Dem candidate and vet, Jim Martin, is fighting hard in this special election in Georgia. Here's a new ad slamming the gop incumbent on his horrible record on Veterans issues.

well done.

Cenk can be informative and fun to watch - although I don't think I'm the target audience for his humor:-).

But I'm definitely the target when it comes to giving Howard Dean a chance to give us some background on what really matters: and just to be his straightforward, honest, compassionate self.

Ladies and gents, one of the smartest guys in any room:




Yeah, of course, competence should be rewarded. But what Howard did was way beyond just competence. He tore up the Democratic Party's worst roots and saved the best of what was left. He rebuilt the guts of the organization and changed-managed it into renewed relevance. And, he trusted the American people and respected us enough to ask for our vote, no matter where we live. He founded Democracy for America, which is run by his equally kickass brother Jim Dean, and trains regular people to be extraordinarily effective change agents in their communities. And, while he has a very healthy ego, he also had a larger priority: saving the life and true values of country he loves. So, when people push and hem and haw about how much credit he ought to be getting now from our President-elect (I'm one of them), what's clearly most important to Howard is that we have the right leader to build on the many great foundations that moved this country forward, including his practical, powerful vision of the 50-State Strategy.

This sums up my thoughts this weekend wonderfully well!

If you didn't watch this yet, give it a look now!


And here's hoping that we are able to work together and improve and heal and rebuild in the coming year. Optimistic and Determined Hope!

Hope your thanksgiving was tasty, warm and bountiful.

When you get online after the post feast nap, be sure to tell us what you ate? How it was? and any other Thanksgiving tales you have to tell.

Cementing progressive gains beyond winning elections.

We have experienced an extremely exciting and historic rout of the mouthbreathing rightwing freaks who have been dominating our national discourse for the last 3 decades. Unfortunately, we need to remember something very important about politics: Elections are important, but they are won or lost based on the perception of the political party built over the periods between elections. Second dose of cold water: The Democrats are not progressive by nature or intent.

We can already see what is happening in the Obama campaign: Lieberman gets a pass, presumably with the tacit (perhaps explicit) approval of Obama. Gates seems to be staying in his position atop the military bureaucracy. Clinton gets Secretary of State. Loads of Clintonite neoliberals (who were a big part of the deregulatory extravaganza that led us into the current morass) getting appointments to advisory and oversight positions in the economic structure. Brennan getting serious attention for a top slot in the intelligence infrastructure…

We should not be surprised or particularly dismayed by much of this, because it is part and parcel of the standard operating procedure for the Democratic Party. The Democrats are, in general, timid reformers at best, tepid when it comes to enacting real change even when they have an overwhelming mandate to do so. Why do they do this? Because their interests lie in the maintenance and survival of the current economic, political and social order.

So, the immortal question… “What is to be done?”

The answer is clear: More of what we are doing, better, faster, stronger. The appeals to populism made by both candidates are indicative of the fact that there is a massive groundswell of general discontent in this nation. The blowout that was this election is indicative of the fact that this is, indeed, a Center Left nation (at minimum), and that people really do want serious change in the way business and government is done.

Don’t get me wrong: The Democrats will no doubt make some serious and welcome changes. The people appointed will be competent and serious for the most part, and will operate inside the government in far more efficient and intelligent fashion than the cretinous idiots infesting the previous administration (Let's not dwell on the fact that a blind goat could do that at this point.) I proudly and happily voted for Obama and for my local Democratic Representatives and voted Democratic all the way down the ticket, and will continue to do so.

At the same time, it is clear to me that the Democratic Party as a whole is not particularly interested in the kind of radical changes that will be required to truly fix the mess that we’re in, not in a fashion that will both get us out of the morass and prevent such a clusterfuck from happening again.

The only answer I have is more community organizing, more engagement on the local levels, more activism on line and off line, more pressure on all politicians at all levels to take off the blinders and see what is going on: massive numbers of people are on the brink of ruin, entire sectors of the economy teetering on the edge of total collapse, infrastructure near decay, industrial capacity in the toilet, and real wages, real employment, and real prospects for positive change all stagnating. Join the PTA (I did), get active in the local schoolboard (I am), keep up the pressure via whatever means best fit your life (resolution for me: blog more!).

It is my opinion that until the financial giants are gutted, their management fired at least, and preferably stripped of their assets and put in jail, the capital they have so mismanaged forcibly taken from them and applied to real growth in the real economy at all levels, the industrial infrastructure retooled and revamped and put to work (Making trains, laying track, making efficient alternative transportation a reality, building schools that are properly designed, paying teachers what their services are worth, and so on) – until these things are the central focus of a sustained nationwide effort done at the expense of the now-moribund giants of capital…. We are going to be spinning our wheels faster and faster and going nowhere.

The Obama administration is a blessing, no question. Serious, competent, aware leadership is far, far better than what could be. But the Obama administration, both because of the structural forces resistant to serious change and because of the inherent resistance within the Democratic Party, is not going to be able to, or really even attempt to, address the root causes of the mess we are in. That, my friends, is up to us.

I am heavily involved with absentee voting for Americans living overseas. I work tirelessly to make sure Americans living abroad can vote and stay involved as is their right under HAVA. I also am vigilant to make sure our voters vote properly and legally, and that they make sure to follow the rules. It seems that the GOP in the desparation to hold on to the Georgia Senate seat are hoping no one is paying attention.

A former Dem Abroad who just moved home has reported back to me about some pretty fishy actions from the RNC.

Here's his report;

I have an interesting thing here, and you are the only one I can think to ask about it. It seems there is a run-off election in Georgia-- I've received two mailers from the RNC telling me to register for my absentee ballot. Funny thing is (are):

1.) I'm not registered as a republican (obviously)

2.) I'm not from Georgia, and have never lived there, or had any form of residency/official business there-- I live in Pittsburgh, PA.

3.) My name is slightly different but similar to the two names these mailers are addressed to.

4.) I have only lived at this address since February of 2008-- and it was under remodeling for a year before that, aside from which, there is no way in someone with these names ever resided here before me.

And last, which I realized when I considered they may have culled this address from voter roles of this years PA election:

5.) I actually voted in a different district than the one I live in now- by voting in the same district I'm registered in, i.e. the address on my Drivers License, which is my parents house, as it has been since before I lived in Japan...I haven't gotten around to updating my license yet, and didn't want to deal with the chance of poll workers questioning my validity or what not (No provisional ballot for me!)

Is this fishy?

