Puck

My ongoing love affair with contemporary Japanese literature manifests itself in a review of In the Miso Soup. The explicit (and feared) sexuality of young Japanese girls, which forms the basis of Murakami’s novel along with a fear of foreign criminals, is analyzed in an article by Christopher Reed. I’ve also recently reviewed Kafka on the Shore by the other Murakami, Haruki. Since writing the Kafka review it has occurred to me that Murakami’s novel very likely refers to the Japanese war criminal and medical experimenter, Dr. Shiri Ishii. See Christopher Reed’s article about this strangely unknown man, “the Japanese Mengele.”

If you’re holding your breath, waiting for the Dems to sweep into power later this year and then proceed to impeach Bush, you’re going to die. There is zero difference between a Democrat and a Republican. We can’t expect a one-party system to bite itself on the ass. It’s up to us to initiate the impeachment process. Not possible, you say? You may be wrong about that. A little known precedent is now the basis of a DIY impeachment movement that started in Minnesota and that has since spread across the country. Check it out! If the atrocities in Iraq and the NSA listening to your phone calls (by order of Bush & Co.) aren’t enough to motivate you into action, read this article by Robert Kennedy, Jr., on how the 2004 election was stolen.