Monday, October 31, 2005

Sooolll Kaariba...Tsuri!

Today first serious unlocking run in Soul Calibur 3.
Thanks to the folks at gamefaqs (specifically some user named Ninja99), I unlocked all the character classes for create a fighter.
Now I don't have to use the fucking 8 move gimped character classes, I can use Soul of Xianghua!
Dress as a ninja, and still level 1 with pitiful HP, but it's still X, and she still rapes.
Until I hit a level 60 Soul Calibur character. (Curse you 60 Ivy and 60 Cervantes)
Least she doesn't suck like OTHER characters.

I am woefully deficient in clothes however, MUST UNLOCK THEM ALL.

Oh shit I SO have to recreate Hibiki with Setsuka's soul.

Edit:
Setsuka is fucking broken.
Cancellable B throw glitch allowing you to DO ANYTHING TO THEM WHILE THEY ARE IN FALLING ANIMATION, INCLUDING ANOTHER CANCELLED B THROW?
Yes please.
I think I found my new main.
Yes she has more than just throws, her 33_99B is fucking amazing.
Her Counter Hit combos all do 100+, etc etc.
X will probably still be alt.

EDIT FOR LAZY PEOPLE:
Fast Unlockables Oh My!
Infininte money glitch
1. Get some cash.
2. Buy as much as you can in the store.
3. Press select+start to return to start screen while in the store. DO NOT SAVE.
4. Load up a Chronicles of Swords save.
5. Lose as fast as possible.
6. Choose return to title, save your CoS game, notice your money is now back!
7. Repeat 2-6.

Fast discipline/class unlocking (Relatively)
Requirements: 2nd controller
1. Create two different custom class fighters.
2. Change your versus options to one round.
3. Have your fighters play standard vs at 0% (one hit deaths) until you hit 100 matches.
4. Repeat with each pair of classes.
5. Screw gaining levels!

And this is basically how I unlocked lots of stuff on the first day without even getting past stage 5 in chronicles and only beating Tales 5 or so times.
Least my Xianghua was able to get to Night Terror and win =D

Sunday, October 30, 2005

EAT YOUR JAM!

More notes.

Talim was already low tier?
Why'd they kill her even more.
Anyway, WC evades less than it should, WC into A+B, B seems to be everyones favorite combo, from there the B stun CAN be mashed out of, so the launcher follow ups are rather risky.

Quick updates.

Tasofro has updated Eternal Fighter Zero to 4.01 AKA Memorial.
Two new characters (Akiko aka Nayuki's mom and awake Nayuki) and Kanna is now selectable without haxing the game.
Kanna is still cheese, and she banned from all competitive play because she is cheese.
Akiko's level 3 desparation super (No longer called overdrives, now called final memories) is fucking hilarious.

And, away we go!
All stolen from that grump Kalciane, I can't believe someone managed to convince him to keep Eternal Romancia alive =D
Good for them I say.
Nayuki Minase (awakened)

V-Type Thrust: 236+attack
Somersault Spike: 623+attack
Nayu-chan Twister: 214+attack (air-capable)
Nayu-chan Kick: 412+attack (air-capable) [this is a typo; it's 421]

Eterny Special
Ground to Air Freezer: 236236+attack
Super Nayu-chan Kick: 214214+attack (air only)
Memories of the Snow Rabbit or some shit: 641236+attack [F, HCF]

Final Memory
Totteoki no Collection: 236236+S

Akiko Minase
Freshness of the Food is Important: 236+attack
Let's Finish Preparation Quickly: 623+attack (repeat two more times for normal, 5 times for EX) [NOTE: The first two inputs are done on the same side, the third input is reversed. For the EX version, the first two are done on the same side, and every subsequent command is alternating, so if you were facing right, you would do 623C, 623C, 421C, 623C, 421C)
Don't Panic No Matter What: 214+attack
Cleaning Briskly: 41236+attack

Eterny Special
Let's Fail Next [what]: 236236+attack
Mischief is Useless?: 214214+attack
This is the Secret to a Second's Approval: 641236+attack [F, HCF]

Final Memory
Times When It is Not Sweet: 2A2BC

Character Changes
Ayu: Air EX 623 changed, scimitar goes down now.

Shiori: EX 214 changed, only one snowman comes out and he turns into a cold vortex.

Kaori: You can use Leg Smasher now (2C while in 66) [Haven't been able to get it myself, and the few times I did what looks like a normal sweep]

Makoto: j.C changed, and now has an added normal j.2C which was her old j.C. Nikuman is now 263S.