It seems fishy to me-- like the RNC is purposely trying to round up votes, be they legitimate or not, in order to stuff the ballot box and then do their chicanery to undermine a count or challenges to the authenticity of said votes.

I have sent this info up the chain, but it is pretty clear that there is some vote fraud being perpetrated by the GOP. Everyone be vigilant! They are for sure trying to steal this one!

Here are Letterman's "Top 10 Sarah Palin Excuses For the Turkey Slaughter":

10. I can see Russia, but I can't see what's going on 5 feet behind me
9. Not thinking straight after spending all night reading every newspaper and magazine
8. Damn "gotcha" media got me again!
7. My Remington shotgun says I don't need an excuse
6. Those were Al Qaeda turkeys 5. I thought they were just toruting the little guy
4. I mean, doggonit, you know, like we have to lower taxes, and like, it all falls under job security, and we need to drill, you know?
3. Uh, stomach flu?
2. I'll get right back to ya! I'm still adorable, America
1. Don't blame me! Blame Joe the Turkey Slaughterer

Apparently she hasn't gotten enough of that "White hot spotlight"

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is traveling back down to Georgia next Monday to do four last-minute campaign rallies in one day to help incumbent GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Chambliss is in an apparently close-fought runoff race there with Democrat Jim Martin and the balloting is the next day, Dec. 2. Big-name Democrats have jumped in to help the party reach for its 60-Senate-seat, filibuster-proof majority by knocking off yet another Republican incumbent.

Palin, who's also been a successful party fundraiser, will do events for Chambliss from Augusta to Savannah to Perry and then Atlanta, probably just before the evening news on TV. What a coincidence in case any station wanted a live shot of the Republican celebrity!- LA Times

Let's Get Busy!

It is time to send some love to Jim Martin, and sign up to phone bank for him! This one is really important. And we can't let this become a (turkey)feather in Palin's cap. Do what you can, people. We need you.

Step 1. Now Complete.

Miami judge rules against Florida's ban on adoptions by gay people, finds 'no rational basis' By CURT ANDERSON, AP Legal Affairs Writer
2:33 PM PST, November 25, 2008
MIAMI (AP) _ A judge on Tuesday ruled that a strict Florida law that blocks gay people from adopting children is unconstitutional, declaring there was no legal or scientific reason for sexual orientation alone to prohibit anyone from adopting.

This is likely to go on to the state supreme court and then hopefully it will be finished. If not, it will go on up to the supreme court. The "No Rational Basis" finding is very good though, as it is an outright dismissal on legal grounds. Excellent.

Alaskans for Truth (a group led by the same lefty bloggers and that orgnaized some of the local Alaska anti-Palin rallies during the election)is calling on the Alaskan Legislature to follow the Legislative Council's "Troopergate" report, which found that Gov. Palin abused her power, as opposed to the conflicting Personnel Board investigation, that supposedly cleared her.

The group calls on lawmakers to:

-- Censure Palin.
-- Seek contempt charges against Todd Palin and state officials "who willingly ignored the Legislative Council's subpoenas during the investigation."
-- Hold hearings on whether the governor and Todd Palin committed perjury in their statements to the Personnel Board's investigator.
-- Investigate whether Attorney General Talis Colberg committed witness tampering.

I just donated to their cause! It is long past time that we stop letting bullies and power mad folks like Bush and Palin get away with this kind of crap.

What you are looking at is an overlay of the 2008 Presidential Race results. Blue counties supporting Obama, and black dots from a circa 1860 map depicting where every 2,000 bales of cotton were being produced. In other words these are areas of the south where slaves where clustered just prior to the Civil War.

148 years later these families which apparently decided to stay put in the deep south cast their ballots for America's first black president. The long black line.


h/t to StrangeMaps and Allen Gathman


Slave trading house image courtesy of Life Magazine

The patriots and heroes of the ACLU have been fighting hard to overturn the florida ban on Same sex, or gay individuals adopting. The case they have laid out is serious, well researched and strong.

There is an excellent diary about it on Kos. The gist of it is;

To make the case that Florida’s ban was based not on science but on ignorance (at best), we assembled what is probably the finest collection of child welfare, psychology, sociology and medical experts on these issues ever presented to a court. They included (among others): Dr. Michael Lamb, a world-renowned expert on children’s development, who is formerly the Chief of the Section on Social and Emotional Development at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and now chair of the Department of Psychology at Cambridge University; Dr. Anne Peplau, a Professor of Psychology at UCLA and a leading authority on couple relationships; Susan Cochran, a psychologist and epidemiologist at UCLA's Department of Public Health, and a leading authority on the demographics of health and psychology; and Dr. Frederick Berlin from Johns Hopkins, probably America’s foremost authority on child sexual abuse.

We used this remarkable cast to establish not just that the state was wrong about gay people as parents, but that no thinking person who understood the science does — or could — disagree. In that, our experts were materially aided by the experts for the state.

Here’s what our team established: The science does show that while gay people as a group have higher rates of depression and substance abuse, other demographic characteristics (including ethnicity and income) correlate with similar or even higher rates. However, these groups are not excluded from adopting. Those problems occur in every population group. That is why adoption systems are designed to screen individuals and not to rely on group generalizations.

This has to be overturned. It is the worst kind of legislation based on fear, ignorance, and bigotry. If you are as proud of the ACLU and their efforts as I am, send them some love today.

I'm an entrepreneur. I pitch projects to people, and go through the process of questions and answers, preparation and research, to come up with ideas that work for my clients. Then, once they've hired me, the real pre-production begins: confirming my team, working out the big picture (beefed up with my client's internal information). I work with my clients and my team to create a strategy, a set of goals, and milestones.

I've been hired for the project, so I will be paid for this preliminary work. That's as it should be.

So, given that Barack is already on the job, has been in the pitch process for months and the peaceful transfer of power already happened, shouldn't we start paying his and Joe's salaries now?

And isn't it time to dock Bush's pay? Better yet: lay him off, as he has made himself truly redundant. To say nothing of Darth Cheney.

I'm just saying.

I love the TMPtv feature, The Day in 100 Seconds; Great quick view of the news and ways to see the memes and frames coming from the media, from Obama, from the vestiges of the Bushies, all in a nutshell.

A female suicide bomber blew herself up near an entrance to the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a bomb tore through a minibus carrying Iraqi government employees in separate attacks on Monday that killed at least 20 people, Iraqi officials said.

Three more people were killed in bomb attacks on police patrols in Baghdad and Baqouba, northeast of the capital, police said.

