Remember that stupid guy yakking loudly on his cell phone in the open area of my apartment complex at 5 AM? Well, he did it two more times!!! Obviously this is going to be a recurring thing. The first time I gave the benefit of doubt -- maybe it's a one time thing. The second time some guy from the first floor (I live in top floor) talked to him before I got around to it. For the most part I did not want to wake up more people than this asshole already had. By the third time, I am not going to take it lying down, literally. First I got up and said, "Excuse me!" out of my bedroom window, and saw the guy scurrying away. Good, right? I turned around and he was back! The audacity!
I dug through my purse for that number the apartment management gave me to call the on-site patrol. No such luck, I left the number at work. At which point the testosterone got hold of me and I swung the screen door open, walked into our patio, leaned over and yelled, "Can you please shut up?!" The adrenalin prevented me from going back to sleep, but I felt so much better after yelling at the guy. :) [When I mentioned my Asian "passive-aggressiveness" to my husband, he said, "Passive? You are all aggressive, what passive?"]
God, don't I wish I could deploy a Super Soaker 3000. For those uninitiated, the Super Soaker 3000 is a water gun that can hold a ridiculous amount of water. Unfortunately a coworker kindly informed me that that could be construed as an assault. Can an asshole who woke me up at 5 AM for the THIRD time really have a defense against my assault towards him?
What should I do next time?
(1) Call the patrol
(2) Learn how to say "I am calling the cops" in his language (The asshole was not speaking English on the phone, presumably he was calling some Asian countries at the wee hour! I am not above learning the same sentence in every single Asian language until I get the right one. We have enough ethnic diversity that would allow me to do that!)
(3) Go and stare at him and find out which apartment he lives at (so I can go knock on his door and wake up his family and ask them to ask him to stop)
(4) Leave fliers in multiple languages in our elevators asking him to stop and asking others to ask him to stop
Choice #3 is my personal favorite. Yes, I am vindictive and an expert in escalating an adverse situation. =D
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Clerk Fights Robber. Hurrah! Hurrah!
Back to my video embedding frenzy:-
Good work, Clerk! Thumbs up for you!
Good work, Clerk! Thumbs up for you!
Cat in China grows a pair of wings
My cop out post of the day. Cat in China grows a pair of wings. Ooooh, those "wings" look so soft and furry... like those you see on those Victoria's Secrets models. =D
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
"I don't get white people...."
... says my Asian friend.
I don't know what is there to not get. I have been in the US for over half of my life now and have been married to a Whitie going on seven years.
"Like, I don't get how every houses have a trampoline in their backyard!" she says.
"It's fun!" I replied, "and it doesn't fit inside the house!"
"And they go drinking on the weekends, till they pass out," she says.
Okay, not being a drinker, I cannot answer that one. Anyone has an answer for that or anything else to add to the list?
Though I did not make the same observations as her, I do have a few gripes of my own:-
(1) Panda Express and any variation thereof are like Taco Bell style Mexican food. It somewhat resembles Chinese food, but not really.
(2) PF Chang is "Chinese fusion," or what my friend would call "whitified" Chinese food. The name and the shape bear some resemblances, but it ends there. E & O Trading Company is Eastern Asian fusion food. Do not mistaken them for real Chinese food. Also, China is a big place, trust me when I said there's more to Chinese food than sweet & sour pork, fried rice, mu su pork, and broccoli beef.
(3) By the same token, there are more than two genres -- horror and kung fu -- of movies. Watching a couple kung fu movies do not qualify you as "I watch Chinese movies." Houses of the Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is made for White people. It was observed that White people are very awed by the wiring technique for some odd reason, so the peeps in CTHD pretty much flew through the entire movie. I had no idea what the movie was actually about -- I'm not sure there was a plot. All I remember was people flying all over the place.
(4) Tattoos in Asian characters (my personal favorite). As my luck have it, I had ran into a few individuals who'd first ask me, "Where are you from?" "Sacramento." I said. Nope, not the answer they were fishing for. They wanted to hear somewhere Asia. After establishing the fact that I can read/write/speak the specific language, they'd roll up their sleeves and show me their tattoos, "What does this say?"
If you think about it it's a very interesting concept. Are they: (1) testing me my ability in said language? Because that really is somewhat annoying if not downright offensive, or (2) actually had no idea what they had tattooed on their body? Idiot! It says idiot, and stop showing it to me!
I don't know what is there to not get. I have been in the US for over half of my life now and have been married to a Whitie going on seven years.
"Like, I don't get how every houses have a trampoline in their backyard!" she says.
"It's fun!" I replied, "and it doesn't fit inside the house!"
"And they go drinking on the weekends, till they pass out," she says.
Okay, not being a drinker, I cannot answer that one. Anyone has an answer for that or anything else to add to the list?
Though I did not make the same observations as her, I do have a few gripes of my own:-
(1) Panda Express and any variation thereof are like Taco Bell style Mexican food. It somewhat resembles Chinese food, but not really.
(2) PF Chang is "Chinese fusion," or what my friend would call "whitified" Chinese food. The name and the shape bear some resemblances, but it ends there. E & O Trading Company is Eastern Asian fusion food. Do not mistaken them for real Chinese food. Also, China is a big place, trust me when I said there's more to Chinese food than sweet & sour pork, fried rice, mu su pork, and broccoli beef.
(3) By the same token, there are more than two genres -- horror and kung fu -- of movies. Watching a couple kung fu movies do not qualify you as "I watch Chinese movies." Houses of the Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is made for White people. It was observed that White people are very awed by the wiring technique for some odd reason, so the peeps in CTHD pretty much flew through the entire movie. I had no idea what the movie was actually about -- I'm not sure there was a plot. All I remember was people flying all over the place.
(4) Tattoos in Asian characters (my personal favorite). As my luck have it, I had ran into a few individuals who'd first ask me, "Where are you from?" "Sacramento." I said. Nope, not the answer they were fishing for. They wanted to hear somewhere Asia. After establishing the fact that I can read/write/speak the specific language, they'd roll up their sleeves and show me their tattoos, "What does this say?"
If you think about it it's a very interesting concept. Are they: (1) testing me my ability in said language? Because that really is somewhat annoying if not downright offensive, or (2) actually had no idea what they had tattooed on their body? Idiot! It says idiot, and stop showing it to me!
Monday, May 25, 2009
My Babies
For those of you who have never seen them, I present to you CC and HH:-
HH is a timid, 14-year old. Why is she sitting on top of a stack of shit? I'm not sure!