Mishio: Moves added. She now has elemental-aligned 623 (will drop the element once done) and 6C in Fire mode, a natural launcher. This move is quite good, I played around with a bit.

Mai: Loli Fireball is now Loli Electric Spark. Ugh, nerfed. (Loli Punch is also now Loli Stick Whack, but that was too minor for them to document, apparently)

Sayuri: Magical On Stage is now 22AD not 22AC. Also, Starball only hits once regardless of distance. What. (The multi-hitting Starball was actually neat, why'd they change it)

Mizuka: Smash and Sympathy (the hopping attack) is now 421, not 63214. Pitch and Bend (236 without violin bow) has a C version; it pushes the bow away from you. Tone and Setup B and C (F note) are changed: B will create a single treble-clef note that can be popped once, and C creates a triplet note that bounces around scattering more notes.

Nanase: Her Overdrive (Final Memory) deals 50% less damage when in red life. (Whose redlife, it doesn't say.)

Akane: Aegis Reflector changed. Only hits once for high stun, and doesn't home in but has set distances.

Misaki: Reversal is now 22A or 22B. Air 214AB added.

Mio: Short-range: B Whip added. You can continue this into A Whip. Long-range: Press S to fly briefly. You can keep doing this and you don't lose airdashes from it. Storm-style runaway! Gay.

Mayu: 236A only goes into Ferret Uppercut or something now. 214A followups are altered somehow. Overdrive is now 23693S, not something insane.

EX Mizuka: Followups to 236 were added to the air version. Fly glitch removed (undocumented).

Misuzu: 421 (Poison) is changed; they both send sparks far away that drift to the enemy. A sends them upwards, B sends them behind, C sends two upwards. Feather super is 1-level only now. Book activation area is larger (undocumented).

Kano: Dives nerfed majorly. Something happened to her 236, 421, and 214 moves, but I'm not sure what.

Michiru (no, not Minagi): 623 moves added. Headbounce is now 421. 236236 changed. Dash C is an overhead. EX Michiru Kick wallbounces if close enough. Michiru Kick knocks down.

Doppel: You can add right or left to her throws now. Jin-Mode causes your super meter to remain constant.

There are no notes for Sleepy Nayuki or Ikumi. I know for a fact Ikumi's dust loop has been nerfed, though (see previous post). VMan says her clone supers are different in terms of timing/spacing, but this doesn't really make up for it, and they seem to be the same to me.

The guard meter system seems to be gone completely. The bars are at the top, but nothing changes them.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Soul Calibur III

WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO THE TALIM?
AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!???
I DON'T KNOW YOU ANYMORE /CRY

WHERE'S THE AA AUTOSTEP WIND CHARMER?
WHERE'S THE 33A OUT OF WIND CHARMER?
HELL, WHERE'S WIND CHARMER 2?
WHERE'S 33A'S RANGE?
WHERE'S BB INTO WIND CHARMER?
HELL WHERE'S BB ANYTHING?
NO A, DODGE, OR K FOLLOW-UPS BB YOU ARE USELESS!
WHY DOES 3A NOT GO DIRECTLY IN TO AA ANYMORE?
IS AAfBA SUPPOSED TO REPLACE AA?
DO THEY REALIZE THE LAST A IS DUCKABLE NO MATTER WHAT?
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO USE WIND CHARMER WITH THAT LAME SHIT IF I KEEP GETTING DUCKED ON THE LAST HIT AND PUNISHED?

MUCH GNASHING OF TEETH.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

I always felt guilty being with you, having fun, while the rest of my race was dead. At least I can...join...them...now...

Yeah finished Riviera a couple days ago.
I could wish for a longer ending...but whatever.
<3 Serene, I will absolutely have to draw something, even when I'm so lazy already.

Now that I have finished Riviera, I can turn my eyes toward a long delayed project...
A full translation of Leaf's tactics game, Utawareru Mono, translated as Not Quite Human.
This means I will attempt to translate every little bit of damn kanji and hiragana in the game, from options to omake to the battle system to the tutorials.

I have no idea how long this will take me, I've translated the entire starting screen options and their sub-options with the exceptions of the tutorials.
I also have the basic script up to the first choice translated, good thing the choice doesn't really matter at all.
Thank god this isn't one of those multi-ending things; I don't think I could tolerate multiple playthroughs.

