"The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced." - Frank Zappa

***

Japan trip
Day 14 - 19th June - Tosho-gu, Futarasan Shrine; Nikko (Part 2)

Signage in Japanese sacred places in general isn't very good. Although this keeps them looking relatively pristine, it also confuses people like me who try to figure out what is where (though most tourists are just there to take pretty pictures anyway), but if you want to take the time you can reconstruct what is what by browsing a guidebook. I was relatively systematic, so this shouldn't be a problem.




Evidence of the presence of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel


Wall (Outer IIRC) of the inner-compound


Karamon


Archer gods


Wine is one thing, but whiskey in a Shinto shrine? They're really open. We must thank Meiji.




Prayer hall


Part of Yomeimon Gate (notice the Immortal on a fish)

They had a "Good Luck Chopstick Long Life". Err.

Of course, once again I was confronted with the fact that half of Japan was under renovation:


Frontage to inner shrine


Detail

The renovation started in "平成 19" and was expected to end in "平成 23". Which made me wonder: what if the Emperor dies in the meantime? This is one of the big disadvantages of dating by reigns, instead of using an absolute dating system.

There was another part of the shrine, entrance to which was not included in the combination ticket. Naturally, this part of the shrine was famous, as it had a carving of a sleeping cat.


I paid Y520 to see this.


Context

Past the sleeping cat, it was an uphill trek to see... the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu (the one in Koyasan was a spiritual tomb, this held his real remains - at least it wasn't as bad as the Habsburgs' *three* tombs!)


Entrance


Long walk up


Torii



I was about to mentally note that temples were the only places in Japan without vending machines, but:


You can have any drink you want - as long as it's Green Tea. Notice also the price premium (the people who refill this must be paid for the trek up, I assume. Either that or it's a premium brand).


Tomb entrance. The place was quite cramped, which accounts for the bad angle.




Sacred tree




Roofs of main shrine from above


Side of Yomeimon Gate


Yakushido. Blur thanks to the guard.

In the Yakushido, not only was photography not permitted, recording ("録音") was forbidden too. This was because of the acoustics of the hall: the guy demonstrated what happened when you whacked a wooden block - the echo lasted 6 seconds!



Away from the crowd, I found the most peaceful part of Tosho Gu: the area beside the toilet.



I then made my way to the Futarasan Shrine via a lantern-lined path, the atmosphere spoiled only by reminders of the renovations along the side.




Futarasan Shrine: Roh Mon Gate.


Followed by a torii. Gah.




Kerokerokeroppi/Keroppi shrine - is this a joke? Damn Japs. Maybe they paid for the last restoration.


Ema. I assume the hearts mean they're all dedicated to Love.


Keychain charms? How practical.




Tree pair

I then entered one of the shrine buildings.


Paintings of bird and deer


Inner shrine, Miko, couple and priest


I assume this festival cart isn't for burning and sending off to the Underworld


Prayer submission (?)


Jogyodo. For some reason I wrote "Hokkedo" on my scribble sheet but don't have a picture of it.


Proper entrance to Futarasan - I came in by the back door

"The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance." - Laurence J. Peter

***

Malaysians Are Rude, ‘Ruder’ and ‘Rudest’ - "Malaysia is ranked third least courteous country in the world, according to Reader’s Digest... Malaysians are rude. I wonder why it took people so long to realize that but the truth is now out. Of course we can’t beat Mumbai, the rudest country in the world. I know - I worked for a year with people from that region when I was an exec in Telekom Malaysia. Those guys deserve the undisputed number one spot... generally Indians tend to exaggerate when giving directions :) - everything is “just 5 minutes away” according to them."
Malaysia Boleh! It's a bit weird that New Yorkers are supposedly almost twice as polite as Bangkokers, though.

The Comfort of False Dilemmas - "I was coming home from the airport on the night of 26th and my taxi driver asked me about the flight cancellations to Bangkok. “Quite bad”, I said. Immediately, with the PAD as case-study, he launched into a lecture on why political freedom is as detestable as paedophilia. He ended, as all good academics do, with a rhetorical question, “I really don’t know what these people want”. I could almost hear LKY crying with pride somewhere in his oxygen chamber. “What most people want I suppose; to have a say in who governs over them”, I replied. The taxi driver looked at me from the rear-view mirror as though I had just said “Little boys can be sexy too”. The rest of the ride was in silence."

