Minimum Wages Should Be $50 an Hour? Minimum Wage to the Moon, I Say!

I laugh at this minimum wage nonsense in the USA. 

It seems that in many areas in the USA, voters approved of a minimum wage hike to $15 an hour. 

I won't go into the many arguments for this because they are all nonsense. But I will say that if government interfering with voluntary contracts in private businesses is the answer to fixing the economy, why don't they just raise the minimum wage to $500 dollars and hour? Hell, why stop at $500? Let's go to $10,000 an hour and we can all be paid like big company CEOs.

We'll be rich!

Well, the one argument that pro-minimum wage hike proponents like to make is that "they did studies and found that (for example) McDonald's could raise their prices on hamburgers (say) $0.30 a piece and it wouldn't hurt sales." Now that is interesting! McDonald's is a for profit company run by some pretty smart business people (I think). I'd reckon that if they could have raised prices $0.30 a piece, thereby increasing profits, they would have done that long ago... 

Ya think?

Now that they have raised the minimum wage, many establishments are following Japan's lead in employing robots. Japan uses robots because Japan has a labor shortage. The USA industries will do this because, well, putting pickles on a burger isn't exactly skilled labor.

Hi! May I take your order, please!

Now, people stateside are complaining about the robots. I read one comment on Facebook where a guy wrote, "What happens if the robots make humans obsolete?"

I laughed. He is joking, right? I hope he was joking! Hasn't this joke been told for over 100 years? Hasn't everyone seen Chaplin's "Modern Times"?

Alas, in today's USA, I suspect the guy who thinks "robots will make humans obsolete" is was dead serious.

People worrying about robots and technology making humans obsolete is an old story that's been going on since the start of the Industrial Revolution. 

Hilarious. Japan leads the world in robot technology and instituting robots at the workplace to do jobs better, cheaper, faster and more reliably than humans. Are humans obsolete in Japan? Are robots taking human jobs? Well, in the last figures released, unemployment in Japan was virtually non-existent at 3.6%. Please refer to: Japan Unemployment Rate 

Unemployment Rate in Japan increased to 3.60 percent in September of 2014 from 3.50 percent in August of 2014. 

So much for robots putting us out of work, eh? I wrote on Facebook and asked the guy if he hadn't heard that cotton used to be picked by hand.

Here's a comic I made (well, I added the text is all) just to rabble-rouse and laugh at the "human versus robot counter revolution" that's coming! 

Imagine all these minimum wage workers fighting back against high technology taking their jobs!

Think Arnie Schwartzneggar can get the lead role as the unemployed revolutionary leader in the Hollywood film? Ha! Ha! Ha!

---------------

There's a robot sushi near my house. The place is super clean, super cheap and great for the price.... The only humans there are cleaning tables and sitting people. I hear there are a couple in the kitchen putting sliced fish on robot made rice balls... I'll take photos next time.

Newest Japanese Super Robot is a Cheater! Scissors, Paper, Stone Robot Who Never Loses Gets Caught on Camera Cheating!

Hot on the heels of that hilarious story and video about Robo Ji, here's one about a new Japanese robot that never loses at Scissors, Paper, Stone!


But, it's not really a story about a super robot that has awesome artificial intelligence, this robot is a cheater!

Caught on camera!

Refreshing News has the story in This robot will beat you ate scissors, paper stone 100% of the time:

...Yes, the robot cheats. By watching the image from a camera that can determine the position of your hand every millisecond, it is aware of your move the very moment you make it. And as soon as your hand starts to form that rock, the robot is giving you some paper to wrap it up. At the very end of the video, you can see the tiny delay between the human making a move and the robot reacting — but it happens so fast that you wouldn't notice except when shown in slow-motion....

Big deal. That's called, "Ato-dashi" (means "putting out late") I can do that too!

Hilarious New Japanese Independent Film! Robo Ji!

This cracks me up. You don't even need to understand Japanese to get the basic drift of this trailer for this movie called, "Robo Ji!"

It basically starts out (at 10 seconds) about three guys who are under assignment to create a new type of robot for their corporation in time for the big Tokyo International Robot Fair. But everything they do fails.


Finally, they come up with a plan to fool their boss and the mass media and public by putting an old man inside of a robot outer case and having the old man become their "robot."


In Japanese, "Ji-san" means "grandfather" hence the funny name "Robo Ji."