Edit: Oh, I finally have a PS2...hell if I'm going to play it any time soon (Ugh, must relearn to solder or something for mod chip -_-)

Friday, October 21, 2005

FF3 DS

Watch me directly link an image from Insert Credit, thus owning their bandwidth.
Oh wait who am I kidding, no one visits here.

Anyway, holy shit.
DO THIS FOR FF6 ALREADY!
NOW NOW NOW NOW!

Harvest Moon PSP
Same deal, crazy 3D graphics of old loved games on hand helds.
PSP and DS are scarily powerful.

FATALITY

Blood on the Carpet
The main site is comprehensive though.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Buri

OMFG<, Yukinose finally has returned to GGXX!
Who cares if it's to play SLASH now, BOUT TIME DORK!

Bang!

Hunting Ducks.
Yes, this is old.
Sue me.

New GBA game by Sting.

Screenshots and stuff of the madness at GameWatch.

How do they find people to do such adorable character designs?
Seems like the cards used to battle are being designed by the Riviera artist, Sunaho Tobe, while character designs are by some new guy Satoko Kiyuzuki.

Gundam

The first Japanese space tourist wants to go into space wearing a Char Aznable (Gundam original!) suit.

Are you OK?

SNK has gone and made a KOF dating sim for cell phones called Days of Memories.

Gainax is releasing a figure line of the angels as cute girls.
Kaworu with boobs included.

Vote on which is more disturbing!

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Spaghetique tomatique basilique!

Look at me, I'm a wanna-be Allan.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
(3 turns around the pan)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. bay scallops, drained well (you honestly might want more scallops)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained well
2 cups fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips (nothing wrong with dicing them)
8 oz. angel hair pasta, cooked until al dente

Place a large skillet over medium heat.
Add oil and heat 1 minute.
Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add scallops, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 3 minutes or until opaque.
Add tomatoes and basil and heat for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Add pasta to the pan and toss to combine well.

Tada.
By the way, the title of this post comes from a French comedy about homosexuality, which I have forgotten the name of.
The main character has an infinitely dorky, according to his son, way of talking about the only dish he can make.
Hence, "Spaghetique, tomatique, basilique!"

Friday, October 14, 2005

Hori

Hori makes a bloody PORING mouse.
I know at least half a dozen people squealing right now.
Ragnarok Online is Satan people!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I do love noodles...

Oldest noodles found in China.

Shaman King

So I heard Shaman King was/is pretty good, and went out and downloaded all the translations I could find.
Then I realized [UR]DAN of #lurk had 32 volumes of raws, so I got all the raws after the scanlations finished.
I avidly read/picture skimped/dictionary used through all those volumes until 32.
At 32 I basically went, "Huh?" and then checked JP and english sites.
Seems like 32 was the FINAL volume.

And so...I am left with this hideously bitter taste in my mouth.
The manga just CUTS OFF at volume 32, with like a couple pages of epilogue.
The main villain is never confronted, they're in the middle of a series of fights which just STOP after they all go to sleep, and the manga just STOPS.
Did the guy really need that much of a break?
People blame Jump Shueishia, but I don't buy that bullshit, I think the guy burnt out.
BUT STILL, he could have paused it until he was ready, not fucking cut it off in the HORRIBLE HORRIBLE way he did.

I feel robbed of the time I invested in this manga and its characters and story line.

Think of Bleach ending when "Bad guy mysteriously vanished and everyone lived together in Soul Society happily ever after."
It's that level of getting kicked in the proverbial groin.

BAH.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Unicef bombs the smurfs

I, I don't know what to say...


And:
An American in chains

Ugh.
Whenever I hear how badly the war in Iraq is going, I instinctively get annoyed, because it had valid points, and because no one said it would be easy.
They're fighting the good fight over there.
Leave that place alone and you get more planes into buildings.

But shit like the second link doesn't sit well at all with me and my view of the government.

HACKS

Yes I'm overriding my initial birthday post so fast with political nonsense, but an article linked on Mefi originally linked from The New Republic intrigued me.
Since it requires registration, I'm going to provide it for you instead.
Geez christ, I'm having problems finding a job, maybe I should date his daughters...

The events of the past months have awakened the press to the true nature of the Bush administration. It is overrun with hacks--that is, government officials with waifish resumés padded like the Michelin man, whose political connections have won them important national responsibilities. But, in the face of this rush to flay the Bush hacks, we should consider their achievements.

