Far East Cynic

Here’s video proof to the contrary…….

Follow the link to the comments. Pretty amazing if you ask me-brave talk is easy……….

The S.O. and I went to see the living Christmas Tree last night at Shopping Mall’s oldest church (founded in 1809 although they moved to a new church in 1963). A co worker who sings in the choir gave us tickets. We went last year and both of us really enjoyed. In fact, it has been voted one of the “must see” things to see here in Shopping Mall.

So here is the question. How did the tradition of standing during the Hallelujah chorus start?

I don’t know and am curious.

Which means it is time for a long overdue blog round-up.

Got back and back to work here today. A quick trip-and it was cold and miserable at my destination. Plus US Airways decided to jerk me around yet again. An explanation is in order.

When I arrived on Monday at Shopping Mall’s wonderous airport-I was politely informed that my flight had been cancelled. So they re-booked me on another flight. However, somehow-in US Airways computer system it cancelled out the entire reservation. This caused me to be reported to my company’s travel agent as a “no-show”. So the next day I get to answer a snide e-mail chastising me for not letting them know I was cancelling the trip. I pointed out to them that I was on the trip, and could they explain how they did not get that information?

And of course the cancellation meant that they did not have a reservation in the system for me on the return leg either. So it took some foot stomping at the country then as well.

GRRRR!!!!
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E @ L has an interesting post up-about the shakey foundation that globalization is built on. He’s got a review of a book called Listening to Grasshoppers. In the book are:

…essays, while specifically about how India’s various warring religions, sects and tribal/racial groups are able to commit atrocities and gloss them over afterwards with ‘an election’, thus soothing international concerns, speaks of lessons not learned that could be applicable pretty much everywhere in the developing world; don’t be corrupt, don’t hate those you falsely see as Others, don’t rape (gang-rape), pillage (historical sites) and burn (people), even if you can easily get away with these crimes against humanity, don’t think elections are the panacea they are promoted to be by the globalisation buffos.

He then goes on to elaborate on one of the dirty little secrets of what happens with unregulated markets-wealth gradually becomes ensconced in fewer and fewer people-while the majority of the people doing the actual work see nothing for their efforts. Globalization-especially in India and China are built on a premise that the nations are willing to write off a certain percentage of their populations to ensure that the elite have access to untold wealth.

Teabaggers whine about how they are getting robbed-however they have no clue about the real robbery that occurs elsewhere. And they refuse to acknowledge  just how lucky they really are. The problems highlighted in the book are real and make ours seem minimal by comparison. What is really interesting to me is that the United States will be prepared to spend billions and billions on nations that are not even as far a long as India, but turns a blind eye to what is happening in both China and India because they are our trading partners. All the while telling us about the “shining light” that we are. If we were so shining we would highlight these problems too-and push for change-but we don’t for a good reason-its not in our national interest. Neither is being in Iraq and Afghanistan for 10 years.

Now if I had my way India would still be ruled by a Viceroy answerable to the British King, so I am not one to talk-but it does highlight a real issue. This growing gap between the haves and have nots is a real problem which over time creates real instability around the world. Want to see where terrorism really begins-look here, not in some cave in Afghanistan.

Well worth a read.

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You are part of a winning World Series team. You get voted MVP for the series after going 8 for 13  with three homers and eight RBIs, tying a Series record by driving in six runs in Game 6. You have one of the best records of any Japanese player in the Major Leagues.

So how do the Yankees reward you for that effort?

They trade you.

Now it is true that Matsui was a free agent-and that he does have knee problems. It is also true that Yankee general manager Brian Cashman is on nobody’s Christmas list in Tokyo. The S.O pointed this out to me as she scanned her internet copy of the Asahi Shimbun. I cross checked it with the Japan Times:

Not only was he a star on the Yomiuri Giants and the Yankees, but he was also the World Series most valuable player last month. The sight of thousands of Americans screaming Matsui’s name as he rode in the Yankees’ victory parade was a source of national pride in Japan.

The Japanese can take this stuff personally. Brian Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager, offended many when he said after the World Series that Matsui was “only” a designated hitter. That might have been an honest assessment of Matsui’s fielding skills, but in the eyes of some Japanese, it was also an insult to Matsui, said Robert Whiting, author of “You Gotta Have Wa.” 

Baseball fans in Japan will continue to follow Matsui, of course, no matter where he plays. The Angels’ games are likely to be shown on Japanese television more often, and Japanese travel agents are surely going to add stops in Anaheim on their tour groups to Southern California.

Go Go Curry, a Japanese fast food restaurant in New York City opened by a businessman from Matsui’s hometown, is considering whether to open another shop in Los Angeles.

Personally, I’m not suprised. The Yankees are the most evil team in baseball, you know. Say it with me one more time: F*ck the f*cking Yankees!