PICTURES: When ANIME Fansubs’ Translations goes WRONG!

Why are men less religious? It may be form of risk-taking, impulsivity just as criminal behavior is - "[It] seems to be a universal trend in religious rates around the world. Stark said lower rates of male religiousness is a form of risk-taking behavior just as criminality is, and men are far more likely to commit crimes than women... "The gender differences hold up everywhere, even in religions that are very male centered, such as Orthodox Judaism," said Stark... "It is true of all ages. It was there in ancient Greece, it was there in the Roman Empire when the early Christians were mostly women and it was there in medieval Europe."... They dismiss popular explanations such as that women are raised to be nurturing and submissive and this socialization makes religious acceptance and commitment more likely... "People studying crime also have looked at socialization and they can't find a reason that explains the gender difference except a physiological one.""

中国人为何无礼 - "学者们绞尽脑汁，一说是人口太多造成的，但看看日本，真的是礼仪的典范，一说是文革造成的，看来这一条是原因。"

Singapore's star rises as Switzerland stumbles - "The sun-drenched Asian city-state, with the highest density of millionaires in the world, is seeing wealth management prosper as the U.S. and Europe grapple with the worst slump in a generation... With close ties to powerful Asia, Singapore is in a stronger position to resist pressure from the U.S. than rival Switzerland or Alpine retreat Liechtenstein, which recently partially surrendered bank secrecy."

Wigging out - ""Nobody even notices when I’m wearing one,” confides Faye-Marie Britten (pictured above), the dancer and former squeeze of Agent Provocateur’s Joe Corré. The secret beauty arsenal Britten is referring to is not a 24-hour girdle or bazooka chest-booster — it’s a wig. She is properly obsessed with them and admits to owning “about 20. My friends borrow them all the time”... Reactions vary from total shock to mild amusement and envious approval. I learn that most people prefer me blonde, but men fancy me more as a brunette (at least, I hope that’s why I’m getting all the looks). And, if all else fails, at least these things make very effective ear muffs."

Heart Attack Grill Diet Center - "Taste Worth Dying For!... Anyone over 350Lbs eats for FREE..."

The Straight Dope: Which is smarter, cats or dogs? - "Judging the relative intelligence of cats and dogs is like deciding which is better looking — there's just not much basis for comparison. Psychologists have a tough enough time coming up with a culture-blind IQ test for humans, who all belong to the same species; designing a species-blind test for dogs and cats is just about impossible... My advice is, call it a draw and go argue about something else."

The Straight Dope: When does human life begin (revisited)? - "You have a very conservative approach, and a misogynistic one at that. I appreciate your attempt at explaining brain waves. But what your article lacked was a woman's right to her body, and you had an even more disturbing view on rape. Apparently, you need to take a woman's course or ethics course.... While I'm sure you're a splendid human being in person, in your letter you come across as a self-centered ninny, and you make the kinds of arguments that drive the religious right to new heights of zeal... Does a woman have a right to control her own body? As a general proposition, sure. The question is whether that right trumps all other rights, including those of her unborn child. You think it does. You need to understand how foolishly radical that view is. It goes far beyond the argument made by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.... The logic of the absolutist position is that at any time prior to birth — presumably even five minutes before — the life of the unborn child may be ended without a pang. The notion seems primitive, like something out of the Old Testament. No wonder abortion opponents go nuts... The idea that a fetus becomes a person at some point between conception and birth was the prevailing view for 2,000 years. It's a reasonable basis for consensus"

YouTube - Cell Phone Karma - "Hilarious video about how what-goes-around-comes-around XD"

Sex-change Rambo arsonist jailed - "A SEX-change woman who threatened to kill a taxi driver with a hunting knife days after torching her flat dressed like Rambo has been jailed. Joanne Spencer, who had to be taken down with a Taser gun by police, was locked up yesterday after admitting arson, making threats to kill and possessing an offensive weapon."

