when it comes to making donations to charities, I must admit that I only do it when there is a big disaster like the Japan one, big earthquakes, etc etc. I normally do somewhere between 10 to 20 pounds, which is about 16 to 32 US dollars. I would guess that the amount I donate isn't very much, but it shouldn't be toooo much below average.
so this Camping has received over $120,000,000 worth of donation, a team of people quitting their job, radio station in 46 languages, based on three numbers which he found in the bible after "studying" it for some 17 years. honestly, if you have studied something numerically for 17 years, at least throw a differential equation in there, not just three numbers multiplied together twice...
let's say average donation is 100 dollars (because there's always religious nutters who go big on these things). there are some 1,200,000 (give or take a couple of hundred thousands) people who made a donation for this cause. ONE MILLION OF UNEDUCATED STUPID FOOLS, together can make a real difference to the lives of many who really are in need, decided that the money should be given to an 86-year-old guy to play with.
if I were God, I'd sue him for liable. I love hearing all sorts of rumours, I love to hear how stupid they sound and how unfounded they are, and how people don't think about what they believe to be true. but this is different. this is absolutely morally perverse. the Catholic religious organisation as a whole is the richest organisation in the world, but one can at least argue that regardless of whether what they believe in is true or not, they have done a lot of charitable work around the world (and of course a lot of things they shouldn't do as well). and what has this old guy achieved? absolutely nothing, the only thing I have learnt from it is that there is a vast number of people who satan should be summoned to stop them from spreading their good words. actually I am getting confused whether it should be God or Satan's job to stop these people...
thank god Camping is 86, the sad thing is, we are taught that as long as one believes, one is saved, he is a hell of a believer, and one that I hope isn't saved.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
expanded short story part 2
After I left my planet, I drifted in the universe for years and years, when I discovered Earth through my telescope, it was excitement that I had not felt since I was told that I was accepted in the excitus program! I examined Earth in great details, it's amazing to see that our scientists were correct in predicting that if any living creature we find, they'll be rather like us since it's the only logical way. and it is indescribable how it felt like to see a planet of creatures in action that I only learnt in history books.
I read in books that before the freedom program was fully developed, people had to eat, they did not eat for pleasure, people had to work, they did not work for pleasure, they had to die, they did not die because of the planet management. on Earth, it seems that they did not even have a planet management system! from distance, I can only make out that Earth people are not controlled, there is a great number of Earth people who constantly talk about what is right and what is wrong, what are the laws that people should follow, what freedom is. but the law is one thing, what people do is another. they seem to have a law that killing someone is punishable, but if one wants to kill someone one can just do it! that seems to be what they mean by freedom. how can everyone be free without being controlled? I speed up my vehicle, I imagine myself landing there and really find out what live is like...
I read in books that before the freedom program was fully developed, people had to eat, they did not eat for pleasure, people had to work, they did not work for pleasure, they had to die, they did not die because of the planet management. on Earth, it seems that they did not even have a planet management system! from distance, I can only make out that Earth people are not controlled, there is a great number of Earth people who constantly talk about what is right and what is wrong, what are the laws that people should follow, what freedom is. but the law is one thing, what people do is another. they seem to have a law that killing someone is punishable, but if one wants to kill someone one can just do it! that seems to be what they mean by freedom. how can everyone be free without being controlled? I speed up my vehicle, I imagine myself landing there and really find out what live is like...
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
the expanded short story part 1
I considered myself to be one of the lucky ones, when I was told that I had a place in the mass excitus program sponsored by the planet government, even it meant that I had to leave my father and mother, and grand father and grand mother, and many generations before that behind. if I am to be honest, like most of us, they don't mean much any more. but when I discovered Earth, part of me really wants to go back, part of me seems to have instantly destroyed itself...
it was at least 45 generations ago plus the time it took me to get here when the great scientist 2013989 successfully completed his development of what he called the "freedom program." he solved virtually all of the technical difficulties which limit our freedom; no one gets ill naturally any more, no one grows up naturally any more, no one dies naturally any more... I still remember, in my own head, not on my external memory, that almost everyone at the time was happy beyond description, many called our planet the eternal heaven, no one believed that there was any more reason to procreate, sex became purely for love's sake, everyone wanted to simply live there happily forever. but very soon, the mood changed.
