Back!

Ah yes, back in freezing cold Japan, where the Internet is fast and cheap once more!

The sordid mess is up for viewing on my travel blog, along with some details of the next trip.

Catching up on what was going on in the world while I was on my sojourn home and boy, are we in a pickle...

Firstly, Bush looks unlikely to go gently into that good night. Is the prospect of nuclear war looking likely before the year is out? Wouldn't put it past them. By 'them' I mean the right-wing Christian extremists who look like creating their version of heaven on earth in the U.S. The parallels with what happened in Nazi Germany are disturbing. Whatever happens, you can be sure that once in power, they'll make sure that they stay there.

As for America's place in the world, you only need to look East to see that China and India are fast catching up, if not taking over. A very interesting article.

In other news, it's great to see that people are talking more and more about climate change. It's frustrating to see that all this is just producing more hot air, inching up up the average day-time temperatures even more. I was glad to see that one guy put his money where his mouth is - building a home that is completely carbon neutral; using nothing but solar power and fuel cells. I only hope that the Japanese home builders get on this... as well as everyone else. We need options people!