For those of you who don't know, rolfing is a form of body work wherein the connective tissue is rearranged to improve posture, releive chronic pain (old injuries), and improve flexibility... Part of it is also about releasing the fascia from knots in the connective tissue, allowing it to move more freely...

Just to let you know, all I know about this stuff I've learned through martial arts, specifically baguazhang (八卦掌), so it's not from a medical background really, and I could be off on some of it. All I know is how important it is to doing Chinese internal martial arts (内家), the main three being xingyi, baguazhang, and taijiquan (形意，八卦掌，太極拳)...

Usually rolfing is a 10 session series, in which they work on different body regions over about a month. Each session is about 90 minutes, and costs over $100, so the whole thing is over $1000.

Luckily, I found out that the Rolf Institute in Boulder is their world headquarters, and you can get a major discount if you go through the series with their senior students as a guinea pig -- it's only $25 per session! So I'm going to start next week and see how it turns out.

I'm hoping for a lot of improvement in the things that are important in bagua training, especially the mobility of my fascia. You can find interesting accounts of other people's experiences being rolfed on the web, including accounts of feet growing an inch, or height increasing by inches, etc. Interesting stuff. I hope I have a similarly weird experience. ;)

I got an email about this because they went to a DC bloggers meetup to research for the story. I don't know when it'll be on though... Unfortunately, I missed it since I'm out of town. :-(

Here is a lucky guy who was able to go... ;)

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS is working on a story about weblogs to air sometime in the coming weeks and they will be attending the Feb. 18 meetup in DC to interview a few of you about your weblog and how and why you do it. ... If you're interested, you can see past stories about the media done by the NewsHour at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media/index.html. ...

There's a very interesting article at Salon about the self-described "human shields" going to Iraq to try to prevent or deter war.

I respect anyone who has the guts to do something like this. But I see a recurring theme here, one I've thought about many times in the past, and which the article makes clear: People with ideologies tend to lose their common sense sometimes -- lose sight of the realities of power in the world.

The article talks about how in 1990 Iraq kidnapped westerners and brought them to military targets in order to deter strikes to those locations. They talk in particular about one man's horrible experiences, and his opinion on the current voluntary human shields.

I think the tactic could be effective. But putting your life in the hands of Hussein and hoping for your wishes to be respected is losing sight of reality. Some people in the world have respect for principles, etc. Some only respect the laws of nature. I believe Hussein is one of the latter, and I'm truly saddened by the thought of what these individuals will most probably experience...

North Korea is threatening to pull out of the Korean War armistice.

It seems like they're trying to esclalate this thing just when the U.S. is about to get involved in Iraq. I don't know if they'd be bold enough to attack the South, even with the U.S. otherwise occupied, but they may keep pushing for things like this, just because no one can stop them right now.

If they still think like this, I don't know if it's realistic to expect the south's "Sunshine Policy" to work...

Here are some of the pictures we took last month in Jackson Hole... It was a great time. One of the coolest things out there is always seeing the buffalo... We had fun with the Segway too though. ;)

Jackson is an interesting area. It's different than the other ski areas in the U.S. because it's so close to Yellowstone. It's surrounded by national park land, so development is very limited. There are a couple of new condo buildings and hotels going up now, but it's still very closely regulated.

This is where Vice President Cheney has his second home, too. He's from Wyoming, from what I hear, and he's always flying in to spend time there...

Inside our condo by the fire...	Yuki and my dad with the Segway	I go tooling down the hall...
On the slope	Yuki on the lift	Waterfall in Yellowstone Park
Buffalo...	...	...

I sat outside during lunch time today on the 16th street mall, right at this corner actually, having a coffee and a biscotti while reading the New York Times... It's a beautiful day today -- 60's and sunny blue sky here, while the whole D.C. area is shut down under a ton of snow... This is typical Denver weather. Denver has the most sunny days per year of any U.S. city, on average.

There were some French-speaking people sitting near me. I think they might have been Canadian due to the twang in their accent, but I'm not that good at placing French accents, since I don't speak it... ;) I only know a bit about the difference because of my friend Albert Drouart, who I went to Nishimachi and Carnegie Mellon with, and who grew up speaking both French and English...

In these situations, I always wonder what European tourists think about the U.S. I wonder if they were mentally ridiculing me as a hypocrite for sipping a cappuccino while Bush is getting his war on... Or whether they were just enjoying the weather...

Yuki came out to Denver to visit over Valentine's Day, and we had a great time hanging out...

Her flight back to D.C. left Saturday afternoon (yesterday), and we were worried whether she'd make it back because of the huge snowstorm there now. Luckily, it didn't really get going until after she arrived...

Now my whole family is stuck at home in D.C. while the forecast is continuous snow for over two days. They're supposed to get over 18 inches! Crazy. The last time I was there for a storm like that, I think I was about 5 years old...