My new baby, CC, he's only three year-old. HH wasn't happy about this new addition to our family, but he still keeps her company when we go on vacations. :) If you look at the full size picture you can see that he has different colored eyes. ;)
HH is a timid, 14-year old. Why is she sitting on top of a stack of shit? I'm not sure!
My new baby, CC, he's only three year-old. HH wasn't happy about this new addition to our family, but he still keeps her company when we go on vacations. :) If you look at the full size picture you can see that he has different colored eyes. ;)
Filler Post, As Usual
Continuing my tradition of random filler posts on the weekends, here's the avatar that I created on my pogo.com account that I am very proud of. :D
Someone in my Kiva group (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=94) thinks that it's disrespectful to borrowers using the picture of your pets in your profile, wait till she sees THIS as my picture! MUHAHAHA.
In my own defense, I never claimed that my blog is meaningful, insightful, and/or educational. =D
On a side note, I am also trying to learning the strategies in playing dominoes.
http://www.chessandpoker.com/dominoes-strategy.html
Someone in my Kiva group (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=94) thinks that it's disrespectful to borrowers using the picture of your pets in your profile, wait till she sees THIS as my picture! MUHAHAHA.
In my own defense, I never claimed that my blog is meaningful, insightful, and/or educational. =D
On a side note, I am also trying to learning the strategies in playing dominoes.
http://www.chessandpoker.com/dominoes-strategy.html
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Religion DVDs | Religion History DVD - Discovery Channel Store
I found it interesting that the Discovery store has a religion section. Could science and religion truly coexist? :O
Religion DVDs | Religion History DVD - Discovery Channel Store
Religion DVDs | Religion History DVD - Discovery Channel Store
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Swine Flu Will Likely Sicken Billions But Kill at a Low Rate | 80beats | Discover Magazine
I am tired of the occasional news article about ____ more people infected with swine flu, __ more died, etc. etc. The figures are really meaningless without being compared to the stats of seasonal flu and it creates unnecessary panic. So I've done my own research and here's an article with all the stats.
Swine Flu Will Likely Sicken Billions But Kill at a Low Rate | 80beats | Discover Magazine
For those of you who are lazy about reading like me, here's the summary:-
Mortality rate of seasonal flu: 0.1% (1 in 1000 - kills 250,000 annually)
Mortality rate of swine flu: 0.4% (4 in 1000)
Total confirmed infection of swine flu: 4,694
Total died: 61 (56 in Mexico)
This is probably a little more disturbing:-
That makes the swine flu virus about as dangerous as the virus behind a 1957 pandemic that killed 2 million people worldwide. But it’s not nearly as lethal as the bug that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
And for those who likes to panic, please take into consideration our technological/medial advancements since 1957.
Swine Flu Will Likely Sicken Billions But Kill at a Low Rate | 80beats | Discover Magazine
For those of you who are lazy about reading like me, here's the summary:-
Mortality rate of seasonal flu: 0.1% (1 in 1000 - kills 250,000 annually)
Mortality rate of swine flu: 0.4% (4 in 1000)
Total confirmed infection of swine flu: 4,694
Total died: 61 (56 in Mexico)
This is probably a little more disturbing:-
That makes the swine flu virus about as dangerous as the virus behind a 1957 pandemic that killed 2 million people worldwide. But it’s not nearly as lethal as the bug that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
And for those who likes to panic, please take into consideration our technological/medial advancements since 1957.
Report: Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge - CNN.com
Report: Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge - CNN.com
Can you say irony?
Lesson of the story: If you don't have the balls to jump, get the hell down.
Sure, that sounds cold. You want to wait 12 hours in your car till this guy decided to leave on his own?
Can you say irony?
Lesson of the story: If you don't have the balls to jump, get the hell down.
Sure, that sounds cold. You want to wait 12 hours in your car till this guy decided to leave on his own?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Three is the Magic Number
Three is the magic number for me. Here's what I mean:-
(1) I get very annoyed when I have to explain the same thing for the third time;
(2) I also get very annoyed by the third time people repeat themselves when explaining things to me, without me expressing that I did not understand the first two times;
(3) When people make a comment at me that I can't tell whether it's personal, I give it till the third time, then perhaps it is personal;
(4) If a person flaked out on any lunch/activity plans by the third time, maybe he/she just does not want to hang out any more. Sometimes you just have to take the hints.
*(5) Most marriage can survive a partner being unfaithful at least once, but if cheating is an issue for you, then by the third time he cheated on you and promised it'll never happen again, think twice.
*(6) The same applies to an abusive relationship, by the third time he hit you and promised that he will never do it again, dump the a-hole!
Everybody must have a bottom line and learn when to put their foot down and say, "That's enough."
On point (5) and (6), I personally think once is too much, but most people are more forgiving than me.
(1) I get very annoyed when I have to explain the same thing for the third time;
(2) I also get very annoyed by the third time people repeat themselves when explaining things to me, without me expressing that I did not understand the first two times;
(3) When people make a comment at me that I can't tell whether it's personal, I give it till the third time, then perhaps it is personal;
(4) If a person flaked out on any lunch/activity plans by the third time, maybe he/she just does not want to hang out any more. Sometimes you just have to take the hints.
*(5) Most marriage can survive a partner being unfaithful at least once, but if cheating is an issue for you, then by the third time he cheated on you and promised it'll never happen again, think twice.
*(6) The same applies to an abusive relationship, by the third time he hit you and promised that he will never do it again, dump the a-hole!
Everybody must have a bottom line and learn when to put their foot down and say, "That's enough."
On point (5) and (6), I personally think once is too much, but most people are more forgiving than me.
Brainwashing
I was, as usual, rambling on about how theists are all brainwashed zombies (gross generalization), and my cousin O, who is married to a devoted theist, questioned me about my definition of "brainwashing." So here goes, wikipedia definition:-
Brainwashing, the application of coercive techniques to change the values and beliefs, perceptions and judgments, and subsequent mindsets and behaviors of one or more people, usually for political, financial, personal, or religious purposes
But since this is my blog, and the beauty of that being I can say whatever I want without needing extensive research to back up my own personal belief system, I am, therefore, going to say that by "brainwashing," I just mean a concept or belief that has been drilled into someone's head through upbringing. The most prominent characteristic of brainwashing being that this said concept/belief system is so hardwire in us that it has became the undeniable truth, with or without any facts to back it up. And it has been so integrated into our thinking system that not only will it never occur to us to question whether it is true, but we also assume that everyone else naturally share this same exact value. And I think this definition really fits the model of an evangelical Christian. (Although some would argue that the reason behind their inexcusable obnoxiousness are their burning desire to save the blasphemy sinners.)
