The Post-American World

Zakaria's central thesis is that while the U.S. still has many unique assets, "the rise of the rest" -- the Chinas, the Indias, the Brazils and even smaller nonstate actors -- is creating a world where many other countries are slowly moving up to America's level of economic clout and self-assertion, in every realm. "Today, India has 18 all-news channels of its own," notes Zakaria. "And the perspectives they provide are very different from those you will get in the Western media. The rest now has the confidence to present its own narrative, where it is at the center."

For too long, argues Zakaria, America has taken its many natural assets -- its research universities, free markets and diversity of human talent -- and assumed that they will always compensate for our low savings rate or absence of a health-care system or any strategic plan to improve our competitiveness.

"That was fine in a world when a lot of other countries were not performing," argues Zakaria, but now the best of the rest are running fast, working hard, saving well and thinking long term.

"They have adopted our lessons and are playing our game," he said. If we don't fix our political system and start thinking strategically about how to improve our competitiveness, he added, "the U.S. risks having its unique and advantageous position in the world erode as other countries rise."

When Wagga sent me this article mentioning Fareed Zakaria's “The Post-American World” I was reminded of this recent photo of Obama.

Other than "My Pet Goat" I wonder what Bush has read since he has been in office...

Andalusian Decay

hike on the wild side



bush infrastructure paradigm ?

Hat tip to Wagga for everything but the hot cave woman.

having a car is so 20th century

dizzy-in-Tokyo by ~petaluda

With car buying down by close to 33-percent since 1990, Japan is claimed to be in the grips of kuruma banare, which, for Japanese carmakers, is the polar opposite of hakuna matata.

It's being labeled the "demotorization" process, and it involves large numbers of people in Japan's urban centers not buying cars. Surveys have revealed a variety of reasons, from the cost of purchase and ownership, to vehicles simply not being status symbols anymore, to cars being passé -- as in "so 20th century." The greatest worry is that young folks are simply not into cars, preferring cell phones and gadgets to Cubes and keis. Losing their audience before the love affair has even begun is no doubt causing JDM manufacturers to lose sleep.
Excerpted from Is Japan facing a post-car society?
Hat tip to Wagga!

Kimiyuki Suda should be a perfect customer for Japan's carmakers. He's a young (34), successful executive at an Internet-services company in Tokyo and has plenty of disposable income. He used to own Toyota's Hilux Surf, a sport utility vehicle. But now he uses mostly subways and trains. "It's not inconvenient at all," he says. Besides, "having a car is so 20th century."
UPDATE!
I think Billary looks like an evil frog.

More on the Foreclosed Congresswoman

As mentioned in the comments yesterday Congresswoman Laura Richardson denied foreclosure reports stating "the residential property in Sacramento California is not in foreclosure and has NOT been seized by the bank." Hmmm, perhaps she has a different definition of foreclosure given the latest reports.
According to the WSJ:
The Sacramento home of Rep. Laura Richardson was sold in a public auction two weeks ago for $388,000. The Southern California Democrat bought the house for $535,000 with no money down in January 2007 and owed nearly $575,000 to Washington Mutual when the mortgage was sold earlier this month at a significant loss to Red Rock Mortgage Inc.

Additional details from a recent L.A. Land post from the L.A. Times:
They took a beating," James York, the Sacramento real estate broker who said he bought Richardson's house at a foreclosure auction, told the Daily Breeze.

The Daily Breeze report is based on public documents the newspaper published on its website, and an interview with York. It is at odds with Richardson's statement yesterday, in which the Long Beach Democrat said she had worked out a loan modification with her lender, and would "fulfill all financial obligations" on the property.

The Daily Breeze: "Rep. Laura Richardson lost her Sacramento home in a foreclosure auction two weeks ago, and left behind nearly $9,000 in unpaid property taxes. Richardson, D-Long Beach, appears to have made only a few payments on the house, which she bought in January 2007 for $535,000."

