People read about love, spoke of love, believe in love. I don't know what love is. I think I felt it once, but how do you know what love is? My mom said true love is beautiful. I guess that's why I don't have a girl friend.
Telephone works both ways, but only if the other wants hear from the other. What if you want someone so badly for who they are and it drives you crazy that she don't feel the same way. Is that love? Who knows.
It's one of those things that I as a person would have to search for, however much time that takes.
Another question popped up as I'm writing this also, and it's for the ladies. Do girls think that there's only two interconnected purpose to go party for guys: to drink and have sex?
I wonder if there's something else.
Monday, March 22, 2010
March 22, 2010
Rainy day, trench coat, sickness from a friend, and missed a class too.
Has been a while since I blogged.
It's very discouraging when no one else follows it.
It's probably because I don't advertise it enough.
Then again, who says I blog for others to read.
The more coffee I drank, the more sore my throat feels.
I need to go back to work and feel better. May be I'll write about something else next time.
Btw: the training was harder than I thought. With in that one and a half hour of training, I only got half of the training done. Still, it's an improvement from not training at all. Keep track of progress!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
United We Stand
Published: October 3, 2009
19 years ago today, a country was united and an export behemoth was born. If you know your history, then you know I'm talking about Germany.
The Soviet regime came to an abrupt ending in the early 90's. With it's end also brought hope for freedom and independence for those with in it. In this case, East gGermany was one of them.
It was a political miracle and an economic disaster. With the rally cry for a United Germany and bad economic knowledge of the Chancelor at the time, Germany was united. Back track a little, let's see what happened to Germany after World War II.
First, we have Germany divided into four regions, under the leadership for four major powers: United States, Britain, France, and Soviet Union. The United States, Britain and France learned from their mistake before, namely, the harsh punishment of Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, would not bring lasting peace. So the three nations work together, mainly with the financial support of the United States, brought market reform and democratic ideologies to the western part of Germany. It's true that West Germany's road wasn't paved to be perfectly smooth, but it's safe to say that the westerners gave Germany what it needed to get back into the game as a world player.
On the other hand, there's East Germany. Germany's assault on Soviet Union was one of the bloodiest campaign in history, with the pride of two very evil men at stake - Stalin's Stalingrad (no longer called Stalingrad) and Hitler's Nazi army. At the end of it, the Soviets wanted revenge. They took what they need from Germany and installed a puppet government there with monitering from the KBG. After several decades, East Germany was poor, polluted, and almost hopeless. How important was East Germany to the Soviets? Not that important. You can see this from the rise of Putin, who was sent to East Germany because he wasn't trusted enough to work for Moscow in the KBG. This, of course, was destined to change.
In the end, you have two Germanys, the west being developed, both in terms of economics and having social safety net, while east, being poor, opppressed and thoroughly plundered. If you know politics, you would know that East Germans would demand the same thing that West Germans have once the two country reunited. It would increase the government expenditure on the Western end because it would have to provide social safety net, infrastructure building and also cleaning up the environment (yes, Germans are well aware of the environment). For the most part, this is bad economics for West Germany, at least in the short run. However, through the mighty teachings of Keynesian and the natural demand for improvement and efficiency of humans, German rised to be the largest exporter in the world, until the Chinese took over anyways.
Today, looking back at this remarkable achievement of the Germans, I often wonder how the fuck did the Germanys gone from bankrupted to the leading exporter in the world in comparison to the United States, being the wealth and generious country who gave money to Germany to rebuild after World War II, ending up with trillions of deficits. Somethings went terribly wrong with the American government. Hopefully, a Bro named Obama would have what it takes to fix it.
19 years ago today, a country was united and an export behemoth was born. If you know your history, then you know I'm talking about Germany.
The Soviet regime came to an abrupt ending in the early 90's. With it's end also brought hope for freedom and independence for those with in it. In this case, East gGermany was one of them.
It was a political miracle and an economic disaster. With the rally cry for a United Germany and bad economic knowledge of the Chancelor at the time, Germany was united. Back track a little, let's see what happened to Germany after World War II.
First, we have Germany divided into four regions, under the leadership for four major powers: United States, Britain, France, and Soviet Union. The United States, Britain and France learned from their mistake before, namely, the harsh punishment of Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, would not bring lasting peace. So the three nations work together, mainly with the financial support of the United States, brought market reform and democratic ideologies to the western part of Germany. It's true that West Germany's road wasn't paved to be perfectly smooth, but it's safe to say that the westerners gave Germany what it needed to get back into the game as a world player.