The violence came as Iraqi lawmakers prepared for a vote Wednesday on a security pact with the United States that would allow American forces to stay in Iraq for up to three more years under strict Iraqi oversight.

The Interior Ministry said it was stepping up security in the capital in response to the attacks. Additional measures included putting more undercover agents on the streets, it said in a statement. --AP

When you read "undercover agents", you should understand they mean death squads.

booyah. Baghdad, its like Disney, only with shrapnel.

The Pet boom is in full swing across Japan seeing steady and then astronomical increases since the late 90’s nationwide but especially in the Tokyo metro area. For a population in declining numbers it seems to some analysts that having pets, especially dogs, has replaced having children (or at least having more than one child.) According to pet survey data as recent as 2004 there were some 19.2 million cats and dogs in Japanese homes now outnumbering the17.9 million children 15 years of age and under. Pet purchasing power is surpassing the market for spending on children. A closer look reveals that the pet boom has both positives and negatives- and it certainly has already progressed to some amazing and disturbing extremes.

Positive Pet Power

On the upside, for decades psychologists, doctors, and social workers have done studies that have proven that having a pet in your life reduces stress, lowers heart rates, and it can even help keep patients with Alzheimer’s and serious age related diseases stay more connected and more energetic than patients who do not have pets or exposure to domesticated animals.

Many groups in the USA and Japan bring pets to retirement homes and nursery schools to bring happiness to children and the elderly alike. With the largest population segment in Japan being over 60, the health benefits of pet ownership are an important aspect of current pet trends. Even 20 minutes a day of petting and caring for a cat or dog has been shown to lower high blood pressure and reduce hyper tension. Plus the extra exercise required to walk a dog may give the retired set more of a reason to stay mobile and get physical every day.

There are tremendous benefits for young people sharing their lives with a pet as well. Having a dog at home can teach young Japanese students responsibility and commitment to walking and feeding schedules. In the fast-paced modern world of Tokyo this kind of natural grounding may be the only contact students get with living things other than their tightly packed neighbors. In a metropolitan area this large interaction with any sort of animals (other than large black crows) can be rare indeed.

Sit up and Take Notice of Pet-Passionate Small Business

Economically the pet industry here is raking in literally piles of cash, not just on the sale of expensive so-called pure bred dogs, but more on the side of new businesses springing up everywhere. The typical pet food stores and accessory shops are doing well of course, but what is more surprising is all of the more fringe businesses centered around pet ownership.

There are pet psychologists, surgeons, trainers, daily dog-walkers, and even pet detectives who are paid to find lost or missing animals. There is huge growth in the entrepreneurial business of pet grooming. Fifi and Fido don’t just get haircuts any more- they can get hair styles- complete with colored dyes, mousse and sculptured fur. To show just how trendy that sector has become you can take a walk into the newest high rent, high profile shopping center and mega office building TOKYO MIDTOWN. On one of the main floors in MIDTOWN there is an entrance for pets and their owners that leads right to a high-end pet shop, grooming business and doggie spa. The pet industry Japan has increased to about 20 billion dollars annually and this figure is going up at a rate of more than 15-20% monthly- the trend is not likely to slow down anytime soon. Bookstores, and magazine shops are selling hundreds of pet related books, manga and magazines, and pooch- and kitty websites are everywhere on the internet.

Some of the more outlandish-seeming pet accessories and services include dog and cat videos showing parks and outdoor scenes to keep your pet entertained while you are at work, designer pet carrier bags from Prada, Dolce and Gabana, Vuitton, and clothes for your pets all the way down to doggie raincoats and boots!

Is your pooch stressed out? Now there are also scientific pet pads, that you can stick on your dog’s feet to let you know if Fido or Fi-Fi are experiencing high stress levels, and Japan opened the first in the world “nursing home for dogs” in June of this year. The Soladi Co. plans to open a total of seven such nursing homes across Japan in the coming three years. Still looking for doggie stress relief? Pet massage is another new trend and some doggie day spas even practice acupuncture on hypertense city dogs.

There are of course plus sides to the pet boom for those who take real care of their pets - more restaurants and stores are becoming pet friendly, which means you don’t need to leave your loved one at home in a small apartment all day. And there is a rising consciousness in the responsibility of pet ownership. Unfortunately that rising consciousness is not rising fast enough to keep up with the huge expansion of pet ownership.

Japan’s Shame

The dark side of the pet boom takes many forms here in Japan. Over breeding is one of the most egregious. Pets, especially so called designer dogs, are bought here following seemingly arbitrary trends. Almost out of the blue, one dog or cat breed will suddenly become one of the must-have items for the trendy Tokyo-ite and to meet this sudden demand, breeders over breed to capitalize on the trend. Recently Nissan co. featured a Weimaraner in a recent tv ad. Sales of that breed of dog tripled almost overnight. There was a mad rush to breed more puppies to capitalize on the sudden demand. This kind of dog breeding is unsafe and unhealthy, but perhaps even worse is that Japanese consumers are not considering all the important factors in choosing a dog that fits the climate, lifestyle and conditions in their home.

This lack of considered and responsible pet ownership led to tragic results a few years ago when Siberian Huskies were all the rage. Husky dogs are bred and have developed over hundreds of years for extremely cold climates and for large spaces. They need lots of outdoor activity. It will be obvious to anyone who has survived a Tokyo humid summer that this breed is a poor match for this environment. But much like this year’s fashion- Japanese dog buyers often purchase the trendiest breed without researching the dog’s needs and health issues. To go a step further to realizing the cruelty caused by irresponsible pet purchasing one needs to comprehend what happens to these mismatched pets when the trend passes. Even though Huskies have a 10-12 year life span and the Husky trend was rampant less than 8 years ago, you don’t see very many of them out and about. Many died early due to health conditions and still more were euthanized when their owners were tired of them.

Like last year’s show fashion dogs that are no longer trendy are often discarded. Figures from 2004 show that more than a half a million dogs were destroyed at local facilities. Most of these dogs had no health issues and were not strays but were given up by their owners who were moving to new apartments or who had simply decided that a large, furry, artic canine was not a good match for their upscale small Tokyo apartment.

Genetic Cruelty

Perhaps worse than over breeding is the so-called “trend breeding”. This cruel practice has become very obvious recently in the super, tiny, toy breed trend. With small apartments comes the view of some dog owners that lap dogs are an accessory like a handbag or new pair of shoes- the breeders in Japan have worked hard to breed ultra tiny toy breeds. Some are almost ½ the size of the normal super small breeds, like Chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers.