The newspaper's report -- that the house was foreclosed and an auction took place -- appears to conflict with Richardson's statement that the house "is not in foreclosure." (see the entire statement at the bottom of this post). Richardson's office has not responded to a request from L.A. Land for additional information about her mortgage and loan modification. The Daily Breeze reports she declined to be interviewed about the controversy.

The newspaper's report also calls into question Richardson's statement that she had worked out a loan modification with her lender and would fulfill all financial obligations related to the property. The Daily Breeze reports that the house sold for only $388,000, far below the $574,000 that Richardson owed on the property. Further, the Daily Breeze reports that the new owner, York, "assumed responsibility for Richardson's unpaid property tax bill of $8,950.79."

"Tell Laura I'd be happy to have her pay my property tax," he told the newspaper.

Also:
Richardson: Delinquent on $8,950 in taxes

Notice of Trustee's Sale

One of Richardson's first votes upon arriving in Congress last fall was on the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. The bill helped homeowners by preventing the federal government from charging income tax on debt forgiven in a foreclosure, such as the $200,000 forgiven in Richardson's foreclosure.
Joining 385 of her colleagues, Richardson voted aye.

I just don't get it. Why would she lie about something that could be so easily verified? Will she next say that she didn't realize her home was sold in a public auction two weeks ago? I guess we'll find out...

Video UPDATE!
(Disabled due to annoying AARP commercials)

A Hello Kitty assault rifle that actually exists

Yet another HK update!!!

Another hat tip to Wagga for Hello Kitty lollipop condoms and Hello Kitty Zone in general.

A Hello Kitty assault rifle that actually exists
Awhile back we were treated to a hilarious Photoshop job called the HK-47--an assault rifle decorated with images of everybody's favorite nonpornographic, nontentacled Japanese import, Hello Kitty. We were sad to learn that it was, well, Photoshopped.

Hat tip to Mitchell for this one!
Currently watching Frontline and highly annoyed again...

UPDATE!
Hat tip to Wagga for this latest Hello Kitty find:
Hello Kitty gets claws into UK electronics
Brand developer Comment Retail Services has signed a deal to bring Hello Kitty into the hands of UK punters by way of mobile phone content and branded electronics, reports licensing.biz.
Hello Kitty is Japanese in origin, but has always been popular in the USA. In the UK the brand already adorns clothing and toys, but not much in the way of electronics, and it's sometimes hard to convey to Europeans just how pervasive the cute cat is in Japan.
Jonathan Ross, the UK TV presenter, even decided to hold his wedding in Hello Kitty land in Japan, a ceremony overseen by an enormous talking tree.
We're looking forward to seeing Hello Kitty phones and MP3 players, though personally we'll pass on the vibrator. Greater presence for the brand will also help answer the long-debated question - which is worse, Hello Kitty or Disney? ®

It's Hello Kitty everywhere!

This is an Excellent Time to be a Repo Man!

I'm a Repo Man. by ~Otto-parts

Just in time for National Dog Bite Prevention Week, I'm heading out to a dog behavior class this evening, but I thought this article was worth posting rather than leaving as a comment link:

So many people have so many things they can no longer afford. This is an excellent time to be a repo man.

When a boat owner defaults on his loan, the bank hires Jeff Henderson to seize its property. The former Army detective tracks the boat down in a backyard or a marina or a garage and hauls it to his storage area and later auctions it off. After nearly 20 years in the repossession business, Mr. Henderson has never been busier.

“I used to take the weak ones,” he said. “Now I’m taking the whole herd.”

More from the NYT's Economic Tide Is Rising for Repo Man

The Eternal Return of Hello Kitty

Hello Nietzsche by ~fael097

Must not whatever CAN run its course of all things, have already run along that lane?
Must not whatever CAN happen of all things have already happened, resulted, and gone by?
Thus Spake Zarathustra

And Hello Kitty eternally exists?

Hello Kitty. by =Djabolica

hello hello by `lithiumpicnic


HELLO KITTY by ~tale-like-me

Hello Kitty by ~myzzeriestock

UPDATE: In case you missed it check out The Hello Kitty Bathroom at Edgar's Toilet!