The US Postal Service has been in heaps of trouble for quite some time. But they don't seem to deserve much sympathy because their services are obviously lacking, especially in a busy holiday season like this. On the other hand, I also have a bone or two to pick on Barnes and Noble, the remaining nationwide book store chain after Borders went out of business earlier this year.
I was a Borders card holder -- after all, they were a local entity in the Tree Town I had called home for many years. When they went out of business, they obviously sold the list of customers to Barnes and Noble. I got a offer in email for the new Nook tablet. Online reviews seem to give it high marks comparing to the Amazon Kindle Fire. So I ordered one as a holiday gift for my daughter.
The order was placed on November 22. I received an email the next day informing me about the shipment. I have been checking the status of it on UPS, which initially stated that the expected delivery date was December 3. But on December 2, the UPS tracking tool displayed a yellow notice saying that, "As requested by the sender, UPS has transferred this shipment to the local post office for delivery to the final destination."
Since then, the USPS tracking has been showing me that "Electronic Shipping Info Received". There has been no update whatsoever about the status of the package.
In this day of age, the Postal Service doesn't seem to face up to challenges in front of it. With the news that half of its processing facilities are to be closed, I guess we can expect the services from USPS to go from bad to worse.
Calling Barnes and Noble is no help either in this matter. I wondered from the beginning as why the chain did not offer in-store pickup of online orders. Having many brick-and-mortar stores across the country seems to be the only advantage Barnes and Noble has against Amazon, yet it doesn't seem to care to use it to serve its customers. Now that my table is nowhere to be found two weeks after it is ordered, all the Barnes and Noble customer service person could tell me is "call your local post office."
At this rate, I wish B&N and USPS both the best of luck staying in business. But on the other hand, I would not be too surprised if they don't.
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English. Show all posts
2011-12-05
2011-08-15
Why do I call the "TEA Party" cancer?
The other day in one thread of discussion on Google+, I responded to a comment with this: The Tea Party is not what is causing cancer. It is cancer!
Here is why: A cancer cell starts from a regular, normal cell. Somehow along the way, a cell grows out of control and becomes cancerous. Once enough of them become that way, the cells absorbs as much nutrition as possible from its surroundings, display uncontrolled growth, invasion that intrudes upon and destroys adjacent tissues, and often metastasizes, wherein the tumor cells spread to other locations in the body ... and eventually kills the body that they are part of.
That is exactly what the tea party is: They do not care how the whole body is, what the body needs to function, or even they themselves need the body to live on. All they care about is themselves. Nobody is taking anything from them. Everything theirs belongs to them. Everything yours they will grab if they can. If you die as a result, too bad. You only have yourselves to blame: It is all because you are not as smart as they are.
Now here is a real example of that: Screw The Rich (Here’s How): "As for me, I think the government should be starved of income and be forced to spend money where it’s supposed to – defending the border, establishing a trusted currency, and protecting property rights." -- See what I am saying? Government should not be able to do anything but defend them for their property rights. You are homeless? Too bad. The government should not do anything for you.
It seems that, in tea party logic, the government is not evil only when the government can be put into their pockets.
Here is why: A cancer cell starts from a regular, normal cell. Somehow along the way, a cell grows out of control and becomes cancerous. Once enough of them become that way, the cells absorbs as much nutrition as possible from its surroundings, display uncontrolled growth, invasion that intrudes upon and destroys adjacent tissues, and often metastasizes, wherein the tumor cells spread to other locations in the body ... and eventually kills the body that they are part of.
That is exactly what the tea party is: They do not care how the whole body is, what the body needs to function, or even they themselves need the body to live on. All they care about is themselves. Nobody is taking anything from them. Everything theirs belongs to them. Everything yours they will grab if they can. If you die as a result, too bad. You only have yourselves to blame: It is all because you are not as smart as they are.
Now here is a real example of that: Screw The Rich (Here’s How): "As for me, I think the government should be starved of income and be forced to spend money where it’s supposed to – defending the border, establishing a trusted currency, and protecting property rights." -- See what I am saying? Government should not be able to do anything but defend them for their property rights. You are homeless? Too bad. The government should not do anything for you.
It seems that, in tea party logic, the government is not evil only when the government can be put into their pockets.