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Speaking of not understanding the actual layout of the world,  James Fallows has been beating a great drum of his own lately:

According to the latest Pew poll on US attitudes on international affairs, 44% of Americans think that the world’s leading economic power is… China. Only 27% think it’s the United States.

Fallows then goes on to explain in some detail using something in short supply these days-facts. China may be growing and have a lot of US dollars-but its still a Communist country with real problems that it is just trying to cover up or wish away. Like its pollution and carbon emissions for one.

“China is big, fast-growing, important, and interesting. But the world’s leading economic power? Someday, perhaps. But now, no way”.

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And finally, courtesy of Big Lychee ( new home of Hemlock) can you find what is wrong with this picture?

I’ll give you a hint-The Swiss would not like it.

Here is a primer on the “dog whistle” listeners. You too can learn to speak teabag in a just a few lessons!

Of the internet takes you in some interesting directions. And goes to some un-expected destinations..

A while back I did a post about my classmate Sam Savas. I suggest you go back and read the post again-especially comments 4 and 5.

Small world.

Out the door this morning for a multi-leg trip. Blogging from the road will be dependent on how the work in Hicksville goes……..

Jon Stewart explains why Glenn Beck doesn’t seem to understand the words” Conflict of interest”:

I made a point to be in to watch the Army Navy game yesterday. It is the only time of year I root for the Naval Academy or have anything nice to say about it for that matter.

It is always an impressive sight to see the Brigade of Midshipmen and the Corps of Cadets march onto the field and to see them in the stands. ( I love how they got relegated to the end zone seats by the way-did not used to be that way). Of course, to really admire the spectacle you have to turn a blind eye to all of the ethical, financial, military and moral compromises the Academies have made to be on the leading edges of social experimentation. Knowing how the academies have sold their souls to make sure they have the requisite quota of women on board kind of sours the view.

(Yes I’ll say it-women have no business being at the service academies-and thirty years of experience at the institutions have proven me right-again and again. I will not apologize or go back on the sentiment as long as I live.)

Nonetheless, the game was a good one-and it is actually kind of nice to see football played where players make errors, are not waving locks of long black hair like some girl, and not playing on a work release scholarship ( like they do at a certain institution here in Shopping Mall’s home state). And its also nice to know that these players are working for something better than themselves.

I felt sorry for Army’s field goal kicker-had he have made that field goal, Navy would probably still have won-but the momentum of the game would have been different. It was also disheartening that Navy blew three different pass opportunities in the first half-but they seem to have re-grouped in the second half. The S.O. and I had to leave for a Christmas party with six minutes left in the game-but fortunately Army never made a serious drive.

So now I can go back to listening to people tell me how much the Steelers suck this year…………..

I got a new cell phone:

Which I have been learning all about tonight.

How low have I sunk-when I’m playing with that-instead of playing with something else:

Such is life in Shopping Mall USA………..I stimulate the economy, instead of me being stimulated……….

In Brussels, near the center square in town is a small statue. His claim to fame-he’s pissing!
In Japan they had a whole series of commercials for a soft drink, Dakara that featured this little guy:

He’s actually called the Manneken Pis-Dutch for little man pissing-he has been there since 1619. There are many legends about the Manneken-no one knows which one is true. He’s always dressed in different costumes-here he is seen in a white ribbon for some cause or other. Probably the biggest dissapointment is that he is so small. Its like getting to Copenhagen and seeing the little mermaid statue. You think of it one way in your mind and then you get to it-and your disappointed.

But he does have his own bar across the street. Which probably proves the old adage that you don’t buy beer you rent it:

The bar is actually quite a neat place. We did not stay long because the S.O. just cannot stand smoke-and like most Brussels bars this one allowed smoking. (Wish I could have gone back there by myself).

Here is a shot during the day. He’s still there and still small:

[Insert joke about "size matters" or "mine's bigger" here]

Clik your heels together and repeat three times: “The Surge in Iraq worked!”

BAGHDAD — A series of coordinated attacks struck Baghdad Tuesday, including two suicide car bombers and another vehicle that blew up near government sites. At least 121 were killed and hundreds wounded in the worst wave of violence in the capital in more than a month, authorities said.

A total of five attacks, which also included a suicide car bomb on a police patrol, showed the ability of insurgents to strike high-profile targets in the heart of Baghdad and marked the third time since August that government buildings were targeted with multiple blasts that killed more than 100 people.

The bombings reinforced concerns about shortcomings in Iraqi security as U.S. forces plan their withdrawal, and parliament held an emergency session with many lawmakers demanding answers for apparent security lapses.

 

Let’s confront reality and remember exactly what the Iraq “surge” was designed to achieve when it was launched in 2007. It was designed to create a security environment in which a new Iraqi political settlement could be hammered out between the various sectarian factions. How’s that working out?