Boy, 16, banned from using Hoover or hot water under health and safety rules - "Karl Walker was told by a cleaning firm that he is not old enough to use hot water, washing up liquid and furniture polish or to empty bins... At 16, Karl is old enough to join the Army and fire a gun, play the lottery, have sex legally and get married, but the firm said he required special permission to use cleaning equipment, including vacuum cleaners."

Detroit Churches Pray for ‘God’s Bailout’ - "Pentecostal Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who shared the sanctuary’s wide altar with three gleaming sport utility vehicles, closed his sermon by leading the choir and congregants in a boisterous rendition of the gospel singer Myrna Summers’s “We’re Gonna Make It” as hundreds of worshipers who work in the automotive industry — union assemblers, executives, car salesmen — gathered six deep around the altar to have their foreheads anointed with consecrated oil... Outside the Corpus Christi Catholic Church, a sign beckoned passers-by inside to hear about “God’s bailout plan.”"

The Straight Dope: How do female astronauts menstruate in space? - "Several plane crashes in the 1930s had involved menstruating female pilots, and experts — male experts, of course — suggested that putting a woman with "menstrual disturbances" in the cockpit was an invitation to disaster... Internal medicine specialist and space buff William Rowe notes that women are more likely to develop decompression sickness during their periods... In a 2004 article in the Journal of Men's Health and Gender, he argues that for long-term space exploration an all-female crew might be the best bet... (1) Menstruation rids the body of iron... (2) Women produce a lot more estrogen than men, and they also have lower epinephrine levels"

Man accused of hitting girlfriend with sandwich while she's driving - "The type of sandwich hurled was not specified in the report."

Snack to the Future: The Col-Pop, an All-in-One Chicken Nugget and Soda Cup: The Colpop - "Proving yet again that South Korea is light years ahead of everyone else in fast-food technology is The Col-Pop. The nation that brought the world the spiral-cut potato on a stick and hot-dog-stuffed pizza ushers in a new era of snack portability with this mashup of drink cup and food container that holds popcorn chicken up top and a cold drink in the bottom."

National intelligence and suicide rate: an ecological study of 85 countries - "According to de Catanzaro’s (1981) evolutionary theory of human suicide, a threshold intelligence is necessary for suicidality. Intelligence and suicide mortality should thus be positively related. This prediction was tested and confirmed in an ecological study of 85 countries. National IQ was significantly positively related to the national male and female suicide rate. The relation was not attenuated when countries’ per capita Gross Domestic Product and the type of national IQ estimation were controlled. The relation was still positive, though not statistically reliable, when three further indicators (rates of the divorced, aged, and unemployed), salient for suicide rates and available for a subset of 36 countries, were additionally partialed out. Further evidence for a positive relation of intelligence and suicide mortality is provided by the observation of excess suicide prevalence in the Terman Genetic Study of Genius sample, relative to the general population."

Many lie over books 'to impress' - "Nearly half of all men and one-third of women have lied about what they have read to try to impress friends or potential partners, a survey suggests."

"On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four years, no matter what it does." - Will Rogers

***

From my kitchen in November (pictures from the 2 group cookouts will come in a later post):



BLT Pizza


Before putting the lettuce and mayo on


Very bagus. Instead of glazing it with vegetable oil I used the bacon drippings.


Bacon mushroom chicken with Frigid Girl:




Before and after baking


Making sauce from drippings


Final. A bit too little sauce and mushrooms, and the garlic was cremated, but this simple recipe still came out well.


Pork curry.


Ingredients. I added chicken stock later.


I should've half-cooked the potatoes before throwing them in (or cut them even smaller) but I was lazy, so I let the thing stew for a while more and the potatoes came out alright.


The first time I tried making curry it turned out really weird-tasting, but this round was good. Personally I thank the cream.


The first time I made Focaccia (at least in the latter half of the year; I love this recipe - it really is the "Easiest Focaccia Recipe"):


It looked alright, but the crumb was horrible.

Why, you might ask? The yeast bottle read: "Made in Malaysia", so despite it being a few months from expiring; even their microrganisms CMI!

I should put no yeast next time and it'll probably turn out like this.


I don't know what happened to my Balsamic Vinegar. French Dressing works as a substitute, though it's a bit acrid.