To fully appreciate the virtues of this administration, we must first recall the administration that came before. Back in the 1990s, Bill Clinton recruited a small army of Arkansans and Rhodes scholars to the West Wing. Although there was the occasional kindergarten buddy who was out of his depth, most of these FOBs (friends of Bill) were insufferable wonks who never let you forget their dense resumés. President Bush put his finger on the smug mindset of these Clinton meritocrats when he said, "They're all of a sudden smarter than the average person because they happen to have an Ivy League degree."

Now we can consider this problem solved. The Bush era has taken government out of the hands of the hyper-qualified and given it back to the common man. This new breed may not have what the credentialists sneeringly call "relevant experience." Their alma maters may not always be "accredited." But they have something the intellectual snobs of yore never had: loyalty. If not loyalty to country, then at least loyalty to party and to the guy who got them the job. And their loyalty has been rewarded: Even if they fail, they know they can move up the chain until they find a job they can succeed in or until a major American city is destroyed, whichever comes first.

The hackocracy, of course, reflects the virtues of its architect, George W. Bush. Like Michael Brown and lesser known hacks, the president hasn't allowed personal setbacks to stymie him. The old-fashioned values of fortitude and family have given him the strength to rebound from a doomed oil company called Arbusto, a doomed congressional candidacy, and catastrophic failures at Harken Energy. That may be why, while cronies populate every presidency, no administration has etched the principles of hackocracy into its governing philosophy as deeply as this one. If there's an underappreciated corner of the bureaucracy to fill, it has found just the crony (or college roommate of a crony), party operative (or cousin of a party operative) to fill it. To honor this achievement, we've drawn up a list of the 15 biggest Bush administration hacks--from the highest levels of government to the civil servant rank and file. The tnr 15 is a diverse group--from the assistant secretary of commerce who started his career by supplying Bush with Altoids to the Republican National Committee chair-turned-Veterans Affairs secretary who forgot about wounded Iraq war vets--but they all share two things: responsibility and inexperience.

Although he could not possibly have envisioned what Bush has accomplished, Theodore Roosevelt delivered the single most poetic appreciation of this hackocratic style: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again...."

Bush, who may or may not be familiar with the Bull Moose, has lived and governed by this dictum. Never before have we so rewarded the valiant striver who comes up short by placing the fate of the nation in his hands. Never before have so many gotten so far with so little.

15: Israel Hernandez
Assistant Secretary for Trade Promotion and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, Department of Commerce (confirmation pending)

Fresh out of college and seeking a job on George W. Bush's 1994 Texas gubernatorial campaign, Israel Hernandez showed up an hour early for his interview with the candidate. Impressed by his punctuality, Bush hired Hernandez within days and eventually invited him to live with the Bush family in their Dallas home, where Hernandez reportedly became like an older brother to Jenna and Barbara Bush. Serving as Bush's travel aide for the next few years, "He was always there with the Altoids, the speech box, the schedule, whatever I needed," Bush later wrote in his autobiography. After getting a master's degree at (where else?) the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M (named after H.W.), Hernandez--or, as Bush called him, "Altoid Boy"--joined Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and later worked in the White House as an assistant to Karl Rove. There, he helped choreograph Bush's events and was once made part of the first lady's official delegation on a trip to Europe so that he could keep an eye on Jenna. All of which, apparently, was good preparation for managing more than 1,800 employees in more than 80 countries, because, earlier this year, Bush nominated the 35-year-old Hernandez to serve as an assistant secretary of Commerce and to run the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, the federal government's key export promotion agency.



14: Andrew Maner
Chief Financial Officer, Department of Homeland Security

Andrew Maner comes to his job with unimpeachable credentials--not in finance or accounting, admittedly, but as a dues-payer in the Bush family empire. In the first Bush administration, Maner helped to plan presidential travel and served as a junior press aide. Later, he followed the defeated George H.W. Bush back to Texas to be a spokesman and political fixer for the ex-president. After several private sector years working in information technology and procurement, he took over the U.S. Customs Office of Trade Relations, whose mission is to foster "positive relationships with the international trade community." Billing himself as a trade expert, Maner called the Customs gig a "logical next step in [my] career." Less logical, however, was his leap (after a short stint as chief of staff to the Customs commissioner) to managing DHS's sprawling $40 billion budget. Given his slim management background, it's convenient that Maner landed the only Cabinet department CFO slot that doesn't require Senate confirmation. Perhaps it also explains why, when DHS officials recently unveiled a revamped organizational chart, Maner's office was accidentally omitted. (Hack bonus: "Of all the things we do in the Department, charts may not be our strength," said the Department's undersecretary for management, Janet Hale.)



