Mega Fat Breakfast

I guess I should have seen this coming. After Mega Fat sandwiches and Mega Fat fast food, you will soon be able to get a Mega Fat muffin in Japan. I wonder if fat will become the new tobacco. Do McDonald's really think that the Japanese are too thin?

Public Affairs

Shortly after being sworn in to replace Eliot Spitzer who resigned due to a sex scandal, NY Governor David Paterson has disclosed that both he and his wife had extramarital affairs. I guess he is just being proactive and wants to preempt the chance of another resignation due to a sex scandal. I am more shock by his act of revelation than what he revelated. I wonder how many capable folks have stayed out of public service due to the face that they have skeleton in their closet. After all, on one is prefect. Where do we draw the line?

How The Mighty Have Fallen

J.P. Morgan Chase is buying Bear Stearns for about $2 a share, which is the cost of a subway or bus wide in New York City.
Bear Stearns had closed $30.00 on Friday, after dropping almost 50% since it was running out of money. The dropped had seemed to have stabilized after Bear Stearns got an emergency injection of funds from the U.S. Federal Reserve through J.P. Morgan Chase. I guess $2.00 is better than nothing. Just ask people who had Enron stocks. For those curious minds, here is a chart of the stock price dating back to 86:



It looks like the subprime mortgage crisis may actually be a lot worse than what people have been willing to admit. Afer all the CEO had said on Wednesday that he was not aware of any imminent threat to Bear Stearns' liquidity. Oh how things had changed in just a couple of days. I wonder what he was smoking. More important, I wonder if Bear Stearns is just the first of many domino to fall. I certainly hope that's not the case.

Magic Mirror

Have you been avoiding being in front of a mirror lately since your weight is not what you want it to be? Check this out. No, it is not yet another fad diet or weight lost gimmick. It is a mirror that will actually cut unwanted fat. So you can look like this:



Here is the product page for those interested.

I wonder if anyone is working on a mirror that would enlarge certain body parts. Judging from the spam that I get, there mighty very well be a big market for that.

Racism Vs Sexism

Geraldine Ferraro is standing by her comments about Barack Obama which are considered racist by many. Here is what she said:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

For those of you who had forgotten about Ferraro, she was the only woman to to be selected by a major political party for the position of vice president of the United States. I wonder if she was a man, would anyone care about what she has to say now since in that case she most certainly would not have been chosen as a vice presidential candidate back then. I wonder if Hillary Clinton would be a contender for the nomination if she was a man.

I also wonder if Ferraro and Clinton would consider what I just wrote sexist.

Client 9

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has been linked to a prostitution ring. I was a little surprise when I heard the news even though politicians involved in scandal is quite common in the US. After all, New York's neighboring states New Jersey and Connecticut both had their governors resigned due to scandal in recent years. But Eliot Spitzer was supposed to be a clean politician. He made a name for himself while he was an attorney general. He even prosecuted prostitution cases. Everyone now is expecting him to resign but he has not make any announcement. I wonder what is he waiting for. Some say that his offer to resign as governor could be part of any package over what criminal charges the governor could face in a plea negotiation. Does it really make any difference to the prosecutors in this case if they are indict a sitting governor or an ex-governor?

Go Ahead, Make My Day

Have you ever considered carrying some personal protection with you? Something inconspicuous but yet effective? Check this out:

I didn't think this was real until I after I saw the video. I wonder if this would ever be released as a product. If so, I guess some folks would not have a need for their trench coats anymore.

Positive Energy Building

masdarhq
Originally uploaded by gundammsz010

More and more buildings are now being designed with a small or zero energy footprint. So it is just a matter of time before someone design a postive energy building. No we are not talking about good karma here. This building will actually generate more energy than it will consume. This building will be the centerpiece of the eco-friendly zero waste, zero carbon emission Masdar City, which is a $22 billion development outside of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi also happens to be one of the world's largest producers of oil. Recently it has started to diversify its economy through investments in financial services and tourism. If an oil-producing country is doing that, the rest of the world should seriously think about alternative, renewable energy. I wonder if I would see such a shift in my lifetime.

Higher and Higher

Oil hit yet another all time high again today. This is more than just another news item since most people (myself included) do feel the pain of the ever rising gasoline price. It now costs me more than $40.00 to fill up my car. When I bought my present car, I was also considering another model with a higher gas mileage. At that time gas mileage wasn't really a factor but it looks like it will be the next time I buy a car. $40.00 for a fill up is pretty bad. But at least I don't drive a huge SUV, some of which will cost twice as much for a fill up. I have always wonder why people would buy a huge SUV with space for nine adults and towing capacity of more than 8000 lbs when they mainly use it to commute to work all by themselves. I see plenty of these lone SUV drivers during my commute to work. I have actually been seeing less lately. I guess people with more than one car are leaving their SUV at home. So it looks like every cloud does have a silver lining. The only way to get people to change is to hit them where they hurt. Maybe now people will stop buying huge SUV that they don't need and stop polluting the environment.

What kind of car do you drive?

Shame On Who?

Just days after saying "Shame on you, Barack Obama", Hillard Clinton has hinted that she is open to a possible joint Democratic ticket with Barack Obama. She said on national TV

Well, you know, that may be where this is headed.

when she was told that people would like to see them both on the ticket.

