Reminiscence

This is absolutely amazing

2007-10-14T03:17:00.000+08:00

Just saw this from Youtube. This guy is absolutely amazing!

His technique is perhaps not perfect. Not even at the professional level, but the emotions behind his performance is absolutely stunning! His rendition reminds people of the triumphant moments of their live, I guess, and that is music at its most meaningful form.

I have heard Pavarotti's rendition, and while Pavarotti was crystal perfect, Paul has a more raw, primal energy. From a media worker point of view, this is the kind of energy broadcast media excel in magnifying.

In any case, congratulation to Paul! I always root for the underdog so it's good to see another victory of such!

This simply is absurb

2007-07-12T20:38:00.000+08:00

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/12/content_6366545.htm

excerpt:

But late last month, the U.S. and British governments pushed through the U.N. Security Council a vote to halt funding for UNMOVIC.

The decision dismayed WMD experts. The action foreclosed discussions that were going on behind the scenes at the U.N. on whether UNMOVIC — or parts of it, such as its roster of close to 400 trained inspectors — should be retained to monitor biological and missile proliferation threats.

"UNMOVIC is a unique resource," says Hans Blix, who led the Iraq inspections. "Once dispersed, that expertise will not easily be reassembled. But as ever, one has to understand the politics here."

The Bush administration has never concealed its distrust of the U.N. and its agencies.

"The administration didn't want an international agency able to challenge the U.S. government," says Joseph Cirincione, head of nuclear-policy research at the Center for American Progress in Washington, who has advocated keeping the unit. "But who are they going to call on [to help monitor] if we ever get deals with Iran and North Korea?"

So when do we start calling Bush "your highness" and perform Kowtow before the Whitehouse? Naked Imperialism!

中国崛起策

2007-07-04T01:38:00.000+08:00

最近在网上看到的最全面，最冷静并且最中肯对于近代中国崛起的策略分析。对中国有兴趣的人必读！

中国崛起策:刘涛

面对中国崛起，我们海外华人是否也应该重新评估自己的国际定位和方针？

文章引言：

刘涛：德国Bielefeld大学社会学博士生，Bielefeld大学世界社会研究所研究员。
　　　　
　　　　我打算在两年的时间里发表15到20篇为中国崛起出谋划策的文章，将包含台海策，对日关系策，对美关系策，对欧关系策，韩半岛策，中国软实力策，国际战略策，行政体制改革策等等，盼望抛砖引玉，让更多的中华儿女出来为国家谋划，固然一介布衣，但位卑未敢忘忧国，也常记得总理的话：“为中华崛起而读书”。愿以所学报效祖国，身在德国，心在华夏。中国之崛起是一项大工程，需用无数的各行各业的专家、学者、知识分子和知识群体出来为国谋划，因为笔者深信，中国将在我们这一代走向世界一流强国，重新恢复中国在世界文明中应有的地位。为了这一伟大历史进程，愿越来越多的人一起为国谋划，为中华之崛起献策。
　　　　
　　　　这些文章只是我的一点浅见，是一个小小的开端，我希望可以抛砖引玉，让更多的知识群体共同出来，群策群力。中国的崛起靠的是千千万万如你我一样的知识分子和专家集体的智慧，绝非靠一人或是数人之力。
　

《大国战略》刘涛：中国崛起策系列:
　
中国崛起策一：从中美经济共生体谈起
中国崛起策二：中国的地缘困境和西部突围
中国崛起策三：独特的日本考验中国的崛起
中国崛起策四：中国对美大战略的初步探讨
中国崛起策五：当前改革的重中之重
中国崛起策六：从中西差距谈提升中国的软实力
中国崛起策七：中东危局下的中国利益
中国崛起策八：合纵连横下的世界战略格局
中国崛起策九：新思维下的中国大战略
中国崛起策十：从德国的历史经验教训看中国的未来
中国崛起策十一：南方的跃升和中国的崛起
中国崛起策十二：渐进改革和中国现代化总目标
中国崛起策十三：告别民主弥赛亚主义，建立新型民主观
中国崛起策十四：从宗教神话看日本的崛起
中国崛起策十五：政治改革的切入点:建立社会中间层
中国崛起策十六：珍惜中国和平崛起的关键时期
中国崛起策十七：民主政治道路上的挑战和难题
中国崛起策十八：界定国家、市场和社会的界限
中国崛起策十九：尊重民权与树立国民意识
中国崛起策二十：社会福利制度和新中间路线
中国崛起策二十一：非洲现代化曲折之路的启示

Web 2.0: The Machine is Us/ing Us

2007-06-25T23:25:00.000+08:00

Web 2.0 is largely a consumer/market concept. This video clip explained it rather accurately. I like the way it is done! Some of the reply movies are quite nice as well. Give it a go!

Nancy Drew

2007-06-24T00:15:00.000+08:00

For people who have lost faith to Hollywood, behold! Here is one (marginally) good movie from the Holy Land of Movie Making! At LOooooNG last!

Nancy Drew reminded me the kind of American that we used to appreciate: Kind, upright, smart, decent. The kind of American that doesn't eat Junk Food. The kind of American that doesn't IM while sitting next to each other.

Reminded me how far the US of A has fallen from her former glory.

My new Job

2007-06-17T22:26:00.001+08:00

So... finally I have started working in my new job. I am working as a Production Assistant (Screener) in ESPN-Starsports.

What is a Screener? Well, basically, to the best of my knowledge, in broadcast media, there are two kinds of feeds, live feed and recorded feed. As a screener, my job is primarily to screen through the recorded feed in the form of tapes and log down the time of an entry point and exit point. This is important because Voice-over and Transmission will based their timing on the time we log down.

However, this is an entry level job and mostly held by freelance employee. Most people, after one year or so, move on to other aspect of production.

Well, for all of you who are interested, that's the gist of my new job.

Super Productivity

2007-06-11T23:11:00.000+08:00

I've recently set this page to be my homepage.

It's quite entertaining and rather effective. Give it a go!

A disastrous Interview

2007-05-28T00:28:00.000+08:00

It was disastrous not for me but for the outlook of a certain industry.

In short, the interviewers (who were both rather young, and dress "appropriately" like punkish artists) were "not impressed" with me and tried to offer me a job at half of my starting salary when I was a fresh graduate from NUS.

Granted, I am in the middle of career change and I have no prior experience in the industry I am trying to get into. But some experiences can more or less be carried over: Organizational skills good enough to organize a nationwide event (and I am not talking about Singapore, which is more of a metropolis-state); Leadership skills good enough to be the key assistant of senior managers in a department of 40. They can "not impress" with all these achievement but to NOT see the value and to tell it in my face is nothing short of a revelation that I have just been "interviewed" by people who are totally unfit for the task. After all, you do not paint a good picture and ask the blinded what they think. They will rightfully be "not impressed" by what you have painted.

They are of course also "not impressed" by contacts that I can named. One is just a Managing director of a fledging MNC and the other a famous figure in the print media industry of Malaysia. It is of course of not immediate values to them.

It is all very proletarian: we think you can only do this job, and therefore you are paid for this job. That I also bring valuable experience to the job seemed to get right pass their (airy) head. Of course, they have much more experience in their adopted industry to know whether my experience counts, right?

In the end of the day, I don't blame them. I really don't. I am not even angry with them. To be angry with a blind person when he tells you he cannot see is simply silly. And I never looked down on blind person: it is unfortunate enough when someone simply cannot see, and to show any condescending attitude towards such unfortunate soul is simply mean.

I am primarily angry about myself. I had realized something was terribly off base as soon as I saw my two interviewers. I was right about my intuitions, but I was wrong to stay and be "interviewed" by two people who basically operate at a different plane of existence. I should have immediately excuse myself politely and blame it on some kind of cosmic joke.

It was a very hard lesson to learn: never submit yourself to the judgement of someone who is going to under-value you.

Counting Teeth on the Bureacratic Jaws

2007-05-08T13:00:00.000+08:00

Tooth 1: To remain a Permenant Resident, you must reside in SG. To leave SG, you need to apply for a re-entry permit and return to the country before the permit expire. Egibility to the permit depends on how much tax you paid to SG

Tooth 2: To request for a transaction record of your saving account more than 3 months old, a charge of 20 dollars per month will be levied.

Tooth 3: only 15% (?) of open air area is designated for smokers. If you smoke in a non-smoking area, you are at risk of being caught by undercover.

Tooth 4: ERP charges was raised by 50 cents.

One of the most efficiently runned government in the world.

Kudos.

Wordpress or Vox

2007-04-21T12:55:00.000+08:00

I am tinking of moving my blog to another place. I am thinking of either Wordpress or Vox but can't decide. Anyone have any reference or review?

Of course the alternative is to stay put in blogspot. Since it is now join with google, I am inclined to think blogspot will have a bright future.

相忘于江湖

2007-04-21T00:06:00.000+08:00

这篇特别写给我在“东方”的同事们。

“向忘于江湖”这句话出自《庄子·大宗师》。原文是：“ 泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相嘘以湿，相濡以沫，不如相忘于江湖。”

泉水干涸了，鱼儿们为了在一起，在陆地上挤成一堆，以呼吸唾液的水分来延续彼此的生命，倒不如活在江湖中，即使把彼此都忘了。即使，没有机会认识。

共勉之。

一些关于“鸟”的经典名句

2007-04-19T23:10:00.000+08:00

“燕雀安知鸿鹄之志”
典故：
陈涉少时，尝与人佣耕，辍耕之垄上，怅恨久之，曰：“苟富贵，无相忘。”佣者笑而应曰：“若为佣耕，何富贵也？”陈涉太息曰：“嗟乎，燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！”
这句倒过来说还是可以的“鸿鹄安知燕雀之志”。每个人的出发点不一样，观点不一样，所追求就不一样，倒不必执著于“鸿鹄”或“燕雀”了。所谓人各有志，鸟亦然。

“良禽择木而栖”
典故：
“良禽择木”是孔子在卫国时说过的话。当时卫灵公寻问孔子关于作战布阵的事情，孔子立即回答：“俎豆之事，则尝闻之矣；军旅之事未尝学也。(注：祭祀礼仪之类的事，我听说过；用兵打仗的事，我没有学过。)”
之后，孔子便催促学生们准备离开卫国。学生们不知其故，于是孔子说道：“鸟择木，无木择鸟。”
此言后来演变为“良禽择木而栖，贤臣择主而侍”孔子认为，君子遇事之时应看清在哪才能使自己的聪明才智得到最大程度的运用。
这句说得很好，只是看个人选择当“禽”或“木”而已。禽乎？木乎？呜呼？

“我听别人说这世界上有一种鸟是没有脚的，它只能够一直的飞呀飞呀，飞累了就在风里面睡觉，这种鸟一辈子只能下地一次，那一次就是它死亡的时候。”
典故：
《阿飞正传》里的旁白
这种鸟不是选择不要脚的，而是生下来就没有脚。

最喜欢的还是这个：

穷发之北，有冥海者，天池也。有鱼焉，其广数千里，未有知其修者，其名为鲲。有鸟焉，其名为鹏，背若太山，翼若垂天之云，抟扶摇羊角而上者九万里，绝云气，负青天，然后图南，且适南冥也。斥(安鸟)笑之曰：‘彼且奚适也？我腾跃而上，不过数仞而上，翱翔蓬蒿之间，此亦飞之至也，而彼且奚适也？’此小大之辩也。
典故：
《庄子。逍遥游第一》
这是最早的相对论，也是最早的狂放派文章。

Update in April 2007

2007-04-15T19:33:00.000+08:00

I haven't blogged (is this even a legitimate word?) in a while. Mainly because I was really busy. I never thought I could endure a regular working life for... two months! Well, it happens when you are new to the job and everything is... surprise! New!

Seriously though, I really learned a lot of things during my two months stint in a newspaper company. Never mind my real job post, but I was mainly functioning as a secretary / assistant. Getting to know the rest of the secretaries/admins of various heads helps in understanding the working of the company.

Is it any surprise that my two months stint is coming to an end and I have decided to "return" to Singapore? I guess it would have been some sort of surprise to myself have I not been so... desensitized by all the surprises in my life.

I left the company during one of their majot upheavals (Those types you usually see in big company, unfortunate for me, I am a bit jaded, otherwise I could have been greatly entertained. Still, it's good emo drama).

Conclusion, I couldn't possibly gamble my prospect in Singapore (assuming there is any) for Malaysia. So much for patriotism. The deciding factor was my dear friends in Singapore. Unfortunately, they still hold sway in the decisions I make in life. Not that I mind. I can always spin warm and fuzzy feelings around that fact.

Anyway, I found this interesting site: The Gender Genie. It actually tells you the gender of the author by a piece of articles. Unfortunately, it was wrong for most of my articles. Also, it only works for english (More proof of damn anglo-barbarian cultural hegemony).

According to the site, I am a mostly androgenous female when I write in English. When I write a serious romatic tale between two men though, I am mostly female. The site is "totally confounded" (their word) when I write in Chinese. Funny.

Also, according to their score board, the keyword "with" have a very heavy female connotation, while the word "around" is heavily male. So "Playing with his dick" is presumely female and "Fucking around" is presumely male. So cute. (Imagine flat tone.)

Try it out. Maybe you can find some amusement from this primitive toy.

将人道问题政治化 – 谈安倍对二战慰安妇的立场

2007-03-13T09:30:00.000+08:00

AN: Wrote this a while ago for a newspaper. Since it is not published, I'll post it on my own blog.

