Opinions

I support the right to bear arms responsibly, but I don’t think idiots have the right to bear arms.

Dokdo belongs to Korea and the Kurils belong to Russia. These countries are willing to destroy Japan to defend their claims.

Taiwan belongs to China and Taiwan Province’s future is directly linked with how their government wishes to deal with the Mainland.

Michael Moore is the Republicans’ secret weapon because he has done more to undermine Democrats than the combined efforts of right-wing think-tanks, FOX News, conservative pundits, and the Republican Party itself.

Chen Shuibian has lost his way and need to step down. History will be much kinder to him and people will remember him best for his contributions towards reforming ROC democracy if he just steps down.

Internet Neutrality must be preserved if there is to be free exchange of information, continued innovation and the idea of implementing tier-access, website restrictions borders on Internet censorship.

The Japanese Liberal Democratic Party has been a pawn of the United States government since its creation in post-war Japan. Declassified documents have shown the CIA bankrolled the party and trained prominent LDP politicians in the art of American politicking with none of the restrictions that kept US politics relatively clean.

The War on Iraq was a success with a rapid and swift victory in conquering the pariah state, but the post-war efforts are a complete disaster. It looks like the Americans and their allies will be stuck there for the long-term.

Israel inspires Islamic extremism and Mel Gibson with their questionable policies such as their Security Wall around Palestine, discrimination against their taxpaying Israeli Arab citizens, and their recent excursion into Lebanon.

Apple does make better computers and the iPod is the walkman of our era. However, people are more familiar with using PCs in their lives and Microsoft has made us all dependent on their software and services.

The day I heard Intel powering Macs was equivalent to archaeologists finding gnostic texts claiming that Jesus was a flaming homosexual who had a relationship with Peter.

It’s ok to be gay so long as you do not exhibit stereotypical behaviour that makes Richard Simmons look like a straight cowboy. Go be gay, pay your taxes, serve your country and get married if you can. Be yourself but not a living stereotype.

The day of reckoning has come for our Big Three American auto manufacturers. Chrysler is relatively safe from its 1998 acquisition by Mercedes-Benz and from excellent leaders such as Dieter Zeitsch while GM is forced to implement massive cutbacks to remain competitive while Ford is taking steps to liquidate several of their plants and subsidiaries to also remain competitive.

Sacha Baron Cohen is a brilliant comedian. It takes someone with incredible intelligence to create characters that are so incredibly stupid, racist yet highly amusing. I look foward to seeing the Borat movie when it is released.

Wapanese or Japanophiles

Wapanese/Japanophiles are abominations of God; they’re are all failed miscarriages that our Lord neglected to carry out. I see them online mindlessly worshiping all things stereotypically Japanese from Hello Kitty to Japanese AV (if you don’t know what AV stands for, the better).

I sometimes see them in groups crowding around the Japanese bookstore across the street from the Mitsuwa supermarket debating over which Naruto character is cooler, looking for magazines on “Gothic Lolita” or even getting tourist guides for various regions in Japan. However, I saw these people most when I was back at Rutgers in the good old Japanese Cultural Association (the Anime club).

Oh, why? Why do I despise Wapanese/Japanophiles? Well, there are several reasons for my dislike of these abominations.

1. Superficial Understanding of Asian culture. There was a time when Anime or Japanese animation was treated as any cartoon show on television. Asian kids who grew up with this stuff in either Hong Kong, Taiwan Province, the Philippines, and Japan would treat it as any other cartoon with the exception that it sometimes had mature storylines or topics. I grew up watching Doraemon (when it was called Xiaodingdong in HK), read Saint Seiya comics, and even the occasional Gundam SD models. Then again, I am Asian and this is the stuff a good number of kids there grew up on in back in the day.

However, things became extremely warped when you see 20 to 40-year-old Americans with no formal understanding of Japan or even Asian culture in general picking up interests that only Asian children would have done. Can you imagine seeing a 40 year-old American virgin obsessing over Anime shows that you and I have watched fondly when we were around the ages of 5 to 10? How about a 26 year-old graduate student bragging about how a heavily censored DBZ manga was the greatest thing he read until I pointed out to him that the storylines are nearly a decade old and they censored important points in the story.

