Your 2015 Spoilers Open Thread

by Doctor Science To paraphrase comic writer/artist Ian D. Sharman: Dear Australians People Living in Japan, Please remember to be considerate and not post 2015 spoilers. If there are jet packs and flying cars then the rest of us would like to enjoy the surprise for ourselves. However, if we’re facing thermonuclear annihilation then a … Read more

The charity spreadsheet

by Doctor Science Speaking of 501(c)3 organizations, I’m putting together our yearly charity donations spreadsheet — what we’ve given so far this year, who we’ll give to between now and midnight Dec 31, what our plans are for next year. We were already donating to Doctors Without Borders, but we’re definitely upping the amount this … Read more

the Sony hack

by liberal japonicus

I had started a post that tried to draw a connection between Gamergate, the Rolling Stone UVA rape report debacle and the Sony hack, noting that the common thread that tied all these together was the release of information that should have been kept private. I also wanted to note how small of an impact the Sony hack story has made here in Japan as well as riff a bit on the fact that the way this has played out, if it is indeed North Korea, shows that they are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. This Guardian article talks about how NK is not funny, perhaps because it is evil, which is in part true, but also, the West has typically used NK as a punchline, but, again if it was really NK, they were able to play the channels of journalism and news like a concert violinist. But further thinking is below the fold…

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Your Open Thread of Holiday Cheer

by Ugh Or not.  Talk about whatever, holiday related or otherwise.   It seems this Friday is the perfect day for a nice government document dump, who knows what will happen!  Related, and to the surprise of no one who knows anything about the inner workings of the IRS, Darrel Issa has yet to find … Read more

Obama surrenders to Castro! Viva la revolucion!

by Ugh I always thought our post-Castro Cuban policy was insane (and the embargo continues to be insane).  It certainly has been insane since the fall of the USSR.   How is it that we could normalize relations with Vietnam and China, each of which killed thousands of U.S. soldiers in, you know, actual full … Read more

Your New Car Smell Open Thread

by Doctor Science We now have enough money that when my old car (2001 Honda Accord, 147K miles)’s transmission decided to bid farewell to this mortal coil, we could just go out and buy a new car: A 2015 Subaru Legacy. In “Twilight Blue Metallic” so it’s not the same color (black, white, or beige/gray) … Read more

My favorite books of 2014: Fiction

by Doctor Science For my own reference, and in case any of you are looking for gift-giving suggestions. This list is all fiction I read for the first time in 2014, whether it was published this year or not. In order by author’s last name. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (2014). Maybe the best … Read more

Senate Intelligence Committee Report

by Ugh It seems it's been released.  Washington Post copy here.  WaPo story on the report here.  From the WaPo story: After being transferred to a site in Thailand, Zubaida was placed in isolation for 47 days, a period during which the presumably important source on al-Qaeda faced no questions. Then, at 11:50 a.m. on … Read more

Can police culture be changed?

by Doctor Science The only good news I’ve seen about American police-citizen relations is this: Conservatives Join Outrage Over Grand Jury Decision In Eric Garner’s Death. When Charles Krauthammer and I agree that the situation is borked, there’s actually a possibility that something might change. The essential problem, as I see it, is: American police … Read more