Seriously.I can't make this stuff up if I tried!

Robo-nerd?The latest in quirky Asian tech-mania!

It's the same song, different verse.Every time former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui visits Japan, Beijing does the same thing.  It's doing the latest iteration: accusing Japan of harming Sino-Japanese relations by letting Lee visit.&n

This is a few days old, but I was so amused I can't resist posting it anyway.  Better late than never, no?The joke about Congress is that there is the Stupid Party (R) and the Evil Party (D), and when lawmakers do something both stupid and e

Girls with guns battling terrorists and rebels in southern Thailand.Is this the actual news or the storyline of a summer action blockbuster movie?  Either way, it's pretty darn attention-grabbing. Take a look at this news story -- and the p

It's Memorial Day weekend -- the unofficial start to summer! I'll be indulging in various forms of decadence such as fun movies, chatting with friends, eating ice cream, and shopping for the Elusive But Perfect Pair of Cute Yet Comfortable Su

OK, I have an idea. Every time I run off to get ice cream, I'll note it here.It will be lots of summertime fun . . . plus maybe the act of posting all my caloric exploits will encourage/shame me into eating less ice cream (though probably n

Here's the hype! Even better, here's the hot air! May the Force be with you, gentle reader.  Or whatever.  I really like Star Trek better.  But I must admit, I rushed to the post office early this morning to get these cool stam

Didn't I just post about this?Oh, wait, this is a new case -- frozen monkfish that is tainted with pufferfish poison.  The monkfish has been recalled in 3 states after 2 people got sick from eating it in Chicago. The FDA has confirmed the pr

Well, the bill is apparently not entirely in its final written form -- or something like that. This thing is a monstrosity of verbiage and obfuscation, aside from the fact that legislative language is already about as comprehensible as a drunke

Hilarious, especially for you movie fans out there!Oh, and the visual fun only makes sense if you remember what someone called the bill . . .  And no, I won't quote it here, because this is a family-friendly blog!

Thailand!   Exotic and beautiful, no?  But there's trouble in paradise.Thailand is mostly Buddhist (90% of the population).  But if you've been following the news, you also know that increasing violence has been committed by Is

Only 26% approval rating? 48% are opposed, with another 26% unsure.I give you my usual caveat that polls should be treated lightly in general. Still, this poll is consistent with everything I've heard from irate friends and family.&n

My mom has always told me that I must never buy food that was imported from mainland China.The first time she said this, very long ago, I asked why not.Her Taiwanese housewife friends had told her all kinds of terrible stories about tainted Chinese f

I really don't see how proponents of the new bill can try to tell me that it doesn't offer amnesty. (Mark Steyn skewers the idea with his usual zest and humor.) It also basically says "Drop dead!" to legal immigrants, people who ar

Scholars have previously thought Chinese writing dated back 4,500 years.8,000 years old?  Very cool indeed. 

Darling readers, it's Friday!Here is a bit of music to help you start your long-awaited weekend!The Milton Friedman Choir sings at Google Video via a link from Brussels Journal. (Sorry, couldn't embed it in the post.)For even more fun

This is fabulous!  It's wallpaper that looks like bookcases! Now, without actually having to be in grad school, you can make your room look as though you were -- only it's all an illusion!  You won't REALLY be claustrophobically

Some of you may already know this, but many of Taiwan's freeways are designed to also be runways for planes in case of military necessity. (If you drive on them, you will notice that they don't have American-style medians.)The fre

You know, I know couples have different ways of dealing with marital problems and so forth, but I think this may be a little . . . er, extreme.Here's a hilarious look at one couple's Star Wars wedding party!  Use the Force, lovebirds.

I KNEW IT. I've been saying it for a long time already, haven't I?Read it and weep, you wild-eyed members of the Green Doomsday Cult! *Mad Minerva spikes her book on the floor and dances with triumphal indignity*Blurb: "

All I have to say is:*SIGH.*

First of all . . Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell the Nerd Lords!Now on to the good stuff. It would take much too much time to explain/summarize/analyze each of the following pieces separately, so I now unceremoniously dump th

I'm glad I didn't have to state the obvious! See what the folks at Speigel have to say about the predictable, same-old same-old violent protests by far-leftists at G-8 meetings.I like the headline too: Thre's another G-8 summit com

Very cool news! There's also nice photo of the two smiling sisters, Angela and Diana Kniazeva, age 21 and 19 respectively, who are from Moscow.  They're going to be professors of finance!You go, girls!At their age, I was still working on