Sunday, August 1, 2010
Got up at seven o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese one-pot meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.4 degrees C).
My driving manners have been very mild since 2002 until now, thanks to my getting married to my wife. Even though the Asian pressure groups and their American partners well know it, they still sometimes follow our vehicles, probably for different reasons.
As written previously, members of the Asian pressure groups including Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese have run after my vehicle, especially during my commuting time since some time in 1997. In 1999 or 2000, a little bird told me that the Asian pressure groups were monitoring the speed of my vehicle every day. In 2003, another bird also told me that they were still following my vehicle. In order to avoid any possible trap set by them, the abstention from alcoholic beverages was added to my family precept in 2004.
A little bird told me that Taiwanese, especially male Taiwanese, harbor quiet resentment against me because of some selfish and obtrusive reasons. In 2005, at a meeting, a junior Asian said, "Let us scrounge up some money from the assets this time following Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean". A senior Taiwanese, whose last name is Woo, said those days, "We keep you alive as long as you are doing a good job". As written previously, at that time, an African told me that somebody would kill me. Indeed, those are like the gangster's ways of saying. Probably, a gangster movie influenced their behaviors in those days. It's an indisputable fact that Taiwanese are a majority of troublesome Asian pressure groups in Austin Texas.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Got up at six o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Japanese noodles for dinner. Sprayed the shrubs that are planted for ornament by the front door of my house with disease control.
Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (38.9 degrees C).
From 2005 until 2008, both Hispanic and African Americans, especially their females, followed my wife and me persistently. Thinking back to the past, a sudden hailstorm that hit north Austin in the spring of 2005 was the beginning of their mass hysteria.
When hailstones the size of a golf ball fell over a wide area of north Austin in March 2005, my wife's VW Beetle was left in the parking lot of Charles Maund Volkswagen for repairs, unfortunately. After the completion of its repair there, her Beetle had to be sent to another body shop because of its hail damage. An agent of Farmers Insurance recommended its authorized shop Caliber Collision Center at Austin to my wife.
My wife chose Caliber Collision Center and my wife's car was taken into it for repairs within a couple of days from the hailstorm. Several troubles attended my wife and were preying on her mind for the next three weeks.
In order to report a series of troubles by Caliber Collision Center at Austin, my wife's letter below was sent to the Farmers Claims on April 25, 2005:
*****
April 25, 2005
Farmers Claims
P.O. Box 268994
Oklahoma City, OK 73126-8994
Dear Sir or Madam,
Policy#00********
Claim#**********
I recently claimed hail damage to my vehicle. I would like to report to you what I experienced during repair at Caliber Collision Center which Farmers Insurance authorizes because I am afraid that this claim may affect my future insurance cost.
1. Huge difference in cost
Although Farmers Insurance's estimation was $2649.38, the final cost became $4405.36. This time $500 (deduct) of my responsibility did not change, however, in the long run, I am afraid that this claim may increase my future auto insurance cost. Nevertheless, one of your agents approved the final cost, so I appreciate it if you could explain why there is such a huge difference between your estimation and the final cost because I doubt that Caliber Collision Center can reply trustworthy explanation.
2. Replacement of windshield
I do not know why they replaced the windshield although it looked no damage on the windshield of my vehicle. But the strange thing is that when I went to peel off the stickers from the old windshield, I found that there were two big cracks, which I didn't have a recognition, of it. Why did the Farmers' agent allow this replacement in spite of the initial inspection?
3. Long delay in repair
Farmers Insurance estimated that this repair would take about 5 days, and Caliber Collision Centers agreed on it on March 31. However, it took 9 business days (in fact, I had to wait for 11 days). During repair, Caliber Collision Center repeated indefinite replies. They made at least 5 calls about the day to pick up.
-On April 14 they said, "It may be ready on Friday, April 15, or Monday, April 18."
-On April 18, they said, "It may be ready on Wednesday, April 20."
-On the first call on April 20, they said, "It may be ready today after 5:00 p.m."
-On the second call, they said, "It may be ready on Thursday, April 21 until noon."
-On April 21, they said, "It may be ready today after 5:00 p.m."
To make matters worse, they neglected to put back the registration sticker and the state inspection sticker on the windshield. After I noticed that the stickers disappeared and I asked them, they explained that peeling these stickers off by a third party (Caliber Collision Center) is illegal. If it is true, all the more must they have the significant responsibility to give the information to their customer in advance?
I hope you understand the stress and anxiety which are caused by one body shop and I hope you are dependable and protect your customers.