Culture, therefore, by my definition, will fall into the category of brainwashing. Cultural values are very powerful. Referring back to one of my previous post about Asian American females and their suicidal rate in US, I strongly believe that half of their psychological issues are because they were not able to live up to ridiculous expectations. And where do these expectations came from? Culture, family, upbringing. It is something that is very difficult to shake.
It was only recently, when I was having a conversation with my Morman friend, whom nearly bit my head off, do I realized some of my own brainwashed values -- the number of kids a healthy, normal couple should have. Growing up in an extremely overpopulated place, there are government sponsored (?) commercials to tell people to have no more than two children (population replacement). I still remember the song and the graphic image -- stressful mother yelling at her young kids -- to this date. It had became a natural part of me to believe that two is the ideal number of children to have, or at least the maximum number to have. I have slided a little bit to believe that the "acceptable" amount is 2 + 1 (accident). Anything over three is excessive, and, frankly, a bit nuts. Even though rationality will tell me that a couple who can afford it can have as many kids as their hearts desire, I still firmly believe that two is the ideal number.... Oh, the power of brainwashing.
Brainwashing, the application of coercive techniques to change the values and beliefs, perceptions and judgments, and subsequent mindsets and behaviors of one or more people, usually for political, financial, personal, or religious purposes
But since this is my blog, and the beauty of that being I can say whatever I want without needing extensive research to back up my own personal belief system, I am, therefore, going to say that by "brainwashing," I just mean a concept or belief that has been drilled into someone's head through upbringing. The most prominent characteristic of brainwashing being that this said concept/belief system is so hardwire in us that it has became the undeniable truth, with or without any facts to back it up. And it has been so integrated into our thinking system that not only will it never occur to us to question whether it is true, but we also assume that everyone else naturally share this same exact value. And I think this definition really fits the model of an evangelical Christian. (Although some would argue that the reason behind their inexcusable obnoxiousness are their burning desire to save the blasphemy sinners.)
Culture, therefore, by my definition, will fall into the category of brainwashing. Cultural values are very powerful. Referring back to one of my previous post about Asian American females and their suicidal rate in US, I strongly believe that half of their psychological issues are because they were not able to live up to ridiculous expectations. And where do these expectations came from? Culture, family, upbringing. It is something that is very difficult to shake.
It was only recently, when I was having a conversation with my Morman friend, whom nearly bit my head off, do I realized some of my own brainwashed values -- the number of kids a healthy, normal couple should have. Growing up in an extremely overpopulated place, there are government sponsored (?) commercials to tell people to have no more than two children (population replacement). I still remember the song and the graphic image -- stressful mother yelling at her young kids -- to this date. It had became a natural part of me to believe that two is the ideal number of children to have, or at least the maximum number to have. I have slided a little bit to believe that the "acceptable" amount is 2 + 1 (accident). Anything over three is excessive, and, frankly, a bit nuts. Even though rationality will tell me that a couple who can afford it can have as many kids as their hearts desire, I still firmly believe that two is the ideal number.... Oh, the power of brainwashing.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Phone Guy
This ****** guy has been going into the open area of the apartment at the God forsaken hours of 5 AM and talking LOUDLY on the phone for a couple of times now. If it's not for worrying about waking up even MORE people than the jackass, I would have yelled at him a long time ago. Where is that supersoaker 3000 when I need it? Is it really assault if you splash someone with a supersoaker?? I really need to learn some profanities in HIS language.
Home Test Kids
Browsing one of those online medical sites. If self-diagnosing from reading on the internet with partial knowledge is not scary enough, you can also try one of these do-it-yourself test kits. Evidently you can find HIV, hepatitis, liver tests and many, many more test kits and do them from the comfort of your own home. I sure hope the interpretation of the results are as fool-proof (is it really?) as a home pregnancy test!
Drab
Man, totally in this drab lately. I feel that if I just try to be myself and say what's on my mind (I don't think I'm that offensive), I am just pissing off people left and right.
At work they always say you need to venture out of one's comfort zone. I am venturing way too much out of my comfort zone and way too fast. Who would have thought it's so difficult to manage a softball team? Evidently it's a lot more than just submitting the paper work and sending out emails to attend the games. It is in the human nature to complain... (and God made men in his own image? Or is that only referring to physical appearances?), A wants this, B wants that. It is like a nightmare to put together a bunch of people with such diverse personalities.
Then again, with the exception of a few power mongers, most people just like the management pay, but hate the actual (human) management part of their jobs!
At work they always say you need to venture out of one's comfort zone. I am venturing way too much out of my comfort zone and way too fast. Who would have thought it's so difficult to manage a softball team? Evidently it's a lot more than just submitting the paper work and sending out emails to attend the games. It is in the human nature to complain... (and God made men in his own image? Or is that only referring to physical appearances?), A wants this, B wants that. It is like a nightmare to put together a bunch of people with such diverse personalities.
Then again, with the exception of a few power mongers, most people just like the management pay, but hate the actual (human) management part of their jobs!
Lay Offs
Economists said that the economy will bottom out and start to (slooooowly) recover by October of this year; economists said that the recession had already bottomed out and in recovery; economists said that however unemployment will continue for a while long and not rebound very fast. Okay, of all the theories that I have heard so far, I am going to go with the bottom out at October of this year one. It just sounds more realistic. How do I know it's realistic? I don't, I am not even an economist, it's just the date that is farther away. When an "economist" announced that "the economy is in recovery" based on ONE DAY'S Dow Jones increase, I've got to imagine that he/she was just being ridiculously optimisstic. Wouldn't it be nice if words from a few "economists" can just revive the stock market like that?
That said, it seemed the news had downplayed the laying offs a bit. We are not hearing it as much now, except the occasional high headcounts lay offs from high tech firms. Did you know that the unemployment rate is already at 11% in the bay area? My friend, who used to work with me, and my husband have strange confident in the security of my job. I would rather not remain so optimisstic. I like to be prepared for the worst (not that there's a lot of preparation I can do for this one) and I hate to be blind-sided. In the end, I just don't have a lot of faith in people in general. Does my boss like me (as an employee)? Sure. Does he like my quality of work? I think so. Will he stick out for me when push come to shove? I don't know. In the end, it's each person for themselves. He answers to someone else. When orders come down that he has to axe x number of people or $x in headcount revenue, I'm not so sure I'm all that indispensable.
