The Background Story

Saddam Hussein dead by hanging the morning [6:05am UTC] this December 30, 2006. The story is stated to end a long chapter in the history of the country of Iraq, one of brutal rule under Hussein. The story itself is much more complicated, the tribunal that sentenced him, and the events that led to his rise in political power, leadership, and ultimate capture and execution are vast and if not innumerable, the entire story will never be known. The ultimate reality is however, that despite the death of Hussein, the fair trial he received as was commended by the white house in Washington, and the myriad of other statements that joyously or bitterly conclude with his death, the situation in Iraq is largely unaffected by this news. The near [or reality of] civil war that threatens to tear the country apart, the insurgents and the rising death toll on alliance forces, still leave the question of the final solution to Iraq's problems, ever looming... if no longer under the shadow of Hussein.

Book Review: The Wizard's First Rule

The Sword of Truth is a fantasy book series, penned by Terry Goodkind. The first book in the series is “The Wizard's First Rule” which introduces the main characters Richard, Zedd, and Kahlan who endeavor on many desperate and fantastic journey and do many deeds, as one would expect from the genre of epic fantasy fiction.

Terry Goodkind weaves a plot that surrounds both political intrigue between several nations and peoples, and tells of the oft brutal life that those living in medieval times would have gone through without all the modern accoutrement of our technological age. Themes abound in this first novel, and those that follow, but fundamental rely on the decisions of the main characters and how they respond to the often impossible seeming tasks they must do. The steadfast nature of these characters, and their unfaltering morals and values, play the central theme, where the political tangents seem to input a reading of objectivistic philosophy. Other adult natured themes and the harshness of depictions of violence lend these books to a strictly adult audience. The political plot lines would probably not appeal greatly to younger readers which ultimately, considering the rest of the content, is probably a wise turnoff for those without the maturity to comprehend the themes of the novels. The 11^th and final book of the series has been contracted and is due for a release sometime in the year of 2008.

Christmas Villians (an editorial)

It would seem, as every hunkers down into their collective bunkers and places of relative safety ready to weather the storm that is shopping extravagance, that certain characters rise out of the melee to present themselves along archetypes that, while silly and perhaps antiquated, seem to make a lot of sense. A longitudinal study done by a pair of researchers, Cele Otnes and Tina Lowrey, has recently been edited and released as a book with the title: "Contemporary Consumption Rituals: A Research Anthology" in which there are several chapters that draw startling similarities between shopping at Christmas time and the fairy tales many western nations children grow upon.

The heroines, several women the researchers followed for 7 years marking their Christmas behaviors and attitudes, showed "vast amounts of craftiness and even courage as they battled their various villains and obstacles in their creation of Christmas," where the women's own version of their experiences were described by the researchers as involving "valiant heroines, evil villains, daring deeds and dastardly deceptions."

While the evil villains could be anything from the father who delays decisions, to a rude person in line in a store, there is no doubt that the stories, if embellished, hold an amazing degree of truth, and the work of these women certainly plays out accordingly, with a 'fairy tale' ending, a Christmas that was more spectacular than the one before it. Despite all connections between the attitudes of these women and the conclusion drawn by the researchers, this writer wonders where the consumerism has gone too far... and perhaps, we've already gone past that point of no return.

Salmon in the Pacific Northwest

There has been an ongoing debate on how best to keep, and manage, the Pacific Northwest’s salmon population. Factory farmed fish have been released into the wild for years, but the concern is not whether factory fish can be continued indefinitely but rather with the wild fish. Dams riddle the primary river for fish in the northwest, the Columbia, and despite the fish ladders and many other additions that have helped salmon out, they are undoubtedly a large hindrance. Before the 8 major dams were built on the Columbia and Snake rivers, an estimated annual 16 million salmon made the trip to their breeding grounds, a number that currently sits around 1 million. Knocking down the dams, although a possibility, is not a particularly well looked upon one for the millions of people living in the Columbia river basin, a portion of land the size of central Europe. Killing the dams would push power prices up, something that most people are unwilling to compromise with.

Dams also might not be the only problem for future salmon generations. Research done at the University of Washington has shown a rapid change in water temperature in the Puget Sound area, most likely applicable around the northwest. Salmon are sensitive to the temperature of the water they swim in, a rapid change could also affect their journey as well.

Unfortunately water has been promised and pledged to many of the groups of people invested in the water system of the northwest. Farmers need water irrigation for their crops, everyone relies on cheap electricity from the dams, the Native Americans still rely on the salmon themselves to live. It’s a political tangle as well as a literal one, and no clear solution has been found on how to save the salmon.