13: Claire Buchan
Chief of Staff, Department of Commerce

As deputy press secretary at the White House, Claire Buchan gained a reputation as a kept-in-the-dark spokesbot who was often relegated to baby-sitting reporters on long trips. But all that changed last spring, when Buchan was promoted to chief of staff at the Commerce Department, where she now helps the secretary oversee a $6.3 billion budget and some 38,000 employees. Buchan owes this stroke of good fortune to her years in the Bush family trenches. Previously, she served as a public affairs underling for the Treasury Department under former President Bush, a flack for the Republican National Committee, and (during the Clinton years) an image czar for the lawn care, extermination, and appliance repair company ServiceMaster. Some of Buchan's erstwhile colleagues in the White House press corps were left speechless when her new assignment was announced in February. One White House reporter who worked closely with Buchan for five years called her "the most useless in a Bush universe of enforced uselessness. She took empty banality to a new low."



12: Paul Hoffman
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Department of the Interior

Paul Hoffman is an avid angler, hunter, skier, and horseman. So it was only natural to tap this former chief of the Chamber of Commerce in Cody, Wyoming, (population 9,000) to help run the National Park Service. Sure, Hoffman had no parks experience other than recreating in them and, as head of the Cody Chamber, advocating for more snowmobiles in nearby Yellowstone National Park. But he had spent four years in the 1980s working as the state director for then-Wyoming Representative Dick Cheney. Since arriving at the Interior Department in 2002, Hoffman has demonstrated a knack for thinking outside the box. In April 2003, he went against the wishes of the staff of Yellowstone and asked the U.N. World Heritage Committee to remove the park from its "In Danger List." Last year, he overruled geologists at the Grand Canyon National Park and instructed the park's visitor centers to stock a creationist book that explained how God made the canyon 6,000 years ago, ordering up a flood to wipe out "the wickedness of man." And, this year, Hoffman pushed for wholesale revisions to the Park Service's management policies. Instead of giving priority to protecting natural resources, Hoffman proposed that managers emphasize multiple uses for their parks--including snowmobiling, Jet-Skiing, grazing, drilling, and mining. After Hoffman's proposed reforms set off a firestorm of criticism from Park Service employees and members of Congress--"The inmates are in charge of the asylum," one Park Service retiree complained--the Bush administration claimed that Hoffman's suggestions were "no longer in play" and that he had merely been playing "devil's advocate."



11: Patrick Rhode
Acting Deputy Director Federal Emergency Management Agency

As acting deputy director of fema, 36-year-old Patrick Rhode had, until recently, the unenviable job of backstopping the hapless Michael Brown, a man who needed much backstopping. Unfortunately, it's not clear that Rhode is much more qualified than Brown to be managing the nation's worst disasters. Before joining fema, the biggest disaster he had helped manage was the Small Business Administration (see Hector Barreto)--and even that was something of a stretch. Rhode entered federal government in 2001 as deputy director of advance operations for the Bush White House, a job he had also held for Bush's 2000 campaign. Never fear, though: Rhode has covered disasters--as a TV anchor for local network affiliates in Alabama and Arkansas, in which capacity he developed "an acute interest in what responders do in times of crises." Perhaps not acute enough. He recently said that >fema's response to Katrina was "probably one of the most efficient and effective responses in the country's history."



10: Steven Law
Deputy Secretary, Department of Labor

Since 2004, Steven Law has helped run a department with 17,000 employees and an annual budget of over $50 billion. Pretty good for a guy who started out as a lowly Capitol Hill legislative aide. In 1990, Law's boss, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, tapped him to serve as campaign manager for his reelection race. Law didn't disappoint, running a notably nasty campaign that insinuated McConnell's Democratic opponent was both mentally ill and a drug addict. Law returned to Washington as McConnell's chief of staff, and, six years later, when McConnell was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he made Law the group's executive director, relying on him for help in vacuuming up campaign contributions for Republican Senate candidates and thwarting campaign finance reform legislation. In each job he did for McConnell, Law proved to be an unusually dedicated--and worshipful--worker. Asked once by Campaigns & Elections to name his political heroes, Law answered: "Ronald Reagan, for his vision of America; Abraham Lincoln, for his moral statesmanship; and Mitch McConnell, for his principle and tenacity." It was little wonder, then, that, in 2001, the newly appointed Labor Secretary Elaine Chao--who happens to be McConnell's wife--hired Law as her chief of staff, a stepping stone to his current position; after all, once you've found such loyal help, you want to keep it in the family.