That said, it seemed the news had downplayed the laying offs a bit. We are not hearing it as much now, except the occasional high headcounts lay offs from high tech firms. Did you know that the unemployment rate is already at 11% in the bay area? My friend, who used to work with me, and my husband have strange confident in the security of my job. I would rather not remain so optimisstic. I like to be prepared for the worst (not that there's a lot of preparation I can do for this one) and I hate to be blind-sided. In the end, I just don't have a lot of faith in people in general. Does my boss like me (as an employee)? Sure. Does he like my quality of work? I think so. Will he stick out for me when push come to shove? I don't know. In the end, it's each person for themselves. He answers to someone else. When orders come down that he has to axe x number of people or $x in headcount revenue, I'm not so sure I'm all that indispensable.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Feminism
Speaking of PC (political correctness, not to be confused with personal computers), people, specifically Americans, have the ability to take pretty much any believe to the extreme, for example, feminism. I suppose you can call me a feminist, but far from a fundamentalist. I have actually been told before that some females will find it offensive when men open the doors for her. Offensive? Perhaps excessive, or that it's inefficient, but offensive? I'll find it offensive if he does that because he truly believes that I was incapable of opening the door on my own, otherwise, it's just a tradition, roll with it.
Another even more puzzling example is the Nike commercial during the 2004 Olympics, in which a woman was chased by a guy with a chain saw and she out ran the guy, naturally, in her Nike sneakers. Feminists said that it portrays women as victims. Hmmm, let's see. Woman was jogging, she's health conscious, that's a plus. She saw a man going at her with a chain saw, in the split second she made the decision that her best odds was to run. That shows intelligence, another plus. AND she outran him. How does this commercial belittle women in any ways? Were she supposed to stay and fight and beat the crap out of him? Depicting woman as a victim would be she stayed to fight, got overpowered, and cut up into pieces. Good golly! How about a little common sense?
Another even more puzzling example is the Nike commercial during the 2004 Olympics, in which a woman was chased by a guy with a chain saw and she out ran the guy, naturally, in her Nike sneakers. Feminists said that it portrays women as victims. Hmmm, let's see. Woman was jogging, she's health conscious, that's a plus. She saw a man going at her with a chain saw, in the split second she made the decision that her best odds was to run. That shows intelligence, another plus. AND she outran him. How does this commercial belittle women in any ways? Were she supposed to stay and fight and beat the crap out of him? Depicting woman as a victim would be she stayed to fight, got overpowered, and cut up into pieces. Good golly! How about a little common sense?
PC Gone Mental
Read this phrase "PC gone mental" on one of the discussion groups today. Can you say "well said" or what? With all the political correctness in this country, people just get so ridiculously sensitive, you literally cannot sneeze without offending someone. (Will "God bless you" offend someone.) Seriously, fellow PC police/crowd pleasers, sometimes you will just have to draw the line, put your foot down and say, "Suck it up!"
Friday, May 15, 2009
Valerie Tarico: Be Good for Goodness Sake
Valerie Tarico: Be Good for Goodness Sake
An article with a mention about our Kiva team -AASFSHNR, short for Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious.
An article with a mention about our Kiva team -AASFSHNR, short for Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Yahoo Answers
Yet another concept that eludes me. People posting questions and getting answers from, not professionals (won't get that for free), but other random individuals. Oh, for pete's sake, if you are going to spend the time typing your question into Yahoo! answer. You might as well type into the Google (or Yahoo!) search box and read the search results yourself!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
2 Americans banned from UK lash out at British Cabinet minister - CNN.com
2 Americans banned from UK lash out at British Cabinet minister - CNN.com
Well I think this is awesome. We should have laws like that in our country too, it's not what a group's propaganda is, but the extremists/fundamentalists spreading nothing but hate. We really should start to outlaw that. Then again, all these years I have been in this country, I seriously cannot say that common sense is our strong suite, and just where (and how) do you draw the line between passion and hate speech?
That said, it is a bit odd that the list bans Michael Savage and Fred Phelps along with terrorists, Russian gang members, mass murders etc. And Michael Savage and ACLU is going to pursue legal action... on what grounds, I wonder.
My husband said the ban is ridiculous. My husband is American, and I am using the term loosly to mean Caucasian. Americans born and raised in this country sometimes have this way of being very self-centered. A pre-9/11 study showed that 90% Americans are not aware that there's a world outside of US (figuratively speaking, I hope). Nah, that is ridiculous, you'd say. If you are old enough to remember the advent of internet, you'd remember all the "Speak English!" shouts at the early stage of internet. Just what make these people think that we, Americans, own the internet?
Remember when Google first started moving into China for market share? People were outraged that they were going to cooperate with the Chinese government to censor their search results. What were people outraged about? Or, better yet, exactly what did they expect Google to do? Go do business in someone else's country but totally ignore their laws? I am not defending censorship or where the Chinese government stands; I am merely saying that you simply cannot go do business in someone else's country and blatantly go against their laws. Perhaps the outraged folks simply expect Google to stay out of China to make a point. Really? How much is that point worth, you think? When your millions of dollars are at stake here, you can tell me about giving up perfectly good business to make your point.
And now this. I wonder what they are going to sue for? That they violated our first amendment right? Oh, wait, that's right! They are a different country. They don't have the first amendment right. They can ban whoever their laws see fit. It's like if I have rules that you must take off your shoes when entering my house. You might find that ridiculous, but it is still my house. You can choose to come or not to come, but you can't just walk in with your shoes on and stomp all over my place. That will just be plain rude.
Well I think this is awesome. We should have laws like that in our country too, it's not what a group's propaganda is, but the extremists/fundamentalists spreading nothing but hate. We really should start to outlaw that. Then again, all these years I have been in this country, I seriously cannot say that common sense is our strong suite, and just where (and how) do you draw the line between passion and hate speech?
That said, it is a bit odd that the list bans Michael Savage and Fred Phelps along with terrorists, Russian gang members, mass murders etc. And Michael Savage and ACLU is going to pursue legal action... on what grounds, I wonder.
My husband said the ban is ridiculous. My husband is American, and I am using the term loosly to mean Caucasian. Americans born and raised in this country sometimes have this way of being very self-centered. A pre-9/11 study showed that 90% Americans are not aware that there's a world outside of US (figuratively speaking, I hope). Nah, that is ridiculous, you'd say. If you are old enough to remember the advent of internet, you'd remember all the "Speak English!" shouts at the early stage of internet. Just what make these people think that we, Americans, own the internet?