2011-07-08
Political Ponderings
I don't write for a living, I guess it is more of a way of venting.
Republicans are in power in much of the country these days. They continue to spout their lines about the government being the problem, etc. and continue to push their tax cuts for the wealthy, although they have no proof that their supply-side economics has ever worked.
Conceptually, I agree with them on the need of the government spending within the means. Although I cannot stop wondering, why did we not hear them saying those same things a few years ago? They say that, like a household, the country cannot spend more than it makes. I just hope that it is that simple.
I don't know about other people's households, but in mine, if we are in danger of running out of money, we would make sure that the kids are fed first. The parents may have to sacrifice a bit to do that, but there is no alternative to that. The Republicans seem to be a different breed. They don't seem to care about the kids, or the poor, for that matter. They would sacrifice everybody to guarantee that the well-off have their tax cuts. I am fine with them doing that, actually, as long as they tell what they do exactly as is. Don't pretend that they care about my job or creating jobs for those poor souls who don't have theirs.
Tell us how exactly the wealthy would create jobs? Or let's take a step back, why would they? A good free market capitalist would tell you that a private corporation exists to make profits for its share holders. So if nobody is buying a car in this country, would GM expand its production just to create more jobs because the government gives them a tax cut? My guess is no, they would not. Nobody is obligated to create jobs for us. The corporate executives are not satisfied with making only a few hundred times more than you and I do. They want more. They are only obligated to make themselves more. You and I should not forget or overlook that.
I guess the Republicans are just taking us all for fools.
I'll wait and see. November 2012 is not that far away.
Republicans are in power in much of the country these days. They continue to spout their lines about the government being the problem, etc. and continue to push their tax cuts for the wealthy, although they have no proof that their supply-side economics has ever worked.
Conceptually, I agree with them on the need of the government spending within the means. Although I cannot stop wondering, why did we not hear them saying those same things a few years ago? They say that, like a household, the country cannot spend more than it makes. I just hope that it is that simple.
I don't know about other people's households, but in mine, if we are in danger of running out of money, we would make sure that the kids are fed first. The parents may have to sacrifice a bit to do that, but there is no alternative to that. The Republicans seem to be a different breed. They don't seem to care about the kids, or the poor, for that matter. They would sacrifice everybody to guarantee that the well-off have their tax cuts. I am fine with them doing that, actually, as long as they tell what they do exactly as is. Don't pretend that they care about my job or creating jobs for those poor souls who don't have theirs.
Tell us how exactly the wealthy would create jobs? Or let's take a step back, why would they? A good free market capitalist would tell you that a private corporation exists to make profits for its share holders. So if nobody is buying a car in this country, would GM expand its production just to create more jobs because the government gives them a tax cut? My guess is no, they would not. Nobody is obligated to create jobs for us. The corporate executives are not satisfied with making only a few hundred times more than you and I do. They want more. They are only obligated to make themselves more. You and I should not forget or overlook that.
I guess the Republicans are just taking us all for fools.
I'll wait and see. November 2012 is not that far away.
2011-06-06
2011-05-20
Even God Has Problems
The subject line is purely rhetorical, it does not mean that I believe god exists.
I said that to my youngest child the other day. She is a sensitive kid, with a very inquisitive mind of her own. She asked mom yesterday what god has problems actually meant. So I thought I would explain myself, to her, in this way.
If there were an almighty god, then he or she had definitely got problems. If not, my guess is that we would already have world peace. On the subject of god, I recommend the movie Dogma (Warning: the movie is R rated.)
What triggered that statement was an incident she had at school. I got a call from the school asking me to pick her up because she had been crying for some time and the teacher didn't think she was able to go back to class. She was in a small group of students when one of them started insulting everyone in the group, saying that everyone had problems, not her.
So I said, "Why is that insulting? Everyone has problems, even god has problems. Anyone saying she doesn't is just delusional or ignorant."
I trust that she does understand what I said. My guess what frustrated her to crying was a sense of injustice when the other girl could insult others and get away with it, but she could not do anything about the situation. So I did a little bit of role playing with her: I asked her to say to me, as if I were the other person, "I don't like what you are saying. Stop it!" That may be all it takes to release her frustration in this particular kind of situation.
