Wendell, North Carolina

Living in a small town like Wendell is pretty nice. I for one live outside the town limits. Going to work each morning and watching the deer run through my back yard as I make my way to the car, cats sleeping on top of the car and the trees around it as the dogs chase after the deer. From time to time I have caught a opossum sleeping on our back porch.  The part my wife hasn’t gotten use to yet is all the bugs and mosquitoes. They really love biting her. She does love watching the lighting bugs during the summer but after all these years of living here, she still feels like she is in a scary movie if she has to go outside at night and hears strange noises coming from the woods.

The town of Wendell is small but big in heart. When the Food Lion grocery store opened up was cause for a celebration. The store has been remodeled and expanded numerous of time due to the size of the town’s population increasing. A McDonalds opened up not too long ago and just recently went through a remodeling due to so many people trying to even get into the parking lot let alone the service counter was three feet from the front door. 

The local post office is by far the greatest post office I have encountered. And I had to deal with post offices in California and New York with much dread. But here in Wendell they call us if we receive a package. As soon as I go inside the post office they immediately retrieve the package all without asking for the name on the package, they know its for us. And that is due to my wife’s nationality of sorts.

You see, looking at the demographics of the racial makeup of the town of Wendell, it’s not surprising to see that our family sticks out so easily. My wife is Japanese and with our two boys makes the town of Wendell list us as 0.02% of Japanese residence. And to be honest we stick out very clearly in this town. The majority of people who live here are whites, then Blacks or African American depending on your level of political correctness followed by Hispanics.

We clearly stick out in this town. But unlike ALL those Hollywood movies we haven’t experience any negativity or people showing up in front of our house in white sheets burning a cross. This whole area is a farming community. Nearly everyone lives works, or have relatives who deal with farming. With that, the people here have a strong since of family values here. A lot of people around here are more concerned about getting work done, raising the kids right and enjoy what God has given them.

When my wife started living here she had all these ideas of what Southern living was like. Just by all the movies and TV shows showing its stupidity of what Southern people are like. It did take her a while to get use to hunting season and listening to guns going off into the night and early morning. But every negative or persecution she was ready to experience never happened. People waved at us, saying hello, a true Southern hospitality.

Over the past few years the town has been growing ever so slowly compared to larger cities but in a way that’s good. People around here like it nice and quiet. A majority of the stores in town are closed by six PM and even during the night the whole place is as quiet as a mouse. The morning and afternoon times have created rush hour traffic with backups, people unable to turn onto main and side roads as well as the recent move by the town council to lowering the speed limits inside the town to handle the congestion.

The one big thing going for the town now is a TV show called Lizard Lick Towing that comes on the TruTV Network. Lot of us around here watched it for a while but quickly got bored watching it as we kept seeing a lot of people we know on the show. And many of them talked about being paid to act that way for the cameras. The place is also a car dealership called Wendell Auto Brokers located at the corner of Marshburn Road and HWY 97. I pass this way a lot as does many of my relatives who work the fields near there.  Check their business reviews before buying a car from there.

The local Police are always nice and friendly and on constant patrol. Except early mornings when one of them is resting is his car across the street from McDonalds while playing Solitary on the computer. Those screens are clearly visible from the road when it’s still dark outside. People are nice and friendly, Anyone seen doing anything strange will quickly call the police and the next door neighbor to watch. I even sat on my front porch and watched a guy get a speeding ticket. I knew the guy and called his on his cell phone while the police was writing the ticket.

The town is a modern day Mayberry and in many ways I hope it never changes. A by-pass road going around the town would help alleviate the traffic backups through town would be perfect but that could be a problem as more and more houses are being built just outside the town limits leaving all these new home owners having to drive through town to get onto the freeway. I enjoy the smell of weekend cookouts from the neighbors; watching kids playing throughout the town and surrounding area testifying on how safe the area is; looking out into my backyard with my kids in the early morning as deer, raccoons and opossum walk across the yard are just a drop in the ocean on how I feel about living here.

My wife is a city girl and after living here for over ten years now and she still haven’t fully gotten used to it yet. Too quiet and dark during the night, bugs everywhere (mostly on her), animals walking all around our yard and constant phone calls from my family wanting to know how we are doing and if we need anything. Not saying Okinawan families are not close as her family calls every week but my family calls just about every other day.

In all, Wendell is a nice quiet town. Not too big or small and still full of Southern values; God, family and local sports.  

Fullmetal Perfume

Another picture my wife drew of the group Perfume using characters of Fullmetal Alchemist. She had an interest of the group since one of their songs, Polyrhythm, was used in the CARS 2 movie.

Mikie Hara in 3D Video

Map of United Kingdom as a Woman

Original Article here

Chinese Medicine made from Dead Babies

original story here

South Korean media reported that the capsules, which claimed to restore youth, were in fact made from dead infants or fetuses. 

A Chinese health official said Thursday that investigations have been launched in northeastern China after a South Korean media outlet reported that health capsules made from the flesh of dead babies were being exported from the region to South Korea, from China.