Over breeding and pushing the envelope on genetic engineering of our pets has led to some serious and cruel side effects. The New York Times reported late last year that inbreeding and hyper breeding has resulted in Japan’s dogs having up to four times as many genetic defects as those in the U.S. Some dogs are bred to be so small that, in a normal litter only one viable pup will be born. The rest of the pup’s litter mates have horrible birth defects and deformities, some even born with no actual bone structure and unable to move. At that point of course the rest of the litter are destroyed or sold to medical labs for experimenting and the one viable pup is sold for hundreds of thousands of yen. Even some of these thought to be healthy pups develop genetic issues related to their breeding later in life.

There are very few responsible pet stores or breeders and counseling for pet choice and teaching about pet needs is practically unheard of. Even this lack of knowledge creates a business opportunity- veterinary hospitals and specialists are also growing at unprecedented rates and pet owners are spending more and more on pet health care. The irony is that simple research and better understanding of breeding and pet purchasing would create healthier happier home pet companions and less of a need for expensive vet bills.

The law has more teeth but still doesn’t bite back

In 2000 the largely nonexistent laws regarding pet and animal cruelty were made stronger and given some teeth. After the law amendments, pet advocates were happy to learn that the new laws would impose a maximum prison term of one year or a fine of up to 1 million yen for people who killed or maimed animals intentionally and abandoning animals now would carry maximum fines of up to 300,000 yen, which was 10 times higher than previous regulations. There was hope that this would lead the way to legal means of regulating the pet industry and creating a country of more responsible pet owners.

Almost 7 years have passed and still little is being done to enforce those 2000 laws. There were no additional staff and budgets brought to bear on the problem and most local officials still turn a blind eye on even the most obvious of pet offenses. If the country of China should be under watch for Human Rights offenses then animal activists of the world certainly have a case to make that Japan should be cited for animal cruelty.

Things are looking up

This is where groups like Animal Rescue Kansai (ARK) come in. According to their homepage “ARK is a non-profit, non-governmental private organization formed with the aim of forming a network of people who love animals, believe in sharing their lives with them, and who work actively to rescue them from suffering. ARK was established in 1990 and became officially recognized as an NPO(Non-Profit Organization) in September 1999.”

ARK helps people adopt abandoned pets, shelters dogs and cats that are impossible to put up for adoption and probably most importantly they work with Japanese authorities and outside agencies to shine a light on the issues of over- breeding, cruel pet store conditions, abandoned dogs and cats, and the ways that Japanese society can change its relationship with domestic animals. On their links page you can find out about many more sites, services and organizations acting as pet advocates here in Japan and around the world.

The keys to solving the pet crisis and enjoying the pet boom here in Japan are, as with most things, education, responsible consumers, and better industry standards and regulations. Having a pet share your life is a fantastic way to relax and give and receive love- but it come with real responsibility and requires thought and attention. Let’s hope the rising awareness of pet related problems begins to keep pace with the rising numbers of pet family members in the modern Japanese home.

With all the indications of the greedy myopia of many of the uber-capitalists, as evidenced by the financial crisis (a 30-year spree of which George Bush is just the rotten cherry on top) that is hurting so many regular people, it's heartening to read a post that asserts common sense thinking like this:

The key to supporting green collar entrepreneurs is to combine Van Jones' green job training model with Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus' model for microfinance. In other words, what these entrepreneurs need is green job/entrepreneurship training, combined with access to affordable capital with flexible credit and collateral requirements.

Our own tlg has written about this, and I believe it's exactly right. And it seems as if PE Obama has enough real sense to rein in the over-reliance on rampant, unregulated capitalism and focus on helping from the bottom up. That's the kind of fundamental attention to reality we need.

And it looks like it's on the way.

What can we do to help?

What are you doing today?
How is the weather in your corner of the planet?
Will you be traveling this week for Thanksgiving?

What else is new?

Good stuff. And I am glad they put him in a nicer office this time. The message he did for the governor's thing -- too much paneling, no windows! yikes.

I have to admit, I am seriously worried about our future. But he does continue to give me hope, and it is a glorious change to have someone coming to the White House who speaks TO and WITH the people! Refreshing!

File under: "Escapist literature my ass" (and crossposted from my other digs)


Written almost exactly 50 years ago, “The Day The Icicle Works Closed” is the story of the complete collapse of the economy of Altair Nine: a world sustained almost entirely by the production and export of rare and valuable pharmaceuticals.

“The Icicle Works was the most profitable corporation in the Galaxy,” our hero explains during the climactic courtroom scene.

Until…

[SPOILER ALERT (although honestly, if you haven't managed to track this obscure book down and read it in the last half century, odds are fuck-all that you're going to do it now...)]

…the people of Altair Nine start hearing through their only link to the outside world – the media, which is controlled by the Tourism Bureau – that nobody wants what they make anymore. That their markets had vanished and the good years were over.

From my own dog-eared copy:

“Worse, the jobs vanished. Pulcher [our hero] had been on the corporation’s legal staff, with an office of his own and a faint hint of a vice-presidency someday. He was out. The stenos in the pool, all but two or three of the five hundred who one had got out the correspondence and the bills, they were out. The shipping clerks in the warehouse were out, the pumphands at the settling tanks were out, the freezer attendants were out. Everyone was out. The plant was closed.”

And yet somehow, the committeemen still had money. The politicians. The heads of the chamber of commerce. People whose fortunes one would have thought were most directly tied to the implosion of the industry and the sudden worthlessness of their stocks were the very ones who always seemed to have a fat wad of cash on hand.

So with the economy in the tank, our hero goes from corporate lawyer to public defender, picking up the case of a gang of young people who, not being pretty, strong and agile enough to make ends meet turn tricks, turn to kidnapping.

And how did they do it?

“…what it all adds up to, ladies and gentlemen, is that Charley Dickon, and a handful of his friends in high places – most of them right here in this room – have cut off communication between Altair Nine and the rest of the galaxy.”

It is, in other words, the story of a plot hatched between local plutocrats and media moguls to deliberately crash a thriving middle class manufacturing economy and induce a Depression in order to turn a prosperous world into a feudal state divided between the super-rich and horde of desperate and permanently poor peons; people so broke in an economy so bad that they must now “rent” their bodies out to make a living, or turn and criminals.