The three stooges, er, I mean scientists interview a 73-year-old guy for the part of the robot and ask him during an audition,


"Can you show us your robot moves?" 


Later the (sort of senile) old guy, who is the stereotypical "dirty old Japanese man" (and picks his nose) is chosen for the part. I gather that he might have been chosen because he seems to be suffering from slight dementia and hard-of-hearing and that he doesn't move so much... This makes the scientists figure that he'll be easy to handle.


We are soon to find out how wrong they were in that assumption with hilarious consequences!


Later, at the robot exposition, people ask Robo Ji what he can do and some kid shouts from the audience and points away,


"That's nothing! The robot over there is better!" as the crowd looks, the other robot is dancing.


This is a challenge to the old guy, er, I mean Robo Ji and, not to be outdone, he starts dancing and really over-doing it to the chagrin of the engineers. When Robo Ji becomes a hit and a popular media sensation the engineers realize that they've created a sort of "Frankenstein" who is often out of their control.


I won't tell you more but after that there are some really funna parts and, like I said, you don't need to speak Japanese to understand the jokes.


This is great for a laugh. Enjoy!

Star Wars and Earth Wars: Robots, Droids, Drones and People

"I'm C3PO human cyborg relationship and this is my counterpart R2-D2" - C3PO to Luke

Robots? I love them.


Droids? Excellent!


Drones? Not so much. I don't really like them. 


Don't confuse robots, droids and drones. They are all very different. I like the kind of droids you'd see in a Star Wars movie like R2D2 or C3PO. It's drones that I don't like... Besides metallic casings, I might be talking about the kind of drones many people might refer to as "suits."


Actually, in this case, it could even be worse than "suits." At least the "suits" are usually people with what is at least referred to as a "higher education." Chuckle. I mean, they paid big money and got themselves into major debt by avoiding reality after high school by going to college. You know what I mean? College and university are great places to screw around and waste time while you figure out what you want to do with your life and postpone the inevitable as long as possible.

In all fairness, and for the sake of complete disclosure, let me state openly that I did go to university and waste, not four, but six years. But let me also say that I was lucky and, upon graduation, I wasn't even one cent in debt. I worked my way through college.... Hell, it was better than studying! I wrote about how John Belushi convinced me to go to university once. Please refer to: John Belushi, Japan and me - or How the Movie Animal House Changed my Life


But I digress....


I'm talking about Robots, Droids and Drones.


Japan is way, way, way ahead of the United States when it comes to this sort of thing. You can go into Tokyo, say Shinjuku, Shibuya or Akihabara - especially Akihabara - and see robots, droids and drones everywhere you look. In Japan, these things are not unusual so people don't bat an eye.


Don't believe me? It's absolutely true, so help me god. Let me explain. First, I suppose we have to clarify our definitions.

Robot: "A device that automatically performs tasks, sometime repetitively." "A mechanism guided by automatic controls." "A fictional machine whose lack for the capacity of human emotions is often emphasized."


Droid (exactly: Android): "A mobile robot with usually a human form." "A Linux based operating system for cell phones and computers."


Drone: "A stingless male bee that has the role of mating with the queen. It does not work by gathering nectar or pollen." "One that lives on the labor of others." "A vessel guided by remote control."

Drones do stupid things like get hacked or shot down. 

Just lifeless shells is all they really are.

Aha! Got that about drones? They are "vessels guided by remote control." Keep that in mind. That's really what this article is about. I will get onto that in a minute, but first let me continue my train of thought...


Now we're ready? Okay! 


Like I said, Japan is way ahead of the United States (and I include Europe in that too) when it comes to this sort of "mechanical thingy" thing. Need evidence? Let's examine!

Early American toaster (left) - Modern Japanese toaster (right)

Robots. Of course, in every one's house there are many robots that perform simple tasks. My favorite home robot is the kitchen toaster. The toaster was invented in the 1870's in England, but much refined by the Japanese in the 1960's. The friendly kitchen toaster is my favorite robot because it is cheap and can provide much more entertainment on a cold winter night than any TV program on the lobotomy box ever could! Toast? Ummmm! Which would you rather have to warm you up with that hot sexy someone under the blankets on the sofa? A hot piece of buttered toast and fresh strawberry jam that can be munched together or 30 minutes of Dog the Bounty Hunter reruns? Not a difficult call to make, is it?

