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The dawn of a new beginning

2011-03-05T01:03:00.000-08:00

Every end is the dawn of a new beginning. Alas, I shall soon break free this hollow enclosure and pretentious relationship and blossom until eons end.

I've not been entirely true to myself

2010-10-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

We are all inherently weak. Human, by nature, is prone to temptation, desire, vanity, and immunity is not guaranteed. It is a disease that has plagued humanity for eons and as such has brought forth advances in psychology, biomedicine, and engineering to overcome such hurdle, hurdle to temptation and desire. You may be more inclined to one form of sin than the others, e.g., wealth and money for those who strive for the abysmal satisfaction of upper class accessories, knowledge and publications for those who strive for higher education or faculty/research position, relationship and intangible love for those who desires breakthrough in singleness or loneliness, fame and recognition for those who can't escape the thought that they must achieve what Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame. Irrespective to which rabbit holes we would like to tumble we are all ultimately the victim of our true self, and how one shall overcome is a must, but that is not for us to decide.

I'm the victim of my own self, which I've not been entirely true to myself. I have been daydreaming in this wonderland which I've built from ground up. Day by day since end of March I've been laying bricks, block by block, layer by layer until I have almost construct a perfect seemingly impregnable little room which I am willing to spend my life in eternity. That is very dangerous until recently, like today, the unforeseeable happened - that room was firmly built and I was pushed in from the outside, by a force so great, that I could not resist. All the way until I realize this is not what God intended me to do, and it is how the destruction will carry on if I insist so.

"Let go, you will survive and you will be stronger than ever," says He the Almighty. And, from that moment on I truly realize once again how weak are we human beings. How a little thing such as one-way street can be blown out of proportions, by your incompetent formulation of what relationship is supposed to be.

I'm shattered and I've not been true to myself. Hopefully, I will wake up and mend the gashing wound until it is fully healed. Until then, God be with me and everything will follow for the faithfulness can bring you joyful bountiful everlasting content beyond your imagination.

A giant leap forward on human rights in China

2010-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

I'm sure everyone of you who's following the mainstream media will inevitably stumble upon the news that Liu Xiaobo, an ethnic Chinese who advocates human rights in China for the past 20 years, has been awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. In the Middle Kingdom where a citizen's right is extended by his/hers connection to the Politburo and/or the amount of bribery he/she pays in the event of injustice, this good news comes as a giant leap forward for the land of 1.3 billion. The Nobel Prize represents hope and relief to the brothers and sisters who continuously struggle for unequivocal rights for all of its citizens in a country where authoritarian rule is still absolute. Especially when they are wronged daily by the very system which brought them up and indoctrinate their thoughts with skewed beliefs, the Prize comes as a soothing remedy to all the years of harshness, brainwashing, and isolation from the "real world."

Hopefully, one day China will be more lenient on human rights and those rights of individual who wants neither discrimination nor abomination for the work, religious affiliation, or belief they have. Until then, more people like Liu Xiaobo is a must in this country of 1.3 billion, who is not there to abide by the authoritarian rule but rather to challenge the system and to let the Politburo knows that its citizen is not afraid of advocating unequivocal rights, including but not limited to freedom of speech, assembly, and religion.

I, for one thing in this very October 2010, is proud of being a Chinese, even if that China is from across the strait. I also have not given up the notion of peaceful reunification, which may just occur in the foreseeable future when one day unequivocal rights is no longer an ideology amongst the thoughts of the Chinese dissidents in the Mainland, but rather an exercisable reality in the very Middle Kingdom itself!

雨真下一整晚

2010-09-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

雨真下一整晚~ 謝謝大家支持忍耐寬容與勸導~

周杰伦 - 雨下一整晚

作词：方文山作曲：周杰伦

街灯下的橱窗有一种落寞的温暖
吐气在玻璃上画着你的模样
开着车漫无目的的转弯不知要去哪个地方
闹区的电视墙到底有谁在看

白杨木影子被拉长
像我对你的思念走不完
原来我从未习惯你已不在我身旁
街道的铁门被拉上
只剩转角霓虹灯还在闪
这城市的小巷雨下一整晚

你撑把小纸伞叹姻缘太婉转
雨落下雾茫茫问天涯在何方
午夜笛笛声残偷偷透透过窗
烛台前我嘛还在想
小舢舨划呀划小纸伞遮雨也遮月光

白杨木影子被拉长
像我对你的思念走不完
原来我从未习惯你已不在我身旁
街道的铁门被拉上
只剩转角霓虹灯还在闪
这城市的小巷雨下一整晚

周杰倫 - 超人不會飛

2010-08-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

大家好我不是周杰倫, 不過沒關係因為音樂是不分界線的, 所以愛怎麼欣賞就怎麼欣賞! 呵呵~ 此下是周董五月新出的專輯, 雖然已經過了三個月, 這首個還是相當迷人... 哈哈~

還是Firefox最好! 用Google Chrome寫Blog居然還會當機! 他媽的~ :P

speed_demon

周杰倫 - 超人不會飛

主唱：周杰倫
作曲：周杰倫
填詞：周杰倫

媽媽說很多事別太計較
只是使命感找到了我我睡不著
如果說罵人要有點技巧
我會加點旋律你會覺得　超屌
我的槍不會裝彈藥
所以放心不會有人倒
我拍青鋒俠不需要替身
因為自信是我繪畫的顏料

我做很多事背後的意義遠比你們想像
拍個電視劇為了友情與十年前的夢想
收視率再高也難抗衡我的偉大理想
因為我的人生無需再多一筆那獎項
我不知道何時變成了社會的那榜樣
被狗仔拍不能比中指耍大器模樣

我唱的歌詞要有點文化
因為隨時會被當教材
CNN能不能等英文好一點再訪
時代雜誌封面能不能重拍
隨時隨地注意形象
要控制飲食不然就跟杜莎夫人蠟像的我不像
好萊塢的中國戲院地上有很多手印腳印
何時才能看見我的掌

＊如果超人會飛　那就讓我在空中停一停歇
　再次俯瞰這個世界　會讓我覺得好一些
　拯救地球好累　雖然有些疲憊但我還是會
　不要問我哭過了沒　因為超人不能流眼淚＊

唱歌要拿最佳男歌手
拍電影也不能只拿個最佳新人
你不參加頒獎典禮就是沒禮貌
你去參加就是代表你很在乎
得獎時你感動落淚
人家就會覺得你誇張做作
你沒表情別人就會說太囂張
如果你天生這表情
那些人甚至會怪你媽媽
結果最後是別人在得獎
你也要給予充分的掌聲與微笑
開的車不能太好　住的樓不能太高
我到底是一個創作歌手還是好人好事代表
專輯一出就必須是冠軍
拍了電影就必須要大賣
只能說當超人真的好難

Repeat＊

Rock is fucking dead

2010-08-05T15:02:00.001-07:00

Fucking classic rock industrial music from my beloved Marilyn Mason.

Enjoy!

speed_demon

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"Rock Is Dead"

All simple monkeys with alien babies
Amphetamines for boys
Crucifixes for ladies
Sampled and soulless
Worldwide and real webbed
You sell all the living
For more safer dead

Anything to belong

[Chorus:]
Rock is deader than dead
Shock is all in your head
Your sex and your dope is all that were fed
So fuck all your protests and put them to bed

God is in the T.V.

1,000 mothers are praying for it
We're so full of hope
And so full of shit
Build a new god to medicate and to ape
Sell us ersatz dressed up and real fake

Anything to belong

Rock is deader than dead

[Chorus repeat]

God is in the T.V.

Fucking loose yourself!

2010-07-31T21:19:00.001-07:00

Sixty-one million viewers can't be wrong, you know? ;)

So, go nuts!

speed_demon

Title: Eminem - Loose Yourself lyrics

Artist: Eminem Lyrics

Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?

Yo, His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin, how everybody's jokin now
The clock's run out, time's up, over bloah
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that
No, he won't have it , he knows his whole back city ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that, but he's broke
He's so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, that's when it's
Back to the lab again yo
This whole rap s**t
Better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him

[Chorus:]
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo,

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better,

His soul's escaping, through this hole that is gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is borin, but superstardom's close to post mortom
It only grows harder, only grows hotter
He blows us all over these hoes is all on him
Coast to coast shows, he's know as the globetrotter
Lonely roads, God only knows
He's grown farther from home, he's no father
He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
But hold your nose cause here goes the cold water
These ho's don't want him no mo, he's cold product
They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose dove and sold nada
So the soap opera is told and unfolds
I suppose itâ€™s old partner, but the beat goes on
Da da dum da dum da da

[Chorus:]
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go-o
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo, you better

No more games, I'ma change what you call rage
Tear this m*********n roof off like 2 dogs caged
I was playin in the beginnin, the mood all changed
I been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhymin and stepwritin the next cypher
Best believe somebody's payin the pied piper
All the pain inside amplified by the fact
That I can't get by with my 9 to 5
And I can't provide the right type of life for my family
Cause man, these g****m food stamps don't buy diapers
And it's no movie, there's no Makai Pheiffer, this is my life
And these times are so hard and it's getting even harder
Tryin to feed and water my seed, plus
Teeter-totter caught up between bein a father and a pre-madonna
Baby mama drama's screamin on and
Too much for me to wanna
Stay in one spot, another day of monotony
Has gotten me to the point, I'm like a snail
I've got to formulate a plot or I end up in jail or shot
Success is my only m*********n option, failure's not
Mom, I love you, but this trailer's got to go
I cannot grow old in Salem's lot
So here I go is my shot.
Feet fail me not this may be the only opportunity that I got

[Chorus:]
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better,

You can do anything you set your mind to, man

A movie on Facebook

2010-07-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

How hilarious! Now, remind me again why would I want to waste time on social networking? It's like World of Warcraft, online video games and other social networking bullshit which are their so that humanity can have a sense of closure and belonging in this ever isolating age of digital electronics. I have said many times. Need I say more?

No, I'm not planing to open a Facebook account or any other "social networking" accounts except Orkut, which I accidentally enrolled in thanks to invasion of privacy from Google. Yes, you may enjoy the following preview, and no I'll not spend precious $11 watching this bullshit.

speed_demon

极品男人的十大重要特征【图】

2010-07-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

An article in Chinese from Lao Nan Ren, on what are the ten most important aspects of being a perfect gentlemen. I'm still far away from it. :D

speed_demon

文章概要：懂得把握平衡原则的人在多么紧张工作的情况下，都知道该怎样调节自己的生活节奏，怎么体味生活中的情调和趣味，保有一种从容的心态和风度。在成功几乎成为衡量男人的最大标准的今天，失衡的生活就像漂亮的塑料盆景，外表的风景再美，也掩盖不了背面的粗糙。

上品男人不能说有，但是的确少见，在这里只小谈一下上品男人的十大心理特质，积极创造人生……

一、品格：积极创造人生，善於适应环境，有良好的人际关系，对爱人极其温柔，很自信并且要有强烈的道德观念。

二、健康：包括生理健康和心理健康，首先五官要端正，声音要悦耳，头发要好，口腔要清洁，双腿要直，个头最起码要在176CM～185CM之间，外观要整洁，这是给人视觉美的一个前提，射精量应达到5ml，科学鉴定认为这是前列腺健康的最直接表现，身体要左右完美对称，视力要好，要有平衡的肌肉力量，同时，要拥有健康的社会联系。

三、幽默：熟话说，女人要优雅男人要幽默，从一个人的幽默中可以品味出一种独特的机智，男人的幽默就像一口泉，智慧之水在涌动中展示魅力，让女人总想捧一口来尝一尝。

四、财富：男人不一定是成功男士，但是男人要有财富，并且男人财富源于自己喜欢做的事业，这是智商的标志，这样他才会投入生活并且有快乐的感觉，我个人认为，老婆、孩子、家庭就是一个男人终身要经营好的事业!

五、平衡：工作和生活的平衡、事业和家庭的平衡、外界和自我的平衡。懂得把握平衡原则的人在多么紧张工作的情况下，都知道该怎样调节自己的生活节奏，怎么体味生活中的情调和趣味，保有一种从容的心态和风度。在成功几乎成为衡量男人的最大标准的今天，失衡的生活就像漂亮的塑料盆景，外表的风景再美，也掩盖不了背面的粗糙。

六、要有涵养：在男性一生所扮演的角色当中，不可避免地受到竞争所带来的心理压力，同时也更容易受到一些心理健康方面的困扰。但是他们会调整好心态，重新面对竞争和压力，懂得自我宣泄。

七、要有文采：自古就有才子佳人”有说法，虽然不至于学富五车，有妙笔生花之才学，也要有思辩的头脑和恰倒好处的诙谐。

八、风度：我始终认为，风度是与生俱来的一种气质，男人的风度不仅仅表现在果敢与坚决，更表现的是谦虚与忍让的智慧。

九、骨气：代表的是一种精神，从容大方，要有一定的情感原则，对感情要负责任，不必重言承诺，即使他是一个专职丈夫，也不失男人的本色，如果男人的精神已经垮掉，外表无论如何美都“帅”不起来。

十、家庭：男人在本质上是用头脑去思考爱情(当然，他们也有感情，但感情服从于头脑)，上品男人的爱情尽管是多姿态多彩的，但是他如果没有一个幸福的家庭，他就是一个彻底失败的男人。

13 Facts About Women…Men Forget

2010-07-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

So fucking true. Read on if you're interested...

speed_demon

Modern Life?

2010-07-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

So totally true! speed_demon

FIFA World Cup 2010 TOP 10 GOALS

2010-07-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm bored at work like everyone else, especially when your supervisor sucks!

speed_demon

8 Financial Tips For Young Adults

2010-07-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

For those fucking idiots who has no respect for their cold, hard earning cash, here are some tips on your financial future. Yes, that fucking idiot including my beloved brother who's spending money like drinking water. You DON'T have to spend your life away just because you're earning meager income!

8 Financial Tips For Young Adults
by Amy Fontinelle

Unfortunately, personal finance has not yet become a required subject in high school or college, so you might be fairly clueless about how to manage your money when you're out in the real world for the first time. If you think that understanding personal finance is way above your head, though, you're wrong. All it takes to get started on the right path is the willingness to do a little reading - you don't even need to be particularly good at math.

To help you get started, we'll take a look at eight of the most important things to understand about money if you want to live a comfortable and prosperous life.

1. Learn Self Control

If you're lucky, your parents taught you this skill when you were a kid. If not, keep in mind that the sooner you learn the fine art of delaying gratification, the sooner you'll find it easy to keep your finances in order. Although you can effortlessly purchase an item on credit the minute you want it, it's better to wait until you've actually saved up the money. Do you really want to pay interest on a pair of jeans or a box of cereal? (To learn more about credit, check out Understanding Credit Card Interest and our Debt Management feature.)

If you make a habit of putting all your purchases on credit cards, regardless of whether you can pay your bill in full at the end of the month, you might still be paying for those items in 10 years. If you want to keep your credit cards for the convenience factor or the rewards they offer, make sure to always pay your balance in full when the bill arrives, and don't carry more cards than you can keep track of.

2. Take Control of Your Own Financial Future

If you don't learn to manage your own money, other people will find ways to (mis)manage it for you. Some of these people may be ill-intentioned, like unscrupulous commission-based financial planners. Others may be well-meaning, but may not know what they're doing, like Grandma Betty who really wants you to buy a house even though you can only afford a treacherous adjustable-rate mortgage.

Instead of relying on others for advice, take charge and read a few basic books on personal finance. Once you're armed with personal finance knowledge, don't let anyone catch you off guard - whether it's a significant other that slowly siphons your bank account or friends who want you to go out and blow tons of money with them every weekend. Understanding how money works is the first step toward making your money work for you. (To find out how to have fun and still save money, see Budget Without Blowing Off Your Friends.)

3. Know Where Your Money Goes

Once you've gone through a few personal finance books, you'll realize how important it is to make sure your expenses aren't exceeding your income. The best way to do this is by budgeting. Once you see how your morning java adds up over the course of a month, you'll realize that making small, manageable changes in your everyday expenses can have just as big of an impact on your financial situation as getting a raise. In addition, keeping your recurring monthly expenses as low as possible will also save you big bucks over time. If you don't waste your money on a posh apartment now, you might be able to afford a nice condo or a house before you know it. (Read more on budgeting in our Budgeting 101 special feature.)

4. Start an Emergency Fund

One of personal finance's oft-repeated mantras is "pay yourself first". No matter how much you owe in student loans or credit card debt and no matter how low your salary may seem, it's wise to find some amount - any amount - of money in your budget to save in an emergency fund every month.

Having money in savings to use for emergencies can really keep you out of trouble financially and help you sleep better at night. Also, if you get into the habit of saving money and treating it as a non-negotiable monthly "expense", pretty soon you'll have more than just emergency money saved up: you'll have retirement money, vacation money and even money for a home down payment.

Don't just sock away this money under your mattress; put it in a high-interest online savings account, a certificate of deposit or a money market account. Otherwise, inflation will erode the value of your savings.

5. Start Saving for Retirement Now

Just as you headed off to kindergarten with your parents' hope to prepare you for success in a world that seemed eons away, you need to prepare for your retirement well in advance. Because of the way compound interest works, the sooner you start saving, the less principal you'll have to invest to end up with the amount you need to retire, and the sooner you'll be able to call working an "option" rather than a "necessity".

Company-sponsored retirement plans are a particularly great choice because you get to put in pretax dollars and the contribution limits tend to be high (much more than you can contribute to an individual retirement plan). Also, companies will often match part of your contribution, which is like getting free money. (To learn more, see Understanding The Time Value Of Money and Retirement Savings Tips For 18- To 24-Year-Olds.)

6. Get a Grip on Taxes

It's important to understand how income taxes work even before you get your first paycheck. When a company offers you a starting salary, you need to know how to calculate whether that salary will give you enough money after taxes to meet your financial goals and obligations. Fortunately, there are plenty of online calculators that have taken the dirty work out of determining your own payroll taxes, such as Paycheck City. These calculators will show you your gross pay, how much goes to taxes and how much you'll be left with, which is also known as net, or take-home pay.

For example, $35,000 a year in California will leave you with about $27,600 after taxes in 2008, or about $2,300 a month. By the same token, if you're considering leaving one job for another in search of a salary increase, you'll need to understand how your marginal tax rate will affect your raise and that a salary increase from $35,000 a year to $41,000 a year won't give you an extra $6,000, or $500 per month - it will only give you an extra $4,200, or $350 per month (again, the amount will vary depending on your state of residence). Also, you'll be better off in the long run if you learn to prepare your annual tax return yourself, as there is plenty of bad tax advice and misinformation floating around out there. (To learn all about your taxes, visit our Income Tax Guide.)

7. Guard Your Health

If meeting monthly health insurance premiums seems impossible, what will you do if you have to go to the emergency room, where a single visit for a minor injury like a broken bone can cost thousands of dollars? If you're uninsured, don't wait another day to apply for health insurance; it's easier than you think to wind up in a car accident or trip down the stairs. You can save money by getting quotes from different insurance providers to find the lowest rates. Also, by taking daily steps now to keep yourself healthy, like eating fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, not smoking, not consuming alcohol in excess, and even driving defensively, you'll thank yourself down the road when you aren't paying exorbitant medical bills.

8. Guard Your Wealth

If you want to make sure that all of your hard-earned money doesn't vanish, you'll need to take steps to protect it. If you rent, get renter's insurance to protect the contents of your place from events like burglary or fire. Disability insurance protects your greatest asset - the ability to earn an income - by providing you with a steady income if you ever become unable to work for an extended period of time due to illness or injury.

If you want help managing your money, find a fee-only financial planner to provide unbiased advice that's in your best interest, rather than a commission-based financial advisor, who earns money when you sign up with the investments his or her company backs. You'll also want to protect your money from taxes, which is easy to do with a retirement account, and inflation, which you can do by making sure that all of your money is earning interest through vehicles like high-interest savings accounts, money market funds, CDs, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. (Find out all you need to know about insurance in Understand Your Insurance Contract, Five Insurance Policies Everyone Should Have and Insurance 101 For Renters.)

A Financial Basis for Life

Remember, you don't need any fancy degrees or special background to become an expert at managing your finances. If you use these eight financial rules for your life, you can be as personally prosperous as the guy with the hard-won MBA.

When the Engineer plays football

2010-07-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

No fucking kidding... That's totally me playing right there! :D

That's why the closest thing I've been kicking are those bitches and motherfuckers who messes with me!

Kidding of course... ;)

Too bad I can't get the video sizes right. Any suggestions would be more than welcome!

speed_demon

Hitler finds out that Germany loses against Spain in the FIFA World Cup Semi Finals 2010

2010-07-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, FIFA World Cup 2010 is already over, but this clip is still worth a laugh, especially the "Paul the Octopus was right" part. One hilarious clip!

speed_demon

Moonlight Sonata

2010-07-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

A classic and soothing symphony from Beethoven. I'm sure all of you have heard it one way or the other.

Too bad it's not done by professionals; otherwise, it would've been much more soothing! :D

speed_demon

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What it's like to own an Apple Product

2010-06-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

With the newly arrival of iPhone 4, we have gotta make fun of Apple; otherwise, what's worth living? You can view the rest from The Oatmeal.

Five things to know about iOS 4.0

2010-06-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

Five things to know about iOS 4.0

So fucking true Mr. Jobs. Stop fucking with our money and mind, period!

A princess in ruins

2010-06-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

I, speed_demon, hereby shall reaffirm my position of not ever serving princess. If the princess shall so choose to indulge in luxury and wanton deviance, it is solely her choice and I shall abide by her rightful judgment.

I, being a servant of God the almighty, has only one purpose and that is to attain to higher learning and understanding of the omnipresent divinity, and I will not falter to the lusty temptation of the mastermind devil.

Hardship

2010-06-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hardship awaits those
Who disregard their
true purpose of
life and why
they are where
they are, whereto
they will venture
until eons passes-by

What I actually meant to say is equivalent to changing "hardship" to "stupidity." ;)

Ikuko Kawai - Sun Flower

2010-05-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

A beautiful and soothing song from Ikuko Kawai in her album Wuthering Heights which I would like to share with you. Too bad because of the DMCA copyright infringement takedown notification the best I can do from now on is share it on eSnips.

