tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85611882012-02-16T22:00:17.644+08:00Observations on a world quickly going insaneSean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.comBlogger3611100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-5301798499632891642010-02-01T11:13:00.004+08:002010-02-01T11:44:43.755+08:00

It seems that the old British propaganda slogan from the blitz, Keep Calm and Carry On, which I keep on the right margin of the Rant, has been re-vamped for our times. It now reads, Panic Now and Freak Out, and is available on coffee mugs. The red has been traded in for blue and the crown has been inverted like the Satanists did with Christ's cross and Robert Redford threatened to do with the

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-29129860457398596442009-12-05T11:07:00.000+08:002009-12-05T11:09:29.240+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-76768574852517015272009-10-28T10:21:00.002+08:002009-10-28T10:23:51.150+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-73633012801330346962009-09-08T13:39:00.017+08:002009-10-11T11:17:10.724+08:00

Okay, I am a little behind in blogging. Usually I post my story for pressed: a literary journal as soon as the ink has dried on the magazine, but this time found me in Australia visiting family and drinking an unimaginable amount of red wine. It took quite some time for all of the pink elephants to leave the room. When they finally had, I discovered that they had made off with my laptop.The

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-1993831485549781822009-08-05T11:31:00.009+08:002009-08-05T11:45:00.173+08:00

Chere sent me this today. The pictures were taken around the Medicine Hat area after a windstorm last week. (Medicine Hat is in the southeast corner of Canada's province of Alberta, near the Badlands.) The bales apparently weigh up to 1600 lbs and some were reported to have rolled up to 5 miles; others were rumoured to have gone even farther. This is where some of the bales ended up. There

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-4175395594274146862009-07-26T11:56:00.005+08:002009-07-26T12:13:23.931+08:00

I read the article Revealed: the secret evidence of global warming Bush tried to hide, had a good cry and then went back to bed. I'm going to miss those cute, playful, Coca-Cola-drinkin' polar bears, but I am curious to see what Santa's new uniform will look like...I'm betting on red flip flops and loads of mesh.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-13658084577296724042009-07-22T13:26:00.002+08:002009-07-22T13:29:50.235+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-84929132551488071932009-07-22T11:25:00.005+08:002009-07-22T15:59:42.100+08:00

I mean it's the longest solar eclipse of this century and it's going over the most populous country in the world, and let's face it - that country is not known for either its business ethics (melamine flavored baby formula) or its its critical thinking (official responses to melamine flavored baby formula). How many useless pairs of 100% guaranteed safe eclipse glasses were probably sold this

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-70934348439792884422009-07-18T11:06:00.004+08:002009-07-18T11:18:56.427+08:00

I just read a short article titled The Darker Side of China's Miracle which wasn't terribly remarkable, but contained the line,Scholars insist this is the unavoidable consequence of a country being run by the Chinese Communist Party - an extreme version of the Republican Party that couples Genghis Khan's intolerance with Hank Paulson's authoritarian capitalism. which I really enjoyed reading.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-13800959532368142612009-07-16T23:15:00.001+08:002009-07-16T23:18:33.084+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-86058693703889505652009-07-11T10:28:00.006+08:002009-07-11T10:52:32.575+08:00

Apparently if you watch the video mentioned in the article, Obama is clearly not looking at this young girl's bum and is most definitely helping some little old lady across a street or something. But Nicolas Sarkozy was totally busted, and doesn't care one whit.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-85177055741244109952009-07-10T13:08:00.007+08:002009-07-10T17:52:41.419+08:00

Many years ago a young Canadian immigrant named Jason Tomassini followed a dream and started an English literary journal just off the side of the Great Chinese Empire, on the island of Formosa which is different from China and from Thailand, too. When the journal was started there were about 800 medium range missiles pointed at it.Years later Mr. Tomassini lost the publication in a late night

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-78152977318576968402009-07-09T08:40:00.007+08:002009-07-09T09:24:44.789+08:00

There was a slide show in the Guardian yesterday called, The best adverts to save the planet. The introduction said,Since 2001, Swiss-based not-for-profit organisation ACT Responsible (Advertising Community Together), has been collecting global advertising that 'promotes responsible communication on sustainability, equitable development and social responsibility' in a bid to highlight how the

