Conversations about MARTA

MARTA is Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and they run the subway and bus system here in ATL.
I took MARTA from the airport to Chamblee near my mom's house, due to her adversion to driving through downtown Atlanta's bad traffic. After living in Japan again, I'm not complaining. I took the Meitetsu Mu-Sky Rapid to Centrair-- it was very nice, and I fell asleep. I wouldn't dare try any of that here though...

While riding the subway I noticed the new maps are all color coded. Instead of saying "north-south line" or "airport line" now there's red, blue, green and yellow.... yellow-- gold? huh?

The problem here is that the yellow--er gold line runs through an asian part of town at it's terminus. I don't think when the map was created, anyone ever intended as a bad joke to say "hey lets call this one the yellow line since it runs through little Asia in Atlanta" I actually had the job of redesigning MARTA's map back in 1998 when the north line (now the Red line) was extended.

I guess I find this strange now since I live in a country that's 99% one ethnic group--Japanese. No one ever does a town hall meeting about anything concerning the other 1% of people... which is why things like the Obama monkey TV commercial happen...

I think everyone should turn their sensitivity meters down a little bit. What if the rail line was ALREADY called the Yellow line BEFORE the Asians moved to that part of Atlanta (and I remember 15 years ago, there were none up that way...) would they have asked MARTA to change the signs?

And before the table turning begins, I don't care if they rename the Green line to the Black line. It does have a station that is in the projects--and the other end lies at the Martin Luther King Memorial... Suits me just fine... The line passes the State Capitol and CNN center too. I already know I can go anywhere, and am NOT limited to a line drawn on a map!

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Princess Aiko unable to go to school after boys treated her harshly - The Mainichi Daily News

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Princess Aiko, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, has been reluctant to attend school since Monday after being "treated harshly" by boys in her grade, an official of the Imperial Household Agency said Friday.

But an official of the school denied that the 8-year-old princess was directly subject to rowdy behavior of the boys, after the unusual announcement by Issei Nomura, the top aide to the crown prince and princess, about the princess' absence citing problems in school.

Princess Aiko, a granddaughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and a second grader at Gakushuin Primary School in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, has been complaining of strong anxiety and stomachache, Nomura, grand master of the crown prince's household, told a regular news conference.

The princess missed school in late February due chiefly to mild fever, and attended school Tuesday but left early and has since been absent, he said, adding there are no prospects for her to return to school.

The school has found that a group of boys had dealt rowdily with several of their school mates, including Princess Aiko, Nomura said, adding that the palace has asked the school to address the matter.

He also said the palace has obtained consent from the school to publicize the princess's situation.

At a hastily arranged separate press conference, Motomasa Higashisono, a senior director of the Gakushuin School Corporation that runs a range of schools from kindergarten to university, said, however, "As far as we know, there was no violent behavior targeted at Princess Aiko."

The princess "got scared Tuesday when she went by a boy who dashed out of a classroom," Higashisono said, adding, "It must have reminded her of the rowdy behavior of several boys in the past...and made her uneasy."

The disorderly behavior of the boys included throwing bags, running fast down hallways and shouting around July last year, but calmed down by about November after the school allocated more teachers to deal with them, he said.

Originally a school for imperial and noble family members, Gakushuin has been attended by most members of the imperial family, including Emperor Akihito and Crown Prince Naruhito.

Princess Aiko entered Gakushuin Primary School in April 2008 after finishing Gakushuin Kindergarten in March that year.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said, "As an individual citizen, I hope she recovers and gets well as quickly as possible."

via mdn.mainichi.jp

And I always thought that the imperial family always had in-house tutors at least during primary school years... Lil' Princess Aiko is just gonna have to get used to those mischievous boys I guess!

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Thank you Nagoya! We ROCKed THIS TOWN!!

To everyone that was there: thanks for coming-- I'm still exhausted from Friday, so I'm late in posting some pix of the event.  Also if you have some pictures you want to share, please share them here or just go ahead and email them to editor@ranmagazine.com

Thank you for coming out and supporting Haiti and RAN magazine.  

Here's some pix from our photo editor Achim Runnebaum.