no one died naturally, the whole society soon became static, there was simply no change! giving birth was rediscovered, in a society such as ours where freedom was synonymous as life, ironically, giving birth suddenly became irresistable.
the names of people became meaningless, I was given the name Tifaci; but there were in the end too many people who had the same name, and as a result, we were all asigned a number.
what followed, in hinesight, was very predictable. we went through a period of dark age, where people were forced to die after they had their fair share of time on the planet, and I am one of the few who managed to join the excitus program instead and left the planet behind.
it was at least 45 generations ago plus the time it took me to get here when the great scientist 2013989 successfully completed his development of what he called the "freedom program." he solved virtually all of the technical difficulties which limit our freedom; no one gets ill naturally any more, no one grows up naturally any more, no one dies naturally any more... I still remember, in my own head, not on my external memory, that almost everyone at the time was happy beyond description, many called our planet the eternal heaven, no one believed that there was any more reason to procreate, sex became purely for love's sake, everyone wanted to simply live there happily forever. but very soon, the mood changed.
no one died naturally, the whole society soon became static, there was simply no change! giving birth was rediscovered, in a society such as ours where freedom was synonymous as life, ironically, giving birth suddenly became irresistable.
the names of people became meaningless, I was given the name Tifaci; but there were in the end too many people who had the same name, and as a result, we were all asigned a number.
what followed, in hinesight, was very predictable. we went through a period of dark age, where people were forced to die after they had their fair share of time on the planet, and I am one of the few who managed to join the excitus program instead and left the planet behind.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
achievements
I have been following the BBC Human Planet series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/humanplanetexplorer/
In short, it is about how creatures of the same species as you and me, survive and find their way of living in what we often call extreme conditions.
It is certainly amazing how those people live - stealing food from lions by pure bluffing, diving 10 meters deept in the ocean hunting for fish without any aid for as long as five minutes with one breath, climbing a 40-meter tall tree to steal much-needed high-nutrition honey from bee hives, etc etc. but equally, if the people from the tree house create an episode of Human planet from their perspective, they will find it equally amazing, and it is indeed amazing, that I, like many others adopting a western way of living, can somehow sit in front of a computer all day and then get bread and milk and chickens and fish and oranges in the evening.
the thing that strikes me most in terms of our different way of live is, as one of the filming crew said, how fullfilling their lives are, despite that they probably live much shorter lives than we do. and I think this has a lot to do with achievements.
Most ordinary people in the west nowadays invest 20 or so years in studying, then they start working, most achieving absolutely nothing and if one of them disappears, it would make absolutely no difference to anything in the world whatsoever. this is why we have to have books, various courses, which tell us how to manage our lives by creating goals and milestones for ourselves in order that we feel we are doing something and achieving something. "in five years time, where do you see yourself?", most managers might say, "to become a director"; most receptionists might say, "to become a shift leader"; and when you become a director, you want to go higher, and most of the timefor most people, what they really mean is to get more money. is there an end to this? not really, there's always more money to be had. so by "achieving" what you have set yourself in five years time, is just to repeat the cycle, it is rather meaningless. let's face it, to really achieve in our world, you have to be saying something like "to solve the energy problem", or "to solve the overfishing problem."
what about the people in the treehouses, or those who live on boats subsistently? they never have to ask themselves where they want to be in five years time, they are happy where they are, they are achieving every single day by hunting and fishing what they need for the next few days, and that's why their lives are fullfilling. there is no such a thing as "in five years time, I want to be catching 200% more fish than I do now every day", since they don't need that much fish, they only need to get what they need for the next few days if not just today.
In short, it is about how creatures of the same species as you and me, survive and find their way of living in what we often call extreme conditions.
