Philippine forces bag the leader and 3 other henchmen of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group late Sunday local time. The hostages are still being held by the rest of the terrorists, but now that they are without their leader it's only a waiting game. They still have not found the body of the supposedly-beheaded American, and there were rumors some time back that one of the hostages claimed to be dead (believed to be Sobero, the American) was actually alive. This would seem to bear things out a little bit. There's still thousands of troops searching for the rest of the AS terrs, and I don't give them much longer - especially now that the leader's gone, I wonder how long before more of them just give up?

Okay, we have Final Fantasy playing Wednesday at 10:20pm for Boulder Station, 9:50 at the Orleans, 9:40 at Center Stadium, and that's IT. I sense we'll be headed over to Boulder Station.

A word to those who wish to be wise. Please, do NOT eat potato chips or smack your lips very loudly when you call technical support. The wet slapping sound of fat oversalivated lips in my ear, every time you take a breath, is immensely disgusting. And the loud crunching of potatop chips in your mouth is very annoying to people who have to have it jammed in their ear. Please. Be polite.

I'm going to throw up.

*stares* BLAIR?!

Long live the SD Zaku!

A very short but extremely ominious note from Japan leads off the news tonight. Japanese military forces examining ways of evacuating/extracting Japanese citizens Taiwan in case China fulfills its threats and makes a move on the island. It's a very short, pointless article but it has one big thing I ask. What did the Japanese find out, through the usual channels, that they can't mention but that does suddenly prompt evacuation concerns and "rescuing" Japanese citizens? And why is the JSDF looking at the issue and not the travel/foreign ministries? Could things be turning nasty behind the scenes?

Koizumi won't change the current agreement regarding the US and Japan's legal system, despite clamors for the changes by the Okinawan government. Just as an aside, I'd mention that SSgt. Woodland hasn't yet been charged with anything...just a thought.

And over in bonny England, a second night of rioting and fighting in the town of Bradford, site of previous clashes between whites and asians. Tonight, things seem to be a little quieter than the rocks, bricks, and molotov cocktails that marked last night's attacks, this time an Indian restaurant was attacked by a group of white youths throwing bricks through the windows, and through the windows of the apartments above. Quite a few I-Was-There stories in the link.

More snapshots from Anime Expo.

Hear hear!

Different.

Fatima cosplayers. I think I know who.

Somebody really likes their angel. You. Yes, you. On the left.

...

This man accidentally walked through a holocaust survivor's reunion in this outfit. Without knowing it at the time, or else he'd have stayed far far away.

Now that I like. Yum. Ginrei and Kenji the Immortal.

Stop corrupting the children.

How much did all these COST anyways?

You too.

One for you.

You, sir, can live. Harlock is too cool.

Ahh, music to my patriotic ears. China bills the US 1 million bucks for transporting the P3 and providing security, and the US says go to hell and may send them a bill for the repairs and rebuilding of the aircraft. Considering that it was China who decided that the Americans could not fly the aircraft out...China decided to hold our people there...China decided that we had to transport it home...why should we foot the bill? Screw 'em and the horse they rode in on. And we STILL don't know all the things that were taken off of that aircraft. Let the Chinese communist government have its Nintendo parts, they ought not to get anything else from us.

Apple power supplies again in the news, this time with a recall of over half a million AC adapters for Powerbook G3s. Specifically, the 45 watt adapter, model number "M4402" is involved in the recall due to overheat/fire hazard. If you have one, give Apple a call at 866-277-2096 for a free replacement. Then get a real computer.

Okinawa police "relieved" that they can make the offical arrest of the US sergeant in the recent rape incident. I wonder just how much political pressure was coming down on the cops to go get this guy, and I wonder how much more pressure there was from the Okinawa residents to "arrest the rapist!" Staff Sergeant Timothy Woodland, the man accused of the rape, has been undergoing major interrogations with the US military and the Japanese police. One of the commentary posters below the article mentions that the police have a duty to the suspect's civil rights, and while I question that regarding the severity of the Japanese criminal system...don't the police have an even higher duty to justice itself? A nebulous concept that sadly gets stomped underfoot when politics rear its head?