近日读到安倍拒绝“再为慰安妇道歉”的报道时，不禁感到好奇。毕竟，日政府在1993年的“河野谈话”中，已经以非常明确的立场承认日军“直接或间接的地参与了慰安所的设置、管理以及运送慰安妇”。并且，安倍上台后，外交上不断与亚洲国家，特别是中国，靠拢，在此时发表如此伤害亚洲国家感情的谈话，实在不合情理。

安倍左右为难幕后黑手美国难辞其咎。

在网上搜索有关报道，进一步了解后，才发觉此事必须追朔至美国于1月27日的一则新闻。

有关报道指出，美国会众议院外交关系委员会发表声明，准备提交议案，谴责有关二战期间日本军队强迫亚洲妇女充当“慰安妇”的行为。

于2月9日，日本则传出自民党“思考日本前途和历史教育”委员会要求修改“河野谈话”。一名众议员中山泰秀甚至声称：“即使有慰安妇，也不可能有随军慰安妇。”，并且要求安倍内阁为“河野谈话”做出新的注解。

而3月1日，日本首相安倍晋三在首相官邸回答记者提问时声称，日军在二战期间强迫亚洲妇女充当"慰安妇"的说法缺少证据。4日，安倍助手、政府发言人世耕弘成则表示，首相仍然继承承认日本政府强迫亚洲妇女成为慰安妇的“河野谈话”中的精神。5日，安倍告诉国会，即使美国通过决议要求日本，日本也不会再次为二战征调慰安妇道歉。

一连串事件观察下来，不难发现其实安倍看似前后矛盾的谈话，正是安倍内阁在受到内部右翼势力以及国际舆论两面压力下，模棱两可的反应。

而美国在日本全面向亚洲靠拢，中日民间印象逐渐提升的前提下再次挑起这一块心病，给人的感觉则是居心叵测。

日本右翼“爱国”心切 “要面子”不识大体

日本右翼分子在这次慰安妇事件的表现，则是令人失望的不识大体。其实，他们爱国心切，急欲“纠正”日本国际形象的心态，很容易理解。但是否认历史事实并不能真正的体现日本的大国形象，反而引起国际社会的反感。

德国在二战后全面承认集中营的罪行，并且负起责任，从而赢得国际社会的谅解并且接纳，在二十一世纪重新成为国际间举足轻重的经济强国。

反观日本，被靖国神社，历史教科书等等无意义的政治措举缠绕不休，无法与邻国建立健康正面的伙伴关系，日本国内的极端右翼势力难辞其咎。

而这次有关势力又乘机借美国的压力大做文章，意欲再次“粉饰”历史，甚至误导国内民众，压迫安倍内阁，对日本本国造成无法衡量的伤害，若谴责以“为虎作伥”，相信也不为过。

人道问题被政治化亚洲群众应如何面对？

无可否认，慰安妇是二战期间一种扭曲的现象，对亚洲妇女造成无法磨灭的伤害。对日本则是一项无法忽视的国耻。

这样的一个课题，难免在两方的民间留下难解的心结。而这样的心结，则难免被政客们拿来当着筹码。

笔者认为，将这样的课题政治化已属不该，对受害者更是大不敬，若一再拿来当着政治筹码，则让人不胜其烦。

日本极端右翼分子一定会存在。与其集中抨击他们的负面评论，倒不如正视一些有良知之士正面，并且中立的看法。在2000年于东京召开的“妇女国际战犯法庭”已经判决日本昭和天皇有罪，而为这次大审判服务的150名支援工作人员中多数为日本人。虽然他们的服务并没有获得媒体的大力宣扬，但是其代表的日本良知的觉醒却是意义重大的。另一个著名的例子则是日本士兵东史郎。他于1988年出版了《我们的南京步兵队---一个召集兵体验的南京大屠杀》，披露了自己所在部队烧杀抢掠、强迫中国和朝鲜妇女充当慰安妇的残暴行径。甚至在以后的岁月里，在法庭上同日本右翼势力进行了顽强的斗争。

亚洲人民如果不正视这些有良知的日本人，并且给与他们正面的评价并且支持，而是笼统地责怪“日本”，则可能激怒一些本来温和的中立派，把他们推向极端的右翼。

反之，亚洲民众如果能够与日本有良知的人士合作，给他们的努力与正面的肯定，对于极端主义分子，则在正视历史的大前提下采取谅解的立场，相信在不久的将来，日本与二战的受害亚洲国家，能够达成共识，找出一个既能正视历史，又能让日本“保留面子”的解决方案，然后化敌为友，打造一个共同的未来。

When a kid second guess his elders...

2007-02-17T22:44:00.000+08:00

http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinprss.html

I refer to the above article. It is an old article, dated in 1994. Yet I think the unfounded fears (and childishness) that reeks from this article still applies today. (I am honored as an over-sea chinese that we featured in this alleged chinese threat. I doubt our brothers in the mainland hold us as high a regard.)

I wished to highlight the closing paragraph:

''Any major power will eventually act as a major power,'' said Leo Suryadinata, an Indonesian-Chinese political scientist and author at Singapore's National University. ''The only real question is whether Chinese expansionism will take the form of troops and territorial ambitions -- or economy and culture.''

Excuse me? This question has been answered a long time ago. Chinese has almost 2000 years of imperial management experience and all teachings tell us that foreign military intervetion ALWAYS spell disaster. (Some countries obviously never learn that lesson... I know people HATE to be patronized by Chinese, but I am telling the truth when I say chinese are the most experienced imperial beauracrats in the world, and any aspiring empire should learn a lesson or two.) Chinese are not even particular kin in expanding its culture. We are only interested in getting the next meal, and fulfilling it, the next new toy. Seriously.

The delusional American

2007-02-13T11:45:00.000+08:00

Defense chief rebukes Putin's tough talk

Read the above article. One paragraph that particularly ires me is this:

Gates also said that prisoner abuse scandals in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other mistakes have damaged America's reputation. It will take work, he said, to prove that the U.S. still is a force for good in the world.

While he did not mention the war in Iraq, Gates told officials at the security conference that Washington must do a better job of explaining its policies and actions.

For the past century, he said, most people believed that "while we might from time to time do something stupid, that we were a force for good in the world."

Many continue to believe that, Gates said. But, he added, "I think we also have made some mistakes and have not presented our case as well as we might in many instances. I think we have to work on that."

Mr Gates, why not start by dismantling the US arsenal of nuclear weapons? At risk of being called anti-american, I would venture that the US has not been a force of good in the world since WWI. I do not deny that there are good Americans, but they are not good nor strong enough to see through and stop their criminal government.

In any case, one very simple fact: It is hard for ANYONE (sane, of course) to believe a country is a force of good in the world when her military budget is equivalent to the rest of the world combine.

星座话你知

2007-01-28T21:41:00.000+08:00

白羊座

妈妈经常叮嘱羊羊：“穿裙子时不可以荡秋千；不然，会被小男生看到里面小内裤哦！”
有一天，羊羊高兴地对妈妈说：“今天我和小明比赛荡秋千，我赢了！”
妈妈生气地说：“不是告诉过你吗？穿裙子时不要荡秋千！”
羊羊骄傲地说：“可是我好聪明哦！我把里面的小内裤脱掉了，这样他就看不到我的小内裤了！”
（勇敢直率、敢做敢为的白羊）
　　　　　　
金牛座
　　　　　　
卖瓜小贩：“快来吃西瓜，不甜不要钱！”
饥渴的牛牛：“哇！太好了，老板，来个不甜的！”
（持家、想出轨又顾全自己的金牛）
　　　　　　
双子座
　　　　　　
妈妈叫双双起床：“快点起来！公鸡都叫好几遍了！”
双双说：“公鸡叫和我有什么关系？我又不是母鸡！”
（自我意识强烈、自行思维的双子）
　　　　　　
巨蟹座
　　　　　　
公车上，蟹蟹说：“今晚我要和妈妈睡！”
妈妈问道：“你将来娶了媳妇也和妈妈睡阿？”
蟹蟹不假思索：“嗯！”
妈妈又问：“那你媳妇怎么办？”
蟹蟹想了半天，说：“好办，让她跟爸爸睡！”
妈妈：“！＠＃＄％＾＆＊（……—”
再看爸爸，已经热泪盈眶啦！
（恋母情结、依恋的巨蟹）
　　　　　　
狮子座
　　　　　　
狮狮去参加奶奶的寿宴。到了吃寿包的时候，狮狮问：“我们为什么要吃这种像屁股的寿包？”
众人听了脸色大变。
接著狮狮拨开寿包，看看里面的豆沙，说：“奶奶，快看！里面还有大便！”
众人晕的晕，吐的吐。
（以自我感受、不怕旁人眼光的骄傲的狮子）
　　　　　　
处女座
　　　　　　
处处对肚脐很好奇，就问爸爸。
爸爸把脐带连著胎儿与母体的道理简单地讲了一下，说：“婴儿离开母体之后，医生把脐带减断，并打了一个结，後来就成了肚脐。”
处处：“那医生为什么不打个蝴蝶结？”
（好奇心强又追求完美的处女）

天秤座
　　　　　　
父亲对天天说：“今天不要上学了，昨晚．．．你妈给你生了两个弟弟。你给老师说一下就行了。”
天天却回答：“爸爸，我只说生了一个；另一个，我想留著下星期不想上时再说！”
（聪明、权衡利弊的天平）
　　　　　　
天蝎座
　　　　　　
蝎蝎刚睡著，就叫蚊子叮了一口。
他起来赶蚊子，却怎么也赶不出去。没法，便指著蚊子说：“好吧，你不出去我出去！”边说边出了房间，把门使劲关严得意地说：“哼！我今晚不进屋，非把你饿死不可！”
（搞不懂、不按常理出牌的天蝎）
　　　　　　
射手座
　　　　　　
射射：“爸爸，为什么你有那么多白头发？”
爸爸：“因为你不乖，所以爸爸有好多白头发阿。”
射射：……（疑惑中）
射射：“那为什么爷爷全部都是白头发？”
爸爸：！＠＃＄％＾＆＊（……
（喜欢思考的射手）
　　　　　　
摩羯座
　　　　　　
一天，羯羯跟妈妈上街；走在路上，突然下起雨来。
妈妈拉过羯羯的小手，说：“下雨了，快往前跑阿！”
羯羯慢条斯理地问：“那前面就不下雨喽！？”
（明白现实懒得改变的摩羯）
　　　　　　
水瓶座
　　　　　　
瓶瓶问妈妈：“问什么称蒋先生为『先人』？”
妈妈说：“因为‘先人’是对死去的人的称呼。”
瓶瓶说：“那去世的奶奶是不是要叫『鲜奶』？”
（天生的另类、脑筋思考永远和常人不一样的水瓶）
　　　　　　
双鱼座
　　　　　　
爸爸给鱼鱼讲小时候经常挨饿的事。
听完後，鱼鱼两眼含泪，十分同情地问：“哦，爸爸，你是因为没饭吃才来我们家的吗？”
（富含丰富同情心、不分情况对象的双鱼）

比武器更厉害武器－详讲人民币升值的利害关系

2007-01-25T00:06:00.000+08:00

原贴在此

现在很多国人都很关心人民币升值这个话题，但又不了解美国迫使人民币升值的真正意图何在，现在鄙人就此浅薄的发表一下我的个人看法！

相信大家对80年代的“日本经济衰退”和90年代的“亚洲金融风暴”及“香港的香港金融保卫战”吧！也许有人会说那是国际投机集团“美国索罗斯财团”搞的，但是，你就没有想过它背后难道就没有美国政府的支持了吗？下面，我仔细分析一下这些事件的前因后果你就会明白了。

从1980 开始的，特别在1990年和1995年，第一名的美国和第二名的日本之间的GDP差距是多少？日本GDP超过美国GDP的一半！这也是目前为止唯一一次其它国家和美国的经济差距缩小到一半的程度。日本人在欢呼：只要超过美国的GDP，日本就可以恢复“正常国家”了！美国人没有吭声。

按理说，日本还是美国的盟国，其经济也是美国扶持起来的，美国也没有分裂日本的必要（要分裂，二战时就分裂了，也不用等到80-90年代）。美国也不可能对盟国日本使用“颠覆性煽动”，眼看着美国是阻挡不了日本经济的发展前景的了！世界各国都在兴奋的期待着日本GDP超过美国GDP的那个“历史性时刻”！日本企业更加疯狂，美国经济的象征——洛克菲勒广场被日本人买下了！美国的精神象征——好莱坞被日本人买了！美国人民的心情一下子掉到了谷底。“世界第一” 就快保不住了！美国人民的荣耀感在急剧下滑，民间开始蔓延仇日情绪。

1980年，日本的GDP就快到美国的一半了。有一件事情在1985年发生了，1985年美国拉拢其它五国（7国集团）逼迫日本签署了。以“行政手段”迫使日元升值。其实的一个中心思想就是日本央行不得 “过度”干预外汇市场。日本当时手头有充足的美元外汇储备，如果日本央行干预，日元升不了值。可惜呀，日本是被去了势的太监。美国驻军、政治渗透、连宪法都是美国人帮它度身定做的，想不签广场协议都不可能。

日本最后的结局大家也知道了。1985年9月的广场协议至1988 年初.美国要求日元升值。根据协议推高日元，日元兑美元的汇率从协议前的1美元兑240 日元上升到1986年5月时的1美元兑160日元。由于美国里根政府坚持认为日元升值仍不到位，通过口头干预等形式继续推高日元。这样，到1988年年初，日元兑美元的汇率进一步上升到1美元兑120日元,正好比广场协议之前的汇率上升了一倍

美国人满足了吗？没有。接着看下去，从 1993年2月至1995年4月，当时克林顿政府的财政部长贝茨明确表示，为了纠正日美贸易的不均衡，需要有20% 左右的日元升值，当时的日元汇率大致在1美元兑120日元左右，所以，根据美国政府的诱导目标，日元行情很快上升到1美元兑100日元。以后，由于克林顿政府对以汽车摩擦为核心的日美经济关系采取比较严厉的态度。到了1995年4月，日元的汇率急升至1美元兑79日元，创下历史最高记录。

日元升值的后果是什么？洛克菲勒广场重新回到了美国人手中，通用汽车在这个广场的一卖一买中净赚4亿美元！日资在艰难度日中大规模亏本退出美国。美国人民胜利了！成功的击退了日本的经济进攻！我们可以从事例中看看1995年之后，日本和美国的GDP之比重新拉开了距离，而且越来越大！

可能有些网友还是没有明白，日元升值怎么啦？跟我们的谈论有什么关系？日元升值，就是美国对日本的一次经济阻击战！成功的把日本20多年的发展财富大转移到了美国去了。

下面我给个例子大家就清楚了。

假设我是美国财团，我当然知道1985会发生什么，假设我在1983年吧，我用100亿美元兑换成24000亿日元，进入日本市场，购买日本股票和房地产，日本经济的蓬勃导致股市和房地产发疯一样的上涨，1985年广场协议签订，日元开始升值，到1988年初，股市和房地产假设我已经赚到了一倍（5年才翻一倍是最低假设了），那就是48000亿日元。

这时，日元升值到1:120。我把日本的房地产和股票在一年中抛售完，然后兑换回美元，那么，就是400亿美元！在5年时间中，我净赚300亿美元！（还是最低假设）。那么日本呢？突然离开的巨额外资就导致了日本经济的崩溃！经济学用词叫“泡沫经济破灭”。这就是日本常说的：“失去的十年”。而我连本带利的400亿美元回到美国，你想一想，美国经济能不旺盛吗？！！日本“失去的十年”，却正是美国“兴旺的十年”！看看我的上表就知道了。

我只是美国财团中的一个，其它财团呢？嘿嘿，而且我的假设还只是到1988年，如果是到1995年，日元升值到1:79，你我能想象美国在这场经济战争的胜利中，到底从日本刮走了多少财富？

美国赚够了，日元现在又重新回到了1:140的位置上，美元的坚挺依然和30年前一样！美元暂时性的贬值，并没有损害到美元的国际地位。这场美日的经济战争，以美国完胜而告终！！

美国人玩上瘾了。1998年，同样的手法在东南亚四小龙四小虎身上又来了一次，这就是亚洲金融风暴！唯一不同的，这次不需要广场协议了。因为亚洲这些小虎小龙的外汇储备们直接阻击就可以大获全胜！但是，还是没有战胜财大气粗、军事强盛、奉行霸权主义的美国，结局大家也看到了，东南亚货币在先升后跌中，经济发展的成果被美国抢掠一空！！

唯一市场硬挺住了索罗斯的进攻而没有经济崩溃的就只有回归后的香港，保住了香港几十年的发展果实。当时索罗斯发动世界舆论（包括香港舆论），大肆攻击香港政府（中国政府）“行政干预市场”，违反市场经济规则、没有民主自由，要是当时中国屈服于世界的舆论压力而不运用“宏观调控”进行入市干预，那将酿成大祸，又不知道要有多少国人向当年的日本那样因破产而跳楼自杀了！

当时的曾荫权后来说过：“决定政府入市干预的前一晚，我坐在床头哭了，不是为我自己，而是怕这个决定如果错误了，害了香港，我怎么向中央政府向市民们交代。”大家现在知道为什么美国一再要求他国“新闻自由”、“市场经济”、“民主人权”是建立在自己利益的基础上了吧，知道我国的“宏观调控”政策的正确性和优势所在了吧。