I said that to my youngest child the other day. She is a sensitive kid, with a very inquisitive mind of her own. She asked mom yesterday what god has problems actually meant. So I thought I would explain myself, to her, in this way.
If there were an almighty god, then he or she had definitely got problems. If not, my guess is that we would already have world peace. On the subject of god, I recommend the movie Dogma (Warning: the movie is R rated.)
What triggered that statement was an incident she had at school. I got a call from the school asking me to pick her up because she had been crying for some time and the teacher didn't think she was able to go back to class. She was in a small group of students when one of them started insulting everyone in the group, saying that everyone had problems, not her.
So I said, "Why is that insulting? Everyone has problems, even god has problems. Anyone saying she doesn't is just delusional or ignorant."
I trust that she does understand what I said. My guess what frustrated her to crying was a sense of injustice when the other girl could insult others and get away with it, but she could not do anything about the situation. So I did a little bit of role playing with her: I asked her to say to me, as if I were the other person, "I don't like what you are saying. Stop it!" That may be all it takes to release her frustration in this particular kind of situation.
2011-05-01
Sunday Morning Musings
Opening the Sunday morning AnnArbor.com newspaper, there is Governor Snyder's 2011 Spring commencement speech at the University of Michigan. Right underneath, there a 5th grader protesting against his budget policy for its cuts in education funding. A reflection of our time.
I am against the governor's cuts on top of cuts already made to the K-12 education system. Maybe I am biased because my kids are in the system. However, that is not the main reason I am against his cuts. There was a story in the front page of last Thursday's story, in which a little girl whispered in the governor's ears, "Stop taking money from my school" -- according to the girl's father. That may not be entirely correct. The governor's proponents would say that he is not taking money from the school, he just doesn't have enough money to give the schools, although the governor probably has proven his proponents wrong in that regard: He is also taking the the K-12 school funds and shifting them to fund community colleges.
I agree with the guest opinion by Donald Salberg on page A6 that lowering business taxes will not create more jobs. But he may have missed a point: The business tax cutters may not be aiming to create new jobs, they may pin their hope on attracting businesses elsewhere that may be considering expansion to expand here in Michigan. I do suspect that business tax cuts would fail at that, too. The tax cutters seem to be competing against some imaginary other places as if those other places exist in an imaginary bubble. If tax cuts work magic on businesses, would those other places not be smart enough to follow suite? That seems to be a perfect scenario of race to the bottom -- where big business owners can profit comfortably on the backs of others.
According to one of the business school legends: Henry Ford gave his factory workers the highest wages in the industry, which created a demand on his cars, which in turn partly fueled his success. I don't know what today's Republicans would say to that. Call Henry Ford a fool, perhaps? Who could guarantee that those workers would necessarily buy Ford's products? Maybe they should do some research on the business taxes back then to prove that it was Michigan's low tax rate that put Henry Ford in Detroit, rather than Windsor across the Detroit river, or across the lake somewhere in Ohio.
The lessons of Silicon Valley on the Business Review page seems to provide some interesting ideas what a government could do: intentional innovation, economic gardening. Hope the whole Ann Arbor area grows into a better entrepreneurial garden. But I believe education, including K-12, has to be part of that garden.
I am against the governor's cuts on top of cuts already made to the K-12 education system. Maybe I am biased because my kids are in the system. However, that is not the main reason I am against his cuts. There was a story in the front page of last Thursday's story, in which a little girl whispered in the governor's ears, "Stop taking money from my school" -- according to the girl's father. That may not be entirely correct. The governor's proponents would say that he is not taking money from the school, he just doesn't have enough money to give the schools, although the governor probably has proven his proponents wrong in that regard: He is also taking the the K-12 school funds and shifting them to fund community colleges.
I agree with the guest opinion by Donald Salberg on page A6 that lowering business taxes will not create more jobs. But he may have missed a point: The business tax cutters may not be aiming to create new jobs, they may pin their hope on attracting businesses elsewhere that may be considering expansion to expand here in Michigan. I do suspect that business tax cuts would fail at that, too. The tax cutters seem to be competing against some imaginary other places as if those other places exist in an imaginary bubble. If tax cuts work magic on businesses, would those other places not be smart enough to follow suite? That seems to be a perfect scenario of race to the bottom -- where big business owners can profit comfortably on the backs of others.