So without being overly paranoid, I find it impossible to ruminate on this forgotten story from the golden days of pulp without also noting that, since the early days of Ronald Reagan, there has been abroad in the America a concerted and sustained effort to hard-sell the public the message that “Manufacturing is dead”.

From TPM Cafe “Missing Manufacturing Boom”:

As I have tried to point out in America Since Reagan, the 38 year trajectory of Republican political economics has hollowed out our manufacturing prowess, reduced our competitiveness, put us deeply in debt to the Chinese and the Russians and eviscerated parts of the Bill of Rights.
…

We have all been told for 40 years that manufacturing jobs are all going, going, gone… That whatever crappy work is still left here is dirty and dangerous. That a Real Murrican should consider it an insult to suggest their son or daughter might have a bright future working in a f-a-c-t-o-r-y.

Except that message is mostly bullshit.

The ubiquitous propaganda – which I have heard everywhere from Hate Radio to NPR – was accompanied by suicidal trade, industrial and tax policies – pursued by both Republicans and DINO Democrats.

Policies that actually reward companies for shipping jobs overseas (Senator Byron Dorgan from the “Congressional Record” (PDF):

…
I have mentioned previously Huffy bicycles. They have gone to China. Do you know that little red wagon, the Radio Flyer? This one has gone to China.

The perversity of all of this is, whether it is Fig Newtons, Levis, Radio Flyers, Huffy bicycles, or Fruit of the Loom underwear, they were all rewarded for moving their jobs overseas because our Tax Code has embedded in it a special little deal: Move your jobs overseas and we will give you a special deal.
…

And dole out lavish tax breaks to people for buying gas-swilling SUVs:

“A qualifying buyer can now deduct $106,000 of the suggested $110,000 price of a Hummer H1 SUV ($100,000 direct deduction plus $5,000, or 50 percent of the $10,000 balance, and $1,000, which is the first year of depreciation for the $5,000 balance). That would translate into a $37,100 savings on the purchase price if the taxpayer were in the 35 percent income-tax bracket.(2) Not all states have adopted the new caps, but those that have are still losing valuable tax dollars through the loophole.”

Finally, under this relentless media/policy/talking-head “everyone knows” assault, all over the country, trade schools began to shut down.

Shop classes started to evaporate.

The old guy who made faucets stopped being invited to “Career Day” at the high school.

Until, at last, having been methodically stripped of our means to sustain a middle-class economy by people who have hated and feared the middle class since FDR stopped them from wiping it out once and for all 80 years ago, we find ourselves staring down the barrel of another Depression.

So where does it all end?

Well, it either ends when we take our beloved country back from the degenerates and liars in industry, politics and media who have brought us to the edge of the abyss.

Or it ends like this:

Patricia Williams Lessane writes:

In many ways, the idea of using the highly stylized European operatic form to tell the story of slavery seems counterintuitive. Given the apparent Africanisms within the Black music, oral, and religious traditions, how is it possible to tell our stories within the stuffy constraints of opera? Truly, tragedy is at the core of most operas, but the story of slavery—the story of our ancestors seems almost impossible to encapsulate within this musical tradition. Yet, leave it to the literary genius of Morrison to push the boundaries of African-American consciousness to make even opera yield to the complexities of the Black slave experience. Her libretto, accompanied by Richard Danielpour’s musical score is an opus to one woman’s unyielding struggle against enslavement, and one man’s obsession with imagined superiority, entitlement, and the power to wield violence against the enslaved Africans he “owned.” Margaret’s story then, is deeply entwined with that of her captor’s—Edward Gaines— the man who “owned” Margaret and her children.

the cast in rehearsal, at the Detroit Opera House:



I think we're walking the long road from the necessarily imagined superiority of the ownership class (how else could the masters abide themselves?) in the antebellum South, and modern true ownership of the self as well as the larger community, with 'what am I responsible for?' substituted for 'what do I own?', and spread in vast concentric circles, beginning from within.

The ultimate sustainability.

A half a billion!

3 million donors made a total of 6.5 million donations online.

Added up to more than $500 million.

Of those 6.5 million donations, 6 million were in increments of $100 or less.

The average online donation was $80.

The average Obama donor gave more than once.

more details at the Washington Post.

I am proud of the skill of the campaign and I know this is what it took to win. But seriously, there is too much money in politics, and it has got to be fixed. The great news is that the average donation was small, and that more people gave than ever before. But elections should NOT be this expensive. We need campaign finance reform. Air time should be free, limited and equally distributed. The media is the big reason why campaigns need so much money in the first place. We need limits, public funding, and a return to the fairness doctrine.

The AG has collapsed during a policy speech, not much more is known. TPM was on the scene and reporting.

From over at Talking Points Memo;

Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed this evening while giving a speech to Federalist Society in Washington, DC. The only further word we've been able to find is from Mike Allen at The Politico, who says that as of 10:30 PM, "medical officials were still working on him on the stage."

Late Update: From the AP,

Associate Attorney General Kevin O'Connor says Mukasey began shaking during a speech to the Federalist Society and collapsed. He did not immediately regain consciousness.

Late Update Two: We're still following this closely, now just minutes after 11 PM. As best we can tell no news service has any new substantive information about the AG's health, other than the initial news that he began slurring his speech and then shaking and then collapsed. There seems to be no solid information about whether he regained consciousness.

Further Update from TPM

Futher Update from the AP;

The attorney general is conscious, conversant and alert," Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said after doctors admitted Mukasey to George Washington University Hospital for the night.

Mukasey remained on the stage for 10 minutes being attended to by his FBI security detail and medical personnel present at the conservative Federalist Society dinner, said eyewitness Abigail Thernstrom, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Though he lost consciousness initially, Mukasey appeared to be awake when he was taken from the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in northwest Washington, she said.

"It was hard to watch such a thing," Thernstrom said. "It was horrible."

Justice Department officials appeared anxious and alarmed at George Washington Hospital but spokesman Carr said Mukasey did not transfer his power to Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip.

Justice spokeswoman Gina Talamona declined to say whether Mukasey had suffered a stroke. She had no information about his medical history.

A Republican staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jack Daly, who was also at the dinner, said in an e-mail to colleagues sent at 10:20 p.m. EST: "AG Mukasey collapsed in the middle of his keynote address at tonight's fed-soc dinner. He is still on stage after ten minutes and his security detail has called 911. The paramedics just arrived."

Eighteen minutes later, Daly added in another e-mail: "Mukasey did regain consciousness before he was taken away.