美国停手了吗？没有，因为我过综合势力的增长国力的增强威胁到了美国的根本利益和“世界第一”的权威，近来“中国公开支持因儿子丑闻陷入困境的安南，指责美国故意借题发挥进行人生攻击。”就是最好的证明。所以美国心里就不痛快了，就要整人了，现在强迫人民币升值就是消弱中国的第一步，各位明白了吗？知道为什么中央政府突然狂力打压上海和北京的房地产市场？知道为什么中国股市那么惨了吗？央行行长周小川在3 月还是4月曾说了一件事情：“有一个40亿美元的外资在上海炒房地产，已经退出中国了这样的外资，不要也罢！”明白了吗？中国股市是一个弱势股市，很容易被美国财团利用。

中央不可能放松对股市的控制，否则中国经济将会在外资的攻击中崩溃！前段时间，也就是今年的12月初又有一个240亿美元的外资财团撤离中国上海。现在，大家对国家的宏观调控的优势有所理解了吧，知道了国家出台那么多针对房地产的政策是多么的明智和及时了吧（文件详文附在后面，有兴趣的可以读读）！

现在各位知道为什么中国要实行国家外汇管制、汇率控制、打压房地产、控制股市、知道为什么中国要保持巨额外汇储备，为什么最近央行又出台了新的房地产贷款规定，为什么中国政府一直要求进出口贸易平衡，为什么要扩展东南亚贸易市场和欧盟市场，为什么要加WTO了。

其实中美之间的经济战争，早就已经开场了，而且来来回回过了几百招了。我们大多数网友还懵懵懂懂的只盯着台海，盯着中亚美军又多了一个军事基地。要知道经济崩溃的灾难远比一场军事战争的后果更严重。军事战争不外乎两种：即“侵略战争”和“卫国战争”。而军事上的“侵略战争”的最终目的就是打垮对方的一切（军事力量和经济实力）达到占领对方领土，进行资源掠夺和控制奴役和剥削对方的国民。

这样的事情中国历史上没有少发生，这里我就不例举事例了。而如今的美国就是以军事上的侵略战争为手段，达到奴役和剥削对方为目的的真实意图（对实力弱小的国家而言），看看如今的“伊拉克”就明白了，美国实际上是侵略占领了伊拉克，控制了伊拉克的石油，以此来满足美国国内巨大的需求量；而对实力强的原苏联（原苏联拥有制对方死地的核力量），美国就只有发动经济进攻来拖垮他们，苏联的分裂就是最好的例子。

也许有的人要说，那是冷战时期的军备竞赛和当时苏联国内政策导致了原苏联因经济崩溃而解体的。但是，你有没有想过，进行军备竞赛是以经济实力为基础的。当时的美国经济实力比苏联强，所以，美国胜利了而苏联解体了。现在轮到我们了，我国现在的经济和军事实力都没有冷战时期的苏联强大，相同点是我国同样也拥有毁灭美国的核武器，只是数量少了一点而已。那在这一轮中，就要看我国领导人的智慧了，建立合理的政策来规避风险，保护自己是当务之急（可喜的是，现在我国已经在这样做了）。

可是，美国也没有闲着，而且，作为经济进攻的第一步他们已经早早的迈出了，向美国“凯雷财团”这样的世界性投机财团收购中国的“徐州重工”这样的事情已经发生了很多了，在这里我就不一一例举了。他们的目的很明确，控制中国的核心技术，进行世界性的技术垄断，迫使??量。同时乘汇率没有变化之前以美元套取人民币，迫使中国央行大量发行人民币以应付大量的货币兑换需求，为拖垮中国经济打下伏笔。这还是明的进入，暗地里的就更无法统计了。

说到这里，也许有很多人不明白大量美元兑换人民币的行为与拖垮中国经济有什么关系。在这里，我解释一下：在没有大量美国财团恶意涌入中国用大量美元换取人民币之前，我国的经济形式是相对稳定的，但是，实际上，我国发行的人民币的数量远没有我国人民积累的财富数量那么多，因为，任何一种货币，只要能保证本国正常的经济活动就行了，??为印刷货币的成本是很高的。

举个例子：中国有13亿人口，平均每人的财富拥有量为1万元每人，中国总共有 13万亿元财富，而现实生活中，每个人不可能把自己的全部财富都带在身上，这里就平均一下，平均每个人身上携带1000元现金（携带量为10%，其实这个量已经是很大了），其余的存在银行，也就是说，在正常情况下的流动现金量（术语为：现金流量）为1千亿元，乘以一定的突变系数，（这里为了便于计算，就理想的取值100%），也就是说在正常的经济活动下，中国只要发行2千亿人民币就可以满足本国的经济活动了。

而大量的恶意的国外财团的资金涌入中国，表面上是拉动了我国的经济，是国内的消费量变大，也就是使国内的现金流量的需求变大，这样，我国为了满足大众消费的需求，就会大量印刷和发行人民币来满足这种需求（当年的日本就是这样）。据统计，目前在国际上金融市场上的投资有136万亿美元。

其中只要有1%涌入中国进行投机经营，按现在的汇率，我国就要发行10.895584万亿元人民币（1.36*7.8644=10.695584+0.2 =10.895584万亿元），货币的发行总量已经超过了我国现有的外汇储备量（1万亿美元）的10倍，算把中国的全部外汇储备都拿来也难对付对手，此时，我国的国有经济就是负9.895584万亿元，不能算上全中国人民的全部财富，因为，国家经济崩溃了，我们手中的财富也就一文不值了。

如果人民币升值以后，他们再用手头的人民币套取美元，中国国内将会余留大量人民币。那样，国人乃至世界将会对中国失去信心，不再储备和使用甚至抛售手中储备的人民币，使中国的外贸活动受挫，最终导致中国国内的通货膨胀，对外导致信誉危机从而导致金融危机。就向40年代的通货膨胀那样一盒火柴要卖几百块。如果我国政府在这次的人民币汇率这件事上决策错误，那么到时中国近30年来改革开放的经济成果就可能就可能落入他人之手。

最近，国内的经济形式来看，客观的将，形式是不容乐观的。按理说，人民币升值了，也就是说钱值钱了，应该是以前1块钱的东西现在只要9毛甚至是8毛就可以买到了；可是现在的国内形式，除了工资没有涨外其余的都涨了。

新华网报道说：自8月份开始，北京市场食用油价格震荡上扬。进入11月份，米价、面价、菜价及副食价格均有不同程度的攀升。报道认为，是受国际大豆市场价格上扬的影响，导致食用油价格上升。但是，米面跟风而涨，25公斤装的富强粉涨幅达12%以上，500克大米上涨了6分钱。据了解，在上海、广州、深圳粮油等生活必需品已是涨升一遍，并持续一个多月，其中面粉、食用油的最高涨幅分别已达一成和二成。

农副产品涨价说明了我国经济在发展和提高。同时，以农副产品的涨价来增加农民的收入，维护社会的稳定，给国家的发展提供了一个良好的国内环境，对国家的发展是有好处的，因为中国农民的数量毕竟占了总人口比例的70%以上嘛。

但是，中国的这四大城市生活必需品的涨价决外偶然。持续7个多月的宏观调控并没有稳定房价，相反，导致房价的节节攀升。早有经济学家警告说，地产泡沫将导致通货膨胀，通货膨胀将引发经济危机。然而，这种声音太微弱，现如今的种种迹象表明，通货膨胀正在步步逼近我们。

对比1996年的东京，1997年的香港，北京、上海、广州，深圳这四大房价居高不下的城市，地产泡沫破灭前的迹象已经显现。试图为了一已私利而继续哄抬房价的地方政府，将迎来经济规律的无情惩罚。因为这一轮的通货膨胀是在毫无防备的情况下发出的，可能还不被官方承认，但它实实在在已经来临了。这种处在萌芽状态的通货膨胀选择了一个导致经济危机的最好时机——2007年的元旦和春节前。因此，危害性和破坏性更大。如果有一天方便面也开始涨价时，这场经济危机已无法遏制了。

柴米油盐、水电油汽的轮番涨价和全面涨价，对中国的富豪阶层的正常生活不构成任何影响，但是千千万万的普通市民将要付出更多的财富以维持和原来一样的生活水准，也就是说，中国的高房价，间接地是由普通城市居民来买单，日本的国民是花了15年的时间，香港的市民就是花了14年。那么，中国的城市居民要花多少年呢？

应对即将到来的通货膨胀，国家自然有金融的手段。可是，中国的人民币在国际市场受到美元的攻击，一年之内升值达5%，而且，还有继续升值的空间。中国的贸易顺差将在人民币的升值中逐渐缩小，国际市场的风险已在加剧。而国内市场生活必需品的全面涨价，将直接影响消费。最后，逼迫央行加大人民币的发行量，中国的通货膨胀就此爆发。这种危机也可能近在眼前。

人民币目前在国际货币市场的遭遇是中国汇制改革以来没有过的事，我们目前已经知道美元要干什么？但是，还由不得我们把国际市场的问题解决好，人民币在国内又是这样的尴尬。在不动产涨价的带动下，生活必需品全面涨价，形成了国际与国内两种迥然不同的市场。从某种意义上来说，这样的市场将走向资本的过度投机。说白了，对内将加剧中国社会的贫富分化，对外给资本大鳄可乘之机。

如果更深层次的分析，人民币似乎是遭遇来自不同方面的围攻，试图将中国30来年经济发展的成果逐步蚕食。接下来，生活必需品的涨幅将进一步加剧，市民的购买力进一步下降，国内市场进一步缩小，中国的产能将进一步过剩，最后，必然导致大量的中小企业破产，经济危机说来就来。

真正要化解这场危机，对目前的经济局势来说，进一步加大宏观调控的力度，理顺房地产市场的管理体制，采取有力措施，坚决把房价降下来，让城市居民在房价下降的过程中感受中国经济的力量，从而增强对未来的信心。也许，这是目前最应该做的一件事，尽管已经做了一些表面工作。

我们要清醒地看到高房价的危害性，尤其是对中国社会的破坏更是史无前例。也许现在还不必过于悲观，一切都应该有转机。谁都知道中国经济发生了重大问题，就象一辆出现明显故障的高速列车，轰轰隆隆往前飞奔，不知何时将会出轨或者颠覆。有经济学家预言，2008年中国经济将会硬着陆，届时，社会动荡不可避免。

那么，出了这么大的问题，而问题的症结究竟何在呢？

发改委专家马晓河指出：我国正在由某一方面的过剩向全面过剩演变。由于产能过剩，内需不旺，中国产品被迫出口，又导致了大量的贸易摩擦，过分依赖国际市场的风险越来越大。马晓河举例说：中国人向世界上的每一个人提供了一双鞋子，可见鞋的产能过剩多少。11月23日，央行副行长苏宁也表示，中国最终消费占 GDP比重已从上世纪80年代超过62%下降到2005的52.1%，居民消费率也从1991年的48.8%下降到2005年的38.2%，均达到历史最低水平。而在中国居民消费率持续下降的同时，世界平均消费率达78%—79%，比较起来差别之大就如天上和地下。

上面两位，一位是宏观经济的专家，一位是金融权威，但指出的是一个共同问题，就是因为内需不旺而导致产能过剩，一旦国际市场出现大的风险，中国将有成千上万工业企业面临生存的危险。

让我们再来看看近几年推动中国经济高速发展的动因是什么：如果总揽中国经济全局就可以发现，推动中国经济高速增长的一是投资，二是消费，三是出口，可以说这是并驾齐驱的“三驾马车。”但是，在我国的实践中是“重投资、重出口、轻消费，”这是问题的表象。为什么中国人会“重投资、重出口、轻消费，”呢？明知消费是生产力，没有消费就没有生产力，这是一个浅显的经济学常识，但是在宏观经济发展的布局上，连马克思的剩余价值理论都不顾及了？

再仔细分析，就会发现很有趣的现象：一是地方政府重投资，前几年表现的是“开发区”热，后来是“基本建设”热，再后来就是现在的“房地产”热；二是大中型企业重工业产品出口，不管是上市公司还是民营企业，只要形成了生产规模，眼光都瞄准了国际市场，大到汽车，家电，小到鞋子，袜子，打火机，一古脑出口。就 “投资”热而言，高房价圈走了老百姓甚至两代人的财富，还有一代人背上了沉重的债务；就“出口”热而言，贸易顺差继续加剧，贸易摩擦不断增多，人民币升值压力越来越大。

有经济学家分析，人民币自汇率改革以来升值了5%，现在的状况是有可能2007年一年就要升值5%，相当于前10多年的升值总幅度。那么这个后果是什么呢？许多经济学家讳莫如深，我可以大胆的告诉大家，后果就是人民币大量从不同渠道流出境，国际洗黑钱的势力乘机介入，甚至可以把中国贪官的钱都洗白了。

可以说，在2007年之前，只听说外国人到中国来洗钱，这个局面也将因此而改变，中国人终于到外国去洗钱了。再说得深入一点，就是中国人民创造的财富被别人悄悄地“盗走”了，而“盗匪?发改委专家马晓河先生的话头上，看看如何解决产能过剩的问题。其实，很简单，产能过剩的解决之道是刺激消费，而刺激消费的唯一办法就是降低房价。房价不降，中国人对未来的预期必将产生较大的压力而不敢消费，还有一部分成了房奴无钱消费。马晓河先生说，中国工业品利用率有半数低于50%，所以，为了减少风险，必须扩大内需。而内需如何才能扩大呢？

中国居民的消费率是38.2%,世界平均消费率是78%—79%

中国居民平均房价收入比是一比十，世界平均房价收入比是一比

两相对照，中国经济问题的症结就暴露出来，是高得离谱的房价将中国居民的财富搜刮一空，还拿什么去消费呢？所以中国人的消费率创下了历史新低。有专家预测，中国房价每下降一个点，将为市场一年增加100亿以上的消费，而中国房价从2006年前三季度的综合平均价位上，至少有30%以上的下降空间，也就是说，只要中国房价下降30%，中国市场一年将增加3000亿的消费总额，中国经济的问题也迎刃而解，中国民众也从此能过上好日子。

相反，我国要是领导人的决策事物就控制不好这个局面，我国的经济将会崩溃，国内将??我国的国力衰弱后，必将遭受外强的军事打击。我们都清楚我们现在身处的国际环境有多恶劣。面对当前复杂的国际形势，中国一定要具备打赢两场战争的能力，一是军事战争，二是经济战争。

用战争手段夺取别国别人的财富在人类历史上是很常见的。即使在21世纪的今天也还能看到。为了保护中国人民的生命财产，以及可能爆发的军事冲突，中国一定要建设强大的陆军，强大的海军，强大的空军和强大的天军（太空部队）。

在人类进入21世纪的今天，谁占领了太空这个制高点，谁就掌握了未来战争的主动权。任何太空非军事化的想法，只能是白日做梦！

圣人说得好：落后是要挨打的！中国只有具备了彻底摧毁对手的实力，别人才不敢欺负中国。同时，在人类进入21世纪的今天，由于国际交流和贸易的全球化，一场新的战争----经济战争，已经取代军事战争，成为当今世界一部分人夺取另一部分人财产的主要手段