Then, there are the high school kids who talked about how great “Gundam Wing” and “Gundam SEED” are while talking down on “Mobile Suit Gundam” without realising that the success of “Mobile Suit Gundam” led to the creation of the other shows and that the newer shows consist of nothing but recycled material from the original series.

2. Poor taste in Anime. For some reason, Wapanese/Japanophiles these days like their Anime girls drawn to look like 10-year olds, to act like submissive slaves and to have extremely annoying voices. It has even reached a point where some Wapanese/Japanophiles have openly stated that they prefer having an animated Anime girl over a real human being. With that in mind, it would be safe to say that Wapanese/Japanophiles would become overstimulated from looking at an “Anime” drawing I did of my friend instead of the real her even if she offered herself to them.

Then there are those Wapanese/Japanophiles who would go after girls who only resembled characteristics of an “Anime girl” meaning a girl that is at most 5 feet tall, Asian (preferably Japanese), big eyes, extremely friendly, and has a “cutesy” voice. I pray for any Asian girls who happens to fit these traits and is also unfortunate enough to bump into Japanophiles.

3. Unhealthy obsession with Japan. Because of Wapanese/Japanophiles, Japanese has been jokingly referred to as a “Sovereign state with the highest number of fanboys in the world…”. Interestingly enough, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry has encouraged animation studios to produce more Anime television shows and films to export to the world alongside their existing exports of AV, cars, electronics, and electronic component.

As a result of increased output from studios, I feel the quality of Anime has drastically declined due to cliche storylines, weird show premises that only a Thai ladyboy could have conjured up, and low episode runs. There was a time when Anime shows would have long episode runs spanning at least 100 episodes with storylines that covered current issues or dilemmas of growing up as well as plausible premises such as dramas of a high school basketball team instead of 12-year-old girls battling necrophiliac Confucian-Nazi Aliens from a dimension grounded on Viking mythology in Okinawa while juggling the problems of finding cute boyfriends and surviving classes. That type of crap seems popular with Japanophiles.

It looks like I have digressed. What annoys me the most is the fact that Wapanese/Japanophiles will worship Japan as if it was God’s bastard son and go medieval on you if you even consider poking fun at anything pertaining to Japan. Even if you are making valid points on a particular issue on Japan, they will automatically argue that you’re wrong and even accuse you of being racist against Japanese people. Some arguments are:

“Oh grow up, Koizumi is praying for peace and Chinese and Koreans are just overreacting to a visit in a ancient Shinto shrine,”

or “My Japanese friends don’t know much about the issues so I think you don’t know what you’re talking about either”

and “You’re anti-Japanese because you are tempted to throw rocks at the Japanese embassy because of what the government is saying about the past.”

Then again, I have seen worse discussions with politically-conscious Asians and idiot Wapanese/Japanophiles. I remembered one thread where a Korean who loved Rurouni Kenshin praised Japanese annexation of Korea because “[They] fought against the Chinese in the Sino-Japanese War to help Korea become a modern power” and another where a hippie Wapanese/Japanophiles girl said “The Rape of Nanjing is just an isolated incident…move on and stop picking on Taiwan”.

Ironically, many of these Wapanese/Japanophiles have never been to Asia, had any formal study in Asian, let alone Japanese, history and culture; and they develop their views from superficial items such as Anime, sushi, and so on.

I am still surprised that Rutgers has an Anime club that is often attended by random Wapanese/Japanophiles and by the fact that there is no Star Trek or Star Wars club at Rutgers. I would also like to add that cosplay does not work for White people and it looks much better on Asians, especially the ladies. If you don’t believe me compare images of American cosplayers with those of Asian cosplayers…

Waiting

I’m just waiting

For my vacation time to kick in

For my next credit card statement

For my direct deposit

For my train home

For Saturday to come around

For that Borat movie to come out

For the new series of “Top Gear”

For next week’s “Prison Break”

For the new Playstation

I’m just waiting.

倒扁聯盟! 倒扁! 倒扁! GO! GO! GO!

