The effectivness of science...

The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe.

— Stephen Hawking

The line between too far and not far enough...

A lot of thoughts and questions to me these days about the whole illegal immigrant thing in the United States. Currently there are a lot of Mexican workers who are there illegally, and have a lot of groups such as the churches (hungry for members) and the ACLU fighting for their "rights" to stay in America, despite having run into the United States illegally... A lot of immigrants come the United States, and do so legally, so I think that this illegal population is, among other things, discrediting the work and sacrifice made by immigrants who became citizens the legal way, and are proud of it.

But how else to explain it? Does not wanting mexican immigrants make me a racist? Or predjudiced? Or too conservative? I don't think so at all... and I don't think this population, until legitimized, has a right to even be here. Look at it this way...

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

Recently large demonstrations have taken place across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration. Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests.

Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave. But I say, "I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors; I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).

According to the protesters, not only must you let me stay, you must add me to your family's insurance plan, educate my kids, and provide other benefits to me and to my family (my husband will do your yard work because he too is hard-working and honest, except for that breaking in part).

If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your house carrying signs that proclaim my right to be there. It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself. I'm hard-working and honest, um, except for well, you know.

And what a deal it is for me!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of selfishness, prejudice and being an anti-housebreaker. Oh yeah, and I want you to learn my language so you can communicate with me.

At what cost?

Only Media Producers, intent for bad or scary news to report, and terrorists, hiding in caves or within their government offices, could call this sort of thing a "success" for Lebanese people. Will anyone ever learn to see what really happened here? Nothing good... but as long as someone always declares victory, I guess no one will ever have a lasting peace.

The effectivness of hypocrites

What kind of world is this when citizens of a nation love a group of people who shoot missles at others, hoping to kill kids and old people, kidnap and kill soldiers unprovoked, and hide behind the children of those they are "standing up for"? What's worse, what kind of world is this when the country being hit with missles aimed at their old and young all the time (pre and post invasion) are blamed when they fight back, and accidentally (key word!) kill civilians of the other nation when trying to kill the militants who hide behind them... (keep in mind, it's likely these militants made the citizens stay in the danger zone and "shield them")

Israel could have flattened any town/city is south Lebanon before any western or arab nation even knew what was happening, but they are trying to kill as few civilians as possible as they fight to kill stupid, ignorant idiots who care more about "standing up to israel" than they do about their own families, futures, or lives.

Citizens in Lebanon need to stop blaming Israel for trying to destroy this militia group. They should realize that if you let something militant grow in your country, you need to take responsibility for it - either by marching against it yourself or watching another country march against it. You cannot let a group live in your country, kill people in another country, have a parade in the street when it happens (or let your friends have a parade in the street), and then expect everything to be OK. If you march against this group and they try to kill you, then you know they are not interested in your safety afterall, and you should work twice as hard to get rid of them.

Personally, I think Israel should leave the Middle East... if you lived in a town of ignorant idiots who shot their hunting rifle at you everyday, wouldn't you want to put your house up for sale? Let them kill each other after you leave - from "Enemies of Israel" to "Enemies of the Shia" or "Sunni" or whatever other group is out there... good riddance.

All those terms...

chipset

"A number of integrated circuits designed to perform one or more related functions. For example, one chipset may provide the basic functions of a modem while another provides the CPU functions for a computer. Newer chipsets generally include functions provided by two or more older chipsets. In some cases, older chipsets that required two or more physical chips can be replaced with a chipset on one chip."


I often forget a lot of terms and definitions that I learned before... especially in the IT world... this one was "Chipset". I knew what it was, generally speaking, but with the latest news of AMD buying ATI (yes, this is important for you too), I wanted to know exaclty what was going on.

I actually think this could be a bad thing for AMD, as an annoyed NVidea could end up moving to the Intel side of life. If NVidea wanted to punish AMD for buying and therefore teaming up with their competitor, all they had to do would be to make a minor change in their Chipset configurations, and BAM! AMD would suffer major setbacks (yes, you do find this interesting!!!)

A good leader doesn't need a good situation...

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

— Publius Syrus

This is a pretty good point... but I'm not sure it's true... just look at what G.W. has managed to pull off in 4 years... he had a great situation when he was elected, and still managed to make all sorts of mistakes and trouble... he actually made waves!

...

It's really not fair... I am growing old and dying in my little island cage.

...

Sometimes in your life you have those moments... when everything is turned upside down... right is wrong, left is right... everything you let yourself believe changes cruely and unfairly. Sometimes it happens over and over and over... some people get more of this than they deserve - others are allowed the pleasure of avoiding it.