Remember when Google first started moving into China for market share? People were outraged that they were going to cooperate with the Chinese government to censor their search results. What were people outraged about? Or, better yet, exactly what did they expect Google to do? Go do business in someone else's country but totally ignore their laws? I am not defending censorship or where the Chinese government stands; I am merely saying that you simply cannot go do business in someone else's country and blatantly go against their laws. Perhaps the outraged folks simply expect Google to stay out of China to make a point. Really? How much is that point worth, you think? When your millions of dollars are at stake here, you can tell me about giving up perfectly good business to make your point.
And now this. I wonder what they are going to sue for? That they violated our first amendment right? Oh, wait, that's right! They are a different country. They don't have the first amendment right. They can ban whoever their laws see fit. It's like if I have rules that you must take off your shoes when entering my house. You might find that ridiculous, but it is still my house. You can choose to come or not to come, but you can't just walk in with your shoes on and stomp all over my place. That will just be plain rude.
Top pageant official steps down, says 'I no longer believe in it' - CNN.com
Top pageant official steps down, says 'I no longer believe in it' - CNN.com
Nothing more to comment on, just want to post this to my blog.
Nothing more to comment on, just want to post this to my blog.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Parasitic flies turn fire ants into zombies
Parasitic flies turn fire ants into zombies
Oh my god, are people ever going to learn? It seems every time scientists introduce a species to a different geographical location to take care of a problem, it backfires. I wish I had kept all the links... or was it like the early stage of internet dating -- only the ones that went wrong made the news? O.o
Oh my god, are people ever going to learn? It seems every time scientists introduce a species to a different geographical location to take care of a problem, it backfires. I wish I had kept all the links... or was it like the early stage of internet dating -- only the ones that went wrong made the news? O.o
Monday, May 11, 2009
Happiness
Happiness. Simple concept, hard to achieve. I believe that most people are not happy. They are not necessarily unhappy (miserable), but they are not truly happy either. [Now I am talking about your every day Joe, as there is no point in discussing why an orphan in Afghanistan is unhappy.] So why do I think people are so unhappy (sorry, I was not able to secure a grant to perform a study on 17 people over a span of 17 years, so I am just going to have to go with my guts):-
(1) People do not know what is it that they really want in life. This sounds like I am stating the obvious -- if you don't know what is it that you want, you never be able to attain it. And so long as you don't attain it, or working towards attaining it, there will always be that void in your life. [Perhaps people who are deeply devoted don't have that void. I would not know; I do not have a religion. Perhaps they filled that void by convincing themselves that that is the ultimate goal, and to perform charity acts in the name of their religion. Or perhaps they deal with that void by telling themselves to look forward to the after life.]
(2) Expectations in life. Different cultures/different family backgrounds put expectations on individuals, let it be be successful, get married, have kids, be skinny, etc. etc. Sometimes, sometimes, one just need to come to the realization that it is their own lives, and if it's too painful to pursue or live up to those expectations, at some point you will just have to let it go. And if your family/culture cannot grasp that idea, they, and you, will just have to deal. [I think is is the reason why Asian American females have the highest suicidal rate among all groups in US. The expectation became ridiculous, and they are stuck not knowing how to get out of bond.]
(3) Expectations causing one to not question whether this is what one really wants. For example, most cultures/families expect their kids to get married and have kids. Whilst that is the norm in the society, they are not meant for everyone. If you disagree with me, explain to me why marriage is being portrayed in such negative light some times?
When one is constantly being brainwashed as to what is expected of them/what is the norm, only the more enlightened ones will be able to stop in the path and really think about, "wait, is this truly what I want?"
(4) Settling -- this one is more an individual's own fault rather than those around them. People settle, even on important things like jobs/partners. How many of your coworkers express that they love their jobs? Not that many, I bet. Sure, in an economic downturn, we all have to take what we can get. I am by no means recommending that one should stick to their principles while starving and living on the street. But how many have you known who'd gripe till their heads fall off about how much they hate their jobs, but won't do anything about it? I don't know about you, but I have personally seen one too many relationships in which at least one of those involved were contemplating about breaking up, only turned around and ended up getting married. Ugh.
(5) Generally stupidity -- not as in low IQ, that actually has nothing to do with happiness. Many stupid people are happy like a clam. We should be envious of them. I am referring to those who make stupid decisions in life -- getting married for the wrong reasons, i.e. being pregnant; having kids for the wrong reasons, i.e. in an effort to save a failing relationship. Okay, buddy, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
(1) People do not know what is it that they really want in life. This sounds like I am stating the obvious -- if you don't know what is it that you want, you never be able to attain it. And so long as you don't attain it, or working towards attaining it, there will always be that void in your life. [Perhaps people who are deeply devoted don't have that void. I would not know; I do not have a religion. Perhaps they filled that void by convincing themselves that that is the ultimate goal, and to perform charity acts in the name of their religion. Or perhaps they deal with that void by telling themselves to look forward to the after life.]
(2) Expectations in life. Different cultures/different family backgrounds put expectations on individuals, let it be be successful, get married, have kids, be skinny, etc. etc. Sometimes, sometimes, one just need to come to the realization that it is their own lives, and if it's too painful to pursue or live up to those expectations, at some point you will just have to let it go. And if your family/culture cannot grasp that idea, they, and you, will just have to deal. [I think is is the reason why Asian American females have the highest suicidal rate among all groups in US. The expectation became ridiculous, and they are stuck not knowing how to get out of bond.]
(3) Expectations causing one to not question whether this is what one really wants. For example, most cultures/families expect their kids to get married and have kids. Whilst that is the norm in the society, they are not meant for everyone. If you disagree with me, explain to me why marriage is being portrayed in such negative light some times?
When one is constantly being brainwashed as to what is expected of them/what is the norm, only the more enlightened ones will be able to stop in the path and really think about, "wait, is this truly what I want?"
(4) Settling -- this one is more an individual's own fault rather than those around them. People settle, even on important things like jobs/partners. How many of your coworkers express that they love their jobs? Not that many, I bet. Sure, in an economic downturn, we all have to take what we can get. I am by no means recommending that one should stick to their principles while starving and living on the street. But how many have you known who'd gripe till their heads fall off about how much they hate their jobs, but won't do anything about it? I don't know about you, but I have personally seen one too many relationships in which at least one of those involved were contemplating about breaking up, only turned around and ended up getting married. Ugh.