Sincerely,
Naoko Shiho
*****
Before my wife went to Caliber Collision Center to receive both the registration sticker and the state inspection sticker finally at the end of April 2005, my phone call to it was made. An extremely bad attitude of the reception of Caliber Collision Center to me over the telephone surprised me at that time. Although my visit to Caliber Collision Center to pick the stickers up was once promised on the phone, it was canceled on my decision. Instead of me, my wife went there to receive them.
The reason why my visit to Caliber Collision Center was called off is that it struck me that a series of troubles as mentioned above were caused on purpose. Those days, liberal Americans and Hispanic Americans in Austin TX might find both my wife and me unpleasant because our travel to Washington DC to attend the RNC Presidential Gala in May 2005 had already been scheduled. A couple of months after our travel to Washington DC, either a large pickup truck or SUV hit my wife's Beetle and left the scene of the accident, as written previously. It seems that some sort of liberal (?) Americans dislike VW Beetle cordially.
My wife told me that both a receptionist and a store manager at Caliber Collision Center in Austin were Hispanic. Those days, the majority of Hispanic Americans were unhappy because of a subject of US politics, that is, a new immigration law that's designed to drive out illegal immigrants from the US. In retrospect, Hispanic Americans, especially Mexican Americans, have followed us since then. After the Katharina disaster in Louisiana in the summer of 2005, African American groups also started to bother us by ambushing us everywhere. They had continued to follow us since then until 2008.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Got up at seven o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
It's quite natural that the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be very sensitive about the nuclear issues. Most of them are yearning the nuclear abolition from the bottom of their heart. It goes without saying that the majority of people in the world seek the complete abolition of nuclear weapons.
However, it seems that representatives of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shouldn't argue internationally for the abolition of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In order not to be divested of their real supporters, their representatives should restrict themselves to saying that there are arguments for and against its peaceful use.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Got up at six-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following is my comment on it:
A small but forward step toward the abolition of nuclear weapons was made on August 6, 2010.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.4 degrees C).
Democracy may be better than monarchism and aristocracy. However, it isn't so simple.
The tyranny of the majority that can often be seen in a democratic society with an ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse population has always been a real problem there. For example, if you belong to a very small minority in a society, and you and a white man get involved in a traffic accident, a white officer will rush to the scene. If you and an African American get involved in a traffic accident, an African-American officer will come. If you and a Hispanic man get involved in an accident, a Hispanic office will come. They can do that because they are the majority in the US. Indeed, this is a typical example case associated with the tyranny of the majority. There are innumerable similar cases almost everywhere in every society, whether large or small, in the US.
You may feel that it's unfair. It's unfair absolutely. However, it's an unavoidable fact that this is the real world. The US contains every factor in the world, whether good or bad, in a place, though there are some biases peculiar to it. If you belong to a very small minority, the choice of the place and the society would be very important, in order to avoid any possible annoyingness. There always should be places that are less objectionable and trying to protect minorities from the possibility of a tyranny of the majority. A large society extending over multiple states and multiple nations is desirable. In a society, the personnel affairs division which is composed of an ethnically, religiously, and culturally unbalanced makeup of personnel, is probably bad. Keeping away from any serious conflict involving the majorities should also be a good idea.
Thinking back to the past, there is a similar difficulty found even in a provincial city of Japan. The total period of my living in Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukushima-ken, Japan in the 1990s was only about one year. During this period of time, my free time was mostly devoted to appreciation of the cinema and self-education of semiconductor device physics by reading textbooks and technical papers. My personal relations were limited only to the company. There is no friend of mine there.
On a snowy morning in the late spring of 1996, my car slipped on a snowy road and collided with the rear end of a stopped car at a speed below 20 mph, in the driver's seat of which a middle-aged woman sat. Both cars got some dents but they were fortunately in drivable states. That was my mistake because neither a studless tire nor a tire with the chain was on any wheel of my car. My insurance covered 100% of the repair cost for the damages to her car. Both cars had been repaired within a couple of weeks. About one month after the accident she complained about a mild stiffness in her shoulders. Then, according to what she told me, she went to see an osteopath for a massage or traction therapy a couple of times in a city. My insurance also paid for 100% of the cost of medical treatment. About two months after the accident, inexplicably, she reported that incident to the Department of Driving Safety. Therefore, my driving record was a violation, that is, a failure to look ahead properly. It relieved me that she didn't wear any corset to support her neck at that time. During a conversation accompanied by a female officer about the traffic accident and its reparation, she was very unhappy because a female officer didn't take her side and didn't understand why she was complaining at all. Finally, she suddenly snapped out of it that a "young" female officer hopelessly took my side. Indeed, a female officer just behaved fairly. Then, a town marshal with a look of annoyance was summoned there and made some harmless remarks for a couple of minutes in order to conclude the case. That took about thirty minutes total on a day in the early summer of 1996.