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-42429158806219521132009-06-27T12:31:00.004+08:002009-06-27T12:34:51.810+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-54582174784822280432009-06-23T11:20:00.006+08:002009-06-23T11:48:29.656+08:00

Home is a documentary which chronicles the present state of the Earth. It was shot mostly with aerial photography in 50 countries and was released on the same day in 181 countries. This film is by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the photographer who takes all those bird's eye view photos from helicopters, and French director Luc Besson, who directed Leon and The Fifth Element. It was given without charge

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-33045633381800548872009-06-22T22:47:00.004+08:002009-06-22T23:03:13.522+08:00

If Mr. Ma's popularity numbers drop any lower, he could consider bleaching his hair Malibu Beach blonde and wearing nothing but one-piece leather jump-suits - and I do mean nothing else... We all know he's always been a pro. Thanks to Alice for finding this picture at Phopicking's Wretch site.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-85793108700304843212009-06-04T22:28:00.003+08:002009-06-05T00:51:21.792+08:00

Have we forgottenthe tanks that rolled, as someonestood in China's way?

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-1360950388612966162009-06-02T11:10:00.005+08:002009-06-02T11:24:01.522+08:00

I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-41255627068448799492009-05-27T17:02:00.010+08:002009-05-27T17:29:00.305+08:00

The Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake was held two days ago in the Cotswolds. I've been wanting to attend this festival for a long time. Back then I would've liked to give it a shot, I do love cheese, and I used to really enjoy rolling down hills. These days I don't think I would make it. I would make it to the bottom, of course, but I don't think I'd make it. According to Wikipedia,The

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-7878857146694159652009-05-25T17:00:00.005+08:002009-05-25T22:25:48.539+08:00

The general who is not looking where Kim is pointing is probably still hanging by his thumbs somewhere. It doesn't matter how much bling you're wearing when the King is in the room. That's what being the Dear Leader is all about, 'and don't touch the jacket.'

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-16587363464098987782009-05-20T10:44:00.006+08:002009-05-20T11:09:32.385+08:00

The caption under this picture in the Guardian's 24 hours in pictures reads, "Sanjaray, Afghanistan: A Canadian soldier advances in a wheat field during a special operation in Kandahar province." Canadians belong in wheat fields, I'll give you that, but they shouldn't be advancing through Afghan fields with their guns drawn. I can imagine how I would feel about a caption which read, "Wanuskewin

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-68148190305855686012009-05-19T11:12:00.005+08:002009-05-19T11:47:01.234+08:00

Sunday's protests ended on a tragic note for two of the attendants who were struck by a police car while crossing the road. The policeman was released yesterday on NT$100 000 bail yesterday. He must not have used Chen's recently fired lawyers.Taipei prosecutors said yesterday that based on Lin’s cellphone record, he was on the phone at 7:34pm, around the time of the accident.Lin denies being on

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-44267536734091727682009-05-16T09:32:00.008+08:002009-05-16T09:54:40.144+08:00

The Manic Street Preachers new album is to appear in British supermarkets wrapped in a plain cover because it's just too troubling. Tell me what facet of modern would life would make it past the censor boards without a plain brown wrapper with that criterion. We are forced to witness so much offensive, cheap, ugly porn everyday and yet this needs to be covered up? I think the only cure lunacy

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-70626534637876491182009-05-13T22:38:00.004+08:002009-05-13T22:45:47.505+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-29869714633969650752009-05-13T15:36:00.001+08:002009-05-13T15:38:15.432+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-43753155394109043032009-05-12T09:14:00.007+08:002009-05-12T10:23:10.653+08:00

In other news, under the headline, No end to air strikes in Afghanistan is an even scarier headline that reads, Rights group claims US uses phosphorus in air strikes, which suggests that Obama's Afghan adventure might get just as dirty as Bush's Mesopotamian one. I thought that Saint Barrack was going to fight for the little brown man, not set him alight with weapons banned by the Geneva Treaty.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-59806310587428201372009-05-05T08:31:00.022+08:002009-05-05T11:51:06.845+08:00

A grandmother in England bought a set of alphabet blocks for her 9-month-old grandchild. The blocks had pictures and words on them. But when she watched her little Millie playing with the blocks she noticed something was amiss. It turns out yacht was spelled yatch and upon further inspection she found that umbrella was spelled umberlla. "There are only 26 words on these toys," said Toulson,