According to one of the business school legends: Henry Ford gave his factory workers the highest wages in the industry, which created a demand on his cars, which in turn partly fueled his success. I don't know what today's Republicans would say to that. Call Henry Ford a fool, perhaps? Who could guarantee that those workers would necessarily buy Ford's products? Maybe they should do some research on the business taxes back then to prove that it was Michigan's low tax rate that put Henry Ford in Detroit, rather than Windsor across the Detroit river, or across the lake somewhere in Ohio.
The lessons of Silicon Valley on the Business Review page seems to provide some interesting ideas what a government could do: intentional innovation, economic gardening. Hope the whole Ann Arbor area grows into a better entrepreneurial garden. But I believe education, including K-12, has to be part of that garden.
2011-02-24
239. 《好一朵美丽的 . . .【此处删去三字】》
请欣赏《宋祖英2006年美国演唱会》：
音乐不错，宋祖英唱得还过得去，尽管听不出来这原是江南小调。倒是杨澜的英语让我起了不少鸡皮疙瘩 -- Maybe I expected too much from a Columbia graduate.
[Edit] The embedded doesn't seem to work, so here is the link.
2010-10-28
Kids Stuff
I have not written anything up to this point about kids. I guess there was a real concern about exposing them online might somehow do them harm. But in this day and age, like everything else in this world, there is really no guarantee of them not being exposed to the world before they grow up.
Anyways.
Sa'er (三儿) came home with a homework sheet from the her World Geology class, which asked her to interview an immigrant. Both mom and dad are immigrants to this country, that makes the homework a bit easier for her.
The questions are simple. What pushed you to emigrate from your home country? What drew you to the United States? What effect has your emigration had on your home country? What effect has your immigration had on your community?
They are simple questions, but not necessarily easy.
I told her that the political system in my home country pushed me out, and the political freedom drew me to this country. But those are empty words that probably don't mean much a thing to her, even as a middle-schooler, even though she probably has more political-awareness than most of her peers.
What I did not tell her was what happened to me and to many of my generation in 1989. Being in Beijing, I was in the thick of it by geological and political association. Both mom and I heard the gun shots. I saw the crushed dead bodies. What gave me hope ended in bloodshed. After leaving that city, where I lived and worked for eight and a half years, besieged under the guns and tanks of the armed forces, I started to plan my exit.
I went to Germany a year and a half later. Another year and a half later, I came to this country, the land of the free, as the legends say.
I wasn't at all surprised when mom simply answered the same question with the word freedom. I know what that word means and I know that she knows.
I hope the kids, who are born in this land of the free, know what that word means to them.
Anyways.
Sa'er (三儿) came home with a homework sheet from the her World Geology class, which asked her to interview an immigrant. Both mom and dad are immigrants to this country, that makes the homework a bit easier for her.
The questions are simple. What pushed you to emigrate from your home country? What drew you to the United States? What effect has your emigration had on your home country? What effect has your immigration had on your community?
They are simple questions, but not necessarily easy.
I told her that the political system in my home country pushed me out, and the political freedom drew me to this country. But those are empty words that probably don't mean much a thing to her, even as a middle-schooler, even though she probably has more political-awareness than most of her peers.
What I did not tell her was what happened to me and to many of my generation in 1989. Being in Beijing, I was in the thick of it by geological and political association. Both mom and I heard the gun shots. I saw the crushed dead bodies. What gave me hope ended in bloodshed. After leaving that city, where I lived and worked for eight and a half years, besieged under the guns and tanks of the armed forces, I started to plan my exit.
I went to Germany a year and a half later. Another year and a half later, I came to this country, the land of the free, as the legends say.
I wasn't at all surprised when mom simply answered the same question with the word freedom. I know what that word means and I know that she knows.
I hope the kids, who are born in this land of the free, know what that word means to them.
2009-03-22
The AIG Uproar
AIG has been on every media this last week. The 100+ million dollar bonuses for the very AIG executives got the whole country boiled over.
Some people argue that the bonuses are written in contract and a contract is a contract. I can swallow that.
But don't bleeping tell me that they earned it. That is not only outrageous, that is insulting.