(5) Generally stupidity -- not as in low IQ, that actually has nothing to do with happiness. Many stupid people are happy like a clam. We should be envious of them. I am referring to those who make stupid decisions in life -- getting married for the wrong reasons, i.e. being pregnant; having kids for the wrong reasons, i.e. in an effort to save a failing relationship. Okay, buddy, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
From Atheism to Agnostic
For the longest time I have promised part II to my earlier post From Theism to Atheism; From Atheism to Agnostics, so here goes:
Going from atheism to agnostic, in my opinion, is only logical. Perhaps like many other things in life, one's need for "religion," used loosely, changes with age. In my early twenties, atheism suits my need; I am perfectly happy to believe that life have no meaning, and that our current existence is all there is. Since I view life a lot more differently than others, death is not something scary to me. In fact, most things inevitable in life -- pregnancy, child birth, death -- things that everybody else has been through, with the exception of certain dental procedures, I do not find scary. [Although I chose not to have children, but that's a story for a different day.]
So what changed? I met my husband and felt in love with him, then all of a sudden I got greedy. This life is not enough. How long can this current life last? Another 30, perhaps 50 years, assuming we both live into our old age, and nobody can say that for certain. Obviously, when you are madly in love with someone, that is just not enough. I want more, I want "eternity." If there is life after death, I still want to be with him. If there are reincarnation, I still want to be with him. One day, I heard a kid (early 20's) said, "there is nothing after death." Those same words that came out of my mouth when I was his age struck me as so inconsiderably cold. I am still not afraid of death itself, it's the separation that I find unbearable.
So you see? When atheism no longer suits my need, I happily abandoned it and turned to agnostics. No, I am not saying that there is necessarily life after death; I merely want to believe that there's more to it than this earthly existence. I believe that there is only one truth out there, and that what I believe or want to believe will not alter that truth. I just hope that it will turn out to be something nice when the time comes.
Going from atheism to agnostic, in my opinion, is only logical. Perhaps like many other things in life, one's need for "religion," used loosely, changes with age. In my early twenties, atheism suits my need; I am perfectly happy to believe that life have no meaning, and that our current existence is all there is. Since I view life a lot more differently than others, death is not something scary to me. In fact, most things inevitable in life -- pregnancy, child birth, death -- things that everybody else has been through, with the exception of certain dental procedures, I do not find scary. [Although I chose not to have children, but that's a story for a different day.]
So what changed? I met my husband and felt in love with him, then all of a sudden I got greedy. This life is not enough. How long can this current life last? Another 30, perhaps 50 years, assuming we both live into our old age, and nobody can say that for certain. Obviously, when you are madly in love with someone, that is just not enough. I want more, I want "eternity." If there is life after death, I still want to be with him. If there are reincarnation, I still want to be with him. One day, I heard a kid (early 20's) said, "there is nothing after death." Those same words that came out of my mouth when I was his age struck me as so inconsiderably cold. I am still not afraid of death itself, it's the separation that I find unbearable.
So you see? When atheism no longer suits my need, I happily abandoned it and turned to agnostics. No, I am not saying that there is necessarily life after death; I merely want to believe that there's more to it than this earthly existence. I believe that there is only one truth out there, and that what I believe or want to believe will not alter that truth. I just hope that it will turn out to be something nice when the time comes.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
God. Faith. Fossils.
This movie embedding thing can be so dangerously addicting. :D Look! More evidence planted by God to test the believer's faith!
Atheist group sues over rejection of ads on buses -- chicagotribune.com
Atheist group sues over rejection of ads on buses -- chicagotribune.com
Is it really necessary to go out and antagonize believers? If we, the atheists, are going to be so in-your-face about our disbelief (arguably to the point of obnoxiousness), how are we any different from theist fundamentalist?
Is it really necessary to go out and antagonize believers? If we, the atheists, are going to be so in-your-face about our disbelief (arguably to the point of obnoxiousness), how are we any different from theist fundamentalist?
Friday, May 8, 2009
Wooo Ahhhhh, The MiFi
State of the Art - With a Private MiFi Hot Spot, Be Online Wherever You Like - NYTimes.com
Wireless on the go. :O Bring this little device with you, hit the one button that it has, and you will instantly (30 seconds is quite instantly) have an Wi-Fi cloud around you. Can be shared with up to five people.
Summary:- Verizon will be releasing it in mid-May. Device is $100 with 2-year contract. $40 a month for 250 MB data transfer. $60 for 5 GB. $15 for 24 hours, but device will cost you $270.
Battery last 4-hours per charge, but device goes to sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, on and off can last an entire day. Standing time is 40 hours.
Oooooo Aahhhhh, a few years ago I'd KILL (figuratively speaking, I'll be willing to shell out the money) to have one of these. Luckily I no longer have the need for portable wi-fi.
Just wait, 25 years from now, people will be suing the wireless phone companies for not telling us that all these wireless devices can cause cancer!
Wireless on the go. :O Bring this little device with you, hit the one button that it has, and you will instantly (30 seconds is quite instantly) have an Wi-Fi cloud around you. Can be shared with up to five people.
Summary:- Verizon will be releasing it in mid-May. Device is $100 with 2-year contract. $40 a month for 250 MB data transfer. $60 for 5 GB. $15 for 24 hours, but device will cost you $270.
Battery last 4-hours per charge, but device goes to sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, on and off can last an entire day. Standing time is 40 hours.
Oooooo Aahhhhh, a few years ago I'd KILL (figuratively speaking, I'll be willing to shell out the money) to have one of these. Luckily I no longer have the need for portable wi-fi.
Just wait, 25 years from now, people will be suing the wireless phone companies for not telling us that all these wireless devices can cause cancer!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Blogger, Twitter, and Friendfeed
So I spent a weekend to buckling down to figure out what this Twitter thing is. Funny thing was, the Monday after the weekend when I was watching Chuck, it says 26% of those who are watching this commercial right now have no idea what Twitter is. A week ago I would have bee one of the 26%...
After discovering friendfeed and Twitter, I am still confused as to why I need all three accounts (friendfeed, Twitter, and blogger), especially when you can import literally everything, short of your grocery list (bet you there's a way to do it) into friendfeed. I have finally came to this conclusion -- it all depends on how long your message/random thought are. Here's the breakdown:
Below 140 characters (not to be confused with words): Twitter
Between 140 and 350 characters: Friendfeed
More than 350 characters: Blogger
Duh!
