O.K. so light isn't exactly a word one would use to describe hikikomori.  But this is one of the best manga to come down the pike in a long time.  Following the adventures of a real live hikikomori and the girl that is determined to save him, or maybe accidently kill him is a great read.  It manages to deftly mix humor and human emotion in just the right way, unlike some books where you wish you could slap some of the charachters for their inabillity to see how things really are Welcome to the N.H.K never lets this happen.  It works because it is a book about people.  Real, flawed human beings, no magical powers, giant robots or ninja, just people who struggle to deal with their own personal flaws and failings.  This series sets a standard for other slice of life books to follow with its realistic portrayal of some of the problems currently facing real people in real places, yet it manages to leave you wanting more at the end of each volume, rather than feeling like shooting yourself or to beat down the protaganist for their utter lack of spine and or common sense.

Three volumes out so far from Tokyopop.  For mature audiences. (18 +)

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From First Multinational Force Iraq

Iraqi troops lead joint medical effort in Hor Al Bosh.

Medical Clinic to Benefit Iraqis for Years to Come.

Iraqi National Police officers graduate from NCO Course.

Precision-guided munitions kills top al Qaeda leader.

Iraqi Army cleans Baghdadi of insurgency.

Iraqi Soldiers participate in first ever advanced infantry course.

Damn Straight

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My taste in music is best descrided as eccletic, my collection of LP's and CD's covering everything from J-POP, anime OST's, Rock, Metal, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Bluegrass and Gospell.  Among my favorites is a little known album by an unfortunately now little known jazzman, The Hawk Flies High, by Coleman Hawkins aka Bean.  It is perhaps the most impressive display of the Sax I have ever heard, encapsulating all that can be done with a horn, added to the fact that the session artist are some great preformers in their own right.  A true jam session it moves from number to number with a fluidity that is exceptional even for jazz.  If you can find I highly, highly reccomend picking it up.

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From First Multinational Force Iraq

Ubaidi, Anbakia tribes sign peace agreement in Diyala.

Good ‘intel’ makes Polar Tempest success.

Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces detain insurgent linked to Iranian IEDs.

Fardh Al-Qanoon Update: MND-B general sees change, progress.

Security forces gaining strength, generals say.

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From AP Sports via Fox News

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges related to illegal dogfighting.

Vick and three others were charged with violating federal laws against competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

The indictment alleges that Vick and his co-defendants began sponsoring dogfighting in early 2001, the former Virginia Tech star's rookie year with the Falcons.

Read it all

     This is not good for Ron Mexico Michael Vick, or the Atlanta Falcons.  Roger Godell is left with little choice but to maintain a consistent line on off the field misbehavior and suspend Vick.  The real queation is how long he will be sitting for, my guess is at least ten games, if not the season in light of some of his past problems.  In truth this doesn't surprise me, given the past behavior of Michael Vick and his younger brother Marcus both on and off the football field they have made it abundantly clear that they are not good people.  I can't help but shake my head at how quick sports media was to applaud the crack down on off field violations without waiting for the courts to due their work with Tank Johnson and Pac Man Jones but repeatedly taking the wait and see approach with Vick.  After all where there is smoke there is fire.

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From AP via Fox News

     WASHINGTON —  District of Columbia officials said Monday they plan to petition the Supreme Court as they seek to defend the city's 30-year-old ban on most handguns.

     A federal appeals court panel struck down the law in March, rejecting the city's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias. The full appeals court refused to reconsider the decision in May. The law has remained in effect during the appeals process.

 Read it all here

     So D.C. goes for another bite of their losing apple, not surprising.  They fear that they will be looking at a mountain of lawsuits and massive settlements if they lose.  When the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the D.C. handgun ban was unconstitutional they effectively threw out all convictions under it since it went into affect in the 1970's.  What is even more disgusting than that is that they Mayor of D.C. is claiming that this piece of $h!t law has actually saved lives.  This when D.C. consistently has one of the highest murder rates and overall violent crime rates in the U.S.