1997年东南亚的金融风暴就是经济战争的一个例子。落后的东南亚国家经济受到了重大打击。国际金融炒家以经济手段达到了以往要用战争手段才能达到的目标。

在少迟一点的香港金融保卫战中，时任香港政务司司长的曾荫权和财政司司长任志刚，在中国中央政府的支持下，用大量外汇储备干预了香港的股票市场。中国中央政府派出了两名央行副行长到香港，要求香港的全部中资机构，全力以赴支持香港政府的扶盘行动。经过几个月的较量，香港政府成功击退了国际金融炒家把香港当作提款机的企图。那次的斗争是非常激烈的，香港恒指变动1点，期货的买卖就会相差2.3亿港币。

香港金融保卫战虽然过去好多年了，我一直在想，如果没有强大中国做后盾，会不会发生“八国联军”攻打香港的可能呢？毕竟香港政府干预香港股票市场违反了当今国际主流社会的“规矩”。

中国航油（新加坡）在国际石油期货市场损失5亿美元和一位中国国资委职员在伦敦同期投资再次被吃表明中国在金融市场方面还有很多东西要学。

就石油这一项，中国现在每年就要多花几百亿美元。现在是中国需要啥，国际商品市场就涨啥。可以说是“抢你没商量”。

然而，石油等商品的价格对中国经济的危害并不是最严重的。真正可能对中国经济的造成严重危害是人民币汇率体系和不断高涨的房地产市场

我总觉得有人要以人民币汇率为突破口，搞垮中国的经济，夺取中国人民的经济成果。从要人民币升值和自由浮动的叫喊声中，我好像闻到了军事战争的火药味。

现在有一个说得比唱得还好听得说法，让人民币汇率自由浮动，由市场来决定。

难道市场是有鬼决定的吗？由市场来决定，听起来挺公平的，大家都有权。但仔细分析一下，世界上有哪个市场不是由少数人操中的呢？让人民币汇率由市场来决定，说穿了就是由他们来决定。

中国政府和人民一定不要忘记1997年东南亚的金融风暴。现在外资的相当一部分是埋下的伏兵。它们就等美国把中国的门撞开（人民币汇价自由浮动），把人民币捧上天，牟取暴利。

总之，中国一定要建设具有一不怕苦，二不怕死精神的强大的陆军，强大的海军，强大的空军和强大的天军（太空部队）以应对可能军事战争。同时中国一定要建设热爱国家，具有国际视野，精通国际竟争规则的金融“铁军”以应对经济战争。只有这样，中国的安全，人民的财富才会得到保护！

Democracy (and the lack of it)

2007-01-23T21:53:00.000+08:00

I'll just post this to recommend people for a read.

Democracy:
Everywhere and Nowhere from CounterPunch

The Anti-Empire Report from CounterPunch

Illegal war about to escalate

2007-01-14T21:04:00.000+08:00

I am reading many response in support of Bush's illegal war in IRAQ. I'll deal with a few points (lies really) that the war supporter used in their argument:

1. Saddam is evil, US is justified to invade IRAQ to catch him. Well, beside the fact that the war was Illegal, one very simple point. If the war was about Saddam, it should have ended four years ago. So Saddam was totally irrelevant to the war. He is, at best, a convenient excuse

2. Situation in IRAQ is very bad under Saddam. While I doubt IRAQ under Saddam could be worse than the US under Bush, I would assume it was. However, AT LEAST during Saddam reign Iraq was basically a sovereign country which is among the most developed country in the region. Now Iraq is a sorry excuse of civil war and foreign occupation.

3. For those who worried that muslims want to kill us all and take over the world? Well, they will never be fast enough. At least not as fast as the United State. the US under the leadership of various warmongers, has already been trying to kill the world (together with its ecosystem and culture) since the Cold War. You need only take a look at US military strength (more than the rest of the world combined) to know who you should really be worried about, unless, of course, you happened to be an American.

4. The World will be a better place when the current Neo-nazi American government is gone. Americans have serious shaping up to do, otherwise the world will be better doing without one. After all, who is Saddam but a mere pawn of the American's war game?

More proofs Americans are going crazy

2007-01-06T17:30:00.000+08:00

This is what they do in IRAQ:

US Marines slaying Iraqi civilians (from Yahoo)

Excerpt:

A Marine squad that had just endured casualties from a roadside bombing ordered five unarmed Iraqi civilians out of a taxi, and the squad leader shot them, eyewitnesses say in a new report obtained by The Washington Post.

{snip}

Another Marine allegedly fired shots into the victims' bodies as they lay on the ground.

"They didn't even try to run away," according to one witness, a young Iraqi soldier working with the Marine squad. "We were afraid from Marines and we saw them behaving like crazy. They were yelling and screaming."

{snip}

After the taxi passengers were shot, the report found, the Marines raided nearby houses, firing indiscriminately, using both grenades and guns, in a bloody, door-to-door sweep, killing 14 unarmed inhabitants, in just 10 minutes.

One 13-year-old girl was the lone survivor in the second house, losing five family members, including her mother and 3-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother.

"He fired and killed everybody. The American fired and killed everybody," Safah Yunis Salem told investigators.

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This is the treatment sane Americans get from their countrymen:
Cindy Sheehan Watch

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If you have the time, read how America looks like from a conscentious working-class.

Joe Bageant's blog

A quick note about Bush

2007-01-06T04:55:00.000+08:00

Many forums and commentaries likened Bush to Adolf Hitler... I don't think so. That will be a terrible slight to Adolf Hitler. Although no doubt America is turning into another neo-Nazi German, but I don't think Bush should take the credit.

Note to my friends in the US: Get out before 2008. Or as soon as you can. Things are going to get real crazy there real soon. Maybe I am paranoid, but don't say I didn't warn ya.

A people divided

2007-01-04T16:24:00.000+08:00

For those who have trouble believing Americans have been deceived by their government should read this:

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/06/an_email_from_w.html

I have no doubt there are many nice and intelligent Americans, but those posters on the site clearly are NOT nice. Some of them might be intelligent but that just made it worse. The problem is, it's not their fault. Their life and perspective have been skewed by their government beyond recognition.

In any case, I am just GLAD I am not borned in that country. From where I stand, it looks exactly like ~~hell~~ somewhere very hot.

Interesting articles

2007-01-03T20:04:00.000+08:00

Tne Secret Societies you need to know about (in the western world) Kid stuff comparing to their eastern counterpart, worth a read nonetheless.

The truth behind Saddam's execution

Discussion on bbc regarding Saddam's execution

If Saddam deserved to be hung, then Bush and a score of US administrator deserved to be ~~decapitated~~ worshipped. Honest, when I heard about the execution, I felt chilled all over. Evil has truly triumphed that day. Now the future is bleak.

Why search for WMD in Baghdad? They should search for it in ~~Washington D.C.~~ somewhere west of it.

Gay characters in gaming

2007-01-02T01:39:00.000+08:00

Just one day after I posted my previous ranting about the decidedly lack of homosexual content in gaming, I came across these two webpages:

Top 20 gayest game characters from GayGamer.net
Ten ambiguously Gay Game Characters from Games.net

Even though it seemed like there are many characters that seemed gay, I am still not satisfied with the lack of quality game which has a game character that's undisputably gay.

KOTOR 2 and others

2006-12-29T01:05:00.000+08:00

It's been a while to leave some trace in this world. I left my job two months ago and have been doing NOTHING besides playing games. Pretty pathetic, huh?

Anyway I have just finished the KOTOR II: TSL (Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords). It's a pretty good game, honest to its prequel, and the story is interesting, at least. I guess that's how a franchise could survive the current era (Blanket bombardment through all entertainment medias: books, movies, games, etc). Despite my enjoyment and completing the game twice, I am deeply dissatisfied with some loose ends and the lack of closure (I am big on closures ;)). Your companions were suddenly irrelevant at the ending, besides some half-hearted individual endings from your last boss. Eeks. It could have so much potential. Yet, there are hopes yet: http://team-gizka.org/. Kudos to what they are doing.

On a related but different note, I have noticed a decidedly lack of romantic content in the game, much less homosexual ones. I think now that the gaming population is aging, the developers can afford to take a more liberal and bold attitude regarding this issue. Especially for open ended RPG, there could be so much potential there, yet there could only be one word to describe the way they have been handling the "relationship in game" issue: skittish. I suppose it is a hard issue to tackle. If you are too bold and direct, you risk offending certain... less... liberal elements in the society, so it pays to play safe, although now playing safe has become something bordering Denial (which is not the river in Egypt, thank you.)

Which only attest to one thing. The conservative elements in the society (the DARKSIDE, so to speak), are still very well at large and powerful. I admit I my dream game would involve a storyline with two male leads having some sort of relationships with each other (nothing shallow, thank you), but I also know very well that any game studio who takes up this challenge will soon be no more. The rich gay population apparently spent too much of their money on fashion and perfume and, god forbid, make-up (which should includes any sort of cleanser). Should they divert 10% of their spending power to the game market, I am sure the rest of us gay game geek (see, ggg, nice short-form) would benefit very much. At the moment, I feel very left out by the gay community (I don't spend money on fashion, perfume and, god forbid, make up), not that I have done anything for them, still, if there is a gay community out there, perhaps they should buy more games and write bitchy flaming complain letters (which they should excel in) to game developers regarding the lack of gay content.

But, enough bitching from me (that's two months worth of angst, how... base), I need to think seriously what to do in the future. A new year is coming and I have NO plan yet. Scary. and I am getting OLDER. Scary.

I am going to write some stuff to squelch the frustration I have been building up playing KOTOR, and you guess right, it's going to be slash galore.

For those of my friends who stumbled across this message, Happy New Year, and may your years to come be as fruitful as your years passed. If we meet again, that will be the fault of the Force. Not that meeting y'all is any kind of fault, y'know. Just, well, more rambling.

The Film Festival

2006-10-29T21:35:00.000+08:00

I guess it's finally over.

After all the anger, frustration, whining on this blog, I guess my sense of pride and responsibility got the better of me, and I stuck on until the end of the Chinese film Festival, as I have originally agreed.

And besides whatever I have whined on this site, I have actually learnt a lot of things. I made many mistakes, and I hope I learnt from them.

At the end of the day, I must say I am quite impress with the way my boss handle the whole thing. Granted, she wasn't ideal (that's somewhat a rhetoric; no one is perfect), and she is more demanding than other bosses that I had, but she is very clear and persistent on what she wants to archieve. Sometime to the point of ridicule. But then without putting so much unrelenting pressure on her staff (in this case, me), we might not be able to achieve certain things.

I wonder whether it is necessary to be so... "ruthless" to be a successful boss. Maybe ruthless is not the right word. I guess it's closer to "fanatical demanding". In any case, I learnt a thing or two about being a boss and a business person. i am not so sure I want to be one, but if I need to be, at least I have some reference.

What is the definition of success? What is the meaning of achievement? After the next two days, I might have more time to think about it. Can solving this question an achievement by itself?

This is ridiculous

2006-09-11T12:42:00.000+08:00

The main obstacle that I face in my project is the person who initiated this project!

I have never seen a less responsible, understanding "boss" in my life.

And I don't know why I subject myself to this suffering. The most idiotic thing is that I have RESIGNED! Sometimes I don't understand myself.

But most of the time I don't understand people. Must they make things so difficult to the point of no return? At this moment I am beyond care. Somehow, things must end before I bring more pain to myself!

回梦

2006-09-08T11:30:00.001+08:00

梦见从前留长发时，发稍滑过颈间的触感。

回忆是让人不想醒过来的梦，温柔的述说那些已经逝去的点滴。

关于烦恼

2006-08-05T01:06:00.000+08:00

基本上我是一个比较喜欢自寻烦恼的人.因为觉得没有烦恼生活似乎没有重心.

以我的性格,其实不太适合谈恋爱,除非对方是很沉稳很有智慧的人.沉稳的人会让我觉得无聊,不过因为我懒,所以不会太计较.沉稳的人不会把我那些自找的烦恼当真,不会受我影响,这样我就不会觉得愧疚.我比较不好意思麻烦别人,所以喜欢那种凡事不要看得太严重认真的人.当然,对彼此的诚实却是例外.我不能忍受别人对我不坦诚.

其实,我并不知道自己要求的是怎么样的一个人,世上是否有这么一个人的,常常为了这个烦恼.老实说,我好像也不是很积极的在找对象,只是觉得偶尔为了爱情而烦恼事一件非常浪漫并且有诗意的事情.真正碰上爱情了,可能我反而要怕的.这个也要烦恼.到底时机来临时,我能不能好好地把握呢?全世界60亿人口,我的真命天子,到底在哪里?我到底要走过多少国家，才能找到他呢？又是一个可烦恼的课题。

在说事业吧，也烦恼。给自己订了条没有目标的路，然后到处觉得不合时宜，到最后发现其实在原地兜圈子，又要嘘唏一番。即便做一样事情做得好好的，也要问诸如“这到底是不是我真正想要做的东西？”这样基本上没有任何答案虚无缥缈的问题。问题不是出在“要做的东西”而是在“真正”上。我要做的事情很多，基本上什么都行，但是一搭上“真正”这样的状语，脑子就糊涂了。其实也就是自寻烦恼的一例。

写了一大篇,其实也属自寻烦恼.日后看了，肯定要嫌弃自己的文笔疲乏，内容苍白，又得烦恼了。

有这么多事情可烦恼，生命还是很丰富的。

It is over

2006-08-02T12:36:00.000+08:00

Happened more smoothly than I expected. She accepted it calmly and without much question, which is all the best.

To be honest, I found my last entry on this blog a bit offensive and rude, but it's private emotion. Much as I want to remove it due to the rashness, I decided to leave it there to remind myself that sometimes people get angry, and having a peaceful outlet of that anger is important to maintain my social composure.

Martyred? Mutinied?

2006-08-01T13:20:00.000+08:00

All I know is I have to leave this place.

I admit defeat. This is the first time I CANNOT wait to quit a job. Well done, boss. Way to go!

Things at work are quickly spiraling OUT of control and if I want any hope to retain sanity I have to get out pronto.

Wish me luck when I throw letter. I do not want to face the Post Menstruation Syndrome of an old Lady.

Finally...

2006-07-26T11:03:00.000+08:00

I just had a very interesting, happening Saturday.

First of all, our colleagues decided to organize a karaokay outings. Fine. So I went along and had some fun. I have always enjoyed singing anyway. And of course I shocked everyone with my falsetto rendition of 千言万语.

After the karaokay session which ends usually with a long list of unsung songs, I received a message from him to ask me out. Yay! That was the first time he initiated a date. So we went out. He is busy with an upcoming event so I ended up carrying stuff for him, but I am happy nonetheless. So after all, it's not just a unilateral thing. ;)

My friends from Singapore visited me at night, and we had a nice chat. Nice to feel at home again!

And this week, all hell breaks lose as my boss unleashed one after another un-planned, un-announced projects on my head. I like to call that "free-style" management; At the end of the day, your effort is worthless (free = no price).

Talk about a hectic life! Now (as in at this moment), my dream job would be a receptionist that is filing his nails and receives call once in a while to appear effecient. I really don't mind that.

平添三百岁

2006-07-18T16:01:00.000+08:00

今天旁听课，老师在教生日，年月日的连着说。有一位学生把“六”和“九”搞混了，19XX年的生日说成了16XX年，平添了三百岁，大家听了都乐了。

想想，要真的活了三百年，多可怕呀？

Over-reacting

2006-07-17T17:40:00.000+08:00

I don't know why I like to over-react over certain small things. I guess I am referring to things like using "goodbye" insteand of "see you". I guess if I care for someone enough, I can be very sensitive. In fact, I can be abundantly sensitive, which might cause pressure.