It is certainly amazing how those people live - stealing food from lions by pure bluffing, diving 10 meters deept in the ocean hunting for fish without any aid for as long as five minutes with one breath, climbing a 40-meter tall tree to steal much-needed high-nutrition honey from bee hives, etc etc. but equally, if the people from the tree house create an episode of Human planet from their perspective, they will find it equally amazing, and it is indeed amazing, that I, like many others adopting a western way of living, can somehow sit in front of a computer all day and then get bread and milk and chickens and fish and oranges in the evening.
the thing that strikes me most in terms of our different way of live is, as one of the filming crew said, how fullfilling their lives are, despite that they probably live much shorter lives than we do. and I think this has a lot to do with achievements.
Most ordinary people in the west nowadays invest 20 or so years in studying, then they start working, most achieving absolutely nothing and if one of them disappears, it would make absolutely no difference to anything in the world whatsoever. this is why we have to have books, various courses, which tell us how to manage our lives by creating goals and milestones for ourselves in order that we feel we are doing something and achieving something. "in five years time, where do you see yourself?", most managers might say, "to become a director"; most receptionists might say, "to become a shift leader"; and when you become a director, you want to go higher, and most of the timefor most people, what they really mean is to get more money. is there an end to this? not really, there's always more money to be had. so by "achieving" what you have set yourself in five years time, is just to repeat the cycle, it is rather meaningless. let's face it, to really achieve in our world, you have to be saying something like "to solve the energy problem", or "to solve the overfishing problem."
what about the people in the treehouses, or those who live on boats subsistently? they never have to ask themselves where they want to be in five years time, they are happy where they are, they are achieving every single day by hunting and fishing what they need for the next few days, and that's why their lives are fullfilling. there is no such a thing as "in five years time, I want to be catching 200% more fish than I do now every day", since they don't need that much fish, they only need to get what they need for the next few days if not just today.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
swine flu vaccine
It's heartbreaking to see the mother talking about her three year old daughter who died because of swine flu, and she was not vaccinated because (despite being a young child) she was healthy before. the vaccine is worth a few pounds, and to the mother what it means is that her child isn't worth the government a few pounds to save her.
it is such a dilemma that it really isn't a few pounds, it could be a few million pounds the government has to spend to save the child. if the policy is such that all under five's should be vaccinated regardless they have underlying health problems or not, most of the few-pounds would have been spent on children who wouldn't have got the flu, and those who would get the flu would survive just like any other flu anyway.
a government just has to do what it thinks is best for most people, but who is there to explain to the sad mother all these, who can tell her that her child just isn't worth the money? is this another argument that when things grow too big, it's not good?
it is such a dilemma that it really isn't a few pounds, it could be a few million pounds the government has to spend to save the child. if the policy is such that all under five's should be vaccinated regardless they have underlying health problems or not, most of the few-pounds would have been spent on children who wouldn't have got the flu, and those who would get the flu would survive just like any other flu anyway.
a government just has to do what it thinks is best for most people, but who is there to explain to the sad mother all these, who can tell her that her child just isn't worth the money? is this another argument that when things grow too big, it's not good?
Saturday, 8 January 2011
The hardest words to say
Jack Straw (former home secretary of Britain) was very brave today to publically say that one of the factors that contribute to the recent cases of young Pakastani men hunting for young white girls as easy target for sex is a cultural one. apparently it angered a lot of the Pakastani comunities, and BBC interviewed one of leaders, one of the very first things he said was "it's got nothing to do with Islam, nothing to do with culture." and the rest of what he said is just mumblings that it is not possible to remember.
No one said that it's got anything to do with Islam, but if you insist on drawing attention to Islam whenever an observation is made about anything you somehow feel obliged to reply to, you're going to make matter worse.
jack straw was brave because he said something that he knew is going to make the illogical react, someple say that he has his own political agenda which is why he said what he said, I have no comment on that and I am going to take what he said in its face value, it serves to illustrate a problem.
when any issue becomes sensitive - most of the time either because people just feel very strongly about it in the case of religion, or for historical reasons where huge number of victims are involved such as eugenics - it is impossible to have a sensible and logical debate about it. people hear the word eugenics, before their brain even registers what it is, they shut down, reject it, and incapable of saying why apart from pointing out that Hitler tried and millions were killed. when people are told that religions fundamentally cause conflicts, especially if you're the evangelical kind, they shut down, reject the accusation, this time avoiding any mention of the billions and trillions killed, and again fail to give reasons for why they believe in what they believe.