On the 9th of September 2006, 1 million angry ROC citizens will stage a sit-in in front of the Presidential Palace to not only protest the rampant corruption within Chen’s family but also to exert pressure for him to resign. The grassroots campaign, led by Taiwanese human rights activist Shi Mengde has successfully raised the $100 million NT through public fundraisers of at least $100NT per person. The money raised from the fundraisers will be used to feed the poor and underprivileged who are alleged to have suffered from economic decline resulting from Chen’s misrule.

Current scandals involving the Chen Shuibian have involved his son in law Chao “2260″ Chien-Ming being indicted for insider trading and his wife accepting free gift certificates from the SOGO department stores in Taiwan. Other allegations involve Chen Shuibian using government funds to pay for his family nanny, allegations of funneling some government funds into a personal retirement account, and nepotism in government appointments.

It is unfortunate that Chen Shuibian, a man who was once respected for being a political prisoner during KMT rule, a man who suffered hardship when his wife was paralysed after being run over repeatedly by a KMT truck in a failed assassination attempt against him, and a man once known for sweeping away corruption and vice from Taipei when he was mayor, is now the poster boy for corruption in a growing Taiwanese democracy. Both his critics and supporters are surprised and disappointed by this change of character when he was elected as the ROC President. Former allies like Shi Mingde, who bled alongside Chen and other activists during KMT rule, are leading the initiative to sack him while his critics have been given more support in future elections from moderates and independents alike.

Unfortunately, Taipei mayor Ma Yingjiu (KMT) is still a pussy for restricting the sit-in to only 10:00 PM Taipei Time. This means Chen and his DPP cronies will only have to suffer for the entire Saturday up until 10:00 PM. However, if anyone is aware of Shi Mengde’s history (who nearly spent a decade in solitary confinement for promoting Taidu, Human Rights, and defying the KMT), we all know that the planned sit-in will last longer and Ma the sissy will be force to break them up with the police. Sadly, this is what Ma will have to do if he is to appear objective against the ROC’s corrupt President in both fact and in appearance under these circumstances.

救台灣! 我們一定要倒阿扁大總統! 倒扁! 倒扁! GO! GO! GO! FIGHT THE POWER!

Prison Break Season 2, Episode 2

So it looks like Veronica did kick the bucket and the shadow government disposed of her corpse in neat little plastic bags. The gang has split up after they successfully evaded the Feds in the first episode. There are currently two storylines coming out of the prison break: one is a race to find buried treasure in Utah with Sucre, C-Note, T-Bag, Tweener, and Abruzzi and the other involves Lincoln and Michael evading the authorities. A third storyline might develop with Balliwick and Pope hunting down the Fox River Eight for the reward money and to redeem themselves.

Why is it that LJ Jr. always complicates things for our main heroes with acts of stupidity? In the first season, he fails to kill a company agent and is implicated for double-homicide while in tonight’s episode he takes his sweet time getting away from the courthouse. This kid is an idiot and it’s obvious he did not inherit any of Michael’s special talents.

I also thought it was messed up how T-Bag decided to kill the Indian doctor with lethal injection after he reattached his hand with care and gave him good advice on how to get back to normal. It was even creepier when he implied that killing the doctor would allow him to absorb all his strengths. That seems to have happened to an extent when T-Bag dyed his hair and assumed his identity by taking his Jeep, his clothes, and his identity.

Tweener is also too retarded to pass as a college kid in Missouri. He almost blew his cover when he told the girl he “mailed” his stuff to Utah using UPS…

Movie Day

Lesson learned: American bootleg DVDs are of inferior quality compared to their Canadian or Asian counterparts.

Election 2: The sequel to “Election” picks up 2 years after the first film, with each of the main characters enjoying their new-found success with Lok (Simon Yam) as their Chairman. However, things take a wrong turn when Lok becomes power-hungry with a desire to stay for a second term to the point of murdering rivals and even murdering Uncle Teng, the elder triad boss. It becomes even more complicated when Jimmy-zai is caught by Chinese Public Security and banned from doing business selling bootleg movies and porn in China unless he is a Triad Chairman. The film ends with Jimmy becoming everything he wanted to avoid when he joined the triads, and with the Chinese Public Security pressuring him to make his heirs become the Chairman in the name of National Security.