It's still a complete mystery to me what she wanted. She might just want more consolation money or a gift. Hostile feelings against foreign-affiliated companies were implied in her words sporadically. To no surprise, somebody in the company who came from the Tohoku region might stand in the way of my promotion at that time. That can be categorized as a problem associated with the tyranny of the majority. It's well known that some provincial cities in Japan are difficult and exclusive for a person from another part of the country, even for a Japanese. Such a closed provincial city is undesirable.
The problems that the Asian pressure groups and their American partners have brought my wife and me in Austin TX aren't so mild. Their ways of dealing with are also based on the tyranny of the majority but they are very satanic. The Asian pressure groups and their American partners are trying to corrupt us. They are trying to cheat under the pretense of democratic ways. It's still uncertain which the origin of their devilishness is, the East or the West.
BTW, The cases involving me for the police in Japan and the US are only some minor violations of traffic regulations, such as speeding (by 5 or 10 mph at most), traffic signal violation, and minor rear-end collision (below 20 mph). Any ticket for DUI has never been sent to me. To my knowledge, all of the above-mentioned traffic violations have already been deleted from my driving records because of expirations. My records including driving records are very clean now.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Got up at seven o'clock in the morning. Ate a piece of pizza, a bowl of cereal, and a side dish of salad for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
In recent years, the remarkable progress of information technologies has made things very convenient and people rather knowledgeable. As a result, however, it has led to a significant uprush of the group consciousness in many societies in the world. It seems that the surge of group consciousness is one of the main causes of the devilishness of the Asian pressure groups and their American partners around here. When a mass pays attention to an individual, what does their group mind think? It depends upon whether there are some instigators in their groups. As well known, a mass is easily insinuated. A mass tends to go crazy and show their brutality. A mass is irresponsible because each member of a mass can be hidden. If there is a devilish instigator in a group and it feels hostile toward an individual, it can instigate the group's mind to want an individual to go astray.
The Asian pressure groups and their American partners should support a smart and healthy-minded person as a guide.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Today (JST: August 9) is the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki Japan. Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Looked after the front and backyards of my house. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
Monday, August 9, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Japanese noodles for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
As written on August 1, my driving manners have been very mild since 2002 until now. From 2004 until 2005, a strange signal had continued to give me trouble. In many cases in this period of time, the signal that was located inside or near the site of the company didn't turn green. It's doubtful that there's something wrong with both the motion sensor and the timer of the signal for such a long period of time. If the signal had been out of order, the traffic light should have been blinking red.
In order to make for home on the ordinary route, my vehicle had to turn left at the signal. In that situation, there were several choices shown as follows:
1) Turn left on the red light. This violates the Road Traffic Law.
2) Go straight to the red light. This also violates the Law.
3) Turn right on the red light after a stop at the intersection. This doesn't violate any Law.
4) Make a U-turn and choose another way to home. A U-turn near the intersection may violate the Law.
5) Stay there until the light changes, however long it takes. The light turns blinking red at midnight.
My choice was #3. The choice of #3 is the safest way though it made me go a long way around. In my view, most of the other people chose #1.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (38.9 degrees C).
From 1997 until early December of 1998, for commuting to my workplace, a lease car of Oldsmobile Achieva was provided to me. At the end of 1998, a new pickup truck of Chevrolet Silverado (1999) was purchased at my own expense. The full-size pickup truck was chosen because of its high degree of safety against a sudden accident with a large vehicle on a public road in the US. On a hot day in 1999, after half a year since the delivery of a Silverado to me, an unexpected impact really surprised me. Indeed, it's a highly humorous incident. However, an annoying trouble waited for me at the very end.
On halfway to the office in the early summer of 1999, my pickup truck stopped at the center of a left-side lane of a two-lane dual carriageway, waiting for the traffic lights to change. After about a minute, both deafening noises and strong vibrations made themselves felt from the right side behind. The source of both noises and vibrations was surprisingly an oversized trailer house. A trailer house in the width of one traffic lane and a half running on a right-side lane came into collision with my pickup truck from behind. That is one of the largest vehicles seen on the US road. In short, a house hit my vehicle.
A couple of minutes after the accident, a stranger who drove another vehicle approached my pickup truck and told me that he witnessed the accident and that a trailer house hit my pickup truck from behind. What a witness told me really set me at ease at that time.