     One of three things is going to happen here, the least likely is that D.C. wins on appeal.  The current court os decidedly conservative, and given that on conctitutional issues to which the U.S. government is not party to it is routine for the court to ask for the position of the U.S. from the solicitor general.  The current position is that the second amendment is an individual right and subject to the protection that entails.  Furthermore this case could well see the 2^nd amendment incorparted through the equal protection clause of the fourtteenth amendment, meaning that similar state laws would be struck down.  Even of that is not the case it will force those state to modify their laws to come into compliance with the standards the court will set for what is constituional.  The second option is D.C. loses yet again, this is probably what will happen (results detailed above) if it actually gets Cert**.  But the two scenarios above will only happe if the SCOTUS* agrees to hear the case, if they allow the 2^nd circuit ruling to stand is a victory, but a smaller one in that it means that SCOTUS agrees with the lower court ruling and finds no reason to reopen the matter, but the ruling will only be enforcable as precident in the 2^nd district, but it still sends a clear message to the other districts as to thinking of the court.  Now to watch and wait.

NRA  Go check it out, and join, they help make lawsuits like this possible.

*SCOTUS=Supreme Court Of The United States

**Cert.=Certiari, Latin for to hear, menaing that the court agrees to hear the case.  The Supreme Court hears only a couple hundred cases a year out of thousands of petitions.

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From Fox News

     Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, is defending himself Monday after comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler and leaving the impression the administration may have rigged the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

     Speaking to an atheist group on July 8, Ellison said that the president acted much the way Hitler did when the Reichstag, or German Parliament building, was burned in 1933 ahead of elections that pitted Hitler's Nazi Party against others, including the Communists. Hitler, who was suspected of ordering the fire, declared emergency powers that helped him launch his dictatorial and murderous reign.

Read the Full Story Here

    Idiot.  Hitler began to round up anybody and everybody he didn't like, canceled elections and set about systematically silensing his opposition by killing them.  Representative Ellison needs to realize that he is not only making himself look the fool but he is also doing a great diservice to the memory of those killed by Hitler and Islamofascits.

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As always from 1^st Multinational Force Iraq

Anbar leaders celebrate awakening.

Operation Eagle Ares brings 46 into custody.

Setabck for al-Qaida operatives in Diyala.

Surge progress may lead to troop reductions in northern Iraq, general says.

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From IGN.com

To Be, or High-Def DVD?
When will the anime companies jump on the high-def DVD bandwagon?
by Scott Collura
July 13, 2007 - When Bandai Entertainment announced that its brand new OVA series Freedom would be released on HD DVD, it got us at IGN thinking. When will the other anime companies out there get around to adopting a high-def DVD format, and when they do, which side in the format war will they choose -- HD DVD or Blu-ray?

Read the whole thing

     I know some people will take this as big news but it isn't.  It is clear that not only is anime to small to profitable in a HD format in North America, any type of media in HD is unprofitable.  While the technology is impressive all manufacture of HD software have overlooked the single biggest hole in their business plans, the pathetically low installed base of HD television sets in the U.S.  Combined with the fact that only in the past 2-3 years DVD has firmly replaced VHS as the dominate market force and two competing standards for HD optical discs most consumers are simply not interested in having to upgrade yet again.  Nearly everyone is holding off for one of two basic reasons, either the don't own an HD tv, or they're are afraid of choosing the loser and being left high and dry ala BETA.  Asking which HD format a company is running with is like asking if you want to be on the Titanic or the Andrea Dora.  Both ships sank at sea even though one was undeniably safer and better built than the other.

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     After checking the sitemeter it seems that vistors here are XP fans, well how about a little XP love.

  My Laptop desktop.

  My current desktop wallpaper.

And one with both XPtan and 2Ktan for good measure.

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1 Nice.

Oh, and converting BMPs to JPGs should work now.  (The system now emails me when something causes a 500 error, so's I can fix it.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at July 15, 2007 09:36 PM (PiXy!)

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From Fox News.