In the end, what is there for someone to do? After awhile, what's the point of trying over and over again. Maybe the real peace comes in accepting emptiness - accepting the ever-changing and unfair situation that will always repeat and repeat and repeat.

Sometimes the best way to defeat a problem is to get up, dust the pebbles and dirt off - once again, and accept the fact that the world truly is as cruel and dark as it seems. And that it will most likely never change... it's not worth working at. That is the manner of things.

Time

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time."

— J. Lubbock

In a sad statement... most people I know today would call this a waste of time, or being lazy... but why live to work when you should work only to live a better live?

Some days...

Somedays you just feel like complaining... this year would be one of those days for me~

No time for chinese

I am so busy with MBA work these days that I'm having a hard time studying for my chinese classes! That's not to say that I am not learning chinese, but I really need to learn some of the basics... from a book. How to find time!?! If I do that, I'll fall behind on MBA work. I know the reason I came here (and gave up sooo much) was to learn chinese, but I want to learn business too... I can't just come out speaking chinese and not knowing anything about options or whatever... Argh...

3am... my roomate is snoring... time for bed...no time for chinese.

Thanksgiving

I have to say, I really missed home on this holiday... this is my favorite of all the holidays... no presents, no stress, no crazy functions at this church and then that... just gather around with people who are close to you, count the things in life you have to be thankful for, and then have a spectacular meal. No pig feet, no pigeon eggs... I mean MEAT - no organs or ligaments... THE MEAT! Full-fledged, thick, juicy meat from a big ol' healthy bird. Put some creamy mashed potatoes and big crisp green beans next to it, and then add a big bunch of nice stuffing... then drown it all in GRAVY! Sweet, lovely gravy... don't forget the cranberry sauce... and the 10 pies everyone brought for desert...

These are the things I miss the most... ugh...

There's only one word for it...

The one word for it... "s**t".

All these people burping as loud as they can in classrooms, cafes, hallways, computer labs... what can I say?? What can I do?? Give a nasty look?? They don't understand.... it's like sneezing here, everyone does it - even some of the little girls with pink shirts and hello kitty socks... I'm at a loss... there is only one word for it...

It must be the midterms...

What a day... I begin the day on the way to class... I think everyone must be as stressed as me, and anyway, they certainly are not concerned with their outward appearance. On the way to study in my nearby cafe, I saw a cute little girl casually fit her pink little finger into her nose to the knuckle. Needless to say, that woke me up!

Upon reaching the cafe I began to study, but on the other side of the bookshelf I was sitting against I kept hearing loud burping... we're not talking a "pop" here and a "hiccup" there... we're talking full-blown, downright wet expulsions of gas that reek of the bile they sat in during the overnight stay in someone's stomach. It was a bit distracting, especially when I found out the person doing it was a little old lady!

Then for lunch I went to a resturaunt to get some "San Bao Fan" - duck, chicken, pork on rice. I was chomping along only to see the "Meat guy" picking his nose while preparing the meat... I almost lost my duck all over the table in front of me...

An hour later I went to the computer lab to be treated to a boy burping (again with the burping) right next to me for at least 15 minutes... the best part... right when we both thought he was done, he began hitting his chest and making weird noises (like he was gonna throw up) only to do what? Let out some of the nastiest smelling burps this side of the Jade Mountain.

To cap off the night I met up with a friend to go to nowhere cafe... you guessed it... our neighbors... burp city... I know it must be annoying to read over and over, but I'm telling you, it's much more annoying to HEAR it over and over again... IN ONE DAY!

Maybe it's the midterms...

Woot!!

Tonight was a long and somewhat stressful night, to be sure, but it ended with me feeling some satisfaction. I studied for the majority of the night at the "Nowhere Cafe" - a very laid back, somewhat cool/trendy cafe that is usually pretty quiet and features students and young professionals clicking away on their laptop as they sip cafe and try to match the atmosphere.

In the middle of all this, I have found a casual, quiet, relaxing place to set up and stress out... :)

I managed to read a chapter of finance, although there is a huge list of terms I don't know and will have to look up in Wikipedia later.

After leaving the cafe around 1:30, I got to my bike and started home. Now, this is actually my favorite time to be up and around in Taiwan - the air is fresh and cool, the streets are empty, and I share the world with only massive roaches and the few couples huddled near fountains or the NTU bell (usually crying or kissing).

Tonight it felt so good to do something like ride my bike without anyone around, I started going really really fast... it felt great! The cool air is rare in Taiwan, but in the early morning, it is fresh and cool and feels good in your face.