Posted via email from RANdom musings from Nagoya

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My typical conversation with women at a party

Me: "well I don't really have a girlfriend right now, so I think it
would be ok for us to go to a movie together or something.

Her: "you have a lot of girls."

Me: "really? Where?"

Her: "here"

Me: "these are all my friends. But she has a boyfriend, that ones
married... Got a lotta friends.

Her: "we can be friends"

Me: "didn't I just say I got a lot of friends? I don't need no more.
Im'a holla. "

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Roger Ebert, Gets His Voice Back

via videogum.com and Oprah.com

I'd just posted last month or something on Facebook that Roger Ebert had lost his voice, along with the ability to eat, and drink due to a freak incident during surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his jaw. His carotid artery burst.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd do if I were to suffer some debilitating accident that left me blind, paralyzed, deaf, or something. Would I descend into a state of misery and helplessness, or simply adapt and overcome? How would I adapt, and what tools would I use? I already know that the worse thing that could happen is if I lost the ability to use my computer and camera... Especially my computer though-- It's how I make my livelihood as a writer, photojournalist, programmer, and project manager. Roger is also in the same boat because he never gave up his day job; He STILL and HAS BEEN writing for the Chicago Sun Times since the 1970s. Now his trusty Macbook Pro serves another purpose as well... It gave him his voice back.

Today, on Oprah, Ebert showed off his new computerized voice. This wouldn’t be that amazing; after all, computer generated voices have been around since the original Macintosh debuted in 1984. What makes Ebert’s new voice special is that it was formed entirely out of his old voice, using clips and samples from his previous TV shows.

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Short Documentary in Japan: Life as Dad

In this incredibly moving and beautifully shot entry, Anthony Gilmore shares with us a glimpse into the life of Craig Morrey - a 40 year old American living in Okazaki, Japan. His three-year- old son, Spencer, is severally handicapped with cerebral palsy and requires around the clock care.

via bbc.co.uk

My friend and fellow multimedia extraordinaire Satomi Okane (http://goo.gl/5BlR) produced this here piece. A very moving story and great insight into the challenges of parenthood.

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Japan's top web forum hacked after attacks on Korean skater

TOKYO - Japan's top Internet forum 2channel was offline Tuesday after an apparent mass hacker attack from South Korea over slanderous comments on their Olympic figure skating queen Kim Yu-Na.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that more than 10,000 users had launched a "concerted cyber offensive" and coordinated their attacks through web communities since Monday against the popular site www.2ch.net.

The site, launched in 1999, allows users to post comments on hundreds of topics, from politics and sports to entertainment and manga cartoons, without providing a user name, a model meant to boost online freedom of speech.

But the site has repeatedly become a forum for right-wing nationalists and users posting xenophobic slurs, especially against South Korea and China.

The 2ch forum is Japan's largest online bulletin board by number of users and page views, according to Internet research firm NetRatings Japan.

The site was not accessible on Tuesday, but its search lists showed Japanese-language attacks had earlier been posted against Kim, who beat Japanese rival Mao Asada to take gold at the Vancouver Winter Games.

South Korea's JoongAng Daily reported online that the cyber war was launched on Monday, the anniversary of a 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule that became known as the March First Movement.

South Koreans have often been angered by comments on the messaging forum, including one that called a deadly attack against a South Korean college student in February in Irkutsk "Russia's good deed", Yonhap reported.

The 2ch forum has often drawn controversy at home as some of its anonymous users have posted death threats and verbal attacks against high-profile figures that have led to legal action against the site's operators.

via digital.asiaone.com

Is it just me, or is there a SERIOUS uptick in the right-wing-nationalistic NeoJapan rhetoric lately? I mean I'm used to seeing the loud-ass vans driving around large train stations during holidays, loudly and obnoxiously calling for an end to foreign visas and immigrations into Japan. (when questioned, most of these people say, "oh you're AMERICAN... We mean the OTHER gaijin that are here." "The ones from Asia" Wait... I thought JAPAN was a part of ASIA too... Stupid me and my knowing geography...) WTF?!

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USGS: Chile Earthquake 'Alarming' / Magma

via mag.ma

Wow. First Haiti, now Chilé. 2010 starts with a serious BANG.

I'm wondering if all this is connected somehow. Thoughts?

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