In a truly bizarre moment, Gov. Palin, did a press conference in front of a turkey pen where the birds were being slaughterd as she spoke. She is seemingly unaware of anything going around her. When the reporter asked if she enjoyed the event (which was a Turkey pardoning) She said how nice it was to bring some levity into the political process. Meanwhile- a thrashing turkey was being killed as the machine jerked and bucked behind her.

Warning, the video is certainly a cringe creator- and animal rights folks should maybe not click play.



Levity? really?
h/t The Huffington Post

Photo/ Jim Mone-AP

This photo says it all. What a difficult, stressful, and necessary job. I want to give a nod to the election judges who for the most part (99% of them-- I believe) serve as judges to give to their community and because they believe in our process and in the rule of law.

This woman recounting the ballots in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken in Minneapolis; She is surrounded, in close proximity (well within her 18 1/2 inches) by people and their suspicions as passionate supporters of both candidates watch her every move.

It has gotta be hard.

I don't know her, but I'd like to thank Marge Dolan and all honest well intentioned election officials for their service to our country.

Dave Letterman and Katie Couric discussing her interviews with Gov. Sarah Palin;



One question that did was not included on the interview...
Couric asked both Palin and Biden (in a previous interview)— what they missed most while on the campaign trail.

Dave quipped "What did she miss? Fresh moosemeat?"

Katie answered that Palin missed running every day, while Biden missed being Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Dave's (and the audience) reaction was priceless.

It is coming up on thanksgiving day 2009! Just over a week!

The time has coming for planning our annual restaurant turkey fest here in Tokyo. But I want to briefly rant about recent turkey developments...

1. Deep fried turkey is a wee bit crazy and should be avoided. It is also dangerous.

2. Turkduckens are excessive and unnecessary. period. yes they are fun and weird but Thanksgiving is not supposed to be fun and weird. No offense to our Cajun friends out there... but it is really over the top, and deep down inside you know it's true!

3. Cranberries should be whole and not jellied in a can- I don't care that this is what you remember from your childhood. It is wrong.

If you are tempted on #3 just look at this picture... I mean really- this does not even look like food!




4. I actually don't love yams. candied or otherwise. I suppose that is not really a rule-- just a comment.

5. Pumpkin pie can be made from canned pumpkin IIOIIIL
(it is ok if it is libby's)

Here's what inquiring minds want to know???

Where are you headed for Thanksgiving?
What will you be cooking?
Do you go out to a restaurant for Turkey-Day?
What are some great vegetarian thanksgiving recipes or ideas?

More things thanksgiving over the course of the next week. And in homage to the late-great foodie-Steve;
here's to beer can chicken!

Update; good list of vegetarian recipes for Thanksgiving

(another photo of my new zoo-crush, Farsi the baby hippo in Switzerland)

Ahhhhhhhh Bathtime.

One of THE BEST things about Japan is the bath culture. Seriously. There is bath etiquette that can be a little intimidating at first, and you can't be shy. But if you can deal with those two factors, there is almost nothing better than a bath at a Japanese onsen or even at a local city bathhouse called a SENTO. I will save the fancy onsen resort post for another time-- this one is going to be about those local city bath-houses.

There is one of these little oasis about 6 mins walk from my apartment. for 300-400 yen or about $4, you can go in, lather up and get cleaner than is ever possible in a plain old shower at home, and then relaaaaxxxx in a mini-pool sized hot hot hot bath. It takes away all the stress, all the aches and pains, all the tension.

When you finally climb out and dry off and meander back home, sleep will come easier than you can imagine.

Here is a 101 lesson, so that when you come over to visit me in Japan you will be all ready for your bath experience.

The baths are (with rare exception) segregated. When you come in the front door, there will be an attendant (more often than not a little old lady) behind a window-booth in the entry way. You pay her your coins, and then go to the door with the curtain that has the symbol for your gender.

Behind that curtain, the wonders of the local bath-house await. First you will find yourself in a little locker room. Go ahead, get naked, stash your stuff and bring your bath gear into the next room. (most japanese don't wrap in a big towel, but only bring a small one with them) There is not a high store set on modesty from here on out.

Next you grab a little plastic bucket stool, and pull up in front of a low row of mini faucets and shower heads. Get wet, suds up, and clean yourself everywhere! The more suds the better. The room is brightly lit and super clean, so this is a great spot for shaving, shampoo, you do it all! Ladies make sure to put your hair up when you are done.

THEN and ONLY THEN, do you head over to the big, super hot, glorious baths! You wash first, get it... the tubs are for soaking. (like hot tubs but waaaayyyy better) There are usually multiple types, cold, mid range hot, and volcano. There are also usually jaquizzi type set ups with jets of water. Sometimes there are herbal baths, with big aromatic tea-bag like things floating around.

I find that keeping a cold washcloth with you, usually on your head, helps you stay in a bit longer when the water is pretty hot.

This is one of the most everyday-- totally relaxing things in the world. A long hot soak. ahhhhhhh

Then, when you are totally pruney- get out, and dry off. Normally you don't need to bring to much stuff with you. They often have hairdryers, etc. in the main locker room. Often there is a massage chair out there too, for a 100 yen coin you get about a 5 min. massage.

Here's one of the best parts-- since this bath house is right in your neighborhood- and since this is common and normal behavior-- you don't want to put back on dirty clothes, so get this... you can put your pajamas on and walk home! Seriously-- I see people do this all the time. Leave the bath house in your jammies and go home and crash.

Bath culture-- ur doin it pritty darn gr8 akshully!

Read more about Japanese bathing, etiquitte etc.;

Wikipedia

More information in this (minus the heath risk part!) great video!
Gotta love those monkeys! And the health risk seems to be 100% with elderly Japanese. (so no stopping the bath for me)

See you at the Sento!
(pt 2 about ONSENS coming soon)

The republican appointed ethics board claimed on 11/3 (timing no surprise) that Gov. Palin did not break the law in her strong arming and firing of personale related to the trooper gate story.

Serious questions remain however about The Gov. and First Gentleman of Alaska. The main question at this point is did the couple commit perjury during the course of the hearings.

Perhaps the most troubling piece of evidence is a February 7, 2007, email from Gov. Palin to Monegan. It's a long, rambling missive that concludes with a return to her obsession with Wooten: "Just my opinion -- I know you know I've experienced a lot of frustration with this issue. I know Todd's even expressed to you a lot of concern about our family's safety after this trooper threatened to kill a family member..."