9: Hal Stratton
Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission

A former state representative and attorney general in New Mexico, Hal Stratton never asked for his current job, protecting American citizens from such dangers as lead-laced toy jewelry and flammable Halloween costumes. Instead, the former geology major who went on to co-chair the local Lawyers for Bush during the 2000 campaign initially wanted a job in the Interior Department. "That didn't work out," he told the Albuquerque Journal, "but I told them, 'Don't count me out' ... and they came up with this." "This" being the not-unimportant position of deciding which of 15,000 types of consumer products pose a health risk and might need to be recalled. Shortly before Stratton's confirmation hearing, Senator Ron Wyden expressed concern that Stratton "has no demonstrable track record on public safety." (Bill Clinton's cpsc chief, Ann Brown, spent 20 years as a consumer advocate and served as vice president of the Consumer Federation of America.) But now he does have a track record: rare public hearings and a paucity of new safety regulations, as well as regular (often industry-sponsored) travels to such destinations as China, Costa Rica, Belgium, Spain, and Mexico. But at least Stratton won't let personal bias influence him: Despite saying that he wouldn't let his own daughters play with water yo-yos--rubber toys that are outlawed in several countries because of concerns that children could be strangled by them--he refused to ban them in the United States.



8: Mark McKinnon
Member, Broadcasting Board of Governors (confirmation pending)

The Broadcasting Board of Governors oversees Voice of America and other U.S. media beamed to the Middle East; and, in the spirit of accurately representing the United States, it reserves seats for members of both major political parties. For one of the four Democratic slots, President Bush recently nominated Mark McKinnon, or "M-Cat" as he affectionately calls him. M-Cat's Democratic credentials, however, are somewhat wanting. McKinnon's career highlights include overseeing media strategy for Bush's two presidential bids, in which capacity he masterminded a spot predicting that John Kerry would "Weaken [the] Fight Against Terrorists." And, in last year's campaign, his company, Maverick Media, accepted over $177 million in fees from Bush and the Republican National Committee--money we assume was not intended to help return the Democrats to power.



7: Stewart Simonson
Assistant Secretary for Public Health and Emergency Preparedness, Department of Health and Human Services

According to his official biography, Stewart Simonson is the Health and Human Services Department's point man "on matters related to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies." Hopefully, he has taken crash courses on smallpox and avian flu, because, prior to joining HHS in 2001, Simonson's background was not in public health, but ... public transit. He'd previously been a top official at the delay-plagued, money-hemorrhaging passenger rail company Amtrak. Before that, he was an adviser to Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, specializing in crime and prison policy. When Thompson became HHS secretary in 2001, he hired Simonson as a legal adviser and promoted him to his current post shortly before leaving the Department last year. Simonson's biography boasts that he "supervised policy development for Project BioShield," a program designed to speed the manufacture of crucial vaccines and antidotes. "That effort, however, has by most accounts bogged down and shown few results," The Washington Post reported last month.

6: Hector Barreto
Administrator, Small Business Administration

No one can accuse Hector Barreto of being unfamiliar with small business. His Los Angeles firm, Barreto Insurance & Financial Services Company, had only ten employees. Alas, now that he is in charge of a bigger operation--the Small Business Administration (SBA) has over 3,000 employees, a budget of about $600 million, and a portfolio of loans totaling $45 billion--Barreto is struggling. Last year, the SBA failed to notify Congress that it needed additional funding for its largest and most popular loan program and was forced to temporarily shutter it because, as Barreto's spokesperson explained, it was "out of money." Meanwhile, the SBA was doing such a poor job managing the $5 billion in loans the government set aside to help small businesses recover from September 11 that, according to an Associated Press investigation, the vast majority of the money went to businesses not affected by the terrorist attacks--including a South Dakota country radio station, a Utah dog boutique, and more than 100 Dunkin' Donuts and Subway sandwich shops. Last month, the Senate Small Business Committee, prompted by complaints from Gulf Coast small-business owners, held hearings on the SBA's response to Hurricane Katrina. Barreto pledged that his agency would approve Katrina-related loans in days, not months, but a SBA deputy conceded in late September that, out of 12,000 loan applications from small businesses affected by the hurricane, the SBA had so far approved only 76.



