Mimi Loveless’ Neighborhood

Did you know you can buy Alfa Romeo at 3 million JPY? (About 30K USD)? They have a kind of "entry model" nowadays. Actually, I saw a BMW advert with a model in the same price range. It surely is a lot of money, but compared to the price rage their cars usually are in, these models are pretty affordable- Japanese car makers make more expensive vehicles.

Good thing my built-in psycho detector is working properly:-) 

"The most elusive chimera that the CIA persued, with the encouragement of the ISI, was that "moderate" Taliban Pashtuns would rise to denounce Mullah Omar, hand over bin Laden to the Americans, and join a new coalition government in Kabul.
... the reality was that the ISI had no intention of splitting the Taliban, even if it had the power to do so. There were moderates among the Taliban earlier on, but the ISI had betrayed them to Mullah Omar long ago."

"Descent into Chaos" by Ahmed Rashid

Seriously. Maybe I should take a "no high-tech stuff weekend" every month. I should be spending more time on reading books, sitting quietly and contemplating on things, listening to music, enjoying a slow meal with people, and generally taking a break from my life ruled by, you know, computers, Internet, Keitai, Xbox 360, iPod Touch, and any other device that might make my superficial part of my life fun and convenient but deprive me of the time to, ah, get connected with more philosophical/ contemplative part of my life.