Shadowless Sword: A Korean fantasy martial arts film taking place during the Khitan domination of Balhae during the 10th century. A beautiful female warrior is sent by the Balhae remnants to find their last surviving prince who has been exiled into a remote village 14 years ago. At the same time they are being chased by Balhae collaborators with a leader who is out for blood against the Balhae royal family. I had the most trouble watching this film because of the low quality and encoding from the bootleg DVD and because the DVD was full of laser rot when I opened the package. Shadowless Sword was filled with excellent cinematography and action, but was filled with plotholes.

Wall Street: This was actually airing on the Fox Movie Channel about a young ambitious stock broker who is seduced with easy success by Michael Douglas. Everyone wants to live the live that Gordon Gekko, but the challenge lies doing it ethically and legally. This film is a modern classic that explores issues that are still relevant even in this era in light of Enron, Tyco, Worldcom as well as an SEC that has been rendered ineffectual thanks partly to the Bush Administration.

俺わSALARYMANです！！！

My Ted moment occurred this morning when I took a nap at 8pm and woke up at 230am the next day.  During that time I spent part of the morning watching the film “American Dreamz”, which satirises the current Bush administration and American’s obsession with American Idol.  In this film, he President never reads the newspaper, the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons, and more people vote for a pop idol than their next President.  However, that starts to change when a terrorist organisation sends their worst field agent, Omar, to act as a sleeper cell with his wealthy Arab relatives who later is picked to participate in American Dreamz; the president starts reading left-leaning literature or publications such as “Jihad vs McWorld” and “The Guardian” and becomes a guest judge on the final round of American Dreamz.  The film also starts Dennis Quaid as a Bush-like character, Wilem Dafoe as a Chief of Staff who resembles Dick Cheney, Mandy Moore as Omar’s rival, and Chris Klein as the dopey Iraq War veteran.

After the finishing the film, I went on my merry way from NJ to Flushing, NY first by taking the NJT Rail all the way up to Penn Station and then taking the 7 line all the way to Flushing.  There I met up with Kathleen and we went to eat lunch at a HKSAR-styled diner where I had beef & tomato spaghetti while she had some HK Sandwiches.  Later we went to the Flushing Mall and Center to first buy bootleg movies, which were “Shadowless Sword” and “Election 2″ and I treated her to some Mango shaved ice.  We then left Flushing for 44th Street where she then treated me to some authentic Japanese food with Menus that contained cute drawings of seafood and sushi.

There I learned that Scott and her nearly broke up over a fight over his inability to allow her to hang out with her male friends, how much fun Atlanta was for her, and she still got text messages from Scott during throughout the day.  On the other hand, I talked her into possibly joining the RONs club since its the only Azn Club on CAC, how my experience on CAC were more valuable than the three years I was holed up on Busch, and the fun I am having training Business clients in using Company software and vapourware.

Once dinner was over we walked around the neighbourhood, which was filled with diverse restaurants, and went to see the film “Accepted” about college rejects who form their own college to hide their problems from their parents.  Scott called and recommended to Kathleen to watch “Invincible” but fuck him because I’m in control because I’m treating her after all.  Lewis Black was great in the movie as Dean Lewis, acting as the educated, disillusioned, and blunt dean for the fake college.  Overall, it was a mindless teen comedy about coming of age and building a worthwhile experience in college instead of letting familial obligations dictate one’s path there.

Now I’m back home and I’ve changed my ringtone to Kanye West’s “Golddigger”.

Sears Customer Service

Has deteriorated since I left the Sears division in August 2003 when my field internship ended. During the 3 months I spent working in a Sears store, I learned from my coworkers of the changes implemented not long after K-Mart acquired Sears. One would believe that it was the other way around, but in reality it was K-Mart who bought out the then-ailing Sears and Roebuck although consumers have generally perceived Sears as the stronger store due to its history, customer service and product lineup.