Both Palin and her husband swore under oath that they did not have conversations with Monegan a month earlier (in January 2007) about the Wooten matter. Yet the February 2007 email proves concretely that Palin was aware that her husband had conveyed concerns to Monegan and, by implication ("I know you know") that she had as well. It also clearly establishes the pattern of her trying to use her influence to get Wooten fired from her earliest days in office.

Palin further contradicted her own testimony by saying that her husband complained to her so frequently about the handling of the Wooten matter that she had to tell him to stop, and then shortly thereafter contended that she knew nothing about his activities to get Wooten fired.

Implausible? Absolutely. Perjury? That remains for a legal body to decide. Geoffrey Dunn, Huffington Post

It seems more than probable that both Todd and Sarah lied under oath but it seems less than probable that the charges will be pursued. And meanwhile the perpetrators of this perjury are giving speeches and making book deals.

Justice sometimes seems far away indeed.

There is a must read piece in the LA times questioning the premise of the now world famous book Team of Rivals, about the Lincoln Cabinet.

Offers a good alternate view of the cost involved in the famous Lincoln decision to offer seats on this cabinet to his main political rivals. Interesting in the light of all the Hillary Sec. of State news and the democratic leaderships' attitude toward Joe Lieberman.

Some Celebrating is In Order! (For those of you who need a more schedenfreud image of the election results- there is this.)

Bye Bye Senator Toobz-Stevens.

From the ABC News Political Unit:

The longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, lost his re-election effort to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, bringing the Democratic net gain in the U.S. Senate to 7 seats.

Begich tonight leads Stevens by 3,724 votes at the current count with roughly 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

Stevens could not survive a conviction on federal corruption charges in connection with his failure to disclosure more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations he received from an oil field services company.

The six-term senator, who turned 85 today, had faced calls for his resignation in light of the conviction and he even possible faced his colleagues expelling him from the Senate if he had won another term.

Stevens or 10 voters may request a recount within 5 days of state review but the losing campaign would have to cover the cost of a recount. Alaska only has automatic recounts when the results are tied.

A reprise for your dancing pleasure...

From a 2004, ASC Conference Speech

With all due respect to President Clinton, though the era of big government may be over, the need for good government endures. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with government, with well-intentioned, progressive people seeking to use the power of government for the good of the majority, and not the privilege. Government has been the primary force for positive social change in our country's history. It can be again.

I've had the privilege of serving in a number of government positions in my career, and understand better than most the great difficulty, the enormous challenges, the
consequential choices that many who serve today are facing. I respect the vast majority of them for their sacrifice and also for their service. But, too many have made too many decisions that instead of strengthening the nation, have put it at risk.

The notion that the Department of Justice would in essence sanction the use of torture as part of the President's plenary power over military operations is as wrong as it is shortsighted. This position flies in the face of the entire history of American law, helping to create a climate in which unnecessarily abusive conduct can somehow be considered legitimate.

It also puts our own soldiers, the young men and young women who fight bravely for the United States today, and will again tomorrow, at risk of similar abuse should they be captured by the enemy on a now unknown foreign battlefield. What will the United States say about their treatment then? How will an American President seek to credibly invoke the protections of the Geneva Convention in the future? This memorandum and other policies are reflective of a politicized Justice Department that is no longer tethered to its traditional moorings. . . .

Now the battle that I spoke of is not only about this year's elections, though they are a major part. The battle is also about what will happen over the next few years, irrespective of the election cycle. We are the eras of the progressive tradition that is responsible for virtually all of the significant movements and policies that have positively transformed this nation: the Civil Rights Movement, Social Security, women's rights, the movement toward true equality for the gay and lesbian communities, Medicare.

Throughout this nation's history, it has been liberals who have pushed the envelope, who have taken chances, who have made this nation better than it was. By contrast, and we see this especially today, conservatives have been defenders of the status quo, afraid of the future, and content to allow to continue to exist all but the most blatant inequalities.

Pending confirmation (and actually becoming President...) Obama has chosen Eric Holder as the next Attorney General.

From Wikipedia;

Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is a former Deputy Attorney General of the United States and a senior legal advisor to Barack Obama, the former U.S. Senator from Illinois and President-elect of the United States, and his campaign for the presidency. Along with Caroline Kennedy and Jim Johnson, he served on Obama's vice presidential selection committee. On November 18, 2008, Michael Isikoff of Newsweek reported that Holder has been asked to serve as United States Attorney General by President-elect Obama, and has accepted the offer, pending a formal vetting process.

New Yorker, parents from Barabados, Columbia Law. Smart, competent, and from what has been written about him so far-- tough and fair.

Our President Elect has one well documented bad habit, in addition to bumming a cigarette every once in a while- His problem? Blackberry Addiction!

Looks like help might be on the way.

At least one source of domestic strife is to be banished from the Obama White House: Barack Obama is under pressure to give up his beloved BlackBerry. Aides worry his email could get hacked and, no less serious, all presidential correspondence is meant to be retained for posterity. They reportedly want to do what Michelle Obama - who was recently spotted slapping her husband's hand as he checked email during his daughters' soccer game - has probably itched to do for years: grab the machine out of Obama's tightly curled fist, shove it in a drawer and lock it away for ever.

As someone who has wrestled with CrackBerry addiction myself, I want to reassure the new president that he can get through this. He needs to focus on the positive: now, at last, time off really will be time off. On long journeys, he can gaze out of the window, rather than have his head down, glued to a little screen. Family time really will be family time, not just hours spent with his body present but his mind still at work. He will find his mental batteries start recharging, the creative thoughts flowing again - because, with the BlackBerry gone, he will be able to step off the hamster wheel and think. Buzzle.com

eHow has some great ideas on breaking your crackberry habit. I hope the new staff in the westwing can help Barack overcome!

More birthday fun!


Raise a glass today to Gov. Howard Dean!

Thanks Howard, we couldnt've done it without you! Hope you have a GREAT birthday and when you run for your next office remember- we have your back.

Here's his cake, as chronicled in the KOS birthday post.

To Gov. Howard Dean, Founding Father of the 50 State Strategy;



It is because of Howard and all his Dean people that this was able to happen.

There was/is a great discussion from a couple of days ago over on Bagnews about this gorgeous New Yorker Cover. In this case I think most of the commentors got it right a bit more than Michael, the Bagnews blogger. (read the thread!) In any case, too good to not share.

What are your thoughts on this cover?
How does it make you feel?

Here is Peter Schiff absolutely nailing the current crisis, predicting exactly what was going to happen in 2006 and getting ridiculed while doing it.