My second round of focaccia was much better (Yeast bottle: "Made in Singapore):


I also put more herbs - Herbs Provencale (versus Rosemary, Marjoram Tnd thyme previously)

I forgot to put salt into the dough decided to be authentic and rub the dough with salt before baking, but I didn't like the inconsistent taste that produced.



The third time I not only mixed the herbs into the dough (to get more consistent flavour), I soaked them in olive oil for a while before dumping them in. This improved the product somewhat (even if you're not supposed to do it).




Honey Bread:


Before and after second rising.


Glazed and ready to bake


Baked

It didn't taste of honey at all (there was a slight fragrance though). I guess the small amount of 1 tablespoon is all eaten up by the yeast, but I feel cheated by the description!


One night I was hungry, so I went to grate some potatoes to make potato pancakes.


Grating is a thankless job. !@#$


After you add flour and an egg the pathetic amount grated doesn't look so pathetic anymore.


I put ham in these (was trying to finish my ham chips) so they weren't *that* good. Bacon would've been better.


Pancakes:


Batter


I preferred the pancakes I made during Sausagefest. These were too eggy.


I was more or less out of Maple Apple Delight. They taste better with Nutella though.



Bratkartoffeln. The last time it wasn't fried enough but I took care to make the potato bits crispy this time.


Fried Rice


Fried pasta. The colourful garnishing didn't make it taste better, but it's one reason I didn't suffer from scurvy.


Word to the wise: putting lemon in your water works for the first few hours. Overnight, it becomes bitter.


Pork Stew. I also added the last of my frozen Red Wine and some cinammon for a hint of sweetness.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." - Robert Frost

***

An email I got:


Hi Gabriel

My name is *** and I'm going into uni next year. I'm quite a regular reader of your blog and would love to seek some advice from you regarding course choice and FASS in general

You see, I've been having severe dilemma between NUS FASS and SMU law. In Sg-pragmatic-pore, choosing law seems to be the natural choice since it's a professional degree which every freaking employer loves. However, I like economics and enjoy doing maths. Maths is to me what cooking is to chefs; it is just so natural and enjoyable without the pain and misery usually associated with surmounting difficult mathematical sums. I love reading up on economic theory as well. In JC, my strongest subjects were mathematics and economics. I worked hard in both subjects and did not find the process laborious because of my strong interest in them.

However, too many people have told me that a social science degree is too "general" [ I love this word, btw] and doesnt command much prospects. The common responses elicited are, "Har, study law lar. Why study econs." and "Study econs can be teacher nia." Which irks me as much as it depresses me.

Does passion matter alot when it comes to choosing our university course? Because I've quite a few friends choosing pragmatism over passion and are doing fine. And I know of cousins and seniors who have graduated with arts and science degrees and now have difficulty securing good jobs.

Would love to hear your take on this. And also your general opinions about NUS Fass, or better still, the economics department. Thank you so so much.

Cheers
***"


It is clear you know where your passions and interests lie.

Yet, it is possible to be passionate about something but not study or work at it. Partaking in it as a hobby or part-time endeavour is perfectly possible and feasible. For example, look at The Wannabe Economist. Or I had an Arts Professor who is into Orchirds (he is President of the Orchid Society of Southeast Asia and Editor of the Malayan Orchid Review).

In fact, in some ways it's more fun if you are not examined or have to make a livelihood from your interests (this reminds me of a Maths teacher I had who would incentivise himself to study other subjects by "rewarding" himself by then studying maths - which always struck me as bizarre).

Also, a word of caution: you can like JC economics and maths, but not maths as it is used in economics. For example, I have some philosophical disagreements with the way maths is used in economics, even though I am mostly capable of doing it (and was not unappreciative of JC maths).

I notice you didn't say anything about Law itself. Do you like or dislike it? What do you know about the theory and practice of it? If it's not much, you should try and learn more about it to make an informed choice.

Another thing to consider: SMU Law is not like NUS Law; I am told that SMU law is business oriented, and that you should do what's fashionable in SMU - a double degree. I am also told that they pour a lot of money into it to compete with NUS since NUS Law is supposedly better. Of course, the first batch of SMU Law students has not graduated yet, so it remains to be seen if law firms are as taken in by the SMU mystique as businesses (Incidentally, you didn't say if you got into NUS law. You could hedge your bets and try for the best of both worlds: NUS offers a Law-Economics Double Degree - even if you were rejected from NUS Law initially I think you can try reapplying).

