Thursday, June 14, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Imagine, by John Lennon
Yesterday, I met a new friend from Taiwan through a friend from China. The three of us, bonded by the common Chinese heritage, shared our opinions about the lives on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Wars and political ideals divided our three homelands. I couldn't help but to remember an old tune from John Lennon. Though it was written before I was born, I was immediately drawn to the lyrics the first time I heard it. Certainly, as a Christian, I cannot agree with the lyrics in its entirety. However, the idea of equality for mankind, world peace, and unity are simply irresistable in all ages.
Globalization has made national boundaries more and more blurry. Trade blocs have joined nations across borders. One day, citizenship will be virtual which people will be free to and often move from one country to another. The world will become one village.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEOkxRLzBf0
Wars and political ideals divided our three homelands. I couldn't help but to remember an old tune from John Lennon. Though it was written before I was born, I was immediately drawn to the lyrics the first time I heard it. Certainly, as a Christian, I cannot agree with the lyrics in its entirety. However, the idea of equality for mankind, world peace, and unity are simply irresistable in all ages.
Globalization has made national boundaries more and more blurry. Trade blocs have joined nations across borders. One day, citizenship will be virtual which people will be free to and often move from one country to another. The world will become one village.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEOkxRLzBf0
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Compassion vs Justice
Today, there is an immigration raid at a Massachusetts factory. In recent years, immigration has been a hot topic in the United States. Some say that we should be compassionate to these illegal immigrants and give them a chance; some say that they broke the law and deserve justice. Both sides have valid arguments, who is right?
Many people believe that the illegals risked their lives to come to the US so that they can get better jobs to send money back to their home, therefore the US should be compassionate and allow these people to continue to stay in this country. However, this notion sends a wrong message that compassion trumps the law and is a typical case of rewarding bad behavior.
On the other hand, there are certainly cases where the whole family came to the US illegally and stayed for years! Some of these children receive education until high school but are unable to attend university because of financial or legal reasons. Most of them end up on the street as gangsters because they lack the skills and legal status to look for jobs. They came to this country not by choice (of their own). Their lives have already been destroyed once because of a dead end in their future, bringing them to justice and round them up in jail certainly will destroy their lives once again.
A solution that pleases both aisles must be one that can minimize illegal border crossing by allowing migrants to enter the country with legally. At the same time, this solution must severely punish those who disrespect the law. A guest worker program is a step to this direction, but it must be accompanied by a comprehensive immigration reform that addresses many issues of the existing system.
Many people believe that the illegals risked their lives to come to the US so that they can get better jobs to send money back to their home, therefore the US should be compassionate and allow these people to continue to stay in this country. However, this notion sends a wrong message that compassion trumps the law and is a typical case of rewarding bad behavior.
On the other hand, there are certainly cases where the whole family came to the US illegally and stayed for years! Some of these children receive education until high school but are unable to attend university because of financial or legal reasons. Most of them end up on the street as gangsters because they lack the skills and legal status to look for jobs. They came to this country not by choice (of their own). Their lives have already been destroyed once because of a dead end in their future, bringing them to justice and round them up in jail certainly will destroy their lives once again.
A solution that pleases both aisles must be one that can minimize illegal border crossing by allowing migrants to enter the country with legally. At the same time, this solution must severely punish those who disrespect the law. A guest worker program is a step to this direction, but it must be accompanied by a comprehensive immigration reform that addresses many issues of the existing system.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Visiting USS JFK (CV-67)
Today I went to salute the men and women in uniforms on the USS JFK. There are numerous government agencies that can get me line up physically for 3.5 hours - the airport security line, the US immigration counters, for instance - but to line up excitingly, this is almost second to none! So on this lovely (New England standard) Saturday morning, 2 other friends and I all abandon our significant others for this really really big ship!
We started lining up at 8:15am. If you think that I'm crazy to stand in 40F for 3.5 hours, I overheard that some people were in line since 6:15am!
This is the "Big John". You have to be there to appreciate the enormous size of this ship.
This elevator is the highlight of the day. People just keep getting on and off the platform and never cease to make that "wow" sound in every ride.
Picture-perfect arms drill team!
They are such goodPRs. The captain asked the visitors, "Do you want to be in the picture?" - It's just like in Disney! No charge, of course. We're taxpayers.
Take off from here.
Look at the rust. No wonder the ship is decommissioning! LOL!
A navy is helping a kid to try on his uniform. Better service than Banana Republic!
Happy Landing! The little hook is all it takes to land a jet on the ship. No wonder Navy jet pilots are the best pilots!
Overall, it is a very good PR event for the Navy. Being an Air Cadet once, I have tremendous respect for the people in armed forces and all discipline units. I was eager to have interactions with these brave men and women. My chance finally came when I was taking this picture, "Sir, may I ask you to step off the white line please, I'm sorry!" There it is, my long-waited interaction with a navy!
We started lining up at 8:15am. If you think that I'm crazy to stand in 40F for 3.5 hours, I overheard that some people were in line since 6:15am!
This is the "Big John". You have to be there to appreciate the enormous size of this ship.
This elevator is the highlight of the day. People just keep getting on and off the platform and never cease to make that "wow" sound in every ride.
Picture-perfect arms drill team!
They are such goodPRs. The captain asked the visitors, "Do you want to be in the picture?" - It's just like in Disney! No charge, of course. We're taxpayers.
Take off from here.
Look at the rust. No wonder the ship is decommissioning! LOL!
A navy is helping a kid to try on his uniform. Better service than Banana Republic!
Happy Landing! The little hook is all it takes to land a jet on the ship. No wonder Navy jet pilots are the best pilots!
Overall, it is a very good PR event for the Navy. Being an Air Cadet once, I have tremendous respect for the people in armed forces and all discipline units. I was eager to have interactions with these brave men and women. My chance finally came when I was taking this picture, "Sir, may I ask you to step off the white line please, I'm sorry!" There it is, my long-waited interaction with a navy!
Friday, March 2, 2007
Premiere!
Finally, I blog.
Why do I join the rest of 60 million bloggers in the world? It's simple. A regular Joe like me doesn't have an audience everyday. Blogging provides both the venue and the medium. This blog is called "NINear Thinking" because Nin is my name. It is a non-thematic, journal type of blog that is simply a collection of my random (non-linear) thoughts. As I develop better blogging skills, I'll try to do some thematic blogs like aviation, travels, turtles-raising, philately, etc. For now, this is my starting point.
So finally, I blog.
Why do I join the rest of 60 million bloggers in the world? It's simple. A regular Joe like me doesn't have an audience everyday. Blogging provides both the venue and the medium. This blog is called "NINear Thinking" because Nin is my name. It is a non-thematic, journal type of blog that is simply a collection of my random (non-linear) thoughts. As I develop better blogging skills, I'll try to do some thematic blogs like aviation, travels, turtles-raising, philately, etc. For now, this is my starting point.
So finally, I blog.
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