Some argue that Wall Street needs those talents to unwind the tangled mess that the whole economy is in. But let's be honest with ourselves: Those are the talents that got us all into this big pile of doodoo. Why do we have to have them around? I just can't believe that those are the only talents alive that can understand what they have created.
If those Wall Street talents don't want to work there anymore, I don't think I would care less.
Some people argue that the bonuses are written in contract and a contract is a contract. I can swallow that.
But don't bleeping tell me that they earned it. That is not only outrageous, that is insulting.
Some argue that Wall Street needs those talents to unwind the tangled mess that the whole economy is in. But let's be honest with ourselves: Those are the talents that got us all into this big pile of doodoo. Why do we have to have them around? I just can't believe that those are the only talents alive that can understand what they have created.
If those Wall Street talents don't want to work there anymore, I don't think I would care less.
2009-01-20
Inauguration of the 44th President
Just came out of the conference room watching the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama.
This will be a historic day in history of this nation and of this world -- The number of people showing on the CNN news camera says that, as well as the constant alert messages from our backbone router to the Internet. It seems that the whole nation is watching the ceremony.
It is a day to be festival, to celebrate the end of 8 looong years and the beginning of a new era. But no one should forget the cost of the festivity. I have been a supporter of the new president. Now I hope that he can get the nation back to work.
This will be a historic day in history of this nation and of this world -- The number of people showing on the CNN news camera says that, as well as the constant alert messages from our backbone router to the Internet. It seems that the whole nation is watching the ceremony.
It is a day to be festival, to celebrate the end of 8 looong years and the beginning of a new era. But no one should forget the cost of the festivity. I have been a supporter of the new president. Now I hope that he can get the nation back to work.
2008-11-30
Vacation in the South
We have come down to the south to spend the Thanksgiving break, visiting friend and just spend some time doing not much of anything.
This is written on a iPod Touch -- to see if I could do anything serious other than reading and simple searching. Obviously I can. But it is extremely slow, even with the very helpful design of the iTouch keyboard.
We visited CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. At the end of the tour, I asked Georgia, our guide, whatever happened to Aaron Brown. She very diplomatically said, "I don't know. Everybody asks that question. But they don't tell us why they leave CNN." I asked if he just left CNN. To that, she answered, "I don't know." Throughout the building there are images of the current program anchors, which makes me realize how much CNN has been successful as a pop culture brand rather than a news organization. Aaron Brown's disappearance from the scene isn't surprising.
We went to Savannah today, late in the day. It is a very charming old town. We had dinner at the River House on the River Street. The food was very rich. The people are friendly. The whole place is much friendlier to visitors than Anlanta. Too bad we didn't get to spend more time there. This vacation is short, we should be able to come here for a whole week some time.
Enough with iTouch already. I think I would have to have something like a EEE PC class of device at the minimum. But for the ease of carrying around, the iTouch is hard to beat.
This is written on a iPod Touch -- to see if I could do anything serious other than reading and simple searching. Obviously I can. But it is extremely slow, even with the very helpful design of the iTouch keyboard.
We visited CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. At the end of the tour, I asked Georgia, our guide, whatever happened to Aaron Brown. She very diplomatically said, "I don't know. Everybody asks that question. But they don't tell us why they leave CNN." I asked if he just left CNN. To that, she answered, "I don't know." Throughout the building there are images of the current program anchors, which makes me realize how much CNN has been successful as a pop culture brand rather than a news organization. Aaron Brown's disappearance from the scene isn't surprising.
We went to Savannah today, late in the day. It is a very charming old town. We had dinner at the River House on the River Street. The food was very rich. The people are friendly. The whole place is much friendlier to visitors than Anlanta. Too bad we didn't get to spend more time there. This vacation is short, we should be able to come here for a whole week some time.
Enough with iTouch already. I think I would have to have something like a EEE PC class of device at the minimum. But for the ease of carrying around, the iTouch is hard to beat.
2008-11-05
John McCain is Wrong
John McCain's concession speech was graceful. But I think he is wrong in at least two counts.
He said that "the failure is mine." The failure is not all his, W, the Republican Party must bear part of the responsibilities.
He said that "This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight." The election of Barack Obama is much more than that. Barack Obama is much more than an African-American President. It is a victory of hope against fear and despair.
He said that "the failure is mine." The failure is not all his, W, the Republican Party must bear part of the responsibilities.