After a few days, a conversation over the telephone with an agent of the insurance company that the trucking company responsible for the transportation of a trailer house insured its vehicle deeply disappointed me. A driver of a trailer house told an agent of the insurance company that my pickup truck hit a trailer house that morning, contradicting the fact. He's a liar. It's uncertain whether a witness reported the truth or not.
Fortunately, that accident added no violation to my driving record. It should be so because there is no fault of mine in the accident. It's self-explanatory that how the damages of my pickup truck on the rear and right side were caused can't be explained if, as a driver of a trailer house reported, my pickup truck hit his trailer house from behind, contrary to the fact. Though this accident gave me a stronger shock than that accident gave a middle-aged woman in Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukushima-ken, Japan in 1996, it didn't cause any stiffness in my shoulders. This may be simply because men's necks are stronger than women's.
There are two things that can be learned from that incident. One is that even a full-size pickup truck isn't solid enough on the US road. The other is that there is a tyranny of the majority here. As written previously, the pickup truck was sold on April 15, 2010.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Got up at six-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
"This is an interesting topic found in the News Today online news today". The following are my comments on it:
According to the website found at www.housingtracker.net, the median house price dropped by about 6.8% in Austin Texas, compared to that for the same month last year. Therefore, the selling price of about $245,000 for my real estate should be reasonable. This value is close to the Eppraisal price of $245,559 for my real estate. Here, a buyer tax credit wasn't effective or a negative factor dragging the house price down was dominant over it.
The proposal to sell my real estate at $229,900 has been made on the market. It should be a bargain price. It is to be desired that the business in my real estate be free from any tyranny of the majority and/or any swindling by the Asian pressure groups and their American partners.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Got up at seven o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
Friday, August 13, 2010
Got up at five forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
Today, just a matter of course about nuclear reactors shall be told below. There are arguments for and against its peaceful use, as well known. There are several reasons for opposition to it. The first is the possibility of a nuclear disaster due to a nuclear power station accident caused by the result of a human error or a natural calamity. The second is the possibility of a nuclear disaster due to the terrorism against a nuclear plant. The third is the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Recent advances in the technology of nuclear plants could solve some of the above-mentioned problems. In the latest IEEE Spectrum, the characteristics of three types of proposed Generation IV Reactors are explained. Toshiba 4S has immunity from nuclear disasters due to the nuclear power station accident and the terrorism against nuclear plants. Its long and thin columnar-shaped core is designed to be almost free from accidents caused by human error and is buried 30 meters underground to ensure safety against a terrorist attack. It's uncertain whether this reactor design possesses a good earthquake-resistant or not. Although liquid-sodium is used as its coolant in this type of reactor, the danger of using it is somewhat reduced by dividing the liquid-sodium coolant loop into two isolated loops, probably. Next Generation Nuclear Plants commissioned by the US Department of Energy also have immunity from nuclear disasters. The nuclear fuel for these reactors consists of microscopic particles of uranium dioxide coated with carbon and silicon carbide. It's reported, "These fuel particles can withstand up to 1600 degrees C, so even in an accident the fuel would remain intact and limit fallout". In these reactors, safe helium gas is utilized as its coolant. A controversial issue of these Generation IV Reactors proposed by Toshiba, General Atomics, and Westinghouse is that these reactors require fuel with higher concentrations of fissile material than do light-water reactors. It means that there is no resistance to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in these technologies.
According to a limited amount of information found in the IEEE Spectrum, it seems that TerraPower TP-1 doesn't have any remarkable feature for immunity from nuclear disasters due to the accident and the terrorism in this stage. TerraPower TP-1 has an improved resistance to the proliferation of nuclear weapons because its main fuel doesn't require enrichment and reprocessing. However, this reactor still requires a relatively small amount of enriched uranium (10 to 12% of a fissionable isotope of uranium-235) for its ignition, and its waste would contain excess plutonium. Therefore, it seems that the advantage of TerraPower TP-1 is mostly full use of natural uranium resources by utilizing the so-called nuclear reaction wave that breeds fissionable plutonium-239 by neutron irradiation of nonfissionable uranium-238 and then burns plutonium in the reactor consistently for decades. Really, this advantage is attractive. So far, uranium-238, which is a large portion (~99%) of natural uranium, has been mostly unused for the generation of electricity.