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棉花糖

2010-05-16T00:37:00.000-07:00

好吃的棉花糖,邊吃邊有好感,一但吃完了卻又沾牙,又口渴,而且說不定還會發胖.有棉花糖在身邊,吃不吃隨你,但如果吃到吐,後果不堪設想,一定要能自治才行!

speed_demon

As cruel as Winter may be, yet as beautiful as it will sound

2010-05-14T22:16:00.000-07:00

The Vivaldi's Winter from the Classic violin concertos Four Seasons. Truly as cruel as winter may be, yet as beautiful as it will sound. And, as surreal as it may be, it truly is a wonderful song.

speed_demon

昨天

2010-05-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

昨天氣候風吹雨淋,打濕我軟弱的身體,害我迫不及待的躲到它家屋簷下避雨.上帝真的不饒人,晚上天氣轉涼又下起冰泡,砸的我頭破血流,幾乎面目全非.但是祢的手種是扶著我,給我力量去面對一切困難與挫折.謝謝祢,唯有萬王之王的寶座上才能稱謝祢的名,也但願祢能控制這天氣變化,讓它風平浪靜,好讓我度過這人生的一大挑戰.

speed_demon

Poison

2010-05-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

A pleasant fragrance whirlwinds our heads and minds
Tantalizing, mesmerizing and blurring ones thoughts and deeds
Yet unsuspectingly renders willing victims full compliance
Until poison unleash and invade our body incompetence
Hopelessness, struggle to breakthrough we all attempt
Yet powerless, motionless, confound we all contempt
Until poison sweep and devour us whole
Then can we ascend and flourish from powerful hold

We have all swallowed poison in this or the last life time. Yet, it is how we choose and how we stride this treacherous course is the most tantamount to our very survival. Alas, truth will crystallize and I shall prevail and shed this great burden until Christ, the Saviour, look down upon my battered face.

speed_demon

Expo 2010 confirms how China has moved to world’s centre stage

2010-05-01T20:30:00.001-07:00

The rise and dominance of China in the global arena is putting everyone off guard. Especially after the resilience to the financial downturn which China has lavishly shown to the world how it not only can sustain its economy, but also to propel and flourish with the establishment of worldwide ventures when every other nation on Earth is struggling to survive. It comes natural then for a newspaper outlet, such as the G&M, one which often works as a conduit for the government to spread propaganda, deceit, and to direct and impose public opinion, to publish such article that strongly criticize the resurgence of China since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Of course, we should all be aware of the resurgence of China, and perhaps use it to our advantage in the near future.

這是我給你最大的祝福~

2010-04-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

我錯了, 我好笨, 我白痴, 我墮落及腐敗! 我真的被老天考倒了! 我真的不知道這步驟不能走那麼快. 現在狐狸尾巴都露出來了, 我想也是沒戲唱了~ 說不定原本就沒戲唱! 何必在為難自己呢? 不過我居然還有勇氣面對你, 我自己也很驚訝. 也許我沒付出很多, 也許我沒喜歡很深, 也許我能夠自控與自拔, 我不知道. 說不定是那以前的過去所造成的.

這是我給你最大的祝福
雖然我不配陪你一起過
但我求神讓你我都找到
自己美好的另一半好讓
這一生更加美好與幸福
直到永永遠遠天涯海角

我累了, 我渴了, 我不想在付出了~ 到此為止, 我要發憤圖強, 努力向上, 給自己的未來創出更美好的奇蹟與機會!

I'm not going to serve princesses

2010-04-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's the motto which I will take to heart. I'm not a playboy, and I have never been one and I'm not intended to be, but I will never, I swear to God, on my lifetime ever, ever serve princesses and treat one like princesses. I'm an intelligent individual with clear conscience of what's happening, and although I've failed, I will raise again, conquer, and persevere. You will not be the cornerstone of my downfall, and I will attain to my eventual goal of getting that intangible title.

Love is not eternal
Love is not forever
Love is not diamond
Love is not food
Love can be erased or destroyed
Love is blind
Love is forbidden
Love is wasteful
Love is playful
Love is childish
Love is hollow
Screw her

I'm a Canadian, and I'm an individual with a heavy endowment on the male superiority complex. Canadians do things differently than Chinese, and we do not rely on emotional and childish up brings through that unsubstantial thing called love.

speed_demon

One sweet day

2010-04-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

One sweet day, a classic pop from Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. Of course, it can be interpreted as a Christian lyric, and that's exactly what my intention here is at this very hour. Oh Lord, although the sun will never shine the same again, I'll always look to a brighter day. Lord I know when you lay me down to sleep, you will always listen as I pray, and my truthful prayer will be answered and fulfilled before the end of time. May you give me the strength to tackle difficulties, face criticism, stifle opponents, and walk the line fully until it finishes.

One Sweet Day

Sorry I never told you
All I wanted to say
And now it's too late to hold you
'Cause you've flown away
So far away

Never had I imagined
Living without your smile
Feeling and knowing you hear me
It keeps me alive
Alive

[Chorus:]
And I know you're shining down on me from heaven
Like so many friends we've lost along the way
And I know eventually we'll be together
One sweet day

Darling I never showed you
Assumed you'd always be there
I took your presence for granted
But I always cared
And I miss the love we shared

[Chorus]

Although the sun will never shine the same again
I'll always look to a brighter day
Lord I know when I lay me down to sleep
You will always listen as I pray

[Chorus]

Sorry I never told you
All I wanted to say

Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist

2010-04-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

A little laughter amidst a stressful and nerve racking week.

Disease

2010-04-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

A contagious disease befits your tranquilizing smile
Ensnares the weaklings and unsuspected passersby
Victims beware as there is no return 'til oblivion
Relentless struggle until death do you apart

speed_demon

蘭亭序 - 周杰倫

2010-04-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

又是一首周懂的老歌蘭亭序，給大家分想一下。

蘭亭序
作詞 : 方文山　作曲 : 周杰倫　監製 : 周杰倫

蘭亭序為書聖王羲之的書法作品，有天下第一行書之美稱。該書帖完成於東晉永和九年，距今一千六百五十五年。現傳世所見之蘭亭序為唐代書法家摹本，真跡據傳在唐高宗與武則天合葬之乾陵內。乾陵位於陝西乾縣北，至今完備，尚未被盜。

蘭亭臨帖行書如行雲流水
月下門推心細如妳腳步碎
忙不迭千年碑易拓卻難拓妳的美
真跡絕真心能給誰

牧笛橫吹黃酒小菜又幾碟
夕陽餘暉如妳的羞怯似醉
摹本易寫而墨香不退與妳同留餘味
一行硃砂到底圈了誰

無關風月我題序等妳回
懸筆一絕那岸邊浪千疊
情字何解怎落筆都不對
而我獨缺妳一生的了解

無關風月我題序等妳回
懸筆一絕那岸邊浪千疊
情字何解怎落筆都不對
而我獨缺妳一生的了解

無關風月我題序等妳回
懸筆一絕那岸邊浪千疊
情字何解怎落筆都不對
獨缺妳一生了解

彈指歲月傾城頃刻間湮滅
青石板街回眸一笑妳婉約
恨了沒妳搖頭輕嘆誰讓妳蹙著眉
而深閨徒留胭脂味

人雁南飛轉身一瞥妳噙淚
掬一把月手攬回憶怎麼睡
又怎麼會心事密縫繡花鞋針針怨懟
若花怨蝶你會怨著誰

無關風月我題序等妳回
懸筆一絕那岸邊浪千疊
情字何解怎落筆都不對
而我獨缺妳一生的了解

無關風月我題序等妳回
手書無愧無懼人間是非
雨打蕉葉又瀟瀟了幾夜
我等春雷來提醒妳愛誰

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Blogging on the go~

2010-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00

Checking out mobile blogger. I have been wanting to do this on my iPod.

The best thing is I can type Chinese! 哈哈！太好了~

Speed_demon

克服

2010-04-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

天下凡事鬱與愁
人生煩惱必而多
腳步踏石份內走
心想事開天涯广

I'm only human

2010-04-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm only human by speed_demon.

I'm only human
I'm only human with dreams and visions
I'm only human with roller coasting emotions
I'm only human with happiness, sadness and in-betweens
I'm only human with passion and compassion
I'm only human with pride and jealousy
I'm only human with prejudice and discrimination
I'm only human with sympathy and tolerance
I'm only human with tenacity and perseverance
I'm only human with capability and motivation
I'm only human with eccentricity and oddities
I'm only human with vanity
I'm only human with wounds and scars
I'm only human with imperfections
I'm only human with genetic inheritances
I'm only human with broken heart
I'm only human with sorrow and despair
I'm only human with forgiveness and forget
I'm only human with guilt
I'm only human with innocence
I'm only human with strengths
I'm only human with weaknesses
I'm only human with desire
I'm only human with lust
I'm only human of fresh and bones
I'm only human because God made me so
I'm only human because that is who I am
And that is what I want to be
And that cannot be changed
Until the end of time

但願天長地久，海闊天空。

2010-04-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

如题~

Frugality is becoming the common norm

2010-04-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

So, if America becomes a frugal country like China is, who will than be the consumers? Definitely not the bankrupting Europe. Perhaps, African nations and Middle-east will take up the burden. Is that a possibility with ongoing civil war and oil dispute? Or, perhaps another major international conflict to boost up its economy by bloody arms sale?

The worst thing is with America being frugal, it's consumers would have no other choice but to save up - by buying below-cost products from, guess what? China! So, it's actually prescribing a full circle of economic retaliation from China. No wonder Obama is more keen on closing this trade imbalance by demanding a floating Renminbi.

Save up America, otherwise, the twenty-first century would for sure be the century of Chinese!

Time to rebalance
Mar 31st 2010
From The Economist print edition

America’s economy is set to shift away from consumption and debt and towards exports and saving. It will be its biggest transformation in decades, says Greg Ip (interviewed here)

STEVE HILTON remembers months of despair after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Customers rushed to the sales offices of Meritage Homes, the property firm Mr Hilton runs, not to buy houses but to cancel contracts they had already signed. “I thought for a moment the world was coming to an end,” he recalls.

In the following months Mr Hilton stepped up efforts to save his company. He gave up options to buy thousands of lots that the firm had snapped up across Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California during the boom, taking massive losses. He eventually laid off three-quarters of its 2,300 employees. He also had its houses completely redesigned to cut construction cost almost in half: simpler roofs, standardised window sizes, fewer options. Gone were the 12-foot ceilings, sweeping staircases and granite countertops everyone wanted when money was free. Meritage is now catering to the only customers able to get credit: first-time buyers with federally guaranteed loans. It is clawing its way back to health as a leaner, humbler company.

The same could be said for America. Virtually every industry has shed jobs in the past two years, but those that cater mostly to consumers have suffered most. Employment in residential construction and carmaking is down by almost a third, in retailing and banking by 8%. As the economy recovers, some of those jobs will come back, but many of them will not, because this was no ordinary recession. The bubbly asset prices, ever easier credit and cheap oil that fuelled America’s age of consumerism are not about to return.

Instead, America’s economy will undergo one of its biggest transformations in decades. This macroeconomic shift from debt and consumption to saving and exports will bring microeconomic changes too: different lifestyles, and different jobs in different places. This special report will describe that transformation, and explain why it will be tricky.

The crisis and then the recession put an abrupt end to the old economic model. Despite a small rebound recently, house prices have fallen by 29% and share prices by a similar amount since their peak. Households’ wealth has shrunk by $12 trillion, or 18%, since 2007. As a share of disposable income it is back to its level in 1995. And if consumers feel less rich, they are less inclined to spend. Banks are also less willing to lend: they have tightened loan standards, with a push from regulators who now wish they had taken a dimmer view of exotic mortgages and lax lending during the boom.

Consumer debt rose from an average of less than 80% of disposable income 20 years ago to 129% in 2007. If other crises of the past half-century are any guide, America’s consumers will spend the next six or seven years reducing their debt to more manageable levels, reckons the McKinsey Global Institute. This is already changing the composition of economic activity. Consumer spending and housing rose from 70% of GDP in 1991 to 76% in 2005 (see chart 1). By last year it had fallen back to 73%, still high by international standards.

The effect on the economy of deflated assets, tighter credit and costlier energy are already apparent. Fewer people are buying homes, and the ones they buy tend to be smaller and less opulent. In 2008 the median size of a new home shrank for the first time in 13 years. The number of credit cards in circulation has declined by almost a fifth. American Express is pulling back from credit cards and is now telling customers how to use their charge cards (which are paid off in full every month) to control their spending.

Normally, deep recessions are followed by strong recoveries as pent-up demand reasserts itself. In the recent recession GDP shrank by 3.8%, the worst drop since the second world war. In the recovery the economy might therefore be expected to grow by 6-8% and unemployment to fall steadily, as happened after two earlier recessions of comparable depth, in 1973-75 and 1981-82.

No bounce-back

But this particular recession was triggered by a financial crisis that damaged the financial system’s ability to channel savings to productive investment and left consumers and businesses struggling with surplus buildings, equipment and debt accumulated in the boom. Recovery after that kind of crisis is often slow and weak, and indeed some nine months into the upturn GDP has probably grown at an annual rate of less than 4%. Unemployment is well up throughout the country (see map), though it declined slightly in February.

So if America is to avoid the stagnation that afflicted Japan after its bubbles burst, where is the demand going to come from? In the short term the federal government has stepped up its borrowing—to 10% of GDP this year—to counteract the drop in private consumption and investment. Over the next few years this stimulus will be withdrawn. Barack Obama wants the deficit to come down to around 3% of GDP by the middle of this decade, though it is not clear how that will be achieved. Indeed, if the rest of the economy remains moribund, the government may be reluctant to withdraw the stimulus for fear of pushing the economy back into recession.

Tighter credit and lower consumer borrowing are not the only drivers of economic restructuring. A less noticed but significant push comes from higher energy prices. A strengthening dollar and ample supply kept oil cheap for most of the 1990s, feeding America’s addiction to imports. That began to change a few years before the crisis as the dollar fell and emerging markets’ growing appetite put pressure on global production capacity.

A fourfold increase in oil prices since the 1990s has rearranged both consumer and producer incentives. Sport-utility vehicles are losing popularity, policies to boost conservation and renewable energy have become bolder, and producers have found a lot more oil below America’s soil and coastal seabed. Imports of the stuff have dropped by 10% since 2006 and are likely to come down further. When natural-gas prices followed the rise in oil earlier this decade, exploration companies used new methods to get at gas trapped in shale formations from Texas to Pennsylvania. Abundant domestic shale gas should radically reduce America’s gas imports.

America’s economic geography will change too. Cheap petrol and ample credit encouraged millions of Americans to flock to southern states and to distant suburbs (“exurbs”) in search of big houses with lots of land. Now the housing bust has tied them to homes they cannot sell. Population growth in the suburbs has slowed. For the present the rise of knowledge-intensive global industries favours centres rich in infrastructure and specialised skills. Some are traditional urban cores such as New York and some are suburban edge cities that offer jobs along with affordable houses and short commutes.

A burst of productivity could lift incomes and profits. That would enable consumers to repay some of their debt yet continue to spend. The change in the mix of growth should help: productivity in construction remains low, whereas in exports the most productive companies often do best. But the hobbled financial system will make it hard for cash-hungry start-ups to get financing, so innovation will suffer.

The outlook for business investment depends on whether it is for equipment or buildings. Spending on equipment is expected to be fairly strong, having largely avoided excess in the boom period, and indeed in the fourth quarter of 2009 it raced ahead at an annual rate of 19%. In February John Chambers, the boss of Cisco Systems, a maker of networking gear, called it “one of the most robust, positive turnarounds I’ve seen in my career”. Demand for new buildings is far lower: empty shops and offices attest to ample unused capacity. And business investment typically accounts for only 10-12% of GDP, so it will never be a full substitute for consumer spending.

The road to salvation

As consumers rebuild their savings, American firms must increasingly look abroad for sales. They have a lot of ground to make up. Competition from low-wage countries, mostly China, has increasingly taken over the markets of domestic industries such as furniture, clothing or consumer electronics. Yet shifts in the pattern of global growth and the dollar are laying the groundwork for a boom in exports. “There’s a world view that the United States is the consumer of the world and emerging markets are the producer,” says Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase. “That has changed.” He reckons that America will account for just 27% of global consumption this year against emerging markets’ 34%, roughly the reverse of their shares eight years ago.

The cheaper dollar will resuscitate some industries in commoditised markets, but the main beneficiaries of the export boom will be companies that are already formidable exporters. These companies reflect America’s strengths in high-end services and highly skilled manufacturing such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, software and engineering, as well as creative services like film, architecture and advertising. Thanks to cheap digital technology, South Korea and India now knock out the sort of low-budget films that compete with standard American fare. But only Hollywood combines the creativity, expertise and market savvy to make something like “Avatar” which has earned $2.6 billion so far, some 70% of which came from abroad. That adds up to several jumbo jets.

Exports are a classic route to recovery after a crisis. Sweden and Finland in the early 1990s and Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea in the late 1990s bounced back from recession by moving from trade deficit to surplus or expanding their surplus. But given its size and the sickly state of most other rich countries’ economies, America will find it much harder. It has been exporting more to emerging markets than to developed ones for several years, but if other countries, particularly China, do not sufficiently boost domestic demand, “the unwinding of the global imbalances could reverse quite quickly in 2010,” says an IMF staff paper.

America’s current-account deficit, the broadest measure of its trade and payments with the rest of the world, shrank from 6% of GDP in 2006 to 3% last year (see chart 2). Could it come down to zero? It nearly did in 1991 after five years of booming exports. This time the deficit started out a lot larger and the rest of the world is weaker. Still, even stabilisation around 3% would be a blessed relief because it would slow the growth in America’s indebtedness to foreigners.

America’s imbalances were years in the making and will not be undone overnight. But the elements of a rebalanced economy are already visible a 40-minute drive to the south of Mr Hilton’s offices in Scottsdale, Arizona. Around the same time that Mr Hilton was watching sales of his homes dry up, Brian Krzanich, head of global manufacturing at Intel, was finalising plans to spend $3 billion retooling his company’s massive semiconductor factories in nearby Chandler. Mr Krzanich knew perfectly well there was a recession going on. Intel’s sales were down and 3% of the staff at the factories had been laid off. But he also knew that once global demand rebounded, Intel would have to be ready to produce a new generation of cheaper, smaller and more efficient chips. “Unless you think your business is going to shrink for an extended period, like seven years, it always pays to make that investment,” he says. In the last quarter of 2009 Intel, helped by resurgent demand for technology, enjoyed record profit margins, and Mr Krzanich was approving overtime.

Mr Hilton, for his part, runs his company on the assumption that the days of easy money and exuberant consumers are gone for ever. In his office he has a yellowed copy of the Wall Street Journal from September 18th 2008, the week when Lehman failed and American International Group was bailed out. “Worst crisis since the 30s with no end in sight”, reads one headline. “I wish I’d had that article in 2005,” says Mr Hilton. He keeps it around as an antidote any time he is “feeling all happy and slappy”.

Dangerous - Michael Jackson

2010-03-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

She's Dangerous, she's so dangerous. A classic song from the late singer, song writer, and King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Truly, she's dangerous. Stay away from that one!

speed_demon

Title: Dangerous
Artist: Michael Jackson

The way she came into the place
I knew right then and there
There was something different
About this girl

The way she moved
Her hair, her face, her lines
Divinity in motion

As she stalked the room
I could feel the aura
Of her presence
Every head turned
Feeling passion and lust

The girl was persuasive
The girl I could not trust
The girl was bad
The girl was dangerous

I never knew but I was
Walking the line
Come go with me
I said I have no time
She said don't you pretend we didn't
Talk on the phone
My baby cried
And left me standing alone

She's so dangerous
The girl is dangerous
Take away my money
Throw away my time
You can call me honey
But you're no damn good for me

She came at me in sections
With the eyes of desire
I fell trapped into her
Web of sin
A touch, a kiss
A whisper of love
I was at the point
Of no return

Deep in the darkness of
Passion's insanity
I felt taken by lust's
Strange inhumanity
This girl was persuasive
This girl I could not trust
The girl was bad
The girl was dangerous

I never knew
But I was living in vain
She called my house
And said you know my name
And don't you pretend
You never did me before
With tears in her eyes
My baby walked out the door

She's so dangerous
The girl is so dangerous
Take away my money
Throw away my time
You can call me honey
But you're no damn good for me
Dangerous
The girl is so dangerous
I have to pray to God
'Cause I know how
Lust can blind
It's a passion in my soul
But you're no damn lover
Friend of mine

And then it happened
She touched me
For the lips of
A strange woman
Drop as a honeycomb
And her mouth was
Smoother than oil
But her inner spirit and words
Were as sharp as
A two-edged sword
But I loved it
'Cause it's dangerous

I cannot sleep alone tonight
My baby left me here tonight
I cannot cope 'til it's all right
You and your manipulation
You hurt my baby

She's so dangerous
The girl is so dangerous
Take away my money
Throw away my time
You can call me honey
but you're no damn good for me

Dangerous
The girl is so dangerous
Take away my money
Throw away my time
You can call me honey
But you're no damn good for me

Dangerous
The girl is so dangerous
I have to pray to God
Cause I know how
Lust can blind
It's a passion in my soul
But you're no damn lover
Friend of mine

My Lord, why have you forsaken me?

2010-03-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

Life is full of encounters, disappointments and traumas. Especially as one grows older, more mature, more thoughtful, and put forth more dedication towards a single goal, traumas are deemed to occur one way or the other. Some traumas are lighter than the others, and when a traumatic experience that is so great that it can easily devour ones thought and sanity than one must turn to the lord for the unexplained. Reading a passage from the bible and contemplating on its meaning is often a soothing, welcoming, a great way to relax, and to exercise self-control. A passage that best explain the unprecedented traumatic experience is probably Psalm 22, which I have listed below.

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

4 In you our fathers put their trust;they trusted and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.

10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

19 But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him may your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn for he has done it.

May God give me the strength to overcome my weaknesses, and the will to continue on so that one day I may attain my goal and be fruitful and everlasting.

Me Against the Music - Britney Spears and Madonna

2010-03-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

Me against the music from Britney and Madonna. Two of the hottest female singers together in one MTV, who could imagine?

