As IF Times

Source: Japans new naked restaurant wont let overweight diners in#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE

Swimsuit 2014: Cook Islands
Kate Upton
Beach/Rarotonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand
10/29/2013
X157130 TK3
Credit: James Macari

What is it about the need to be nude?  Is there some primal survival residual in people’s genes akin to dogs circling their beds that needs to be satisfied? We know that nude beaches have been around forever and there are certain subsets of ethnic populations that seem predisposed to communal nudity, but the need to be nude seems to be hitting the mainstream stride.  As pleasant as a small minority of people are to be viewed au naturel, that doesn’t apply to most; especially those who are most likely to be nude.  This is why Kate Upton is paid big money to model things and 99% of other people, not.

It’s not as if people can’t satisfy their prurient and voyeuristic curiosities via almost any type of media.  Historically, access to nude images has never  been as ubiquitous as now, probably even in the repressive Muslim countries.  So it seems that the real need is the desire to be nude in public.  The proliferation of restaurants world wide now catering to this ‘need’ is growing and may soon move beyond curiosity stage if there’s enough money in it.  London announced such a place a year ago and since then, it’s been the hottest dining ticket.  You could say it’s the new place to see and be seen.

The new Japanese venue is even more snobby as the article shows.  Not just anyone can get in; they must conform to certain standards of weight.  Ironically, customers have to be thin enough to qualify to eat food. At some level, I get that; who wants to try and eat food if Michael Moore is directly in eye line.  In the restaurant’s defence, it’s not necessarily discrimination, it could be just pragmatic business.  If you are surrounded by Jabba The Hut models, you are unlikely to order the five course tasting menu.  On the other hand, if the restaurant only accepted skinny people with small appetites, they’d likely sell less food.

But we suspect that it’s not the food that’s the draw; most come for the view.

link Obama Promises He Will Win Virginia and the Election.

Those that care for this kind of thing will note that the media are ratcheting up for this year’s pivotal U.S. elections.  Accusations and claims upon the character of the respective protagonists are fired like bullets at a Palestinian wedding, which means randomly in the air and mostly harmless. Nevertheless, political spin-meisters from both sides are feverishly attacking each other in a political fight to the death.   The classic barbs are expectedly thrown; liar, cheater, stupid and of course corrupt.  Clearly there are no Marquess of Queensberry rules governing political scuffles.  But calling a politician a liar is pretty lame these days, it would be like calling Michael Moore a slob, it really has no shock value.

There is a lot at stake in this election; it is not a simple Coke vs Pepsi issue of personal preferences.  In the case of the election, choosing one over the other does say much about the value system  of the voter.  As is the case with professional sports teams, fans will be loyal to their side (mostly) regardless of how badly their team fares.  Tribalism is a strong human urge and manifestations of this via sports of all stripes are obvious for all to observe.  I mean seriously, what rational person can be a Leafs fan?  Politics is the same thing.  In the U.S. case, it’s not only about tribal associations, it’s also about money.  Both sides of the political divide will have their die hard adherents.  Regardless of actual performance records, the rabid supporters will champion their side despite any evidence of logic to do so, even to the point of their own negative self interest.  We would not find this in the animal world.  In the animal world, we don’t have the variable of money which can strangely pervert human activity.  So both sides of the political spectrum will have their hard wired supporters.

That leaves the group which the media refers to as, “the independents” , those that have no formal party or ideological affiliation.  This is a myth.  It is impossible not to have an established set of values  based on one’s personal life circumstances.  One cannot be ambivalent about issues concerning personal freedom and self determination, social responsibility, free markets and ability to progress in life.  The linked article describes that Obama promises to win the election.  Of course anything is possible.  His base will certainly be loyal.  But if the “independents” are to be counted upon to support him, we can only conclude that there must be parts of the country which don’t have access to current news.

On the one side, we have a guy who has successfully built up his life and the lives of hundreds of employees via job creation, has held public office and successfully run an Olympics, both without pay and who has experience in running and administering complex businesses.  He is for self determination and the reduction in the scope of government intrusion in people’s lives.  On the other side is a guy who has a murky past, whose supporters are peppered with felons, has never held a job in the private sector and has always nursed at the public teat.  He also nakedly endorses  the philosophy of governments being actively involved in peoples’ lives including what to eat.  If this stark choice between the candidates is a difficult one for the “independents”, we really are in trouble.

While it may have been fashionable to vote for the exotic guy 4 years ago, the passage of time since has shown that like the character Chauncey Gardner in the 1979 film “Being There”, there is no substance to the soaring rhetoric that mesmerized people back then.  Aside from political spin, there have been no achievements, none, made during his term in office which can be pointed to as advancing the plight of the American people.  Quite the contrary;  by any measure, economic, social, legal, international affairs, it has been a dismal and catastrophic 4 years.  So when the President promises that he will win the upcoming election, he is either pathologically delusional or believes the electorate is.