Being flaky?
Snowflakes, that is. Living in Michigan, we get a lot of these buggers. Walking down the street, if you are not careful, they will sneak into your unbuttoned shirt collar, or worst, the exposed orifices of your head. I know, when it comes to snowflakes, people think of words like unique, beautiful and shortlived. Sounds like a damn Wong Kar Wai love story, fleeting, ephemeral.
Perhaps not. I got to thinking about how long a snowflake actually "lives." The Chinese calls the really big flakes "goose feathers" which vividly describes the gorgously fluffiness of these essentially water crystals. And it seems like these buggers can ride forever on the backs of the frigid northern wind. Nevertheless, when the flakes fall, as any object falling toward the earth surface, it will eventually reach a terminal velocity whereupon the downward acceleration due to the gravity is negated by the upward lift due to air resistance. So I thought if I could find out about the terminal velocity of the snowflakes, I could guess-timate the lifespan of a snowflake.
As it turns out, the velocity of a falling snowflakes is generally thought to be 1 m/s. The type of cloud that generate snowflakes is the nimbostratus clouds, low-level, with the base usually between 100-2000 m. So it could take a snowflake as much as 30 minutes from leaving its cradle to reaching its ultimate destiny--some cold asphalt, a patch of thirsty soils, or if lucky, the warmth of a human touch. Who would have thought a snowflake could live for so long. Just imagine the trip, never thought I say this, it makes me wish I could be a snowflake.
How to protect my precious ass..ets?
Why the hell is there no toilet seat covers in the entire state of Michigan? In six years, I have been to airports, restaurants and hospitals, and have yet to find a single stall with these paper seat covers. This is an outrage! In California, where I grow up, they are everywhere--one is more likely to run out TP than TSC. Personally I am unclear what the function of this flimsy single ply sheet of paper is. Is it to insulate your ass...ets from the potentially-dangerous covers? Or is it to offer some protection from the vicious taco-bell-induced bombing runs? In additon, I never knew what to do with the center piece. Do I leave it be? detach it partially? Or completely, but then what would I do with it? It seems awefully wasteful to just throw it away, but I digress. Nevertheless, the lack of TSC makes life almost unbearable. I have now resorted to what Paul Finch did in American Pie, which is rather cumbersome especially when nature calls. Dammit, "having toilet seat cover" has just replaced "two pieces of nigri sushi per order in its japanese restaurants" as number 23 on my criteria of choosing which states to live in once I graduate.
Can I bankrupt Bestbuy?
I hate bestbuy. the story is too long to tell.
So I always try to think of ways to screw them over.
So if I click on the bestbuy.com sponsored site from Google whenever I'm bored, would that generate revenue for every click? or does my cookie setting prevent the extra click from been counted?
Anyone?
100%
Just as I question my stance on abortion, I have also been troubled by the death penalty. I was an adment double-death supporter, I know, the worst of both camps. Well blame it on Law and Order, or the advant of modern forensic science, I come to view that there are uncertainty in most death cases.
The argument against death penalty, in my eyes, falls into three categories. The verdict process is flawed. The punishment is cruel. The cost. Well let's not get into cost analysis of the death penalty and life sentence. I will simply state my view on the first two.
I thinks that the death penalty in some instance is equally or less cruel and inhumane than the crimes (murders) that were committed. Vice versa, I think there are crimes that warrent the death penalty. Notice I am talking about CRIME and punishment, not convicts.
Secondly, I accept the justice system is not 100% proof. Many convictions that led to death roll have been overturned. So the risk of killing an innocent person is significant. But I feel that the problem lies not with the existence of punishment, but with the justice process leading up to it. So the death penalty can stay in the books, but it's not like we got a quota to fill. Yes, it is a cop-out if you wish. Like my view on abortion, rare but legal. As usual, I welcome any comment that will educate and challenge my views on both issues.
The secret weapon.
What is that?
That apparently is a sonogram of a fetus. And the "weapon" of choice by two groups of people that have very divergent goals.