On the other hand, there's East Germany. Germany's assault on Soviet Union was one of the bloodiest campaign in history, with the pride of two very evil men at stake - Stalin's Stalingrad (no longer called Stalingrad) and Hitler's Nazi army. At the end of it, the Soviets wanted revenge. They took what they need from Germany and installed a puppet government there with monitering from the KBG. After several decades, East Germany was poor, polluted, and almost hopeless. How important was East Germany to the Soviets? Not that important. You can see this from the rise of Putin, who was sent to East Germany because he wasn't trusted enough to work for Moscow in the KBG. This, of course, was destined to change.
In the end, you have two Germanys, the west being developed, both in terms of economics and having social safety net, while east, being poor, opppressed and thoroughly plundered. If you know politics, you would know that East Germans would demand the same thing that West Germans have once the two country reunited. It would increase the government expenditure on the Western end because it would have to provide social safety net, infrastructure building and also cleaning up the environment (yes, Germans are well aware of the environment). For the most part, this is bad economics for West Germany, at least in the short run. However, through the mighty teachings of Keynesian and the natural demand for improvement and efficiency of humans, German rised to be the largest exporter in the world, until the Chinese took over anyways.
Today, looking back at this remarkable achievement of the Germans, I often wonder how the fuck did the Germanys gone from bankrupted to the leading exporter in the world in comparison to the United States, being the wealth and generious country who gave money to Germany to rebuild after World War II, ending up with trillions of deficits. Somethings went terribly wrong with the American government. Hopefully, a Bro named Obama would have what it takes to fix it.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
On 60th Birthday, The Celebration of Capitalist Land
Published: October 1, 2009
“Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up.” These were the words spoken after turmoil and as long truggle, with a lot more struggles to come in the future. These were the same words that inspired billions of Bros to stand up and take their responsibilities owed to a great nation.
This, of course, was referring to the 60th national celebration of the founding of People’s Republic of China. Turning the clock back 60 years, it was a Red state that westerners fear for the power of some billion hardcore Communist believers. It was a land of ideology, the land of the poor, and the land of a group of very industrious people, as shown in history, who have way too many kids and way too little food. Nationalism swept the country and it’s youth as the government painted a picture of a glorious future, with moral high ground and the communist ideology.
Today, the same kind of pride swept through the heart of Chinese, with valid reasons as well. People had band together, turned from a backward country into a country with international standing in a short time. It has become a formidable power, an export behemoth with a voracious crave for natural minerals and U.S. Treasury Bonds. The once inefficient SOE (State Owned Enterprise) have become lean, mean, capitalist fighting machine that have corporate, political and diplomatic muscles (subject to argument). The private sector is healthy and stable enough to attract foreign investments with tremendous room for growth if the government implements better policies. China today, needless to say, is a force to be reckon with.
Behind all this glory is a far darker image. The political landscape remains opaque and sometimes seen as repressive under the party’s leadership. The economic growth has led to a huge social and income disparity. The social safety net is relatively small. The income per capita is still well behind other developed countries (roughly about 1/6 the income per capita of a developed country). It all adds up to misery. The greatest problem with in Chinese society today, as put in the words of Zhang Ming, a professor of political science at Renmin University in Beijing, is:
“There is no ideology in China anymore. The government has no ideology. The people have no ideology. The reason the government is in power is because they can say: ‘I can make your lives better every day. I can give you stability. And I have the power.’ As long as they make people’s lives better, it’s O.K. But what happens on the day when they no longer can?”
The country is running on capitalism, but it’s long accepted that capitalism is amoral and have its flaws. Material incentives can not go on forever to please a group of people who are fundamentally progressive. There should be an ideology, backed by morality, that drives growth, social responsibility and prosperity. As of right now there is no prevailing ideology as the one that can solve all the problem. However, since solving all the problem meant perfection, and humanity can never attain perfection, it’s perfectly understandable that it’s unreachable. At the same time, since it’s not perfect, that means there will always be room for improvement. For a nation who is unwilling to subject itself to insults and humiliation, perhaps the best thing it can do is raise up, take the lead and improve the world as a whole. Hopefully, someday, this would become the celebration of humanity.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A Day Worthy of Celebration
Published: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tonight I went out with a few friends to a restaurant for dinner. Like every good dinner, there’s the good food, good friends, and of course, a much needed, good story. I believe today is a day worthy of celebration. We have come to enjoy everything we have, often without thinking much of who gave them to us, and at what cost.
