Category: general

I have two new faces (assuming “Anonymous” is new…I don’t recognize the writing style) in the comments today. Did they find me by doing a scan of Blogger profiles, like I do occasionally? Or did they find me some other way? It’s interesting.

It’s also weird, because I’m accustomed to only having people I know comment ^^;; But hey! A broader audience is good.

It would be nice if they introduced themselves, though :)

So if you guys are still here, step up!

Because, you know, we have to die sometime.

‘We will be able to live to 1,000’

By Dr Aubrey de Grey

University of Cambridge

Brooke and I got started at around 10 or so. We actually were only able to ride together for about 20 minutes before she had to turn around and head back to go to work. I turned around too, but I made my way back very slowly, stopping to take pictures all along the way. I filled up my 128 meg card and had plowed well into the spare 32 by the time I got back to the beginning of the trail, at 1 pm.

I don’t have time to upload the pictures now, since I need to hop in the shower and–*sigh*–go back to work, but I’ll do it as soon as I get home :)

I guess they’ve run out of actual facts, so they come up with their own opinions about rumors instead. Today we have the cash back scam, with no proof whatsoever on whether or not it actually happens.

I’ve been seeing a lot of these “Status: Undetermined” stories lately. It makes me wonder what the point is in writing them. Are they hoping someone with more information will write in, or are they just really hurting for material? Are they too busy to investigate matters? What’s the deal?

Snopes also did a lot of fact-checking about the political candidates during the election, something that seemed beyond the scope of a debunking site.

What it boils down to is, I’m not sure what kind of site Snopes is anymore.

So I’m lounging around in my underwear, minding my own business, when suddenly there’s all this knocking at the door!

I run to see who it is, and it’s UPS, so then I yell “Just a minute” and fling on a shirt and pants.

It’s a package from Mom!

She sent me a “Smart Stacker Multi-Rotary with Tray”–As Seen on TV!–and a cookie press!

Crazy!

I discussed yesterday how I’m starting to distrust Mainichi as a credible source of news. Today, we get this headline:

Calligraphy teacher smears reputation over fondled breasts

I am utterly speechless, except maybe for a few profanities. I mean, Jesus!

(This also demonstrates how far behind their English translation is, because I discussed this news story back on November 28, when Japan Today headlined it. Of course, their headline wasn’t any better, was it?)

I took off early from work today (will have to go back in later to do some stuff) so I could bike with Brooke. Now I’m just waiting for her to call me and confirm her readiness (I’ve called her twice).

Oh, and I lost another pound, bringing the total weight loss to 16.5 pounds! BWEE!

Japan Today: Koizumi thinks public would support a reigning empress

There is actually some interesting debate in the comments this time, along with the usual tripe. BlackKnight’s remarks about Crown Princess Masako (Dec 3 2004 – 11:36) are notable.

Some related links:

Hello! Japan’s Masako: A modern princess seeks harmony in a traditional world

2004/07/31: Telegraph: Crown princess is ‘mentally ill’

Two interesting quotes from that last article:

Though courtiers remain deeply conservative, imperial family members have encouraged a relatively open approach, seen when the emperor revealed in 2002 that he was suffering from prostate cancer.

[…]

In Japan, adjustment disorder is commonly associated with children who grow up abroad but experience shock at the rigidity of Japanese culture when they return home.

And some Japan Today news articles:

2004/01/10: Masako admits pressure of living in royal family

2004/05/13: Imperial agency rattled by crown prince’s comments on wife

2004/05/14: “Pop Vox”: Do you feel sorry for Crown Princess Masako?

2004/05/15: Flap over crown prince’s remark continues

2004/06/09: Crown prince says Masako trying to adapt to imperial life

2004/10/22: Empress rebuked Crown Princess Masako, London Times reports

2004/10/30: Masako displeased with news reports that empress rebuked her

2004/11/30: Prince Akishino critical of brother’s remarks in May

Some sites have described Masako in the following manner:

Due to her background as a ‘career woman’, still a rare occurence in Japan, there were high expectations for Masako modernizing the role of Crown Princess. This has not happened. On the contrary, over the years it has become clear that Masako is actually extremely conservative.