"Me Against The Music"
(feat. Madonna)

All my people in the crowd
Grab a partner take it down!

[B:] It's me against the music
[M:] Uh uh
[B:] It's just me
[M:] And me
[B:] Yeah
[M:] C'mon
[M:] Hey Britney?
[B:] Are you ready?
[M:] Uh uh, are you?

[B&M:] No one cares
[B:] It's whippin'my hair, it's pullin' my waist
[B&M:] To hell with stares
[B:] The sweat is drippin' all over my face
[B&M:] No one's there
[B:] I'm the only one dancin' up in this place
[B&M:] Tonight I'm here
[B:] Feel the beat of the drum, gotta keep it that bass

[B:] I'm up against the speaker, tryin' to take on the music
[B:] It's like a competition, me against the beat
[B:] I wanna get in the zone, I wanna get in the zone
[B:] If you really wanna battle, saddle up and get your rhythm
[B:] Tryin' to hit it chic-a-tah
[B:] In a minute I'm a take a you on, I'm a take a you on
Hey, hey, hey

[CHORUS]

[B&M:] All my people on the floor
[B:] Let me see you dance
[M:] Let me see ya
[B&M:] All my people wantin' more
[B:] Let me see you dance
[M:] I wanna see ya
[B&M:] All my people round and round
[B:] Let me see you dance
[M:] Let me see ya
[B&M:] All my people in the crowd
[B:] Let me see you dance
[M:] I wanna see ya
[B&M:] So how would you like a friendly competition
[B&M:] Let's take on the song
[B&M:] It's you and me baby, we're the music
[B&M:] Time to party all night long

[B&M:] We're almost there
[B:] I'm feelin' it bad and I can't explain
[B&M:] My soul is bare
[B:] My hips are movin' at a rapid pace
[B&M:] Baby feel it burn
[B:] From the tip of my toes, runnin' through my veins
[B&M:] And now it's your turn
[B:] Let me see what you got, don't hesitate

[B:] I'm up against the speaker, tryin' to take on the music
[B:] It's like a competition, me against the beat
[B:] I wanna get in the zone, I wanna get in the zone
[B:] If you really wanna battle, saddle up and get your rhythm
[B:] Tryin' to hit it chic-a-tah
[B:] In a minute I'm a take a you on, I'm a take a you on
Hey, hey, hey

[CHORUS - as before]

[B&M:] Get on the floor, baby lose control
[B&M:] Just work your body and let it go
[B&M:] If you wanna party, just grab somebody
[M:] Hey Britney
[B&M:] We can dance all night long

[M:] Hey Britney, you say you wanna lose control
[M:] Come over here I got somethin' to show ya
[M:] Sexy lady, I'd rather see you bare your soul
[M:] If you think you're so hot, better show me what you got
[M:] All my people in the crowd, let me see you dance
[M:] C'mon Britney lose control, watch you take it down

[B&M:] Get on the floor, baby lose control
[B&M:] Just work your body and let it go
[B&M:] If you wanna party, just grab somebody
[M:] Hey Britney
[B&M:] We can dance all night long

[CHORUS - as before]

[M:] All my people in the crowd, let me see you dance
[M:] C'mon Britney take it down, make the music dance
[M:] All my people round and round, party all night long
[M:] C'mon Britney lose control, watch you take it down

Will China Achieve Science Supremacy?

2010-03-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

Another good debate from the editors at NY Times. The attacks from NY Times on topics such as China are ever more prominent and emerging on deep seeded issues not only about the pretext of human rights but also on technological advances and the scientific dominance in between the two giant super powers.

I'm seeing examples everyday as more Chinese scholars and students come to this foreign land to not indulge on luxury but rather to endure through hardship, learn and achieve greatness in academia. Even with fewer students eager to return home and willing to embrace the Western ideology, the lump sum of those returned would for sure make China the most technologically and scientifically advanced nation in the near future! Debate or not, it will happen in this lifetime.

speed_demon

Even your ASS is contributing to global warming

2010-03-13T14:40:00.000-08:00

It's official! Even your ass is contributing to global warming. So, watch out those hairy and stinky asses, they may one day wipe out the entire pristine and precious forests of what we called Canada. No, I'm dead serious. You see me laughing? Chuckles...

speed_demon

Why does China prevail in the toughest of all times?

2010-02-21T02:06:00.000-08:00

Through my amateurish yet naive analysis and observation, I have wrote many articles on the changing China and the critical roles which it will play in the foreseeable future. Yet, what I haven't write is why China prevails in the toughest of all times. In this article, I will attempt to examine the various aspects of how China comes to dominate others in the global finance arena.

We first have to look at the economy turmoil and market crash of late 2008. Look at how the Western society tumbles to smithereens because of the credit crisis, and how many banks, institutions, and companies has to be rescued by the governments with a tantamount injection of cash flow so to keep the infrastructure afloat, despite how this would eventually inflate the currency to astronomical values. We are witnessing abundant examples from the most recent on the European Union's reluctance to support the nearly bankrupt government of Greece to the exemplary example of the already bankrupt Icelandic government almost a year ago. For those not lucky enough to be rescued, filing bankruptcy and ditching client responsibility was usually the next best option, except by doing so often meant leaving countless hardworking people in the dark. The victims were often laymen earning meager wages, who with a slim hope for financial success invested their lifelong savings to trusting institutions, but eventually succumb to greed and an unforgiving network of loopholes which often allowed the fund managers to exploit for their own personal gain at the cost of their clients. The consequence of above completes the vicious circle with consumers forfeit buying power fueled by their lack of earning and default on the investments which means more cash injection from the government is required to keep the various vendors afloat.

So how exactly does China do it? How can it not only merely survive but profit and proliferate in the toughest of all times when other cash tight nations are scrambling to find solution to safeguard their very own existence? In the following, I have attempted to list and categorize several aspects of the financial success of China. This list is by no means complete yet at least it gives you an insight as why is China exceedingly more financially comfortable than any other nations at this very moment.

Population: China has the largest population, 1.3 billion and growing to be exact, which gives it tremendous advantage over other nations. The largest population means the largest workforce, requiring the largest demand and supply to keep its economy in check, making China one of the most attractive investment destination for both foreign and domestic companies. Thus, even in the midst of this economic downturn, China is still able to thrive due to the rise of a dynamic consumer-oriented middle-class, bringing forth significant investments opportunities for anyone who is willing to invest.
Labour: With the largest population comes the largest labour force available. One which significantly brings down the production cost due to the extremely cheap labour, and with the command from high above anything humanly imaginable is possible. Especially in the current downturn, the cheapest labour cost is often the most favorable for producers when both foreign and domestic consumers are struggling to seek deals with the most bang on their cold hard cash.
Perseverance: Chinese are like the Japanese in the fiftieths right after World War 2, right after their liberation from the imperial nuisance. In that era, the Japanese were able to endure and adapt to the constant hardship and humiliation to eventually propel itself as a global economic power with innovative breakthroughs that benefit mankind. By being a net exporter, Japan's economy was also more responsive to any sudden unexpected fluctuations. Likewise, China is now able to shake off the amnesia since the Culture Revolution and reposition itself as the next major economic power almost twenty years after its economic reform. Due to its wide income gap, Chinese citizens are ever more frugal and thanks to consistent savings years ago they are better equipped to handle crisis like the downturn than any other global residents.
Renminbi: By pegging the Renminbi at a lower than expected value and together with a handful of workforce always available to produce anything, China has the advantage over other nations when it comes to flooding exports with competitively below-cost pricing. When the average consumers worldwide are looking for bargains on almost everything to adjust to the economic downturn, this is one of the foremost leverages China has when it comes to providing a better service for the millions of bargain hunters. By doing so, it also guarantees the economy of China will not falter but persevere and flourish in this downturn.
Competition: Due to an overwhelming demand from the ballooning population, sales in the domestic market often encounters significantly more competition than those in other countries. Competition in a dynamic, market-driven environment bring forth numerous benefits not only for the Chinese consumers but also possible innovations, cost savings and reforms benefiting the state, which can ultimately use it as a leverage to bargain with other foreign states.
One Party System: The one party system rules over others, squelching dissidence, suppress opposition, eradicate unrest, which is the necessary evil when it comes to the fulfillment of a harmonious and cohesive society. Especially during the downturn, when inflation starts to rise the one party system can often effectively stabilizes and fixes the market price to ensure consumer satisfaction and lessen those complaints which would otherwise surge when price is no longer affordable. A precise and efficient way to execute the party doctrine is also another virtue of the one party system which "western democracy" lacks, especially when the public consensus maybe detrimental to the overall outlook of the entire nation.
Education: Chinese tradition stresses on education from the extracurricular lessons in piano or violin when one is young, to extra night classes in high school, onto university and finally post-graduate education after twenty two or earlier. The massive nationwide university entrance exams written annually creates the greatest proportion of young talents ever imaginable that can gradually replace the core of the aging think tank in China as the twenty first century progresses. Whereas other countries may not have this luxury, scholarly contributions by Chinese authors in internationally renowned academic journals are already surging, foreshadowing the dominate role China will play in technological innovation in the near future.

As I said, the above list is by no means complete but at least these indicative factors which other "democratic countries" lack are how China will most likely to dwell in, persevere and flourish in the long run. These factors are also partly why China is able to amount to massive collection of US bonds and debts when even the US itself will be unable to shake off perhaps within this century.

That is exactly why the emerging China will be the most fearful and daunting topic in this very century!

speed_demon

Google's ever expanding presence in your digital life

2010-02-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

Google's newly integrated service, Google Buzz, will once again simplifies how we communicate about within the Web 4.0. The Buzz smartly bypasses copyright infringement by outwitting similar services like Twitter, etc., with the exceptionally brilliant idea of integration with the ever expanding Gmail service. Recent addition onto the Gmail client including the daily task manager with the possibility of Google Calendar integration, Google Talk voice and recording, labels and etc, most of which simplifies our digital footprints with the all-in-one catch. However, as our digital life ever more being absorbed by this single entity, how can we be sure that our digital imprints are safeguard by the database at Google Inc.? Will Google be more reluctant to release our data when there is government pressure or sanction imposed? Will Google be more forthcoming about our accounts been hacked and privacy been stolen by known entities originating from a known country when the bulk of their finance depends on the consumer culture of that particular country? It is really hard to say. For now, Google is the David against the giant Goliath of the Chinese government. But, what if in the mere future, the market share is more favorable for Google to operate in China. Who can then we turn to to safeguard our privacy?

Google, like all other corporation, savors the bottom line. And, when it can be ballooned to unimaginable proportions by the increasing number of Chinese middle-class Internet users, Google will most likely not be as merciful as it is now. If that can happen in China it can happen anyway Google roams.

Me, myself, and my dreadful landlord

2010-02-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

After enduring for almost 2 and half year, I'm finally fed up with my current landlord and I will move to a different place that cheaper and is free of landlord's interference. I should have done this earlier but I was anticipating the possibility of moving into the adjacent room that is quieter and warmer than my existing room. The place I live in is semi-basement, double tenant occupancy, shared kitchen and bathroom with another tenant, nearby the south entrance of the UVic, and the landlord family lives upstairs with shared entrance and shared laundry.

Although it may seem nice in the beginning with spacious open place, in the close vicinity to the university, and under the companionship of "friendly" tenants, but unbeknown to the naive tenant, the room is cold and extremely noisy due to single-layer window and the house being located right on the street of the busy Cedar Hill Cross Road. Now, if it is just noisy and cold, that would be alright, I can survive, but you would also have to content with the "friendly" landlord, who turns out not friendly at all, but a vicious bunch, especially the female one, with demands and acts of revenge especially when you are trying to exert your full tenant right. By full tenant right I meant by staying at a place which is warm, friendly and free of "trouble." The worst thing the landlord can do is complain that you are wasting his electricity when it is he who should have looked after potential tenant's wellbeing and have foretold or solved this chilly issue before the unit is being advertise for rent. Now, that would be alright if a heater is given to the tenant for use, but the landlord somberly complains once again when the heater is used on a regular basis. And, not to mention the phone which she initially said you may use in case of emergency, but when you started to use sparingly she cut the line off, yet secretly revived the line when you no longer use.

The worst thing which she uses as a revenge for "bad" tenant behavior is the preferential treatment of tenants which I despise the most. It would have been alright if she is honest and give equal treatment to all tenants, but she goes great length to deceive and lie especially when you are also in the house and she is about to give favor to the other "favorite" tenant. By "favor," I meant chocolates, candies, cereal, instant coffee, sugar, ice cream, soft drink, cookies, chips, and other stuff she has made, which are all "supposedly" can not be bought in China, bullshit! She is a great cook I admit, probably the only good virtue of hers. Even alright if she is honest and do what she does. She calls herself a follower of Buddhism but I really take pity on how Buddhism taught her to deceive and be a perverted woman she is now of no conscience whatsoever. It really saddens me to see how Buddhism have brought up her moral line as it is now twisted and degraded beyond recognition. And, I really take pity on her son and daughter for having to content with this kind of greedy mother of no sympathy and no leadership skill.

Moreover, what I don't understand is that I'm paying the monthly rent in "cash" which means they get $5,760 of tax-free income per year, $13,890 for the entirety of my stay, and yet they are still complaining. So, screw you, I'm moving to another place with a cheaper rent, warmer place, and with no interference from the landlord.

Her last name is Fung, and if you happen to stumble upon the post for unit 2053 on that street, do not bother responding. You will save a lot of trouble in the long run.

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone.

speed_demon

Winter Olympic without the Snow

2010-02-05T01:15:00.000-08:00

I guess my prediction years ago is about to come true. An Olympic without the "white stuff" will truly make Vancouver 2010 a special one worth remembering for eons to come. Now, come to think of it, who really benefits in the end of this fiasco? I bet you those Olympic "contracts" were all awarded to "friends" and close relatives of the friends of the politicians. Of course these weren't be obvious at first, but after unraveling layers and layers of documents and connecting the dots probably thirty years from now from fed up taxpayers, this is what we will most likely find out in the end. Now, with their pockets full, hands shaken, meals eaten, and connections solidly established, the ultimate miserable victim of this prank will be you and me, the taxpayers, the hardworking families, and the impoverished who have to increasing worry about how to get the next meal and a waterproof roof to sleep in due to the ever rising unaffordable cost-of-living and rent. Ultimately, all those promises, provisions, and compromises the culprits ever made will be nothing when it compares to the number of years laymen will have to put off in order to completely payoff the Olympics.

This Olympic is a testament of forced evictions, police brutality, face saving, tax rising, tongue rolling, and residents losing event. Of course, we all want our neighbor south to know where exactly Canada is, and we all want Canada, especially Vancouver, to be recognized as a world-class city. But when it comes to being taken advantage of by your home-grown politicians, it really infuriates us to just standby and not do anything. Perhaps, we will be lucky enough and not be as debt laden as Montreal once was. Perhaps, we will not be so lucky as our economy is still recovering from the trough of a financial roller coaster not long ago.

一首歌的時間能改過去嗎?

2010-01-26T01:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think it's quite childish that I post these love songs. But, when you're in the same time frame and situation as me, a song which has good lyric and rhythm is always worth posting despite its childish content. :D

Translation/pinyin/lyrics by Ho@multistars.com

给我一首歌的时间
Gei wo yi shou ge de shi jian

Composer: Jay Chou (周杰倫) (周杰伦)
Lyricist: Jay Chou (周杰倫) (周杰伦)

雨淋湿了天空
yu lin shi le tian kong
毁得很讲究
hui de hen jiang jiu
你说你不懂
ni shuo ni bu dong
为何在这时牵手
wei he zai zhe shi qian shou
我晒乾了沉默
wo shai gan le chen mo
悔得很冲动
hui de hen chong dong
就算这是做错
jiu suan zhe shi zuo cuo
也只是怕错过
ye zhi shi pa cuo guo

在一起叫梦
zai yi qi jiao meng
分开了叫痛
fen kai le jiao tong
是不是说
shi bu shi shuo
没有做完的梦最痛
mei you zuo wan de meng zui tong
迷路的後果
mi lu de hou guo
我能承受
wo neng cheng shou
这最後的出口在爱过了才有
zhe zui hou de chu kou zai ai guo le cai you

能不能给我一首歌的时间
neng bu neng gei wo yi shou ge de shi jian
紧紧的把那拥抱变成永远
jin jin de ba na yong bao bian cheng yong yuan
在我的怀里你不用害怕失眠
zai wo de huai li ni bu yong hai pa shi mian
哦
o
如果你想忘记我也能失忆
ru guo ni xiang wang ji wo ye neng shi yi

能不能给我一首歌的时间
neng bu neng gei wo yi shou ge de shi jian
把故事听到最後才说再见
ba gu shi ting dao zui hou cai shuo zai jian
你送我的眼泪
ni song wo de yan lei
让它留在雨天
rang ta liu zai yu tian
哦
o
越过你划的线我定了勇气
yue guo ni hua de xian wo ding le yong qi
的终点
de zhong dian

Repeat (Show)

雨淋湿了天空
yu lin shi le tian kong
毁得很讲究
hui de hen jiang jiu
你说你不懂
ni shuo ni bu dong
为何在这时牵手
wei he zai zhe shi qian shou
我晒乾了沉默
wo shai gan le chen mo
悔得很冲动
hui de hen chong dong
就算这是做错
jiu suan zhe shi zuo cuo
也只是怕错过
ye zhi shi pa cuo guo

在一起叫梦
zai yi qi jiao meng
分开了叫痛
fen kai le jiao tong
是不是说
shi bu shi shuo
没有做完的梦最痛
mei you zuo wan de meng zui tong
迷路的後果
mi lu de hou guo
我能承受
wo neng cheng shou
这最後的出口在爱过了才有
zhe zui hou de chu kou zai ai guo le cai you

能不能给我一首歌的时间
neng bu neng gei wo yi shou ge de shi jian
紧紧的把那拥抱变成永远
jin jin de ba na yong bao bian cheng yong yuan
在我的怀里你不用害怕失眠
zai wo de huai li ni bu yong hai pa shi mian
哦
o
如果你想忘记我也能失忆
ru guo ni xiang wang ji wo ye neng shi yi

能不能给我一首歌的时间
neng bu neng gei wo yi shou ge de shi jian
把故事听到最後才说再见
ba gu shi ting dao zui hou cai shuo zai jian
你送我的眼泪
ni song wo de yan lei
让它留在雨天
rang ta liu zai yu tian
哦
o
越过你划的线我定了勇气
yue guo ni hua de xian wo ding le yong qi
的终点
de zhong dian

哦你说我不该不该
o ni shuo wo bu gai bu gai
不该在这时候说了我爱你
bu gai zai zhe shi hou shuo le wo ai ni
要怎麽证明我没有说谎的力气
yao zen me zheng ming wo mei you shuo huang de li qi
哦请告诉我
o qing gao su wo
暂停算不算放弃
zan ting suan bu suan fang qi
我只有一天的回忆
wo zhi you yi tian de hui yi

Repeat (Show)

Translation/pinyin/lyrics by Ho@multistars.com

Give Me The Time For One Song

Composer: Jay Chou (周杰倫) (周杰伦)
Lyricist: Jay Chou (周杰倫) (周杰伦)

The rain has drenched the sky
It's ruined very particularly
You said you didn't understand
Why we held hands at this time
I've dried out the silence
I've been very impulsive with regret
Even if this was something I did wrong
It's just that I was afraid of missing out on it

Being together is called a dream
Being apart is called pain
Are you saying dreams that are unfinished are the most painful?
The consequences of getting lost
I can bear it
You only have this final exit if you have loved before

Can you give the time for one song?
Tightly turn that hug into forever
In my arms you don't have to be afraid of insomnia
Oh, if you want to forget I can also have amnesia

Can you give the time for one song?
Listen to the story until the very end before saying goodbye
The tears you gave me
Let them stay on the rainy day
Oh, crossing the line that you drew I've set the final destination for courage

Oh, you said I shouldn't I shouldn't
Shouldn't have said I love you at this time
How can I prove that I don't have the strength to lie?
Oh, please tell me
Does a pause count as giving up?
I only have the memories of one day

Download

Mentality of a single after holidays

2009-12-25T01:35:00.000-08:00

It's those time of the year again. Yes, the holidays, the lonely nights, and the wishful thinking of reunions and possible get together amongst colleagues and dearest friends. The article I wrote almost a year ago dictates the mentality of a single during holidays, and now here is the mentality of a single after holidays with the repercussion which it brings, especially after you clumsily crashed into a party which you hardly knew anyone except the one inviting you. The nerve racking experience you had to endure while talking with strangers whom you had no association with and no commonality to strike a meaningful conversation. So, it is all worth the painful, cumbersome and stuttering introduction? Is the party in which no discernible conversation took place all worth it? What it comes down to is just a personal preference. Some people can endure the loneliness, the "virtual" online relationship, and intangible routine more than others. While some other people must need the physical nurture, proximity, and the sense of belonging as a proof of existence. If you are the either type then a sudden switch to the other will always cause confusion, annoyance and quite problematic. It's better to stick with one and continue on until the very end of time, but then again we are all human beings prone to mistakes and temptations. Eventually, we will learn from our mistakes, adjust and adapt to the optimum situation befitting our comfort. Eventually, we will prevail and either way we will continue on as nothing has happened after the holidays. So, go ahead, and enjoy the wonderful holidays ahead of us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010

2009-12-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

May your wish and New Year Resolutions come true in 2010. May you live long and prosper. May your career, education, relation take on tremendous stride in 2010. Cheers, everyone!

And, may Canada wins more gold medals than any other countries in Vancouver 2010. Go Canada Go! :D

speed_demon

Miles Away - Madonna

2009-10-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Miles Away from Madonna, for those who are miles away from their home and their loved ones. Cheers, speed_demon.

