Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

With "war on terrorism" continue its full, violent course while the likes of Korea and Taiwan continue to be silent battlegrounds of major world powers, the general atmosphere of peace and cooperation seems fragile indeed. Sure, major powers speak of nonviolence, but only insofar as to the American military dominance is maintained (for everyone except America) and the quagmire that is the "war on terror" finally sees its light at the end of the tunnel (for the US). But has anyone actually thought of nonviolence for the sake of nonviolent resolution of problems, rather than measure for avoiding the huge costs of war? In the past, non-violent protest has been successfully utilized by various social movements to achieve their goals of ending injustices. The Indian national independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the black civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. ended the British colonial rule and the racial inequality in the U.S., respectively. A

Race has been a major topic in this blog, with difference between whites and Asians, between different Asians as well as minorities in China covered most frequently. But we should not forget that the U.S., often considered the most tolerant society for foreigners of all backgrounds, have its own occasion spurts of racial problems. Even as the movements like by figures like Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez are honored, the underlying reasons for such movements are not alleviated but often exaggerated (with all the previous improvements negated) as the downturn of American economy made people much more wary of foreign incomers and domestic economic inequalities tied to race. Few years back, radio personality Don Imus' commentary regarding the black female basketball players has once again brought to attention the role of celebrities in the issue of race relations. While Imus vigorous defend his innocence from using improper words to refer to the players (by characterizing the c

The fact that Chinese people treat foreigners better than their own should not be news. Even a 50-year-old grandma at the service counter of a dilapidated state-owned store cracks a rare smile at the white guy walking in. And with that fact known to all, it seems that there began a simultaneous movement by the entire population to look and act as foreign as possible (of course, the "good" foreign, i.e. Euro-American and Japanese/Korean, especially Korean, about which I wrote a published letter: http://paper.sznews.com/szdaily/20100802/ca2935227.htm ), often without knowing what they are actually doing (perfect example I encountered a few days ago: a middle aged grandma walking around with a black T-shirt that says "I *heart* BOTOX). Everyone seems to be getting English/Western-sounding names (I wrote about this in a published letter: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/print.asp?id=443855 ) and using half-assed English in their daily conversations...English/Japanese/K

Just finished watching a Korean romance comedy (yes, yes, I speak many times about not liking Korean dramas cuz the romance is all the same...this one is kind of in the mold too, i.e. guy is stupid, girl is pretty, another handsome, all-around-better guy comes along, parents want the other guy, first guy breaks up with the girl for her sake, but girl comes back to the first guy at the end...happily ever after), but what made the film sort of different from many others is the stark contrast posed by the two main male characters in question. One handsome and one ugly (of course, thats usually the case), but in this case, the handsome one is also the one that seems to be more caring and have a warmer heart. Only in later part of the story do the viewers come to know the truth. After the female main character was raped by her high school coach, she started having mental problems and went into a mental institution, where the first male character was also housed at the time. The guy stood

The days are still quite hot here in Shanghai (even thought the temperature have been down quite a bit…walking around yesterday in Chongming Island, I didn't sweat nearly as much as I expected). Now, speaking of the walk yesterday, I trekked about 5 hours into the rural parts of the island, away from any public buses or major roads (I was actually lost…didn't know the geographic scale of things…expected the island to be much smaller), and found out that the difference between the parts near the major roads and the true countryside is quite glaring. While high rise apartments are built near major roads to accommodate increased number of mainland Shanghainese who move to the Island to get away from the city, the same amount of luxury is not shown at all in the villages. Sure, the houses are much nicer than the ones in really poor parts of China, but in terms of the simple interior décor (no AC, wooden chairs, traditional kitchens, few electronics), it can be said that the rapid

The recent healthcare reform launched by President Obama in the U.S., I believe, have not gone as far as it can possibly (and, in my opinion, necessarily) could go (even though it is already facing tough resistance from many). Rather than just providing a government alternative to insurance package offered by private companies, shouldn't there be something else other than just the supply side that need to be looked at? To be specific: what about how the best insurance option is chosen and purchased? Considering that a large number of people in the US get there insurance from their employers (i.e. they don't choose the insurance, their bosses do), maybe it would be wise to change that structure much more so that the employees receive the greatest benefits while bypassing the step where the bosses weighs the economic costs to their companies. Of course, the merit of companies providing their employees heath insurances has the benefit of attracting more capable workers. However,