After discovering friendfeed and Twitter, I am still confused as to why I need all three accounts (friendfeed, Twitter, and blogger), especially when you can import literally everything, short of your grocery list (bet you there's a way to do it) into friendfeed. I have finally came to this conclusion -- it all depends on how long your message/random thought are. Here's the breakdown:
Below 140 characters (not to be confused with words): Twitter
Between 140 and 350 characters: Friendfeed
More than 350 characters: Blogger
Duh!
Same Sex Marriage
I wish I had came up with this idea, but I really can't take credit for it.
Sometimes I can almost see why people object to the idea of same sex marriage. I have never thought of homosexuality as a big deal, for starters. But I guess a couple of centuries ago the question was whether homosexuality is normal, and it's a big jump from whether it's normal to whether they should be allowed to wed. And I suppose to some, especially the older generation, they simply could not get over the unnaturalness of it. I wish people can see pass how it's unnatural, and start seeing how it's human rights.
Regardless, most people just seem to be suck on the term "marriage" as defined as between a man and a woman, AND the opposite end doesn't want anything that's equal but different (which makes sense), so this best solution, according to oh wise one (wish I remember who) is to completely separate marriage from civil union. So two individuals, regardless of gender, can obtain civil union via a government agency, thus acquiring their marital (?) status and all sorts of legal benefits; marriage, on the other hand, will remain straightly a religious ceremony, and the church/religion/pastors can define it however they want.
In the end, polls had shown that younger generations have greater tolerance towards same sex marriage. It's a matter of time before it happens, just a matter of how much longer will we have to wait till we can see that day.
Sometimes I can almost see why people object to the idea of same sex marriage. I have never thought of homosexuality as a big deal, for starters. But I guess a couple of centuries ago the question was whether homosexuality is normal, and it's a big jump from whether it's normal to whether they should be allowed to wed. And I suppose to some, especially the older generation, they simply could not get over the unnaturalness of it. I wish people can see pass how it's unnatural, and start seeing how it's human rights.
Regardless, most people just seem to be suck on the term "marriage" as defined as between a man and a woman, AND the opposite end doesn't want anything that's equal but different (which makes sense), so this best solution, according to oh wise one (wish I remember who) is to completely separate marriage from civil union. So two individuals, regardless of gender, can obtain civil union via a government agency, thus acquiring their marital (?) status and all sorts of legal benefits; marriage, on the other hand, will remain straightly a religious ceremony, and the church/religion/pastors can define it however they want.
In the end, polls had shown that younger generations have greater tolerance towards same sex marriage. It's a matter of time before it happens, just a matter of how much longer will we have to wait till we can see that day.
The Blogging Groove
My longest blog ever has 460 entries before I moved to the bay area and my blogging groove died a horrible death. I am 1/4 there again!! =D I feel that I have finally got my groove back... or am I just bored out of my mind being stuck in a rut? Let's just say I ran out of Veronica Mars to watch tonight, so I am going to blog to oblivious.
***
Gen Y should also be called the my-life-is-nothing-but-an-open-book generation. The transparency of their life is unbelievable. Then, of course, when the information they have willingly placed on the internet (a place of no information return) was viewed by the wrong individuals, all of a sudden their privacy was invaded. Huh?
Peeps don't understand how I don't have a myspace account. Simple: I don't need one. I like to keep my blog anonymous. I prefer my primary audience be strangers whom I'll never meet instead of acquaintances, or worse, coworkers. And if my friends' photos are only accessible on myspace, well, I will just have to live with not seeing them. Never was that big in pictures anyway.
***
Gen Y should also be called the my-life-is-nothing-but-an-open-book generation. The transparency of their life is unbelievable. Then, of course, when the information they have willingly placed on the internet (a place of no information return) was viewed by the wrong individuals, all of a sudden their privacy was invaded. Huh?
Peeps don't understand how I don't have a myspace account. Simple: I don't need one. I like to keep my blog anonymous. I prefer my primary audience be strangers whom I'll never meet instead of acquaintances, or worse, coworkers. And if my friends' photos are only accessible on myspace, well, I will just have to live with not seeing them. Never was that big in pictures anyway.
Stuck in a Rut
Been feeling like stuck in a rut lately and just can't get out, both at work and at home. There's a Chinese saying about moaning when you are not ill and that's exactly how I feel. In this economy, having a reasonably stable job is a blessing, how dare I complain about it not being challenging enough? Perhaps part of it is the economy, with the recession and all that, just not a lot of projects going on that I can participate in. Or I have hit that point where I need to move on... but no where to move in this economy either. Ironically, work is also pushing out this Sabbetical program - one month no way, or three to six months with 40% pay if you are an outstanding employee. Sadly, I am not even sure what I am going to do with all those time off, that and I have an addiction of spending money. I'd rather go to work, earn my paycheck and blow a (small) portion on it on stuff that I want but don't need, instead of staying home all day but have to watch my spending... nobody says life is perfect.
Work and Twitter
I have learned that my work place has set up a Twitter account -- for branding and recruiting, it says. That is cool and all that, but I don't know how to be able to follow work's twitter. I have tried very hard to remain anonymous, except for the few I have directly given this URL to. I definitely want to keep my personal life and work separate. Let's be honest, half the things I post here will raise many flags with the HR, and no, I do not rant about my viewpoint on gay marriage and/or religion at work, but I do want to be able to freely express myself at home. If I follow my company's twitter, others will be able to find my twitter... you get the drift. That is much worse than simply bringing work home and blurring that line about work and home.
Given all these cases about people being fired over what the post on MySpace, I feel that this signing up to work's twitter thing is almost borderline entrapment. O.o Luckily, I'm not from the my-life-is-an-open-book generation. And I sure hope that acquaintances of mine who stumble upon this blog will not know my identify. :)
Given all these cases about people being fired over what the post on MySpace, I feel that this signing up to work's twitter thing is almost borderline entrapment. O.o Luckily, I'm not from the my-life-is-an-open-book generation. And I sure hope that acquaintances of mine who stumble upon this blog will not know my identify. :)
Marriage
I like being married. Although if you were to ask me what's the difference between marriage and two individuals cohabiting in a monogamous relationship, legal and other benefits not withstanding, I cannot answer your question. I spent months after I got married wondering why I got married; six-and-a-half years after I have been happily married, I still cannot answer that question. Why did I get married? My grandmother believes that a person (men or women)'s final destination is to get married and have kids. Or maybe she feels then when her offspring/direct descendants get married and prosper somehow adds to her accomplishments in life. In any case, she was driving me insane by the constant bombardment of when was I going to get married; so I kind of just jumped into it. On hindsight, it was somewhat blindly. It was entirely luck that I jumped into marriage with the right guy.
