To say the least this will be a different Christmas for me. I'll miss seeing my kids even if I would have only seen some of them. Most years I don't get to see them anyway. Some how over the years my first ex co-oped both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I suppose in many ways it was easier for me to deal with the loneliness than it would have been for her.
Went to our School Christmas Party last night at the Sheraton here in Wuxi. I was told it would be Western cuisine but trust me when I say nothing in China is exactly "western." I suppose that would be no different for a Chinese being in the USA and eating Chinese food - there would be a difference. I don't care how many years I were to spend in China I think I would always prefer the taste of American Chinese food. And besides, since when is "chicken feet" Western cuisine. Ha! Yep, they had a plate piled high with chicken feet. Yum yum!! NOT!
Christmas is somewhat surreal here in China. In case you aren't aware, China is a secular state, meaning there is not a religious underpinning in its creation. In fact quite the opposite in that they outlawed religion for many years. That has been very relaxed in recent years having also turned to a "free market economy" in order to play catch-up with the rest of the world. Hey, in some ways it might even be "freer" than the USA. Boy have we falling far?
But back to Christmas; you can't go anywhere with someone calling out "Marry Christmas" to you. Nope, didn't misspell it, that's the way it is spelled much around here. lol And even though they greet you so, you definitely get the feeling they have no idea what Christmas is all about. It is very much the "commercialized" version as opposed to the religious belief in Christ that is motivator. Hand it to the Free Market Economists, even in a completely secular state they don't miss a beat.
In fact there is a ritual in China that when ever you are at dinner, and it doesn't have to be a special dinner, they like to go around to other tables and offer up toasts. What for? Who cares as long as you offer up and drink. I think it really is an excuse to drink more than one should. They laugh at me because more than not I am always returning the toasts with an empty glass or water. But the toasts, not unlike Christmas, seem so very artificial to me. I don't think people realize it very much, and I certainly didn't, but religion in ones life teaches you compassion and empathy for those around you. That is what is sorely missing in this society, at least from my perspective. There is a reason for doing everything and it just seems the reasons here are all so very superficial and robotic with no real meaning behind the acts. Could be my mistaken perception but like the saying goes "Perception is Reality."
Merry Christmas!!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
America, the new Rome
I can't help but feel apathetic for my country at this moment as I sit here eating my breakfast. I read and listen to the various news sources and it simply amazes me how our politicians do one thing and tell us they did the exact opposite. And we let them get away with it over and over.
For those who haven't studied history and I may get some particulars wrong but Rome was once a Republic like the United States and became over time a Dictatorship but still kept the semblance of a Republic so that the people as a whole didn't revolt against the elite. What Rome the politic had going for them that the USA politic do not is that the majority to Roman citizens were ignorant in the sense that they could not read nor write. Here in the USA, although we haven't shown it for years, we have a 99% literacy rate. What that means it that 99% of citizens over the age of 15 can both read and write. I suppose the next thing they who take these surveys should test for is comprehension and reasoning skills for we surely lack in those areas.
At least the Tea Party movement gives me hope that we may be able to save this country from our own self-afflictions before we turn into another Greece. Who is to come to our rescue? The only country they would have the means would be China and I'm not even sure they have the means. And if they did would they want to??
It just seems surreal to me that the last two super powers are going in the opposite directions: America, from a capitalist society to a socialist one; China, from a pure communist dictatorship to a mix of communism to capitalism (I call it directed capitalism). The simple fact they one should look at is from where did these two super powers come - America from being the greatest super power, China from being a poverty poor country of millions. Not until China started to integrate capitalism did it begin to become an economic super power. Not until Obama, and Bush before him all the way back to Wilson, started to take over private industries did we go from the undisputed super power to a country that may not survive.
God save our great Republic.
For those who haven't studied history and I may get some particulars wrong but Rome was once a Republic like the United States and became over time a Dictatorship but still kept the semblance of a Republic so that the people as a whole didn't revolt against the elite. What Rome the politic had going for them that the USA politic do not is that the majority to Roman citizens were ignorant in the sense that they could not read nor write. Here in the USA, although we haven't shown it for years, we have a 99% literacy rate. What that means it that 99% of citizens over the age of 15 can both read and write. I suppose the next thing they who take these surveys should test for is comprehension and reasoning skills for we surely lack in those areas.