Authorities are investigating the matter at the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin province but the investigation is yet to yield results, a Yanbian health official, who declined to be named, told the China-based National Business Daily.

The officials said authorities have information about where the "baby flesh" pills were produced but declined to reveal more.

Deng Haihua, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Health, said Tuesday that the ministry is taking the matter seriously and has asked the Jilin health department to probe the case.

A documentary recently aired on SBS, one of the three major broadcasting companies in South Korea, claimed that some Chinese hospitals sold the corpses of infants to pharmaceutical companies, which were then dried and ground into pills.

The SBS documentary team sent samples of the capsules to South Korea's National Institute of Scientific Investigation for DNA testing. Results showed that DNA in the powder of the capsule was a 99.7% match with human DNA.

Deng said the Ministry of Health was determined to clamp down on sales of human organs and corpses. He said that the handling and disposal of the corpses of infants as well as fetuses and placentas were strictly regulated in China and that hospitals and their staff were prohibited from selling or buying corpses or disposing of them as medical waste.

Traditional Chinese medicine has long held that consuming the placenta of a woman who has given birth can restore and rejuvenate the body.

CLAMP, GACKT Collaborate on Moon Saga Stage Play, Manga

Gackt

The manga creator quartet CLAMP drafted the Moon Saga Yoshitsune Hiden (Moon Saga: The Secret of Yoshitsune) stage play with singer Gackt in the lead role, and the play will run in Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Osaka between July 15 and August 26 of next year.

Gackt will play the title role of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a general who was critical to the Genpei War that inspired the literary classic Heike Monogatari (Tale of the Heike). The play's version of Yoshitsune will possess strange powers.

Before the play opens, there will be a manga series in a Kodansha manga magazine. The producers are then planning to develop the project into anime, game, film, and other venues.

Remembering a Fallen Soldier

It's more than just family and friends effected.

Wife at the beach

It's a good thing I didn't use the x-ray button.

My September 11th Story

September 11, 2001

Another boring day at work. I left for work while my wife took care of our 22 month old and seven month old boys. At the time I was working in the Dairy Department for Food Lion in Zebulon, North Carolina. As I was filling the milk case a customer came by to tell me a plane just hit a building in New York City. A little doubtful at first but then another customer said that he had heard the same thing.

I got out my cell phone to call my wife to see if she could check the news for any info. As she changed the channel I could tell by her silence that something wasn’t right. I could hear her speaking Japanese as she was by now crying. She calmed down to tell me that it was a huge airplane had gone into one of the Twin Towers. Very quickly she screamed out followed by more crying.

 By then I’m walking to the front of the store to see the manager. My wife composed herself to say she just saw on TV another plane flying into the other Tower. I told my wife I had to hang up as I informed my manager what I just heard and he made a phone call to get more info. A couple of minutes later it looked like a store meeting in the front of the store as nearly all the employees and customers were trying to get as much info as possible.

The manager got off the phone asking if anyone had a TV set that they could bring to the store. I told him I did and I can have it here quickly. He told me to go get it and not to clock out. I drove home fast as I listened to news reports of the Pentagon being hit. I was moved to tears. When I got home my wife was camped in front of the living room TV crying her eyes out as I ran past her to get the small 13 inch TV set. Before I left I hugged her and the boys as I told her that everything was going to be OK. She knew as well as I did that I was lying.

I got back to the store and quickly set up the TV to the store intercom, broadcasting throughout the store of everything happening. Customers were coming in just watching the events on TV unfolding as employees came up front to look as well. After a while it was like a ghost town in the store. People were either at home or in the cars listening. Even the most macho of men in the store were crying. The store manager went to a Roses store at the other end of the shopping center and came back with an American Flag to hang in the store window.

People began to talk about going to war and killing those behind the attacks, so much so after seeing many Middle Eastern countries celebrating these attacks. News channels were showing Palestinians cheering, dancing and praising the terrorist. To this day I still think of Palestinians as terrorist supporters. The video images and the way they still act constantly prove me right on this. And these so called ‘friends of America’ give wonderful speeches on how they support America but then they go before the people in their own county to chant for our destruction as they continue supporting the terrorist financially.

 As the President spoke to the Nation that day, nobody was shopping, for that matter doing anything. Nobody talked. Everyone just stood there listening to every word that then President Bush was saying. After the address everyone just looked at each other as the store became alive with nonstop talking about getting those behind these attacks. That afternoon it became very busy as people were stocking up for the long haul. No telling what was going to happen the next day and for that matter the rest of the week. Even employees were setting aside food in the dairy cooler. A few days later one of the grocery stockers quit to enlist into the Army. Couldn’t blame him seeing as everyone wanted to join the service.

As I made it home that night my wife was talking to her family in Okinawa. The most populated American military personnel area outside of America. Every military base on the island was on red alert as every local Okinawan was scared that they could be the next target for the terrorist. But my sister in law said that even as many military vehicles were moving around the island, knowing the situation, many Okinawans were just as mad as the Americans and just as patriotic as well. Scared and ready to do what was needed.