I especially like the derision he got from Fox. Pack of morons, they deserve to lose their money. "Subprime is a tiny, tiny problem", -- Ben Stein.

What a pack of clowns.

via the indispensable woostercollective.com

Fashion choices for first ladies on Inauguration day are big decisions. This dress is your coming out statement, and as the First Lady gowns later reside in the Smithsonian this one stays with you for a long time! (forever)

Fashion designers around the world are interested and weighing in on what they think would work for Michelle.

This isn't a fashion decision to take lightly, says Bridget Foley, executive editor of W magazine and Women's Wear Daily. She recommends that Obama try on many looks before making her final choice.

"I'd like to see Michelle Obama take the elegant route -- and push it," she adds. "There are so many wonderful clothes out there but so often people in the public arena think they have to play it safe. I think she should really look around and try something long and curvy -- with color. That would work."

A strong color, symbolic of a strong, confident woman, was a consistent answer from fashion designers who were asked about their vision for Obama.- BY SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, Detroit Free Press

I hope she makes a bold but elegant choice! So far I have loved everything except I didn't totally "get" the dress on 11/4?!?

I Love that she has her own style and that she wears her clothes she doesn't let her fashion wear her.

For fun, see how you do on this Past-Inaugural Dress quiz. I got them all right. :-)

See Hillary's Dress and read more about the First Ladies' exhibition, here.

As the global economic woes increase, Japan declared this morning, that they (we) are in recession. Bumpy ride ahead in the USA and around the world. Hang on tight guys and gals.

TOKYO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell 1.8 percent on Monday after data showed the world's second-biggest economy was in recession

"MY Shiny state thing, also too, is bigger than, say, YOUR shiny state thing. You Betcha!"

One thing that everyone at the recent Republican Governors' Association pool party could see is that post a crushing defeat on 11/4/08 the party really has no unifying plan moving forward.

Evidence of this is apparent in the two top Govs. Crist V. Palin. Charlie and Sarah don't agree at all on how to move the GOP forward for the elections in 2010 and 2012.

Crist's message: Racial inclusiveness, bipartisanship and civility offer the clearest path for the GOP's road to recovery.

"It worked in Florida," Crist said. "It could work nationally."

Palin put forward a harder line: Tough adherence to the party's ideological principles.

Republicans, she said, should start on the road back by dogging the Obama administration and Democratic Congress on taxes, health care and energy, making no concessions.

"Now it is time for us to go our own way ... confident in the knowledge that there will be another day. We'll rise to fight again," Palin said.

The occasion was the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Miami.- by By WILLIAM MARCH from TBO.com

Meanwhile the geniuses over at Redstate are calling Palin the "Anti-Crist." (Far be it from me to tell them that this might not be the best use of metaphor... Mr. Gator says not to point things like that out to them as it helps us, but don't worry, they won't understand what I mean anyway.)

It is good to see the GOP taking this post-election opportunity to really examine what they stand for and where they want to go, instead of, say, displaying their infighting and flailing lack of direction on the national stage.

Am I gloating again? Damn straight.

I took a look at Instapundit this morning and saw a comment of his, how Japan doesn't love them some Obama, and see how those foreigners see through the "The One"'s hype.

Feh, as usual, he is full of shit. He links to a story in the WAPO by a Japanese woman. She quotes stories from the papers over here in Japan. Problem is she doesn't mention that in Japan there isn't any real freedom of the press they print what they are told here. ALL of the papers lean heavily right. The rest of the woman's story is a bunch of whining about how the Japanese just don't know what Obama is going to do?!? Oh my.

But during my recent trip, I saw that this is such an emotional issue for the Japanese that it's almost impossible to have a rational discussion. Meeting with old friends or conversing over the dinner table with relatives, I was accused of being an apologist for U.S. policy and naive about Kim Jong Il's ruthlessness. --WAPO

She probably even talked to some cab drivers. This is exactly the kind of "reporting" I expect from the WAPO. First off it's silly to describe any of this as a "emotional" issue here. The Japanese are not known for their emotive ability and good luck trying to have anything but a "rational discussion". Please. This reporter sounds like one of those Japanese who live a abroad so long they have a image of Japan in their head that does not resemble Japan at all. Americans abroad do this to the U.S. in abundance.

Reynolds, of course, misinterprets this because he wants to. What is really is going on here is that tons of Japanese are, for the first time in 10 years, very excited about America, and American politics.

The entire city of Obama here is freaking out. Now I will admit there are some who are nervous. This would be the Japanese politicians. Partly this is the beginning of the Japanese negotiating stance and partly it's because for a decade the Repub's have been telling the Japanese that the Democrats are bad for them. The people in Japan are in a totally different space. Much like the states, they are way ahead of the leadership.

This article by Ayako Doi is typical Japanese, long on fluff and short on substance.

The WAPO will print anything these days, particular if it reflects poorly on the President-Elect.

Basel Zoo, Switzerland, New baby hippo named Farsi (day 8) What I want to know is where's the hippo cam? I never recovered from my 2005-2006 Butterstick addiction.

I have lived in Japan for almost a decade, but I am still constantly amused, astonished, horrified, impressed, over and underwhelmed by the crazy-cool stuff they concoct here.

Meet the Bamgoo- a new electric card, made almost entirely of Bamboo.


Photo; Issei Kato-Reuters

Single-seat bamboo-made electrical car "BamGoo" is displayed in Kyoto city, western Japan, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008. The 60-kg (about 130lbs) ecologically-friendly concept car is developed by the city and the Kyoto University, featuring local bamboo ware technology. The car can run for some 50 kilometers (30 miles) on a charge.- daylife.com

This, like most inventions in modern Japan, is high on the cute, low on the practicality. But I still thought this was pretty cool.

for OBAMA's Second Term...


Please help choose the GOP candidate for 2012.

All the talk of lobbyists or lobbying and the Obama Transition Team's stringent rules to reduce the undue influence of lobbying in government (and the apparent lack of bright lines thereof) made me think about the role of lobbyists in public life.

I remember when Sen. Clinton said that she would not stop taking lobbyists' money, because lobbyists are speaking up for constituencies who are also Americans and should be heard.

My admittedly shallow, outraged response was: but who lobbies on my behalf? While you're dancing with them what brung you, what about the people who set up the hall, cooked the food, and will clean up after it's done?

Professor Lessig on: socialized risk: privatized benefits:



Who lobbies on our behalf? And why does it always seem that we don't have the money or the connections to bring some common sense into the commons?