JACKIE SPARKLES AGAIN

 Jackie Evancho continued to astonish last night in America's Got Talent.  There are ten finalists, and four will be selected tonight to move on to pick the winner next week.  My predictions are Jackie, Prince Poppycock, Fighting Gravity and either Michael Grasso (magician) or Michael Grimm (singer).  Jackie clearly should win, but Prince Poppycock has an act best suited for Las Vegas.

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The Dow Jones Industrials went up 46 to 10,387, and so did Europe, but the rest of the world declined, with the Japan Nikkei sinking 201 to 9025.  Gold dropped a buck to $1255/toz and crude oil is just under $75/barrel.

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Tropical Storm Igor, up to 45 MPH, and destined to become the next hurricane, is now just south of Cape Verde and is following essentially the same path as the previous few storms. 


In the West Pacific, a disturbance popped up just south of Taiwan, should not attain typhoon status, and is predicted to make landfall tomorrow at Shantou, north of Hong Kong.


That minor storm south of Hawaii is predicted to move west.

THE SEARCH: FOR KENJIRO'S GRANDMOTHERS (Part 2)

FEMALE SAMURAI

The Japanese term for female samurai is onna-bugeisha.  Usually these women were from the upper class, and were trained to protect the household when the men were away.  However, they also regularly joined their husbands in battle.  Empress Jingu (above) and Tomoe Gozen (right) were two who were particularly famous, the former, who lived around AD 200, before the samurai concept, leading a conquest of Korea (maybe), and the latter, active around 1200 as a true swordswoman and archer in the Kyoto area.  The traditional weapon for women, though, was the naginata (below), a pole with a blade.

There is an alphabetical list of noteworthy female samurai in The Samurai Archives.  However, all of them lived mostly in the Tokyo area into Kamakura and down to Kyoto.  I haven't yet found any female warrior in northern Honshu.  Almost certainly, Kenjiro's grandmothers would have lived in Akita Prefecture.  The added note that one of them might have been something like a Robin Hood adds another degree of impossibility to reality, for most of the famous female warriors were married to or somehow related to shoguns or the very high class.  The added fact that Japan was at peace in the 1800 to 1850 period adds a further element of doubt.  But the search will go on.

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The Dow Jones Industrials fell 107 to 10,341, while world markets mostly down, with the Japan Nikkei dropping 157 to 9069.  Gold jumped $9/toz to $1256 and crude oil is just under $74/barrel.

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Tropical Storm Malou at 40 MPH made landfall over Matsue, is close to Fukui and should be over Tokyo by tonight.  Tropical Storm Hermine just made landfall 40 miles south of Brownsville at 60 MPH.  That disturbance south and east of the Big Island is moving west, while a new storm seems to be forming off Africa between Dakar and Cape Verde.

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THE SEARCH: FOR KENJIRO'S GRANDMOTHERS (Part 1)

I just submitted the final galley proofs for my third book:  SIMPLE SOLUTION Essays.  The cover will be the same color as Pearl's Yellow Tree, and the book is dedicated to her.  Publication should be later this month.

Book #4 could be one of three:

a.  The Venus Syndrome:  The Novel

b.  Pearl's Ashes, which featured the Taj Majal earlier this year, and continues on my next around the world adventure.  Sometime next year, after a couple more of these expeditions, I hope to compile these experiences into a book.

c.  The Search: for Kenjiro's Grandmothers will most likely become book #4, for I will be concluding my roots search, spending some time in Akita, where Kenjiro's grandmothers lived, catching a boat to Hokkaido, on a path his parents took around 1880, then, on to Utashinai, where in the later 1890's, Kenjiro left to go to America.  What particularly intrigues me is that one of Kenjiro's grandmothers could have been a female samurai.

So I've been researching the life of the samurai, and learned things quite different from Japanese movies.

You might have seen the movie, The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise.  The timing was close, because Emperor Meiji abolished samurai rights in 1873 and that last battle occurred in 1876.  The first samurai could well have been more than a millennium earlier, Emperor Temmu in the 7^th Century.

During the reign of the samurai, marriages were arranged, and as pederasty was practiced in Greece at their prime, and might well also have been prevalent among the ruling Nazi hierarchy, such was the lifestyle.  For almost a millennium, the personal life of a samurai was not as it is today.

Most of the samurai movies focused on the 16^th and 17^th Century, beginning with Nobunaga Oda, who smartly copied firearms from the Portuguese.  He was betrayed by a general, killed in 1582, and many more samurai movies later, Ieyasu Tokugawa rose to Shogun in 1603.  One of the problems with Japanese history and my ability to make any sense is that he changed his name at least twice, and when posthumously enshrined in Nikko, given yet another name:  Tosho Daigongen.

The end was facilitated by Commodore Matthew Perry, who in 1854 forced Japan to open up.  The Tokugawa government fell and power was restored to Emperor Meiji in 1868.