Interestingly, both "Toast" and "Dog" have roughly the same IQ 

In Tokyo, robots are everywhere and they are fashionable and stylish... In the stylish area, we also have much gratitude to give to the French and the Italians who are excellent at making things that look fabulous, but don't work so well and break down quickly.


Some examples of French and Italian things that look nice but don't work are the Maginot Line, Alitalia, and Fiat automobiles.

Fiat getting well over 100 kilometers per liter of gasoline!

If you really think about it, robots are not such a big deal anymore. Like I mentioned about toasters. What home doesn't have a toaster today?


Now, let's look at androids (we'll call them droids). Android phones are everywhere in Tokyo. In fact, recently, I think I've been seeing more of those than iPhones recently. If the definition of a Droid (above) is correct then, we even have one in my home. It's called a "iRobot Roomba." Okay, well I take that back. Actually, I think it is not called a "Roomba." Roomba is the famous one. Those are very expensive. We bought a Korean made model (forget the name) that does the same thing for half the cost. This automatic vacuuming droid is just like R2D2. Really! He does a good job for certain tasks but can be awful stubborn and does dumb things sometimes like falling down the stairs, so you have to be careful with his programming on where you specify are his work areas. I like the fact that he can vacuum the carpeted floor, then go to the tatami floor, then over to the wooden floor and all under the dining tables and chairs without my wife lifting a finger. Pretty cool.

This android was unveiled in 2005... 

I often wondered what year she'll be "deflowered" in?

It is also awesomely cool in that the fact, get this, the guy himself (sorry about calling it a "he" - my wife insists that the "butler do the vacuuming"), when done, automatically searches and finds his home station and parks himself there after the job is done so his batteries can be recharged... He also beeps and pings like R2D2. Really!


In Tokyo, we also have robots and droids that make ice cream, sushi, and manufacturers cars and work on assembly lines too. Of course.

Yeah, yeah. He vacuums and does everything. But if I ever catch him in bed with my wife, out he goes! Unless, of course, he can introduce me to one of his android friends. 

Wow! Isn't life in the modern world wonderful? Well, yes and no. If you are a robot or droid and have a useful function to fulfill, then you are probably happy until the days that your circuits burn out. If you are a human and you have a good job with a good future, and a nice family, a place to live, then you are probably happy.... But if you are a drone? Oh no! If you are a drone, then you are nothing; you are just a shell, you have no life; you are the lowest of the low; even robots and droids don't respect you. 


And, if you are a human drone?


Human drones? Now, that's the worst thing in the world.


Folks, we have human drones. In fact, if you think about it, they are all around us: These are the people who can't think for themselves. They have be told what to do and what to think. They cannot function without someone showing them the way and telling them exactly what to do. The worst ones are the ones who need to be repeatedly told (programmed) to perform a function before they will do it - even if it is the very same function everyday! They have human drones in America and they have them in Japan. Are they the same? In many ways, yes, but in many ways, no.

To go too deeply into the subject of human drones and the difference between one in Japan and the west, would take volumes of books written by someone with a PhD. who is much more intelligent than me. I can only write about surface issues that I witness with my own eyes. I do not know the deeper issues; the "why's" and "what for." And I don't want to talk about human drones in the USA. Let me off the hook easy by allowing me to only tell you about human drones in Japan.


Human drones are everywhere in this country. Poor folks.... No! I take that back. Maybe they aren't folks to be pitied; maybe they are to be envied. Heck, if they are happy, then I envy them... Thing is that I have never seen a happy drone. 


In Japan, these human drones work at menial labor jobs everywhere you go. You see them at restaurants and working at cash registers. They are the ones doing the lowest of the menial labor tasks. Since Japan doesn't have a problem with an influx of foreign laborers, then, you will see Japanese young people performing these tasks.


I suppose that, if I am to pity these human drones, then I must criticize the Japanese educational system and Japanese society as a whole for teaching too much conformity and not enough creativity... But I am hesitant to do that and criticize Japan for too much conformity. Why? Well, what example am I to hold over Japan to say, "See? This is how it's done!" I think I certainly cannot use the example of the social decline and the resultant level of crime in the west as and yard of measure. I do believe, though, that the Japanese educational system is guilty of not teaching enough critical thought and too much conformity... I can say that because I had children who spent a few years in both Japanese public schooling and in International schools in Japan and high school in America.    


