One small piece of news that caught my attention recently is the conflict between California farmers and some fish.
The story goes like this: There expects a substantial reduction in fruit and other agricultural products from California because, during a recent drought period, a major water supply was shut off from the farmers there - in order to protect a certain species of endangered fish.
Don't drop you jaw. This is a court decision according to the Endangered Species Act, which was restored recently by President Obama.
Well, you may say that's a small price to pay for preserving wildlife. After all, the farmers would not die.
But some others would. Remind you, famine is not a historical term, and a considerable proportion of the population in developing countries do not have enough food. Aren't their lives more precious than those of some little fish that we couldn't name ?
PS. Contrary to what you think, I would probably answer no to that last question. But I'm still against cutting off the water supply to the California farmers - for a reason that I shall explain tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Obotchaman
While I was thinking of King Nikochan (宇宙大王), I met Obotchaman in the corridor.
The well-mannered boy raised in a good environment (alas, that's the meaning of obotcha in Japanese) is actually a colleague of mine. He waved at me and asked, "Hullo, Szeto. Have you submitted your curriculum vitae to the university site ?"
I was at a lost.
"I mean your activity data," he saw my difficulty, "You know, the university asked all of us to submit information - electronically - on what we did in the past twelve months."
"Oh, I see. What's the problem - or should we use plural for that last word ?" I smiled.
"So you have tried it yourself and know of the problems - quite a number in fact. There is one program to submit my publications, a second for my community service, third for supervision of postgraduate students, and there are also classroom teachings, conference abstracts and public talks ..." He sighed.
"Alas, these gadgets are so impressive; the data are submitted electronically, and I have started to wonder electron must be moving at an astonishingly different velocity outside the solar system." I added.
"Quite right. Take publications as an example, I have to choose each author separately from the university database - there could easily be ten or twenty authors for a collaborative work, and I have to do it for several dozens of publications. You know what, I spend a whole day with my computer on this business - and I'm not yet half way through !"
"I'd forget about conference abstracts and public talks. What's the point of submitted them ?" I remarked.
"The point is: I shall be expecting my contract renewed in the coming year," He reminded me, "And, therefore, don't mention my name in your blog."
I duly complied.
The well-mannered boy raised in a good environment (alas, that's the meaning of obotcha in Japanese) is actually a colleague of mine. He waved at me and asked, "Hullo, Szeto. Have you submitted your curriculum vitae to the university site ?"
I was at a lost.
"I mean your activity data," he saw my difficulty, "You know, the university asked all of us to submit information - electronically - on what we did in the past twelve months."
"Oh, I see. What's the problem - or should we use plural for that last word ?" I smiled.
"So you have tried it yourself and know of the problems - quite a number in fact. There is one program to submit my publications, a second for my community service, third for supervision of postgraduate students, and there are also classroom teachings, conference abstracts and public talks ..." He sighed.
"Alas, these gadgets are so impressive; the data are submitted electronically, and I have started to wonder electron must be moving at an astonishingly different velocity outside the solar system." I added.
"Quite right. Take publications as an example, I have to choose each author separately from the university database - there could easily be ten or twenty authors for a collaborative work, and I have to do it for several dozens of publications. You know what, I spend a whole day with my computer on this business - and I'm not yet half way through !"
"I'd forget about conference abstracts and public talks. What's the point of submitted them ?" I remarked.
"The point is: I shall be expecting my contract renewed in the coming year," He reminded me, "And, therefore, don't mention my name in your blog."
I duly complied.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Stegosaurus
Another famous existence that utilized two administrative centers was dinosaur.
To be specific, based on the fossil record, two classes of dinosaurs, the stegosaurus and the sauropods, are believed to have two brains.
The hypothesis roots from a distinctive finding: There is a large canal in the hip region of their spinal cord, which could actually accommodate over 10 times more neurons than their brain.
The reason of having a second brain near the back passage is simple - these creatures were just too big. You know what, stegosaurus could be as much as 12-meter long, and some species of sauropods were up to 40 meters. On the other hand, neuronal transmission does not become faster in a bigger animal.
The implication is: Bolt of Jamaica could chop off the foot of a sauropod and make an escape of 80 meters before the gigantic animal could feel the pain and start to think what's going on.