Let's admit it. The US is not very well liked over there. Yes, US soldiers have raped Japanese nationals over there before, especially the 3-on-1 gang-bang of the 12 year old girl. Personally, I wouldn't have minded seeing the three of them being shot, but I'm of the opinion that the rule is fuck not with children on pain of death. And the airbase is noisy, busy, and probably all kinds of other bad things, and the Okinawa people may not like them - which they have a right to do so. However, word from Japan is that the TV news has already convicted Woodland (who, I might add, still maintains his innocence, though by denial of any knowledge or admitting to consensual sex the news media is sadly leaving out), and it's catching in the streets. Public justice is all well and good - as long as we know it's truly justice. Kangaroo courts aren't. The police ought not to be so concerned about arresting the man as they should be about making sure he gets a fair trial. Consider what would have happened if it had been a Japanese soldier who was a suspect - it sure as hell would NOT be a national news story every damn day.

People there do have definite dislike towards the Americans, and I'm worried that they may overblow this into something that it's not, and use this to force the US out of the area. That's bad on several levels - first, force projection in the area. That base in Okinawa is around a fourth of all western military assets in the West Pacific. It's a major site, and is one of the keys to either Russian or Chinese incursion against Japan or the rest of the Pacific. Losing that means losing a major foothold in the area. The JASDF is a good, tight organization with solid hardware, but they're sadly not up to the task. And, has Okinawa really considered the idea of closing the base and what that would do to their local economy? Consider if Las Vegas banned gambling - the only real economic structure this city has would collapse, and in five years this would be a hellhole. How could the local Okinawa economy lose 26,000 customers? Restaurants, stores, especially those near the base would be sorely damaged.

The Japanese public ought to consider the true effects that things might have. Yes, if it's true that Woodland did truly rape that woman, and things were not consensual, fine, he's off to the slammer to do his time. But if the Okinawa governor again tries to have the US presence removed, with popular support, the results may be less pleasing than they like. Either way - with a lot hanging in the balance, will Woodland get a fair trial?

Black and White is crack. I'm impressed with the coding too, and just how complex yet smooth the AI is.

Sheriff Harold Presley, cousin of The Presley, shot and killed in a gunfight with a suspect. The killer, Billy Ray Stone, was stopped at a routine roadblock, then fled and hid behind a church and started shooting at cops. Followed by a car chase, then once the car was wrecked a foot chase ensued. They ended up going into residential areas, and a homeowner called in because his dogs were barking up a storm. Sheriff Presley and the homeowner went to examine a shed, and when they opened the door Stone opened fire. Presley was killed, though not before shooting Stone down like a dog, and the homeowner was wounded. Noone knows why Stone went berserk yet.

US sergeant handed over to Japanese police to face charges of rape. There's so much protesting and anger against the US about the mere allegation of rape, that one wonders if the sergeant's going to get a fair trial at all, or if it's going to turn into a political circus over there. And there's still no officially-released solid proof against the guy except fingerprints on the same car the woman touched (anyone ever bump up against a car in a parking lot?) and her allegation of being raped by "a foreigner".

And Robert Hanssen, traitor b@stard and spy for "our good friends, the Russians", cut a deal to save his own traitorous, double-dealing, lying, untrustworthy neck today to avoid getting the death sentence. Pleading guilty to his charges, he faces sentencing January 11 and will be getting a nice general cushy prison term. Throw the f*cker into any of the general state prisons, and make sure people know just what he did. That, I'd think, would be an appropriate sentence.

Who is he and what did he do? Hanssen worked in counter-intelligence for the FBI (and probably the CIA as well, since that's primarily their territory). He gave the Russians, who at the time weren't even our friends, but were still all for turning this country into a cinder, data on our spies over there - whom the Russians executed two of, nice and quick like. He also gave the Soviet Union (that's what it was when Hanssen started spying in 1979, and stayed so for quite some time after). He also gave the Soviets all kinds of information on our satellite systems and communications, early warning grids, defense systems, and other intelligence.