Oh pity the human drones... Well, at least they have a job.


Now, parents of high school kids or young people just out on their first jobs, don't confuse what I am saying here. I am not saying that everyone who cleans tables or stands behind a cash register or works at a convenience store is a drone. Far from it. I'm saying the ones who do not smile, are not energetic, do not think for themselves and must do everything by the manual; the ones who show no life in their faces; no enthusiasm for their work those are drones. They are the ones to be pitied.


There are far too many of them in Japan.


Now, do you understand what I mean by a human drone? They could be the guy working at a bank or a bureaucrat like in the Kurosawa movie, "Ikiru." Or it could be like the people you see when you go shopping or to a cheap restaurant. There they are: lifeless, the walking dead. Those are the people who should be pitied.


Well, now, there I've done it. I think I took what was a fun and full of life article at the start and turned it into a real bummer by the ending. Sorry about that. So with that, let me tell you about a story that I heard from a friend last night about his recent experience with a human drone at a cheap eatery.


In Japan, whenever two or three (more?) adults go into any sort of cheap eatery or restaurant, when the patrons are finished and about to pay the bill, it is customary that the clerk will ask them, "Will you pay the bill together or separately?" In Japan, asking this to customers is a "rule." This rule is a part of what is called, "Manual Dori" or "By the Book" (マニュアル通り).  The reason why Japanese companies (and companies like McDonald's, etc.) have to create these "Manuals" is that they aren't really hiring rocket scientists. No, folks, they are hiring, in many cases, human drones - of course they wouldn't if they could find spry, alert, and gregarious, positive outgoing people - alas...

Anyway, back to my story about my friend's experience with the human drone. My friend is the father of two handsome young boys who are of junior high school age, about 13 and 14 years of age. Together, the three of them went to eat at Yoshinoya Gyudon. Gyudon is known in the west as "Beef bowl." It is a bowl of rice that has beef and vegetables cooked in a sauce that is poured over the rice. Many Japanese men (and some women) on the go love to eat this. I used to also until I just about stopped eating beef.


Upon finishing their food, the father and the two boys walked up to the cash register where they met their human drone for that day.


Now, if you were at the cash register and saw a guy in his late forties, maybe early fifties, with two boys half his size that looked to be junior high school students, deeply immersed in their held held DS computer games, what would you think? Do you think:


A) "Gee! This looks like a dad with his two kids. That'l be $9.00, please. Do you need a receipt?"
B) "I wonder if these three gentlemen are all gainfully employed or are they Yakuza gangsters about to rob the restaurant at gunpoint?"
C) "I wonder when the new DS game software comes out?"
D) Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You don't have a single synapse. You repeat the manual like a drone.


If you said, "D" then you are a winner.


My friend is standing there, with his wallet open. The two kids next to him are playing Super Mario and the clerk says, "Will you pay the bill together or separately?" Doh!


Parents! Don't let your children grow up to be drones. Why? Well, if they are drones, one of these days someone is going to come out with a useful robot, like a toaster and your kid will be out of a job. Don't they deserve better than that? I hope so.

Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ) and the Romanticist Japanese

Yesterday, I wrote about the world's first robot marathon that was held by Japan. See that article and some very funny videos here.

Japan has always had a certain flair for robots (be they real, giant or otherwise) and when I was a kid growing up in America, we always thought it was strange. Even though my mom was Japanese, us kids living in the Midwest USA thought these Japanese cartoons and TV shows were not cool.

How little did we realize that this 60's Japanese Kitsch was extremely cool.... The ones who weren't cool were us dorky kids who wouldn't recognize cool if it came up and slapped us in the face!

When a good friend and regular reader sent in a Youtube video link to Giant Robo for me after reading that article about the robot marathon, I clicked on it and watched. "Ah!" I thought, "I remember this TV show! His finger is a rocket!"

A few seconds later, when the theme song to Giant Robo came through the computer speakers, my wife heard it and ran over like an excited little girl and exclaimed, "I loved this TV show! When it ended, I cried and cried!" (She almost started to cry too!)

When my wife said that to me, tears came to my eyes! She reminded me of my mother; and, her emotions remind me, once again, just how romanticist and delicate the Japanese can be.

I love this country and these people. 