The proliferation of nuclear weapons is most difficult to solve in the problems of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Iran's topic above is also associated with nuclear proliferation. It goes without saying that Iran's nuclear power plant itself isn't the core of the problem anymore. When Iran's reactor starts operating either next week or next month, as it announced, the situation won't become acute serious. Once the nuclear fuel is uploaded onto its reactor, the removal of its reactor by the use of armed force will become more difficult because of the high risk of widespread radioactive contamination. Indeed, it isn't necessary to scrap nuclear electric power generators. Even if its reactor were to be dismantled right now, things wouldn't have changed for the better. The core of the problem is its possession of some uranium enrichment plants equipped with devices for the centrifuge separation method, the gaseous diffusion method, and/or something else, and its stockpile of enriched uranium. Moreover, the heart of the problem is its probable ambition to obtain nuclear weapons. The success of North Korea in the possession of nuclear power while giving a plausible reason for enriching uranium for the last two decades has brought the Middle East to a difficult situation, indeed.
Unless peaceful settlements, the spread of nuclear power plants has to stagnate in the regions with unstable political situations. More exactly speaking, any country in an unstable political situation shouldn't have the plants for uranium enrichment and processing nuclear waste that enable it to produce weapon-grade uranium and plutonium.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Got up at six forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a Japanese one-pot meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 102 degrees F (38.9 degrees C).
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Japanese noodles for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Today the maximum temperature was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
Monday, August 16, 2010
Got up at six o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
Iran's way of seeking nuclear weapons has something in common with North Korea's. From a wider point of view concerning the relations with neighboring countries, Iran's situation at the present time bears a certain similarity to Pakistan's situation in the past. Pakistan's rival is obviously India. However, it isn't clear to me which country had given assistance to Pakistan for the development of its nuclear weapons since the late part of the 1970s through the 1980s. The following explanation that can be found in Wikipedia (Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction) tells about it:
--- "The details about the Pakistani nuclear program are largely unknown to the world". "Pakistan covertly developed its nuclear weapons over many decades, beginning in the early 1970s under the secretive research program Project-706". "It is contended that Pakistan began its nuclear development programs in response to India's nuclear device when it exploded in 1974". "China is alleged to have played a major role in the establishment of Pakistan's nuclear power development infrastructure". "According to a 2001 Canadian intelligence report, China supplied Pakistan with nuclear materials and critical technical assistance in the construction of Pakistan's nuclear weapons development facilities, before China joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would have ruled out such assistance". … "It is also unknown when Pakistan began its nuclear development projects and when it was completed, but by the 1980s, it was suspected of having successfully developed nuclear devices". "However, this was to remain speculative and was kept in high secrecy until May 1998 when Pakistan replied to the previously conducted Indian nuclear tests". "This was done due to the immense pressure from the International world and also the defense sector". ---
As written above, which country in the Nuclear Club sold nuclear materials and technologies to Pakistan in those days is still unknown. Naturally, both Pakistan's government and an unknown seller must know it. Intelligence organizations of some countries might have hard evidence to back it up. As a result of the deal, the country that sold nuclear materials and technologies to Pakistan helped it create an effective countermeasure against its rival, the demonstrativeness of which was proven in 1998. Although that sort of way may be most effective, it always annoys me, as written several times. Most unfortunately, the defensive strength of its invisible fortress has been used for the protection of extremists since 2002 until now.
It's at least some comfort for both Iran's and North Korea's nearby non-nuclear-armed countries that Pakistan and its militants have never exploded any nuclear weapon except for its nuclear testing, so far.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Got up at six-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Some events that happened in the border region between South Asia and the Middle East in 1998, such as the nuclear testing in Pakistan and the missile attacks in Afghanistan, changed the future of the US and the world completely, without being noticed at that time. Thinking back to the past, the year 1998 was truly an unlucky year for the US. The idea that every event above went as scheduled by a schemer is unrealistic. Things don't always go according to plan. Maybe.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Got up at six o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and an American meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 103 degrees F (39.4 degrees C).
The last American combat brigades in Iraq left for Kuwait where a considerable number of the US armed forces were based. The withdrawal of the US military from Iraq is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Got up at six o'clock in the morning. Ate an American meal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
My house has an ADT security system. Its electronic alarm system provides additional security for my house. If a sensor detects something abnormal, the security system is designed to raise loud alarms inside and around my house and it also reports an incident to a local branch of ADT automatically. Usually, a member of ADT calls me in order to check the safety of my house after an alarm sounds. If nobody answers the phone or a member of ADT has a sense of mistrust, it calls a sheriff under contract with ADT.