If he's so damn broken up about what he did (or is he just broken up because he got caught?) why not, real damn quiet, switch sides? Start playing for our side, and feeding bad info to the Soviets?

Pakistani General Musharraf, who assumed the presidency during a coup back in 1999, has given himself (since he's president) complete power over the country, and expanded the limits of the presidency's power to total control. Oh, and he keeps promising pledges of democracy more and more, but he keeps turning into more and more of a dictator. Power corrupts, and absolute power... I again wonder, if he does decide he likes the big cushy chair, if he'll talk to the Afghans and ally, one barely-legal government to another.

Bush is currently studying the stem cell question and whether or not to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Benefits from the research could include a cure for some cancers, Parkinsons', and other major diseases, however there's the moral issue of just where the embryonic cells have to come from. Should we cast down our definitions of morality in the face of massive scientific knowledge and possible benefit? Or should we stick to our guns, with what we feel to be important, and risk missing out on major research and knowledge? It's an old, old question...what do you guys think?

Much fireworking going on outside. Also sitting back and watching a couple episodes of Junkyard Wars - great show. I don't wanna go to work tomorrow...

Ragabash, the cow is just WRONG. And is it really that big?

Race For Atlantis GOOD. Motion simulator ride with 15-man platforms that MOVE a lot - about a 10' point-range of motion with a LOT of tilt. It's also in IMAX. And it's got 3-D headsets with stereo sound. There's even air-blowers in front of you and behind you, per-seat, that blow air when you go forwards or backwards. And it moves like an Apache playing low-level antiaircraft artillery suppression - bouncing all over the place. Tis MUCHLY cool. Waliel & I went on it (his first time) and...well, see above. HOO-RAH!

In a SERIOUS big brother threat, a new "Mew" chip has been developed that allows tracking of things over the internet. Things like various consumer products...or money...or people? This chip is far smaller than other security-chip designs, at only 0.4mm long and a mere 60 microns thick. And it can be used to track products worldwide, with its 128-bit ROM (Long serial number, anyone? Or a Social Security number, birthday, and a little more info?) and 2.45GhZ wireless transmitter to locate itself. Imagine that...get your implant so just in case you get lost, and the government can track you anywhere. Or anyone else who drops your chip # into the internet. Or you could charge your own bank accounts or whatever, and verify you're you with the implanted chips. Anyone been reading your Revelations?

Revelation 13:17:
...and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

At the very least, I will be extremely against any kind of tracking things for people. For vehicles or computers or other expensive items, it's good as a sort of Lojack-based setup. If it's used right. But I'd be very worried about the police using this to find people - because we all know that the police are a 100% accurate perfect organization with nothing like...mixed up numbers or wrong names or whatnot. Right.

Yes, it's true, Microsoft Notwork Messenger DID go belly-up lately. It seems that one or more of the servers went bye-bye, and so far half of it's up. Everyone check your contact lists too, because they seem to have gone the way of the server.

And in final news, the nifty but problematic micro-computer box called the Cube has been canceled indefinitely by Apple, apparently because of the well-known cracking problems in the clear plastic case, and also faulty power supplies. Ah well. The demise of niftiness...

Some odd fun this fine holiday...at the Coney Island hot-dog-eating-contest, the winner scarfed down 50 dogs in 12 minutes - better than 1 every 15 seconds. This doubles the world record. Either way, the freaky part is that this little Japanese guy everyone calls "The Tsunami" is a mere 131 pounds.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are on display for the last time for quite a while, the cases they are in are starting to turn opaque and flake apart. They're also renovating that side of the building again, so we'll see how this new design comes out.

Well, China finally got around to returning the EP-3E aircraft, heading home in one of the monster Russian An-124 transports. It's going to be rebuilt, eventually, though some of the equipment is off to the Kadena airbase in Japan to check and see how much of it is still useable.

And in an amusing coincidence, today is also the 100th birthday of Godzilla creator Eiji Tsuburaya.