To show that I’m grateful for this wonderful dinner, I paid generous tips and also told a great story. It’s the story of a bro, a very celebrated bro, George Washington, and his first victory leading the Continental Army.
We all know that George Washington is a war hero, his known to be the first president of the United States. This bro, however, did not gain his place in history with out his share of pain and suffering.
The United State’s Continental army had suffered a huge blown when British troops under the command of General William Howe flanked and defeated the Americans at the Battle of Long Island on the August of 27, 1776. The American troops were frail, weaken, and beaten. They were on a retreat, if not running away, from the red coat. Not even the arrival of George Washington can change much of that.
George, being the brilliant man that he is, realized he have to lead a group of men that does not want to be led. They wanted life more than liberty, fear and cowardice override the courage of men. Washington order the troops to fall back to Manhattan on September 15, 1776. Washington knows that it’s just a matter of time before the some 9,000 British catches up with the Americans, and he knows that it’s better to die a hero rather than live a coward’s life.
Gathering what he could, some 1,800 men, with his bros, Nathanael Greene and Israel Putnam, he is determined to make a stand at modern day Morningside Heights and west Harlem. He also knows that the British force was like a hungry tiger on the prowl, ready to slash up the American force as soon as possible. So He sent forth a bro named Thomas Knowlton to lead a force to probe the British lines while occupying the heights of Manhattan, setting a death trap for the British.
The plan worked perfectly, on September 16, the British met the die hard American Ranger and quickly pursued the Americans with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions with the 42nd Highlanders. Thinking had an overwhelming superiority, the British played the bugle horns, signaling for a fox hunt. This was meant to insult Washington, a fox hunter, who learn the sport from Lord Fairfax during the French Indian War. “Gone away” was the signal and it means a fox is in full flight from the hounds on the trail. With such a taunt, any man with back bone would be infuriated.
And so it has began, the 200 strong under Knowlton’s command engaged with the 900 Red Coats. Washington, seeing his bro in action, throw in his force of all 1,800. The British force under the Command of Alexander Leslie quickly respond by throwing in his men, amassing a force roughly about 5,000. As the battle rage on, Knowlton was killed. After seeing their commander died, the Americans Rangers bring out their courage and fought off the 5,000 red coats. Despite their superior number, the British could not hold their ground against the Americans. Eventually they were forced to retreat.
Washington kept his cool and did not organize a pursuit, fearing that there might be reinforcement or a trap on the British side. In the end of the day, the Americans emerge as victorious. The underdog of the story prevailed, and so the first victory of General George Washington goes down, as glorious as ever, into sands of time.
Tonight I went out with a few friends to a restaurant for dinner. Like every good dinner, there’s the good food, good friends, and of course, a much needed, good story. I believe today is a day worthy of celebration. We have come to enjoy everything we have, often without thinking much of who gave them to us, and at what cost.
To show that I’m grateful for this wonderful dinner, I paid generous tips and also told a great story. It’s the story of a bro, a very celebrated bro, George Washington, and his first victory leading the Continental Army.
We all know that George Washington is a war hero, his known to be the first president of the United States. This bro, however, did not gain his place in history with out his share of pain and suffering.
The United State’s Continental army had suffered a huge blown when British troops under the command of General William Howe flanked and defeated the Americans at the Battle of Long Island on the August of 27, 1776. The American troops were frail, weaken, and beaten. They were on a retreat, if not running away, from the red coat. Not even the arrival of George Washington can change much of that.
George, being the brilliant man that he is, realized he have to lead a group of men that does not want to be led. They wanted life more than liberty, fear and cowardice override the courage of men. Washington order the troops to fall back to Manhattan on September 15, 1776. Washington knows that it’s just a matter of time before the some 9,000 British catches up with the Americans, and he knows that it’s better to die a hero rather than live a coward’s life.
Gathering what he could, some 1,800 men, with his bros, Nathanael Greene and Israel Putnam, he is determined to make a stand at modern day Morningside Heights and west Harlem. He also knows that the British force was like a hungry tiger on the prowl, ready to slash up the American force as soon as possible. So He sent forth a bro named Thomas Knowlton to lead a force to probe the British lines while occupying the heights of Manhattan, setting a death trap for the British.