"Miles Away"

I just woke up from a fuzzy dream
You never would believe the things that I have seen
I looked in the mirror and I saw your face
You looked right through me, you were miles away

All my dreams, they fade away
I'll never be the same
If you could see me the way you see yourself
I can't pretend to be someone else

Always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best, miles away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

When noone is around then I have you here
I begin to see the picture, it becomes so clear
You always have the biggest heart
When we're 6.000 miles apart

Too much of no sound
Uncomfortable silence can be so loud
Those three words are never enough
When it's long distance love

Always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best, miles away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

I'm alright
Don't be sorry, but it's true
When I'm gone, you realize
That I'm the best thing that happened to you

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best, miles away

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best, miles away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

Bible Study and its Future Prospects

2009-09-12T02:08:00.000-07:00

It's almost been two years since I'm involved in this bible study business every Friday night. Below I will disclose some of the feelings and observations which I have accumulated over the past two years. Bible study, or BS, as the name implied, is the gathering of people for the sole purpose to "study" the Holy Bible. Our intention here at the Victoria Chinese Christian Evangelical Fellowship, or the VCCEF, is to spread the word of God to every Chinese student and scholar, Chinese professionals and families living in the vicinity within the Greater Victoria district. The VCCEF is supported in part by the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Victoria, and in part by the enthusiastic although few volunteers, such as myself, to overlook the weekly human resource.

The most attractive feature of the BS, I can say, is the "free" weekly dinner. Although the dinner always revolves around serving either the plain pizza or spaghetti, the no-string-attached philosophy and the seemingly endless supply of the food are enticing features that drew both regulars and newcomers, especially the frugal Chinese student who would often go great length for a free meal. Apart from that, meeting people of same ethnicity is another great feature of the BS. For those foreign scholars and students, being in their own ethnicity group so to talk in the same language, and share the same culture often reduces the otherwise onset of loneliness and isolation which they often felt after moving to another country. The other attractive feature, my favorite at least, is the "afterward" hangout, which often involves going to the bar, Tim Horton's, or other places which the faithful Christian would often avoid. The "afterward" hangout enables people within the fellowship to weave, bind and grow further. It is a great way to meet other "would-be" Christians, including the potential opposite sex, and relax amongst the "supposed" friends. Finally, the least attractive but the ultimate "purpose" of the BS, is to spread and learn the word of God. Now, this is the hard part, given that most Mainland Chinese, especially students and scholars, are often atheists and evolutionists who take creationist approach to Earth's diversity as a joke, a maniacal and implausible explanation to everything complex.

However, after muddling in the pool for almost two years, I see the future prospects of the BS dwindling, shrinking and dying unless we can preserve the retention ratio and create a steady supply of regular attendees. A resuscitation is almost necessary to bring back its former glory. The method to enable so can't be realized by just volunteers but by energetic young individuals whose sole aim is for the growth of the church and who can connect easier, at the same level, with younger audiences. Who do not bicker over who does what and to ease and resolve the infighting within the fellowship. Despite its meager size, the fellowship must call for volunteers to amass the necessary manpower such that the word of God may be heard beyond the mere boundary of the Emmanuel Baptist.

This should be everyone's concern. Not just the concern of a few, out-of-touch, regulars!

speed_demon

The outcome of an Olympic hosting city

2009-09-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

It is certainly not a good time to host the Winter Olympic, especially during the economy downturn. Not only will the weather most likely not cooperate, there's also the cost overrun, and now we are $2 Billion in red! Who's going to pay for all of it? Of course, the 12% HST... out of the pocket of you and me.

Hidden Agenda

2009-09-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

Every news agency, irrespective of how neutral it is, will always have the tendency to shape the public opinion. Especially the mainstream media and its cohorts. With a bottom line to meet, their primary purpose is no longer to report news but to divert and guide the public opinion to attract readers and advertisers. Neutrality is no longer the norm but a pseudo-name to foreshadow how much each media outlet is involved in shaping the public opinion. Take the New York Times, for example, in its heavily skewed facts and report of China, its purpose is no longer to report the truth but to sale and indoctrinate misinformation to the worldwide audience, i.e., the American public, on the every mistake which the Chinese government, i.e., the C.P.C., has undertaken or is about to take, often with the violation of human rights as the pretext. Such that a laymen reader like me would be in aghast and detest on the every move which the C.P.C. would otherwise make, and perceive them as a threat and potential competitor against the U.S. government and American public in a world of limited resources. In its recent publication on China's dealing on Iraqi oil, the New York Times stated on how China's dealings would undermine the very national unity of Iraq, yet it has failed to address the intention of multinational oil conglomerates, usually of western origin, to exploit and rip-off Iraqi's most precious natural resource, as reported in my earlier posting (I no longer track this issue, but I believe the U.S. occupation of Iraq by the has probably allowed that to happen).

Irrespective of its nationality, the reports of the mainstream media must be read with care. The reader must know the media is there to shape the public opinion, and often it goes great distance to realize that.

脫殼

2009-08-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

碩士答辯以後就像金蟬脫殼一像. 但願未來的氣象會更好. 但願這條路走下是對, 的是好, 的是光明的.

China-Taiwan Relations

2009-08-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

An excellent backgrounder from CFR on China-Taiwan relationship.

CFR.org - China-Taiwan Relations

It is still a very sensitive issue, especially to discuss openly in the Mainland on the sovereignty of Republic of China. Hopefully, things will open up in the near future so peaceful reunification is possible. In the end, we really are not so different across the strait.

It's finally over and a new path awaits

2009-08-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

It's finally over! After one hour of grilling by the committee members, I have finally defended my thesis after all these years of excitement and turmoil.

Not bad, but I would have taken a different research role if I had gotten the chance to do so. What I really wanted to do was to conduct research under her main area of interest. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to do so, but I still persevered. Not bad, not bad.

Hopefully, the new path which awaits will be brighter and shinier than my M.A.Sc.

Almost there!

2009-08-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

A few more days to go, a few more hours to endure, a few more sleepless nights. Then, I will be finally freed from the burden and strangulation I have endured since 2006. Liberation shall come swiftly and jubilant celebration will soon follow. Let me just sincerely hope the road down Ph.D. will be more rewarding and forthcoming.

Not bad, at least get a chance to visit Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Paris, San Francisco and Monterey. :D

The ultimate researcher

2009-07-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

It took me a long time to realize, but after living with this post-doc for almost one and half year I can finally appreciate why there are so many Chinese professionals in the field of communications engineering research. They work hard. They are smart, and they are diligent. Take my roommate, that post-doc, for example. He is an extreme case, but it's easy to generalize to others. Here below are how he does research.

He skips meals to do research, and now average a-meal-a-day only. He would cook 3 meals per week, and starve himself until the 3 meals lasts the entire week. He wasn't like this last year, but I guess pressure from boss can easily destroy your lifestyle, especially you are getting paid $30k a year, a luxury sum for a post-doc.
He makes minimum contact and friends except colleagues in the lab. He makes no attempt to make new friends except colleagues. But I guess when you need full front concentration on research, this is the result you would have. I'm making minimum contacts as well, especially friends of opposite sex, which would mean a lot more time spent if you are in a relationship.
He spends frugally. Unless necessary, spending is restricted only to meals and weekly grocery bills. Again, I'm doing that since being a student, full concentration is necessary, and others are just luxury. I just hope I can be like that for another four years in the Ph.D. program.

After years of practice and refinement, you would finally be the ultimate researcher, but then that is an extreme case. :D

But, of course, some people is special and their lifestyle greatly differs.

Baffling questions for Christians

2009-07-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

My late night drinking spree with fellowship goers brought forth my renewed interest in questioning Christian beliefs. For Christians who are reading my blog, I encourage you to answer the following questions. These are probably some of the most baffling questions yet to be answered or already have been answered.

Can I be a Christian while be a believer in the Darwinian Theory of Evolution?
Does I being Christian mean supporting Israel apartheid of West Bank and Gaza Strip?

That's all for now. Perhaps more to come later.

speed_demon

China's New Rebels

2009-06-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

More from NY Times on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.

China’s New Rebels

Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen

I know, I know, I'm China-bashing, but only until there is true democracy can the both side of the Formosa Straight be united. Until then, there will always be China-bashing on my blog.

speed_demon

Tiananmen Square, 20 Years Later

2009-05-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Another series of excellent articles from NY Times, on the 20 anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre.

Cheers,

speed_demon

It's that time of the year again~

2009-05-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about the NBA Finals. I'm talking about the Tiananmen memorial for those brave and courageous Chinese student who voiced against a suppressive regime, as it still is today. Long live the brothers and sisters of the June 4, 1989, movement.

An interesting article from Globe & Mail.

The influence of consumer power in China

2009-04-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

Who can blame Jackie Chan? He is a businessman and with 1.3 billion potential audience and royal fans to feed, of course, he has to sway toward the Chinese government consensus. He is not alone but a recent casualty of the global economy meltdown. Even before his daring speech, global conglomerates such as Cisco, Yahoo, and Google has all bowed and yield to the authoritarian regime. With the economic downturn in full assault and more Chinese middle-class willing to consume, who is to say that anyone endorsing his/hers products would not relent to the tangible pockets of that potential 1.3 billion customers. Especially with the bottom lines in peril, anything disregard of conscience or rational thought is possible.

April 24, 2009
Jackie Chan Strikes a Chinese Nerve
By ANDREW JACOBS

BEIJING — Jackie Chan, the Hong Kong martial arts star well known for showing his own failed stunts at the end of his films, may have another blooper to his credit.

When Mr. Chan told a high-level gathering of Chinese government officials and business leaders last weekend that Chinese people were ill equipped to handle liberty, he found himself on the receiving end of a verbal thrashing from across the Chinese-speaking world that is still reverberating.

“I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled,” Mr. Chan said during the Boao Forum, the annual economic conference held on Hainan Island with a keynote speech by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. “If we are not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”

The response was strongest in Hong Kong and Taiwan, which Mr. Chan, one of Asia’s wealthiest and best-known entertainers, held out as particularly “chaotic.” But even some intellectuals in mainland China spoke out against stereotyping Chinese as people who crave authoritarian leadership.

Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s biggest newspapers, used its front page to anoint him “a knave.” Politicians in Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as sovereign territory, described him as “idiotic” and “ignorant.” Albert Ho, a Hong Kong legislator, called Mr. Chan a “racist,” adding: “People around the world are running their own countries. Why can’t Chinese do the same?”

Here on the mainland, a writer published online by The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, gave him a thumbs down. “I guess Jackie Chan has never experienced the lack of freedom, and has not been cruelly controlled,” the commentator, Li Hongbing, wrote.

As the storm gathered, words turned to action: the mayor of Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, dropped Mr. Chan as an ambassador for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics in Taiwan. The Hong Kong Tourism Board said it would reconsider his role as its most high-profile spokesman. On Facebook, more than 9,700 people threw their weight behind a tongue-in-cheek effort to dispatch Mr. Chan to hypercontrolled North Korea.

“I wouldn’t watch his movies again unless he apologizes,” said Shing Hiu-yi, vice president of the Students’ Union Council at Hong Kong University, one of many groups that have been issuing condemnations and calling for boycotts. “What he said was insulting to the Chinese people.”

On the other hand, few have publicly acknowledged that Mr. Chan’s sentiments, even if “taken out of context,” as his spokesman insisted, are quietly accepted or embraced by many Chinese. The Communist Party has long argued that the people of China are ill suited for Western-style democracy. Even many educated Chinese unabashedly insist that the bulk of their brethren are too unschooled or unsophisticated to participate in matters of politics and governing.

Give the people too long a leash, the thinking goes, and everyone will end up strangled.

Russell Leigh Moses, a Beijing-based analyst of Chinese politics, said that there was a prevailing sentiment in the Chinese-speaking world that too much freedom could only fuel disharmony and instability, viewed as archenemies of China’s drive to put economic development first.

“Jackie Chan said those things because he thinks they are true, and there are major sections of society who couldn’t agree with him more,” Mr. Moses said. “But such thinking is increasingly out of touch with this simmering debate about what the extent of state authority should be.”

Mr. Chan’s remarks provoked some navel-gazing, especially on the Internet. In a subtle subversion, Yan Lieshan, one of China’s best-known writers, suggested that no amount of government control could help a nation lacking manners and morals. Writing in Southern Weekend, a liberal-leaning newspaper in Guangzhou, Mr. Yan bemoaned the neighbors who dump trash on his sidewalk and the cars that speed down his narrow street. “How I wish the relevant authorities would come and enforce the rules, but there is no one to control them,” he wrote. “When you lodge a complaint, no one responds.”

Although he was reared in Hong Kong by parents who fled mainland China, Mr. Chan, 55, has been an unalloyed Chinese patriot. He sang during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, and he angrily denounced protesters who sought to interrupt the torch relay. During an earlier swat at electoral politics, he called the 2004 presidential elections in Taiwan “the biggest joke in the world.”

Even if he believes that Chinese people need more control, many observers suggested that Mr. Chan was simply seeking to stroke the authoritarian government that recently banned his latest film, “Shinjuku Incident,” because of excessive violence.

Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said he was so infuriated by what he described as Mr. Chan’s pandering that he was organizing a boycott of a May 1 concert Mr. Chan had scheduled at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing.

“It’s easy to sacrifice freedom when you’re treated like a V.I.P. or some high-level official every time you come to China,” said Mr. Hu, who is known for his tart criticisms. “I’m sure Jackie Chan has never thought about the suffering of the little people who have no power.”

Song of the Grass-Mud Horse (Cao Ni Ma)

2009-03-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

What can I say? This is definitely one of the most creative, contemporary, on-line, popular Chinese poetry I have ever encountered. Best to the authors and those who are forever looking for ways to break the system.

March 12, 2009
A Dirty Pun Tweaks China’s Online Censors
By MICHAEL WINES

BEIJING — Since its first unheralded appearance in January on a Chinese Web page, the grass-mud horse has become nothing less than a phenomenon.

A YouTube children’s song about the beast has drawn nearly 1.4 million viewers. A grass-mud horse cartoon has logged a quarter million more views. A nature documentary on its habits attracted 180,000 more. Stores are selling grass-mud horse dolls. Chinese intellectuals are writing treatises on the grass-mud horse’s social importance. The story of the grass-mud horse’s struggle against the evil river crab has spread far and wide across the Chinese online community.

Not bad for a mythical creature whose name, in Chinese, sounds very much like an especially vile obscenity. Which is precisely the point.

The grass-mud horse is an example of something that, in China’s authoritarian system, passes as subversive behavior. Conceived as an impish protest against censorship, the foul-named little horse has not merely made government censors look ridiculous, although it has surely done that.

It has also raised real questions about China’s ability to stanch the flow of information over the Internet — a project on which the Chinese government already has expended untold riches, and written countless software algorithms to weed deviant thought from the world’s largest cyber-community.

Government computers scan Chinese cyberspace constantly, hunting for words and phrases that censors have dubbed inflammatory or seditious. When they find one, the offending blog or chat can be blocked within minutes.

Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, who oversees a project that monitors Chinese Web sites, said in an e-mail message that the grass-mud horse “has become an icon of resistance to censorship.”

“The expression and cartoon videos may seem like a juvenile response to an unreasonable rule,” he wrote. “But the fact that the vast online population has joined the chorus, from serious scholars to usually politically apathetic urban white-collar workers, shows how strongly this expression resonates.”

Wang Xiaofeng, a journalist and blogger based in Beijing, said in an interview that the little animal neatly illustrates the futility of censorship. “When people have emotions or feelings they want to express, they need a space or channel,” he said. “It is like a water flow — if you block one direction, it flows to other directions, or overflows. There’s got to be an outlet.”

China’s online population has always endured censorship, but the oversight increased markedly in December, after a pro-democracy movement led by highly regarded intellectuals, Charter 08, released an online petition calling for an end to the Communist Party’s monopoly on power.

Shortly afterward, government censors began a campaign, ostensibly against Internet pornography and other forms of deviance. By mid-February, the government effort had shut down more than 1,900 Web sites and 250 blogs — not only overtly pornographic sites, but also online discussion forums, instant-message groups and even cellphone text messages in which political and other sensitive issues were broached.

Among the most prominent Web sites that were closed down was bullog.com, a widely read forum whose liberal-minded bloggers had written in detail about Charter 08. China Digital Times, Mr. Xiao’s monitoring project at the University of California, called it “the most vicious crackdown in years.”

It was against this background that the grass-mud horse and several mythical companions appeared in early January on the Chinese Internet portal Baidu. The creatures’ names, as written in Chinese, were innocent enough. But much as “bear” and “bare” have different meanings in English, their spoken names were double entendres with inarguably dirty second meanings.

So while “grass-mud horse” sounds like a nasty curse in Chinese, its written Chinese characters are completely different, and its meaning —taken literally — is benign. Thus the beast not only has dodged censors’ computers, but has also eluded the government’s own ban on so-called offensive behavior.

As depicted online, the grass-mud horse seems innocent enough at the start.

An alpaca-like animal — in fact, the videos show alpacas — it lives in a desert whose name resembles yet another foul word. The horses are “courageous, tenacious and overcome the difficult environment,” a YouTube song about them says.

But they face a problem: invading “river crabs” that are devouring their grassland. In spoken Chinese, “river crab” sounds very much like “harmony,” which in China’s cyberspace has become a synonym for censorship. Censored bloggers often say their posts have been “harmonized” — a term directly derived from President Hu Jintao’s regular exhortations for Chinese citizens to create a harmonious society.

In the end, one song says, the horses are victorious: “They defeated the river crabs in order to protect their grassland; river crabs forever disappeared from the Ma Le Ge Bi,” the desert.

The online videos’ scenes of alpacas happily romping to the Disney-style sounds of a children’s chorus quickly turn shocking — then, to many Chinese, hilarious — as it becomes clear that the songs fairly burst with disgusting language.

To Chinese intellectuals, the songs’ message is clearly subversive, a lesson that citizens can flout authority even as they appear to follow the rules. “Its underlying tone is: I know you do not allow me to say certain things. See, I am completely cooperative, right?” the Beijing Film Academy professor and social critic Cui Weiping wrote in her own blog. “I am singing a cute children’s song — I am a grass-mud horse! Even though it is heard by the entire world, you can’t say I’ve broken the law.”

In an essay titled “I am a grass-mud horse,” Ms. Cui compared the anti-smut campaign to China’s 1983 “anti-spiritual pollution campaign,” another crusade against pornography whose broader aim was to crush Western-influenced critics of the ruling party.

Another noted blogger, the Tsinghua University sociologist Guo Yuhua, called the grass-mud horse allusions “weapons of the weak” — the title of a book by the Yale political scientist James Scott describing how powerless peasants resisted dictatorial regimes.

Of course, the government could decide to delete all Internet references to the phrase “grass-mud horse,” an easy task for its censorship software. But while China’s cybercitizens may be weak, they are also ingenious.

The Shanghai blogger Uln already has an idea. Blogging tongue in cheek — or perhaps not — he recently suggested that online democracy advocates stop referring to Charter 08 by its name, and instead choose a different moniker. “Wang,” perhaps. Wang is a ubiquitous surname, and weeding out the subversive Wangs from the harmless ones might melt circuits in even the censors’ most powerful computer.

Zhang Jing contributed research.

Bleeding Love

2009-03-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

Bleeding Love from Leona Lewis, one of the Grammy Nominees this year. Quite a powerful song, yet I don't wholeheartedly agree with every word of it. Love doesn't have to bleed and love is compromising mutual respect. No need to get hurtful over love. I guess that's why I'm not yet in love. :D

Song: Bleeding Love
Singer: Leona Lewis
Album: Spirit

Closed off from love
I didn’t need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it was all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you’re frozen

But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melts into the ground
Found something true
And everyone’s looking round
Thinking I’m going crazy
But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open

Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that the goal
Is to keep me from falling

But nothing’s greater
Than the rush that comes
with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinks that I’m going crazy,
maybe, maybe
But I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open
And it’s draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I’ll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see
I don’t care what they say
I’m in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don’t know the truth
My heart’s crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding-
Keep, keep bleeding love

You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

China Calls for Closer Ties With Taiwan

2009-03-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hopefully China is sincere and down-to-earth about this; otherwise, we're going to have a lot of problems. But still, the definition of China is quite outstretched and their definition don't usually match with ours.

March 6, 2009
China Calls for Closer Ties With Taiwan
By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China called Thursday for closer political and economic relations with Taiwan, but he offered few specifics and did not expand on a previous suggestion by President Hu Jintao for improving communication with Taiwan on military issues.

In his opening speech to the National People’s Congress, Mr. Wen clearly signaled the Chinese leadership’s support for a series of economic measures that negotiators from Beijing and Taiwan were already discussing. These include the gradual integration of banking and other financial services across the Taiwan Straits, and the drafting of a “comprehensive agreement on economic cooperation” that could eventually become the basis for a free-trade agreement.

Mr. Wen also called for “fair and reasonable arrangements” on Taiwanese participation in international organizations and a formal cessation of hostilities with Taiwan, without providing any details on how these thorny goals could be achieved. And he did not mention any specific measures of military cooperation, like a possible hot line between the People’s Liberation Army and Taiwan’s military that had been previously mentioned. President Hu of China and President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan had each expressed some interest in this in recent months.

Taiwanese officials said they were satisfied with focusing on economic issues for now. “On the political aspects, when the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland reaches a certain level of mutual trust, only then can discussions be move forward,” the island’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.

Mr. Wen’s address represented a modest olive branch to Taiwan and avoided the more hostile language the mainland had used in the past. The stock market in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, jumped 2.1 percent as investors responded to Mr. Wen’s suggestion for closer cross-strait economic ties.

Mr. Wen’s clear endorsement of such ties could help accelerate economic talks, which have been dragging along more slowly than expected. Critics in Taiwan have suggested that the mainland is reluctant to make any concessions, but Taiwanese officials have themselves been constrained by the skepticism of a large section of the island’s population about the need for closer cross-straits ties.

On military cooperation, Mr. Wen’s speech included an offer to hold talks, but did not provide any specifics that would advance the issue beyond previous comments by President Hu. In his annual policy address on Taiwan on Dec. 31, Mr. Hu had suggested that the two sides could engage in “contacts and communications on military issues when appropriate, and discussions on building a trust mechanism for military safety.”

Military analysts have suggested that the People’s Liberation Army has little interest this winter in improving relations with Taiwan, particularly because preparations for a possible conflict with Taiwan are central to the mainland military’s budget and training. When President Ma was asked in an interview last month if he was disappointed that the mainland military showed little enthusiasm for cooperation, he quickly replied that President Hu had specifically endorsed security cooperation and confidence-building measures in his Dec. 31 policy speech.

But Mr. Wen’s speech on Thursday included only a general statement on those matters: “We are also ready to hold talks on cross-straits political and military issues and create conditions for ending the state of hostility and concluding a peace agreement between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.”