PS. Therefore, many so-called masterminds of some huge organizations are merely clusters of neurons near the asshole - you could learn that much by looking at (or smelling) their output.
PPS. When I first watched Dr. Slump (IQ博士) of Akira Toriyama (鳥山明), I used to laugh at King Nikochan (宇宙大王) for having his brain as the asshole. With time, I understand it was Toriyama's wisdom and profound knowledge on the anatomy of dinosaur and extra-terrestrials.
To be specific, based on the fossil record, two classes of dinosaurs, the stegosaurus and the sauropods, are believed to have two brains.
The hypothesis roots from a distinctive finding: There is a large canal in the hip region of their spinal cord, which could actually accommodate over 10 times more neurons than their brain.
The reason of having a second brain near the back passage is simple - these creatures were just too big. You know what, stegosaurus could be as much as 12-meter long, and some species of sauropods were up to 40 meters. On the other hand, neuronal transmission does not become faster in a bigger animal.
The implication is: Bolt of Jamaica could chop off the foot of a sauropod and make an escape of 80 meters before the gigantic animal could feel the pain and start to think what's going on.
PS. Therefore, many so-called masterminds of some huge organizations are merely clusters of neurons near the asshole - you could learn that much by looking at (or smelling) their output.
PPS. When I first watched Dr. Slump (IQ博士) of Akira Toriyama (鳥山明), I used to laugh at King Nikochan (宇宙大王) for having his brain as the asshole. With time, I understand it was Toriyama's wisdom and profound knowledge on the anatomy of dinosaur and extra-terrestrials.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Two
As soon as I heard of the news that the lion bank was back and it would practically keep two headquarters, I couldn't stop thinking of the Roman Empire.
Alas, I mean its splitting into the Western Roman and the Byzantine Empire.
There were many reasons triggering the division (internal power struggle, defense against barbarians, civil wars, taxation and administration convenience), but all could be boiled down to a single root: The empire was too big.
To put it simply, that's because a single administrative center could not receive critical information soon enough to allow timely decisions. (In fact, that's not only the problem of Romans. The Han [漢] Empire at around that same time had its capital at Chang'an [長安] and a "second capital" at Luoyang [洛陽]. The Mongol Empire several hundred years later actually had to split itself into no fewer than five independent kingdoms.)
The problem is, when an empire has grown big enough to need more than one capital, it would usually see its decline very soon.
After all, despite the advances in traffic and communication technology, human beings still influence the others with flesh-and-blood.
Alas, I mean its splitting into the Western Roman and the Byzantine Empire.
There were many reasons triggering the division (internal power struggle, defense against barbarians, civil wars, taxation and administration convenience), but all could be boiled down to a single root: The empire was too big.
To put it simply, that's because a single administrative center could not receive critical information soon enough to allow timely decisions. (In fact, that's not only the problem of Romans. The Han [漢] Empire at around that same time had its capital at Chang'an [長安] and a "second capital" at Luoyang [洛陽]. The Mongol Empire several hundred years later actually had to split itself into no fewer than five independent kingdoms.)
The problem is, when an empire has grown big enough to need more than one capital, it would usually see its decline very soon.
After all, despite the advances in traffic and communication technology, human beings still influence the others with flesh-and-blood.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Back
A hot topic amongst amateurish investors (likely myself) recently is the coming back of the lion bank.
In terms of tactics, the move was perfect: They chose the week before our country celebrated its 60th birthday, and when the stock market is hot and frothy (alas, not bubble as yet, I hope).
But, what's the point in strategy ?
"To gain entrance to the Chinese market." You may say.
No, I believe it's not the market, but more for the stock to be listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. (That's why the lion has to show a friendly hand to our country and give a vote of confidence just prior to the birthday !)
The question therefore boils down to: Why does the lion want to be listed in our country ?
Like all business decision, there could only be one answer: Money.
In other words, it plans to issue new stock.
"Why does it need financing ?"
The possible answers are obvious: Either it does not have sufficient money (despite the share placement earlier this year) to cover the loss in the subprime lending, or it is planning for further merge-and-acquisition.