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-19466756452355753362009-05-03T18:14:00.006+08:002009-05-03T18:38:58.433+08:00

Jeff sent me this a little while ago. He found it at the Smoking Gun, but it purports to be from FEMA. If you've ever wondered why they were so useless during the Katrina debacle in New Orleans. It turns out they are just too busy doing important things, like designing 911 coloring books to help future generations of children cope with attacks by people who dislike their freedom. The Smoking

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-22160044965597922282009-05-02T12:25:00.002+08:002009-05-02T12:26:55.842+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-1886118828554864262009-04-30T21:24:00.004+08:002009-04-30T21:37:15.946+08:00

There was a great Guardian article in the Taipei Times this morning. Subscribing to the great swine flu swindle by Simon Jenkins says volumes about the way medicine is handled in this world of ours. The swine flu is definitely reminiscent of the SARS kerfuffle a few years back. The face masks, the heat scans at the airports and China trying to use the scare to get Taiwan a little more securely

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-24037623777424437272009-04-18T19:31:00.007+08:002009-04-18T19:47:12.691+08:00

One of my longtime readers has requested a Somali pirate fix, so here are some Somali pirates. These are from a pirate group, "called the Central Regional Coast Guard, was formed three years ago, has 350 men in its ranks and about 100 speedboats."Here's where they work... (click to enlarge)And this is probably the reason they didn't become well-adjusted doctors, lawyers and teachers - because

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-24472378506109642892009-04-18T08:56:00.003+08:002009-04-18T09:30:14.029+08:00

Well not really, but I imagine it's only a matter of time. Today's article, Police delete London tourists' photos 'to prevent terrorism' shows that the Metro Police really don't care what people think of them. You'd think that with the Ian Tomlinson story turning so bad, (G20 death: Met police officer may face manslaughter charge) they might start behaving. But the tourists have said they had

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-67961577611689694622009-04-14T11:11:00.008+08:002009-04-14T13:29:55.604+08:00

For once a little good news. A previously unknown group of orangutans has been discovered in eastern Borneo. Their population is estimated at somewhere between a couple hundred and a couple thousand and they are black-furred instead of red. This is the second species of large mammal that that I remember being discovered in Indonesia in the last few years, the first was a new species of clouded

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-65990251353448088662009-04-13T09:56:00.005+08:002009-04-13T10:27:19.098+08:00

Well I read the headline and thought, "My god, the polar bears are running amok! Those bumbling German zookeepers will certainly have a lot to answer for," but then I read on and found that the woman apparently climbed the fence and jumped in of her own accord and the only thing the German zookeepers did wrong was to help fish her out. She climbed into a polar bear enclosure, housing four of the

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-1468965651135024182009-04-05T22:05:00.000+08:002009-04-05T22:06:01.462+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-54692760584779559712009-04-04T09:33:00.003+08:002009-04-04T09:38:20.231+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-40369452959962571292009-04-03T15:00:00.013+08:002009-04-03T15:44:09.753+08:00

Here are some photos I found of the 'peaceful' protests at the G-20 summit this week and a nice video from Jeff of the police asking the climate campers if thy would be so kind as to move back a bit... Whatever happened to the amiable old London Bobbies from the movies? These guys look more like football hooligans in uniform. And here's another video I like to call, 'Send in the hounds'. Plenty

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-76888366081969821782009-03-31T21:00:00.006+08:002009-03-31T23:38:53.668+08:00

Yesterday Jeff sent me a link to an article titled, China's hi-tech 'death van' where criminals are executed and then their organs are sold on black market, which is both ghoulish and ghastly. China has resurrected a Nazi-era scheme for cheaper executions and woven that into their thriving organ transplant market. Here are some chilling statistics:-China executed 1,715 people last year.-The

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-41106354981770400942009-03-27T07:50:00.003+08:002009-03-27T07:52:50.559+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-72595062675786956822009-03-25T09:24:00.004+08:002009-03-25T10:55:29.683+08:00

Tsutomu Yamaguchi is a survivor. Not only he is 93 years old, but according to this article he has just become the first certified survivor of both atomic bombs.Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city. He suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city. He then returned to his hometown of

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-77921158249042098682009-03-19T09:33:00.005+08:002009-03-19T09:45:06.183+08:00