The plan worked perfectly, on September 16, the British met the die hard American Ranger and quickly pursued the Americans with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions with the 42nd Highlanders. Thinking had an overwhelming superiority, the British played the bugle horns, signaling for a fox hunt. This was meant to insult Washington, a fox hunter, who learn the sport from Lord Fairfax during the French Indian War. “Gone away” was the signal and it means a fox is in full flight from the hounds on the trail. With such a taunt, any man with back bone would be infuriated.
And so it has began, the 200 strong under Knowlton’s command engaged with the 900 Red Coats. Washington, seeing his bro in action, throw in his force of all 1,800. The British force under the Command of Alexander Leslie quickly respond by throwing in his men, amassing a force roughly about 5,000. As the battle rage on, Knowlton was killed. After seeing their commander died, the Americans Rangers bring out their courage and fought off the 5,000 red coats. Despite their superior number, the British could not hold their ground against the Americans. Eventually they were forced to retreat.
Washington kept his cool and did not organize a pursuit, fearing that there might be reinforcement or a trap on the British side. In the end of the day, the Americans emerge as victorious. The underdog of the story prevailed, and so the first victory of General George Washington goes down, as glorious as ever, into sands of time.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Make Love Not War!
Published: Monday, September 14, 2009
What have our world become when chicken meat and automobile parts can cause an economic war? I wouldn’t know what I’m talking about if I didn’t understand a thing or two about nationalism and economics. Apparently, according to the NYTimes, China is retaliating against Mr. Obama’s promised to unions about protecting American jobs by rising the tariff on tire import from China by increasing the tariff on American chicken meat and automobile parts. A few things comes to my mind: 1. Why is China importing chicken meat and automobile parts and 2. Why are Chinese people so proud?
For the first question, why is China importing chicken meat and automobile parts from the United States need to be broken down into two parts. Chicken from America, other than being produced in huge quantity, should not have a competitive advantage in China. Don't you think that it cost more money to raise chicken in United States than China? Plus the cost of shipping, that’s a great recipe for expensive chicken for Chinese consumers, and did I mention that the Chinese made roughly 1/6 of what average american house hold makes? I wonder how they crunch the numbers to make a profit. By the way, isn’t China known for having an uptight government that knows and control EVERYTHING? Don’t they know about the Monsanto scandal (growth hormone for those of you that don’t know about it) from American food? Why would they want to poison their own people? I have the right to say this my people had a history of fighting wars against big bad foreigners who seek to poison our people just to have a balance of trade (we lost both wars btw).
Now, the second part of the first question. Why import automobile parts? I mean, I love American Mustang, Corvette and all that, but let’s face it, American cars has lost their charm. Don’t you recall a few months ago how GM and other American car makers have to beg congress to give them money to keep themselves running. American car industry used to be great, but that was back in the days of Henry Ford discriminating against Jews. Also, Chinese are known for stealing “intellectual properties”, which we can't really blame them because we stole their recipe for gun powder and used it to make weapon of massive oppression. So if an American car goes to China, shouldn’t it be broken down and duplicated by millions if not Brazilians immediately? Bottom line, China shouldn’t import automobile parts from America. They make their own steel, their own technology, their own people and their own trade surplus. What is there to import from American car makers anyways? Epic fail?
For the second question, why are Chinese people so proud. White Americans has put down their pride and move passed the stage where they discriminate against Native Americans, blacks and various groups. Need proof? Check out our black president. China had 5,000 years of history, and we got them beat in a little over 200 years, why so proud? Also, don’t Chinese people study world history? Remember the cause of World War I? MAIN, Nationalism being one of them? Chinese people make love not war, and I believe that the population of China can serve as a testament to that. Sometimes i hear Chinese people saying that the US owe them lots of money, but so what? After all, we owe them because we live an extravengant life style instead of working at some sweatshop 24/7. To me, that sounds like a lot of Chinese bloggers are idiots. If you truly understands China, you would know that China stores its foreign reserve in the U.S. dollar. Dumping the US treasury bonds will decrease the value of the dollar. All the sudden their hard earn money accumulated from generation to generation becomes worthless. If they want to hurt our economy by burning their own money, by all means, go ahead.
Here's my advice to Chinese people: don’t be so proud, be more open minded and be self-sufficient. By the way, since you hate us so much, why not switch to Euro as your foreign reserve jack ass.
Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/global/14trade.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
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