This long period of peace meant that samurai became courtiers and administrators, not warriors.  There were five classes:  samurai, followed by peasants, artisans, merchants and outcasts.

So was this the end of the samurai?  Not really, because Bushido, the way of the warrior, was later taken on by the military, and after World War II, certain leaders of the economic renaissance.

Next, were there female samurai?

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In the western Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Hermine strengthened up to 65 MPH and is making landfall near the Mexico-Texas border.

In the western Pacific, Tropical Storm Malou went right over Cheju Island and will roll over much of Honshu, including Tokyo, but should have weakened by then.

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*THE AMERICAN ECONOMY AND LATEST ON BLOG STOCK CHALLENGE

A summary about our economy, but no comprehensive analysis on this day of worship.  

-  The Dow Jones Industrial Average, now at 10,448, is about 12% higher than a year ago.  

-  On 25October2008, the DJIA closed at 8,379, 41% lower than 9October2007.

-   Three days later, 28October2008, it rose to 9060, then higher to 9,500 in early November, but by November 12, it was down to 8,283.  These are thousand point spikes.

-  This was not a particularly good time to buy because of huge vacillations, but, what the heck, this is when my blog stock stock was posted, featuring Microsoft, General Electric, Boeing, Basic Materials and Ford.  If you will recall, many of these companies, in addition to the crummy economy, were in bigger trouble because, if Barack Obama was elected, government purchase of defense weapons was sure to drop.  But I chose them anyway because each had some association with renewable energy.    The average during my purchase days was about 9,000.  Thus, today, the market is 16% higher.

-  Regarding my blog stock challenge, which was posted about 22 months ago, I am 234% ahead.  How can I be so lucky?  Simple, I bought Ford at $1.90, and it is up to $12.  A few months after purchase, both General Motors and Chrysler went bankrupt.

It also turns out that the Military-Industrial Complex remains powerful, even though we don't have any real enemy on the horizon.  Obama is not the President I predicted.  Read my blog of yesterday, or my Huffington Post article on "The 10% Solution to Peace."  Also scan, "Why Do We Spend So Much on National Security?" 

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From seven ocean storms, we are now down to a dinky three, with a small front in the Western Gulf of Mexico, a meandering spot south and west of Hawaii and Tropical Storm Malou, now at 40 MPH, heading straight for Cheju Island.  Earlier, Kompasu went further north over Seoul and killed three, while in the Atlantic, Eric struck Nova Scotia with 70 MPH winds, causing a lot of power outages.  All in all, a general blessing, for those vacation spots can hope that tourists will show up for the Labor Day weekend.

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Total visitors to blog site:    49,117

Visitors this week:                   600

Number of countries:              152  (most recent:  Libya)

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The sun is shining, the day is beautiful and the flowers are in bloom on my roof:

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CAN OUR BROKEN GOVERNMENT BE FIXED?

There seems to be a growing consensus that our governments are broken.  This dysfunction is especially evident in our U.S. Congress.  Some simple solutions include:

1.  Forget democracy, go to a benevolent dictatorship.  A mega-crisis, such as an Attack from the Andromeda Galaxy or a super depression caused by the dual hammer of Peak Oil and Global Warming, might work.  But, then, what are the odds of winning that war or getting an eternal series of  benevolent leaders?  Plus, in this scenario, our world population of almost 7 billion will be decimated down to a few billion or less.  Such a shift will make Planet Earth happier, for an ultimately American lifestyle will never be attained for all with the clearly limited resources available.  But, this will mean too much agony and blood.  Let us hope there will never be a galactic attack or ultimate economic collapse, so let me discard this pathway as a positive answer.

2.  Adjust Congress:  one term, one house...whatever.  Guess who has to vote on these measures?  Nope, not going to happen, at least  not anytime soon.

3.  Reduce corporate influence on Congress.  Most of the rational activity seems to be centered around this doable potential.  I sent this paragraph to one of my forum discussants yesterday:

This is one of those situations where there is an obvious solution, but no clear means of accomplishment.  Anyway, did Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson really reform our government?  It seems to me that there have been robber barons* throughout our past, and nothing much has changed.  If only Jefferson and Madison had prevailed when the Bill of Rights was written to make illegal any corporate influence of Congress.

This comment was in response to the Huffington Post article of yesterday by Harvard professor of law, Lawrence Lessig, entitled, Neo-Progressives.  Basically, he said that every century or so our Nation encounters this problem of too much corporate influence over our government.  The first time, almost 200 years ago, Andrew Jackson is credited with restoring sanity.  Then a hundred years later, the combination of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson turned it around.  Of course, if you clicked on Jefferson and Madison above, you would have anguished that they lost on the 11th Amendment, for we would not today be in our predicament.