as a side note, I do think that if genes (the dna that define us physically) and memes (the same thing but mentally) can be talked of in the same way - both work on fittest survive - religions are just a form of eugenics, but they work on a memetic level rather than a genetic level. instead of getting rid of those do not have a certain physical characteristics in the case of eugenics, religions get rid of, those believes that don't have certain characteristics. seeing it this way makes it clear that religions are thousand times worse than eugenics in terms of number of people killed (if that's the way some people like to measure things).
be brave
No one said that it's got anything to do with Islam, but if you insist on drawing attention to Islam whenever an observation is made about anything you somehow feel obliged to reply to, you're going to make matter worse.
jack straw was brave because he said something that he knew is going to make the illogical react, someple say that he has his own political agenda which is why he said what he said, I have no comment on that and I am going to take what he said in its face value, it serves to illustrate a problem.
when any issue becomes sensitive - most of the time either because people just feel very strongly about it in the case of religion, or for historical reasons where huge number of victims are involved such as eugenics - it is impossible to have a sensible and logical debate about it. people hear the word eugenics, before their brain even registers what it is, they shut down, reject it, and incapable of saying why apart from pointing out that Hitler tried and millions were killed. when people are told that religions fundamentally cause conflicts, especially if you're the evangelical kind, they shut down, reject the accusation, this time avoiding any mention of the billions and trillions killed, and again fail to give reasons for why they believe in what they believe.
as a side note, I do think that if genes (the dna that define us physically) and memes (the same thing but mentally) can be talked of in the same way - both work on fittest survive - religions are just a form of eugenics, but they work on a memetic level rather than a genetic level. instead of getting rid of those do not have a certain physical characteristics in the case of eugenics, religions get rid of, those believes that don't have certain characteristics. seeing it this way makes it clear that religions are thousand times worse than eugenics in terms of number of people killed (if that's the way some people like to measure things).
be brave
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
what makes it sad
I was in a shopping mall in hong kong with my sister the day before yesterday, there was a big screen showing live a bus in the middle of a road in minilla seeged by a gunman. the gunman let a few people off, mainly elderly, people who were ill and a couple of children... he demanded that he is to have his job with the police back, he was recently made redundant (or fired I'm not sure).
8 hours later, 8 were dead, 7 injured, some critically. the gunman was dead also.
the scale of the tragedy is big, Hong kong just does not experience this kind of things so close to home.
someone said that every single day there are much bigger tragdies happened all around the world, there is just nothing special about this one. indeed when I turned on the uk radio this morning, this incidence was not even mentioned at all, but there was a report on the conflict in congo, where rape tactics are being used again, soldiers/militants are going into villages to rape women in a systematic way, there was a plane crash (or two plane crashes), and a small piece on the flood in pakastan.
there are two things that mmake the bus seege particularly upsetting, one is obviously the connection to Hong Kong and hong kong people, more so I think is the fact that in that 8 hours, so much could have been done to save the HK tourists, but the Philipino special police was incompatent, and also what the philipino government said immediately afterwards was infuriating.
those who survive are always the ones who suffer most, my best wishes to them and hope they will recover soon.
8 hours later, 8 were dead, 7 injured, some critically. the gunman was dead also.
the scale of the tragedy is big, Hong kong just does not experience this kind of things so close to home.
someone said that every single day there are much bigger tragdies happened all around the world, there is just nothing special about this one. indeed when I turned on the uk radio this morning, this incidence was not even mentioned at all, but there was a report on the conflict in congo, where rape tactics are being used again, soldiers/militants are going into villages to rape women in a systematic way, there was a plane crash (or two plane crashes), and a small piece on the flood in pakastan.
there are two things that mmake the bus seege particularly upsetting, one is obviously the connection to Hong Kong and hong kong people, more so I think is the fact that in that 8 hours, so much could have been done to save the HK tourists, but the Philipino special police was incompatent, and also what the philipino government said immediately afterwards was infuriating.
