[ニュース] 時代の寵児（ちょうじ）のホリエモン

NYTimes finally picked up the story today 2/13. Man, MSJ could have scooped the NYTimes if they'd run my story!


I'm not quite sure whether I should address Horie-san as Horie 前社長 (former company president) or adopt what seems to be the standard in Japanese media: Horie 容疑者　(criminal suspect).

The arrest of Livedoor President Takafumi Horie last week has surfaced more issues than illegal security trading. For one, the brash young Tokyo University dropout was once heralded as the new face of Japanese business and was practically made the poster child for Prime Minister Koizumi's LDP Reform movement.

Claiming ignorance now, Koizumi and the LDP leadership are taking steps to distance themselves from a potential PR fiasco. Both the Prime Minister and Economic Minister pushed for and supported Criminal-Suspect Horie when he ran for office in the 6th District of Hiroshima (he didn't win). At that time the Economic Minister even went so far as to call Horie a brother, a son – though it’s not clear if he ever decided on which he was.

However, all you'll hear from the LDP camp nowadays is 「不明」 (Unclear) and 「当時に違法行為知られていなかった」（At that time, criminal actions were unknown).

A PhD student in the Economics department at our University explained to me that there exists in Japan a certain phenomena:
出る杭は打たれる
or "the nail that sticks out is hammered back in."

Is this a case of Japanese Society correcting for the radical Horie-san and his aggressive (and often disrespectful) business style?

Лайка、早く帰ってきて、、、

On November 3rd, 1957, she became the first living creature to orbit the Earth; though it's now known that only a few hours later Laika had passed on. I think of Laika often: how she lived as a stray on the streets until she was drafted into the cosmonaut program and subjected to "training;" and how she spent her last three days alive on Earth - inside of Sputnik 2 - waiting in the cold with only the hum and a little warmth from an exhaust hose to comfort her.

冥王星への探査！〜Groovin' to Pluto

New Horizons (グランドピアノほどの大きさ) launched on the 19th at 1400hours from Florida. This baby's fast... maybe not quite Steve Job's "screamer" fast, but New Horizons will pass the moon in 9 hours (vs 2.5 days required by Apollo missions), reaching Jupiter in only 13 months. Nine years later? Pluto, "hello." The nuclear electric generator powered craft utilizes highly radioactive plutonium to power its instruments during its sojourn to the frozen outreaches of our solar system. Antinuclear activists picketed the launch, citing concerns of an accident. The launch planned for the 17th was delayed two days due to weather concerns.

It was interesting to compare the prominence the event received in Japan's Asahi Shimbun when compared with leading US News sources such as The New York Times.

[エンタメ] 1／25発売 Tokyo Incidents 大人（アダルト）

大楽しみ！これが、、、
You'll be able to get a sneak peek at one of the new tracks from 1/21〜28期間限定 on Virgin's site. Check it out.

謹賀新年

The Dashing Prince Riki and Elegant Princess Kasumi have returned to usher in the New Year!
You may recall my two younger siblings from last year's appearance, here. Let's make '06 one to remember.

Can You Keep A Secret?今までずっと秘密にしてた

The disparity between Japanese-sized Starbucks and the American variety has been mitigated! and in truth? well, they never were more than a menu apart... the hitch? we're not supposed to know about it. it's a secret. as the Starbuck Goddess masquerades around Japan with her tasty tempting flavor-packed mini coffee sizes, the American consumer is stuck sipping sickening over-sized blends of mostly milk - the ever popular "venti" size. well, as this Slate article suggests, i took a trip down to the local Starbucks and said, "make mine a short." and they did. $2.20 soy cappuccino. yum.