There are innumerable groups out there badgering for change.  Pledge to Protect America's Democracy is one with:

The Supreme Court's flawed decision allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts to influence election outcomes endangers our democracy and threatens to drown out the voices of individual citizens. I pledge to protect America from unlimited corporate spending in our elections by supporting a Constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision giving corporations the same First Amendment rights as people.

They are focused on the Supreme Court.  My sense is that this distinguished body will not make any changes until one more conservative is replaced by a moderate.  But even if they make the adjustment, the ruling will not prevent business as usual, which is not good enough.

Then there is MoveOn, with 5 million members.  Click on their site and watch their video.  Makes sense.  They are more Democrats than anything else, although there seems to be a minor shift to include progressive Republicans, if that can be possible, while, at the same time, pushing the Democratic Party further left.  They were pro-Obama, and remain hopeful.  Lot's of luck!

But, returning to Lessig, his final paragraph is:

As in 1912, only a breakaway, trans-party movement, possibly with no single leader, could have an effect in 2012

I give this option zero chance to elect a new president, then prevail on all those changes necessary to restore our democracy.

So what is the solution to fix our broken government?  I wish I had one.

* I now more than ever appreciate the wisdom of our youth.  When Stanford University decided to replace "Indians" with something else, the students were asked to make that determination.  So they chose Robber Barons, no doubt referring to the founder.  The University might even deny this history, but the administration selected Cardinals, the color.  The effective unofficial, but operating, mascot is now an idiotic redwood tree, by consensus voted by the PAC10 as the dumbest in the conference.

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Looks like Hurricane Earl came and went, causing relatively little damage.  There is another disturbance further back in the Atlantic, but not a concern at this time.  

However, there are now four storms in the East/Central Pacific, including one that just popped up south and west of the Big Island.  There are three more further east near Mexico, but they are all weak.  In the West Pacific, Tropical Storm Malou, only at 40 MPH, is tracing Typhoon Kompasu's path.

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THE STATE OF PLANET EARTH AND HUMANITY ON 3SEPT2010

1.  The Gulf Oil Spill fiasco almost had another one, when a rig caught fire yesterday, west of the Deepwater Horizon.  However, the Mariner Energy Vermilion 380 was only 340 feet from the bottom, while the DH well was almost a mile down.  All thirteen workers jumped into the water, and were rescued, while fire boats extinguished the flames.  No oil leaked.  The official tally for the DH incident:  11 killed and 206 million gallons ($363 million at $74/barrel) escaped.  The failed blowout preventer (300 tons of it) is now being brought to the surface to find out what happened.

2.  Hurricane Earl dumped some rain on the Carolinas, but is weakening and headed for Martha's Vineyard.

3.  The Treaty of Paris was signed on this day in 1783, ending the American Revolutionary War.  Yesterday marked the 65th anniversary of Japanese surrender on the Battleship Missouri, which now rests in Pearl Harbor.

4.  There was a major 7.4 earthquake near Christchurch in New Zealand, but there were no casualties nor any tsunami.  Remember that only a 7.0 killed 230,000 in Haiti, with a million still homeless.  New Zealand does get something like 14,000 quakes/year.  For you "Jesus is Coming" believers, there is a site that predicts a mega tsunami this month, plus, why not, the beginning of World War 3.  This has something to do with killing of the bull.  Yet, the market did very well today, again.  But don't say I didn't warn you.

5.  The temperature in Death Valley rose to 120 degrees F today.  NASA says that 2010 will break the 2005 mark for hottest year on record.

6.  Housing continues to be a mess, but the standard 30-year fixed loan dropped to a historic low of 4.32%.  Refinancing now makes up more than 80% of all new loans.  Of course, you should know that these lending companies add something called points as an add-on fee, so you don't get that 4.32%.  The more accurate figure is about 5%.

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The Dow Jones Industrials jumped 128 to 10448, just higher than at the start of the year.  World markets were mostly up, gold dropped $4/toz to $1247 and petroleum is at $74/barrel.

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As expected, the eye of Hurricane Earl remained at sea.  This is a large one, with a footprint about the size of California.  The storm, now at 80 MPH, is weakening, and should drench Cape Cod tonight.  The other two storms in the Atlantic are not doing much.  There are two disturbances in the East Pacific, but not of current interest.  Tropical Storm Malou is moving over Okinawa, and is now not expected to become a typhoon, as it traces a path similar to Kompasu.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAT

I had a football watching dinner at my apartment tonight, and I thank Doris/Michael Miyasaka and Debbie/Dean Gushiken, with Dean's parents, James and Myra Gushiken, for a surprise birthday party.  As you can see, I'm now one year old.  Unfortunately, the only photos taken involved the Zhoushan delegation and Leighton Chong, the chief counsel for the Blue Revolution.

Here, the group serenading me with Happy Birthday.