those who survive are always the ones who suffer most, my best wishes to them and hope they will recover soon.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
part 10: the language
a month after the funeral, she feels more settled into her new way of life. she is unhappy as much as she is bored, she has no motivation to do anything. she passes her time walking - sometimes amongest trees, sometimes amongest people - they all seem the same to her.
she walked so far one day that she had to look at a map at the train station to find her way back. on the map, it says "you are here" as if the map was with her talking to her. she looked up and discovered that the name of the train station was not the same as where she was on the map. a woman came over and pointed at the map, smiling, "you are here, not there." Jane could see that the woman was about to start chatting, so she said thanks, and slowly walked off. Only a second later that she realised that she hadn't got her direction yet...
when she walked out of the station she could see puddles on the ground, fortunately no one was carrying umbrella so that it did not look like it was raining. she tried to picture the map in her head and tried to find where the woman was pointing at. "I'm here" she found it amusing, "I'm always here, not there, how can I be."
there was a rainbow hanging from the sky, she looked to the end of the rainbow, further, and further still, "he's there", her long hair flying in the wind, trying to escape her head, "will I ever be?"
she walked so far one day that she had to look at a map at the train station to find her way back. on the map, it says "you are here" as if the map was with her talking to her. she looked up and discovered that the name of the train station was not the same as where she was on the map. a woman came over and pointed at the map, smiling, "you are here, not there." Jane could see that the woman was about to start chatting, so she said thanks, and slowly walked off. Only a second later that she realised that she hadn't got her direction yet...
when she walked out of the station she could see puddles on the ground, fortunately no one was carrying umbrella so that it did not look like it was raining. she tried to picture the map in her head and tried to find where the woman was pointing at. "I'm here" she found it amusing, "I'm always here, not there, how can I be."
there was a rainbow hanging from the sky, she looked to the end of the rainbow, further, and further still, "he's there", her long hair flying in the wind, trying to escape her head, "will I ever be?"
can I be honest?
A very good friend asked me, can I be honest about everything she asked me?
I have to "be honest" here, no, I actually can't! not so much that I will lie about things, but there will inevitably be things that I just don't want to tell her about how I think of her. in fact, this very question is a good enough example.
"why not? if we are good friends why can't you be honest about everything?"
"because there are questions where if I'm totally honest it's bound to make things uneasy."
"like what?"
"like "can you be honest about everything I ask you?""
"well I thought our relationship can be as honest and open as possible..."
"but this "no" to the question already changes perception. if I had said "yes", it will certainly be the real questions that change other perception that I may not necessarily want to change..."
is this a attitude of me towards friends in general or I do wonder, are other people really more honest and open than I am?
I have to "be honest" here, no, I actually can't! not so much that I will lie about things, but there will inevitably be things that I just don't want to tell her about how I think of her. in fact, this very question is a good enough example.
"why not? if we are good friends why can't you be honest about everything?"
"because there are questions where if I'm totally honest it's bound to make things uneasy."
"like what?"
"like "can you be honest about everything I ask you?""
"well I thought our relationship can be as honest and open as possible..."
"but this "no" to the question already changes perception. if I had said "yes", it will certainly be the real questions that change other perception that I may not necessarily want to change..."
is this a attitude of me towards friends in general or I do wonder, are other people really more honest and open than I am?
Sunday, 30 May 2010
learning
I have recently started playing Go the board game in a Go club in london, I travel there by train, then tube, then it's a short walk to the venue. just about every single time I make the journey there will be people making remarks such as "it's absolutely amazing you can do this when you cannot see...", "how can you memorise the steps you have to take..." etc etc - they are of course referring to walking up and down stairs, going through the tube station.
I think these people, or indeed most people, are misunderstanding what disability as far as being blind is concernned actually means. let me explain by my experience in playing Go.