Oh god. I am not feeling normal nowadays. I am suppose to be COOL! You know,泰山崩于前而色不变 type of cool. But now I am acting like a total idiot!

Why can't I fall in love "normally"? Like, just meet someone that love me, and I love him, and we go out for date, make out, go to bed, plan for future, etc. I must find someone who scream trouble from the outset and throw myself to him.

Sometimes I can't stand myself. Such a melodrama queen. I would much rather be a bitchy queen. But I guess I have a sweet disposition......

Eeeeeekkkkkkkkk~~~~~~!!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye?

2006-07-16T21:58:00.000+08:00

Do you have to use the word "bye"? I hate people telling me bye, especially you, because it sounded like you don't want to see me again.

This time, I'll wait for you to contact me... If you don't, maybe it means that you never wanted to be with me to begin with? Maybe it means that, I have been lying to myself since the beginning...

Unfortunately, I am very good at lying to myself... So... no more...

错过

2006-07-15T10:34:00.000+08:00

命运往往是让人啼笑皆非的。当情势，无论在公事还是私事上，逐渐好转时，我却在考虑是否离开。公事上还好，并不会太过可惜，只是要处理好善后事宜。私事上就有些可惜了。我很少对一个人那么有感觉，如果离开吉隆坡，可能缘分就无疾而终了。

有些烦恼，但是生命就是如此。自己的路，始终要自己走。其实心中已经有了决定，现在只是及时行乐而已。与命运擦身而过，并不是第一遭，却是感触最深的一次。可能人逐渐长大了，也开始逐渐地珍惜机缘。

吁兮吁兮，命运多桀。人生苦短，白发徒长。

Have I messed up?

2006-07-12T01:13:00.000+08:00

I can't believe I messed up my date so badly! I asked him out for Pirates of Carribean and he agreed. And only after I reached the cinema that I realized it's NOT open yet! Argh.

We both don't know what to do, so we ended up walking to Sungai Wang (which I haven't been to before, so at least it's something new for me), and eat at the roadside hawker store. We didn't talk much, because didn't know what to say! That was so awkward!

I tried to keep it light, but I think he was a bit bored. Now I feel like an idiot. If there is anyway to abort a relationship before it has even started, this is the perfect way. I am just praying he can continue to be nice. (Since he wants to be the nice guy, so whatever, be consistent lar)

Passion blinds and makes one stupid. That is so true.

I just want to enjoy this feeling while it last! It's so rare I am feeling like this... and maybe it's the season ;)!

爸爸说我喜欢自寻烦恼.但是如果人生没有烦恼,那不是太闷了吗?

Time is eternal

2006-07-06T11:33:00.000+08:00

Human life is too short to be wasted. Because time is one directional and irreversible, we have to be callous and catious at the same time. Decisions made cannot be reversed, yet if you cannot make a decision, you will not get anywhere in life, and time does not wait.

I ask myself, what is the most important thing in my life?

Sometimes, I loathe the feeling to thinking too much, too clearly. When I see the world from sky, I find myself small and helpless. Maybe it's a good thing to put my foot "down to earth". At least when I look around, I feel secure. But then again, can I be contented with the view?

父母常说：脚踏实地。这也是中国人千百年来的生活哲学。但是，所谓的脚踏实地，应该是指坚持自己的信念，还是随波逐流地去做别人认为你应该做的事?李白脚踏实地吗？虽然他天马行空，但是还是坚持自己的文学创作，从而成为千古传颂的“诗仙”。难道这不是另一种“脚踏实地”吗？

Fated?

2006-07-05T10:32:00.000+08:00

Well, we had our third "not-date" and our second, um... intimacy. The whole thing feels so right it's overwhelming, although I did something embarassing at the end. I don't think he really minded, but I am not really sure.

I really want this to work out, so please give me the courage and wisdom to see this through. I am the kind of person that prefer to stick to one relationship for my whole life, and spend all my effort in nurturing that one relationship, so I can have more time and energy to do things for the society.

The ironic thing is now that I met someone whom I potentially have a future with, I am considering to move back to Singapore. This is not the first time I lamented the twisted, ironic humor of fate, but this is definitely the most vehement.

BTW, Does anyone know the intake date of MOE?

Random thoughts

2006-07-02T12:13:00.000+08:00

Will I find my life partner here in KL? Or will it be another futile attempt. I don't know. He did show sign of wanting to be friend. Or he could just be trying to be nice. I hate people who try to be NICE. It gets confusing, but in his case, I don't really care as long as I get to go out with him.

Relationship has a very important role in my life. Sometime I think about what I will sacrifice to maintain a relationship and the enormity of it scares me. I only hope if I finally met the right person, he will be worth it, and we can somehow work together for a meaningful future.

KL is more expensive than Singapore. You might be surprised but it's true. In Singapore, earning 3000SGD per month can give you a pretty comfortable life, but in KL, the same amount of money (in local currency, i.e. RM3000), cannot give you the same standard of living. I hate to admit it, but Malaysia is not progressing enough to keep up with the world. it's really a shame considering how much potential this country had.

I have been haunted by a urgent need to progress. There's this tempo of life that tells me time is slowly running out for human kind, yet no one seemed to care. Things are happening, and they will continue to happen. Some day, when things come to an inevitable climax, I pray for those who are not mentally prepared.

I am probably just paranoid, but I want to do what I want to do before it's too late.

As I am typing this in an internet cafe, there's a young kid sitting opposite me who is singing into his monitor. Looking at him, I feel a dreaded chill. He is perfectly happy in his enclosed personal space, yet how long can he shut the world out? How many people in the world are shutting out the real events that's happening?

The people around me are playing different online game, immersing in and enjoying their constant escapade into a fantasy world where they don't have to face the real issues. I shall behold the day when the virtual world takes over the real world in people's collective consciousness.

This is an age of Mass Exodus to Inner Self. As many of us turned inward and found ourselves in a surreal, self-constructed fantasy world, what will happen to the real world? Or will it matter anymore?

Something about a crush

2006-06-26T23:23:00.000+08:00

So i am lying to myself.

I like to talk about love affair and the matter of heart as if it can be discussed, dissected and probed rationally. I am the last person on this earth that should claim that.

I am having a stupid crush on someone I just met less than 2 weeks ago and I am totally getting out of control. As in, I am feeling things I SHOULDN'T be feeling.

So I have a disclaimer to state: Whenever you read about anything I write about looking a love dispassionately, retionally, please know that I am writing with the part of my brain that's the furthest from my heart.

I am probably getting old and desperate, but not old enough to resign to fate.

It's amazing I still have this kind of hope and passion, and dreams. maybe I am not totally jaded yet, which might be a good thing.

My new articles repository

2006-06-19T10:49:00.000+08:00

I finally got fed up with free web hosting. So I moved my articles repository to a blog. You can find it here:

Zuraffo's Repository

Feel free to browse through the articles and leave comments. Also, currently the index system is a hack. If anyone knows of a more elegant way of doing it, please let me know. You'll get an autographed copy of my book when it comes out. ;)

文化传真：中国七大古都

2006-06-09T15:10:00.000+08:00

城市介绍
历史介绍

The Seven Ancient Capitals of China

★安阳

上古三皇五帝时代，颛顼、帝喾两位帝王在安阳境内建都。殷商後期为商都殷墟。汉末以後，以邺城为中心的安阳先後成为曹魏、後赵、冉魏、前燕、东魏、北齐六个王朝的都城。

Anyang:
It is the oldest city among the Capitals. It has been the capital since prehistoric era. Later, during Shang dynasty, it was renamed to Yin as the capital of Shang. During the three kingdoms era (End of Han dynasty), it was known for one of its city: Ye, which has been the capital for Wei of Cao family, and other northern governments.

★北京

北京为五朝帝都（辽、金、元、明、清）：
春秋战国时期为燕国国都，当时称为蓟。
辽代为陪都，称燕京。
金朝（1115年 - 1234年）自金世宗起至1217年为中都。
元朝为大都。
明朝自永乐帝起为首都，称为京师。
清朝入主中原後亦把北京作国都。
中华民国北洋政府时期，当时称北京，北伐成功後新的国民政府在南京成立，北京改称北平。
现时中华人民共和国的首都。

Beijing:
It has been the capitals of five major ancient dynasties: Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing (Ironically, three out of five of these dynasties were considered as the "barbarian" dynasties by contemporary chinese history.) During the Late Zhou Era (Roughly 500 b.c.), it was renamed as Jing as the capital of the Yan government. From 1115 to 1217, it was named as Zhongdu duing the Jin Dynasty. During Yuan dynasty, it was named as Dadu. During Ming, it was called JingShi. It was named as Beijing during the Qing Dynasty.

★杭州

杭州在五代十国时期为吴越国之首都。金朝灭北宋後，皇族赵构逃往南方，令当时称为临安的杭州成为南宋都城。

Hang Zhou:

The Capital of Southern Song. It was called Lin'an during that time.

★开封

开封，简称汴，古称“汴州”、“东京”、“大梁”。是中国多个重要王朝的首都。战国时期，魏国建都于此，称“大梁”，冶铁业发达，十分繁荣。後历经黄河水患和战乱，几乎沦为废墟，极度衰败。五代十国时期国家四分五裂，开封地理条件非常适宜农业经济发展，作为一统天下的基础，先後成为後梁、後晋、後汉及後周的国都。后周大将赵匡胤发动陈桥兵变代後周称帝，建立宋朝（北宋），仍以开封为首都，称为“东京”，终于完成对中国汉民族本部的统一。北宋时期，开封城市结构突破了唐代长安“坊市”城市格局的束缚，再次走向繁荣，发展成为当时世界上人口最多最繁华的城市之一。靖康之难後，北宋灭亡，开封被金国占领，继续被金朝定为都城。蒙古灭金之後，成为河南省州府至中华人民共和国建国。

Kaifeng:

Also called "bian". It has several old names like "bian zhou", "dong jing", "da liang". It has been the capital of many dynaties. During the Late Zhou era, it's the capital of Wei government, known as "Da Liang". The iron smelting was ery developed there. Ravaged by war and flood from yellow river, it was nearly in ruin. During the interim between Tang dynasty and Song dynasty (907~959), due to its advantagous geographical location which was suitable for agriculture, it became the capital for four major governments. After Song dynasty united China, Kaifeng was kept as the Capital. During the Northern Song dynasty, it developed into the world capital of that time. After Jing occupied Kaifeng, Jing shifted its capital from Beijing to Kaifeng.

★洛阳

夏、商、东周、东汉、三国时期魏、西晋、北魏（493年才自大同迁都至此）、隋、唐、後梁、後晋均以洛阳作国都或陪都。（见解释）

解释：洛阳的历史上的情况比较复杂，容易引起误解。

夏、商、周、汉、魏诸朝都有多次迁都的历史，这些朝代的都城从历史纵向上看可能不只一个，洛阳是其中的一个。例如商就先後多次迁都，所以安阳、郑州、洛阳都自称是商的都城，而除了安阳之外，其他城市尚无确切考古证明证实其曾为商都。

部分朝代的首都不只一个。出于战略上和经济上的需要，一些巨大王朝会设立陪都，例如唐，举世公认其首都为长安，洛阳之所以称为其都，是因为唐代统治者定洛阳为其行宫和巡幸之地，故有“东都洛阳”之称。虽然在影响和地位上不能和长安相提并论，但毕竟有别于一般的地方行政单位。

★南京

南京为东吴、东晋、南朝（宋、齐、梁、陈四朝）、南唐、明、太平天国、中华民国首都。
三国时称为建业，是东吴的首都。
西晋避司马业讳，改名为建康，是东晋的首都。
南北朝时期，宋朝、齐朝、梁朝、陈朝皆以此城为都。南朝四朝首都，加之东吴、东晋首都，所以南京亦称六朝古都。
六朝以後为南唐国都。
朱元璋推翻元朝建立明朝後，南京为大明的首都。後明成祖迁都北京，南京亦为南都。
太平天国时期改为天京，为太平天国都。
孙中山领导辛亥革命推翻清朝後建立中华民国，南京被定为中国首都。
随着北洋政府的建立，由南京迁都北京。1927年北伐胜利後，复定都南京。（侵华战争期间1937年-1945年国民政府迁往重庆，重庆为临时首都-陪都）。1949年蒋介石所领导的国民政府撤退到台湾之前，中国首都均位于南京（理论上南京至今仍为中华民国的正式首都）。

★西安

西安，不仅是中国四大古都，还是世界四大文明古都。古称长安，又曾称西都、西京、大兴城、京兆城、奉元城等，是中国历史上当之无愧的建都朝代最多、历时最久，影响力最大的城市。先後有西周、秦、西汉、新、东汉（献帝初）、西晋（愍帝）、前赵、前秦、後秦、西魏、北周、隋、唐等13个王朝在这里建都达 1100馀年之久。又曾为赤眉、绿林、大齐（黄巢）、大顺（李自成）等农民起义政权的都城。

每日一字：熟

2006-06-09T10:41:00.000+08:00

“熟”字有两个读音：
shu2 :

成熟。Ripe.
加热到可以食用的程度。Cooked.
加工制造或锻炼过的，如“熟铁”。Processed. As in "Processed Iron".
因为常见或常用而知道得清楚。Familiar.
熟练。Adept.
程度深。如“熟睡”。Deeply, as in "sleeping deeply"

shou2 : 口语。Used in spoken mandarin

每日一字：胳

2006-06-08T15:26:00.000+08:00

"胳"字有三个读音：
ga1 : “胳肢窝”(ga1.zhi.wo1)。同“夹肢窝”(ga1.zhi.wo1)。腋窝的意思。Armpits.
ge1 : “胳臂”(ge1.bei)。肩膀以下，手腕以上的部分。Arms
ge2 : “胳肢”(ge2.zhi)。在别人身上抓挠，使发痒。Tickles.

每日一字：瞭

2006-06-06T10:49:00.000+08:00

“瞭”字有两个读音：
liao3 : 同“了”。明白，懂得。如：明瞭，瞭如指掌。已经普遍上简化为“了”了。Understand, grasp, recognize.
liao4 : 瞭望，通常指广范围的观察。Observe, survey great area.

First week in KL

2006-06-03T22:08:00.000+08:00

Tired, and got sick because I walked in the rain.

It's very interesting to be a teacher, although I haven't started teaching yet. Now I am observing the classes and make notes. When the center deemed me ready I'll start taking classes. I don't know if this is the organization I want to work with for long, but it's definitely a good learning experience.

I think life has become something nebulous for me. There is no longer any DEFINITION, like I can do what I want, and can BE what I want. Is this freedom? Or is it called "Lack of purpose and direction"? I don't really have an answer, but I feel thrilled and scared at the same time.

More than ever, I inexplicably felt time's monolithic, unilateral movement. At the end of the day, what we do in this world, what we achieve, will not matter when merge with the endless, boundless river that is called "history".

Don't get me wrong, I still feel a sense of duty to achieve something, to make my life meaningful, but being humbled before the magnificence of life gave me more freedom and conviction to do what I want to do, without being burdened by unwarranted considerations.

Reading 伤心咖啡店之歌 by 朱少麟. I read her 燕子 before, which is actually her second book. 伤心咖啡店之歌 is her first book. So far from what I read, I still prefer 燕子, but the person who lent me this book told me it is better. Well, we'll see.