At least the Tea Party movement gives me hope that we may be able to save this country from our own self-afflictions before we turn into another Greece. Who is to come to our rescue? The only country they would have the means would be China and I'm not even sure they have the means. And if they did would they want to??
It just seems surreal to me that the last two super powers are going in the opposite directions: America, from a capitalist society to a socialist one; China, from a pure communist dictatorship to a mix of communism to capitalism (I call it directed capitalism). The simple fact they one should look at is from where did these two super powers come - America from being the greatest super power, China from being a poverty poor country of millions. Not until China started to integrate capitalism did it begin to become an economic super power. Not until Obama, and Bush before him all the way back to Wilson, started to take over private industries did we go from the undisputed super power to a country that may not survive.
God save our great Republic.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Blair House Debacle
What a complete waist of both the political process and the American people's time. I was under obviously the false impression (not that I really believed it) that Obama wanted to move the debate of fixing what's wrong with the American health care system forward. I all received from watching this congregation of ill-fitted egoistical narcissists was a bigger headache that I had before I turned on the television.
What we really got a true picture of is the way business of the past use to attempt to solve problems - get some "high-powered" employees in a room and work out a solution - usually the one put forth by the most powerful person in the room. Hmmmmmmmmmmm!! I wonder who that was????
In the mean time, the business world over the past 20 years has moved beyond this group-think type of profligation of no solution at all; or at the very worst the wrong solution and have developed many methodologies for solution resolution, among these are:
What is so obviously clear when a particular methodology is used to find a solution is that 1) group think is destroyed by analysis and prioritization and 2) biases are easily exposed.
What we really got a true picture of is the way business of the past use to attempt to solve problems - get some "high-powered" employees in a room and work out a solution - usually the one put forth by the most powerful person in the room. Hmmmmmmmmmmm!! I wonder who that was????
In the mean time, the business world over the past 20 years has moved beyond this group-think type of profligation of no solution at all; or at the very worst the wrong solution and have developed many methodologies for solution resolution, among these are:
- Six Sigma
- Lean Thinking
- Theory of Constraints (TOC)
- ISO 9000 Quality Standards
- Total Quality Management (TQM)
- Toyota Production System (TPS) (maybe we should rethink this one?? lol)
- Just-In-Time (JIT)
- Benchmarking
What is so obviously clear when a particular methodology is used to find a solution is that 1) group think is destroyed by analysis and prioritization and 2) biases are easily exposed.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Constitution - Article 1 - Section 3
Section 3
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each
State, chosen by the People of the several States, for six Years; and each Senator
shall have one Vote.
The People of the several States shall chose their respective Senators from
differing party affiliations and from a pool of formerly elected House Members
If no qualifying formally elected House Members exist then The People of the several
States shall chose their respective Senators from the body of the legal residents of
said State.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election,
they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the
Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second
Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the
third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be
chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise,
during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may
make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which
shall then fill such Vacancies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty
Years, and is a natural born Citizen of the United States, and who shall not,
when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
No Person shall be a Senator for more than Two Six Year Terms.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but
shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
Without regard to party affiliation the Senate shall choose their other Officers,
and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when
he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for
that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the
United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be
convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than the removal from
Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or
Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be
liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to
Law.
Constitution - Article 1 - Section 2
Section 2
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second
Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall
have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of
the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of
twenty one years, and is a natural born Citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which they shall be
chosen.
No Person shall be a Representative for more than Two Two-Year Terms.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States
which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Number of
legal citizens of this United States and of their respective States.
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting
of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten
Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The total Number of
Representatives shall not exceed one for every one million, but each State
shall have at Least five Representative and each officially recognized territory of
these United States shall have at Least One Representative.