I guess a lot of people were confused or annoyed by the crazy white boy flying through campus standing up on his bike and swerving wildly as he felt like it... as I WHOOSHED past the freaked out couples at the NTU bell, I felt the urge to let out a "WOOT!!".

But alas, the timid foreign student came back, and I just sat down on my bike and headed back to my room, first to write this, and then go to bed. :D

A word on trust...

Despite the little "voice of reason" in the back of my head... I find I'm reliving an important lesson these days... namely:

"He who does not trust enough, Will not be trusted"

Lao Tzu ~

>Sigh<

Mr. Brown and I...

It's been another day... nothing more to say than that - not good, not bad... not really fun at all, but not terrible. I stayed up too late last night chatting on MSN, and ended up paying for it by oversleeping... I just started my new schedule and I am already oversleeping!! :(

It's OK - no time to feel bad... just get back to the schedule - this is life, no?

I've noticed that I'm drinking an unhealthy level of coffee since coming to Taiwan - this is either due to the fact that I don't sleep much or that it's so cheap here... or maybe both... certainly it is not due to the taste - most of the coffee is canned, and tastes terrible. The one I can tolerate is a certain style of "Mr. Brown" brand coffee, which shows a jolly-looking man endorsing a fine cup of coffee... to bad it's on a tin can, eh?

Still, it's a convienant little jolt during the day or in the morning. And you can get it cold or warm - they have it in a cooler and a warmer... convienance and service overcomes taste and quality!! Starbucks beware!

Well, in an effort to end such habits (we're talking a six pack a day here!), I've taken to putting a green tea bag in my coffee cup each day, so that during class breaks and meals I just fill up the travel mug with hot water at one of the many hot/cold water stations they have all throughout NTU. I hate green tea, but it's healthy, right? We'll see how long this lasts...

Here we go again... I will go to read for my finance class now - I'm a bit scared of that class, so all the better to prepare for it as much as possible... then on to read the Alibaba business case...

Blaaaaah

Ugh... what a day... busy, always trying to catch up... and then 6+ hours of class with the same teacher - although I like this teacher, it can get old to sit and listen to the same man for sooo long in one day.

Came home, finished the IKEA case with my roomate after wandering around the night market for awhile looking for dinner... I need new shoes, I need to do laundry, I need to catch up on e-mails, I need to make some coursework for my student, I need to return the umbrellas to "Nowhere" cafe, I need to study for finance midterm, economics midterm, marketing midterm... case studies, oh...


blaaaah!!

Annoyance...

I just finished my International Business course, and on a bit of a sour note. The class itself was uneventful - sometimes interesting, usually dull. However, the class vote we had at the end of the class made my caffenated blood boil...

We were to vote on the place our class was going to travel for a field trip, and the class leader proceeded to stand up and speak entirely in chinese... when the teacher told him he should speak in english (since this is an english MBA class, and 50% of the students are foreign), he said in chinese that another girl (ABC) can translate for us and proceeded.

I have two problems with this:

1 - This is an english MBA class... if you can't speak english or don't want to, the solution is simple, drop the class. Speaking chinese to english-speaking students even after the professor asked you to do otherwise is a slap in the face.

2 - Class had already ended, and several minutes late. While your method may be easier for you, I really don't have the time or the desire to sit and wait for the translation from your announcement - what kind of class leader are you not to consider needs/wants of the students!?!

3 - The translation is never going to be as descriptive as the original statement when everyone is trying to leave a three hour class... if for no other reason than because the translator has to speak before people start moving around and making noise.

I'm really annoyed by it all - maybe I'll get used to this sort of thing - I'm certainly used to people speaking chinese around me (and therefore ignoring me) for 5 - 30 minutes at a time. However, this was something I hadn't been expecting... I would think that in an English MBA class, the class leader would speak english when addressing the class!

I didn't wait around long after the vote, I was the first to leave, and I tried to convey my annoyance... the leader was still talking when I left, but obviously not to me, so I don't consider leaving early rude at all.

Phew!

Things are moving along at a fast lil' pace here, and it's becoming harder and harder to screw off as much as I used to... :-(

I got no reading done tonight, and just barely managed to finish reading over the first version of my groups paper... not good Adam! I should have studied much more! I'll be making the effort to do so in the future (as usual :-S ).

In addition, I've taken on the initiative to practice chinese every day... it really is the most important reason for me being here... so there is no excuse in not doing it! On a bright note, I did manage to get an hour of Goo Zhen in today... and I made some breakthroughs!

>Yawn<

3:00am - it is time to sleeeeeeep!

Gotta wake up early and start it allll over again ~ :-P