Here's the story of Giant Robo... Just one more clue into why the Japanese have a fascination with robots and giant radioactive creatures from space and the bottom of the ocean....

Giant Robo first appeared in 

Weekly Shonan Sunday 1967

The Giant Robo manga (comics) first appeared in a weekly comic book called Weekly Shōnen Sunday on May 1967. Written by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Giant Robo tells the story of Daisaku Kusama, the titular Robo and an evil secret society known only as "Big Fire." In October of the same year, a live-action adaptation premiered on TV Asahi

To see the very final scene of the final episode of Giant Robot - when he destroys the bad guy and destroys himself in the process - thereby saving the entire world by sacrificing himself - watch this one. The part with the final episode begins at about 4:37. Giant Robo meets his most deadly and dangerous adversary so far. The only way to destroy this evil creature is by flying into space and crashing into an asteroid and killing the monster and himself in the process.


Talk about making the ultimate sacrifice!

Fact of the matter is that, even though this was a hugely popular show with the kids and the ratings were good, the productions costs were way too high and sales to sponsors were not good. Maybe, since this was the 1960's, and before Japan's Economic Miracle, kids weren't a choice marketing target.

Watch this with any Japanese who is between 40 ~ 50 years old and they'll probably start crying. This is so very Japanese. The idea that a guy will kill himself - sacrifice himself - for the good of his loved ones is a theme that is steeped in tradition and a part and parcel of the Japanese psyche. In this country, the true hero is considered anyone who will do anything to save his loved ones.


See? I told you the Japanese are quite romantic!


To see more geeky stuff about Giant Robo click here.

Thanks to Ira Hata

Robot Marathon Held in Japan

This is pretty funny! In Japan, a robot marathon race started last Thursday and just finished running a few moments ago. Take time to watch the videos below. They are definitely worth a few laughs.


But, now, I'd like to be the first to announce the winner to the English press. 


Ladies and gentlemen... The winner is.... er, this dude....

Heck, what's his name? I don't know. Let's just call him "Mr. We Love Osaka Dude." He's, er,... she's, it's the winner of the world's first robot marathon ever held and it's was an exciting race!


Omedetou gozaimasu! (Congratulations!)

National Post Reports:


Robot Marathon Ran in Osaka


A group of knee-high androids have crossed the starting line in Osaka, Japan for the first ever robot marathon, reported the BBC. The race, which started on Thursday, is expected to take about four days and will require 423 laps around an indoor track. The rules are as follows: bot operators are allowed to change robots' batteries and motors during the race, but they can't pick them up if they fall over - the droids must right themselves.


Since I enjoy British humor a lot, here two funny takes by the Brits on the festivities. Enjoy!

If you are crazy about Japanese Robots

then visit Robot Japan's web page and gallery.

Also thanks to Japan Today

Wasting More Tax Money on Useless Space Exploration

In any effort to capture the public's imagination so that they are sympathetic to wasting billions upon billions of dollars - Japanese yen - for continued space research, the folks at NASA and NASDA (Japan's own version of NASA) are always trying to do something to make space travel exciting and fun and not, I repeat not, a cover for sending rockets and satellites into space for military purposes.


It doesn't matter that we are taxed out to the limit or debt at over 200% of GDP, space exploration is exciting and fun so we must do it. It is not a waste of money like other things the government wastes money on. This one is different. Really.


That some dead-enders and party-poopers would claim that those Communications Satellites we keep sending up have military uses and can - and are - used for spying. We deny that completely. 

Ah! Space travel. I remember the heady days when I was a kid and it was rumored that the USA spent several million dollars developing a ball point pen while the Russians used a pencil... The story is not exactly true but it illustrates what might be going on behind the scenes...


We do know that, for example, Japan spent $78 billion dollars on 212 some environmental programs in 2010 concerning Global Warming that were all miserable failures.


Now, we find out that Japan is going to send up a robot that can use Twitter.... 


Techeye.net reports:

A report said that Japan will launch a robot resembling a human being that can is so like a human that it will even use Twitter.

According to the report, on nikkei.com, the robot is the result of a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Dentsu and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

This robot is some clever robot, because the report suggests that it will be kitted out with a camera and look closely at the faces of human beings to see if they’re getting stressed out. It will then, presumably, tweet this information down to this planet. (emphasis mine).

It is all a little bit 2001ish but it’s going to be with us soon, because nikkei.com says that a prototype will be on the next space shuttle later this month.