The House of Representatives shall have a makeup with regard to party affiliation
which does not allow for a majority belonging to any one party. All political parties
that have at a minimum 5 percent of registered legal citizens shall have proportionate
representation in the House of Representatives.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive
Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
Without regard to party affiliation The House of Representatives shall
choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment.
Friday, January 29, 2010
A Simple Solution
I'm sitting here listening to a recording of the Glenn Beck show when the solution, a very simple solution in idea, came to me on how to fix the federalist encroachment problem that is defining this era of American history.
VOTE OUT ANY AND ALL IN CONGRESS THAT WILL NOT STAND TALL FOR THEIR STATE.
I know, haven't we heard this before? Well yes, but I don't think it has ever been defined in this particular manner.
The President is in a real sense the "Federalist" head of our constitutionally established government and being of single mind will seek to further his power unabated during his one or two terms. We should almost expect this and be presently surprised when it doesn't happen.
The Supreme Court is in another realm and is set apart to police the current laws as they adhere to the law of the land - meaning the "written" Constitution.
It is the Congress that was established to be the protector of States Rights - i.e. the 10th Amendment. And it is here where they of failed miserably. It appears to me that since many of these very Congressmen, when they get re-elected over and over and over begin to believe that they are employees of the Federal government instead of being a representative of their State's electorate.
We, as the State hiring authority, must put this prerequisite first and foremost in the qualifications for any person of our State to hold office in Congress. YOU are being hired to protect STATES RIGHTS not build a stronger nation. Albeit they should go hand-in-hand.
Let's begin this process with the 2010 elections.
VOTE OUT ANY AND ALL IN CONGRESS THAT WILL NOT STAND TALL FOR THEIR STATE.
I know, haven't we heard this before? Well yes, but I don't think it has ever been defined in this particular manner.
The President is in a real sense the "Federalist" head of our constitutionally established government and being of single mind will seek to further his power unabated during his one or two terms. We should almost expect this and be presently surprised when it doesn't happen.
The Supreme Court is in another realm and is set apart to police the current laws as they adhere to the law of the land - meaning the "written" Constitution.
It is the Congress that was established to be the protector of States Rights - i.e. the 10th Amendment. And it is here where they of failed miserably. It appears to me that since many of these very Congressmen, when they get re-elected over and over and over begin to believe that they are employees of the Federal government instead of being a representative of their State's electorate.
We, as the State hiring authority, must put this prerequisite first and foremost in the qualifications for any person of our State to hold office in Congress. YOU are being hired to protect STATES RIGHTS not build a stronger nation. Albeit they should go hand-in-hand.
Let's begin this process with the 2010 elections.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Life Time Elected Officials
First let me just say that the miracle that just happened in Massachusetts is of epic proportions. For a Republican espousing conservative principles to win in the bluest of states is nothing short of a miracle and I pray it is only the beginning of a civil revolution to put the United States of America back on the course set by our Founding Fathers during the birth of this great nation.
There is talk (Barrack Obama, Barney Frank among many others) that it is time to change the constitution to enable Congress to be more distributive of our hard earned income. I believe this talk may get even louder before this new found revolution spoken of above completely sweeps these radicals out of OUR government and returns it back to the 'common man'.
And on that notes I want to propose my own constitutional amendment, one which I believe would be backed by most sensible minded Americans in once sense or another. Granted my complete desire may go too far and having said that if I hear sounder and more solid ideas on the following line of thinking I am more than willing to change my mind for the betterment of my country.
1. Any citizen seeking to hold, either by election of appointment, a federal office shall file with the federal government and be available to all US citizens:
a. Proof of their citizenship through this release of a certified original birth certificate,
b. All documents related scholarship and education,
c. All documents related to foreign entanglements of any kind.
d. Shall wave their right to self incrementation protection during time of service.
2. No US citizen shall hold any federal office, either elected or appointed, for greater than eight years.
a. Persons appointed or elected in a special election to fill the seat of expelled, retired or deceased federal employees may complete that term plus the eight year limitation above.
b. Persons appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court shall be exempt from limitation in 2 above.