The Technology Beat

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices [NYSE: AMD]) acquired ATI Inc. (NASDAQ ATYT) this summer for an estimated $5.4 billion. The acquisition spawned many heated arguments on the internet discussing what would become of the products, in particular ATI’s graphics chips, during and after the move. Questions similarly followed intrigued if the combination of the two leaders in their fields would cause rivals Intel and Nvidia to similarly combine forces to compete. The markets have settled, the acquisition has gone through successfully, and the results are ultimately akin to the pre-acquisition era. Rivals Intel and Nvidia still maintain roughly their previous market share, and competition between the graphics and computer processor companies remain as fierce, and as close, as before. Rumors that circulated following the acquisition about an Intel and Nvidia merger have been proven to be nothing more than rumors, although for some time before the AMD acquisition of ATI, rumors had been circulating about such a prospect. As always, when large technologies are concerned, insiders have been prone to leak information regarding major moves, one must only be concerned about sifting the real information from those that are foundationless.

Moore's Law, Technology, and Investing

In April of 1965 Gordon Moore (co-founder of Intel) published an article “Cramming more components onto integrated circuits” in the Electronics　Magazine. Included was an empirical observation that would later be called Moore's Law: the complexity of integrated circuits, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every 24 months. What does this mean? For technology enthusiasts and investors, it means only one thing, if you wait two years, for the same cost you will receive twice the transistors on a processor, only the trend isn’t proving to be linear, it's got an exponential curve.　

Technical jargon aside, complexity doubles every two years at an ever increasing rate. "Within the next five to 10 years, computers 1,000 times faster than　today's computers will become available. These advances herald a new era in　scientific computing," as stated by Raymond Orbach, undersecretary for science at the Department of Energy.

Empirically technology advances, investors however never know where to put their money. As a start, the current processor manufacturer's will continue to see growth until alternative ways of processing are developed (many such developments are being worked on by these manufacturer's already). Without complications from unforeseeable catastrophes, it is a safe bet that the value　of shares for these companies will continue to grow right along with the number of computers available to the world's population. It is also well within the realm of probability that major developers of other circuit based technologies will continue to grow right alongside the chips.

Empirical evidence shows, the complexity of circuits will continue to　increase at an alarming rate, the ramifications of which are,　increased profit in the arena of technology and scientific development. The　difficulty and chance only lie in who to place your bets upon, as this is　certainly a race with multiple competitors.

Jousei Dormitory or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Accept the Immaturity of Japanese College Males; an editorial

It has occurred to me on many occasions that I do not understand the boys that surround me in this all male dormitory. This has never really bothered me too much, I could acknowledge that some of them were spiteful, honest, kind, helpful, immature, and that in general each boy’s personality fit somewhere along the normal spectrum of human interaction. I then however, introduced into the equation a previously unknown element, an attractive white female friend from home in the States. The situation was thus: the dormitory was to have an open house and barbeque wherein certain rules would be overlooked, primarily the statute that outlines that visitors (all of them, male or female) with the sole exception of family, could proceed no farther into the dorm than the lobby, and no further into the dorm than the watchful eyes of the front desk, constantly and vigilantly guarded against intrusions of the worst kind. This open house than, was an ideal opportunity for my friend to see what sort of living situation I was truly in first hand, instead of through a mixture of pictures I occasionally sent. Knowing this I willingly invited her, and she willingly accepted. The day came and the event unfolded, my friend came and was the center of attention, albeit it a discreet center. Despite her Japanese being afair deal better than mine, she spoke only in English to myself and our other exchange student friends, giving the false conception that she could not in fact speak Japanese, this almost immediately caused problems. The boys I live with couldn’t get enough of a sight of her, and began their catcalls in broken English almost as soon as she stepped through the door, later in the afternoon she would comment simply and cogently on the matter stating “I’m not liking this so much”, an apt and polite way of putting the rudeness that surrounded her visit. It was somewhat natural that my dorm mates would think, myself being white, that the white girl I was so friendly with and brought to the event was my girlfriend, however far from the truth this conception is. Even with that conception, in the States it would not be very well received how they then decided to act on this interpretation, telling me in Japanese to “Do her”repeatedly. She of course understood all of this and rightfully so was filled with a sense of loathing for the individuals that surrounded me daily. “How can you stand to live here? I would have probably shot myself by now.” She commented. Seeking to understand the situation further, I consulted with my Thai friend for a different cultural perspective, the customs and sentiments of Thailand are even more foreign to me than the Japanese (as I have had almost no contact with this culture at all). “Maybe it is just the Japanese way.” He toted. I of course, can’t simply accept what to me was a breech of privacy and respect as merely a different ‘way of doing things’. I then went to oneof the Japanese students in the dormitory and questioned him about thesituation, the reply was somewhat stereotypically middle ground “Well, many ofthem [the Japanese students] are very immature but, they probably don’t mean any harm.” This too is an explanation of events I can’t accept. There has to be, or so it seems to me, that there are certain social boundaries that exist for a reason, perhaps these boundaries are in part destroyed by the pretense of linguistic communication barriers, however, regardless of who thinks who can understand, there is just a level of maturity that I expect from students that attend University. On the other hand, the society and life of the typical Japanese student is a far cry from the life I left in the States, and for now, I have no choice but to stop worrying and accept the immaturity of Japanese college boys.