The article ends with a humorous question that I like but think doesn't go to the logical conclusion:

There’s a case, isn’t there, for not bothering to send humans into space at all, just robots and caseloads of defunct mobile phones. 

The ending should say, "There's a case, isn't there, for not bothering to do any of this at all as it is just another huge waste of taxpayer monies that we don't have. For one, the government can't even repair potholes in the streets on time and within budget. What's makes anyone think the space program is not a huge waste of money? And, two; if space exploration were profitable and useful then private industry could and would do a much better job and it wouldn't put the burden on taxpayers."

"Danger! Danger! Dr. Smith has gone mad! 
Must Tweet! Must Tweet!"

Some people will argue that "Someday space exploration will yield great results and be very profitable. Oh really? Where is the evidence for that kind of thinking? Supposedly we've been doing this, at least in America, for over 40 years and we've lost hundreds of billions of dollars. 

Just when is this going to be profitable?

Also, we don't even understand our own planet; we have more than 1/2 the planet starving; we have problems of pollution; wars; running out of energy; etc. etc.... I'm not saying that the government should do something about those problems. No! I think the government should just get out of the way. 


But if someone wants to take the argument that we need to explore space for the "benefit of mankind" then I will counter that there are many more efficient ways to achieve such ends closer to home. 

Or are photos of comets that pass by the earth all that important to our daily life?

Anyhow, ploys like sending this stupid robot up in space "that can use Twitter" (as if important messages about astronauts help would be left to an Internet service that is often down and certainly not private) or picking a Japanese to be captain of the International Space Station are all media tricks to pull at people's emotions and get those people to approve of this waste of money and to support it... 


Seriously, if they want to capture the imagination of people for space travel, we'd best leave it to private organizations and hope that someone makes more movies like Star Wars or TV shows like Lost in Space or Star Trek.

The government-run space program should be killed immediately. 

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Robot on Stage in Japan

With how bad a lot of actors are (think Sylvester Stallone, etc...) the Japanese have come up with the movie proudcer's and directors dream come true. A robot actor!

The BBC Reports:

A life-like robot called Geminoid F has taken to the stage in Japan, but is there a chance it will it take over from the "real" performers?

Geminoid F was seated for the duration of the short play and her actions were controlled from behind-the-scenes by a human.

Actress Bryerly Long, working alongside the android in a Japanese play titled Sayonara, said she feels it lacks "human presence", making her feel "alone" on stage.

If the video link doesn't work, click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11732995

Japanese Robot Asimo Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Yesterday the Honda Humanoid robot, Asimo, celebrated its 10th anniversary (shouldn't that be birthday?)


As Honda News reports:


ASIMO has reached a huge milestone and will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on 31st October. A decade ago, Honda created a humanoid robot so advanced it started a revolution in humanoid robot technology. To mark this date, dedicated Anniversary websites and films have been launched today, with new photos, videos, the story of its creation and smartphone apps.

See Asimo's website here: http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/

Get the desktop widget here

Here's a video of the 10th anniversary celebration:

 

Here is the first Asimo TV commercial:





I remember that it wasn't that long ago when Japan was coming out with many exciting ideas and products... When will Japan capture that magic again?

Japanese Robot Wrestling

Here is a very cool (and exciting video). It's Japanese robot wrestling. When you watch the video try to pick a robot that you like. This is a video of a "Round-Robin" competition and each robot fights each other at least once.

Some of the bouts are pretty funny.

From Gamma Squad:


Another Robo-One event was held at the Robotech exhibition in Tokyo last week, pitting bipedal, humanoid robots against one another.  As we learned last time we covered this event, “The ultimate aim is to create a robot that could fight a human.”  Yeah, great goal, guys.  Good luck with that.


There wasn’t a pugnacious chicken this time, but they did have a robot with wooden shoes and a trucker hat. (Danish douchebot?)  The video is below, and the good news is (spoiler alert) the one in the trucker hat mostly got its ass handed to it.

Fabulous Collection of Old Japanese Robot Toys

There is a site of the Internet called Guy Antique that specializes in old Japanese toys and robots. Today, I have put up some for you to see:

It's hard to believe that we thought that this stuff was cheap junk back in those days but now they sell in the hundreds, if not thousands of dollars!

Go to Guy Antique to see hundreds more.