President Ma has ruled out any peace agreement for the foreseeable future, and no talks are planned on ending the formal state of hostilities that has endured ever since the Nationalists lost China’s civil war to the Communists in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan.

Prime Minister Wen said that political talks would have to be based on the principle that there is only one China, but he did not suggest how this principle should be interpreted — a longtime stumbling block.

China Starts Investing Globally

2009-02-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hawkish Chinese buying spree, watch out! I guess as long as you keep those middle-to-upper class in check, there is no worry of an all out revolution to topple this authoritarian government.

February 21, 2009
China Starts Investing Globally
By DAVID BARBOZA

SHANGHAI — China is taking advantage of the economic downturn to go on a major shopping spree, investing in energy and other natural resources that could give it an economic advantage it has never had before.

Some economic analysts say they believe that China’s investments pose a threat to competitors like the United States. In the last move, Beijing said on Friday that one of its big state-owned banks, the China Development Bank, would lend the Brazilian oil giant Petrobras $10 billion in exchange for a long-term commitment to send oil to China.

China signed similar deals this week with Russia and Venezuela, bringing Beijing’s total oil investments this month to $41 billion. They represent an important investment. Supplies of commodities like oil are likely to tighten again once global growth picks up, and China will have a toehold it lacked during the recent boom, when it grew phenomenally even with limited access to resources.

But some analysts say China’s recent investments are welcome because they will help finance much-needed development, increasing the global supply of oil and natural resources at a time when many of the world’s biggest banks are reluctant to lend.

“It’s a good thing because a lot of projects have been postponed,” said Prof. Philip Andrews-Speed, director of the energy policy center at the University of Dundee in Scotland. “Oil companies may now have the money to produce oil.”

It is not just oil. This month, China’s biggest aluminum producer also agreed to invest $19.5 billion in Rio Tinto, an Australian mining company that is one of the world’s biggest. On Monday, China Minmetals bid $1.7 billion to acquire OZ Minerals, also of Australia, a huge zinc mining company.

China is flush with cash — thanks to trillions of dollars from decades of selling goods to the West — at a time when credit markets are tight and collapsing commodity prices have left energy and natural resource companies desperate for cash. For many of these companies, China has gone from pariah to lender of first resort.

“This is heavy energy diplomacy,” Professor Andrews-Speed said. “If you need money, you go to where the money is, and today, China’s the place.”

President Hu Jintao of China traveled this week on his “Friendship and Cooperation Tour” in Africa, where China has huge interests in resources and mining. The vice president, Xi Jinping, visited South America, met with the leaders of Brazil and Venezuela and signed cooperation agreements on oil and minerals.

Venezuela borrowed $6 billion from China and agreed to increase its oil exports to China, bringing China’s total investment in the country to $12 billion. In Brazil, China signed a $10 billion “loan-for-oil” deal that guarantees the country up to 160,000 barrels a day at market prices.

And in Beijing this week, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao met his Russian counterpart after China agreed to lend Russia’s struggling oil giant Rosneft and Russia’s oil pipeline company, Transneft, $25 billion in exchange for 15 million tons of crude oil a year for 20 years.

The investments are China’s biggest moves since 2005, when a Chinese state-owned oil company made an unsuccessful bid for Unocal, the American oil company, prompting worries about whether fast-growing China was seeking to tie up global resources.

But the world has changed drastically since then. Commodity prices have fallen sharply in recent months, after a long bull market that was partly fueled by China’s voracious demand for energy and resources. And China has built up nearly $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves, giving the country easy access to capital.

“What’s changed for China is that their key competitive strength has increased, and that’s capital,” said Andrew Driscoll, a resources analyst at CLSA, an investment bank. “A lot of companies are begging for capital.”

China wants reliable supplies of crude oil to fuel its growing transport sector; it needs iron ore for steel production, and copper and aluminum to build homes and consumer goods.

Analysts say there are still worries about whether China will compete with other nations, like the United States and India, for oil and other natural resources.

Analysts say China could continue to make deals this year for small oil and gas companies, mineral producers and mining firms.

This week, for instance, shares of the Fortescue Metals Group, an Australian mining company, rose after reports the company was in talks with China over a big investment to help the company expand operations.

In many cases, China has struck deals in countries that have access to large supplies of oil and minerals but where American and European countries are not well positioned, like parts of Africa and the Middle East. In one of the deals struck this week, China made an alliance with the government of Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, who has denounced American leadership. While the oil deals announced this week vary in terms, analysts say they ensure China a steady supply of oil for decades to come, sometimes at favorable prices.

Jobless, restless China: 20 million and growing

2009-02-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

From G&M, thanks to North Americans shutting off their wallets. I guess the Chinese government has never thought of how to deal with this kind of contingency, but with their trillions spending on military might, it may be time to divert some to job creation and sustainable development, not always relying on export and a pegging of currency. If the CCP doesn't learn to adopt maybe it'll be too late before a rude awakening. But, then again, dealing with civil unrest has always been its the forte, is it?

Jobless, restless China: 20 million and growing

MARK MACKINNON

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

February 20, 2009 at 11:46 PM EST

YUANSHAN, China — If future historians try to identify the day the global economic crisis reached the tipping point, they might want to consider Nov. 15 of last year.

That was the day, after years of slowly battling their way out of poverty as China's economy rapidly expanded, that 39 villagers decided there was no more money to be made in the once-booming factory cities on the Pacific Coast. So they packed themselves into 16 rickety three-wheeled tuk-tuks and began a slow, two-week journey home from booming Guangdong province to this speck of a place in the country's southwest.

Call it the Long Ride, a modernized and peaceful version of the Long March retreat staged by Mao Zedong's Communist army 75 years ago. Only the current retreat is being staged by China's army of suddenly jobless migrant workers — an estimated 20 million of them and counting, a number larger than the combined populations of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. For years they were the fuel that fed China's booming economy, but this restless mass now poses a huge challenge for Beijing, which is openly fretting about the possibility of wide-scale unrest.

Pu Qingsheng and his neighbours were in the vanguard of the movement. Driving 17 hours a day for two weeks, in an open vehicle that couldn't exceed 20 kilometres an hour, Mr. Pu drove his motorized rickshaw in convoy with his neighbours from the port city of Shantou back to this mountain village in Sichuan province.
Laid-off factory worker Wang Gang hoists a poster advertising his skills as a CHECK amid a crowd of other recently unemployed men at a jobs market in the city of Chongqing.

Laid-off factory worker Wang Gang hoists a poster advertising his skills amid a crowd of other recently unemployed men at a jobs market in the city of Chongqing. His wife and two teenage children spent the arduous journey packed in the back along with their meagre belongings. They endured the exhaust-choked highways and potholed back roads while crammed three across onto a metal bench that looks designed for two. They paused once a day for a meal of instant noodles mixed with borrowed tap water.

The Pu family felt they had no choice but to return to Yuanshan. As the garment and toy factories that are the economic heart of Shantou shut down last fall, largely because of slumping demand from North America, fewer people were willing to pay even the small fee for a ride in Mr. Pu's tuk-tuk. His wife and children, who all had low-paying jobs collecting plastics for recycling plants, were told in October their services were no longer needed.

"When the bosses started closing down the factories, our earnings couldn't cover our expenses any more," Mr. Pu explained grimly. "Before the crisis, a normal day's business would bring in between 50 and 60 yuan [$9 to $11] a day. In October, it suddenly dropped to 30 or 40 yuan [$5 to $7] a day. Sometimes, it was only 10 or 20 [$1 to $3]. Nobody wanted to take a cab if they could walk instead and save the money."

The math was the same for everyone from Yuanshan. The 39 villagers had come to Guangdong together at a time when it looked like China's economic miracle would go on forever. Now, back home together in this village that has neither paved roads nor a sewage system, they're trying to understand what to do next.

In addition to the estimated 20 million, another 5 or 6 million migrant workers could lose their jobs in the month to come. Some argue that even those numbers underestimate the scope of what is happening.

As the months go by and the number of jobless mounts, there are rising concerns that desperation could turn into anger. Scarcely a day has gone by recently without a new warning from the government in Beijing about the possibility of growing social unrest.

In the short term, organized action seems unlikely, largely because independent trade unions are banned in China, leaving workers with nothing to rally around in these hard times. While workers are involved every year in tens of thousands of "mass incidents" (the official terminology for strikes and protests; there were 87,000 in 2005, the last year they were reported), nearly all have been isolated incidents that were quickly brought under control by authorities.

For now, many migrants, such as Mr. Pu and his family, have returned to their homes in the countryside, hoping to scrape by farming their tiny state-assigned plots of land, just as they did before the boom times. But with the Chinese New Year festival over, many more have returned to the cities impatiently waiting for new jobs to materialize to replace the ones they lost.

With the economic situation in freefall, many are predicting a jump in crime. A top police official in Guangdong province told reporters this week that he expected the public-security situation in the factory cities would be "grim" as a result of the lost jobs.

"There will be more thieves, more crime. Everyone needs to eat and live," said Zhou Litai, a lawyer famous in China for representing migrant workers in disputes with their factory bosses over pay and working conditions. Mr. Zhou has seen his own caseload drop to just 10 a month from nearly 200, as his client base was sent home without severance pay or, he says, even their final paycheques.

Lost jobs, lost confidence

A six-hour drive southeast of Yuanshan, in a makeshift job centre deep in a warren of backstreets in the chaotic Yangtze River port of Chongqing, several thousand jobless migrants gather each day hoping to hear that the economic crisis is over and the factories are hiring again.

The sight of a foreigner entering the room sends a jolt of desperate hope through the crowd, most of them young men in dirty and tattered clothing, who rush forward.

"What do you need, laoban?" a man in a threadbare grey sweater asked, addressing me with the Mandarin word for "boss." His unwashed hair was stuck to his forehead and he was clutching a hand-made sign advertising his credentials as a cook. Another sweaty man in a red jacket pushed through the crowd to take the would-be chef's place in front of me; he said he could work as a driver.

Others shoved him aside, offering their services as waiters, security guards, whatever was needed. Until the middle of last year, most of the men worked in the east coast factory cities.

Even when I explained that I was a journalist rather than a tycoon looking to open a factory, some wouldn't give up on the idea that I was there to help them.

"We could go to Canada with you," one persisted, drawing laughter from the others. "You could be our laoban."

These workers fit the profile of China's migrant population. According to a soon-to-be-published study by the University of Chongqing, 60 per cent of migrant workers are male and 80 per cent are between the ages of 20 and 45.

They went east for purely financial reasons. Despite often appalling working conditions and lack of legal status in the cities where they worked, migrants could often make 10 or 20 times more money in the factories than in the villages. The money made everything else tolerable.

That trade-off is gone now, but for many migrants, going home, like Mr. Pu did, isn't an option. Some have been away so long that they gave their farm plots away to their neighbours. Others say they don't even remember where their land is, or how to farm it if they did.

Many of the men in the Chongqing job market have visited the centre every day for months, surviving on one meal a day and spending nights sleeping in nearby hostels that offer beds at less than a dollar a night. Though local restaurateurs came by from time to time looking for help, none of the migrants reported landing a job that lasted more than a few weeks.

"Originally, I thought of going back to the coastal areas, but I saw on TV [that the factories are not reopening] and they warned us not to just go back there blindly," said Huo Liu, a neatly dressed 28-year-old father of one who worked in a textile factory in the trading port of Ningbo until last September. Since then, he's been trying to take advantage of Chongqing's reputation as a centre for spicy Sichuan cuisine and reinvent himself as a cook. But despite coming to the job centre every day for the past five months, he has yet to find work.

"I really don't know what I'll do now. I have no confidence in the future at all. I'll just come here every day and keep looking."

While Mr. Huo seemed resigned to the winds of fate, others in his situation are starting to find focus for their mounting ire. One popular target is the urban Chinese, whom they see as looking down on poorly educated migrants from the provinces. And there's also growing discontent with the authoritarian government in Beijing.

"They put up signs saying there are jobs, but this is a show for the foreigners — there are no jobs," one worker shouted, perhaps referring to a red banner slung from the ceiling that teasingly welcomed migrant workers from the coastal cities back to Chongqing. "We welcome the migrant workers who return to their home town to work here and start a business."

"We demand that Premier Wen Jiabao give us some money!" another worker shouted, to hoots of derision. But no one wanted to put their name to that statement.

Watching and waiting

What Beijing apparently fears is that the anger will manifest somehow into a political force. Sun Chunlan, vice-chairman of the government-backed All-China Federation of Trade Unions, claimed this week that police task forces had been "rushed" to China's regions to ensure stability. "Hostile forces within and outside China [are] using the difficulties of some enterprises to infiltrate and bring trouble to rural migrant workers," he charged.

In a bid to reverse the country's economic slowdown — and head off labour trouble — the government in November announced a $585-billion (U.S.) economic stimulus package and recently instructed firms to do whatever necessary, including slashing salaries, to avoid further layoffs. The state-sponsored trade union plans to offer vocational training and small loans to jobless migrant workers, and the government has been furiously working to restore a national social-insurance program that has been gutted since China's still nominally Communist government began moving toward a free-market economy in the 1980s.

While the overall numbers don't look bad when stacked up against the gloom in Western economies — the Chinese economy is expected to grow between 6 and 8 per cent this year — they still represent a significant slowdown for a country used to double-digit growth.

Worse news may be yet to come: Exports, the country's economic lifeblood, plunged 17.5 per cent in January. The crisis puts in peril the government's efforts to lift hundreds of millions of peasants out of poverty and to close the staggering gap between the country's urban rich and rural poor.

What makes the layoffs so difficult to accept for China's migrant labourers is that they have almost nothing to fall back on. Few Chinese have unemployment insurance, health insurance or a pension of any kind. For migrant workers, their social safety net was supposed to be their farmland, though many are finding it hard to readjust to their old life.

"It does create some problems, some conflicts when they come back to their villages from the urban areas. Because of the financial crisis, they cannot foresee when they will go back to their original jobs and the people who are using their houses and farmlands will not quickly move out," said Zhang Zongyi, vice-president of Chongqing University and one of the authors of the migrant labour study.

Ironically, one reason why the predicted unrest hasn't materialized so far is the same Chinese trait often cursed in the West as a key factor in the recent global collapse — this country's propensity to save the money they earn rather than spend it. China's savings rate last year was a whopping 50 per cent, compared with about 3 per cent in the United States.

Whatever damage it did or didn't do to the global economy, the fact that most Chinese have a store of saving for precisely such a moment means that the situation, however grim, can be tolerated for a short while longer.

"Right now, migrant workers are still watching and waiting. They still have savings to last for February and March," said Mr. Zhou, the labour lawyer. That gives the government programs less than two months to kick in and get the economy turned around, he said.

However, Mr. Zhou isn't confident that a rebound will happen in time.

"In 2009, the unemployment crisis will definitely affect public security," he predicted.

Taiwan's Low Profile May Aid Its Goals

2009-02-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Let's hope the low profile is not too low so such that it may jeopardize Taiwan's voice in the international area.

February 13, 2009
Taiwan’s Low Profile May Aid Its Goals
By KEITH BRADSHER

TAIPEI, Taiwan — America’s new secretary of state is preparing to visit Beijing with an agenda that barely mentions Taiwan — and that is fine with the president of Taiwan.

President Ma Ying-jeou said here on Thursday that he was glad to have reduced tensions with mainland China and that he was not concerned that Taiwan was low on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s list of priorities.

The lessening of tensions with the mainland “is good news for everyone, we are not dissatisfied with the fact they did not mention Taiwan,” President Ma said in an hourlong interview at the presidential palace.

Asked what Mrs. Clinton could do on relations between mainland China and Taiwan, long a top priority for Beijing, Mr. Ma asked for little help. “America can play a constructive role in encouraging the status quo,” he said.

But having largely removed relations between Taiwan and the mainland as a potential flash point since he took office last May, Mr. Ma mapped out changes that he wanted from Washington. A free-trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States topped the list, followed by visa-free access for Taiwanese travelers to the United States and a bilateral extradition treaty.

Beijing officials have viewed Taiwan as a renegade province ever since the Nationalists retreated to the island upon losing China’s civil war to the Communists in 1949. The reunification of mainland China and Taiwan has long been the mainland’s top goal in relations with the United States, Taiwan’s closest ally.

But senior administration officials have signaled that Mrs. Clinton’s priorities for the Beijing leg of her Asia trip next week involve climate change, energy, North Korea, Tibet, Iran and economic issues.

Mr. Ma also said he planned to push further this year for close economic relations with mainland China, even while acknowledging disappointment with the number of mainland tourists who have been allowed by Beijing to visit Taiwan. The Taiwanese government has set a limit of 3,000 a day, but actual arrivals have been closer to 500 or 600 a day.

Recent moves to let mainland tourists stay up to 15 days instead of 10, and come in groups of as few as 5 people instead of 10, could help increase their numbers, Mr. Ma said. His administration has also opened up charter flights, shipping and investment, and he said Thursday that he wanted regularly scheduled flights to the mainland by the middle of this year as well.

He won elections last March by promising that closer relations with the mainland would secure Taiwan’s economic future. But the global economic downturn has led to a plunge in the island’s exports; many investment bank economists now predict that Taiwan’s economy will shrink this year, although the Taiwanese government still forecasts very slow growth.

Mr. Ma said the economy would grow if Taiwan’s main export markets recovered. In the meantime, the government has already distributed shopping vouchers worth $110 to each citizen and is rapidly stepping up spending on roads, bridges and schools and other infrastructure projects that Mr. Ma promised to build during his election campaign a year ago.

“This is high time to go fiscal — let’s get fiscal,” he said.

All three of Mr. Ma’s goals in relations with the United States face uncertain futures.

American and Taiwanese officials held detailed discussions last year on a possible trade and investment framework agreement, which would be considerably narrower than a free trade agreement.

Stephen M. Young, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, which unofficially represents the United States government here in the absence of full diplomatic relations between the governments in Taipei and Washington, said in public remarks in November and December that policy makers were focusing on a trade and investment framework agreement, and there has been no sign of any change by the Obama administration.

Mr. Ma’s top aide for relations with mainland China, Lai Shin-yuan, who played a central role in talks in 2000 and 2001 that brought Taiwan and the mainland into the World Trade Organization, said there had been little detailed discussion on the Taiwanese side of a free trade agreement.

Ms. Lai added that in her opinion, there was little enthusiasm in Taiwan for the broad dismantling of Taiwanese restrictions on imports of American food that the United States would be likely to demand as part of any free trade agreement.

Mr. Ma also asked that the United States allow Taiwanese citizens to visit without obtaining visas first. Britain agreed this week to allow Taiwanese citizens to visit and stay for up to six months without a visa.

Mr. Young has said publicly that the United States has concerns about this because Taiwan has too few controls in place to prevent the issuance of genuine passports to people who are not citizens of the island.

Mr. Ma and Ms. Lai also said that they wanted an extradition treaty with the United States that would allow Taiwan’s authorities to pursue fugitives accused of financial crimes who have fled across the Pacific. The Bush administration did not take a position on this question, and neither has the Obama administration.

China's Unemployment Swells as Exports Falter

2009-02-05T22:34:00.001-08:00

Another tantalizing article from NY Times.

February 6, 2009
China’s Unemployment Swells as Exports Falter
By KEITH BRADSHER

GUANGZHOU, China — Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are returning here earlier than usual from their home villages after the Chinese New Year holiday. Lugging their belongings in plastic sacks and cardboard boxes, they are hoping to find increasingly scarce jobs. Many will fail.

Liu Yijiang, a 21-year-old worker from Guangxi Province, stopped his bicycle in front of a factory’s gate and explained that he had been unable to find work since he was laid off late last year by a ceiling lamp factory and went home to his village.

“I came back early to see if I can find a job,” he said. “A lot of my friends are out of work.”

A spokeswoman for the Guangdong Provincial Labor and Social Security Bureau said Thursday that 3 million of an expected 9.7 million migrant workers had returned to the province by Wednesday evening. Many have jobs waiting for them, but two million have no employment lined up and must look for work, she said.

Beijing authorities disclosed Monday that based on an agriculture ministry survey of villages just before the Chinese New Year holiday last week, about 20 million of the nation’s 130 million migrant workers are unemployed.

In the factory city of Dongguan, adjacent to Guangzhou, many plants have deferred reopening for up to three weeks for lack of orders from the United States and Europe, said Eddie Leung, the chairman of the Dongguan Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises.

At Fortunique, a manufacturer of hospital gowns and other protective wear on the southern outskirts of Guangzhou, about 50 men and women showed up early Thursday morning looking in vain for jobs. More came to the gate through the day.

“I haven’t seen that since the early 1990s,” when China’s economic boom was still in its early stages, said Charles Hubbs, the company’s owner.

Security forces are taking precautions to prevent social unrest. Police officers were positioned every few feet along the walls and fences outside the main railway station here on Thursday. Endless throngs of arrivals poured out of the massive building, their faces haggard after journeys that can be 30 hours or more in rail cars that often offer standing room only.

At the nearby intercity bus station, loudspeakers tied with police tape to streetlamps told arrivals over and over again, “Do not loiter or stand at the station. Move on quickly. Do not sit or squat.”

One big question is where penniless migrant workers will sleep until they find jobs or return home. Factories here in the Pearl River delta region of Southeastern China, which accounts for nearly a third of China’s exports, typically provide dormitories for a majority of their workers.

The rest, particularly married workers, live in crowded nearby apartments.

But factories that have shut down have closed their dormitories. Unemployed workers seem to be staying with friends in local apartments for now, manufacturing and human resources managers said. The provincial labor bureau announced Tuesday that it was setting up free job fairs in the cities. But the bureau also said it would offer numerous subsidies for workers willing to leave the cities and go to rural areas — including free vocational classes, subsidized school fees for children and a waiver of government fees for the registration of new small businesses.

Guangdong Province accounts for nearly a third of China’s exports, making it especially vulnerable as Western retailers sharply reduce orders to focus on selling the inventory they already have.

Electric utility use was down nearly 8 percent in December from a year ago in Guangdong and across China. Electricity is an excellent barometer of the Chinese economy because most usage is industrial, said Jing Ulrich, the chairwoman of China equities at JPMorgan Chase.