Assuming you opt to do what is 'pragmatic' and get into Law and hate it, it is unlikely you will do well in it (at least not without suffering irreparable damage to your immortal soul, which will likely manifest in the form of bad poetry and giving advice to juniors who will happily ignore it and make the same mistake you did); while it is possible to like something but do badly in it (e.g. Me and A Level History, friend who liked Maths and did well in the S Paper [the equivalent of the current H3] for it and but didn't even do Honours in NUS), we are quite certain that disliking or hating something is not a good way to succeed in it. A First Class NUS Economics degree would then be better than a pass degree in Law (or whatever the equivalent in SMU would be).

As for comparative job prospects, as someone who did a general degree and is still unemployed I can appreciate how employers like those with more 'useful' qualifications (also, a disproportionate number of Arts graduates are absorbed by the Civil Service, so that is something you might want to take into account). Yet, an economics degree is probably the most 'respectable' or 'practical' of the Arts degrees (aren't you lucky you're not into Medieval Theology which, by the way, isn't even offered in Singapore?)

Also bear in mind that the lawyer attrition rate in Singapore is very high, and many of them go and become pastry chefs or something like that. Besides being underpaid and overworked, I think this stems from a lack of passion, and doing what everyone else is doing/wants to do/tells them to do.

In the end, your decision will depends on your relative weighting of career prospects, salary prospects (especially since the Golden Age of Investment Banking is over), interests and such.

As for FASS in general, it's a big and diverse place but generally I find the faculty to be good and committed to teaching but many of the students wanting.

As for Economics, staff-wise it's seen quite a bit of churn over the last year. Someone once described the faculty as bringing you the "flavours of Asia" - it has a lot of (mostly?) international staff, some of whom you might have problems understanding. A lot of the graduate students/teaching assistants are PRCs or foreigners, and many of them aren't very good or committed.

The program is very theoretical, and is geared at preparing you for graduate school. NTU is more applied and SMU is very project-based (though I'm told you end up not learning anything - i.e. it's like business school in general, since the place is one big business school)


Opinions from others are welcome.

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided." - Casey Stengel

***

Simpsons cartoon rip-off is child porn - judge - "A Supreme Court judge in Australia has ruled that an internet cartoon in which look-a-like child characters from The Simpsons engage in sexual acts is child pornography."

Nun Costume and accessories for court appearences. - "Nun costume and accessories to assist in those exorcisms. A nun costume for entering the convent. Nun costume and nun costume accesories to get out of speeding tickets. Nun costume and accessories for disguise and late night parties at the monastery... A nun costume for entering into your local order."
???

Despaña: A Superb Secret Sandwich Spot - "When you walk up a few steps and enter Despaña you leave New York and arrive in Spain, where you will find yourself in a gorgeously minimalist Spanish specialty food store. A leg of Jamon Iberico will be on your right, and past that gorgeous porcine ham you will find other cured meats, followed by a small but well-curated collection of Spanish cheeses. Dishes of samples beckon serious eaters like some Flamenco siren call."

FASS STAFF PROFILE - "Professor Chua Beng Huat is Singaporean. Like most Singapore students during his secondary school days, he studied for BSc in Biology and Chemistry in his undergraduate. After completing his degree, he realized that the isolated life of a lab scientist is not for him and switched to postgraduate study in Sociology... He returned to Singapore in 1984 to take up the Director of Research post at the HDB but was fired from that job for his critical writings on Singapore politics."
Hurr hurr
Someone: "if the antiestablishment signal was before he was a prof (or before he was hired to hdb), then why did they hire/tenure him?"; see, people don't believe me when I say NUS is not a gahmen propaganda tool

The Things He Carried - "Airport security in America is a sham—“security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease... A smart terrorist, he says, won’t try to bring a knife aboard a plane, as I had been doing; he’ll make his own, in the airplane bathroom. Schnei­er told me the recipe: "Get some steel epoxy glue at a hardware store"... The TSA budget is almost $7 billion. That money would be better spent on the penetration of al-Qaeda social networks."