My wife and I hugged for what felt like an eternity, going through many emotions as we watched the images on TV. The next day we drove for nearly the whole day trying to find a place that sold American flags. Department stores like Wal Mart and Target placed signs on the front entrance saying they were out of stock as did grocery, hardware even toy stores were out of stock. Luckily we went to the mall and found the local newspaper stand had a special edition of the newspaper printed with an American flag covering the whole center page. The front window of our house as with many other houses had this newspaper flag hanging up on it.  

The day started out as a carbon copy of the previous days but ended totally different. The events ten years ago made me more aware of whom we call friends and enemies. It made me more patriotic and determined to make this world safer for my family and others. The end of the world is changing. Before there were world wars as all nations fought one another. Then it shrunk down to a few countries fighting each other that lead to just individual people fighting one another.

The danger of this is the technology has gotten to where one person can carry a weapon that causes more damage that what could have been done years ago. The Cold War was scary but predictable. Neither side wanted to die but the each side played their parts. Now it feels like World War Three where individuals are willing to die in killing others who are different to their own belief and lifestyle. I saw countries like Spain surrender to the terrorist after they experienced their own September 11^th. But there are many other Nations that still stand by America. Nations of different faiths, laws cultural differences and lifestyles realizing that if the terrorist win, we could lose more than the freedoms we so much enjoy.

LUCIE LUKE: [LIVE REPORT] GACKT YELLOW FRIED CHICKENZ WORLD TO...

LUCIE LUKE: [LIVE REPORT] GACKT YELLOW FRIED CHICKENZ WORLD TO...: Revamped, but not too much.

Solar Weather or Global Warming?

Original link here

Just as many Americans got back to work after the long Labor Day weekend, the sun jolted to life as well, unleashing a massive solar flare just one day after another sun storm sent a stream of particles racing toward Earth.

The X-class solar flare — the most powerful type of sun storm— erupted at 6:12 p.m. EDT (2212 GMT) on Tuesday (Sept. 6) and hit its peak strength eight minutes later, according to a space weather update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The flare occurred less than 24 hours after another less intense but still dramatic solar storm.

Several different satellites watched the action unfold, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which constantly records high-definition videos of the sun in several different wavelengths. The Tuesday event registered as an X2.1-class solar flare, while Monday's storm topped out at a still-powerful M5, NOAA officials said. Strong solar flares are classified according to a three-tiered system: X-class flares are the most powerful, M-class are of medium strength and C-class are the weakest.

Researchers are still taking the measure of the big Tuesday sun storm. It may also have produced a coronal mass ejection (CME) aimed at Earth, researchers said, but as of Tuesday evening it was too early to tell.

CMEs are massive clouds of solar plasma that can streak through space at up to 3 million mph (5 million kph). CMEs that hit Earth can wreak havoc on our planet, causing disruptions in GPS signals, radio communications and power grids.

Monday's event, which took place at 9:50 p.m. EDT (0150 GMT on Tuesday), did spawn a CME. It was a relatively slow one, traveling at less than 720,000 mph (1.2 million kph), NASA officials said. And even if this cloud of charged particles hits Earth in a few days' time, it likely won't cause much damage.

"This CME is not expected to cause significant geomagnetic storm activity, and further analysis is currently underway to better refine the CME timing and magnitude," officials at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center wrote in an update Tuesday.

Monday's M5 solar flare erupted from the middle of the sun's disk as seen from Earth's perspective. The explosion caused a slight increase in solar energetic protons about 26,000 miles (41,840 kilometers) above the Earth's surface, NASA officials said.

The powerful storms unleashed on Monday and Tuesday aren't isolated incidents. Solar activity has been ramping up over the last few months as the sun has roused itself from an extended quiescent phase in its 11-year activity cycle.

Just last month, for example, the sun let loose with an X6.9 solar flare, which was the most powerful solar storm since December 2006, NASA scientists said. That storm, which erupted Aug. 9, also generated a CME, but it was not aimed at Earth. Another powerful event, an X2.2-class flare, occurred on Feb. 15 of this year. Tuesday's X2.1 was the third most powerful flare of 2011.

Scientists expect activity in the current cycle — known as Solar Cycle 24 — to peak around 2013

Gackt - Military Love Letter (English subtitle)

A slideshow of our servise men and women in love. The song is called 'Love Letter' by Gackt

Unified Korea 2012

A couple of days ago I chatted with a few friends from Korea who informed me of a few things taking place in Korea. Behind the scenes sort of thing. Normally if someone else had told me this I would have seriously doubted them but seeing as the type of job position they hold and the people they meet everyday, I knew it to be true.

Sometime in 2012, a date is yet to be set, the proverbial wall that separates North and South Korea will be torn down. The Korean War that has not officially ended since it began in 1950 will finally come to an end allowing governments on either sides to officially begin working together to unite the country.

Much the same way that happened in Berlin, Germany in 1989. Once the wall came down, both governments began to reunify the country. And events are in preparation to take place in Korea for 2012.