每日一字：塞

2006-06-02T14:57:00.000+08:00

“塞”字有三个读音：
1. sai1 : 把东西放进有空隙的地方。(tuck)
2. se4 : 与sai3同义，多用于合成词。比如：“闭塞” (Same meaning as sai1, use to form phrases)
3. sai4 : 可做屏障的险要地方。要塞。(A defensible location)

The longest journey continues...

2006-05-22T18:31:00.000+08:00

The long waited sequal to The Longest Jounrney has finally been released.

A definite must-play for ANY self-respecting gamers. The puzzles aren't too complicated (which I like actually), and the storyline is superb! And there is definitely a sequel.

The best adventure game I've played since... well, The Longest Journey!

Refresh the original TLJ storyline before you embark on this one, because everything is linked. And there will be a sequel. Definitely. They better make it or else I am staging a raid.

Musing: Identities and Prejudices

2006-05-16T00:50:00.000+08:00

In quest to find the roots of prejudice in our society, I've always encounter what I called the identity overload. First of all, let me postulate that prejudices are inexplicably linked to our social identity. Be it racial, national, religious, gender, whatever. When a person harbor strong feelings toward a certain creed of social identity, he/she will certainly have prejudice against other creed of that particular social identity.

Human has long ago learned that to survive (and to have a chance to dominate), we need to form communities. That's where group identities emerge, and with it, the earliest form of prejudice. Although I have no concrete data, I would venture that during tribal era, the predominant identity is actually geopolitical in nature. Due to the lack of transportation method, different races had yet to meet, so the struggle is among people of the same race under different leaders at different location.

Later when strong leaders emerged and united the warring tribes into a nation/culture, two identities emerged: racism and nationalism. These two concepts often juxtaposed and fueled one another, since earlier societies are often formed with a predominant race and several (or no) lesser races.

Around the 3rd century, another strong identity started emerging after Constantine I convene the first council of Nicaea. It's what I called the cultural/religious identity. Many might argue there were earlier religions, but I would theorize that earlier cultural identities take a much inferior role as compared to the two main identities: nationalism and racism. After the roman orthodoxy was formed, it became an identity that rival the importance of racial and national identities.

These three main identities and its relevant prejudices still rule our society till today. It's not something that can be solved by political correctness. In fact, I often felt that as human being, they are part of our nature and we have to live with this reality. That is not to say we should succumb to bigotry, rather to accept them as a constant challenge to our logical mind and always keep our own prejudice in check. ("Liberal" people run the risk of believing they are above prejudice, such is not the case.)

You might notice I have omitted sexism from the above trio. The reason I did so was that Sexism is something more primal than any of the three I mentioned above. It predated the concept of tribes, and still run rampant in modern society; A strong identity and prejudice like this cannot be discussed together with race, nation and religion simply because it's something much old, much stronger and much consistent.

I do not possess enough knowledge to delve deep into this topic, but I again theorize that Sexism stemmed from the tradition that male dominant societies survived better during earlier time. Procreation was a big issue, especially during the prehistoric era, and since then, homophobia was cultured to encourage heterosex and suppress homosex. Again, homophobia could only be formed if homosex had already existed, and I would venture that it was formed as soon as the first homosex was performed, and it had been a gruesome battle all the way till today. So as can be seen, homophobia and sexism are something much more primal and powerful than what I call social prejudice.

The point I am trying to make (if there is one), is that if we accept the idea that as long as different racial identities (Note: NOT "races". There's a world of difference between the two) exist, racism must exist, then we must also accept that as long as homosex exists, homophobia must exists. This is (again), not not to say we should succumb to bigotry, rather to accept them as a constant challenge to our logical mind and always keep our own prejudice in check. (And never assumed that being a gay exempted you from being homophobic. If you think so, examine your thoughts again.)

Chinese Test

2006-05-05T23:52:00.000+08:00

I have just come across an interesting chinese test. You can use it to test your knowledge of the chinese characters! There's 100 question, IMHO if you can get 70+ your chinese is pretty good already.

Take the test here.

Reminiscence

2006-05-04T02:08:00.000+08:00

I have changed the layout of my blog. Doesn't it look better now? I have changed the blog name to Reminiscence too. Sometime, when I think about it, that's the only thing we can do about life. To commemorate, a short prose.

Return to this garden
Ever forlorn moment.
My delinquent champion
Ivory moon will no doubt show you the omen.

Nary a whisper of sorrow
I fly beyond the shadow
Sailing between narrow
Careening in the southern wind like a sparrow.

Even you must miss me
Need Not ever feel lonely
Celebrate our Mem'ry
Every once in a while our love shall be free.

Prose: They knew... (A tribute to Ennis and Jack)

2006-05-02T02:51:00.000+08:00

They knew,
Nothing could be the same anymore.

The strong wind
carrying the bleating of the sheeps
From a distance
Muted

The horizon
staring at them broodingly,
From a distance
Stretched

And they knew,
They've got one shot.

Mountained earth
pouring into the sky
At a distance
Yearned

Milling woollies
Spared Pine
Fleeting trill playing in the drooping cloud

They knew,
Nobody's business but theirs.

As they stared into the Lazuline and Turquoise, Slated
And each other
Not.

Prose: As he stood on the battlefield

2006-04-30T04:04:00.000+08:00

A tribute to a soldier:

"...
As he stood on the battlefield;

The setting sun in the color of blood
stretched his shadow over the land,
A ghost he could not shake.

The dead screamed in silence.
A deafening plea of deliverance
Unsung, Unheard
And Unanswered

Scattered Shield, Sword
And Lance
Pleading, Peeking
And Seething

A tall figure,
The last survivor,
And The final Victor
Triumphed, Cheered
And Echoed against emptiness.

As he stood there,
With his own shadow like a ghost
Bathed in the Bloody Sun,
Deafened by the Screaming Silence,
He truly was unrivaled, matchless,
And Alone.

This prose is inspired by a poster on a forum who seemed to be very passionate about his own ideas and defended vigorously, without actually hearing what others were trying to say. At the end of the day, everybody just stopped talking about the idea.

The Twain Shall Meet

2006-04-15T19:32:00.000+08:00

OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!

I was reading up on some classic English poems and stumbled across this piece. It's quite interesting, and I am surprised I've never come across this on account of its strong undercurrent of "brotherly bond" (Which is a milder and more easily stomach version of "homosexual love"). You can find the whole poem by clicking on the title of this blog. The refrain, is given above.

The poem told a story that happened in India during British occupation. The son of a Colonel gave chase to a Border Thief who had stolen a prized horse of his father, but ended up falling into a trap of the opponent. However, instead of being executed, the son of Colonel earned the respect of the Leader, and was bonded to the Leader's eldest son, thereby ending a border feud.

The whole refrain basically pointed out that the bond between two strong men can surmount cultural and status differences. If this is not a poem that celebrate "same-sex relationship", I don't know what is.

If somehow you find a strong sexual connotation in the term "same-sex relationship", please banish that preconception. It doesn't have to be sexual or erotical by nature. Though nothing prevent it to be either.

I think I am missing out on a lot of good literature. Although I still think that chinese poems are more enlightened artform, the western poems have their charm too.

The movie that cannot speak its name

2006-04-05T19:11:00.000+08:00

I actually feel pity for Crash.

I mean, it's a pretty mediocre movie. Mediocre movies don't get trashed all the time, they usually just get ignored. But Crash was unfortunately used by AMPAS to snubbed Brokeback Mountain. Of course, all people around the world who can appreciate a good movie was infuriated. AMPAS not only snubbed the real Best Picture of 2005, it did so with one of the worst. And of course, to set the record straight, a lot of analysis came out to explain why Crash was bad.

To be honest, I don't think Crash deserve those bad analysis. It just deserved to be forgotten.

Read all the responses from the disappointed movie-goers. Gosh, the angst...

Heart behind a wall

2006-04-04T15:21:00.000+08:00

A wall had crumbled without a rumble.

Unexpectedly.

And with it, came tears I did not know I had.

It happened the second time I heard Ennis Del Mar, having collapsed in the arms of his Jack Twist, said: "Jack, I can't stand this anymore." The words echoed into my heart. The wall that had been cracked and rattled the first time came tumbling down.

I too, could not stand this anymore.

Having been hurt once too many time, I had vowed never to be injured again. I built a wall to keep the harm out. I was safe. I could then look at the rest of the fools fumbling with their emotions with a cold smirk playing my lips.

However, the wall that kept the harm out, oh so stoically, also kept me in; a prison of my own making.

The hurts and injuries weren't healed. They were hidden, covered like some ugly wounds that I was ashamed of. As time passed, even I had forgotten that they still bled, for then the pain had numbed me.

Numb as I had been, I could not feel anything when Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist first reached into my heart, loosened the wall and lifted the cover gently but deftly. I had glimpses of my old wounds, bleeding, crying, but I felt no pain.

But as the breathe of honesty cleansed away the unfeelings and the indifferences, the dull ache that was my wounds exposed became a sharp pain, as feelings struggled against the rough emotional prison that I built.

The pain caught me unaware. I was confused, and I must sought the answer. I went back to Brokeback Mountain again.

And this time, as the wall crumbled, I shed tears that should have been shed a long time ago. They were tears of all the aching wounds, all the ignored suffering and all the frozen misery. But there were new tears as well. They were tears of joy, of freedom, of celebration. For I was ready to fly again, despite the fear-inducing struggle before me.

Ennis Del Mar had taught me a precious lesson: Despite your effort to avoid them, the things you feared most were bound to happen.
Jack Twist then gave me a precious gift: The bravery to fight against, not others', but my own fear.

So there I was, standing, raw, among the ruins of my old prison. I sent up a silent prayer, gathered my trauma and pain, and transformed them into wings of courage and freedom.

And I soar.

I have read a lot about how people have delayed reaction for "Brokeback Mountain" like I had. I had wonder about that, and some of what people said inspired my to write this short article about how I felt about the movie and why I have a delayed reaction.

The Oscar Snub

2006-03-31T16:37:00.000+08:00

It's a bit late to mention this, but I had neglected to make a record of it. The nerve of AMPAS to snub the best picture of 2005, perhaps ever! And they snubbed it with a piece of Trash...

It should come as no surprise that AMPAS is ultimately the last bastion of homophobia in the filmmaking scene. I hope they disband soon...

I must say, I never cared much for Oscar before, but after the 78th Oscar, it will go down in blacklist, and I'll discourage anyone within my reach from pay it any attention to it at all.

Several links:
The forum I have been active on. It's a lot of discussion about BBM going on. It's also a fan central that a lot of things are happening right now. If you have heard about the Variety Ad, it's originate from there:Dave Cullen Brokeback Mountain Forum

Annie Proulx's comment on Oscar, she is now official my hero for saying the unspeakable.

Brokeback Mountain

2006-03-06T03:14:00.000+08:00

I've finally gotten down to writing a review for this marvelous film. Actually it's more a personal ranting.Coincidentally, it's also the eve of Oscar award.

Well, what do you think of Brokeback Mountain?

To me, it's a timeless masterpiece that will be akin to "Sound of Music" or "Gone with the Wind" of our era.Will be, because its impact isn't fully manifested yet.

Most great movies are Epic movies, which give you instant gratification. It's like your one-shot tequila pop or your long island cocktail: you feel thrilled when you consumed them, but you forget about them after the hang-over.

Brokeback mountain is a masterpiece. You might not get it in the first viewing I didn't, but for some reason you'll want to watch it again, and again. Somewhere along the road, the vague feelings of loss that you are trying to grasp at will hit you so hard in your guts that you will go into shock I went into a shock of about 5 days, when all I could think about was the movie.. And then you'll want to watch it again to find out what hit you so hard. ;)

Brokeback mountain is like a bottle of 100-yr-old wine which you perhaps come across once in your life-time. You probably won't get too much of a thrill out of it, and it doesn't make good cocktail, but you'll want to have it again and again, and you probably won't have enough. Now, not everybody likes a bottle of 100-yr-old wine. Only the Connoisseur will know how to savour its taste. It'll probably be wasted on common folks.That is understandable. Furthermore, Brokeback might not be your bottle of wine. I hope you will find yours someday down the road, but Brokeback did it for me.

Have I over-rated this movie? Maybe for some, but consider this: I am quite an avid movie-goer. I NEVER gave such a high praise to ANY movie I've seen, including those with gay characters. I have stricter standard with gay-theme movies. I would like to think I've made an objective observation.

I had wanted to write sort of a guide to all the subtlety of the movie, but I soon realized it's a bigger project than I thought. So I am contented to point you to the link if you are interested.

IMDB BBM discussion: An index of Great BBM discussion

It's been a while

2006-03-01T14:16:00.000+08:00

I have lost touch with my blog for one year and a half. Things happened, and I don't particularly feel like recounting them. Suffice to say that I am now jobless, a few ten of thousands poorer and living off my parents.

But I learnt several important lessons, and I have become a different person. Beside, I met many new friends who forever altered the landscape of my life.

I don't know what the future holds for me, but it's time to fly! Actually that's more a poetic licence. I will most likely WANDER around.

Makeup Job Picture

2004-08-19T14:19:00.000+08:00

I guess it's more befitting for a makeup artist to show his work than writing about doom and gloom, spouting negative comments on almost everything. Hey, I am actually a very positive person!

All photos published here are copyright of Iman Couture

View the full album here.

Hope Part V: Global Depression: A necessary Evil?

2004-08-13T12:06:00.000+08:00

Read the following articles about US economy "bubbles".

Is a USA Economic Collapse Due in 2005

The summarize, the article essentially stated that the US economy (hence world's economy) is facing a depression soon due to high debt, low interest and unemployment.

This should not come as a surprise to students of world's economy. Our economy is built upon debt and projected growth due to the "sustainable growth" nature of our economy. Let me explain.

When a person do a credit card purchase, that person is actually incurring a debt. However, since the merchandise is officially sold to a consumer, to the company, it counts towards revenue, with cash in debt liable to that consumer. Theoratically this is fine since the consumer will one day pay up the debt. However, this create the phenomenon of virtual growth. What that means is that the company actually claim growth based on revenue sold to consumer's debt. When taken into the grand picture of global economy, it creates a vicious cycle: The consumers need to be paid so that they can slowly pay off the debt, company needs to claim growth so that they can pay their employees (aka consumers), which leads to a need to lower interest rate to encourage credit purchase, which deepens the debt. In a very simplistic way, this was what happened to Enron.

In a sense, we are buying the debt of our own future.

On the other hand, the premature economy collapse might be a good thing to human society from a holistic view. Maybe that's the "market correction" so many people believed in to save our asses.

What do I mean by that?

When Peak Oil is fully in effect, there will still be a global depression. The only difference between then and now is human's ability to recover from the depression. If our economy collapse from within itself before the need to exhaust our planet, there is a hope that human will realize certain mistakes of our way, and when global population is sufficiently reduced, the survivors will be able to learn from the mistakes and utilize the resources wisely in the future. Otherwise, if we learn the lesson too late, there won't be any resource left for us human to climb back up again.

In other words, the longer we delay the economy depression, the closer we are to extinction.

Of course, that's a objective conclusion. Personally, I hope they (whoever those nebulous "they" are) can delay the Peak Oil and economy problem for another 100 years so I can enjoy my entire life and live happily into an old-age retirement.

Not that it's likely.

Well, can't fault me for hoping.

Want vs Need

2004-08-11T16:27:00.000+08:00

I guess today I would rant a bit about the difference between the Wants and the Needs.