3. U.S. federal election shall be held as follows:
a. Presidential elections shall be held once every four years,
b. Senatorial elections shall be help once every two years during the 1st and 3rd year of a presidential term with one senator from each state taking part in the 1st and the other taking part in the 3rd.
c. House elections shall be held once every two years during the 1st and 3rd year of a presidential election with all seats being contested each election.
(This allows for the President to be the only federally elected official during the course of a single year giving the American people the opportunity to concentrate on this one most important elected seat of our government every four years).
d. No person shall be eligible for election or to be appointed save they have resided in said district, state or country they shall represent for the prior eight years.
4. Once a person has been appointed or elected to a federal office, no family member or extended family member within two generations shall be allowed to hold any other federal office.
a. The lone exception is if a family member is appointed to the Supreme Court, this will not disallow another family member within that two generational period from holding another elected office save that of being appointed to the Supreme Court.
5. Remuneration for all elected or appointed federal officials shall be as follows:
a. All persons elected or appointed to a federal office shall be paid only during their term in office according to compensation yet to be determined (but in no instance shall an elected or appointed member be paid anything construed as a salary who is a representative of the top 10% of the income class of set district, state or country).
b. Only the elected President and Vice-President of the United States shall be eligible to receive a stipend upon completion of their elected terms for the remainder of their lives unless they are representative of the top 10% of the income class of the United States, then no stipend shall be paid.
c. All expenses related to said elected or appointed officials duties shall be paid through funds of the federal government and shall be reconciled and justified on a monthly basis.
There is talk (Barrack Obama, Barney Frank among many others) that it is time to change the constitution to enable Congress to be more distributive of our hard earned income. I believe this talk may get even louder before this new found revolution spoken of above completely sweeps these radicals out of OUR government and returns it back to the 'common man'.
And on that notes I want to propose my own constitutional amendment, one which I believe would be backed by most sensible minded Americans in once sense or another. Granted my complete desire may go too far and having said that if I hear sounder and more solid ideas on the following line of thinking I am more than willing to change my mind for the betterment of my country.
1. Any citizen seeking to hold, either by election of appointment, a federal office shall file with the federal government and be available to all US citizens:
a. Proof of their citizenship through this release of a certified original birth certificate,
b. All documents related scholarship and education,
c. All documents related to foreign entanglements of any kind.
d. Shall wave their right to self incrementation protection during time of service.
2. No US citizen shall hold any federal office, either elected or appointed, for greater than eight years.
a. Persons appointed or elected in a special election to fill the seat of expelled, retired or deceased federal employees may complete that term plus the eight year limitation above.
b. Persons appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court shall be exempt from limitation in 2 above.
3. U.S. federal election shall be held as follows:
a. Presidential elections shall be held once every four years,
b. Senatorial elections shall be help once every two years during the 1st and 3rd year of a presidential term with one senator from each state taking part in the 1st and the other taking part in the 3rd.
c. House elections shall be held once every two years during the 1st and 3rd year of a presidential election with all seats being contested each election.
(This allows for the President to be the only federally elected official during the course of a single year giving the American people the opportunity to concentrate on this one most important elected seat of our government every four years).
d. No person shall be eligible for election or to be appointed save they have resided in said district, state or country they shall represent for the prior eight years.
4. Once a person has been appointed or elected to a federal office, no family member or extended family member within two generations shall be allowed to hold any other federal office.
a. The lone exception is if a family member is appointed to the Supreme Court, this will not disallow another family member within that two generational period from holding another elected office save that of being appointed to the Supreme Court.
5. Remuneration for all elected or appointed federal officials shall be as follows:
a. All persons elected or appointed to a federal office shall be paid only during their term in office according to compensation yet to be determined (but in no instance shall an elected or appointed member be paid anything construed as a salary who is a representative of the top 10% of the income class of set district, state or country).
b. Only the elected President and Vice-President of the United States shall be eligible to receive a stipend upon completion of their elected terms for the remainder of their lives unless they are representative of the top 10% of the income class of the United States, then no stipend shall be paid.
c. All expenses related to said elected or appointed officials duties shall be paid through funds of the federal government and shall be reconciled and justified on a monthly basis.
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