The Fashionable Loiterers

All around Shibuya and Shinjuku as the hours press into the night, a social force comes into the public arena. Called Ganguro or Gyaru these, usually teenage girls, commonly loiter in the areas where bars and pachinko are prevalent, although partaking in these activities is rare. After interviewing three groups of these girls, some basic facts have come to light. At the surface appearance, these teenagers appear to be an odd mix of Southern Californian beach goers, clown style makeup, and the latest skimpy fashions Tokyo can muster. But is there more to these girls than their intentionally outlandish attention grabbing style? Apparently not. The subjects of my questions responded without much thought, or insight into any deeper meaning. The most important question was, why such a deviant style? The anser ranged from 'beautiful' to 'summer fashion' but apparently no one had any clue who had started the trend, or why they participated at all. The mystery of such a fashion trend will remain a mystery so long as the participants do not question their own motives, and as this is as it is now, I can only posit that the future of the Gyaru is as unkown as the women beneath the masks of makeup.

an Obituary

[Photo Attached, caption: The note retrieved from John's cold dead body.]

Celebrated friend and student John McLellan died this May 15 committing suicide. John was found late this morning hanging from his belt out the window of his room on the 4th floor of the Jyousei dormitory. In his pocket was a simple message scrawled haphazardly across the page. “Shit! I forgot my assignment again. there’s really no alternative— peace world”.

Interviews with those who had the most recent contact with John mentioned that the week prior to his death John had forgotten to turn his assignment in mentioning he was “deeply ashamed” and also that he “swore to the teacher it wouldn’t happen again”. Other interviews with friends and family revealed that John was a deeply moral man who, when embarrassed or ashamed of his own actions, would never let them lie and constantly dwelled on his past blunders. Speculation from other acquaintances agreed readily to this interpretation claiming that “This is just the sort of thing John would do to make a point about honor.”

There’s always something particularly sad about one so young passing away, but in the country with the highest suicide rate (compared to other economically stable [or first world] countries, 365 in 1,000,000 males and 141 in 1,000,000 females in 1999) his body hanging out the window of a typically small cramped room was probably only noteworthy because of its largeness and whiteness.

John led what some would qualify as a full life, and what others would call a strange way of spending time. St. Patrick’s Day 1986 (March 17th) in the early hours of the morning at Southwest Medical Hospital in Vancouver, the squealing, heavier than average John was brought into this world. His typical childhood was spent learning the letters and numbers and playing with neighborhood children. As time went on, his brilliance became more and more apparent, leading him to have a cynical twisted view of the world around him, leading many to classify him as “negative”, a title well deserved.

We can only imagine the amazing things John would have come to do had he not cut his life short at a young 20 years old. Talking to his previous roommates, one of them somewhat shyly removed a list with the expectedly grandiose title “Inventions that will change the world, cheap thoughts by John McLellan” among those in the long list, an elevator that allows users to pay to override other passengers floors to get to their destination sooner, an “earth-to-space” vacuum made out of a coring of the moon that would (according to John’s sketches and preliminary notes) freely jettison all trash into space effectively and inexpensively solving the landfill crisis of a material world, and down to the simplistic “common Joe” solutions of a more ergonomic soda can with a bubbled top for the most efficient and pleasant drinking experience. He also planned to write a novel, his life aspiration, the plot and characters after being analyzed by literary experts were described as “possible the foundation for the greatest novel in 100 years”, although ironically his suicide note was written from a page torn from the notebook he collected his thoughts in.

Such great passion and humor, intelligence and genius, perhaps equally weighted by forgetfulness and sloth, John McLellan will remain in our memories, and certainly be used by teachers across the world as a lesson in not procrastinating and turning in work early. Most of all, his death is a witness to the intensity by which he lived.

Soft Cream at Aoyama

Soft cream, as it is called in the Aoyama campus' Snack Shop, seems to be becoming increasingly popular as the seasons shift toward warmer weather. So what's the scoop? Or rather, for this traditional ice cream varient, the lever?

At the Snack Shop the soft cream menu is constantly in flux. The flavors offered seem to be vanilla and some bi-weekly variant; since the opening of campus for the new academic year, the Snack Shop has so far offered anko (red bean), and strawberry. From a mere 160 Yen for a small cone, to 180 Yen for the larger waffle cone, prices are modest. If one doesn't enjoy eating from the cone, bowls and spoons are also available on request.

Depending on availability, other special dishes are also prepared. When the switch to strawberry occurred, a special 200 Yen offering was added to the menu. A larger waffle cone was implemented, and adorned with fresh strawberries and other berries.

Anko flavored Soft Cream is a long, international leap from the origins of the first soft serve ice cream, invented by J.F. "Grandpa" McCullough and his son, Alex in 1938 in the small town of Moline, IL. After developing a special freezer and altering the traditional ingredients of ice cream, McCullough eventualy founded the popular frozen dessert frachise Dairy Queen. I think it:s safe to say that McCullough probably couldn't have imagined that his invention would be popular across the world and served in an incredibly large variety of flavors.

[Photo: Enjoying a soft cream cone on the Aoyama campus via the cafeteria's Snack Shop.]