The rape case in Japan has gotten interesting...the US has not yet turned over the airman to the Japanese police, however he is being questioned by them about the incident. The Japanese are getting angry, and are demanding the immediate handing over of the Air Force soldier. Their evidence against him? Fingerprints on the same car that the woman also touched, and her claims of rape by "a foreigner". That's pretty damn definitive, there, only about 26,000 of them right nearby. The airman claims it was consensual sex. The woman's in her 20s, which means she's of consenting age, and let's just say that there's a LOT of *koff* women that wait outside the airbases over there. And Okinawa's sadly got a bad history of US rape cases, so if things don't go the way you want on a date or a "business deal" with an American soldier, scream rape and *dusts off hands* that's that.

Is it just me or has MSN messenger been messed up lately?

Arkansas Spelling Test:
Part 1: Biology
U C M?
I C M.
M R ducks.
M R not.
M R 2. U C M E D B D wings?
L I B! M R ducks!
Part 2: Social Studies
U C M?
I C M.
M R farmers
M R not.
M R 2. U C M M T pockets?
L I B! M R farmers!

*sniff* I want..

LoveCruise - The Fantasy Voyage. (or somesuch) Another new "Reality Show" from FOX TV - what the HELL do they call reality show? I mean, what is the entire point of this show besides sex and breakups? Now, something like Twenty Four might be more interesting if it's done right. Each show a cliffhanger with one extra little secret you didn't know revealed, and see if people start putting it all together.

Rachael, I only want to ask what rifle you have there. ^_^

Countering a previous report, there actually were NOT any rolling blackouts today - but the warnings were quite constant. And it looks like things will be okay for a little while, they've bought some more power off the grid locally and also the Ballys casino has actually begun power-saving methods - shutting off all lighting in unoccupied rooms and setting thermostats to 78 instead of 72 for lower cooling costs, and also keeping their main sign & TV offline during the power crunch. GOOD.

Outdoing someone at work who broke up with his girlfriend after she got his answering machine message of "Thank you for calling the most eligible bachelor in Las Vegas", in the United Arab Emirates (between Saudi Arabia and the Gulf) man divorces wife by cellphone is the latest talk of the town.

The Gulf News daily said the couple approached the court, asking if they were divorced after the husband sent his wife a message that read: "Why are you late? You are divorced."

And these b@stards voted us off the Human Rights Commission?

*LMAO* I sit here with Digimon on, mostly due to lack of anything good on TV and waiting for news, and the blonde-haired angel chick is fighting the grey-leather-clad devil-b*tch. And right in the middle of a major knock-down-drag-out fight to the death...these two start a slapfight. *cackle* And yes, again we had rolling blackouts today. Found out why. Two power generation stations in Nevada - owned by Southern California Edison - were shut down today, for some sort of upgrades. Right in the middle of the high-power usages. Real friggin brilliant guys. As such, there was a pretty good cooling trend today - it's only 110 in my area, but 117 in North Las Vegas and 119 in the northwest. Right now, 5pm.

Another complaint I have is that the casinos suck up an ungodly amount of power, with all the lighting and electrical equipment. They've all got emergency generators to keep running in case of blackouts - why not make the CASINOS use their generators that they have and pull them off the grid in times of critical power usages? The casinos can afford to run the generators for a little while to back off the demand. And we DAMN well need to get Hoover up to full capacity and stop diverting the power to other places!

And does anyone know - has California even started building new powerplants yet? Or are they going to brave out the summer, the politicians blathering that all is well, and then the hammer falls even harder next time around - both on California AND every state in the western grid? (which even hits parts of Texas and South Dakota)

I keep watching more commercials for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within...and dammit if I'm not drooling like a lunatic. I so want to see this film.

Time to peruse the nuse.

Healthwise, new artificial heart design is fully-implanted with no external wires or tubes to risk infection with. It's battery powered and is completely self-contained. The internal battery is recharged constantly from an external, belt-mounted battery pack that sends electricity directly through the body to the inner battery pack. It's a compact little unit too, which is impressive. If it works well, the test could be expanded and maybe lead to adoption in the future.