However, that is no longer the case. Sears used to be known for their excellent customer service for their segment, but now it has been transformed into K-Mart standards since the acquisition. Brands that were once associated with Sears and known for their value and reliability such as Craftsman and Kenmore are now sold in K-Marts, which has generally been known as a store with low-value and a great place to shop for the working class. The Sears store employees have it the worst: the part-time workers lost benefits that drove them to work there in the first place such as medical insurance and paid vacations, fulltime workers had their pensions frozen, while turnover has been steadily increasing due to the clash of corporate cultures due to the “merger”.

There has now been consideration among Associates to unionise as conditions continue to reach the “K-Mart standards” and as customers increasingly vent their frustrations with the store towards them. Any criticism of changes due to the “merger” are discouraged with some staff being flagged for making such remarks, bureaucracy has increased tenfold and now everything is more-or-less run by K-Mart people.

ust look at the consumer complaints filed online if you don’t believe me. It seems cost-cutting and aggressive selling is the new corporate culture in Sears (K-Mart) Holdings Corporation. Edward Lampert, the Chairman of SHLD, once worked under Warren Buffet and it is possible that he will gradually strip down Sears and K-Mart to the point where his company will just consist of a series of equities, assets, and independent subsidiaries similar to Berkshire Hathaway, which began as a textile firm before it was shutdown and evolved into its present-day incarnation. The SHLD stock is not valued based on the company’s overall performance or market strength, but rather on its assessed value in primarily in the form of brands, cash flow and real estate from all the store locations.

An Open Letter To Those Born After 1982 (Or The One Thing Your Parents Got Right)

Here’s the deal.

Your stepdad, stepmom, guardian, caregiver or actual biological parent screwed up.

Oh, they meant well, but they got it wrong.

Not on purpose.

But because they didn’t understand.

They filled your head with what ended up being lies and now you are walking around somewhat confused. Your instincts are saying one thing but the voices your parents put in your head are saying something else.

Let me clear it up for you.

The only thing your parents got right was multiculturalism.

Everything else is questionable.

Here’s the skinny, (stop looking at me funny, it’s an old phrase),

The Tests Don’t Matter

In school they bombarded you with a bunch of test.

Made sure you did well on them.

Complete.Waste.Of.Time.

Test don’t mean shit. There is nobody keeping score in the real world, except you.

The only ability you need after middle school is the ability to learn. Quickly.

Things are changing too fast for you to remember them.

We have computers and Google for that.

Corporations Don’t Matter

I’m sure your caregiver wants or wanted you to get a good job at a big corporation with tons of benefits.

Wrong move.

The bigger the company the faster they fail and the harder it is to stop their failure.

You want to go small where you can be important faster and have a say when things need to change.Fast.

Benefits?

If a company is giving great benefits they probably won’t be around too long. I know you’ve been coddled all your life but you gotta take care of yourself.

Don’t take a job for it’s medical plan. Take a job because of your future plan.

You are not your fucking khakis.

Your mom made money so she could move you to a better neighborhood and buy a SUV. But take a look around. Status symbols are bullshit.

You are not your zipcode.

You are not the car your stepdad drives.

Everybody can afford everything anyway. Poor kids in the projects are sporting Lexus’ and Vendi. If your judging yourself by the stuff you got you are sure to get fucked.

Country doesn’t matter.

I know we’re at war but the world is fucking flat. A Jew hating redneck who lives next door is just that, a Jew hating redneck who lives next door. You probably have more in common with a skateboard riding, hip hop listening kid who lives in India.

It’s the values that are important, not the land.

Things really are different.

Like the folks who got all freaked as we moved from an agricultural to an industrial economy some parents are freaked and still teaching kids the importance of tractors.

Be polite, nod respectfully, but pack your bags and move into the city as fast as you can.

http://chartreuse.wordpress.com/2006/08/23/an-open-letter-to-those-born-after-1982-or-the-one-thing-your-parents-got-right/

Prison Break

The first episode of the season was interesting.  I was surprised they killed off Veronica after she found the President in hiding.  I still wonder how T-bag is going to come into play in this season since his character is still around and out for revenge.