The use of sonogram to determine gender of the fetus as a stepping stone by many parents in countries like China to selectively abort female fetus is well known. This has led to servere gender imbalance and has disastrous implications for the overal population.
However,
a recent story in New York Times demostrated that the same tool can be used to help bringing a baby to term by find an additional way to build connections between the fetus and the mother.
Now been a uterus-less male, I don't pretend to know the physical hardship, and emotional rollercoaster that comes with pregnancy. I don't know whether seeing a grainy image of a fetus on a monitor actually make the physical and moral implication of pregnancy seem more real to a mother. But I am just amazed by the fact how seeing the same kinds of images could lead drastically different life-and-death decisions (regardless who you are or where you are at).
Look, I'm still pro-choice, but not as militant as I used to be. I suppose it was easier when you are younger when one believes he is immortal. I suppose that I have reach Erikson's 7th stage of development prematurely, Generativity vs. Stagnation, when one begins to think about his mortality and legacy, and is more sensible to the idea of child bearing. But been male sometimes shuts you out from questioning pro-choice, simply because I "don't understand ..." Fine. But self-educating is difficult, so I'm hanging in limbo. The decision to terminate a pregnancy based purely on gender is abhorrant. The belief that abortion is evil while turning a blind eye to people poorly or not educated about safe sex is irresponsible and short-sighted.
That's why I do find
Hillary Clinton's recent softened stance on the abortion issue reasonable. In fact, it echos my belief about
how abortion should be prevented and protected. But I have come to discover that the fundamental premise in this stance (which I thought was pretty reasonable), "in an ideal world, there will be no unwanted pregnancy . . . therefore no need to perform abortion (except for medical conditions)," might be wrong. So what do I know?
Persistent questions
The blog has veered from the original intention of writing about minor observations on life that puzzles ones preconception to a general rant on the current state of social and political discourse. I suppose punditry is an infectious disease on the web these days. Yet so much of ones opinions on the outside world are anchored by ones internal beliefs and sensibility, so my reflection on these external issues is as much as an introspection as anything else.
Someone once said that the whole-truth is made up by several half-truth. Perhaps. The champions of such half-truth may be sincere, but I would call them biased. As I strived to be unbiased as anyone could be, I find myself questioning many of my preconceptions previously unchallenged. So I suppose the persistent question here is, "is anybody capable of realigning his beliefs and ideas when he is going on thirty?"
Model of democratic participation
I will have to admit the Iraqi election this past Sunday was a success. In fact the entire process seems so successful, that when I looked up the number, I thought they put the Americans to shame.
Here's the numbers that struck me the most: 14.3 million registered,
according to the State Department.
Put it in perspective: the total population,
according to CIA fact book, is around 25.4 millions. Of which, almost 60% is 15 and older. Do the math that is 15.3 millions. So the registration rate is over 93%!
By comparison,
the registration rate in the U.S. in 2000 was 70%.
So in the midst of violence and insecurity, the Iraqis put our own democratic participation performance to shame. The way I look at: if you even consider 100% registration rate for the Shiites (60%) and Kurds (20%), that meant 65% of Sunnis registered. Pretty amazing isn't it?
Seriously, how did they do it? Democrats need to learn from the Iraqis on how to get out the vote.
Footnote: (For those cynics out there, I will concede the following.)
I don't have the actual number of eligible voters in Iraq. The number I used was 15 and older, while the medium age in the country is 19, and only peopel 18 or older can vote. So the actual eligible pool is probably smaller than 15.3 million that I calculated--which only makes the 14.3 million more impressive.
The violence in mainly Sunni areas in the heartland of Iraq is probably over-exagerated by the mainstream liberal media. 65% registration rate for Sunnis seems fine, even if some of the election officials have been publicly excuted in the weeks leading up to it.
Lastly, Sunday was historical for another reason. A new record was achieved in the number of attacks, 260. I don't understand why the news on Sunday was all about voter jubilance. Violence got the shaft. They should have talked more about the attacks--it would have only made the 72%, er..., 65%, er... 57% (maybe, we think, I hope?) turnout even more more impressive.