I wonder what all the government types are doing. Nobody's driving, Reagan Airport is closed, and only one runway's open at Dulles... The Baltimore-Washington Parkway is closed because they need all the snowplows for the city.

Here are my answers to the questions of the Cross-Blog Iraq Debate at The Truth Laid Bear. I have slowly gone from being anti-war to being pro-war in this instance, and these are the reasons why.

1. Attacking Iraq has been publicly called a "pre-emption" of a threat from Saddam Hussein's regime, whose sins include launching regional wars of aggression. Do you think there is a clear and reliable difference between pre-emptive and aggressive warfare, and if so, what is it?

In the old days, you could see an enemy's ships closing in on your shores. Scouts could see infantry moving towards your border. In those cases, the issue of pre-emptive attack versus aggression was brilliantly clear: pre-emptive action would have been an attack designed to surprise and push back an advancing force that clearly meant to attack you, and that clearly was an enemy. Aggression would have described the action of the advancing force. A clearly belligerent step towards an unprovoked attack.

With the old scenario in mind, pre-emption seems a logical and ethically unassailable method of defense. It is the attempt of one facing imminent attack by an enemy, to forestall the attack.

Pre-emption in the martial (or marital) arts is similarly considered to be a highly advanced ability. In fact, in many circles the holy grail of martial awareness is the ability to sense the moment that an opponent has committed to an attack, and to pre-empt the attack at exactly that moment, while the opponent's mind is still attempting to put his body in motion.

In Aikido (合気道) such pre-emption is key to higher levels of practice. Although it is often considered a pacifistic martial art by those not very familiar with it, this should not be the case, and it certainly was not during the founder's heyday. The following is an excerpt of an article by well-known Aikidoist Stanley Pranin.

A study of the art of the Founder will reveal his emphasis on atemi (preemptive strikes) and kiai (combative shouts) as an integral part of techniques. O-Sensei can be seen executing atemi and kiai even in films from his final years when his aikido had become much less physical.

Atemi and kiai go hand in hand and are important tools for stopping or redirecting the mind of the attacker and successfully unbalancing him. Even if a physical strike is not actually employed, a mental state that preempts or disrupts the attack is a vital component of the aikido mind-set. Yet in many dojos today, the use of atemi or kiai will draw scorn from the teacher in charge who regards them as crude, violent means that have no place in an art of "harmony." This common misconception bespeaks a lack of understanding of the martial origins of the art and the theory and practice of the Founder.

I consider this quote very telling. The problematic over-pacifist in Aikido has an analog in international affairs: the pacifist who refuses to acknowledge that pre-emption is usually superior to an alternative in which the enemy attacks with full force.

Initially, I felt that this war would be an infringement of Iraq's sovereignty as a nation. This position is somewhat diluted by the fact that the Iraqi regime is not democratically legitimate, but is there not something to be said for supporting the concept of national sovereignty, even in such a place as Iraq?

Since 9/11, we have come to know two things about our future encounters with terrorists: that we cannot prevent first strikes by terrorists on their terms, however well equipped our intelligence agencies are, and that a first strike could be utterly devastating; it could rock our world with heavy casualties, economic chaos, and international instability leading to larger areas of anarchy and war.

Inasmuchas Iraq is hostile to the U.S., and has or is attempting to procure nukes, etc., and would presumably have few qualms supplying other terrorists with such (or using them itself), these concerns have come to trump any lukewarm respect for Iraqi sovereignty I entertained.

2. What do you feel are the prospects that an invasion of Iraq will succeed in a) maintaining it as a stable entity and b) in turning it into a democracy? Are there any precedents in the past 50 years that influence your answer?

I believe the prospects are good (maybe 70%) that democracy can be maintained for a long enough period of time for it to be self-sufficient. This is only going to be possible if we stay in control for a long period of time, probably close to a decade. This would be necessary to get the people used to a stable way of life, and to allow young people to grow up in a stable environment, causing them to eventually value collective stability and economic opportunity over ethnic or religious tribalism and infighting.

More importantly though, I believe that even if democracy fails in Iraq, we will be in a much better strategic position vis-à-vis hostile terrorist forces such as Al-Qaeda and Hizbullah than before. We will be able to restrict the movement of arms between Israel and Iran, etc.

3. How successful do you think the military operations and "regime change" in Afghanistan have been in achieving their stated objectives? Does this example affect your feelings about war in Iraq in any way?

I believe they have been far more successful than any opponents could have imagined. Going into Afghanistan, anti-war activists believed it would be "another Vietnam", a "quagmire" from which we would never extricate ourselves. The Russian failure was repeatedly held up as an example of what could be expected.

Obviously, they were dead wrong. I had my doubts too, but they were unfounded. I think that the war in Iraq will be more difficult in Baghdad, but still overall a swift and relatively painless (low casualty) war.