Today, through my fault, that one of the back doors of my house was opened before the security system was inactivated. Alarms were sounded for several seconds until the security system was reset. For some reason or other, ADT didn't telephone my house in a case today. The alarm permit of my house by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office was fortunately renewed in June of this year.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following is my comment on it:
One of the latest theories based upon the observations of distant galaxies distorted by the gravity of a huge galactic cluster with the gravitational lens effect predicts that the Universe will continue to expand forever. Although whether the Universe expands indefinitely or the Universe expands until a certain stage and then shrinks eventually doesn't affect my life at all, the prediction of an indefinitely expanding Universe makes me feel more comfortable.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and pieces of Central Market's pizza for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
Generally speaking, the choice of words found in science is very conservative. It seems to me that in physics only a few technical terms are exceptional within my knowledge. The term "dark matter" found in both astronomy and cosmology is one of the exceptions. It sounds like a term used in a Gothic or an SF story, doesn't it? Dark matter is the hypothesized material that composes a large part of the universe but has never been detected so far. Without the existence of dark matter, observed gravitational effects in the universe cannot be explained. There are many candidates for the origin of the dark matter. One of the well-known candidates for it is the so-called Weekly Interacting Massive Particle which is a hypothetical massive subatomic particle and interacts with the other subatomic particles very weakly. From a common sense of physics, the naming of the particle WIMP is usual. However, it seems that the word WIMP doesn't make a favorable impression.
The dark matter may be too wimp to reveal its natural shape.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Got up at six forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a dish of Japanese noodles for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 101 degrees F (38.3 degrees C).
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
There is no longer an easy solution to this problem because the bombings of a nuclear power plant with nuclear fuels and all of its operating uranium enrichment plants may lead to widespread radioactive contamination throughout neighboring countries. From the beginning, such a thing has never existed because, in the early stage of Iran's nuclear program, the US didn't support a possibly easy solution after due consideration about the recrudescence of the Cold War structure. There is still a small possibility that a large-scale forceful measure might be taken without demolishing Iran's nuclear facilities and spreading radioactive contamination in the near future. However, who could justify it? There is no old-fashioned dictator there. At least, in the present phase, Iran isn't in possession of its nuclear bombs, most probably. Both the US and Israel are members of the Nuclear Club. Although the US, Israel, and Iran signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, none of them has ratified it yet.
It goes without saying that peace negotiations counting not only on a nuclear-capable Iran but also on a nuclear-armed Iran should be most important.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Got up at eight forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Today the maximum temperature was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
Unfortunately, both India and Pakistan have never signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Japan's concern about India's ambition for future nuclear tests is quite reasonable.
There has been an unfamiliar old Infiniti Q35 parked in front of my house for the last two days. Any curbside parking for a long period of time is unwelcome.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Got up at six forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal, a rice ball and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 106 degrees F (41.1 degrees C). It's the hottest day this year.
Today, the remotest possibility of a solution shall be spoken of. What a nuclear-ambitious country wants by taking a big risk is the deterrence of an invasion of its homeland, the means of threatening, and the rights that a permanent member of the UN Security Council currently has. Therefore, the final goal of most nuclear-ambitious countries should be its possession of the three statuses of symbols, ICBMs, nuclear submarines, and thermonuclear bombs that are comparable to a state-of-the-art one in terms of destructiveness. If all of the permanent members of the UN Security Council were to abandon all of their nuclear weapons and their privileges in the UN, all of the nuclear-ambitious countries would sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the future rise of nuclear-ambitious countries would disappear from the world. Some people may say that it's just a fantastic story. Others may say that it would raise the possibility of war because of the lack of a nuclear deterrent.
Actually, it's true that the above-mentioned hypothetical story is just an ideal. It isn't practical. However, considering such an extreme case may give some hints about what sorts of conditions are necessary to maintain nuclear-weapon-free Iran. A possible necessary condition for it is the ratification of CTBT by both the US and Israel. One of the sufficient conditions may be the idea proposed by all five permanent members of the UN Security Council in May of this year, that is, a nuclear-arms-free Middle East. It's still fresh in our memory that Israel refused to scrap any atomic bombs it has. That diplomatic talk let me reconfirm how difficult it is to settle the conflict at that time.
Currently, all of the permanent members of the UN Security Council are members of the Nuclear Club. Associate members of the Nuclear Club want to become full members. Some of the non-members want to join the Nuclear Club. Although it cannot be expected to be effective immediately, making a couple of nuclear-weapon-free developed nations the permanent members of the UN Security Council should be a good idea. The competition in nuclear armaments should get out of date globally.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal, a rice ball, and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 106 degrees F (41.1 degrees C).
An "exotic" idea to bring to a peaceful settlement occurred to me. Let me say at the outset that this may be an unpleasant idea for Israeli and UN staff. This is based on the idea that a good business sense could help bring peace to the world.