This is a very interesting painting and unbelievably, it's from Taiwan. Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante by Taiwanese artists Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An is becoming a viral internet phenomenon. I can't wait to go see the original. Here is a key to the identities of the 103 denizens of the painting and here are some of the things they represent.I know it is very small. Just click to

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-6775465525147266512009-03-19T08:35:00.009+08:002009-03-19T09:20:30.988+08:00

The Keep Calm and Carry On poster was part of the British war effort during the Second World War when the Nazi invasion was perpetually around the next corner. Apparently they are starting to show up around London again. The Guardian had this story and you can get the T-shirt here. I will be putting it up wherever I can - it seems to have a strangely calming effect on me.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-35561063307294555402009-03-11T10:36:00.005+08:002009-03-11T10:49:38.025+08:00

This is a short piece of fiction from this month's Adbusters titled The Futurist. It is written by Laura E. Goodin and set against the writings of FT Marinetti, the founder of the Futurist movement. “We had stayed up all night, my friends and I,” I read, “under hanging mosque lamps with domes of filigreed brass, domes starred like our spirits, shining like them with the prisoned radiance of

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-17151781074837900612009-03-07T18:25:00.003+08:002009-03-07T18:31:30.464+08:00

Thanks to Chere for sending in this picture and headline. Notice the usual bias of the liberal media at reporting what seems to be several hundred protesters at best; each of which with an obvious vested interest in attacking Big Oil and Big Coal. Typical.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-50800524515762850752009-02-20T15:04:00.006+08:002009-02-20T15:19:19.498+08:00

According to an article in Newsweek Magazine, the Canadian banking system has managed to outfox the financial crisis that is currently eating through the rotten apple of neo-liberal capitalism.Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008,

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-91655949552655120652009-02-07T15:00:00.002+08:002009-02-07T15:03:56.698+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-90958085801993452922009-02-04T22:31:00.001+08:002009-02-05T05:35:00.167+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-83213300128798587462009-02-01T12:24:00.001+08:002009-02-01T12:27:00.319+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-37438571273710254162009-01-31T17:22:00.002+08:002009-01-31T17:30:01.600+08:00

January 29, 2009 "The Nation" -- I've decided to start manufacturing weapons. Nothing too ambitious, just some small arms, a few automatic weapons, and maybe a couple of bombs. You know the sort of thing.It's not that I'm keen on killing people. I haven't actually killed anyone myself yet. It's all to do with economics.You see, I can't help but notice that the arms industry is doing extremely

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-87105146844269949132009-01-28T13:05:00.004+08:002009-01-28T13:44:18.028+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-51507890375949709792009-01-19T19:12:00.003+08:002009-01-19T19:23:05.743+08:00

This was in the Guardian's 24 hours in pictures, today. The caption read,San Bartolomé de Pinares, Spain: A horse and rider jump over a bonfire in a cleansing ritual for the feast of St Anthony, the patron saint of animalsOf course, I would have written,Spanish Catholic equestrians banned from drinking at future Feasts of St. Anthony.I imagine elements of this ritual could be considered quite

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-11012879190555105552009-01-17T13:57:00.006+08:002009-01-17T20:51:25.846+08:00

This cartoon is from the Guardian's Steven Bell. I especially like the shoe. Bush gives Blair Presidential Medal of Freedom. The story itself has a distinct sit-com, after-school special or made-for-TV movie feel to it. George Bush giving out medals in the name of freedom, democracy, human rights and peace; four things he has proven his utter contempt for. Now Tony Blair accepting one of

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-61909973160453580192009-01-16T16:26:00.003+08:002009-01-16T16:39:35.702+08:00

This picture was in today's Guardian with the caption,Hong Kong: Models wear creations by Angel T on the third day of Fashion Week.I would've written,Multiple sets of Mao octuplets spotted wearing yellow jackets on pink umbrellas at Hong Kong fashion show. Chairman's grave emitting slight whirring noise...But maybe mine is too wordy.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-52339700213323154982009-01-10T17:24:00.005+08:002009-01-10T17:42:08.972+08:00

This is a crosswalk beside the canal near Costco in Taichung. It is on my way to work and I drive past it most days. It's right before a traffic light that I always have to stop for and has always bothered me. It concludes in a bank of electric transformers that you would have to crawl over to reach the sidewalk on the other side. I imagine it's a real nightmare for those people with