Afghanistan is not perfect, but if we keep it stable for long enough, it will work as a democracy.

4. As a basis for war, the Bush Administration accuses Iraq of trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological, nuclear), supporting terrorism, and brutalizing their own people. Since Iraq is not the only country engaged in these actions, under what circumstances should the US go to war with other such nations, in addition to going to war with Iraq?

When we believe that they have the opportunity and the will to attempt terrorist attacks on the U.S. or its close allies, or to supply those weapons to others who do.

5. The Bush Administration has issued numerous allegations about the threat represented by Iraq, many of which have been criticized in some quarters as hearsay, speculation or misstatements. Which of the Administration's allegations do you feel stand up best to those criticisms?

Actually, not many. They have not demonstrated a conclusive connection to Al-Qaeda yet, and many other claims are still unsubstantiated. I don't really care much about this, because Iraq has attempted to build WMD's before, and has the opportunity and will to sell them to terrorists. That is what I'm really concerned about.

But the evidence I find most clearly damning are the audio recordings which Colin Powell recently presented to the U.N. They show beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Iraqis are moving weapons to avoid inspectors, including nerve agents.

Justin is in Washington, just as I've left to work in Denver for 3 months... But his comments make me think about my relationship to this place, one of the two places where I feel I grew up...

I have a picture from the late 70's of me on my dad's shoulders, pulling his afro-like perm and laughing, with the cherry blossoms and the Jefferson memorial behind us. I have so many memories of the 4th of July on the mall, watching vietnam vets sell t-shirts in front of the Lincoln... I rolled easter eggs on the lawn of the White House with my parents, although I was too young to remember it. But I remember asking my parents about the bums on the street, who tied sheets to the subway grates, creating hot-air tents to live under...

I also remember once in the middle of winter when my dad didn't come home until very late, because a plane had crashed into the 14th street bridge. We could hear the sirens all the way from Alexandria.

I always was worried about nuclear annihilation when I was a kid. After moving to Tokyo in 1986, I developed an intense desire to collect all the Led Zeppelin albums, not because I loved them, but because I loved them so much I hoped that I could preserve all of them in the event of WWIII. I thought extensively about creating alternative power sources for my CD player, since batteries would probably be scarce... I was 10 years old.

Later, I ended up going to St. Albans for high school, the boys school on the close of the National Cathedral (Gore actually went there, and his daughters went to NCS)... I had a difficult and emotionally trying time in high school — moshing with skinheads to the special brand of hard core music born in D.C. was one of my main releases. A friend of mine actually got yelled at by the main singer of Fugazi (a local D.C. band at the time) for moshing too hard... ;)

I had so many difficult emotions tied up with that town that I had to get away, and after leaving for college to Carnegie Mellon, I thought I'd never be back there again... Fate has a funny way of turning around and smacking you in the ass though, whenever you start to think you have something figured out. ;)

Yuki and I eventually realized that Denver and Boulder are too slow for us, and the west coast is probably too liberal for me (although I haven't lived there yet...), so we're back in the D.C. area again, and I'm actually going to go to law school, which I never could have imagined even a few years ago... Funny though, as I've gotten older, those emotions have faded with time, and it seems like a new place to me now, full of opportunities.

Sometimes I've felt much like a rubber band, stretched between Tokyo and Washington, when in one place always missing the other... I think a lot of my Nishimachi friends probably feel that way. It's hard belonging to more than one place, and yet at the same time, belonging to neither...

There seems to be a successor to the infamous "Patriot Act" in the works, and it's been leaked. There is a discussion on Slashdot, and Plastic as well, but the original story came from the Center for Public Integrity, which is probably down right now due to the massive traffic. There are other stories on it at the Philly Independent Media Center, and AlterNet.org.

Mirrors of the PDF file are here, here, and here.

Among the more disturbing sections are these, quoted from the Independent Media Center article:

Section 201, “Prohibition of Disclosure of Terrorism Investigation Detainee Information”: Safeguarding the dissemination of information related to national security has been a hallmark of Ashcroft’s first two years in office, and the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 follows in the footsteps of his October 2001 directive to carefully consider such interest when granting Freedom of Information Act requests. While the October memo simply encouraged FOIA officers to take national security, “protecting sensitive business information and, not least, preserving personal privacy” into account while deciding on requests, the proposed legislation would enhance the department’s ability to deny releasing material on suspected terrorists in government custody through FOIA.

