StumbleUpon | mrbricolage's blog posts

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/13659776/

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:20:18 -0700

Back in 2000, western pharmaceutical companies began a massive marketing campaign to introduce a new product to the good people of Japan: depression. Before 2000, the good people of Japan apparently did not even have a word to describe sadness as a debilitating biological illness. So the companies had to coin a new word, "utsu," and create an appropriately catchy ad slogan to help explain the concept. They chose the phrase, "Does Your Soul Have A Cold?" antidepressant sales have since quintupled.

Mike Mills, director of Thumbsucker, has made an incredibly intimate film documenting the human effects of America's latest cultural export to Japan. "Does Your Soul Have A Cold" will air on IFC Monday October 29th at 9 PM EDT.

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/12902853/

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:31:34 -0700

The Bush administration has tried very hard to convince Tehran that an air attack against Iran is a very real possibility. The administration has leaked a wide range of stories about a range of options against Iran. The goal of threatening Iran (as opposed to simply attacking Iran) is political -- to get Iran to shift its policies in Iraq. We've heard some indication of senior Iranian officials expressing concern that an attack could come, so it might be having an impact. But thus far, there is no sign of a shift in the Iranian position.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly meeting, said in an interview with CBS, "It's wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking toward war. Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing." He also reiterated that Iran does not want a nuclear weapon, pointing out, "If it was useful, it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union. If it was useful, it would have resolved the problem the Americans have in Iraq."

There is actually a kind of logic to that -- but then Iranian presidents visiting New York always appear controlled, reasonable and pleasant. We have consistently taken the view that the Iranians are using the threat of nuclear weapons as a bargaining tool rather than expecting to complete a device, so we tend to believe him. His problem is that we may be the only ones who do. The Bush administration is going out of its way to intimidate Iran, and the United States is not a trivial force. We doubt that this signals a shift in Iran's policy, but at least Ahmadinejad's response makes more sense than Newsweek's story.

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/12511790/

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:02:51 -0700

Glass Houses are in economics too...

Now Japan faces the worst of all worlds. It is back in recession. Deflation has returned, making an easy exit from recession unlikely. Not only have past attempts to kick-start the economy landed the government with a national debt in excess of 150 percent of GDP, but Japan now has a budget deficit so large that more than two out of every five dollars spent is either the issuance of new debt or the maintenance of old. The problem is so large that even if Japan hurled its entire currency reserves at the dilemma it would pay off less than one-fifth of the debt.

This is now an unsolvable problem, as Japan has quite simply run out of time. Beginning in 2005, Japan's population began to shrink; the country's demographics are now upside-down. With every passing month, Japan will have fewer and fewer young workers to pay taxes to support a growing geriatric class, meaning that the debt will only climb.

Japan has the worst of it all: contraction, deflation, unmanageable debt, shrinking population, shrinking work force, shrinking tax base and increasing pension commitments. This problem cannot be solved by anything less than the complete implosion of the current political-economic system and its utter replacement by something fundamentally new.

What that fall and recovery will look like is anyone's guess; one possibility is something resembling Argentina's 2001 collapse. But Argentina's agony is only a small taste of what could happen in Japan. Relative to the sizes of the countries' economies, Japan's per capita debt is four times the size of Argentina's. In absolute terms, Japan's national debt is more than 50 times as big. There truly is no precedent for the magnitude of Japan's coming collapse.

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/11795114/

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:48:46 -0700

When i was little, i for some reason believed my furnace provided heat for the entire neighborhood. So one morning i decided to make cookies. I made cookie dough, pored it into the ventilation duct hoping it would go down, get cooked and then be sent to peoples house by the warm air. This was when my parents stopped loving me.

J
http://www.iusedtobelieve.com/at_home/

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/10684681/

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:59:03 -0700

The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). SomaFM will be liable for $600,000 in additional royalties for 2006, and over $500,000 for the first half of 2007. As of July 15th, we will owe $1.1 million dollars in additional royalties.

To protest these rates and encourage you to take action and contact your Congressional representatives, we are taking part in the Day of Silence, by silencing our programming for today.

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/10279690/

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:35:35 -0700

Very dangerous outbreak of severe thunderstorms today

A very dangerous outbreak of severe thunderstorms with strong tornadoes, widespread damaging winds, and very large hail is expected across northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and Wisconsin
this afternoon.

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/10133868/

Thu, 31 May 2007 11:37:51 -0700

"Blogged"

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/9664527/

Tue, 08 May 2007 20:09:29 -0700

Attention StumbleUpon Friends and Visitors:

Mr. & Mrs. Bricolage request your assistance in planning a quick vacation in the continental US. The dates would be in Mid-October and we want to avoid large crowds and typical touristy things.

Quick Facts:
We have a Wednesday - Monday time frame

Whats in it for you:
A stunning fridge magnet from the airport, photos of us basking in relaxation at your suggested location and a reference in my blog along with our eternal gratitude.

If you want more you will have to negotiate.
No blood, or kids..... sorry.

Let the games begin!

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/9360394/

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 08:44:16 -0700

http://mrbricolage.stumbleupon.com/review/9325173/

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:01:59 -0700

Off to Las Vegas for a couple of days for work..... Play together nicely.