First of all, Israel will move out of Jerusalem and recognize it as a neutral district under the protection of the United Nations. Probably, this is the first and most difficult hurdle to be clear. Second, the headquarters of the United Nations will be relocated from New York to Jerusalem. The headquarters of the United Nations will stay in Jerusalem for the next 50 to 100 years and then it will be again relocated to the next location. It's understandable that most of the UN staff don't want to expose themselves to cover the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. This may also be an unpleasant idea for some Americans who would like to hold the UN headquarters within their homeland. In this stage, Israel may be able to agree to a nuclear-arms-free Middle East, because it will have another protection. Thirdly, the development of Jerusalem and some areas in both Israel and Palestine for tourism will be started up and gradually advanced. Several cities in the Middle East including Baghdad, Dubai, Cairo, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Teheran, etc help each other as equal business partners, especially for tourism. The UN will also actively support its tourist businesses. Potentially, Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Teheran will attract many tourists from the West and Asia in the future when safety is surely guaranteed there. Obviously, it takes quite a time. However, without letting people treat a terrorist as a nuisance there further, a stable peace will never be realized.
Do you think that this is a good practical idea? It seems that many people dislike it.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following is my comment on it:
Weirdly, there is found a moth the size of about 1 inch in an unopened box of cereal. Surprisingly, it's still alive. A box of cereal was purchased at a neighboring grocery store on August 14. The airtightness of its package shouldn't be so high because an insect needs air, different from beer bugs. Naturally, it was thrown away as trash. Needless to say, there is no habit of eating any insect in my birthplace and legal domicile in Japan.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Got up at five-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
One day last week, it was found out that a neighbor had left its rubber hose in my yard. It's moved back. Today, it's found out again that a part of the rubber hose was still left in my yard. Looked after the front and backyards of my house after the hose was moved back to his yard.
It's also found out that the vinyl hose with a small diameter that connects the 2-cycle engine to the fuel tank of my blower was damaged. One of the viewers whom a real estate agent sent to my house last week might cut it off.
The following tells about the continuation of an exotic idea. Energy is a topic that cannot be avoided and passed in the Middle East. The most certain alternative source of energy for the Middle East should be photovoltaic and solar thermoelectric power generation. Solar power generation could satisfy most of their energy needs in the near future if a battery with enough efficiency and capacity is available because of its sunny weather conditions. However, it seems that the solar energy industry will not be able to take the place of the oil industry in the Middle East. The energy issue will attract more attention from people there than it currently does when oil resources start to dry up. It could happen within fifty years or one hundred years. In this period of time, the peace settlements could be realized to some extent, hopefully.
One of the possible energy industries that can take the place of the oil industry may be the nuclear energy industry. The following explains an outline of a business model specialized for nuclear power generation. Some countries that have relied on and are currently interested in the commercial use of nuclear power generation may be divided into roughly three groups by their aptitudes. Uranium-rich countries may take roles in uranium mining and its refinement. Countries with advanced technologies may take roles in the development of nuclear power stations, and the enrichment and reprocessing of nuclear fuels. IAEA should take all the responsibility for both the administration and the transportation of enriched uranium/plutonium and nuclear waste, instead of restricting its responsibilities to research, assistance, and monitoring. Countries with either desert areas or islands in a non-seismic zone where there are few living things may take roles in the electricity generation using enriched nuclear fuels in nuclear power stations, the conversion of electricity into a safer intermediate fuel than the nuclear fuel, such as liquid hydrogen or something else, and the transportation of the converted fuels all over the world. It seems that there are several areas satisfying the conditions above in the Middle East.
Therefore, fourthly, "a full understanding" among related countries of the distinguishing features, the mutual benefits, and the safety of this business model would be necessary. In the above-mentioned period of time, both the safety and the efficiency of next-generation nuclear power stations should be advanced. The promotion of this business model may help assist in peace talks there. With the execution of this business model, almost all aspects of the problems associated with the peaceful use of nuclear energy such as nuclear proliferation and the nuclear power station accident as the result of human error, the natural calamity, or the terrorist attack could be prevented. However, both the choice and the authorization for the countries that take responsibility for the enrichment and the reprocessing of nuclear fuels have still to be carefully carried out.
Do you still think that this is a good practical idea? It seems that a lot of people dislike this idea. This is because those people want to stay away from them.
--- "Even the most extreme geoengineering approaches will not stop sea levels from rising due to climate change, a study suggests". "New research proposes that as many as 150 million people could be affected as ocean levels increase by 30cm to 70cm by the end of this century". "This could result in flooding of low-lying coastal areas, including some of the world's largest cities". "The team published the study in the journal PNAS," the BBC online news reported. ---
This is unfavorable news for people who have lived or invested in real estate in low-lying coastal areas. The forecast that sea levels may rise by 30cm to 70cm but it happens "very slowly" is at least some comfort. In the generality of cases, the rebuilding of a common building in a real property after 50 to 100 years from its completion should be reasonable. When it has to be entirely rebuilt in the future, a building may be relocated to a site inland from the original site by a distance, depending on where it is.
