolfe

All installments are available for reading here on Docudharma’s Series page, and also here on Docudharma’s Fiction Page, where refuge from politicians, blogging overload, and one BushCo outrage after another can always be found.

Friday Philosophy: Straight Talk

I would be a fool not have doubts about posting some of the things I write.  I would be more of a fool if I let that stop me from posting them.

◊  ◊  ◊

I’m a lesbian.  I’m not a gay man.  I’m not a man of any sort, though I am aware that there are many people who disagree with me on that.

Because I am a lesbian, I have the social liberty to speak out.  It’s really hard to find a straight transwoman who will speak up.  Did you ever wonder why?

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