Of course, we had a rainbow at sunset.














Leighton and I will be in Zhoushan next month.  They say Zhoushan might experience a rainbow every year or two or more, and they blame it on air pollution.  I get it virtually every day.

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Hurricane Earl, now down to 105 MPH, just skirted past Cape Hatteras, and is moving northeast away from land.  Right behind, Tropical Storm Fiona, at 50 MPH, is already moving northeast, so will not be a threat.

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WE WON THE IRAQ WAR...IS THIS GOOD?

Operation Iraqi Freedom is accomplished, but are we really out of the country?  For one, they have still not even formed a government, and the stalemate seems intractable.  For two, we still have 50,000 troops there, with daily casualties.

Have you noticed that whenever we lose a war, such as the one in Vietnam, we get kicked out and are gone.  We have zero military presence in that country.  Let's lose that war in Afghanistan as soon as possible to insure for a total pullout.  I just went to Vietnam...they like us much more than China. 

But this is where it gets insane.  We won World War II, and still have anywhere from 52,000 to 68,000 in Germany and 36,000 in Japan.  We won the Korean War and retain forces numbering 28,500, and a total of 47,000 just in East Asia.  Why???

Actually we have military troops in 135 countries...135 countries!  Why???

Read my HuffPo, The 10% Simple Solution for Peace.  We can begin cutting defense costs by bringing back our soldiers.

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The Dow Jones Industrials went up 50(10,319), with world markets mostly in the positive.  Gold increased $6/toz to $1252 and crude oil is at $75/barrel.

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Still seven ocean storms, with, in the Atlantic, Hurricane Earl (125 MPH), Tropical Storm Fiona (50 MPH) and Tropical Depression Gaston (35 MPH), all along similar paths.  Earl, though, looks dangerous, and any veering west will be calamitous:

That East Pacific storm is meandering, but those three West Pacific storms all made landfall:

1.  Typhoon Kompasu went right over Seoul, Korea, and is now a tropical storm at 55 MPH, headed for Hokkaido.

2.  Tropical Storm Lionrock just striking China at 55 MPH.

3.  Tropical Depression Ten at 35 MPH following the path of Kompasu, heading for Okinawa and to become a Typhoon by Sunday after passing Okinawa.

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ALI'I KAI AND ZHOUSHAN

I joined the Zhoushan group on the Ali'i Kai for a sunset dinner cruise.  The views were spectacular, starting with a rainbow over Honolulu.

It has been some time since my last experience on one of these touristy activities, and, I found it quite enjoyable.  The food was good and the entertainment was outstanding, with a lot of audience participation.  I'm tempted to show a particularly indulgent video, but, maybe some time in the future.  Above, Xiwu Gong, Zhibo Tang and Jinbao Wang of Zhejiang Ocean University, and Zeng Fu Yang of the Danshan County Science and Technology Bureau.  Then below, The Zhoushan group with D.J. Halcro, General Manager of the Ali'i Kai.

They are here to discuss cooperative ocean resource research and the possibility of a sister city relationship between Honolulu and Zhoushan.  I'll be visiting with them on October 16.
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JACKIE DOES IT AGAIN

This is a reasonably serious, but popularized, blog on Planet Earth and Humanity.  Today, let me again wear my humanitarian hat and focus for the third time on Jackie Evancho.  You can click on the previous two for background, but Jackie is a contestant on America's Got Talent.  Last night she was boffo again, and read about her human interest competition with Alice Tan Ridley, a black, oldish (57), chubbyish, former New York City subway singer.  But there is more, for she is the mother of Gabourey Sidibe, the Academy Award Nominee for Best Actress for her role in Precious.

Aside from both being female, you can't find two more different singers.  Watch the performances of Jackie and Alice.  Remember, Jackie is 10 years old, and, unfortunately, tonight, Alice was eliminated.

How does Jackie compare to Julie Andrews at 12, Bubbles Silverman (also known as Beverly Sills) at 8 and Charlotte Church at 11?  Click on them.

I again predict Jackie will win, but can further indicate that one other sure finalist is Fighting Gravity. Who are they?  Only 13 Phi Kappa Alpha students from Virginia Tech who have never had a dance lesson nor any experience.  They are light illusionists.  Maybe also add Prince Poppycock, the male version of Lady Gaga, in a campy sort of way.

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More feel good in the Dow Jones Industrials, which leaped 255 to 10,269, with world markets also almost all up.  Gold fell $3/toz to $1244 and crude oil is at $74/barrel.

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There continue to be 7 storms (see the charts from my blog yesterday), but Hurricane Earl at 135 MPH looks particularly ominous.

The interesting coincidence is that Hurricane Earl, Typhoon Kompasu (Korea) and Tropical Storm Lionrock (China) will all make landfall at around the same time...although the eye of Earl might not technically touch the East Coast.
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