It just occured to me during work today that there is a huge difference between Wants and Needs, especially when it comes to employment status.

To me, there is basically three types of employee relationships with the company.
1. The company needs but doesn't want the employee.
2. The company doesn't need but want the employee.
3. The company need and want the employee.
The fourth type is basically the company neither need nor want the employee, in which case there can be no relationship, theoratically.

It is not hard to see that the worst type of working relationship is the first case, in which the employee will most likely feel the responsibility without the corresponding appreciation.

It is however, difficult to decide which is the better case between the second and third. At first glance, the second type of relationship sounds less burdened, in which both parties cooperate based on mutual wants and respects. However, without the elements of Needs, the relationship can be very fluid and uncertain. Once the element of wants cease to exist, the relationship will easily terminate. On the other hand, the third kind of relationships might be stronger and more long-lasting, but once it degrades to the first kind of relationship, it's a pain to both parties. Ultimately, I feel that it's a personal difference whether one should prefer the second or the third kind of relationship.

In fact, this kind of consideration is common in all kind of relationships, most notably, love affairs. Is is better to based a love affair on mutual DESIRE or mutual NEED?

Which do you prefer?

Hope Part IV: Will Algae save mankind?

2004-08-05T13:04:00.000+08:00

Biodiesel from Algae

Excerpt:

The best alternative at present is clearly biodiesel, a fuel that can be used in existing diesel engines with no changes, and is made from vegetable oils or animal fats rather than petroleum.

One of the biggest advantages of biodiesel compared to other alternative transportation fuels is that it can be used in existing diesel engines.

However, with biodiesel, since the same engines can run on conventional petroleum diesel, manufacturers can comfortably produce diesel vehicles before biodiesel is available on a wide scale. As biodiesel production continues to ramp up, it can just go into the same fuel distribution infrastructure, just replacing petroleum diesel.

The main issue that is often contested is whether or not we would be able to grow enough crops to provide the oil for producing the amount of biodiesel that would be required to completely replace petroleum as a transportation fuel.

Some species of algae are ideally suited to biodiesel production due to their high oil content (some as much as 50% oil), and extremely fast growth rates. From the results of the Aquatic Species Program2, algae farms would let us supply enough biodiesel to completely replace petroleum as a transportation fuel in the US (as well as its other main use - home heating oil).

One of the important concerns about wide scale development of biodiesel is if it would displace croplands currently used for food crops. With algae, that concern is completely eliminated, as algae grows ideally in either hot desert climates or off of waste streams.

In the previous section, we found that to replace all transportation fuels in the US, we would need 140.8 billion gallons of biodiesel, or roughly 14 quads. To produce that amount would require a land mass of almost 11,000 square miles. To put that in perspective, consider that the Sonora desert in the southwestern US comprises 120,000 square miles.

We found that at NREL's yield rates, 11,000 square miles (2.82 million hectares) of algae ponds would be needed to replace all petroleum transportation fuels with biodiesel. At the cost of $60,000 per hectare, that would work out to roughly $169 billion, to build the farms.

To make biodiesel, you need not only the vegetable oil, but an alcohol as well (either ethanol or methanol). The alcohol only constitutes about 20-25% of the volume of the biodiesel, so the volume of alcohol needed is only about 1/4 the volume of oil. One of the most land-efficient and energy-efficient way of producing methanol is using pyrolysis on biomass. One of the additional benefits of this method is that the process produces both methanol as well as charcoal, which can be burned for energy production (replacing coal, and producing no net CO2 emissions or sulfate emissions).

Summary:
Mankind's future might be saved by Algae! Maybe we should dedicate Pulau Tekong for Algae production ^^;.

HOPE Part III: The death of plastic

2004-07-24T23:42:00.000+08:00

Plastic bag pollution!

Instead of writing about something too far from us to have any significant impact, Today I shall write about the impact of Plastic Bags.

Yes, the plastic bags that you used everytime you go shopping. Do you know the environmental impact of plastic bags? Or you have heard about it but have forgotten the details? Well, let me remind you.

Exerpt from the excellent article of Paper or Plastic Bags?

Plastic bags are made from non-renewable petroleum resources.

Plastics can be recycled, but not as easily as glass, aluminum or paper. Part of the problem of recycling plastic bags stems from the fact that bags may be made from one of several plastic types. Although two plastic items may look similar, they could be made from different types of resins. This makes separating plastics for recycling difficult. The plastic industry has begun to address this problem by coding plastics with numbers to help consumers and recycling processors identify the type of resin used in production. Some plastic bags have resin codes imprinted on them. However, for the most part, plastic must be recycled into a product for non food use. For example, plastic soda bottles cannot be recycled into new bottles. They can be recycled into products such as bathtubs, flower pots, parking lot car stops, toys, and trash cans.

In addition to not being easily recycled, plastic production and processing require the use of toxic chemicals. Many manufacturing plants that produce these chemicals also produce hazardous waste and pollute the air. In 1986, the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, ranked the 20 chemicals whose production generates the most hazardous waste. Five of the top six were chemicals commonly used by the plastic industry [propylene, phenol, ethylene, polystyrene, and benzene].

Claims have been made that some bags are degradable. In other words, they will decompose over time. Biodegradation takes place when air is present. Photodegradation occurs when sunlight is available. Most of the garbage we generate is landfilled (about 95%). In landfills, garbage is buried beneath layers of soil that make it difficult for air or sunlight to reach discarded items. The fact is that most plastic bags just don't degrade, even in a compost pile. There are some new starch-based plastics that may be more degradable. But few grocery bags are made from that type of product.

Plastic bags are high in fuel energy if they are burned, but they emit harmful gases that must be prevented from entering the atmosphere.

Exerpt from the excellent article of Plastic Left Holding the Bag as Environmental Plague

About 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year, according to Vincent Cobb, founder of reuseablebags.com.

Countries that have banned or taken action to discourage the use of plastic bags include Australia, Bangladesh, Ireland, Italy, South Africa and Taiwan. Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, also has banned the bags.

Australians were using nearly 7 billion bags a year, and nearly 1.2 billion bags a year were being passed out free in Ireland before government restrictions, according to government estimates.

Plastic industry trade associations were unable to provide estimates of plastic bag use in the United States. However, based on studies of plastic bag use in other nations, the environmental group Californians Against Waste estimates Americans use 84 billion plastic bags annually.

The first plastic sandwich bags were introduced in 1957. Department stores started using plastic bags in the late 1970s and supermarket chains introduced the bags in the early 1980s.

Overall, the U.S. plastics and related industries employed about 2.2 million U.S. workers and contributed nearly $400 million to the economy in 2002, according to The Society of the Plastics Industry.

About 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year worldwide, according to Planet Ark, an international environmental group.

The bags were the fifth most common item of debris found on beaches.

Well, as you can see from above, most of the more educated and advance country has been trying to stop using plastic bags. So what are we waiting for? STOP Using plastic bags!, or at least, reduce their usage.

A few things we as individual can do:

1. Reject the offer to use multiple plastic bags to pack a single item, especially when it's unnecessary.
2. Bring your own shopping bags when you are doing large scale shopping. These can be cloth bags, reused plastic bags, paper carrier, or even travelling bags.
3. Recycle plastic bags.
4. When you have the option, always opt for a paper carrier.
5. When buying small objects, try to utilize your pockets.
6. If you buy multiple items, try to optimize plastic bags usage by packing several items into one plastic bag.

Any more creative ways to conserve the use of plastic bags are welcomed.

Where have the oil gone?

2004-07-19T13:42:00.000+08:00

Recent Movie : Spiderman II
A lot of cliche moments. Watch it for the cheesiness value of it. Rating : 3 out of 5

Recent Movie : Supersize Me
Very hilarious documentary. I don't eat fastfood so it doesn't really affect me directly. How can anyone eat that stuff anyway. Rating : 3.5 out of 5

Recent Game : Railroad Tycoon 3
Anyone who loves to play Simulation game should play this. Definitely a brilliant third installment of the Railroad Tycoon series. Rating : 4.5 out of 5

NDP Makeup
Our school Cosmoprof is sponsoring Singapore's National Day Parade makeup. I volunteered to help out. That's how I get to watch the NDP for free. Quite interesting, and I would say it's well organized (well, mostly). Too bad by the time I sat down and watch, I was too tired to appreciate everything.

Where have the oil gone?
It's just a funny thought after seeing "Supersize Me". Do you know Texas is the fatest state in America? Well, maybe not so coincidentally, Texas is also the state where oil was first discovered. See the parallel there?

Spells of Laziness
I have promised myself to do some research on the bio-solar cell and our current economy system. Unfortunately I was hit by what I called the "spells of laziness", which results in lethargy and inaction for the duration of the spell. I am just writing this down so that I know what to research on after the spell effect wears off.

Hope Part II: Green Energy

2004-07-07T13:33:00.000+08:00

I was doing some research on the so-called green energy market, brought to my attention by a friend. It is interesting that in Europe a so-called green energy market has emerged.

Basically it's a certificate that proved that a certain percentage of the total energy produced by an electricity provider is "green energy". Green energy is essentially energy generated via environmental friendly method, like wind or solar energy. This certificate can then be obtained by electricity generators and consumers as a proof that they have produced or used a certain amount of green energy, since in some countries, a certain percentage of green energy usage is compulsory by law: ...By law, all electricity suppliers must prove they have bought or generated the equivalent of 0.03 unit (3%) of green electricity for every unit they sell... . Read more about it here and here. Europeans, being more accutely aware of our energy issue, are quite supportive of such programmes.

Overall, it seems like a right direction to head towards. While it is no solution to the pending oil crisis, it MIGHT lessen the impact. However, as with any industry, there are some players who would sacrifice ethic for profit, and try to pass incineration as renewable green energy.

Personally, I think Singapore has every incentive to start the green energy practise. Not only does it reduces the adverse effect caused by electricity generation, it also reduces Singapore's dependence on the foreign fuel import. The recent blackouts should have proven to us that our energy generation base is very fragile at best.

The electricity generators should start to offer this option to the consumers, with government support. We could start on a volunteer basis. If the response is good, it could be made a standard practise with incentives like tax rebate and etc.

Related news :
Wind farm in UK

Reference site:
Green energy in Europe
Cleaner and Greener Environmental programme
Energy justice
3 Phases Energy Services

What we CAN do:
Home Checklist

911, the US conspiracy?

2004-07-06T18:18:00.000+08:00

Recent Read : 911 Conspiracy theory
Michael Meacher, a former British environment minister, vindicates FTW's (From The Wilderness, it's a magazine) position on 9/11, the war on terrorism, and peak oil.

Recent Game : Civilization 3 Conquest
This expansion pack to civilization adds a lot to the game and change the game dynamics greatly. It's similar to what broodwar was to starcraft.

I dislike conspiracy theory, truly. I loathed not to be able to believe in things by their appearance. Conspiracy theory says that for every explanation to a situation, there must be a more evil, sinister explanation. It goes against my faith in humanity. Nonetheless, when certain facts cause suspicion, they must be mentioned and highlighted.

In the article above, the author asked several tough questions for people who want to sympathize with US in the 911 event.

First, it is clear the US authorities did little or nothing to pre-empt the events of 9/11. It is known that at least 11 countries provided advance warning to the US of the 9/11 attacks. Two senior Mossad experts were sent to Washington in August 2001 to alert the CIA and FBI to a cell of 200 terrorists said to be preparing a big operation (Daily Telegraph, September 16 2001). The list they provided included the names of four of the 9/11 hijackers, none of whom was arrested....

Michael Springman, the former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah, has stated that since 1987 the CIA had been illicitly issuing visas to unqualified applicants from the Middle East and bringing them to the US for training in terrorism for the Afghan war in collaboration with Bin Laden (BBC, November 6 2001)....

The first hijacking was suspected at not later than 8.20am, and the last hijacked aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania at 10.06am. Not a single fighter plane was scrambled to investigate from the US Andrews airforce base, just 10 miles from Washington DC, until after the third plane had hit the Pentagon at 9.38 am. Why not? There were standard FAA intercept procedures for hijacked aircraft before 9/11. Between September 2000 and June 2001 the US military launched fighter aircraft on 67 occasions to chase suspicious aircraft (AP, August 13 2002). It is a US legal requirement that once an aircraft has moved significantly off its flight plan, fighter planes are sent up to investigate....

It is not difficult to construct a US involvement from the above evidence. Apparently most canadians thought so too.

For further reference, read this "What If" article by Michael C. Ruppert.

A New Look

2004-07-05T19:20:00.000+08:00

Recent Read : Board Game Design
For people who are interested in board game design.

I made some change to the page layout so that it's more user friendly. I hope this effort will help to encourage more readers to comment. For a start, perhaps you can comment on the color scheme.

In case you haven't noticed, at the beginning of each post is a link to expand/collapse the whole post. This might to help with the scrolling. The comment section has been shifted to the main page, so it's more convenient to comment now (hopefully!). It also has the same expand/collapse function as the posts.

I have a feeling that the current color scheme is a bit too complicated (Remember the porn site joke?). When I have time I'll think about re-organize the color.

No long post today. I am too tired to write anything coherent after spending a long rendezvous with the long-lost javescript and CSS. NOW I feel ashame to mention that I am (was!) a computer science graduate. >.<

Hope Part I (+ Intro) : Solar Tower

2004-07-02T12:50:00.000+08:00

Recent Read : Solar Tower

Let's Hope:

I am initiating this small online project simply named "Hope". It is inspired by the Peak Oil issue I have read about earlier this month. Instead of reading about all the doom and gloom news, perhaps at the same time we can find out what is happening (or can happen) that may bring some hope to this blight.

I am encouraging whoever reading my web log to contribute by giving comments, or looking for information related to the energy issue. Be it an alternative source of renewable energy, energy control policy, energy replacement, or things that are currently relying on energy/electricity which can be done in another fashion, like organic farming, environmental cooling, plastic bag replacement, recycled paper bag, etc. In short, any information or ideas, including technology, policy or methods which can reduce our reliance on fossil feul energy are welcomed.

Solar Tower:

Read about it using the link above. Basically it is an edifice of about 1km tall and 3.5km in radius which can generate renewable energy without the need of fossil fuel. The energy generated is sufficient for 200k household in Australia.

It is a good news, except that to generate enough energy for the 1 million or so household in Singapore, we need to have around 5 of this giant which could be quite hard on our limited land. Perhaps we can use some of our island for this.

And it's not exactly cheap. Well, it's better than nothing.

Regarding Hope:

It is interesting how HOPE has always been the defining characteristic of human. Someone who has lost hope is as good as dead. Can I Hope that more people will contribute to this site? I certainly can ;).

SARS a scam? (+ a note on pessimism)

2004-07-01T15:17:00.000+08:00

Recent Read : SARS: A Great Global SCAM

The original website can be found here: SARScam

I realize this can be a very touchy article as Singapore was one of the most heavily hit area. However, as with all "conspiracy theory", this one is worth some consideration.

I agreed with some points the article raised, most notably the low death rates, and the fact that most viral disease has no medical cure nowadays. These facts would at least point to an over-hype situation. As for the rest of the conspiracy... well, I'll leave it to whoever read the article judges for himself. Personally I think the article is a bit of a hype as well. The Horowitz guy is obviously also using public fright as a marketing tool.

The only thing I know is that when we are forced to weight evil against evil, we have already lost the battle.