I shall leave it to your judgement whether that's a good news.
In terms of tactics, the move was perfect: They chose the week before our country celebrated its 60th birthday, and when the stock market is hot and frothy (alas, not bubble as yet, I hope).
But, what's the point in strategy ?
"To gain entrance to the Chinese market." You may say.
No, I believe it's not the market, but more for the stock to be listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange. (That's why the lion has to show a friendly hand to our country and give a vote of confidence just prior to the birthday !)
The question therefore boils down to: Why does the lion want to be listed in our country ?
Like all business decision, there could only be one answer: Money.
In other words, it plans to issue new stock.
"Why does it need financing ?"
The possible answers are obvious: Either it does not have sufficient money (despite the share placement earlier this year) to cover the loss in the subprime lending, or it is planning for further merge-and-acquisition.
I shall leave it to your judgement whether that's a good news.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Fry
Vivian and I dined at a Singaporean restaurant on my birthday.
I lunched here for several times in the past, and was thoroughly impressed with the tasty laksa. This time, we ordered a gigantic pepper crab, sate, fried turnip cake, and black glutinous rice as dessert.
"Were they good ?" You may ask.
Well, there're certainly still room for improvement. (Who doesn't ?)
But, to say the least, the crab was probably better than the one that I had in Singapore. Unlike most other restaurants, which always partly deep-fried the crab in oil (泡油) before stir-frying and serving, the crab here was stir-fried from raw with pepper until it was done - that's a lot more labour-intensive, but it would keep all the flavor in the tender meat.
We ended up with a bill of HK$250 - probably not even enough for the starter if we dined at the 6-star hotel next to us.
PS. We left the restaurant before 8:30 PM; there were no fewer than a dozen people still lining up at the door, waiting for a seat. Alas, that's a positive feedback. The more people waiting, the more people would be eager to join and try.
Maybe I shouldn't laugh at our medical students.
I lunched here for several times in the past, and was thoroughly impressed with the tasty laksa. This time, we ordered a gigantic pepper crab, sate, fried turnip cake, and black glutinous rice as dessert.
"Were they good ?" You may ask.
Well, there're certainly still room for improvement. (Who doesn't ?)
But, to say the least, the crab was probably better than the one that I had in Singapore. Unlike most other restaurants, which always partly deep-fried the crab in oil (泡油) before stir-frying and serving, the crab here was stir-fried from raw with pepper until it was done - that's a lot more labour-intensive, but it would keep all the flavor in the tender meat.
We ended up with a bill of HK$250 - probably not even enough for the starter if we dined at the 6-star hotel next to us.
PS. We left the restaurant before 8:30 PM; there were no fewer than a dozen people still lining up at the door, waiting for a seat. Alas, that's a positive feedback. The more people waiting, the more people would be eager to join and try.
Maybe I shouldn't laugh at our medical students.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
耳順
Confucius said: at sixty my ear was obedient (六十而耳順).
That is, of course, not an entirely satisfactory translation. In fact, our great teacher never meant to advise listening to opinions that comfort your ears. Most of the authorities considered the description by Kong Qiu (孔丘) about his ear means having an open mind and listening to the voice and opinion from every angle.
After all, how often could a dynasty celebrate the 60th birthday ?
Not many.
Therefore, come, put up courage and have confidence to yourself. Let them say whatever they want.
You could at least follow some of our senior officials: We accept the complaint, but we shall continue with what we are doing (投訴接受,做法照舊).
PS. You may ask: What could one make out of the date ?
十一六十, 土有一點未平也.
That is, of course, not an entirely satisfactory translation. In fact, our great teacher never meant to advise listening to opinions that comfort your ears. Most of the authorities considered the description by Kong Qiu (孔丘) about his ear means having an open mind and listening to the voice and opinion from every angle.
After all, how often could a dynasty celebrate the 60th birthday ?
Not many.
Therefore, come, put up courage and have confidence to yourself. Let them say whatever they want.
You could at least follow some of our senior officials: We accept the complaint, but we shall continue with what we are doing (投訴接受,做法照舊).
PS. You may ask: What could one make out of the date ?
十一六十, 土有一點未平也.
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