He said that "This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight." The election of Barack Obama is much more than that. Barack Obama is much more than an African-American President. It is a victory of hope against fear and despair.
The Election is Over
The election is over (finally!): Obama 338 vs. McCain 160 on CNN as of now. Senator John McCain has given a graceful concession speech. President elect Barack Obama has given a somber victory speech to a huge crown gathered in the Chicago Grant Park.
Now the real work begins.
Notes from yesterday evening:
I voted today, for the first time in a presidential election and for the second time since I am eligible to vote.
I guess I mostly voted for the Democrats, as I don't know much about the other candidates in the local races. Even though I have studied the local issues a bit, I still didn't feel that I had spent enough time to really understand all the candidates. So I had to leave some blanks in the ballot. I guess it just shows that democracy is not easy.
As the day gets darker, polls start to close. We will know who is the next US president tomorrow morning, hopefully. So far, it looks like that the Republicans are going to get a shock and awe, which is what would delight me.
However, if Barack Obama wins the election, Americans still need to set the expectations right. Even if the Democrats gains significant number of seats in the Congress, human nature will determine that there will be disorder in their collective actions. The Republicans will try as hard as they can to assert their conservative convictions. Progress will not be easy. But whatever happens, hope is more uplifting than fear.
Now the real work begins.
Notes from yesterday evening:
I voted today, for the first time in a presidential election and for the second time since I am eligible to vote.
I guess I mostly voted for the Democrats, as I don't know much about the other candidates in the local races. Even though I have studied the local issues a bit, I still didn't feel that I had spent enough time to really understand all the candidates. So I had to leave some blanks in the ballot. I guess it just shows that democracy is not easy.
As the day gets darker, polls start to close. We will know who is the next US president tomorrow morning, hopefully. So far, it looks like that the Republicans are going to get a shock and awe, which is what would delight me.
However, if Barack Obama wins the election, Americans still need to set the expectations right. Even if the Democrats gains significant number of seats in the Congress, human nature will determine that there will be disorder in their collective actions. The Republicans will try as hard as they can to assert their conservative convictions. Progress will not be easy. But whatever happens, hope is more uplifting than fear.
2008-10-29
«Cheap Vs. Chic Laptops»
Just read this article «Cheap Vs. Chic Laptops» on Forbes. I never liked Apple products much, not even the much hyped iPods or the iPhone. One reason is that their prices just don't make much sense. But I guess it is OK if one has the money to spend on chiciness.
2008-10-26
Reading Joe Klein's Article in Time
Read Joe Klein's article in Time today. The title is «Why He's Winning -- The evolution of Barack Obama». I hope he is right -- since I do agree with pretty much all he wrote in the article.
People may be cynical about Obama, about politics. John McCain seems to reenforce that cynicism. Barack Obama's vision of an "Apollo Project" to create an alternative energy based economy encourages me greatly. It is an idea much more creative and productive than tax cut and war, those have been basically all what the Republicans have been feeding to the American public for the last eight years.
I will vote for the Proposal No. 2 on the Michigan ballot on the election day. I disagree with the Conservatives' view of pro-life. They kind reminded me the ancient Chinese belief that every minute piece of your body, down to every single hair, is from your parents and therefore linked to your ancestors. If you believe in that, then cutting your hair would be a crime against your heritage.
I am pro-life, especially of those who are living through it. All those letters against Proposal 2 carry one message: fear. Fear of what may go wrong. But fear before any action seems to be counter-productive to me. I am not for human cloning. Even further, cloning of any living being makes me less than comfortable. However, embryonic stem cell research for the understanding of human body and human life is far from human cloning. Linking those two together, or any implication of that, makes me suspicious of those letters.
On CNN, ads from right-wing 527 groups have started to pop up for the last week or so. Some of them call Obama a socialist, which makes me want to laugh. Isn't "socialist" a label some conservative economists pinned on W, Ben Benenke and Henry Paulson? Based on what have happened in the last month or so, the current administration is becoming the most socialistic gang in the history of the United States of America. Actually, I feel that labelling the current administration "socialists" is an insult to the word itself. All who have any progressive social ideals should protest that.