Section 202, “Distribution of ‘Worst Case Scenario’ Information”: This would introduce new FOIA restrictions with regard to the Environmental Protection Agency. As provided for in the Clean Air Act, the EPA requires private companies that use potentially dangerous chemicals must produce a “worst case scenario” report detailing the effect that the release of these controlled substances would have on the surrounding community. Section 202 of this Act would, however, restrict FOIA requests to these reports, which the bill’s drafters refer to as “a roadmap for terrorists.” By reducing public access to “read-only” methods for only those persons “who live and work in the geographical area likely to be affected by a worst-case scenario,” this subtitle would obfuscate an established level of transparency between private industry and the public.

Section 301-306, “Terrorist Identification Database”: These sections would authorize creation of a DNA database on “suspected terrorists,” expansively defined to include association with suspected terrorist groups, and noncitizens suspected of certain crimes or of having supported any group designated as terrorist.

Section 312, “Appropriate Remedies with Respect to Law Enforcement Surveillance Activities”: This section would terminate all state law enforcement consent decrees before Sept. 11, 2001, not related to racial profiling or other civil rights violations, that limit such agencies from gathering information about individuals and organizations. The authors of this statute claim that these consent orders, which were passed as a result of police spying abuses, could impede current terrorism investigations. It would also place substantial restrictions on future court injunctions.

Section 405, “Presumption for Pretrial Detention in Cases Involving Terrorism”: While many people charged with drug offenses punishable by prison terms of 10 years or more are held before their trial without bail, this provision would create a comparable statute for those suspected of terrorist activity. The reasons for presumptively holding suspected terrorists before trial, the Justice Department summary memo states, are clear. “This presumption is warranted because of the unparalleled magnitude of the danger to the United States and its people posed by acts of terrorism, and because terrorism is typically engaged in by groups – many with international connections – that are often in a position to help their members flee or go into hiding.”

Section 501, “Expatriation of Terrorists”: This provision, the drafters say, would establish that an American citizen could be expatriated “if, with the intent to relinquish his nationality, he becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group that the United Stated has designated as a ‘terrorist organization’.” But whereas a citizen formerly had to state his intent to relinquish his citizenship, the new law affirms that his intent can be “inferred from conduct.” Thus, engaging in the lawful activities of a group designated as a “terrorist organization” by the Attorney General could be presumptive grounds for expatriation.

I started reading Shonen Jump in 1986, when I first moved to Japan, and now, after all this time, they're starting to sell it here.

The weirdest thing is that it's in English, but you read it from right to left, like Japanese. The other night I stopped in a 7-11 here in Denver to get some junk food, and they were actually selling it on the magazine rack! I really felt strange when I saw it... some sort of culture shock or something. As if I had seen apple pie with squid and seaweed on top...

I thought about getting a copy, but it's $4.95... I did notice that the pages are all black and white though, rather than colored as in Japan. And the whole thing is only about 1/3 as thick as the Japanese ones...

Man, to see Japanese culture filter into America like this is just so strange — I can't even describe the feeling it evokes in me...

A post on Monkey X informed me of something that should be receiving far more coverage in the media. A bill has been introduced by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Ron Paul (R-TX) to repeal the "Iraq Use of Force Resolution" which gave Bush a priori consent to wage war in Iraq.

I hope that somehow more people become aware of this new bill, and support it firmly.

Although I am not against a war in Iraq, I am vehemently against any move on the part of congress towards becoming a rubber-stamp for the Executive branch. In cases dealing with war, especially, congress should never abrogate its power to check the President.

Keisuke, a friend of mine who has a blog as well, took this picture of me in my cube the other day with his new Sony-Ericsson phone and digicam attachment. ;)

I met Kei when he came to Denver a few years ago to work for Quark... I hadn't talked to him for a while after moving back to D.C., but he actually found my blog through a post I had made to Prof. Takemura's blog, because Takemura was his professor for a long time... I found Takemura's blog through Joi Ito, because we both went to Nishimachi International School in Japan... ;)

It's amazing when we find these hidden connections that we never knew were there... :)

Ahhh... ;) That's the sound of some of the tension I've held in so long leaving my body, just like the air let out of a balloon... :)

Over the past couple of months I've been admitted to one of my back-up schools, and found out that I have a very good chance to get into the #2 school I applied to. Now, I just heard that I've been admitted to another school, which would require me to relocate, but which is one of the best schools for intellectual property law. :)

I was rejected by my #1 choice, but I sort of expected that. It's an extremely difficult school to get into, and my undergrad grades were not all they could have been... :(

I'm just so glad that I know I'll have a couple of choices now, and very possibly have the chance to go to one of the best schools in the country...

Man, that LSAT was really hard. Whenever there is almost a zero chance of getting a perfect score on a test, I consider it extremely hard. I'm glad I did reasonably well, and I'm getting into some good schools, or I'd have to consider taking it again... I shudder at the mere thought of it! ':-|

Check out this hilarious story about new hairdos in China for the year of the sheep/goat (羊)...

I wish I could go to Singapore and see everyone walking around with this... (LOL)...