But enough about me...

i'm appalled at the way the american government has dealt with their ongoing disaster. that's not what you want to hear. most of the people reading on this website want to know how my life is going in japan. be assured that life here is both comfortable and adventurous. but i've become so complacent with the taken-for-granted freedom that i have been given that at times i forget about the strife of our american neighbours.

i'll say this, before i turn to partisanship: i am happy that i'm here instead of there, for fear of being imperialistically annexed by the united states. the name of their country has quickly become ironic. never has the u.s. been less united.

how has a single chimp of a leader managed to divide such an otherwise strong nation? god save the united states of america. it won't be long before your radical differences in politics and value systems tear you apart. i pray that civil war on american soil will never happen again. you are ruled by power-hungry idiots with money. they can afford the guns. attempt peaceful protest. avoid violence. don't give them the satisfaction.

your government has manipulated your value systems by acquiring control of the media and subsequently sedating you with it. think for yourself. question authority. never has critical thought been a more important asset in your history. never before have you been so bombarded with such extremist rhetoric. never before have you been so needlessly afraid.

i must pause, however, at this very point. for quite some time, on this side of the world, i have been ready to preach that the fear you have been programmed to arm yourselves with has been unnecessary. but i must refine my stance to let you know that i now feel your fear is misdirected. your fear is valid, though its current target is a scapegoat. fear the decisions your government is making. fear a leader who decides on your behalf that a war should be waged against those who have yet to attack you. fear those who instate laws to remove the people from the diplomatic process. fear those who demonstrate their incompetence to protect you by taking a six week vacation while your poor and disenfranchised drown in the tides of an aforeseen natural disaster. fear those who forget the poor, the black, the historically victimized. fear them because they are the least compassionate of all. but for christ's sake, do something about it. refuse to lose your agency to fear.

i wish i could update this blog with more pictures of me eating sushi, but it just wouldn't be fair. this disaster in new orleans is going to be a turning point for america; i know that right now, as i write all of this, george w. bush is taking this opportunity to mention 9/11 in whatever speeches he is making, but i want you to understand that this is only being done because karl rove believes that a 39% approval rating can be improved.bBoth of these men are criminals.

can you trust any leader who takes a six-week vacation while the citizens of his country are dying, whether they be in a remote country (fighting an unprovoked war) or at home? can you trust anyone who delays in taking action when people of his own country are dying or drowning on their own soil? can you trust a government who will dedicate time and money to impeaching a president with a cigar fetish but not one with the lowest approval rating in American history? can you trust someone who has been wrong time after time, or someone who makes a practice of ruining anything that he touches? can you trust a person who will abandon anything he gets tired of maintaining, whether it be an oil company or a baseball team or a nation? can you support a man who will wage an international war to resolve the unavenged grudge of his father? forget god bless america. somebody please save america. save america from themselves.

for anyone who has read this far, know that i am thinking of you all while i am here and you are all the way over there. i have learnt to appreciate human beings despite how often they let me down. i have learned to treasure the ones i love and pine for the ones who have lost themselves in the name of greed or fear or hatred. i may be far away, but my friends and family live deep within my heart.

remember that while you may know hardships and pain, you may never know the people who are lifelong victims. no matter what the media tells you, know that we are one people, and regardless of how you attained your current state of comfort there are people who are in need and it is your ongoing responsibility to ensure the welfare of everyone.

if there is a god willing to help out this secular era, please do what you can with your divine ability to redirect this tragically misguided human race. what a disgrace we've become.