People may be cynical about Obama, about politics. John McCain seems to reenforce that cynicism. Barack Obama's vision of an "Apollo Project" to create an alternative energy based economy encourages me greatly. It is an idea much more creative and productive than tax cut and war, those have been basically all what the Republicans have been feeding to the American public for the last eight years.
I will vote for the Proposal No. 2 on the Michigan ballot on the election day. I disagree with the Conservatives' view of pro-life. They kind reminded me the ancient Chinese belief that every minute piece of your body, down to every single hair, is from your parents and therefore linked to your ancestors. If you believe in that, then cutting your hair would be a crime against your heritage.
I am pro-life, especially of those who are living through it. All those letters against Proposal 2 carry one message: fear. Fear of what may go wrong. But fear before any action seems to be counter-productive to me. I am not for human cloning. Even further, cloning of any living being makes me less than comfortable. However, embryonic stem cell research for the understanding of human body and human life is far from human cloning. Linking those two together, or any implication of that, makes me suspicious of those letters.
On CNN, ads from right-wing 527 groups have started to pop up for the last week or so. Some of them call Obama a socialist, which makes me want to laugh. Isn't "socialist" a label some conservative economists pinned on W, Ben Benenke and Henry Paulson? Based on what have happened in the last month or so, the current administration is becoming the most socialistic gang in the history of the United States of America. Actually, I feel that labelling the current administration "socialists" is an insult to the word itself. All who have any progressive social ideals should protest that.
2008-10-20
Election Day is Coming
Today on the way home from Chinese school, we drove passed the Obama campaign office outside down town. I stopped the car and took the kids for a little walk. We went into the office. There were quite a few people in there. But the atmosphere did not smell like battle ground.
That didn't surprise me although Michigan is called a "battle ground state". John McCain has pulled out his troops and given up Michigan. Elsewhere in Michigan may be different. Ann Arbor, however, is definitely covered with Obama-Biden signs with McCain-Palin dotted here and there. A week of two ago Lynn came home and told me that the first house entering the neighborhood had a McCain-Palin sign in their front yard -- sort of a news story. One morning I drove by the house, the sign was gone. In the evening it was back out again.
There was a letter in the News a week or two ago about a missing McCain-Palin sign. I would suspect that it was a kid's prank. But the letter writer seemed to suspect some Democrat had stolen the sign. The letter was a bit hysteric.
Driving in and out of the neighborhood, seeing that McCain-Palin sign makes me smile, every time.
That didn't surprise me although Michigan is called a "battle ground state". John McCain has pulled out his troops and given up Michigan. Elsewhere in Michigan may be different. Ann Arbor, however, is definitely covered with Obama-Biden signs with McCain-Palin dotted here and there. A week of two ago Lynn came home and told me that the first house entering the neighborhood had a McCain-Palin sign in their front yard -- sort of a news story. One morning I drove by the house, the sign was gone. In the evening it was back out again.
There was a letter in the News a week or two ago about a missing McCain-Palin sign. I would suspect that it was a kid's prank. But the letter writer seemed to suspect some Democrat had stolen the sign. The letter was a bit hysteric.
Driving in and out of the neighborhood, seeing that McCain-Palin sign makes me smile, every time.
2008-09-10
Putting Lipstick on a Pig
You put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.
John McCain calls that saying sexist? That's really pathetic.
John McCain calls that saying sexist? That's really pathetic.
2008-09-03
Rudy Giuliani
"True American here". I guess Rudy counts himself as one of those?
"The American people", not the "Hollywood celebrities". So I guess Hollywood is not inside America.
"America comes first"! And then American media criticizes the nationalism of the Chinese.
I am waiting for Rudy to say that John McCain will get rid of taxes once and for all. No one will have to pay tax anymore and everyone will live happily ever after.
"Shake up Washington" -- Yeah, right.
"A beacon for the world" -- maybe back in the days when the twin towers were still standing.
"The American people", not the "Hollywood celebrities". So I guess Hollywood is not inside America.
"America comes first"! And then American media criticizes the nationalism of the Chinese.
I am waiting for Rudy to say that John McCain will get rid of taxes once and for all. No one will have to pay tax anymore and everyone will live happily ever after.
"Shake up Washington" -- Yeah, right.
"A beacon for the world" -- maybe back in the days when the twin towers were still standing.
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