Sakura-san mentions it's Cute CCS Layout Day today, with her Syaoran layout and Ragabash's Eriol layout, and Tomoyo Overdose. Didn't someone once have a Sakura layout?

Ah, here we go. Power reserves in California drop low after another day of high heat and humidity, with warnings of rolling blackouts that never did happen. At least, not over there. At least we know just where the hell the power Nevada generates has been going lately.

Iraqi diplomat walked into a New York City police precinct and requested asylum Friday, and another one today has contacted the UN for asylum in the USA. That's the deputy ambassador to the US and also the #4 guy in the embassy that walked. I wonder how much hard info they're going to bring with them... Three other workers at the Iraqi embassy also seem to have been recalled to Baghdad, but they're not there - wonder if this is going to turn into a mass-defection?

Oh lordy, this is going to be muuuch fun. Japanese PM Koizumi sees himself as the marshal played by Gary Cooper in "High Noon", battling fierce odds to save his country from the edge it hovers on. Damn, someone with balls and determination at the hand of a country - this could be a very good thing for Japan, but it remains to be seen. He does have a lot of public support though, so perhaps he'll be able to do it.

And probably with Koizumi's support, Japan will be studying feasibility of Space Power Satellites, most likely large solar-cell farms in GS orbit, with microwave transmission capability to send power down to the ground. For a country as heavily overpopulated as Japan, and with very little room for anything now, perhaps offshore rectenna farms in the south to get a better angle on the incoming microwave beam and to keep the beam itself from damaging any part of the country. Maybe if it works in Japan, it'll get copied elsewhere.

Waliel, Ragabash, tomorrow, plans, anything?

And just caught the weather report, the current temps right now (6:15 PM) are 103-116 across the board. Oi.

I wonder just where all this power is suddenly going, today and yesterday? We sure were fine before, no warnings of power usage or rolling blackouts, no warning that supplies were even running thin. Just wham, all of a sudden there's a shortage. Could California have bought up all the power it could, which leaves little for the other states? Sioux City IA was also mentioned as having rolling blackouts yesterday, not just Vegas.

We can't conserve energy. Out here, it literally is a matter of life or death with air-conditioning, where right now - at 7:30 am - it's 93 degrees outside, and the high temperatures are over 120 degrees in some areas. Temperatures like that are so hot that even a 60mph wind will heat you up more than it will cool you down - and you can't look into even a moderate breeze, because the over-hot air dries your eyes out painfully. We NEED the electricity. Normally, we have it.

Normally we don't have this monstrous black hole next door sucking away our resources this badly. *looks up to see yet more warnings come rolling across the television* Oi. I'm posting this, then bugging for a while, might as well save what I can.

Dora, anti-itch cream won't work if you've let politicians come into contact with you. Oh, you meant ANOTHER kind of vampiric insect...

Oh, SUUUURE, Fae-chan, just put MY blog on the word 'insult', suuuure. :P

Woo, early fireworks.

Gen-chan, ow. I burned fingers on the coleman once when I was quite young, I still remember that. The scar'll grow out, eventually - I cooked a thumb on the gas tube of an AK-47 that had finished burning off around 150 rounds - and it was literally so hot I didn't feel it for 3 seconds.

Gillian...hrm. Kero-chan is prolly Beast, and Suppiholio is prolly Inuki. (or vice versa, if you like) Yukito wa...umm, that I dunno and I'll leave out. Fujitaka could be Aoki easily enough.

American Gods was cool. "Hey, Munnir or whatever your name is...say nevermore." "Fuck you," said the raven, and it flew off without another word. Good book, though not the all time greatest and I can see a few weeeee problems that I shan't mention here.

Greg, much condolences on your engagement...you have my sympathy, my friend. *laughs* Have fun and enjoy life, and good luck!

Priya....oi. Parents and driving often don't mix...especially when you're a better driver than THEY are! *LOL* And I'm sorry about the kids...everyone eventually learns they aren't invulnerable nor the center of the universe, though sometimes it's a lesson that comes at far too much cost.