5: David Wilkins
American Ambassador to Canada

An unspoken rule dictates that politically appointed ambassadors should be seen and not heard--or, at the very least, not heard provoking international incidents with close U.S. allies. But David Wilkins--a former South Carolina legislator whose chief contribution to world affairs before this year was raising $200,000 for President Bush's 2004 campaign--is not one to stand on ceremony. Though he'd only been to Canada once (Niagara Falls) prior to his nomination in April, the Bush Ranger assured Congress that "I won't be afraid to talk about the tough issues." A man of his word, Wilkins promptly escalated the two countries' dispute over softwood lumber by accusing Canadians of being overly emotional and by threatening an all-out trade war that would have affected multiple industries, from broadcasting to eggs. The Canadian government fought back, however, and, although generally disinclined toward mea culpas--"You talking about regrets by the United States?" he asked a Canadian reporter with incredulity--Wilkins eventually admitted his approach to the lumber dispute had been flawed. "My attempt to bring the emotion down increased the emotion," he said. To demonstrate his diplomatic sensitivity, he continues to open speeches with a jolly, "Bonjour, y'all!"



4: Jim Nicholson
Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs

In contrast to the four most recent VA heads--who had previously held leadership positions with Disabled American Veterans, the Department of Defense, a state-level VA department, and VA itself--Jim Nicholson brings a refreshing lack of experience to veterans' advocacy. Although he is one of the country's 25 million military veterans, Nicholson--who, after Vietnam, went into real-estate law and development in Colorado--is best known as a campaign veteran. He chaired the Republican National Committee from 1997 to 2000, raising close to $380 million for the 2000 cycle. In Bush's first term, Nicholson was rewarded with the ambassadorship to the Holy See. But he traded vespers for vets last February, joining his brother John, who was already head of the National Cemetery Administration. In June, he admitted that VA had underestimated the number of veterans who would be seeking medical treatment this year by nearly 80,000 because it had failed to take into account the surge in enrollment by veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts--13,700 of whom have suffered blown-off limbs, bullet wounds, and the like. The miscalculation was a surprise to Congress, since Nicholson had written on April 5: "I can assure you that VA does not need [additional money] to continue to provide timely, quality service." Republican House Appropriations Committee Chair Jerry Lewis said VA's failure to identify the problem and notify Congress earlier "borders on stupidity."



3: Rear Admiral Cristina Beato
Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services

In June 2004, Cristina Beato admitted to her hometown newspaper that she hadn't paid much attention to the details of her resumé. That's too bad, because those silly little details seem to have stalled her confirmation for assistant secretary for health for over two years now. Beato said she earned a master's of public health in occupational medicine from the University of Wisconsin (but the university doesn't even offer that degree). She claimed to be "one of the principal leaders who revolutionized medical education in American universities by implementing the Problem Based learning curriculum" (but the curriculum was developed while Beato was still a medical student). She listed "medical attaché" to the American Embassy in Turkey as a job she held in 1986 (but that position didn't exist until 1995). She also boasted that she had "established" the University of New Mexico's occupational health clinic (but the clinic existed before she was hired, and there was even another medical director before her). For her part, Beato has offered a simple explanation: English is her third language, after French and her native Spanish, and sometimes the language barrier is just too much to handle. How does one say "pants on fire" in Spanish?



2: John Pennington
Director, Region Ten, Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Pacific Northwest is a catastrophe-prone area-- from tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in Washington and Oregon to wildfires in Idaho and oil pipeline ruptures in Alaska. That's why former Washington Representative Jennifer Dunn knew that fema needed "a natural" to head its disaster response efforts in the region. And that's exactly what Dunn said she found in 38-year-old John Pennington. Pennington would have to be a natural, given his utter lack of disaster-relief experience. A former state representative who ran a coffee business with his wife in rural Washington, Pennington served as Cowlitz County co-chairman of the Bush campaign in 2000. Dunn, who had been the Bush campaign's state chairperson, approached Pennington about the fema post, to which he was appointed in 2001. Alas, in the wake of former fema Director Michael Brown's resignation, Pennington's disaster of a resumé has come under increasing scrutiny. Last month, The Seattle Times reported that, just before he was appointed to his fema post, Pennington received his bachelor's degree from an unaccredited California correspondence school that federal investigators later described as a "diploma mill." Pennington's defenders have responded to questions about his qualifications by arguing that he has surrounded himself with competent staff.