The Copenhagen summit begins this week-and frankly, if I were over there I would be more interested in how I could get my hands on one of those government flyers.

However, I had the misfortune to read this headline from the Town Hall Harlot today:

These are 56 newspapers that you cannot trust on the issue:

Never mind that most of those papers have a better reputation than Malkin-who has all the truthfulness of a bar girl telling you her mom is sick.

From my view in the cheap seats-”Climategate” just isn’t a big deal. Even if, and the facts are still far from conclusive on the subject,  that one scientist try to supress evidence of some cooling trends-the simple truth is that there is some kind of problem with the Earth’s ecosphere.

When I watch idiots like Beck and others trying to argue that global warming is just a hoax, I can’t help but laugh.  Maybe New York is not flooding next week-but the intelligent person buried deep within me tells me that pouring tons and tons of non-oxygen into the atmosphere can’t be good for the planet. Nor is an economy where every one depends on gasoline powered cars to get anywhere. ( I also happen to believe in the theory of peak oil-but that discussion should be separate from this one).

So I don’t understand the lather-except that I really do. Its about a selfish desire , because teabagger belief is at its heart,  about real,  bonafide selfishness, to not have to make any changes in the American lifestyle of conspicuous consumption.

The simple truth is that the major economies of the world need to make changes to halt the erosion in our environment. China and the US are ill positioned to do so-yet they are the worst offenders.  China-because it values profit over progress. The US because it does not want to have to tell people that they have enjoyed too much for too long.

American houses are too damn big. American cars are too damn big. American public transportation needs to be bigger-and needs to be used by more people. Do Americans really need 3000 square foot houses with huge, chemically fed lawns? I know I don’t. Give me an apartment in the right  location in [fill in the blank of nice neighborhood in  Asia] and I can be quite happy.

Want to know how? Consider Japan. Japan has a population of 153 million in an area the size of New Jersey. Yet, their energy consumption is half that of  the US. Differences? Decent public transportation, houses that are a lot smaller than their US counterparts.  A population that is not full of fat women. The simple truth is that Beck and company just don’t want to pay anything at all in taxes or else to make the alternatives that the rest of the world has embraced happen. Might cut into Beck’s lifestyle-after all he makes more money in a day than 95% of humanity will see in their lifetime. But he doesn’t feel guilty about it all.

So. The sky is not falling. However, it is slowly but surely getting lower, and only complete idiots argue otherwise. That’s my thought anyway. But then again-when has the views of Malkin and Beck ever made any sense?

Save my planet for my children and their children. End “wars without end” and end the problems of ecosystem disturbance. Or write your children a note that says-you really don’t care about them.  The choice is ours.  I vote for a world that is more eco friendly if not as American.

Its cold today. Putting up Christmas lights and watching football today. And listening to Christmas music of “The Christmas Station“. Especially this tune this morning:

So what’s the best thing about Christmastime for you?

Our trip started in Bonn after we arrived in Frankfurt. We rented the car at the airport- I thought I had a BMW reserved, but when I asked them for a navigation system, it threw them for a loop. After some scrambling, we ended up with a KIA Sonata-which was a tad bit too big for the places we were going.

“It is an automatic, right?”

“Ja, Ja”.

Well it wasn’t,  which meant I was going to be doing all of the driving. The S.O. can’t even spell manual transmission-much less drive one.

However as the trip went on the car performed very well-and the navigation system worked great- saving us from arguments. The S.O. has no sense of direction-but like most women will not admit that is the case. Also, for someone who lived in Tokyo-she also could be curiously unaware of her surroundings at times-I had to grab her on three different occasions to keep her from walking out into the street in front of cars she did not seem to know where there.

Why Bonn? I asked the same question. Because the S.O. had seen a travel program that featured Beethoven and he was Born in Bonn. I actually liked the place once we got there-the S.O. seemed underwhelmed. But it was nice. Our hotel:

Which had an added bonus of having a bier garden in the basement. It called itself an Irish pub-but it was more of a German bar then Irish. Still, it was popular on a Saturday night with the UN crowd. ( The UN has some sort of headquarters in Bonn).

We went off to explore the Christmas market though:

Where they had interesting, albeit expensive, things for sale:

The ice rink was not quite ready:

We did get some pictures of the Rhine right before sunset:

And the river itself:

And we walked back through the university where we met this guy:

I’ll bet its nice here in the spring.

And finally, it was back to the Christmas market for beer and sausage bread. Where we just happened to meet these guys:

They moved and sang in German.

The Weinachtsmarkt was open for its first night when we got there-and doing a brisk business. I have often wondered why this little tradition did not emigrate here to the US with all of the German immigrants who settled in Shopping Mall and other towns. Oh yea-because we don’t have vibrant downtown shopping districts like they do in Europe!