When asked about the same the subject, Obama responded with

I think it is very premature to start talking about a joint ticket … right now.

One thing that Obama did comment on was the negative attack Clinton has unleashed on him recently, saying that they had some impact and that he will push back against Clinton.

I wonder if we will ever have an election where the candidates tell us why we should vote for him/her instead of why we shouldn't vote for his/her opponent.

Worse Than A Woman Scorned

Whoever said Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned has obviously never met a woman who is behind in the US presidential primary. Just two days after praising Barack Obama in a debate with the words:

And, you know, no matter what happens in this contest — and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored.

Hillary Clinton unleashed her sharpest attack on Obama so far, saying:

Shame on you, Barack Obama.

I wonder what pissed her off more, Obama's mailings in question or the fact that she went from the sure thing to trailing in both delegates and polls.

Who would you vote for, Cliton, Obama, or none of the above?

NOT your father's Transformer

GX-23-box
Originally uploaded by gundammsz010

Just pick up the Soul of Chogokin GX-23 Zambot 3. It is not cheap but is worth every penny it costs me. I am too busy playing with it to write any more. You can read all about it at Collection DX or Robot Japan.

I wonder when, if ever, will American toys catch up to their Japanese counterpart. The Star Wars Transformer is a step in the right direction. But we have still got a long way to go, baby.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen or ...

An AC repairman once told me that he was working on an air-conditioned shirt for people who works in hot places like kitchen. Looks like someone has beaten him to it:



You can real all about the details at Yahoo! .
In stead of two small fans, the person was thinking about piping cool air into the shirt from an external AC unit. I wonder if anyone is working on a portable AC unit powered by a pocket-sized rechargeable battery pack.

The Nutcracker (not the ballet)

I have always thought that Japanese games shows are the most entertaining. Now there is a game show in Japan where contestants have to say a tongue twisters or this will happen:

I wonder what the prize is for the last contestant left standing. It must be something good in order to get people to be contestants on the show. On second thought, make that very good.

Mega FAT Fast Food

I was wondering if the Mega sandwiches would become a trend in Japan. Well, it looks that way as Pizza Hut in Japan has introduced a Mega Pizza:

In stead of plain old cheese, the crust is stuffed with sasuage and bacon. I wonder what's next. Maybe Mega Fried Chicken where the drumstick is made out of turkey drumstick, or Mega Fries made out of fried whole potatoes?

Live Earth

Now that the Live Earth concerts is over, I wonder if someone is going to tally up how much carbon dioxide was produced from this event. In addition to all the energy consumed putting the show together (all the lights and audio/visual equipments), I am sure not small amount of carbon dioxide was produced from people watching it on their big screen TV. Moreover, I have heard that many performers travel by private jets to the concerts. I wonder how much of the ticket price will go to purchasing carbon credits. After all, that's how AL Gore justifies his house using 20 times more electricity than the average American home. But wouldn't it be much better not producing those carbon dioxide in the first place in stead of buying credits to offset them after the fact?

I wonder if Al Gore is going to purchase any speeding or marijuana credit for his son.

Made in China

It used to be that one has to go to Chinatown to find products made in China. But now they are everywhere. Just go down to your neighborhood Walmart. I bet you most of the stuff you will find there are made in China. But as the number of Chinese products grows, so does the list of tainted, defective, and counterfeit Chinese products that could pose health and/or safety risks. The latest to join that list is farmed seafood, which has been banned by the FDA. Speaking of counterfeit products, have you ever heard about the counterfeit eggs that were made in China? Apparently, they look so real that people can't tell the fake ones from the real ones. Here's a link with pictures. I wonder if there is anything that the Chinese won't counterfeit.

Mega FAT sandwiches

Apparently the McDonald's Big Mac just isn't big enough for the Japanese. So McDonald's has introduced the Mega Mac there. It weighs in at 754 calories and 45.9 grams of fat. During the first weekend after it was introduced, 3.32 million of them were sold, nearly doubling McDonalds' own sales prediction. It was such a big hit that the Mega Teriyaki, made with pork instead of beef, is now also available in Japan. The Mega Teriyaki boasts 903 calories and 64.3 grams of fat, and is actually currently out-selling the Mega Mac. I wonder if the Japanese has ever heard of the movie Super Size Me.

The 54 Million Dollar Pants, NOT

The District of Columbia Superior Court has ruled against an administrative law judge who filed a $54 million lawsuit against his neighborhood dry cleaner over a pair of missing pants. I wonder which part should I be more outraged about, the 54 millions dollar for a pair of pants, or the fact that the lawsuit was filed by a judge. What's even worse than a frivolous law suit is one that is filed by someone who is supposed to uphold justise. I wonder what makes him think that a “satisfaction guaranteed” sign entitled unhappy customers to unlimited compensation.

First in Line

Want to be first in line for the iPhone at Apple's flagship store? Too late. At least two guys are already waiting in line. I wonder if Apple will give them anything extra for being in line so early. Actually being in line at the Apple flagship store isn't that bad since it is open 24x7. I am guessing they would be able to go inside the store to relieve them from both boredom and the call of nature.