But Guangdong’s actual decline in electricity use is much greater. At least one-fifth of all electricity generated in the province until the last few months was produced by tens of thousands of diesel generators in the backyards of factories, because the provincial grid, unable to keep pace with growth, imposed severe rationing.

This winter, all rationing has been lifted and factories have unlimited access to inexpensive electricity from the grid, so the backyard generators have been shut down.

Wage demands, another barometer of economic health, have plunged. Skilled workers who used to demand up to $430 a month are eagerly accepting jobs that pay half as much, managers here said.

“They just want a job — no demands on salary,” Mr. Hubbs, the Fortunique owner, said.

One big mystery is how many factories have closed permanently and how many are simply giving long holiday furloughs to their workers. Provincial and national statistics on businesses and factories are often contradictory. And government statistics on unemployment over all are not considered reliable.

Another big mystery is what effect unemployment will have on the number of strikes and other protests that occur here regularly. Some experts are worried.

“It’s more possible to cause social unrest if the workers cannot find jobs,” said Liu Kaiming, the executive director of the Institute for Contemporary Observation, an advocacy group for labor rights in Shenzhen, a factory city that abuts Dongguan and Hong Kong.

In the last two years, there was — on average — one strike a day involving 1,000 or more workers in the Pearl River delta, and many more strikes by smaller groups of workers, said Han Dongfang, the director of the China Labor Bulletin, an advocacy group in Hong Kong that wants to see independent labor unions and collective bargaining in mainland China.

He cautioned that the frequency of strikes in the region made it hard to tell whether a recent spate of strikes reported in the Hong Kong news media was the result of greater social friction, or simply more reporting in response to the global economic downturn.

Beijing authorities plan rapid increases in economic stimulus spending in Guangdong to offset the downturn in exports here. The focus will be on building more roads, bridges and rail lines in a region that already has some of China’s best infrastructure.

But even as government investment starts to accelerate, private investment is declining, which may endanger more jobs.

Preliminary results from a study just completed by the American Chamber of Commerce of South China, which looked at 551 mostly foreign companies, found that they planned to invest $6.5 billion this year. A similar study a year ago found plans to invest $11 billion in the next year.

“We’re seeing people investing more methodically and more cautiously,” said Harley Seyedin, the chamber’s president.

Separately, a national survey of Chinese purchasing managers, released Wednesday, showed that most expected the economy to continue to worsen, although the expected steepness of the decline had moderated somewhat.

Stanley Lau, the deputy chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, which represents the owners of the 60,000 factories in the region controlled by Hong Kong business officials, estimated that 10 percent of these factories had already closed in the last year because of more stringent government policies on labor, taxes and the environment.

Another 5 to 10 percent could close soon because of weaker export orders. “I’m sure there will be more to come,” he said.

Hilda Wang contributed reporting.

China Sees Separatist Threats

2009-01-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

This article has just been published in the NY Times. My stance is that Taiwan will never be a part of the P.R.C. currently ruled by the C.C.P., but rather an integral part of the R.O.C. currently ruled by the K.M.T., and whether you call that a separatist movement is up to your interpretation. On the other hand, all of my colleagues (most of whom are from China) have the strong yet peculiar argument that Taiwan is a part of China, yet it has been ruled and experienced in two different regime and culture ever since 1949.

January 21, 2009
China Sees Separatist Threats
By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — China said Tuesday that it faces important threats from independence movements related to Taiwan, Tibet and the western desert region of Xinjiang, and that American arms sales to Taiwan jeopardize stability in Asia.

The announcement came in a white paper on national defense released by the State Council, China’s cabinet. The paper said that “China’s security situation has improved steadily,” but that “being in a stage of economic and social transition, China is encountering many new circumstances and new issues in maintaining social stability.”

The 105-page paper sought to portray China as a power that would use military force only defensively and sees territorial integrity as the top defense priority.

According to goals implied in the paper, China also seeks to counterbalance the American military presence in Asia. In several instances, the authors pointed out what they called worrisome aspects of American intervention.

“The U.S. has increased its strategic attention to and input in the Asia-Pacific region, further consolidating its military alliances, adjusting its military deployment and enhancing its military capabilities,” the paper said.

Certain destabilizing factors outside China are growing, the paper added, singling out American arms sales to Taiwan, which it said could lead to “serious harm to Sino-U.S. relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.” China considers Taiwan a breakaway province.

Last October, the Pentagon announced it was selling $6.5 billion of weaponry to Taiwan despite protests from Beijing. The package included 30 Apache attack helicopters, 330 Patriot missiles and 32 Harpoon missiles that can be launched from submarines. The Taiwan Relations Act, passed in 1979 when the United States normalized relations with China, says the United States must provide arms of a defensive nature to Taiwan and act to protect Taiwan from any hostilities.

In presenting the white paper on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said he hoped the incoming Obama administration would build stronger military relations between the United States and China.

“At present, when China-U.S. military-to-military relations are faced with difficulties, we call on the U.S. Department of Defense to remove obstacles,” the spokesman, Sr. Col. Hu Changming, said at a news conference.

Although Taiwan enjoys de facto independence and is a thriving democracy, the Chinese government has long maintained that it will reunite Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary. Under Taiwan’s previous president, Chen Shui-bian, relations with the mainland grew extremely tense because Mr. Chen’s policies moved Taiwan closer to formal independence, prompting bellicose reactions from Beijing.

But following the election in Taiwan last year of Ma Ying-jeou, a member of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, which fled the Communist takeover of China in 1949, the Taiwanese government has taken a more conciliatory approach toward the mainland.

The white paper grouped separatist forces in Taiwan — meaning supporters of Mr. Chen and his policies — with groups that China says are seeking independence for Tibet and Xinjiang. “Separatist forces working for ‘Taiwan independence,’ ‘East Turkestan independence’ and ‘Tibet independence’ pose threats to China’s unity and security,” the paper said.

Last year, violence erupted in Tibet and Xinjiang that challenged the country’s security forces.

Since 2001, when the Bush administration announced its “war on terror,” the Chinese government has said it faces an organized terrorist independence movement in Xinjiang, an oil-rich area that is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic-speaking ethnic group. Many Uighurs are resentful of rule by the ethnic Han Chinese, and some openly advocate an independent country called East Turkestan.

Last March, riots and protests erupted across Tibetan areas of China, prompting a harsh crackdown. The Chinese government has accused the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, of organizing the uprising, which the Dalai Lama has denied. The Chinese government is watching closely for disruptions that might unfold this March, which will be the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet to India, where he lives in exile.

The white paper did specify how much will be spent on the 2009 defense budget. The government had said it expected to spend $61 billion on the military in 2008, a nearly 18 percent increase over the 2007 total. Some foreign analysts say the actual figure is much higher.

The white paper also made no mention of construction of an aircraft carrier, which Chinese military officials have said is a project under consideration. It did say that “efforts are being made to build new types of submarines, destroyers, frigates and aircraft.”

A gasping break from blogging

2009-01-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

I'm going to take a break from blogging to concentrate on school and research. I'll blog occasionally, but not often. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Cheers,

speed_demon

Mentality of a single during holidays

2008-12-31T00:26:00.000-08:00

Some of you probably has experienced what I have experienced recently, as the 2009 New Year Eve is fast approaching - the loneliness and isolation which you would otherwise not feel if Eve is not imminent. Truly, we are all social beings and with prolonged isolation we would all be looking for somewhere to belong and be a part of. That is why we humans have evolved to congregate, to socialize and to do things as a whole. And, with the advent of technology, this evolution is now taking place in the virtual world. In nature, it is often much easier and less stressful both physically and mentally to survive in a group than as an individual. This hypothesis can be easily proven by the great civilizations that only bestow upon a complex society of highly stratified and diverse social structure, which would only occur if people gather together, as compared to hunter gatherer type of foraging bands. Members of a privileged civilization are often easier to survive when it comes to enduring through life or couping with disasters; whereas, individuals often fall when it comes to the testament of time. This is sole the reason why singles like me feel a sense of isolation and loneliness during the holidays, why we frantically make phone calls minutes before the day is about to end, so the next day may end with the warm presence of friends and families. None of us are immune but some may be less sensitive than others. We all envy at those with immunity yet we know their fallacy and vulnerable entity as time surpasses.

For that, I wish you all a Happy New Year 2009, and may your dream, resolution and goal come true!

Six lives in a new China

2008-12-26T21:13:00.000-08:00

An excellent, albeit short, 6-part series from CSM on the impact of China's economic reform after 30 years. China has truly changed for better or for worse, and let's just hope that one day, the change may not only be superficial but something which is more serious, such as enabling greater human rights and closing in the gap between the rich and the poor.

1. An entrepreneur agrees: 'To get rich is glorious'
2. Free expression grows in China (just don't talk politics)
3. A Westerner grows up in China
4. A Chinese peasant goes to town on capitalism
5. Earnings wither in the Chinese countryside
6. Pastor's private worship puts him under public scrutiny
China's Communist Party cautiously celebrates its reforms

Cross strait security

2008-12-26T17:50:00.000-08:00

With the all out opening of trade, via air and sea, in the recent weeks across the Formosa Strait, and the panda politics this week, the true intention of the People's Republic of China and its politburo has yet to unfold. Despite what may seem like a "gesture of good will" and a "great leap forward" on closing in the two opposite political spectrum between the arch rivals, the question of the unification is still a very sensitive issue. It seems by the free exchange of trade and tourism, the hostility of a militaristic take over long envisioned by the P.R.C. may long be forgotten. Yet, what the P.R.C. failed to realize is the tenacity and resilience of the Taiwanese and its current government, Kuomintang, when it comes to the sovereignty of the Republic of China. Especially after the Japanese occupation and the retreat of K.M.T. to Taiwan in 1949, resisting thought control and uprooting the restriction on unequivocal human rights were and still are the two most important issues which Taiwanese relentlessly strive to uphold, albeit the often clash of violence, accusations, mass demonstrations and riots beseeching the reigning government. So, if China really is for a peaceful reunification it has to sincerely showcase its benevolence to the people of Taiwan, not undermining the issue with threat, accusation, defamation, imprisonment and execution of the many human rights advocates in China. To further showcase its goodwill, China should one day in the near future relinquish the thousands of missiles aiming to strike at Taiwan and ease up the dry and meaningless threat to the pro-independence group in Taiwan, whose only intention is to let the millions of voices to be heard at the international arena. Only when there is foreseeable peace could Taiwan unconditionally embrace the true unification.

We are all hoping for a peaceful reunification, but given the horrible track record of the current totalitarian regime in China, who would believe anything it says without the suspicion of a much more harmful and sinister intent? The Republic of China was built on the foundation of unequivocal rights and it shall stay that way until the end of the time.

Merry Christmas, you're working

2008-12-20T23:57:00.000-08:00

That's my Christmas this year and perhaps the next if I ever decide to continue down the road of no return, i.e., the Ph.D. program. Merry Christmas, you're working for those hard working graduate students. :)

Cheers!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year '09

2008-12-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

I wish you all a pleasant, fulfilling and merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Cheers to you all, and may you find solace and comfort in the reunion of families, relatives, friends and colleagues during this wonderful holiday season.

Cheers!

speed_demon

The environmental impact of a raging Big Red Machine

2008-12-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

Overgrowth, and overly exerted, these are the current trends of the ever-so-thirsty industrial might of China. Unfortunately, the over razing of its farmlands, together with deforestation, water contamination, air pollution and over population, foretells an impending disaster brewing slowly in the background, one that would eventually unleash hell to the inhabitants of the "Middle Kingdom." Let's just hope the Chinese government can slowly adjust and compromise for the better, and not let the overwhelming growth and hollow capitalism stifle the souls of its next generations.

I strongly believe China do have a chance to be better, to alleviate its environmental disasters, looming social crisis, and to overcome the corruption entwined in a one-party system, if it is willing. Although being scrutinized from all international fronts, China has the privilege to witness what other industrial mights can't - the consequence of an industrial society and its impact on land, air and sea. These are what other powers, e.g., Great Britain, USA and European Union, can never dream of, let along relive in. China, on the other hand, has the full knowledge of the consequences and can alter its course if needs be, and that is why it should not disregard the experience of others, but learn from their mistakes and improve upon them.

Here, I list below a series of major articles from the New York Times on the environmental impacts and tolls of a booming China. Enjoy!

Part I: The Overview
Part II: China's Water Crisis
Part III: The Activist
Part IV: Three Gorges Dam
Part V: Energy Rules
Part VI: Wildlife Threatened
Part VII: Polluting Trucks
Part VIII: Farming Fish
Part IX: Two Steel Towns
Part X: A Green Olympics?

Of course, these are one-year-old articles, but most of what they said are still very true and will likely be current until China starts cleaning up its acts. :)

Are bad bosses killing you?

2008-11-26T00:58:00.000-08:00

Found this insightful article, just published in the G&M yesterday. Quite an article illustrating the detrimental effect of what a bad boss can do to an employee personally, mentally and physically. This reminds me of the Ph.D., which, by definition, hinges on the selection of a good supervisor with the successful outcome of your Ph.D. solely depends on how much your supervisor knows and what she or he can contribute to your research. A supervisor acting like an outsider, oblivious to your research, is one whom can shorten your life faster than the chain-smoking hobby which you would otherwise not take. The path towards a Ph.D. is full of impediments and pitfalls. Walking down the wrong one you may just as well not waste four years of your life pursuing the intangible goal.

Of course, the real successful ones are the ones to treasure and bow to, but how many are these, and what is the typical percentage of failure? I have personally witnessed too many examples of Ph.D.'s gone wrong, and I just pray to God that the decision which I'm about to make is the rightful one and one which I shall walk until the leeway opens. Cheers!

Are bad bosses killing you?

TAVIA GRANT

Globe and Mail Update

November 25, 2008 at 3:33 PM EST

Bad bosses aren't just annoying. They may also boost the chances of employees having heart attacks, a study finds.

The longer an employee works for a leader who is inconsiderate and uncommunicative, the greater the risk of developing heart disease, according to the Swedish study of 3,122 male workers published in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal.

In fact, someone who has worked for a bad boss for at least four years raises the risk of heart disease by 64 per cent, said Anna Nyberg, the study's lead researcher and a psychologist at Karolinska Institute's Department of Public Health Sciences in Stockholm.

A good boss, conversely, lowers the risk of a heart attack.

The study claimed to be the first to show evidence of the link between managerial behaviour and heart disease among employees.

Previous research has shown lousy leadership can cause increased depression and mental illness among staff.

To help be better bosses, managers must clearly explain goals so that employees understand what they are supposed to do, Ms. Nyberg said.

“We haven't done this [study] to put blame on managers but to find a way to enhance the work environment. Managers are just as stressed as employees,” she added.

Nonetheless “bosses who are inconsiderate and who don't respect or appreciate the time and energy that their employees put into their job or who don't clearly define how the employee's efforts contribute to the company are causing a great deal of stress within their team,” said Canadian workplace specialist Beverly Beuermann-King in a release.

“Our stress reactions build over time and can go from the good to the bad, to the very ugly. We can start out by working harder to please, but after a while we can't keep up that pace and we start to have headaches, neck pain, stomach upset, restless sleep or we become tense and less patient,” Ms. Beuermann-King said.

Eventually, it can spiral into health problems such as insomnia and depression and, for some people, the increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

“Providing structure, information and support can absolutely counteract this stress and help employees find the right strategies to deal with today's work pressures,” Ms. Beuermann-King said.

15-minute of fame a bit too long?

2008-11-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

I got bored tonight after all the 24/7 working regime, which my amazing roommate still practices endlessly, so I decided to check out the young adult group here at Emmanuel Baptists. This Sunday night was an illustration of the "49 Up" documentary from the legendary producer Michael Apted. An amazing footprint of the participants at each critical stage of their life, every 7-year. It was a combination of awe and joy for some, and sorrow and regret for others, but the general outlook, I think, was neutral on the basis that the successful ones compensate the uneventful stories of not so fortunates. We have few people living the lives of their dream. We have the lonely academic, who eventually found his love at his early forties. We have grandparents, educators, lawyers, labours, housewives, and even a homeless person, whom in the span of 7 years, transformed into a political party candidate. This documentary is truly one of a kind, a critical examination of our own lives, the purpose it sustains, and the final optimistic outlook endowed upon us.

I say once again that we are to "work to live, but not to live the work," and may the binding and 24/7 working hour come to an end in the future yet to come.

It is true, we all had or will have our fifteen minutes of fame, but for some that stretches eons.

What truly scares me is the reminiscence of what I will become after living with my roommate, a post-doctoral researcher from China, after almost one year. Once I have taken on the step of Ph.D., my future in four years would be foretold as I will be a slave to the workaholic fashion of a Chinese Ph.D. candidate. Basically to fulfill the regiment of a 24/7 working schedule and be enslaved by the number of publications which you must sustain in order to abide by the agreement between you and your supervisor. Now, that is sad, by definition, sad. :(

Is there anyway to go around it?

Working 24/7

2008-11-15T00:44:00.000-08:00

So far in my life I have met two post-doctoral researchers, one playful, one workaholic. The playful one has a girlfriend, a life, friends, colleagues and professors to support. He has a steady job in a well-known communications company in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver. The workaholic is alone, emotionally desperate, single, no friends beside other colleagues, no friends besides the work circle, lives the life of a prisoner (not kidding, literally like a prisoner) and is bounded to his research. I just sincerely hope that once I have walk down this path of being a doctoral student that I would not become a workaholic, working 24/7, but enjoying life and what has been given to us, the privileged earthlings, from God.

I sincerely hope that the research I will endow upon will not bind me but free me from all eternity and beyond. May God, the Almighty, provide me with the strength to carry on the work I do but not to imprison what are rightfully mine.

First generation immigrants

2008-11-08T00:45:00.000-08:00

After befriending with a few true first generation immigrants from the weekly bible study, I can finally feel how privileged and lucky I am to be a "fake" first generation immigrant. We are the privileged bunch with a strong foundation in root even before our migration towards the foreign work force. How privileged are we exactly? Some of us even have living expense(s), real estate(s), account(s), car(s) and family member(s) all within grasp, all registered under our names, all under our reach even before we take on a formal job, even before we can experience the hardship of earning money, even before we start supporting a family of our own. If that is not called privilege, what is? The "fake" first generations are even "worth" more than an average Canadian from a Caucasian family! I have seen too many children, sons and daughters of the first generation gone to waste, wasting their lives away under the lavish and extravagant lifestyles of their "privileged" class, only to fall back to the cushion of a system protecting them so well, without ever having to oblige on support themselves. I only sincerely wish that the path which I will stroll on in the next month or two would not forsake the hopes and dreams of my guardians, my bloodlines, and my generation. May I cherish, nourish, and flourish what has being put forth from now until the end time beyond.

Let's not forget, forever that we are the privileged bunch!!! And, may we return the favor one day so our lineage may trickle unhindered until the end of time.

Dawn of a New Era and good riddance to Old!

2008-11-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

After the eight-year turmoil under George W. Bush, the American people has finally waken up by electing the honourable Mr. Barack Obama as the forty-forth President of the United States. Effectively putting an end to the dwindling and stagnating era of Mr. Bush, his Republican and business cohorts, and bringing forth a new dawn for the land of hopes and dreams that American once was decades ago. I salute to you, Americans, for your boldness, tolerance and enthusiasm when it comes to the betterment of the next generation in this twenty-first century.

On the other hand, McCain and Palin campaign is falling apart. Good riddance!

The resurgence of anti-Western sentiment in China, thank you Wall Street!

2008-10-17T00:59:00.000-07:00

Old sentiment being bloated into a disproportional size, especially after the recent rock n' roll of Wall Street and the global finance sector. Well, what can you do? Being patriotic is one thing, but being brainwashed by the corrupted doctrine is another. Wake up, China!

A lot of the Mainlander I are all quite anti-West. But for their purpose of getting a Westernized education, understand some Western ideologies before heading straight back home to patronize their country, that ain't so bad. Especially, when most of them are already either middle or upper class citizens in China, turning a blind eye on the impoverished and injustice may serve them well when job-security hinges on no whistle blowing. Even I would say "why not?" But then again that is capitalism at its finest. ;)

Meltdown boosts anti-Western forces in China

GEOFFREY YORK

From Friday's Globe and Mail

October 16, 2008 at 8:43 PM EDT

BEIJING — For the hardliners in China's Communist Party, the global financial crisis has been a golden opportunity to gloat about China's rising power.

“China should no longer be sympathetic and kind toward the United States at this rare moment,” said a commentary this week in Ta Kung Pao, a newspaper in Hong Kong with close links to the Communist Party.

“It should seize the opportunity to teach the United States a lesson,” the newspaper declared. “At the very least, the United States should be made to suffer a little bit more, so that it will learn to be more modest and prudent in the future and treat other countries as equals.”

Since the United States could need financial help from China to get out of its crisis, China should use the chance to extract American concessions on key political issues such as Taiwan and Tibet, the newspaper added.

Although the newspaper is financed by Beijing, the commentary probably does not reflect the mainstream views of China's Communist leaders. But it suggests how the financial crisis is boosting the confidence and influence of anti-Western forces in China, including the old-guard factions that are resisting free-market reforms.

While the Chinese leaders have been muted in their public response to the financial meltdown in the United States, a behind-the-scenes struggle can be glimpsed in the Chinese media. Pro-market liberals are urging Beijing to push ahead with more economic reforms, despite the crisis. Others are exploiting the crisis to proclaim the supremacy of the Chinese system, with its heavy state controls.

The debate comes at a critical time for the country. As it prepares to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its first steps toward free-market capitalism, China still has an unfinished agenda of incomplete reforms. Rural land is still not privately owned. Energy prices are set by the government. The nation's currency is not freely traded. Key sectors such as banking are still dominated by state-controlled companies.

The financial crisis is prompting China to rethink its future. Many liberals are worried that China will use the crisis as an excuse to ditch the reform agenda. They fret that the anti-reform forces could cite the U.S. bailout plan as proof of the need for state dominance in the economy.

“If we take emergency action as normal practice – and second-guess our belief in the free market for China – we might delay China's own market reform,” Hu Shuli, founding editor of Caijing, an influential Chinese financial magazine, said in an editorial this week.

“The current crisis is yet another test. Can we continue the reform? Can we draw a clear line between market and government? The answer will determine China's future.”

