Japanese PM Koizumi joins a gang
APF / July 27, 2004--TOKYO, JAPAN: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (R) wears Guardian Angels' jacket and beret helped by Curtis Sliwa (L), founder of Guardian Angels prior to their meeting at latter's official residence in Tokyo

Let's "Suica Diet!"
Via the always clever Patrick.com

Lose! Weight! Fast!
Suica Diet!

Poster for JR?s Suica railfare card. You load the card up with Yen and then wave your wallet at the turnstile and JR automatically deducts the correct fare. By carrying around this contactless IC card, instead of coins and cash, you can instantly lose a few hundred grams!

Make like a train engineer
Daily Yomiuri, July 27
Odakyu Department Store Co. on Wednesday will begin selling a watch modeled after gauges on the dashboard of its parent company's trains.
The face of the Untenseki Keiki Udedokei resembles the gauges found on Odakyu Electric Railway commuter trains, giving wearers the feeling that they are real train engineers.....
Price: 19,950 yen

'Walls of Walkman' navel gazing
Walls of Walkman
Sony's little music machine turns 25 -- yes, it's been that many years since public conversations died
Jul. 25, 2004. 10:42 AM / TORONTO STAR
..."It is virtually an extension of the skin. It is fitted, moulded, like so much else in modern consumer culture, to the body itself ... It is designed for movement -- for mobility, for people who are always out and about, for travelling light. It is part of the required equipment of the modern `nomad.'"...... the Sony Walkman, introduced in North America 25 years ago this month, was a private thing, an individual indulgence, a secret door through which you could enter your own personal soundscape at will.
You could inhabit that insulated place oblivious of the distractions of the world around you, while the world around you was oblivious of your unobserved departure...
.... Dr. Graeme Turner, a professor of cultural studies at the University of Queensland in Australia.
"The Walkman significantly provided a separate cultural space for its users, no matter where they went. And they could decorate that personal space the way young people decorate their bedrooms ... It was not like the TV, stereo sound system, or radio. It was personal and mobile.".... They could reinforce their self-image by focusing only on the music that contained the codes and messages they needed or wanted. They could move conspicuously to rhythms no once else could hear ...
...."We may think we're connected to the universe, we may well be in control of our personal space as a result of these technologies, we may think we're networking, but it's in a one-on-one system. It's a fetishization of connectedness, an illusion."

Japan Post getting into Loan Sharking
Japan Post may be allowed to expand into lending business
TOKYO July 25 Kyodo -The government is considering revising laws to enable Japan Post to extend mortgages and other types of loans following a planned privatization of the government-backed organization...At present, the postal savings law effectively bans Japan Post from lending money even though it accepts deposits.

Non-invasive treatment for fibroids available in Japan
Topic: Japanese Tech

Israeli non-invasive treatment for uterine fibroids recommended for FDA approval
Israel21c.org July 25, 2004
... FDA panel's recommendation for the approval of a new Israeli-designed system for non-invasive treatment of uterine fibroids....The FDA's Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel recently recommended the ExAblate 2000 System, manufactured by InSightec Ltd.
...The ExAblate system is intended to provide a non-invasive alternative to current treatments for symptomatic uterine fibroids, which include hysterectomy, myomectomy, uterine artery embolization, and drug therapy. The system uses focused ultrasound together with MR imaging to pinpoint tumors and effectively destroy them, without incisions, without anesthesia, and without the need for hospitalization.
...The device received the European CE mark in 2002 and is currently commercially available in Israel, Europe, and Japan.
The recent FDA panel recommendation was based on the results of a multicenter, controlled clinical study that was performed at centers in the United States, Europe, and Israel, including Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US, St. Mary's Hospital in London, Charite Hospital in Berlin, and Sheba Medical Center and Hadassah Hospital in Israel.

JAPANESE SHUNGA EROTICA

JAPANESE SHUNGA & OTHER EROTICA
Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle | February 2004
In these examples of Japanese shunga we see a great variety of lovemaking techniques, situations, positions and possibilities. Whether heterosexual or homosexual, the diversity of sexual behaviors expressed within this artform offer a glimpse of the sexual freedoms available in previous eras...

Since blogging is "masterbation" (sic) celebrate Pee Wee Herman Day July 24
Via reference books

Via Kuro5hin:
"Blog is not a word. It is a manifestation of the pent up sexual frustration of millions of losers (read: geeks) out there furiously masterbating their own little world trying to make it significant. The more they wank, the worse it gets until the point where the word itself is synonymous with masterbation.

Celebrate Pee Wee Herman on Paul Reubens Day!
July 24th ....
Thirteen years ago in 1989 one man dared to stand erect for what he believed in, his right to touch his own private place in a public place.

"Video Proof" swimwear for traditional Japanese modesty
Swimmers' modesty to be preserved
The Japan Times: July 24, 2004
OSAKA (Kyodo) Descente Ltd. said Friday it has developed swimwear material that remains opaque when filmed by an infrared camera.... dubbed Video Proof, will be used as lining in swimwear and is intended to ease concerns by female swimmers over being shot by infrared cameras, which can make regular swimwear appear transparent, the Osaka-based sportswear company said.
"Since there are some competitive swimmers who can't concentrate on swimming (due to the situation), with their results adversely affected in the competition, we hope to back them up as much as possible (with the new material)," a company official said....

Yeah! Bush and his Poodle at the .....

(BANNED VERSION)
http://www.crocuta.net/AtTheGayBar.mov
"Gay Bar"
lyrics by Electric Six
Girl!
I wanna take you to a gay bar,
I wanna take you to a gay bar,
I wanna take you to a gay bar, gay bar, gay bar.

Let's start a war, start a nuclear war,
At the gay bar, gay bar, gay bar.
Wow!
At the gay bar...