     Hamas TV introduced a new children's character intended to inspire future extremists and suicide bombers with Nahoul the Bee.

      In a television skit, the character vows to continue the work of his cousin, Farfour the mouse, in following in the 'path of Islam, of heroism, of martyrdom.'

 Full Story Here

     Dispicable, no other word can describe how I feel aout this.  I am surprisingly without words to properly express my level of outrage.  It is bad enough to encourage adults to carry out homicide bombings*, but to encourage it as a desirable goal in children is well and truly beyond the pale.  Once more the enemy reveals his true nature to us all.

*I refuse to use the term suicide bomber, suicide is the act of taking ones own life, and only ones own life.  These repugnant scum are also taking the lives of innocents with them, making them nothing more than murders.

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    Back from the airshow, it was as always a day well spent.  If you have the chance by all means try out the Virtual Army Experience, very, very cool.  The performances were amazing to watch, ranging from the thunder of modern fighters to a guy landing a 1941 Interstate trainer on top of a winnebago.  No I mean he really did land on top of an RV, a small RV.  Static displays included the usual suspects and a few surprise highlights below. (No Blue Angels pics though, the battery in my digital went tango uniform before they came on.)

 One big surprise this year was large NASA exhibit in one of the hangars.

NASA Homepage

They brought Models and of both the ISS and the Mars Rovers.

This inflateable Orion CM-SM Mockup shows just how large the new CEV is, compared to the Appolo capsules it is like moving from a 1 bedroom efficency apartment into a two bedroom ranch style house.

By far the coolest static display was the new CV-22 Osprey.

More photos below the fold.

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From 1^st Multinational force Iraq

Role model town produces positive results.

Paratroopers capture IED cell leader.

Troops uncover cache, capture 13 suspects.

Iraqi citizens lead soldiers to caches.

Remeber Operational security can save YOUR life!

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    Heading out for the McConnel AFB open house, pictures and more later today.  Until then from the 2002 edition.

Gruman TBF Avenger

Republic P-47N Thunderbolt

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From Reuters via Fox News

SANTA MONICA, Calif. â€”  Sales of Nintendo's quirky Wii video game machine could top the legendary Play Station 2, making it the biggest hit in the industry's history, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said on Thursday.

Nintendo Co. Ltd. sped past Sony Corp. (SNE) in market capitalization last month to become one of the 10 most valuable companies in Japan.

Full Story Here

     Sony just can't seem to get any relief on, well just about any front.  They continue to hemmorage money and the recent price cuts on the PS3 can only make it worse.  Sony took a huge risk when they launched the PS3, knowing that they would be selling the hardware at aloss when they where already in financial ill health.  Nintendo is already turning a profit on Wii hardware, and since it is also consistently outselling the PS3 in the states and Japan Sony's future looks no better than it did prior to the PS3 launch.  PS3 and Blu-Ray were suppoused to be the savior of the company, they have turned out to be yet one more giant albatross around Sony's neck.

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Via 1st Multi National Force Iraq

 Iraqi citizen leads soldiers to cahes in known terrorist safe haven.

 Anti-Terror successes continue despite foriegn born resistance.

 Iraqi warriors take new skills to the streets.

 U.S. Special Forces apprehend high level Al Qeada cell leader.

 Police recruiting drive a major attraction.

 Karkh holds first ever job fair.

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     I find it odd that MSM cannot be roused to report on the plight of people who have been forced from their homes, herded across an international border and told that if they return they will be killed.  Why is that?  Because it doesn't fit their leitmotif of how things are in the middle east.  I cant't tell the story as well these guys so go read it here.

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     What makes something the best?  Is it popularity, profitability, quality, a combination of three?  Something else entirely?  This is one of those vexing subjective questions that can start long and heated debates just about anywhere when people have differing views on just what the best really is.  While some individual discs might be score better in reviews the three above are in competition for what I believe to be the best anime series.  Cowboy Bebop, Fooly Cooly and FullMetal Alchemist, all have strong writing, great animation and awesome music, and perhaps most importantly consistantly high quality writing  There are plenty of shows out there that have stand out episodes or story arcs but very few that manage to be simply great from beginning to end.  