Their studies include the proposed geoengineering using giant mirrors to orbit the earth in order to reflect some of the sunlight. What an extreme idea it is!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal, a rice ball, and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
After an American taking along a medium-sized dog walked around my house, he said, 'Have you just moved in this house?' My answer is "no".
Next, he said, 'Are you looking for another suite?' My answer is "yes". The suites in luxury hotels in beautiful cities in Europe and the US were selected and their websites were bookmarked previously. My bookmark has always been updated when an interesting suite in a hotel is found.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Got up at six forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Found that two Texas Live Oak trees in front of my house have borne a lot of small acorns this year. A small White Oak tree also has borne some large acorns. These acorns are currently getting bigger and will be changing color from green to tan gradually in October or November. These nuts will be food for wildlife, such as birds and squirrels.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a piece of pizza for lunch. Went out shopping at a grocery store this afternoon. Ate an American meal for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Got up at ten o'clock in the morning. Ate an American meal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
As written previously, the gum line of my tooth #7, which is the right-side upper incisor, is very slightly higher than that of my tooth #10, which is the left-side upper incisor, by about 1 mm (1/24"). The slight asymmetry in my gum line was caused when a bad dentist treated my carious tooth #7 in Japan about thirty years ago.
The following email was sent to a real estate agent this evening:
***
The former owner's discloser notice of the Austin/Central Texas Realty Information Service, that a former owner of my real property filled out in December 2001 and the hard copy of which is attached to this email, tells that there is no fence in my real property at the address of 12720 Twisted Briar Ln. Austin Texas 78729 (see section 1 of page #1). It also indicates that a former owner didn't add any fence to this real property when he lived here (see section 9 of page #3). My guess is that a former owner didn't build the fence because an electricity meter was attached to the back wall of the house in my current possession. If my backyard had been surrounded by fences, an employee of the City of Austin should have needed to ask me to open the door of the fences in order for his measurement of the electricity meter every time.
It's really strange that both a title company and you were unable to find any information about the fences on its database. It seems to me that the former owner's discloser notice of the Austin/Central Texas Realty Information Service that a former owner of one of my neighbor's real properties (127xx Twisted Briar Ln.) wrote someday in either 2001 or 2002 should include the information you have been looking for since last Monday.
When my current neighbor bought the real property located at the address of 127xx Twisted Briar Ln. about ten years ago, all of the fences of his house were in good condition, to my knowledge. The backyard of my neighbor's real property was surrounded by three fences completely. Because of his ignorance of trimming two palm trees planted near the fence that is located inside his yard by the distance of about 10 inches from the border between his yard and my yard, the large leaves of the palm trees had gradually pushed it for years. Finally, a part of the fence was broken down on a stormy day about five years ago. Indeed, all three fences surrounding my neighbor's property had some defects for the last few years. Early spring this year, a resident of the real property next to my neighbor's property on the other side of my property made repairs on the fence between his yard and my neighbor's yard by his own efforts. Therefore, one of the three damaged fences surrounding my neighbor's property was fixed. As you have seen, two of them that belong to my neighbor are still unrepaired, unfortunately.
Regards,
Yasuhito Shiho
***
Monday, August 30, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a Japanese one-pot meal for dinner.
Weighed myself on a scale for the first time in half a year. My weight is just 67 kilograms (147.6 pounds).
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Got up at six-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a side dish of salad for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today the maximum temperature was 100 degrees F (37.7 degrees C).
Which number is better, "2" or "3"?
Three is better if both the separation of powers and mutual assistance are necessary in order to avoid arbitrary excesses by one.
Two is better if both the stable separation of powers and the favorable competition between majorities are necessary in order to maintain competitive spirits while minimizing useless attempts and spending. It seems that, as far as minorities are under the protection of the laws against the tyranny of the majority, the separation of powers into three major groups or more isn't necessary. The instability is intensified with increasing the number of competing majority groups. Some people may say that a third major force is necessary in order to usher in a new phase in an obsolete society and to reflect some rather minority opinions. It seems that there are other ways better than that. Others may say that a third major force is necessary in a transitional period. This might be true.
In the case of Japan's government system, the development of a two-party system seems to be suitable. One party is more capitalistic and the other is more socialistic.