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-77596673965386562462009-01-10T17:14:00.004+08:002009-01-10T17:24:06.189+08:00

The other day my wife and I did something that we rarely do, and I'm talking about going to McDonald's. When I first came to Taiwan, McDonald's was one of the only places with an English menu and recognizable food without entrails, eyeballs or feet, but I stopped going there years ago for my health and the planet's. Anyway I forget what led to this lapse in judgement but they had this double

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-10780978900090599032009-01-01T14:46:00.003+08:002009-01-01T14:48:37.901+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-13846077066483499232008-12-25T05:45:00.003+08:002009-01-01T14:52:55.144+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-38024680527309990262008-12-23T09:49:00.007+08:002008-12-23T10:16:09.646+08:00

This is a picture of the Artificial Virginity Hymen from Gigimo. No longer will Muslim women have to worry about getting stoned by there village councils for the sin of riding horses as a maiden. That's right, it's so easy you can restore your virginity just for laughs to freak out your husband of twenty years. Boy. won't he be surprised! As usual, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried and

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-76879147958009345792008-12-10T09:30:00.005+08:002008-12-10T09:51:43.010+08:00

I enjoyed finding this poster in my morning mail from Jeff. It makes me wonder which industry will be the next one to go looking for a little free cash. Was this Bush's plan from the beginning? To steal as much money as his fat-cat friends could carry away from the kingdom's treasure rooms. Between his wars, the New Orleans real estate shuffle and the bailouts he has literally stolen trillions

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-60924471643301380002008-11-28T10:56:00.009+08:002008-11-28T11:47:26.596+08:00

I guess this clip was featured on ESPN a while ago; it was in the Guardian today. It is a nine-and-a-half-minute-long dose of The Battle of the Network Stars from about 1976. The world was a lot simpler then. I used to think that this was simply because I was only six at the time, but after watching this I realized that it was simpler back then. It makes me think I won't recognize much of

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-71694106256419825702008-11-25T15:40:00.004+08:002008-11-25T16:17:26.579+08:00

I snapped this at the airport when we came in at the beginning of this month. Seeing it there surprised me because I thought the current administration was under the impression that Taiwan was adequately represented at the UN. I guess they just haven't had time to eradicate all the foibles of the last administration. They got the post office and the dead dictator's memorial and a lot of those

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-87556949161034549252008-11-22T19:42:00.006+08:002008-11-22T19:48:50.708+08:00

Robert Fisk's latest article is titled, Once More Fear Stalks The Streets Of Kandahar, and like a Robert Fisk article it puts you right on the ground in a warzone and gives you the names of individuals who have been made into victims of international aggression and then lays a swathe of the blame on those who manufacture the various implements of dismemberment. What struck me was the last line,

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-45882017397944083782008-11-22T14:29:00.011+08:002008-11-22T15:26:53.578+08:00

The e-mail from Jeff in this morning's post was titled, Merry KKKhristmas. It led to the above photo which is of an American Family Association product called the Christmas Cross, "the Original Christmas Cross yard decoration." I checked to see if it was just a single spoof web page, but it seems to be from an actual site selling Christian and agriculturally themed products. Looking for an

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-39206495605447061192008-10-16T17:25:00.003+08:002008-10-16T17:37:47.543+08:00

The words President and Palin probably shouldn't even be uttered together. But thanks anyways to Jeff for sending this in today. It's a barrel of monkeys fun.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-72128786259341982112008-10-08T17:11:00.004+08:002008-10-08T17:30:15.848+08:00

Sorry I seem to be focusing on the US election so much these days; it's just so darn entertaining. Thanks to Jeff for sending this in. My sincerest apologies to any offense this may have caused Thomas or any of his friends; that was simply not my intention.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-22197921390752811212008-10-05T13:14:00.005+08:002008-10-05T15:03:16.355+08:00

The upcoming October 16th issue of Rolling Stone magazine incudes a piece by Tim Dickerson titled, Make-Believe Maverick; A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty. It's a long, interesting piece that begins with this,At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-26589065604564790092008-10-04T15:44:00.011+08:002008-10-04T18:10:56.263+08:00

Today in the Guardian there was a piece titled, Public urged to point out baffling signs which says that beginning in Leeds and moving on to London,Britain's baffling collection of ungrammatical, misspelt, out of date and plain wrong public signs is to have a national audit, with the public recruited as error spotters.Can you imagine this taking place in Taiwan, the personnel it would require on