     Each show has a lot make it a contender, and each has its drawbacks that make the debate all that much more interesting.  So let us take a look at the contenders in detail.

Contender #1 Cowboy Bebop.

  This show perhaps more than any pther typifies the growth of anime in the US more than any other, sure Akira was well known but Bebop was the first series to find sucess on tv while being aimed at adults rather than children or tweens.  Possibly the best scripted series ever shown on adult swim it stands out for its writing, pacing and wonderfully constructed plot that allows for every episode help be part of a larger story but still be built around its own unique plot.  No mean feat, this along with music that puts many hollywood movies to shame coupled with nearly flawless animation set in a familiar yet distinctly different world.  The only real downside to Cowboy Bebop is the sparsity of extras and lack of a sound mix higher than dolby 2.0.*

Contender #2 Fooly Cooly.

  Coolest Show Ever.  I don't know what it is but this show is almost without comparison.  It has a plot, but it seems to matter very little.  Moving from parody to humor, to drama and where ever else it feels like going this series does more in six episodes than many do in twenty four or fifty two.  Once more excellent animation and superlative music combine with top notch writing to  create something so much greater than the sum of its parts.  Downsides, none aside form its short length, by episode six you find that it suddenly really is over.

Contender #3 FULLMETAL Alchemist.

  FULLMETAL Alchemist is a show that epitimizes strong writing and character development, and it is a show that is not afraid to take risks like killing off a fan favorite character like Mayes Hughes I still remember seeing that episode for the first time and being shocked and in disbelief, but they had really done it.  With a score that simply leaves one in awe for its musicality and beauty it has most impressive score of any anime ever.  The charcaters are what makes this show, one is able to connect with them on a basic, human level that is very rare in televison or movies.  The story is gripping and exciting, yet able to capture the quiet moments that help gives life to the characters and their world.  FMA's only drawback is that it occassionaly gives in to the needs of its original fifty two week run with a handful of filler episodes that play very well but  leave you wanting to get back to the main plot threads and see them adavnced.

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From MLB.com

      SEATTLE -- Everyone seemed to want Ichiro. In the end, Ichiro wanted Seattle.

       Mariners center fielder Ichiro Suzuki signed a five-year contract extension Friday, ending days of speculation about the seven-time All-Star's future in the Emerald City.

       The deal, announced by the Mariners on Friday afternoon, goes through the 2012 season, although financial details were not disclosed per club policy. The Associated Press reported the deal is worth $90 million.

     This is great news for Seattle, we finally managed to keep a superstar rather than watching him head for greener pastures.  but then again I supposs that the Mariners coporate parent (Nintendo) can afford it right now.  This combined with their wild win last night makes me think that the playoffs are in our future, the immeadate future at that.

Link to the full article here Ichiro Re-signs with Seattle

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     I don't know what it is, but even though I own a couple of automatic pistols there is something that just draws me to revolvers.  Wether it is the simple elegance of their form and function, ruggedness and reliability or just that unidentifiable it that they have.  Some of the wheelguns I own are strictly utilitarian, like my Ruger GP-100, a strong modern design rendered in stainless steel.  But this gun has a different appeal, this Colt Police Positve Special was likely made in the late fifties from a design that dated back to the turn of the century and remained basically unaltered untill it was dropped in the mid seventies.  Made with lots of hand fitting and a fine hand polish this gun marks in many ways the end of an era.  An era when craftsmanship in the builing of revolvers was a necessity.

     While many today lament the end of such attention I certainly don't.  Modern production methods allow for parts to made with tolerances were impossible to conceive of in a era before computers and robotic manufacturing.  Metal alloys are stronger and more durable, coatings and finishes are more restitant to wear, sight are more precise, and reliabillity is at an all time high.  The craftsman maybe gone from the hardfitting* lines of modern gunmakers.  But his passing ushered in era of affordable, reliable and accurate firearms.

Additional photo below the fold.

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