1: Harriet Miers
White House Counsel, Nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

When we started researching this guide to the Bush hackocracy, nobody was sure who would wind up as number one. Competition was fierce. From under every bureaucratic rock, out scurried a Bush buddy. But we endeavored to be fair. There was spirited debate over the nuances between merely mediocre officials blindly loyal to the president and those with a demonstrated history of incompetence. (Alas, Andrew Card wound up on the cutting room floor.) Some argued that, by our own strict criteria, the president himself should be judged the number-one hack, but our deference to the wisdom of the electorate kept him off the list.

Truth be told, Harriet Miers could have easily slipped through quality control. But fate intervened. On Monday, Bush nominated Miers, the personal lawyer who fixed the paperwork on his fishing cabin, to the Supreme Court of the United States. Suddenly, it was no longer a competition. "I picked the best person I could find," Bush said Tuesday. And so have we.

We'd like to think that our process was slightly less arbitrary than the president's. Judging such matters is admittedly subjective, but if one were to express hackishness as a formula, it would look something like the adjacent equation.

Miers's croniness quotient is high. After all, the president has given her five jobs over the past eleven years. And senior White House aides have repeatedly remarked about her devotion to Bush. A Bush official's Danger to the Republic factor can generally be gleaned by the importance of his or her new job. And, while we grant that some unqualified candidates have turned out to be capable justices (see Jeffrey Rosen, "Judge Not,"), Miers's lifetime appointment to the highest position Bush is authorized to fill is like winning the hack lotto.

What, then, about Miers's qualifications? This is where she left the competition in the dust. Take, for example, her two-year stint on the Dallas City Council. Although she may not have been guided by any awe-inspiring understanding of constitutional law, she is credited with calming down a crowd of protesters after a county commissioner punched a police officer.

In announcing his choice, Bush pointed to her storied career as chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission. Although the Commission has historically not produced many Supreme Court justices, Bush has reason to be pleased with her lottery service. Miers may not have dealt with issues like civil rights or the death penalty, but she dealt with bingo. As chairman, she opined that she wanted all bingo-related games "to look and feel and smell like the game of bingo," which seems like a reasonable position.

Miers's solid job at the Lottery Commission and her other work for Bush catapulted her into the upper ranks of the White House. After three years as staff secretary, she beat out Brett M. Kavanaugh, a bright conservative lawyer with a John Roberts-like resumé, for the job of White House counsel. It was this job that positioned her to lead Bush's search for a court nominee.

This is quite a resumé, even before getting to some of Miers's legal writings. A search of the Nexis news database returns three articles by Miers. One is an opinion piece urging legislative calm in the wake of a string of deadly shootings. The second reveals Miers, who ran the corporate law firm of Locke Liddell & Sapp, to be an expert on a legal issue of great importance to the American people: managing the merger of two firms. The final article is a 1996 ABA Journal piece advertising the American Bar Association's new telephone seminars. "If you have heard any of the buzzwords of product promotions lately," she writes cheerfully, "we hope you will spot 'ABA Connection.'"

In hindsight, Harriet Miers was always the obvious choice for the Supreme Court. She is the logical conclusion of the unchecked Bush administration hackocracy. Bush's case for Miers actually rests on her being a crony. "Because of our closeness," he said Tuesday, "I know the character of the person."

In Federalist No. 76, Alexander Hamilton warned that, in presenting nominations to the Senate, a president "would be both ashamed and afraid" to nominate cronies--or, as Hamilton called them, "obsequious instruments of his pleasure." Maybe politics was different back in the 1780s, but we have watched Bush appoint many obsequious instruments of his pleasure. It may be his legacy: George W. Bush--he took the shame and fear out of cronyism.

Zhu ni sheng ri kwai le.

Happy birthday to me.
22.
I'm not going to bother to reflect on the past year, cause it'll just make me sad.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Disgaea 2

Ok, concrete news this time.
DISGAEA 2!
I don't think Harada is still doing the character designs...
Looks different...
New hero named Adel, heroine named Rosalind.
Etna is back too, all 1473 years of her.

Slash

GGXX Slash is out, blah de blah

http://www.trftrf.com/
http://www.a-cho.com/match/never_link_2_moviefiles/index.html
http://page.freett.com/masakichi0000/
http://rapidshare.de/files/5679271/Intro.wmv.html
http://photobucket.com/albums/v417/WtW_Suzaku/GGXXSLASH/Endings/
http://blue.ap.teacup.com/applet/ggnews/20050929/archive

No hotlinks cause I don't want them to own me.