In my defense, I never said that marriage is a necessary step in life, or the ultimate goal of a relationship, or that it's right for everyone. I am sure some people think the idea of going back to the same person every day is a nightmare. In fact, I have more respect for those who recognize that marriage is not for them than those who got married for whatever reasons and stay married miserably. That said, reasons I like being married (unionized/in a committed relationship, whatever float your boat) are:-
(1) I like to always have someone there, by my side
(2) I like going back to the same person every day
(3) I like going to bed with the same person every night
(5) I like having a partner in life
(6) I like being taken care of when I am sick
(7) I like to know that I have a build-in companion when it comes to social gatherings or work functions
The BEST of all reasons is the one supported by the saying "behind every successful man is a great woman" (the genders are totally interchangeable). I think it can loosely be translated into "Studies show that peeps in a steady relationship is more prone to becoming successful in life." (Sounds convincing when you start a statement with "studies show that", huh?) But why is that, you may ask? Think of the massive amount of energy saved when you are in a committed relationship. For starters, when someone of your opposite (or same, if you are gay) gender and within your age range walk into the room, you no longer have to gauge whether he/she is a potential partner; you no longer have to size him/her up to whatever criteria that you have; you don't have to worry about whether you meet his/her criteria; you don't have to spend your evenings/weekends searching/hunting for a potential mate; best of all, you no longer have to wonder about whether the other person is interested in you, regardless of whether you are interested; AND, once you are married, both parties (you and stranger) will tend to less misunderstand your words/actions as possible signals of interest. Now imagine focusing all those energy saved by being in a stable relationship into your JOB! Oh, and let's not forget emotional stability -- assuming you are in a reasonably happy relationship.
All in all, a marriage allow you to get in front of God/government authority/friends/family to declare that you are choosing this other person as your devoted partner in life. You are going from two individuals to one entity. An analogy will be a DVD shelf. Two singles tend to keep their DVD collections separate -- there's no need to waste time sorting when you have to get out on short notice. Marriage, on the other hand, is a shelf with both of your collections mixed in together -- it's a commitment that there will be no need for a quick and easy sorting.
In my defense, I never said that marriage is a necessary step in life, or the ultimate goal of a relationship, or that it's right for everyone. I am sure some people think the idea of going back to the same person every day is a nightmare. In fact, I have more respect for those who recognize that marriage is not for them than those who got married for whatever reasons and stay married miserably. That said, reasons I like being married (unionized/in a committed relationship, whatever float your boat) are:-
(1) I like to always have someone there, by my side
(2) I like going back to the same person every day
(3) I like going to bed with the same person every night
(5) I like having a partner in life
(6) I like being taken care of when I am sick
(7) I like to know that I have a build-in companion when it comes to social gatherings or work functions
The BEST of all reasons is the one supported by the saying "behind every successful man is a great woman" (the genders are totally interchangeable). I think it can loosely be translated into "Studies show that peeps in a steady relationship is more prone to becoming successful in life." (Sounds convincing when you start a statement with "studies show that", huh?) But why is that, you may ask? Think of the massive amount of energy saved when you are in a committed relationship. For starters, when someone of your opposite (or same, if you are gay) gender and within your age range walk into the room, you no longer have to gauge whether he/she is a potential partner; you no longer have to size him/her up to whatever criteria that you have; you don't have to worry about whether you meet his/her criteria; you don't have to spend your evenings/weekends searching/hunting for a potential mate; best of all, you no longer have to wonder about whether the other person is interested in you, regardless of whether you are interested; AND, once you are married, both parties (you and stranger) will tend to less misunderstand your words/actions as possible signals of interest. Now imagine focusing all those energy saved by being in a stable relationship into your JOB! Oh, and let's not forget emotional stability -- assuming you are in a reasonably happy relationship.
All in all, a marriage allow you to get in front of God/government authority/friends/family to declare that you are choosing this other person as your devoted partner in life. You are going from two individuals to one entity. An analogy will be a DVD shelf. Two singles tend to keep their DVD collections separate -- there's no need to waste time sorting when you have to get out on short notice. Marriage, on the other hand, is a shelf with both of your collections mixed in together -- it's a commitment that there will be no need for a quick and easy sorting.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
5 Down, 45 More to Go!
Hopefully tomorrow I can blog about New Hampshire!! Way to go, Maine! =D
Lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in N.H., Maine - CNN.com
Lawmakers approve same-sex marriage in N.H., Maine - CNN.com
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Meaning of Life
So after visiting all these forums, I thought perhaps I should try to engage in a philosophical conversation with my own husband instead of strangers on the internet, so I started with something simple:
"Honey, what do you think is the meaning of life?"
"Um... I'm easy to please... I just want to be entertained."
Lucky for me, having a very responsible husband who, in additional to being the primary breadwinner, also cooks and cleans, entertainment is about the only thing that I bring to the table. =D
"Honey, what do you think is the meaning of life?"
"Um... I'm easy to please... I just want to be entertained."
Lucky for me, having a very responsible husband who, in additional to being the primary breadwinner, also cooks and cleans, entertainment is about the only thing that I bring to the table. =D
Hunting for the secrets of a happy marriage - CNN.com
Hunting for the secrets of a happy marriage - CNN.com
Okay, I don't get this. I've saw this article about how your photo from high school graduation might be an indicator for the success of your marriage for, like, FIVE times. Ugh. A bit overkill isn't it? Swine flu asides, aren't there more breaking news than high school photos as marriage successfulness indicator? Where DO all these people get their grants from??
That said, one of the hypothesis about why people with bigger smile on their year book tend to have a more successful marriage was "perhaps they might be more obedient" -- as in they followed the instruction when they were told to smile. That's it! The secret to my successful marriage is my obedient husband!
Okay, I don't get this. I've saw this article about how your photo from high school graduation might be an indicator for the success of your marriage for, like, FIVE times. Ugh. A bit overkill isn't it? Swine flu asides, aren't there more breaking news than high school photos as marriage successfulness indicator? Where DO all these people get their grants from??
That said, one of the hypothesis about why people with bigger smile on their year book tend to have a more successful marriage was "perhaps they might be more obedient" -- as in they followed the instruction when they were told to smile. That's it! The secret to my successful marriage is my obedient husband!
Defending the Atheists
An article on British newspaper The Telegraph, Atheists Target UK Schools, totally making us sounding like villains.
And here's the defense:
Telegraph Caught Lying for Jesus
And here's the defense:
Telegraph Caught Lying for Jesus
Saturday, May 2, 2009
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