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-19570428202500189522008-09-28T17:37:00.006+08:002008-09-28T18:52:31.381+08:00

"She couldn't talk about an issue to save her life." -Salman Rusdie on Sarah PalinJaneane Garofalo, Salman Rushdie and author, John Fund were talking about Sarah Palin not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is on Bill Maher's show. Salman threw out the above quote. He went on to say,"If she doesn't know that the most important foreign policy shift this country has made in

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-75109757338157885702008-09-23T14:00:00.005+08:002008-09-23T15:25:57.928+08:00

Well met, dear reader (..and I'll apologize now for all the asides; I was in a parenthetical frame of mind.)I work down south a couple times a week and take the train when I do. I am in the habit of rising at five, making coffee, having a shower and a shave, quick cup of coffee, filling up a thermos for the journey and picking up dan bing and a copy of the Taipei Times. This seems to compensate

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-1148808393753337322008-09-21T16:08:00.002+08:002008-09-21T16:13:51.215+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-49146015195404684772008-08-27T12:11:00.004+08:002008-08-27T12:36:03.082+08:00

I mean, I'll admit that's what it was about in the beginning. The way she had abandoned her umbrella with that devil-may-care attitude, rushed over and leapt up onto the base to cup David's balls in her hand with that girlish grin, her supposed husband standing to the side, speechless. That by itself is nearly priceless.Then I started to take a closer look at the rest of the photo. At first

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-66643967184837029532008-08-25T19:23:00.003+08:002008-08-25T19:32:59.877+08:00

If you can't read the picture, click on it. Thanks Laurie.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-64974829766355730102008-08-21T12:08:00.004+08:002008-08-21T12:54:18.963+08:00

This arrived in the morning mail and it's well worth a look; Rick Reilly's (from ESPN, no relation) take on the Beijing Olympics thus far. I'm sure they're thoroughly enjoying this column in Beijing, where the commissars are well-known for their strong sense of humor and uncanny ability to laugh at themselves. The west would do well to be more like the New China in this regard. If it's too small

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-9414662016611317262008-07-19T17:42:00.006+08:002008-07-19T22:29:54.826+08:00

Yesterday morning, Typhoon Kalmaegi visited my neighborhood and there hasn't been that much of a ruckus here since Typhoon Haitang came through exactly three years ago and ripped out half the trees along the canal. Kalmaegi is Korean for seagull, and it seemed to be more partial to bridges than trees. The photo above is a picture I took of a bridge three blocks from my place. Well, it used to

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-35442349268009154302008-06-24T12:31:00.007+08:002008-06-24T13:06:31.184+08:00

Thanks to Laurie for sending this in today with the caption, "Why men shouldn't have action figures". I think it shows why people should be more careful about which characters are cast in this medium, vis-a-vis my last post.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-68903390094276386952008-06-22T14:14:00.007+08:002008-06-22T14:37:53.584+08:00

Sometimes I come across an ad or a web page and can't quite tell whether it's a parody or not. The Talking Jesus Doll, I'm pretty sure that this one is not a parody. It's worth checking out and it's definitely worth watching the two minute commercial which could easily be used a sketch on This Hour Has 22 Minutes,SNL or Mad TV without any editing. And it's not just because the doll version of

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-45738262502733780592008-06-07T15:23:00.014+08:002008-06-08T16:47:38.695+08:00

Pandora's boxes was originally published in Volume Seven of Pressed, a literary journal (formerly Pressed: Taiwan's English Literary Journal) which came out a few weeks ago at the 89K launch party. The publishers, Joel and Veronica McCaffrey, have since fled Taiwan to claim asylum among the cognoscenti in Australia. They are rumoured to have smuggled several crates of the journal, and a whole

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-20335022334105454732008-04-20T18:53:00.006+08:002008-04-20T20:27:10.689+08:00

Solar so good for our house is an article by Ashley Seager about solar fitting his family's old Victorian house in England. Last year, he and his family collected 92% of their power from the sun, in Blighty. ...the Germans kitted out 130,000 houses with solar PV {photovoltaic solar installations} last year, while the UK managed less than 300 - costs have fallen dramatically and a system like