Inventor builds his perfect woman - a robot who cleans and won't nag - "Devoted Aiko — “in her 20s” — has a stunning 32-23-33 figure, pretty face and shiny hair. She is always happy to clean the house for “husband” Le, help with his accounts or get him a drink. Computer ace Le, 33, from Ontario, Canada, has spent two years and £14,000 building his dream girl... Le says his relationship with Aiko hasn’t strayed into the bedroom, but a few “tweaks” could turn her into a sexual partner. Le said: “Her software could be redesigned to simulate her having an orgasm.”... “Women usually try to talk to her. But men always want to touch her, and if they do it the wrong way she slaps them.”"
No wonder everyone wants to go to Canada.

Joseph E. Stiglitz on capitalist fools - "Volcker had done what central bankers are supposed to do. On his watch, inflation had been brought down... But Volcker also understood that financial markets need to be regulated. Reagan wanted someone who did not believe any such thing, and he found him in a devotee of the objectivist philosopher and free-market zealot Ayn Rand... To deal with the high-tech bubble, he could have increased margin requirements (the amount of cash people need to put down to buy stock). To deflate the housing bubble, he could have curbed predatory lending to low-income households and prohibited other insidious practices (the no-documentation—or “liar”—loans, the interest-only loans, and so on)... the deregulators... decided to do nothing, worried that any action might interfere with “innovation” in the financial system. But innovation, like “change,” has no inherent value. It can be bad (the “liar” loans are a good example) as well as good... the S.E.C. argued for the virtues of self-regulation: the peculiar notion that banks can effectively police themselves. Self-regulation is preposterous, as even Alan Greenspan now concedes... The truth is most of the individual mistakes boil down to just one: a belief that markets are self-adjusting and that the role of government should be minimal."

Tim Burton's: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy - "Life isn't easy
for the Pin Cushion Queen.
When she sits alone on her throne
Pins push through her spleen."

Austenbook - "Mr. Bennet wishes that Mr. Bingley had sprained his ankle in the first dance."

Free Sugar Daddy Dating & Sugar Baby Personals - "SeekingArrangement is the premier Sugar Daddy Dating site. We are a matchmaking website for wealthy benefactors, and attractive guys & gals."

eResources Books - National Library Board, Singapore - "Spread the word about our library eResources and eContent at eresources.nlb.gov.sg. You are able to retrieve 800,000 eBooks and 600 eMagazines FREE anywhere and anytime from this website. Besides, you can check out company profiles at OneSource, get the latest articles of Harvard Business Review from the EBSCOHost Business Source Complete, as well as Time and New Scientist from Proquest Central. In addition, you can read full-edition and coloured digital global newspapers from Library Press Display and your favourite fashion, entertainment and sports magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitian and Entertainment Weekly from Pop Culture eCollection."
This is impressive for a free service. For example you get access to the Straits Times archives from 2000 onwards. But I wonder how much it's costing the taxpayer...

YouTube - Shine for Singapore Song 晴空万里 Singapore National Day Parade (NDP) 2008 Songs are... - "...no match for this most patriotic, most nationalistic, most propagandistic National Day Parade Singapore song, ever!... All in all, a most touching piece of music, 离乡路, composed and sung by renowned Taiwanese composer and singer Jeremy Chang Hung Liang 张洪量... If none of the annual propaganda, year after year, for the past 20 years has ever managed to stir any feelings in you for Singapore, fret not, this one will!"

LiveLeak.com - Oompa Loompa Army - "War? What war? Naw man, Broadway musical we said."
This is why security is very important.