A similar note was struck by Ha Jiming, chief economist of China International Capital Corp. “China's future hinges on reforms,” he wrote this month. “Given the latest developments in the global economy, China's reforms have come to a new starting point ...”

But many other Chinese commentators said the financial crisis was evidence that China should not “blindly embrace” liberalism. “Many of the problems of the free-market system have been fully exposed,” said a commentary in Xinhua, the state news agency. “China should take a lesson from the American crisis and be cautious.”

On Chinese websites, some people are citing the crisis as the symbolic moment of China's ascendancy to superpower status, just as the Second World War marked the ascendancy of the United States. “The economic crisis this time is a redistribution of the economic powers of the world,” one person wrote on a website. “China has to be prepared for … a new order.”

The Chinese media gave prominent coverage to a conference in Beijing this week where speakers attacked the United States and globalization in the wake of the financial crisis. One conference organizer said China should “play a leading role” in a “new financial structure” to replace the existing global system. Another participant called for a “multipolarized world,” – code for a system without U.S. dominance.

Willy Lam, a political analyst and professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the financial crisis will encourage the Chinese government to maintain the status quo – rather than pursue reforms – over the next two years.

“The Chinese leadership is putting its emphasis on stability and growth, not reform,” Mr. Lam said in an interview.

“The leadership is reasonably satisfied with the situation. It seems to have proven that the Chinese model is correct. It feels confident that the cautious policy is the right policy.”

The look of love

2008-10-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

A classic from Diana Krall. We all need a little bit of love these days, especially to endure this financial disaster. :)

"The Look Of Love"

The look of love is in your eyes
A look your smile can't disguise
The look of love is saying so much more than just words could ever say
And what my heart has heard, well it takes my breath away

I can hardly wait to hold you, feel my arms around you
How long I have waited
Waited just to love you, now that I have found you

You've got the
Look of love, it's on your face
A look that time can't erase
Be mine tonight, let this be just the start of so many nights like this
Let's take a lover's vow and then seal it with a kiss

I can hardly wait to hold you, feel my arms around you
How long I have waited
Waited just to love you, now that I have found you
Don't ever go
Don't ever go
I love you so

An end to the big red machine?

2008-10-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

In the global arena of international trade, a weakening of a gigantic economic power would eventually affect all other major players, irrespective of how strong their economy may be or pretend to be. China, being a net exporter to sustain the North American consumers, would undoubtedly feel the pinch in the oncoming years, when consumers reign in their buying instincts and shun away from Wal-Mart. Indeed, the red machine is hitting speed bump and will halt sooner or later despite what other "experts" may say.

Big red machine hits speed bump

GEOFFREY YORK AND ANDY HOFFMAN

From Monday's Globe and Mail

October 12, 2008 at 10:45 PM EDT

BEIJING AND TORONTO — Less than two months after the excitement of the Beijing Olympics, the economic news from China has suddenly taken a turn for the worse.

Auto sales are slumping. The stock market is nose diving. Developers are offering heavy discounts to promote their unsold houses and apartments.

Even in an economy that is still expected to grow at an impressive 10 per cent this year, the hints of trouble are worrisome. And the problems are concentrated in industries such as construction and automobiles, which have major implications for the commodities that Canada produces.

The slowdown in China is already causing a drop in global commodity prices. This slump could continue for the next year or two, analysts say.

“When you add it up, it's bad news for commodity prices in the short term,” said Arthur Kroeber of Dragonomics, a research firm specializing in the Chinese economy.

“Commodity prices had unrealistically high expectations of Chinese demand built into them,” he said. “We had to have a correction. It will be really bad for the next year, as we see an unwinding of those unrealistic expectations.”

Shares of Canadian mining companies have been decimated in a matter of weeks on the sudden grim reality of falling Chinese demand for commodities. Teck Cominco Ltd., in the process of closing a $14-billion (U.S.) takeover of Fording Canadian Coal Trust, has seen its shares lose nearly a third of their value in a week.

“Everyone's mindset has been affected. This is the most severe thing we've ever seen. You and I have never seen anything like this. Basically, no one in the market has seen anything like it, “ Don Lindsay, Teck's president and chief executive, said in an interview.

The latest data from China are not encouraging. China's passenger car sales, which had grown by 18.5 per cent in the first half of this year, have now declined for two consecutive months. Sales fell by 6.2 per cent in August and a further 1.4 per cent in September.

The property sector is equally weak. Apartment prices have dropped by 10 to 20 per cent in many Chinese cities, and real-estate websites are filled with promotions from developers offering discounts to potential buyers. A leading Chinese financial magazine, Caijing, describes the nation's property market as “a grim scene of slow sales, price cuts and failed land auctions.”

The price cuts have been heaviest in southern Chinese cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where real-estate prices have dropped by up to 40 per cent in the past year. But even in Beijing, after the Olympic boom, preconstruction sales of residential units fell 76 per cent in September from the same month of last year.

The slump in auto sales and housing construction is having a serious impact on commodities such as steel, copper, iron ore and coking coal. Half of China's steel demand is derived from the property market. Copper wiring in new apartment buildings is a major source of Chinese demand for copper.

“If consumers sit on the sidelines for three months waiting for housing prices to drop, the short-term impact could be fairly severe as people try to clear inventories,” said Howard Balloch, a former Canadian ambassador to China who now heads an investment bank in Beijing. “There's a price correction going on, and core demand is slowing down.”

Chinese consumers are nervous about the market meltdowns and other economic trends, he said. “They're less willing to take on auto financing. They'll delay all sorts of discretionary spending.”

In the long run, however, commodity prices will be pulled back up by China's underlying trends, including the massive migration of rural people to its cities and the government's huge investment in infrastructure such as subways and trains, Mr. Balloch said.

China insisted Sunday that its “overall economic situation” is still good. “The economy is growing quickly and the financial sector is operating steadily,” the ruling Communist Party said in a statement at the end of a four-day meeting of its Central Committee. “The basic momentum of the country's economy remains unchanged.”

But the party admitted that “contradictions and problems” exist in the Chinese economy. “We must enhance our sense of peril and actively respond to challenges,” it said.

The growth of China's manufacturing exports has been slowing because of the weakening of U.S. demand. The Chinese government is trying to boost domestic demand by cutting interest rates, and Mr. Balloch predicts that it will take other measures to stimulate the economy.

Others are highly skeptical that the government will be able to counteract the effects of the U.S. slowdown and the global financial crisis. “The government can't just spend its way out of this,” said Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Beijing University.

“Many of the government's tools simply don't work any more,” he said. “My guess is that commodity prices will soften for the next two years. They were extremely sensitive to the high growth expectations.”

The unprecedented seven-year bull run in commodities, which has been a key driver of the strong Canadian economy, appears all but over.

Analysts are now ratcheting back their commodity price assumptions on the belief that a global economic slowdown will sap demand for resources such as copper, nickel and coal.

Canaccord Adams, a major player in the mining sector, particularly in the junior mining space, slashed 2009 copper price estimates last week from $3.34 (U.S.) a pound to $2 a pound, a decline of more than 40 per cent.

“Global demand is slowing and that includes China. The copper market and commodities in general have had a really good run here,” Canaccord Adams analyst Orest Wowkodaw said in an interview. “Unfortunately, we think we're going to take a pause in the sense that the consumption levels have to come down given the global slowdown we think is happening. The equities are being revalued as an investment class.”

In the hardest evidence yet of the slowing demand, Russian steel giant OAO Severstal last week said it is cutting steel production by as much as 30 per cent because of the sudden shift in industrial demand.

“Demand for all commodities has to slow if credit is tight. There is no way that investment and growth can continue in the levels that we've seen in this type of environment,” Mr. Wowkodaw said.

Financial chaos bites the dragon

2008-10-10T02:21:00.000-07:00

I feel this is worth a post, even at 2:21 AM in the morning. :)

Yes, nowhere is immune to the ongoing financial disaster we're seeing down in the state, not even my own shares of mutual fund. :)

Financial chaos bites the dragon

GEOFFREY YORK

From Friday's Globe and Mail

October 10, 2008 at 1:35 AM EDT

BEIJING — For more than a decade, Yang Zhong has profited from the capitalist system. The 39-year-old Beijing businessman earns a comfortable income by buying and selling stocks on Chinese stock markets, the ultimate expression of confidence in global finance.

But his latest investment – about $160,000 that he sunk into Chinese stocks this spring – is looking increasingly disastrous. He estimates that he has lost almost 70 per cent of his money as China's markets have plummeted.

“Look at one of the stocks that I bought, Chongqing Brewery,” he said yesterday, pointing gloomily to the giant electronic screen at a trading hall. “I bought it at 35.9 yuan and now it's at 8.21 yuan. My money has disappeared.”

His losses are now so severe that they have spilled over into his other investments. He was planning to buy a new apartment, but he cancelled the purchase.
A Chinese man walks past a billboard promoting a new property development under construction in Shanghai on Oct. 9, 2008.

“I'm worried that the declines will continue,” he said. “The global financial crisis will affect the lives of the Chinese people sooner or later. In my opinion, the Chinese stock market won't improve for the next three years at least.”

The glum mood is spreading across China's financial community as the global market meltdown continues. A slowdown in its exports, a slump in its construction industry and a collapse in its stock markets have dented China's self-confidence at a crucial time when it was expected to be an engine of world growth.

A year ago, the Beijing trading hall of China Galaxy Securities Co. was a crowded and noisy place, bustling with the excited activity of new investors and traders. Dozens of people stood in queues every day to open their first trading accounts.

Yesterday it was a much more subdued and morose scene. The queues had disappeared. Investors sat quietly in chairs, talking in low voices or watching in silence as their stocks lost value.

Many of China's small-time investors are “recession virgins,” as some analysts call them. They've only seen the boom years. They've never experienced an era when the world is slipping toward a recession, with banks collapsing and markets tumbling. While most Chinese remain confident that their economy will survive, their nerves are rattled.

Qi Fan, a 72-year-old pensioner, says he invested 100,000 yuan (almost $17,000) in the Chinese stock market from his pension income and his savings. Now he has less than a third of his money. The main Shanghai market index has lost two-thirds of its value in the past year, and it plunged a further 9.5 per cent this week after a brief recovery last month.

“Most of us investors are upset and feeling depressed,” Mr. Qi said yesterday. “I have no confidence that the Chinese markets can recover in such a terrible international situation. The U.S. economy is in serious trouble now, and I think an international depression is inevitable.”

He fears that the damage will go far beyond the stock market. “I think China's economy will definitely be affected by the global problems. A sharp drop in exports to the U.S. will affect a lot of exporting companies, and unemployment will follow. What can I do now? I feel helpless.”

Another investor, a 35-year-old man who gave his surname as Wang, said he managed to get out of the stock market near its peak. But he predicted years of stagnation in Chinese markets. He calls it a “war of resistance” against the crisis – borrowing a term from China's war against Japanese invaders in the 1930s and 1940s.

This siege mentality, in turn, could dampen China's economic growth. “In a climate like this, people will tend to postpone their spending,” said Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Beijing University. “The people I know are very worried, very aware of it and nervous about it.”

Many Chinese commentators are eager to blame the United States as the villain of the current crisis. State newspapers, attacking the “greed” of Wall Street bankers, have accused Washington of a lax monetary policy. Some Chinese media have proclaimed the end of U.S. global dominance.

Most analysts expect China's economy to keep growing at a substantial pace for the foreseeable future, but that growth could slow to 7 or 8 per cent next year, down from the current 10 per cent, as China suffers a slowdown of export growth and a sharp decline of 15 to 20 per cent in property prices.

“The blood of the global economy has begun to freeze right from its heart – the United States,” said Ha Jiming, chief economist at China International Capital Corp., in a research note yesterday. He predicted a deceleration of China's economic growth for at least the next three years.

With a report from Yu Mei in Beijing.

Happy Melaween everyone!

2008-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Or should I say a melamine-infested Halloween? I'm sure you are very much aware of what's happening with this melamine business in China. Seriously, when are we going to learn that no safe food and produce ever come out from China? Contrary to what the Chinese may say or argue, a country which bases its constitution on an atheistic doctrine is a country of no morale, no conscience and no virtue to speak of. This is especially true for a place where religious freedom is severely handicapped and any religious practice, unless sanctioned by the state, being abolished without any regards. When capitalism outweighs the already eroding morale value, a disaster of unforeseen magnitude is usually waiting to emerge, just is the case with the Sanlu milk tainting scandal.

Put it another way. The ultimate motive of China is to poison and rid of the free-thinkers, dare takers and freedom fighters, by any means necessary, even if it would result in death to its own people.

China, Space Weapons and US Security

2008-10-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

An article I found online that may be of interest to some of you. At least it is to me since it has something to do with the security of the Republic of China, i.e., Taiwan. Enjoy~

China, Space Weapons, and U.S. Security

Author:
Bruce W. MacDonald
Council on Foreign Relations Press

September 2008
DOWNLOAD THE FULL TEXT OF THE REPORT HERE (1.6 MB PDF)

Overview

China’s successful test of an anti-satellite weapon in 2007, followed by the U.S. destruction earlier this year of an out-of-control U.S. satellite, demonstrated that space may soon no longer remain a relative sanctuary from military conflict.

As the United States, China, and others increasingly benefit from the information that military and intelligence satellites provide, the temptation to attack these satellites provides troubling potential for instability and conflict in space that could dramatically affect U.S. military capabilities on earth.

In this Council Special Report, Bruce W. MacDonald illuminates the strategic landscape of this new military space competition and highlights the dangers and opportunities the United States confronts in the space arena. He recognizes that advancing technology has likely made some degree of offensive space capability inevitable but calls on the United States to draw upon all instruments of U.S. power, including a reinvigorated space diplomacy, to lead in establishing a more stable and secure space environment. To this end, he spotlights a series of pragmatic policy, programmatic, and diplomatic steps the United States should take to strengthen its security interests in space and help reduce the chances that the military benefits of space will be cut off when the United States may most need them. In addition, these steps would serve important U.S. and Chinese economic interests and open new channels of communication and understanding between the mid-twenty-first century’s likely two leading powers. This timely report breaks new ground in thinking about the space dimension of U.S. security interests and its growing effect on U.S. security in the twenty-first century, and will be especially useful to those who are unfamiliar with the role of space in U.S. security.
The Author
Bruce W. MacDonald is an independent consultant in technology and national security policy management. From 1995 to 1999, he was assistant director for national security at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as well as senior director for science and technology on the National Security Council staff. Earlier, Mr. MacDonald was a professional staff member on the House Armed Services Committee and was defense and foreign policy adviser to Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AK). He also worked for the State Department as a nuclear weapons and technology specialist in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, where he led the Interagency START Policy Working Group, served on the U.S. START delegation in Geneva, and dealt with space and missile defense issues. He also supported the OSD SALT Task Force as staff scientist at System Planning Corporation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior director of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. Mr. MacDonald holds a BSE from Princeton in aerospace engineering and two master’s degrees, also from Princeton—one in aerospace engineering, specializing in rocket propulsion, and a second in public and international affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School. He has authored a number of technical and policy papers and reports.

Author:	Bruce W. MacDonald

Pot head or exhibitionism?

2008-09-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how degrading the federal NDP candidates are? Is the honourable Jack Layton the only literate in his party of scoundrels and thieves? You better choose one Jack, otherwise, we the electoral body would have to choose one for you. Pot head or exhibitionism, you decide?

Yes, the Election is coming up for Canada's next prime minister, and sadly it'll probably be a replay of the last election.

Karma Police - Radiohead

2008-09-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

A classic from Radiohead in their "Ok Computer" album. Quite impressive in beat, rhythm and music composition, I love it! Like their "House of Cards," feels like you are in a trance. :)

Karma Police
Arrest this man
He talks in maths
He buzzes like a fridge
He's like a detuned radio

Karma Police
Arrest this girl
Her Hitler hairdo
Is making me feel ill
And we have crashed her party

This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
When you mess with us

Karma Police
I've given all I can
It's not enough
I've given all I can
But we're still on the payroll

This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
This is what you'll get
When you mess with us

For a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

Phew, for a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

For a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

Phew, for a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

Home - Michael Buble

2008-09-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this song to those of you who is either away from home or does not have the privilege to enjoy the daily reunion which would otherwise be possible if you are a part of the functional family, for whatsoever reason unforeseen or otherwise. That being said, I think I'm also within this bracket I defined. Anyways... ;)

Michael Buble

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
"I'm fine baby, how are you?"
Well I would send them but I know that it's just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another airplane
Another sunny place
I'm lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I've got to go home

Let me go home
I'm just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life
It's like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
'Cause this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I'm surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I've had my run
Baby, I'm done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I'll be home tonight
I'm coming back home

After Glow of Games, What Next for China?

2008-08-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

Another well articulated article from NY Times. Read on, I say.

After Glow of Games, What Next for China?
By JIM YARDLEY
Published: August 24, 2008

BEIJING — The elaborate closing ceremony that ended the Olympic Games on Sunday also ended nearly a decade in which the ruling Communist Party had made the Games an organizing principle in national life. Almost nothing has superseded the Olympics as a political priority in China.

For Chinese leaders, all that effort paid off. The Games were seen as an unparalleled success by most Chinese — a record medal count inspired nationwide excitement, and Beijing impressed foreign visitors with its hospitality and efficiency. And while the government’s uncompromising suppression of dissent drew criticism, China also demonstrated to a global audience that it is a rising economic and political power.

But a new, post-Olympic era has begun. The question now is whether a deepening self-confidence arising from the Olympic experience will lead China to further its engagement with the world and pursue deeper political reform, or whether the success of the Games and the muted Western response to repression will convince leaders that their current model is working.

“China was eager to present something that shows it is a new power that has its own might,” said Shen Dingli, a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. “It has problems, but it is able to manage them. It has weaknesses in its institutions, but also strengths in those same institutions.”

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, declared Sunday afternoon that selecting Beijing as a host had been the “right choice” and that the event had been a bridge between China and the rest of the world. “The world has learned about China, and China has learned about the world,” Mr. Rogge said. “I believe this is something that will have positive effects for the long term.”

To a large degree, the Beijing Games reflected the might of the centralized power of China’s authoritarian system: The stunning sports stadiums contributed to a $43 billion price tag for the Games that was almost completely absorbed by the state. China’s 51 gold medals, the most of any nation, were the product of a state-controlled sports machine. Those successes are one reason that some analysts doubt Chinese leaders will rush to change the status quo.

“They have earned a tremendous amount of face because of the Olympics,” said Hung Huang, a media executive in Beijing. “They are going to ride on that for a while. We don’t have a culture that is pro-change. China, by nature, has got to be provoked to make changes. The economic reforms came about because we were desperately poor.”

Indeed, for all the attention to the Olympics, 2008 also marks the 30th anniversary of China’s initial embrace of the market reforms that have powered the country’s rapid economic rise. As the population becomes more urban and wealthy, the leadership will probably have to contend with rising expectations and demands for better services. Liberals in China have hoped this anniversary would inspire new reforms, especially to a political system still marred by corruption and a lack of transparency.

But critics say that the Olympics have underscored the deep resistance within the Communist Party to becoming more tolerant of dissent. The party had faced a procession of crises during the prelude to the Olympics: the violent Tibetan protests that began in March, the protests during the international Olympic torch relay, and the devastating May earthquake in Sichuan Province.

Protests seemed inevitable during the Games, and the authorities initially seemed to signal more openness toward legal dissent when they announced three designated protest zones in city parks.

But those zones remained empty. Chinese citizens made formal applications to protest, but none were approved during the Games. Two elderly women who applied to protest about a land dispute were sentenced to a labor and re-education prison camp. Meanwhile, eight Americans were among a group of foreigners jailed after they tried to demonstrate about China’s Tibet policies. The authorities released the Americans on Sunday and placed them on a flight to Los Angeles as the closing ceremony began.

“For the Chinese authorities to sentence them at all shows the government’s insecurity and intolerance of even the most peaceful challenges to its authoritarian control,” Students for a Free Tibet, a New York-based advocacy group, said in a statement.

Even so, the Communist Party most likely won the overall public relations battle, given the enormous television coverage, largely positive, that the Olympics brought to Beijing. David Shambaugh, a China specialist at George Washington University in Washington, said the Games were a “win-win” for the party and bolstered its international image. But Mr. Shambaugh said that success would be more meaningful if it increased national confidence in a way that allowed China to move past simmering historical grievances that erupted this year, especially during the Tibet crises.

He said the Games should help China put a symbolic end to its self-described “century of humiliation” that saw the country weakened by foreign intervention that began during the second half of the 19th century. “I would hope that we would look back at this as a major threshold of when China ditched all its baggage of the historical narrative of aggrieved nationalism,” Mr. Shambaugh said, “and just rewrote that narrative and began to act with more confidence about itself and its role in the world.”

No issue poses a more immediate test than Tibet. In October, the Chinese authorities are expected to meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. The Communist Party renewed that dialogue after the March crisis, but some analysts questioned whether Chinese officials had agreed to the talks merely to defuse international criticism in advance of the Games. With the Olympics now concluded, China’s willingness to engage in real negotiations will be closely watched.

“That’s going to be a really good test case,” Mr. Shambaugh said.

Beneath the sphere of geopolitics, many analysts were impressed with ordinary citizens in Beijing during the Games. The authorities had worried that the angry strain of nationalism that erupted during the Tibet crisis might mar the Games with local crowds jeering other teams. But little of that came to pass.

Fans even enthusiastically greeted the return of Lang Ping, a volleyball legend in China who now lives in the United States and coaches the United States women’s volleyball team — and guided the United States to a victory over the Chinese team.

Yu Zhou, a Beijing native who is now a professor of geography at Vassar College, returned for the Games and described the positive public mood and welcoming attitude as proof that enhanced national self-esteem would serve as a moderating influence on China. “I would like China to be more confident,” Ms. Yu said. “I think that would make China and Chinese become more tolerant and open.”

Any Olympic host city experiences a blend of letdown and relief once the torch is extinguished, and Beijing is likely to be no different. Major problems will need attention. The relatively blue skies during the Games were achieved only by restrictions that removed two million vehicles from the streets of Beijing and forced the temporary shutdown of many factories around the region. The city’s air pollution, which ranks among the worst in the world, will return when the restrictions are lifted after the conclusion of the Paralympics in late September.