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-55902418607245415042008-04-07T09:57:00.010+08:002008-04-07T12:57:05.589+08:00

The caption under this picture of Sunday's torch relay through London reads, "Police officers detain a demonstrator along the route of the torch relay in London." although a number of other things could've been written there. The title of the article is Arrests, fights, jeering: Olympic spirit flickers amid the chaos, and the guys in the light blue and white tracksuits are members of the 20-

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-4819174651033780932008-03-13T14:12:00.007+08:002008-03-13T14:54:50.702+08:00

The caption to this Guardian picture reads, "Lagoa, Brazil: A woman confronts police during an eviction at a private property in the Lagoa community, between the cities of Manaus and Itacoatiara." I found a website that is selling property in Lagoa, Brazil, but it can't be the same place. It's a little pricey at 630,000 Euros, but it does come with three parking spaces and a pool. This can't

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-45682219791952033392008-03-02T19:54:00.005+08:002008-03-02T20:16:45.714+08:00

Here are two animals from the Guardian's Week in Wildlife. The first is Aman, a 20-year-old orangutan from Sarawak, Malaysia, "whose eyesight was restored after 10 years of blindness." The second is Mocha, a female elephant from Lampang Province, Thailand, who stepped on a land mine near the Myanmar border. She is seen with her new fake leg at the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital.So we

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-27158339625511883892008-02-25T23:04:00.001+08:002008-02-25T23:15:50.795+08:00

Friday's Ottawa Citizen had a bone-chilling piece of news that perhaps isn't getting as much play as it should. It's called, Canada, U.S. agree to use each other's troops in civil emergencies and nobody in Canada that I asked has heard about it. Canada and the U.S. have signed an agreement that paves the way for the militaries from either nation to send troops across each other's borders during

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-4208565405065527712008-02-25T14:27:00.004+08:002008-02-25T14:56:20.282+08:00

Denis, our man in Montreal, sent in a link to World-o-meter, which gives global statistics in real time. At the top is the population clock that's going up like prices in China; underneath there are statistics on government, economy, education, media, environment, food, water, energy, and health. There are lots of interesting stats to read up on and put together: there are under a billion (

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-16419017515891540752008-02-23T12:39:00.002+08:002008-02-23T13:06:47.761+08:00

Thank you for sending this to me Jeff. It made my Saturday morning coffee almost as good as my Saturday morning coffee and a cigarette used to be, and that is a level of happiness that I have been aspiring to reach for the last three weeks... Ahhh, memories of bliss.The video is from blip.tv, which has some pretty funny stuff.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-35267167901306731732008-02-23T11:56:00.007+08:002008-03-29T14:32:37.670+08:00

Marina Hyde from the Guardian gives us some background and further commentary on the G-spot in today's article, The human body indeed remains the final frontier. Two passages that kind of jumped out at me were,The G-spot...was so called after Ernest Grafenberg, the German scientist who discovered it in 1950. I adore the fact that it was named after a man. and,...it recently emerged that "G-shot

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-91318610057030492942008-02-22T10:43:00.009+08:002008-02-23T12:39:16.548+08:00

Italian doctors researching orgasms say that they have found solid medical evidence that the G-spot is real, but it looks that not all women have them. They have even developed a test to discern whether or not women are, in fact, in possession of one. I'm not making this up."For the first time, it is possible to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has a G spot or not,

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-67540564986887699212008-02-15T11:03:00.006+08:002008-02-15T15:18:17.227+08:00

The Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Barometer says that there are currently 64 cyber-dissidents in jail around the world. These jailed bloggers can be found in Belarus, Burma, China, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Vietnam, but mostly in China, which is housing 50 of them. However, the list is far from complete and probably hasn't been updated in a while. Saudi Arabia is not mentioned

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-81967149881526151542008-02-01T09:28:00.000+08:002008-02-01T09:54:37.639+08:00

I like to look through the Guardian's 24 Hours in Pictures. I don't believe the pictures are ever put in any logical order; they are just random shots from around the world, but sometimes they speak to me. The following pictures are from the January 25th series of pictures. The first bore the caption, "Berkeley, US: The feet of University of California at Berkeley basketball player Patrick

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-89345542525837921062008-01-11T19:06:00.001+08:002008-01-13T18:35:24.922+08:00