Twenty years on: internalising the fatwa - "Today, all it takes for a publisher to run for cover is a letter from an outraged academic. In the 20 years between the publication of The Satanic Verses and the withdrawal of The Jewel of Medina, the fatwa has in effect become internalised... The first myth is that the controversy over Rushdie’s novel was driven by religion. It wasn’t. It was a political conflict. The Satanic Verses first became an issue in India because an election was due in November 1988, two months after the novel was published. Hardline Islamist groups used Rushdie’s book to try to win political concessions... The fatwa was an attempt by Iran to wrestle the initiative back from the Saudis... The second myth is that all Muslims were offended by The Satanic Verses. In fact most Muslims were little concerned about it... Even in Iran the book was openly available and was reviewed in many newspapers... The lesson of the Rushdie Affair that has never been learnt is that liberals have made their own monsters. It is the liberal fear of giving offence that has helped create a culture in which people take offence so easily... liberals have helped create a culture of grievance in which being offended has become a badge of identity"

Teacher who told pupils 'Santa doesn't exist' is axed - "Amanda Robertson, a parent of one pupil, said that her daughter had been very upset. “The whole family were outraged that a teacher took it upon herself to say this,” she wrote on an internet forum. But she added: “One of the permanent teachers did a very good job of telling the children that this was a mistake and ‘of course’ Santa is real.”... Mrs Roberston wrote that what the teacher had done “would be like telling someone religious that God doesn’t exist”."

The Battleship Final Fantasy - "Final Fantasy XIII will be the largest, the most complex, the most powerful Final Fantasy of all time. It will also be obsolete. Final Fantasy XIII will be the Battleship Final Fantasy... Final Fantasy has never produced a good or even coherent plot, a compelling character, a line of believable dialogue or a scene worthy of anything but a Saturday morning cartoon... The action of Final Fantasy XII is huge, elaborate and entirely without purpose - a battleship if I ever saw one... the sidequests of Final Fantasy have become ends in themselves, separated from any notion of the fun they were supposed to provide. Final Fantasy has the most compelling profile of any videogame. It bristles with guns - but what can actually be done with all of that firepower?... Ultimately, the troubles of Final Fantasy lie with its charm. From the first game to FFXII, the series has maintained a consistent tone in its plot, dialogue and gameplay. Final Fantasy has the feel of third-rate fantasy literature - imitative dreck suitable for children, but not without a certain charm."

UK caused cholera, says Zimbabwe - "Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described the outbreak as a "genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British"... He described it as "a calculated, racist, terrorist attack on Zimbabwe". Mr Mugabe has already accused Western powers of plotting to use cholera as an excuse to invade and overthrow him."
This is just the latest iniquitous ploy of the White Man. Never forget the genocide of Christopher Columbus!!!

Fuck! - "Could the men living in China get any more retarded? Here are the horror stories from the front lines... Wow, nothing's sexier than entitled, racist expat men."
My comment: "I hope it is not without a tinge of irony that a blog bashing men living in China labels someone as racist." I'm quite sure the response will be something along the lines of 'men are evil'
[Addendum: "Agagooga, you're an idiot for labeling an entire nation "rude" because of some isolated incidents you had in the city, you pretentious ignorant fuck." - I don't know what planet this guy is from, since even the Chinese state recognises that its citizens are rude.]

What I think of whenever people complain about "militant atheists"

What I think of whenever people complain about militant atheists:



"Blind idiot! Rat fink! Pervert! Commie! Blasphemer! Immoral creep and scum of the earth!" *Bashes atheist with cross*

*Atheist is about to snap weaponised cross with knees*

"Hey! Let's have a little RESPECT here!"

"Success didn't spoil me, I've always been insufferable." - Fran Lebowitz

***

I was asked "what were you most surprised by/shocked by/found interesting about japan/japanese?"

My answer:

- Enjo Kosai (Compensated Dating - High School Girls prostituting themselves to businessmen)
- Engrish. How common the appearance of (bad) English words/phrases/sentences/paragraphs - yet how the Japs almost don't speak it at all
- How Japan appropriates and transmogrifies all sorts of foreign influences, e.g. Curry, Ganguro Girls, superstition that Blood type influences your personality
- How it's a vegetarian's nightmare: everything that looks vegetarian has fish in it
- How virtually all DVD shops are >90% porn
- The ubiquity of gravure
- Japanese hi-tech toilets
- How they're so fond of souvenir stamps (you stamp a piece of paper when you visit an attraction)
- How much snake oil they have. Examples: Lip Trainer Patakara, Suppli Gaming Pills - Japanese Snake Oil at its Finest

"Rape me once, shame on you.
Rape me twice, shame on me"