“Beijing will return to being, well, cloudy — full of smog,” said Mr. Shen, the Fudan University professor.

He predicted that the Olympics would raise public expectations. He said Beijing residents, having enjoyed startlingly nice weather during the Games, will demand that officials find ways to keep the skies clearer.

He said the Games would bolster national confidence and help “make China a more normal country.” But he added that the country still had many problems and should not try to hide them or pretend they did not exist.

“With its increase of wealth, China is entering a stage where it needs to have better transparency, good governance and more accountability,” Mr. Shen said. “This Olympics is a good start for us to think about how China is strong — and where we are weak.”

Viva La Vida - Coldplay

2008-08-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

It's here! The official Viva La Vida video from Coldplay. :D

If you are interested in the original post, go here.

Is Beijing cheating its way throughout the Olympics?

2008-08-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

How could they do that? Being an honest host and all, and abide by the regulation and standard set by the I.O.C.? But with nationalism, pride and arrogance seriously endangered, a little bit of Chinese tweaking wouldn't hurt at all. Especially after miming at the opening ceremony, you would have thought Beijing would have learned a lesson. But, hey, if they can go by once without suspicion and detection, why not do it all the way? Especially considering the advantage of being the authoritarian host. Cover-up is just a piece of cake and could happen without a stir from the critics.

Why do they cheat? I seriously doubt on the effectiveness of cheating when you consider China trains its athlete as young as 4 on his/hers designated sport! In any case, Beijing may have not rigged the Game, but then someone is saying otherwise.

Is He Kexin really underage? That would be extremely hard to prove, given it is "a walk in the park" for the authoritarian regime to rigged the Game. Truth shall be told, 20 years from now. Just like the good ol' Soviet days when taking steroids is a sport. :P

Too Old and Frail to Re-educate? Not in China

2008-08-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've been quite busy in recent weeks so don't have time to digest the news and present a more meaningful view of what's happening in China. In any case, here's a decent article on the recent event in Beijing regarding the erosion of rights. China has yet to fulfill and abide by what it has argued so fervently prior to bidding for the Olympics in Beijing - that of alleviating suppression and enhancing individual rights, the rights to congregate, the rights to religious freedom and the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Has it done that? You be the judge!

Too Old and Frail to Re-educate? Not in China
By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: August 20, 2008

BEIJING — In the annals of people who have struggled against Communist Party rule, Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying are unlikely to merit even a footnote.

The two women, both in their late 70s, have never spoken out against China's authoritarian government. Both walk with the help of a cane, and Ms. Wang is blind in one eye. Their grievance, receiving insufficient compensation when their homes were seized for redevelopment, is perhaps the most common complaint among Chinese displaced during the country’s long streak of fast economic growth.

But the Beijing police still sentenced the two women to an extrajudicial term of “re-education through labor” this week for applying to hold a legal protest in a designated area in Beijing, where officials promised that Chinese could hold demonstrations during the Olympic Games.

They became the most recent examples of people punished for submitting applications to protest. A few would-be demonstrators have simply disappeared, at least for the duration of the Games, squelching already diminished hopes that the influx of foreigners and the prestige of holding the Games would push China’s leaders to relax their tight grip on political expression.

“Can you imagine two old ladies in their 70s being re-educated through labor?” asked Li Xuehui, Ms. Wu’s son, who said the police told the two women that their sentence might remain in suspension if they stayed at home and stopped asking for permission to protest.

“I feel very sad and angry because we’re only asking for the basic right of living and it’s been six years, but nobody will do anything to help,” Mr. Li said.

It is unclear why the police have detained people who sought permission to protest. Some political analysts say the police may be refusing to enforce the government’s order, announced last month, to allow protest zones. Chinese lawyers and human rights advocates also suggested a more cynical motivation — that the authorities were using the possibility of legal demonstrations as a ploy to lure restive citizens into declaring their intention to protest, allowing the police to take action against them.

When the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to Beijing in 2001, ignoring critics who said China should not be rewarded for repression, its president, Jacques Rogge, offered assurances that the Games would invariably spur China toward greater openness.

But prospects dimmed even before the opening ceremony, when overseas journalists arrived to discover that China’s promise to provide uncensored Internet access was riddled with caveats. The ensuing uproar did persuade the government to unblock some politically sensitive Web sites, but many others, including those that discuss Tibet and the banned spiritual group Falun Gong, remain inaccessible at the Olympic press center.

The announcement that the police had set up protest zones was first greeted as a positive if modest step that could allow Chinese a new channel to voice grievances otherwise ignored by party officials and the state media.

“In order to ensure smooth traffic flow, a nice environment and good social order, we will invite these participants to hold their demonstrations in designated places,” Liu Shaowu, the security director for Beijing’s Olympic organizing committee, said at a news conference. He described the creation of three so-called protest zones and suggested that a simple application process would provide Chinese citizens an avenue for free expression, a right that has long been enshrined in China’s Constitution but in reality is rarely granted.

But with four days left before the closing ceremony, the authorities acknowledge that they have yet to allow a single protest. They claim that most of the people who filed applications had their grievances addressed, obviating the need for a public expression of discontent.

Chinese activists say they are not surprised that the promise proved illusory. Li Fangping, a lawyer who has been arrested and beaten for his dogged representation of rights advocates, said there was no way the government would allow protesters to expose some of China’s most vexing problems, among them systemic corruption, environmental degradation and the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of residents for projects related to the Olympics.

“For Chinese petitioners, if their protest applications were approved, it would lead to a chain reaction of others seeking to voice their problems as well,” Mr. Li said.

During the past two decades, China has embraced a market economy and shed some of the more onerous restrictions that dictated where people could live, whom they could marry and whether they could leave the country. But with political dissent and religious freedom, the government has been unrelenting.

In theory, the Communist Party allows citizens to lobby the central government on matters of local corruption, the illegal seizure of land and extralegal detentions. In reality, those who arrive at Beijing’s petition office are often met at the door by plainclothes officers who stop them from filing their complaints and then bundle them back to their hometowns. Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again.

Daniel A. Bell, who teaches political theory at Tsinghua University in Beijing, suggested that Western political leaders and rights advocates were naïve to think that the Olympics would lead to looser restrictions. Although Chinese have come to enjoy greater freedoms in the past two decades, progress has been largely stalled in the years leading up to the Olympics as officials worked to ensure that nothing would interfere with them.

In recent months, the pressure has only intensified: scores of rights lawyers and political dissenters have been detained, and even the armies of migrant workers who built the Olympic stadiums have been encouraged to leave town, lest their disheveled appearances detract from the image of a clean, modern nation.

“When you have guests coming over for dinner, you clean up the house and tell the children not to argue,” Mr. Bell said.

While the demands of Ms. Wu, 79, and Ms. Wang, 77, the protest applicants, might be seen as harmless, they threatened to expose the systemic problems that bedevil the lives of millions of Chinese. Like many disenchanted citizens, the two women, former neighbors, were seeking to draw attention to a government-backed real estate deal that promised to give them apartments in the new development that replaced their homes not far from Tiananmen Square. Six years later, they are living in ramshackle apartments on the outskirts of the city, and their demands for compensation have gone unanswered.

On Monday, when they returned to the police station to follow up on their protest applications, the women were told they had been sentenced to one year at a labor camp for “disturbing public order.” For the moment, the women have been allowed to return to their homes, but they have been warned that they could be sent to a detention center at any moment, relatives said.

Officials say that they received 77 protest applications but that nearly all of them were dropped after the complaints were “properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.”

At a news conference on Wednesday, Wang Wei, the vice president of Beijing’s Olympic organizing committee, was asked about the lack of protests. He said it showed the system was working. “I’m glad to hear that over 70 protest issues have been solved through consultation, dialogue,” he said. “This is a part of Chinese culture.”

But human rights advocates say that instead of pointing the way toward a more open society, the Olympics have put China’s political controls on display.

“Given this moment when the international spotlight is shining on China, when so much of the international media are in Beijing, it’s unfathomable why the authorities are intensifying social control,” said Sharon Hom, the executive director of Human Rights in China. “The truth is they’re sending a clear and disturbing message, one they’re not even trying to hide, which is we’re not even interested in hearing dissenting voices.”

Let the games be doped, why not?

2008-08-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

With China dominating over other competitors in the Beijing Olympics, the fervent training routines and massive investment of its domestic athletes has finally paid off. It is no longer a game of spirit and sportsmanship, but rather a mockery of sports investment and budgetary overhauls, with more fundings more returns and vice versa. The reigning champions, China and USA, are a showcase of this glorious system. Especially China, with its 1.3 billion potential participants and a wealth of bank roll, it can afford multitudes of 24/7 militaristic training per athlete for over 600 athletes, without putting a dent on its national budget. So are the athletes really amateurs? Or, are they whole bunch of hormone-driven chimpanzees synchronized to the movements of a specific sport after gazillion rehearsals? Sadly this is the reality, so do not be surprised at the outcome of the XXIX Summer Olympiad.

Let the games be doped? I say why not? At least it'll be more balanced this way, don't you think so? ;)

China's Leaders Are Resilient in Face of Change

2008-08-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Another well articulated article from NY Times on the changing face of China and the inherent problem of a one state system. For those of you who can't go around NY Times' impulsive registration, I'm quoting this article in full. Hopefully it is not plagiarism since I'm too lazy to summarize. :)

One thing to note. No wonder you see people from China coming abroad with a wealth of substance. The upper echelon has already siphoned off enough materialistic goods from the lower that they're no longer deemed useful. The exploitation of the lower class is nothing new and exists since the very beginning when a civilization emerges. However, as civilization progresses, you would've thought the exploitation would diminish, as is happening across the North America and Europe. Unfortunately, it becomes a healthy norm when everybody does it, as is evident in China.

Sadly, even the educated class is turning a blind eye, ignoring rights and being spoon-fed by the party. The day they wake up is the day when TRUE freedom arrives in China.

China's Leaders Are Resilient in Face of Change

BEIJING — As Beijing was starting construction on its main Olympic stadiums four years ago, China’s vice president and leading political fixer, Zeng Qinghong, warned the 70 million members of the ruling Communist Party that the party itself could use some reconstruction.

Mr. Zeng argued that the “painful lessons” from the collapse of other Communist parties in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe could not be ignored. He said China’s cadres needed to “wake up” and realize that “a party’s status as a party in power does not necessarily last as long as the party does.”

Mr. Zeng, who is now retired, was alluding to the pressures of economic liberalization, political stagnation and globalization that many analysts have argued would ultimately topple one-party rule in China. The Olympics also posed a pressure point as some analysts wondered whether the expectations and international scrutiny brought by the Games might help crack open another authoritarian political system — as happened in Seoul in 1988.

But if the Olympics have presented unmistakable challenges and crises, the Communist Party has proved resilient. Public appetite for reform has not waned, but the short-term byproduct of the Olympics has been a surge in Chinese patriotism that bolstered the party against international criticism after its crackdown on Tibetan protesters in March and the controversy over the international Olympic torch relay.

Economic and social change is so rapid in China that the Communist Party is sometimes depicted as an overwhelmed caretaker. But in the seven years since Beijing was awarded the Games, the party has adapted and navigated its way forward, loosening its grip on elements of society even as it crushes or co-opts threats to its hold on political power.

The party has absorbed entrepreneurs, urban professionals and university students into an elite class that is invested in the political status quo, if not necessarily enthralled with it. Private capitalists may be symbols of a changing China. But the party has also clung tenaciously to the most profitable pillar industries and the financial system, and it is not always easy to distinguish the biggest private companies from their state-run counterparts in China’s hybrid economy.

Faced with public anger over corruption, Chinese officials are now required to attend annual training sessions in a nationwide, if not always successful, program to raise competency. And if officials have long since abandoned efforts at Maoist-style thought control, the propaganda machine can still stir up nationalist passions, or shut them off, depending on the party’s priorities.

“This is a very reflective party,” said David Shambaugh, a political scientist at George Washington University and author of “China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation.” “They are adaptive, reflective and open, within limits. But survival is the bottom line. And they see survival as an outcome of adaptation.”

The ultimate question is whether adaptation alone is enough. Many analysts say that the lack of democratic reform is inhibiting China’s economic efficiency and that reforms are needed to confront issues like stark inequality and environmental degradation. Thousands of protests erupt every year over illegal land seizures and official corruption. The Tibet crisis revealed Chinese nationalism as a major political force, even as it exposed unresolved domestic issues about freedom of religion and minority rights. To some analysts, the harsh official response to Tibet revealed an insecure, defensive leadership.

“The party doesn’t have self-confidence in its legitimacy,” said Zhang Xianyang, a liberal political analyst in Beijing. “So the government overreacts in the face of social turbulence. I think the regime is not as strong as outsiders and the common people think.

“But they are not as weak as they feel themselves.”

Party Business

For the Communist Party, China’s selection in July 2001 as host of the 2008 Olympics was a political and historic coup: a gift they could deliver to a thrilled citizenry and a new focal point, seven years in the distant future, that could be used to rally national pride.

Inside the party, leaders were intently focused on the viability of their system. The party faced no organized opposition; none is allowed. But the leadership, fretting about historical trends, had commissioned exhaustive autopsies of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European governments. By June 2001, a month before the Olympic announcement, the Communist Party’s Central Committee organization department, which oversees party promotions and training, had published a blunt report that revealed deep public anger and recommended “system reforms” to address problems of official corruption and incompetence.

China’s economy was soaring, and the country was preparing for entrance into the World Trade Organization. But if free trade could boost China’s exports, the party report also warned that deeper integration into the world economy “may bring growing dangers and pressures, and it can be predicted that in the ensuing period the number” of public protests “may jump, severely harming social stability.”

The dismantling of the planned economy had already presented an ideological challenge: What to do about the emerging class of capitalists who were rapidly accruing wealth? Admitting capitalists struck old-guard Marxists as apostasy, but it made smart politics for a party leery of any group’s emerging as a rival for power. Less than two weeks before the Olympic announcement, Jiang Zemin, who was president at the time, chose the party’s 80th anniversary to declare that capitalists should be invited to join its ranks.

Reformers hoped private businesspeople might one day prove a force for democratization. But today, together with the flow of party officials into the business sector, the mixing of money and power has rendered sharp distinctions about the state and private sectors less meaningful than they seem in the West. Businessmen have established closer links to the government and the party to get access to state bank loans and tap into the network of officials who control land and government contracts. College students eyeing a career in government or academia often make the same calculation.

“The party seems happy with that,” said Bruce Dickson, a China scholar at George Washington University and author of the new book, “Wealth Into Power: The Communist Party’s Embrace of China’s Private Sector.” “They are not looking for die-hard ideologues. They want to co-opt people into their system. And they’ve been far more successful than people realize.”

Beyond managing the rise of private enterprise, the party also faced the collapse of much of the state-owned economy.

The state’s share of the economy fell to about 35 percent in 2006 from 80 percent in 1997, according to a recent analysis in China Economic Quarterly. But that declining share does not reflect declining influence. The party’s analysis of the collapse of the Soviet bloc faulted post-Communist countries for rushing too recklessly into privatization. To preserve the party’s pre-eminence, senior officials adopted a policy of selling off small enterprises with lower profit margins while keeping a grip on the biggest industries.

Today, the state still exercises effective control over natural resources like oil, gas and coal; oil refining; production of steel and ferrous metals; telecommunications, transportation and power generation; and the financial system.

Arthur Kroeber, managing editor of China Economic Quarterly, said officials had injected competition into the state sector by pitting state-owned entities against one another without surrendering control over strategic industries.

“They have retained all the industries that have huge scale and large cash flow,” he said.

Change Agent

If anything has been a change agent in Chinese society, it has been the Internet. In 2001, China had 26.5 million Internet users. Today the figure is 253 million, the most in the world. One of those millions is a software engineer named Lu Yunfei, who joined the crowds at Tiananmen Square on the night Beijing won the Olympics.

The next year, Mr. Lu began surfing the Web and soon stumbled across news accounts of a visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan to a war shrine honoring Japanese soldiers, including some accused of atrocities in China. Infuriated, he became one of the legion of the country’s cybernationalists.

“I made a U-turn in my life as a result of the Internet, as a result of freedom of information,” said Mr. Lu, now 33. “The patriotism movement is a result of the development of the Internet.”

Freedom of information always has been considered essential in liberalizing China, and the Internet has disseminated amounts of information once unthinkable. Despite an Internet fire wall and tens of thousands of censors, dissidents still post petitions that once would have gone unheard. Farmers post videos of demonstrations on YouTube.

But nationalism also has flowered online into a complicated force that the party has often managed to cultivate for its own purposes. In 2005, amid a diplomatic standoff between China and Japan, thousands of Chinese protesters held raucous anti-Japan demonstrations in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities. Initially, the government condoned the outbursts, even though such protests are illegal. But eventually, as the protests expanded, the police shut them down.

This year’s Olympic controversies pushed Chinese nationalism onto a world stage. In the days after the Tibetan riots, state media carried hours of coverage of ethnic Tibetans assaulting Han Chinese as well as television documentaries praising economic policies in Tibet. When Western leaders began calling on China to show restraint as it suppressed the uprising, Chinese nationalists rallied to the party’s defense online.

The patriotic anger intensified in April after the ugly anti-China protests that marred the Olympic torch relay in London and Paris. Voices preaching moderation, or questioning the government’s responsibility in the Tibet crisis, were drowned out. As happened three years earlier during the anti-Japan protests, officials initially gave tacit approval to the fervor and even a boycott of the French retailer Carrefour before reining things in to create a more harmonious image ahead of the Games.

Harnessing Pride

For the Communist Party, nationalism has always been a central justification of its rule. Schoolchildren are taught a heroic narrative of the party as the savior of China in 1949 and the savior of Tibet from feudalism and economic backwardness. If Westerners often view China through the prism of the Cultural Revolution and the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Chinese are taught about the Opium War and the colonialist advances into China by Japan and the West.

“Nationalism and patriotism mean love your country,” said Mr. Zhang, the political analyst. “The Communist Party was so clever because they linked nationalism to loving the party. They said the party was the same as the country.”

Li Datong, a former editor of a top state-run magazine who lost his job after clashing with propaganda authorities, said officials in charge of mass media and the Internet try to leave little to chance. He said the country’s army of censors dipped anonymously into the Internet debate by paying part-time writers 5 mao, or about 7 cents, to steer public opinion and monitor the tone of debate online.

“Their job is to post articles on the B.B.S. to balance public opinion,” Mr. Li said, referring to the Bulletin Board System where many Internet users interact. “The netizens call them the 5 mao party. If they get a post on a B.B.S., they get 5 mao.”

Mr. Lu, the cybernationalist, said Chinese patriots made distinctions between country and party. During the Tibet crisis, he used his Web site to highlight provocative postings criticizing the Western news media or Tibet separatism, as part of the nationalist outpouring backing the party. But in recent weeks, the Internet has also been filled with angry posts — many later censored — blaming the government for a recent energy agreement with Japan.

When it comes to the Olympics, though, Mr. Lu’s interests and the party’s seem inseparable.

“For ordinary Chinese, even if they can’t really articulate it, they feel the Olympics are a very important opportunity for China to demonstrate state power,” Mr. Lu said.

Beijing welcomes you (not!)

2008-08-08T03:17:00.000-07:00

With a glamorous image and an extravaganza ready to unroll at 8:00 PM Beijing time (5:00 AM PST) today, everything in the Chinese capital is deemed to overwhelmingly exceed anticipation from worldwide audience and foreign dignitaries. Who can argue with that? With over 40 billion spending, a polished face is what the P.R.C. is aiming for and that's exactly what we will get. Partly thanks to the numerous visa denials to foreigners perceived as potential troublemakers, and the evictions of domestic low-income laborers, Beijing 2008 will be a memorable, yet restricted sport event enjoyable by some but mostly rejected by the conscience few.

Is the door to Beijing really wide open? Or, will it be selectively permitted only to the "friends" of China? The answer to this question will emerge as the Game unrolls... ;)

A hooray of broken promises

2008-08-05T02:15:00.000-07:00

With less than one week to go, we are now witnessing Beijing at its finest. With a total mockery of the incompetent I.O.C. and a hooray of broken promises, Beijing has truly outdone its predecessors. It has achieved the impossible, combining nationalism, political hypocrisy, landscape transformation and dissidents purge, all within a mere span of seven years. The unprecedented nationalism, parallel to Hitler and his 1936 Olympics parade, surfaced during the international leg of the Olympics torch rely, when pro-Tibet supporters clashed fiercely with die-hard Chinese patriots in an attempt to disrupt the rely. The torch incident, together with the continuous foreign media criticisms of China, spawns a new generation of nationalists, perceiving China to be amongst hostile powers, when it is in fact not. China's political hypocrisy, illustrated over its attempt to impose sovereignty on both Tibet and Taiwan during the rely, further contradicts its promise not to politicize the game. Its unique landscape transformation of a million projects over Beijing, similar to how the Communists Russia pulled off its 1980 extravaganza, is yet another superficial showcase boasting at how great P.R.C. is, when it is in reality riddled with corruption, scandal, unjust, oppression and exploitation, so to benefit the elite few. Finally, the decades of comprehensive dissident purging campaign and limited political freedom will for sure guarantee an effective, yet smooth, running game. Seriously, with missiles overcasting on the sky above the Olympic venues, networks of surveillance cameras scanning the city, hidden microphones eavesdropping on unsuspected tourists, thousands of undercover police officers searching thousands of cars and trucks entering the city, what can possibly go wrong? Especially when Red Guard lookalike civilians have been called on to defend the motherland, the odds of going wrong is nearly as infinitesimally small.

Despite the hooray of broken promises, is the "true" Olympics spirit still in existence ? When you consider the overwhelming commercialization of the Game and the fight over who wins what, the spirit is long gone even before the Game begins. Olympics is no longer a celebration of the human body and form, but a vehicle for the multinationals to mass disseminate their products and a lucrative tourism opportunity for the hosting country. In the end, isn't a profitable bottom line and personal wealth the final goal to attain to?

Why China Has the Torch? That is a good question. Let us hope the hooray of broken promises will one day be amended, so the people of China may enjoy the true meaning of Olympic Games - that of freedom, equality, and unequivocal human rights.