Ragabash, a good point re: humanity - but, considering that we either evolved to or were created as tool users (whichever beliefs anyone has), would not a good measurement of humans be how effective we are at same?

Any observer will base his observations off of what he believes to be most important - his own ruler. If we were visited by extraterrestrials, I'd think that they'd be basing humans against themselves, and their technological advancements. Perhaps said advancements will include environmental repair, or perhaps not. Judgement is relative, here...

And, BTW, any plans/thoughts for Wednesday? Let us know...

Sam...*hugs* you'll be missed...come back soon.

In the meantime, heads up - that big cloudmass off to the southeast got officialy marked as a "Severe Thunderstorm" and the warnings went up at 5:30ish. It's headed westbound, and it's a big one.

I LOVE the desert! *cheers* Huge monster storms good.

Priss, I like the doctor/gun statistics...though I am reminded of Sam Clemens' famous line about same.

And recent search queries - "pictures of pakistani new fashion" (AK-47 or RPK, accessorize with bandoliers and spare magazines)..."ganja smuggling mouse lyrics" (three stoned mice...three stoned mice...see how they toke, see how they toke...they all got smashed with the farmer's wife, she divvied their doobies with a carving knife, did you ever see such a sight in your life, as three stoned mice...okay, maybe not what you wanted, but what do you expect with 30 seconds work?)..."they're coming to take me away" (oh yes, someday, probably soon I would imagine)...and a guy in the US Navy searching for "models and guns". I do salute you sir.

And I'm on Technomancy with a glowing review, thanks Whitney. (I didn't pay for it, I swear!)

Ah, for the days when hotmail was a separate company, Geocities had 1mb pages with JUST ONE PAGE, and yahoo was an acronym for a search engine.

On the local Big Brother Is Watching front, Tampa police using videocameras and facial recognition software to hunt for sex offenders by checking faces the camera sees walking in public against a database of warrants. If it sees a "decent match", cops move in to arrest them. All well and good, we want those evil horrible child molestors and such off the streets, right?

Well if the software didn't see you right and called you a sex offender because of a bad ID, boom. You're in cuffs and publicly under arrest for child molestation until you can be proven innocent. Which is gonna take a little while, since the warrants have to be checked out and processed. Didn't I read in a book somewhere about cops sitting in booths, with public cameras set up all over the place, watching everything we do via camera? Hopefully, after the recent ruling banning the use of thermal cameras to monitor "waste heat" from houses looking for marijuana growers, perhaps we'll get this very very line-pushing procedure overturned as well.

Waliel, Ragabash, July 4 shoot is canceled due to auto repairs and lack of funds - if we get together, it's gonna have to be something cheap. Maybe anime night all night, since none of us have to be in early the next morning?

American soldier to be charged with rape in Okinawa, which may cause major anti-US feelings over there. A US curfew will be in place soon, called for by the mayor, and the police will get their arrest warrant shortly and put him before a Japanese judge. Nice goin, Ace. Real good. Considering the other incidents this year, I'm surprised Koizumi's not forcing a reduction US troops in the area...maybe he still sees certain nations as enemies, and others as not-quite-so-wanted-but-needed-friends?

Why the hell is there any sort of "global political consideration" when you're looking at an ability to protect the lives of millions of your citizens from a nuclear holocaust? Are your citizens less important to your government than keeping hostile nations who publicly oppose you appeased? Neville Chamberlain was thrown out of office for that, maybe he shouldn't be the only one.

From the story: China is strongly against the idea, believing that it is the target of the missile shield plan, while Russian and some European leaders fear the plan could touch off a costly new arms race. Really. How the hell do you target a defensive system? How is any US defense net going to attack and destroy China? Unless China decides to fire nuclear missiles at the US, the shield is pretty much going to sit there. And if China is going to fire nuclear missiles at the US, or even (as they are right now) demand to be able to without US interference...do we REALLY want to have them as "friends"?

Would you want someone who tells you that you better not put bulletproof glass in your windows because he wants to be able to shoot through them and kill you to be your neighbor?