She is definitely not the free-thinker that many journalists and members of the public think she is. In an interview with Gale Eisenstodt, formerly the Tokyo bureau chief for Forbes magazine, Grand Chamberlain Makoto Watanabe was quoted as saying: “The media created an overblown image of Princess Masako as the young, aggressive career woman. She’s very intelligent, but she is also more of a follower.” Even her orthodox clothes apparently are her own choice. A fellow student of her Oxford days called Masako “very much the traditional Japanese woman, unlikely to take initiative or stick her neck out.”

It feels to me like the sites making claims about her personality are drawing this “information” from imperial household sources and Western values, and therefore not getting to the heart of the matter. I think that Princess Masako has undergone a severe amount of pressure to fit the role of crown princess–not only in producing a male heir, but in acting in a way “befitting” her position. I believe that stress over the latter has caused her to lose confidence. I also believe that she has lacked a creative outlet since being married. She was once a successful diplomat, but now she no longer has those duties. It may be that these “expectations” that she would “modernize” the role of crown princess had the double effect of 1) turning the imperial household against her, and 2) building additional mental pressure for the princess.

Whatever the truth, whether she is really “conservative” or not, it’s obvious that she’s undergone a lot of stress. I wish her the best.

Mainichi has a story about how the Japanese government is considering ways of allowing a woman to ascend the throne and rule as Empress, as a male heir hasn’t been born in almost 40 years.

Japan Today mentioned a few days ago that Mainichi had this story in its Japanese edition, and a day or so later revised that article and renamed it “Hosoda denies gov’t studying female ascension to throne”. That the original Mainichi story only became available today says to me that Mainichi doesn’t update its English edition very quickly.

I like this quote from the end of the Mainichi article, though:

Eight empresses have ruled Japan. The most recent rule was that of Empress Satoko from 1762 to 1770.

That’s pretty recent, yeah…o_o

Ignoring the matter of the late English updates–because that’s understandable–I’m sort of starting to wonder about Mainichi’s credibility as a news source. Some of its headlines seem very unprofessional, and it doesn’t back up its claims very well. For example: the blood type of the man who kidnapped and murdered a 7-year-old girl in Nara–and then sent her mother a message about it using the girl’s cell phone–may now be known. Japan Today’s headline is “Nara girl’s killer could have type B blood”. Mainichi’s is “Nara schoolgirl murderer’s blood type identified”. In general, Japan Today is more cautious about its claims, while Mainichi will just say things as if they were facts. This makes me more willing to accept Japan Today’s stories. (I also dislike the use of the term “schoolgirl”, but that’s another matter entirely.)

WebMD is reporting on a promising new therapy:

The vaccine is made from a patient’s own dendritic cells and HIV isolated from the patient’s own blood. Dendritic cells are crucial to the immune response. They grab foreign bodies in the blood and present them to other immune cells to trigger powerful immune system responses to destroy the foreign invaders.

HIV infection normally turns these important immune system responses off. But animal studies show that when dendritic cells are “loaded” with whole, killed AIDS viruses, they can trigger effective immune responses that keep infected animals from dying of AIDS.

This is a great achievement! I hope it can be shown to work for the majority of AIDS sufferers…

See? I had nothing to worry about; it’s just that I’m too obese for modern medical equipment.

:>

No, I didn’t make that title up. It’s actually the url. Click it and see!

Yahoo News: Oddly Enough – 90-Year-Old Man Still Teaching Kids Judo

I used to always imagine that I’d be like that, doing martial arts well into my golden years. Of course, that would require me to actually resume doing martial arts at some point…

It would be good for me, that’s for sure!

Too bad Bookworm wouldn’t accept it :(

Momo: It’s finally 5-4. Fuji-sempai’s team has somehow started to catch up, but…they don’t have any more time, do they…

Fuji the Younger: It starts now.

Momo: Eh?

Fuji the Younger: Look at my brother’s eyes.*

And of course, it isn’t long before…

That’s a little something I like to call

MacGyver, I love you!