Category: Anime

Monday Links

July 29, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This is going to be a tab-clearing edition as the Ward household has been out of state for the past couple of weeks.

Let’s start with our normal Reason links.

A bunch of redditors who hate Christians decided to sic Florida’s DCF folks on a family. A good example of how an online mob can whip itself into a frenzy and cause real world havoc.

More analysis on the lasting impacts of the school shutdowns during COVID.

Michigan Supreme Court tells Detroit their civil asset forfeiture program is wrong. No idea if they will block Detroit from working with the feds to sidestep any restrictions.

Thinkpiece on the FTC and its unconstitutional power grabs. This is another symptom of Congress not doing its damned job and putting in some guardrails on the FTC. But then again, the incentives for Congress is to let the FTC run wild and demagogue.

Over 1 million people have fled Cuba in the last couple of years. Apparently, this is around 10% of the population. But it’s supposed to be such a paradise.

A pilot of Universal Basic Income found it didn’t help people work more. UBI is one of those ideas I like in concept on the premise that its better to let people make their own decisions with their money. Unfortunately, society can’t stand by when people make bad decisions with their money. So, I can’t see how UBI is going to work.

Kamala’s Gen Z appeal is not what it appears to be. You’ll excuse me if I’m unimpressed by the youngins new fads when it comes to politics. Also excuse me if I’m unsurprised that the youngins are planning on voting for the Dems.

The government is exacerbating issues in the wine industry. Color me surprised, particularly when it comes to California.

Now on to some other stories.

From the AP, the FTC is looking into “surveillance pricing”. You’ll excuse me if I don’t trust assertions from the FTC about “possible” issues. Please see previous Reason link above.

From TFB, CZ is looking at opening factories in Ukraine. Hey, I’d like to get a Bren stamped “Made in Ukraine”.

From Active Response Training, an article on pet first aid for cats.

From Venture Beat, Microsoft has come up with a new LLM for spreadsheets. I’m kind of interested in playing with this.

Now on to some anime / weeb news.

Ranma 1/2 is getting remade and will show up on Netflix later this year. I’m very interested in this as Ranma was one of those shows in the nineties that got me into anime as anime.

A Couple of Cuckoos is getting a second season. This was a previous anime recommendation, and I’m glad it’s getting a second season.

Sanrio is causing some havoc by claiming that its iconic character Hello Kitty is not a cat, but a young girl living in London. Well, that’s a bold assertion cotton.

Monday Links

July 8, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This week is almost exclusively Reason links.

None of the major candidates are pro-freedom.

Sotomayor is right – we should re-evaluate immunity for prosecutors.

ICE apparently ran a fake school and duped a bunch of foreign students to enroll. A court ruled they can sue for breach of contract.

SCOTUS is going to look at FDA’s regulations against vaping. This looks more like another in a line of cases that essentially boil down to “Congress, do your damn job.”

This article states that Moore doesn’t allow for a wealth tax. Maybe not, but I think this is going to be one of those cases that has a lot of impact down the line for government’s rapacious appetite for money. Particularly as interest rates rise and debts get more expensive.

A bunch of states are ignoring the administration’s Title IX rules. Utah just joined them.

Labour rides the anti-incumbent wave and unseats the Tories. I haven’t been following Brit politics as much since The Economist paywalled all of their podcasts.

Oklahoma decides teaching the Bible will fix the kids. Y’know, school choice would allow parents to decide if they wanted their kids to have Christian theology crammed down their throat. Or some other religion’s dogma.

Now on to a couple of other stories.

This one’s a local story. Storied restaurant Wright’s was sold to Caspers Company. Why is this interesting to me? Because up until a couple of years ago, Caspers was one of the largest McDonalds franchisees in the nation. And many moons ago, Derek Ward was one of their shift managers.

VIZ Media buys the RWBY franchise. This is good news, as this is an IP that didn’t deserve to die.

Special Anime Recommendation

July 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I’ll have the regular anime recommendations out later this month, but I kinda wanted to put this out there. Because fifty years ago, this debuted:

I would come to know it as:

My recommendation is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (sometimes listed as Starblazers 2199). This is a damn good reimagining of the original series.

And now we’re getting another installment.

Monday Links

July 1, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This week’s going to be heavy with Volokh Conspiracy / Reason links due to the handing down of some major Supreme Court decisions. I might make a roundup of the court post later this week or next after I’ve had some time to digest as well as to listen to more knowledgeable folks. But, let’s go ahead and get started.

First, more on Rahimi’s impact on Bruen.

Next, about the outrage surrounding USSC reaffirming the right to jury trials for cases with significant penalties.

Of course, a lot of folks are celebrating the official overturn of Chevron Deference, but it may not be the silver bullet some believe.

An article looking at Florida’s response to citrus canker and the people who suffered.

Baltimore is using a cell phone hacking service again.

From the local news station, but widely carried, many nations’ Olympics teams – including the US – are bringing their own AC’s to Paris. Because the Frenchies decreed AC was bad and against their carbon goals.

WSJ (paywall warning) has a story about how delivery drivers got their wages raised by government fiat, and now they have less orders to deliver.

Sora News is reporting that a reboot of Ranma 1/2 is in the works. I’m kinda curious because this was one of the series that got me into anime as anime – and not a Saturday-morning cartoon.

Derek’s Early Anime

May 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I don’t have really enough links to do a Monday Links post. So, I’m going back in time to present a handful of cartoon series that shaped my love of anime and storytelling.

This is the first one I really remember. I even had a birthday cake with the main villain on it. It wouldn’t be until I was an adult that I learned how “kiddified” they made it to play on American television.

This next one gave me an intro to a series with a long story arc. Plus, I would sing the theme song ad nauseum.

Then of course, was the penultimate influence on my early childhood in terms of anime and storytelling.

I’m going to give this one an honorable mention, as I think it had more influence on my tastes, but I really didn’t realize it at the time.

I’m also giving these two as honorable mentions for cementing my love of anime, but not to the degree as the others.

Monday Links

May 6, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This week is light and mostly Reason. So, let’s get started with those.

The DEA is looking to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. Let’s get this out of the way. I’m not a fan of marijuana. I don’t like the smell, and I don’t like the culture surrounding it. That doesn’t mean I can’t acknowledge it has some medical benefits. Or, that more importantly, that adults should be able to imbibe substances that they choose.

DeSantis is all about banning lab-grown beef. Don’t let his right-wing culture war schtick fool you as to why he signed legislation. Beef cattle are big business in Florida. It’s where we get the slang “crackers” from. Scratch a right-wing populist, find a protectionist.

A think piece on how D&D flourished because of few copyright protections. I really didn’t get into any of the D&D “worlds” when I played. We mostly just used the rules and creatures and played in our own worlds. It was fun coming up with our own. Although, I will recommend Ptolus if you want a great setting for a fantasy game.

A man in Illinois who specializes in filing paperwork is being told by the state he needs a PI’s license. Occupational licensing is a fucking racket.

California decided to ban diesel locomotives. What’s the worst that could happen?

Florida police and sheriffs departments spent thousands on training banned in other states.

Now, on to other stories.

The Verge has a story on the FCC fining the big telecoms over sharing location data without consent.

From War Is Boring, we have an article on the new “Doomsday Plane” for the USAF.

From The War Zone is an article that the Poles are naming their F-35’s the “Husarz”. Husarz. Hussars. Winged Hussars. That is the best combination of historical callback and Dad-joke.

For our light item, here’s a 1942-style web-based game for Space Battleship Yamato.