I did a check on the Principal Causes of Death in Singapore. It is interesting to know that none of the emerging disease in the pass like anthrax, SARS, BSE (A.K.A Mad Cow Disease), Avian Influenza (A.K.A Bird Flu), made it to the top 10. Yet these emerging disease has major impact on the regional and global economy. Considering the effect of lung cancer and heart disease on tobacco business, wouldn't you think that the economical impact of those "emerging disease" was a bit too dramatic in comparison to their actual health impact? (I can't help but to relate to the power of media propaganda at this point.) Note that Heart Disease, Cancer, Pneumonia and Injuries remain in the top 5 causes of death.

A global reference is the World Health Report published by WHO. HIV/AIDS has higher appearance there but otherwise the figures are similar, i.e. Heart Disease, Cancer and Injuries being the prominent causes of death.

Pessimistic vs Realistic

I am usually quite piqued when people call me a pessimist, while in fact I am just a realist. (In case you are wondering Molewall, you are not the only one.) If nothing else it holds a very negative connotation. Some people might argue that there is little difference between pessimism and realism. Well, I think there's quite a big difference. Here's how:

Pessimist: I have a chance of losing this bet, thus I should not take it.
Optimist: I have a chance of winning this bet, thus I should take it.
Realist: I have a 65% chance of winning this bet, but winning this bet will only gain me 100 dollars, while losing this bet will make me lost a job and 2 months' salary, thus I should not take it.

In short, a realist based their judgement on established facts and careful analysis of the situation. Granted, giving the information transparency this age, it's hard to account for the accury of the so-called established facts, however, this established the traits of a realist.

I highly respect and encourage different point of view on any subject, but I hate to be labelled based on my analysis, espeially if these analysis are based on unpleasant facts. I understand it is human nature to want to believe in pleasant things, but if unpleasant facts are reduced to pessimism and subsequently dismissed, the labelling has become not only irritating, but DANGEROUS. This is particularly true during one of my Oil Peak discussion with my friends. When I said it is unlikely that human will find a replacement energy source in time based on today's technology, one of my friends simply said, "you are too pessimistic lar". Well, that is EXACTLY why a serious albeit unpleasant issue such as Oil Peak was not well received. It is too pessimistic. We like optismistic stuff. Sometimes I even think that I have to be pessimistic just to counter some of the senseless optimism around me. It's suffocating me (Not the optimism part, the senseless part).

Does God Exist?

2004-06-29T11:36:00.000+08:00

Recent Read : The Naked Bible
An interestiing article (more like a book) analysing the conflicting points in the Bible.

A short note on Win-Win :

I have got an interesting reply from Molewall here. In the last paragraph he said:

"Say, the apple juice factory has lots of apple cores left over from the production of the juice. Instead of throwing away the cores, it can sell it back to the apple farm to use as fertilizer. This way, it is a Win-Win situation. Plus the transport company gets paid to send the apple cores back to the apple farm on the return trip. Win-Win-Win? This way there is no loss to the "system"?

That is indeed very interesting but from my point of view, it is still not a Win-Win situation. The apple cores were an EXCESS on the factory side. If the factory had thrown it away it would have been a LOSS on the factory side (which results in the gain of the fertilizer supplier of the apple orchard, but let's not go there). If we traced the movement of the apple core, we would discover that the apple cores actually travelled from apple orchard to the factory and back. In a sense, the factory actually sold the apple cores and later buy them back. The transport company gain from the LOSS of the factory (or whoever responsible for transport fee) extra payment of the transport to ship back the apple cores.

In a nutshell, if we take out the transport company (because the transport company creates a case that warrant a separate discussion on its own.) from the system, there was no GAIN to the system; What was percieved as a GAIN was actually a prevention of a LOSS (disposal of the apple cores).

I hope that would clear up my theory.

Does God Exist? :

It is perhaps the most frequently asked question by human. Since the times of our ancestors, we have always wanted to believe in a higher entity (or entities), relying on its (or their) existence to explain many phenomenons. However, with the advance of sciences, people started asking, does god exist?

Being someone more spiritual than religious, I tend to view God as a idea, a philosophy, a representation rather than an existence or an entity. To me, God represents the uniqueness of Human, in our ability and need to percieve a transcendent form of existence. It is (to me) a complex and all-encompassing ideology which consists of the myriad wants and needs of human as a collective entity. It includes things like the fear of death and unknown afterlife, the need to percieve an ultimate, completely fair judging power, the protection of less competitive and the motivation to work towards the common good of the race. To me, God can exist outside the bound of a religion, for religion is merely formed of people with similar wants and needs, while God represents the overall ideology.

It is moot to argue about the existence of God. I believe that by the virtue of discussing it, we have already confirmed the existence of God as an ideology. To the believer it represents the ultimate power, to the agnostic it represents an idea that cannot be confirmed, to the atheist it represents a hypothesis which is not to be believed.

Whether we like it or not, God exists, and it has for a long time.

For the record, I am NOT a christian (Christians are not allowed to question the existence of god.), nor am I of any religion. I believe in God as an ideology, but I do not agree with the way some religion use it to manipulate the believers. At that point, God ceases to be an ideology, but instead become a tool. But that's another topic all by itself. Remind myself to write about it some time, after I write about my take on management ideology.

What if Oil Peak happens?

2004-06-22T20:21:00.000+08:00

Recent Read : Berlin Peak Oil Conference
It's a report regarding the Peak Oil conference held at Berlin. The conference is attended by scientists, econimists and industrial experts. It's interesting to see what the top minds of our planet have to say.

I have played this scenario with a few friends before.

One of them believed that there might yet be hope for new energy technologies and solutions to replace oil. Another agrees that there will be a regression but the progress will be slow and gradual.

I tend to be more pragmatic and have a more pessimistic regard for human nature. I agree mostly with what the authur of Life after the Oil Crash said, that Oil Crash will come abruptly and the economy will collapse. As a result, the world will fall into arnarchy with billions of people starving to death.

But it might not even come to that. The book hinted but not quite highlight that the world leaders KNOW about the situation. They also know that if they allow the situation to worsen until society falls into anarchy, they will more likely be the targets of angry mobs. So they will not allow the situation to worsen to that state.

But how? Here is my speculation.

If I am top world leaders (the likes of G.W.Bush), I will find means and ways to institute a controlled global depopulation until world population is small enough for a gradual regression (or evolution, if you please) to another society state.

What does that mean? Simply, War World 3. Find some excuse to start a global war, with the main objective to depopulate as much as possible. After certain state, when population has been sufficiently reduced, then stop the war, then START on alternative energy projects and slowly evolve our society state to something more sensible than capitalism.

And that is my optimistic speculation. My pessimistic guess will involve Weapon of Mass Destruction and miscalculation which may involve the extinction of human race.

Interestingly, after the discussion, regardless of our stance or speculation on human future, we all agreed that there will be some form of regression and depopulation, although the optimist remained firmed that it will be humane and moral process (Of course, we all want that.).

When asked what Singapore should do, I suggested that besides starting immediately to source for alternative energy source, we need to get hold of arable land in the Malaysia penisular. The best case is of course via diplomacy. Otherwise, military action might be unavoidable.

However, regardless of what was said, we are nobody, so those discussion are more akin to a fantasy story discussion than anything else.

If you have something to say regarding this issue, I am interested to here it. email me at zuraffo@yahoo.com

The rumor called Win-Win

2004-06-21T14:30:00.000+08:00

Recent Movie: The Chronicles of Riddick
Go watch it if you want some brainless, cliche entertainment. I personally thought it was quite mediocre. Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Recent Book : Mr. China
It's one of those book that I started reading it in the book store and HAD to bring it home with me. Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Recent Game : Civilization III
I have just eliminated JAPAN yesterday. Gosh that felt good. Rating: 50 out of 5 for the defeat of JAPAN

Recent Read : Global Climate Change and Peak Oil
More doom and gloom read. Not for the faint-hearted.

No such things called Win-Win :
I personally do not believe in Win-Win situation. That is, I don't believe in physical Win-Win situation. According to the Law of Conservation in the physics world (which makes awful lot of sense, even when applied to economy; especially when appplied to economy), the total amount of energy in an isolated system is always constant. It then follows that if some parts of the isolated system gain in energy, some other parts of the same system must lose energy. Now consider our economy system as a close and isolated energy system (For a scientific and logical explanation of our economy system as a giant energy system, read Energy and Economic Myths), when one or more parties gain in "energy", some other parties must lose it.

If you consider the rumor of Win-Win situation in this system, it becomes very obvious that the concept of Win-Win is a partial truth at best, designed to flatter the false sense of achievement of aspiring capitalists (who are usually not bright or honest enough to see the blatant truth of our world). A Win-Win situation which results in physical gain for both parties must come at a loss of a third party.

Consider this situation: An apple orchard owner has 10 workers. He pays each of them 1 apple per day as wage. A fruit juice factory contacted the orchard owner and propose a Win-Win deal: Instead of paying 10 apples to the workers, sell the 10 apples to the factory. Since the factory can produce 20 bottles of apple juice with 10 apples, it will then sell back 10 bottles to the orchard owner as wage to the workers, and both the factory and orchard will split the profit for the remaining 10 bottles. Of course, the workers must not find out that 1 apple can produce 2 bottles of apple juice. Fat deal for the factory and orchard owner, no? It's fairly obvious in this example who got ripped off in order for the orchard owner and factory to gain. But imagine if you are a poor worker who doesn't know that 1 apple can produce 2 bottle of apple juices, would you prefer a dusty, skinny apple over a bottle of nicely packaged apple juice?

Lesson learnt: In a so-called WIN-WIN deal, the un-informed parties usually get ripped off

Having said that, Win-Win situations are possible if one considers emotional/psychological gain. For example, if Amy has 2 apples, and Cindy has 2 oranges, and they agreed to trade one of the fruits for another. Are there physical gains for both of them? No, both of them have exactly 2 fruits, no more or less than before their exchange. However, there definitely are psychological gains (Different FLAVOR, yeah!). Or in the above example of factories and orchard, if the workers considered nice packaging is more importantly than the actual amount of content, it can also be considered a Win-Win deal (Although by my standard it's more like an exploitation of human weakness.)

As a closing note, let's considered the greatest, most important Win-Win deal ever created in the name of humanity. Around the 1850s, as the devil was sitting in his office worrying about the slow growth of population in hell, mother Earth came to visit him. She confessed that she was greatly disturbed by this black gooey liquid that gets accumulated over the course of billions of years. As they sat there pondering over their problems, the devil, being the more DEVILISH of the two, had a spark of inspiration.
"What if we let the humans discover how to use the black gooey stuff? They will consume it faster than you can blink."
Mother Earth, being more directly involved, asked,
"But will they upset too much of my face, even destroying me?"
Devil pondered for a moment,
"Well, there is the possibility," then grin DEVILISHLY, "But then, given human, they'll probably stuff themselve dead before they even realized it."
"Hrm, a risk worth taking. But what's in it for you?" Mother Earth asked curiously.
"Well, when they start to stuff themselve dead, that's when I'll hit my next millenium quota for Hell's population." Devil rubbed his hand in a DEVILISH manner.
"Deal then. Given the nature of human, I think it's overall a Win-Win deal."
Subsequently, in 1855, James Miller Williams discovered crude oil in North America.

So WHO got exploited in this Win-Win deal?

Art, Entertainment and Nature

2004-06-18T11:24:00.000+08:00

Let me start by introducing a bit of myself. I am an avid gamer, playing PC, PS2, and recently board games. I work as a game designer. I am also an artist in my own right, having just graduated from Cosmoprof with a diploma in professional makeup artist. I draw to entertain myself. I read frequently and write short articles as a hobby (although I have stopped for a while).

During the course of doing those things, one thing occurred to me and puzzled me to no end. I couldn't find a convincing explanation as to why human has evolved to come to desire certain form of art and entertainment. In the natural world, this trait is unique to human. According to the laws of nature, living things evolve based on their needs to survive. All living things on the planet have evolved in such a way that they have just what it takes to survive. Human is different. We establish behavioral traits that are inconsequential to our survival.

We don't need watching movies to survive. We don't need makeup to survive. Neither do we need PC games, beautiful painting nor pretty dress to survive. So where does our desire for those things which has no relevance to our survival come from?

My theory is that THAT too is the work of Mother Nature. I believe the desire for entertainment and art had started when human evolved beyond simply survivalistic and started to over-populate the planet. These traits, which do nothing whatsoever in enhancing our being, were developed so that we would waste enormous amount of precious resource vital to our survival in their pursue. In the end, when we have successfully wasted all those resources, we will die off. And the world will perhaps return to a balance.

To summarize, I believe that our desire to indulge, to entertain and to be entertained, is a fail-safe mechanism implanted by Mother Nature, to curb the extend to which we can harm the planet.

Humanity has always quibbed that it has conquered nature, I think that's a child's wishful thinking. That is about as foolish as saying computer or robot will one day conquer man, which, unfortunately, is another point of argument that human likes to get into.

Nobody conquers their maker. Try to believe me the next time you see a movie or play a computer game.

Read of the Day

The meaning of Last Dawn

2004-06-17T13:16:00.000+08:00

I figure a good way to start this blog would be to explain its name.

I named my blog "Last Dawn" because I believe that I (and the rest of us) am living in the era of last dawn of human civilization, a.k.a the industrial civilization.

According to some field experts, the extractible oil reserve on this planet is running dry soon. Some put the timeline to as near as 2012.

"But I heard the current oil reserve can hold at least 50 years more, and by then, surely the ever resilient human race would have discovered new technologies which can replace oil" you would say. Well, there is a few things here.

Let's first discuss the amount of oil reserve. Human is not going to exhaust all the oil in the earth crust, because long before that, our society would have crumble. Let me explain. According to the author of Life after the oil crash, during 1930s, it only took energy equivalent to 1 barrel of oil to extract 100 barrel of oil. Now the ratio has dropped to 1:10 as the oil well goes deeper. When it takes more than 1 barrel of oil to extract 1 barrel of oil, oil ceased to be an energy source. And that will happened BEFORE we actually runs out of oil. By then, our economy which is based largely on Oil (Petroleum, the fossil feul), will undoubtedly crumble.

Then let's talk about alternative energy source. I won't go into details here, suffice to say that this article here has convinced me that none of the existing technology even come close to replacing Oil as an energy base. Future technologies are generally too nebulous to depend my sanity on.

Many people argue that oil can last a lot longer; That is NOT my concern. What occurs to me is that Oil (and other fossil fuel, sooner or later) will run out one day, most probably in our life time. When that happens, our society and civilization will regress to pre-industrial age. Assuming human survives the experience, we will be facing a depleted planet and there will be no restoring to our current level of "civilization".

Without cheap electricity power and fuel, we will live without a lot of things we had taken for granted: Air-con, car, hot water, computer, light, etc.

We are at the pinnacle of human civilization and wastage now. This will be the Last Dawn, human will not be able to rise to this level again. That said, I intend to enjoy every last bit of this civilization and splurge every last bit of resource; We are entitled to. After all, we will be the generation which is suffering when oil crash occurs.

Let's party.

Life After the Oil Crash, a website with relevant issue on the coming oil crisis.
Die Off, a website that discuss all the issues humanity faced this day, including population, pollution, oil peak, global warming, etc.
From the Wilderness, an america-centric website addressing all issues, especially political and economical which affects our environment.

The above website are doomed to failure. They don't understand that human don't want truth. We want lies which make us happy.