I am at a loss.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-60965256102453571782008-01-11T19:00:00.000+08:002008-01-11T19:02:53.198+08:00

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-11406981937723127102007-12-05T00:07:00.000+08:002007-12-05T01:24:22.151+08:00

I found a really neat Guardian interactive guide on the world's 20 top carbon producers and how their 1990 numbers compare with their 2005 numbers. It shows the US first and China as second, no real surprises. The odd thing is that Taiwan is nowhere to be seen on the list.Now, the Taipei Times reported that Taiwan was the 18th worst offender in 1990, so why didn't we make the list? For

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-36912964770980310062007-12-02T22:45:00.000+08:002007-12-02T23:10:26.776+08:00

Initially I was going to sit down and talk about how France was on fire again, because the blow-back from their Algerian adventure was only superficially put out last time, and maybe also because they zigged right when maybe they should've zagged left during there last election. Then I read a huge depressing piece on the rape epidemic in Haiti and how it has gotten way out of control since the

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-89743037655843704922007-11-22T00:46:00.000+08:002007-11-22T11:07:19.777+08:00

I can't decide if they purposely put Buy Nothing Day at the same time as American Thanksgiving weekend to make a point or if it was some colossal mis-scheduling. "Thanksgiving: these days, it's about a whole lot more than just killing those pesky natives..."I fully support this event, but I really think they shot themselves in the foot choosing a day when the idea of buying nothing in support of

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-80256766892190614232007-11-20T00:20:00.000+08:002007-11-20T09:23:44.895+08:00

The Japanese have announced their intention to bring down fifty female Panda bears in China's famous Wolong Reserve. They say that the cull is being planned for 'scientific research' but TGR has it on good authority that it's really because they got their hands on a really good jerk panda recipe and are just dying to test it out. Chinese officials in Beijing thundered and blustered in public,

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-69937301095179584382007-11-07T10:58:00.000+08:002007-11-07T11:34:36.905+08:00

According to today's Taipei Times, the small Sicilian city of Castelbuono has replaced its four garbage trucks with six donkeys in an effort to save money and help clean up the environment. The article ends by stating that several other Italian towns are following suit. Castelbuono is a town of 10 000 people which means Taichung would need at least 600 donkeys, but probably many more given how

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-64965482474732808682007-11-06T11:41:00.000+08:002007-11-06T11:51:54.098+08:00

Here are two pictures from the Guardian's 24 hours in Pictures for November 5th, 2007. The first is a shot of the floods in Mexico with the caption, "Villahermosa, Mexico: An aerial shot of a flooded neighborhood after seven rain-loaded rivers burst their banks. Photograph: Gilberto Villasana/Getty Images". The second is from Columbia and bears the caption, "Bogota, Colombia: Rescue workers try

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-62984759300687703962007-11-05T10:36:00.000+08:002007-11-05T10:43:26.849+08:00

Remember, remember the fifth of November,The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.I know of no reason why the Gunpowder TreasonShould ever be forgot...Happy Guy Fawkes Day Everyone.

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-66726492133636830042007-10-30T16:08:00.000+08:002007-10-30T16:32:58.118+08:00

Aida Edemariam has written quite a long piece on some worrisome developments in my old neighborhood. Her article, Mud, Sweat and Tears, focuses on the nastier elements of Alberta's latest old boom in the Tar Sands, including the environmental aspects, the social costs and the lack of workers rights and protections that the government doesn't want to talk about. My own view on the Oil Sands is

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-6380687658568014402007-10-26T09:50:00.000+08:002007-10-26T10:23:30.032+08:00

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who could kill bull elephant with his little finger, is not happy with the latest economic sanctions against Iran proposed by the Bush Administration. At an EU summit yesterday he warned,"Why worsen the situation and bring it to a dead end by threatening sanctions or military action? Running around like a madman with a razor blade, waving it around, is not the

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561188.post-53385678312300935592007-10-25T13:27:00.001+08:002007-10-25T13:42:39.577+08:00

The US has a military base in Ecuador and the lease expires in 2009. Ecuador's President, Rafael Correa, recently said that the only way he would renew the lease is if the American government grants Ecuador permission to establish an Ecuadorean base in Miami."If there's no problem having foreign soldiers on a country's soil, surely they'll let us have an Ecuadorean base in the United States."

Sean Reillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07882147052586949944noreply@blogger.com0