I can make a nuclear bomb.

I can make a nuclear bomb. However, "can" is loosely defined here, because I am knowledgable but not able. I do not have the desire or materials, but they are really simple devices. When countries, such as Iran and North Korea, cannot make them with pooled resources, I wonder what is wrong with them.

Some background:
Special Relativity was published in 1905.
General Relativity was published in 1916.
Now, let's put ourselves in 1945 with a slide rule. We have two types of bombs that we can make: uranium (such as Little Boy), or Plutonium (such as Fat Man). If I had to pick one, I would pick a the "gun based" Little Boy. This takes a lot of Uranium, and is inefficient, but it's pretty much fool proof. If you look at the mathematics for this weapon, it's obvious why you'd make it this way. You can pretty much guarantee that it will work, you wouldn't even need to test it. Now it comes down to what you need to do it, which is either whole bunch of centrifuges or a lot of time.

Using ore that is readily available (the earth is a fissile system, there's tons of Uranium about), and a single centrifuge (I designed one on the back of the piece of paper, it might work) at the cost of about ¥20,000,000, I would take me about 300 years to get enough U-235, so the limiting factor is the number of centrifuges and the cost of power.

So in summary, anyone can make a bomb easily. I definitely believe that nuclear power is a more noble cause because it is free. You take a hot rock, remove energy and put it back in the ground where you got it. If you think that nuclear power is a terrible idea, well, frankly, you are an idiot. Here's radioactive coal ash for the layman. --Dr. Suigin, Ph.D. (no, I'm not kidding)

The Ramen Girl

Last night, I saw The Ramen Girl, which is must say was very good. I tend to like movies with Japanese language in them because I get both sides of the story, which lends to a bit of a paradox. In English, it really is a terrible movie. I would give it 2 of 5 stars in English; however, I would give it 5 of 5 if you understand both Japanese and English. There is basically no way for someone without Japanese language to understand the nuances of the movie. The Japanese script is wonderful, and the interactions of the Japanese are lost in the English translation. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but most would not.

Jerry Springer is class!

Well, Jerry Springer is not *exactly* class; however, this is pretty humbling:
"I am the father of the destruction of Western civilization" -- Jerry Springer
That quote is from a video that is here.

Jerry was the Mayor of Cincinnati but then had to leave politics when it was found that he paid for a prostitute with a cheque. The best part is that he admitted it. I have never heard of a politician admitting anything. I think that is pretty interesting.

Fish, etc!

This fisherman's blog: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/heiun is rather interesting. It's an advert for the fishers, but still enjoyable.

Three groups that you've never heard

Have you ever been listening to random CDs and have some things just come and mesh together? Try these:
The Free Design -- Kites are Fun
Sweet Trip -- You will never know why
Spiritualized -- Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

I hear "The Free Design" in Stereolab and Koop. Excellent, it is all excellent music.

日本に長過ぎに。。

http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/the-101-signs-you-have-been-in-Japan-too-long

The picture with #82... I always wake up to KUSANAGI-san.

People are crazy.

Remember law school? I do not. I do remember my classes on US constitutionality.

I have never heard a good argument against weapons. I mainly believe that it is a question of personal responsibility. I have the ability to make explosives, but I chose not too. I have the ability to make nerve gas, but I chose not to. I just do not believe that a few murderous outliers represent the American populous as whole.
I had to dig in the back of my closet for my essay on this, but I found it. Marguerite Anne Bowers was killed with a blade by Thomas Vanda who was a "schizophrenic in remission". A subset of the ruling follows:

Bowers v. Devito
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT

But there is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen. It is monstrous if the state fails to protect its residents against such predators but it does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or, we suppose, any other provision of the Constitution. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties; it tells the state to let people alone; it does not require the federal government or the state to provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order. Discrimination in providing protection against private violence could of course violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But that is not alleged here. All that is alleged is a failure to protect Miss Bowers and others like her from a dangerous madman, and as the State of Illinois has no federal constitutional duty to provide such protection its failure to do so is not actionable under section 1983.

In summary, Americans are required to protect themselves because the US government is not required to do so.
I believe that you cannot take the behavior of crazy individuals to account, because they are crazy. If someone hits a school bus while drunk, should we ban all cars? How about kitchen knives?
If one is feeling criminal, by definition, they will not follow the law. I'm just glad that most crazy people are not well enough to get interested in chemistry.