Go is a highly complicated board game, the playing area is more than 4 times that of Chess (19x19 compared with an 8x8 board), the degree of freedom is quite possibly many thousands times more than Chess. I can certainly see that I have a lot of difficulties in actually playing the game well because it is very hard to keep track of what is going on all over the board. however, many people especially at the beginning experience the same. the most difficult thing for me in playing Go is actually finding the oppotunity to play it, and also the oppotunity to watch other people play in order to improve, let alone all the books, magazines etc that are never available in any accessible format understandably. this is by far the biggest disadvantage to me, because I can only really learn by playing a game myself, I cannot learn from watching other people's games. this is real disability.
every single blind person can walk up and down stairs, and should be able to travel on their own to wherever they need to, or do shopping, or whatever, if they can't they are not just blind they have other problems. but the real disability is really not being able to observe, learning is heavily restricted - that's what people need to understand and if they are kind enough, try to help out with. don't amaze at those who can travel, amaze at those who somehow manage to learn things that are highly restricted to observations.
I think these people, or indeed most people, are misunderstanding what disability as far as being blind is concernned actually means. let me explain by my experience in playing Go.
Go is a highly complicated board game, the playing area is more than 4 times that of Chess (19x19 compared with an 8x8 board), the degree of freedom is quite possibly many thousands times more than Chess. I can certainly see that I have a lot of difficulties in actually playing the game well because it is very hard to keep track of what is going on all over the board. however, many people especially at the beginning experience the same. the most difficult thing for me in playing Go is actually finding the oppotunity to play it, and also the oppotunity to watch other people play in order to improve, let alone all the books, magazines etc that are never available in any accessible format understandably. this is by far the biggest disadvantage to me, because I can only really learn by playing a game myself, I cannot learn from watching other people's games. this is real disability.
every single blind person can walk up and down stairs, and should be able to travel on their own to wherever they need to, or do shopping, or whatever, if they can't they are not just blind they have other problems. but the real disability is really not being able to observe, learning is heavily restricted - that's what people need to understand and if they are kind enough, try to help out with. don't amaze at those who can travel, amaze at those who somehow manage to learn things that are highly restricted to observations.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
the potential millionaire story part 2
at work, james told everyone that he won the lottery but he said that it'll take time for him to claim the prize. his coleagues were initially of course amazed, but after hearing what the story was about they all laughed.
James was visibly angry. he decided to buy everyone's lunch to prove that he was not joking, he really did win the prize and he will claim it. with that, there were indeed a few silent converts. later on in the afternoon, james was found alone in the kitchen making a cup of coffee, rob took the oppotunity and went in for a chat. James showed him all the evidence he had taken, and told rob again the whole sequence of events that led
him to believe that he had won the prize, and Rob thought to himself "there's nothing to lose!" the two, have instantly become good friends. it was a gamble for rob, a gamble that didn't require any contribution, and it was a great comfort for james, for he had finally, at least so he thought, found someone who believed what he said.
James was visibly angry. he decided to buy everyone's lunch to prove that he was not joking, he really did win the prize and he will claim it. with that, there were indeed a few silent converts. later on in the afternoon, james was found alone in the kitchen making a cup of coffee, rob took the oppotunity and went in for a chat. James showed him all the evidence he had taken, and told rob again the whole sequence of events that led
him to believe that he had won the prize, and Rob thought to himself "there's nothing to lose!" the two, have instantly become good friends. it was a gamble for rob, a gamble that didn't require any contribution, and it was a great comfort for james, for he had finally, at least so he thought, found someone who believed what he said.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
the potential millionaire: part 0 + 1
that night, james just couldn't sleep. he laid in bed with his eyes wide open, angry, furious, disappointed. he was angry that no one picked up the phone when he tried to buy the ticket over the phone, he was furious that there was no way for him to purchse a ticket right on the tv screen. he was disappointed, that he knew there was nothing he could do. he closed his eyes, and gave up thinking about it, but he could not. he imagined all sorts of things he'd buy, the circle of friends he would be in, the women, the center of attention, the admiration, the speeches he would make at various occasions, the workless life he would have. he sat up, imagined himself in court fighting for his 11 million pounds jackpot, he would say to the judge he wrote the numbers down before he picked up the phone and he could show the piece of scrap paper, he shouted so loudly that his neighbours must have heard him, he has always been a good law-abiding citizen that anyone knows him will know that he wouldn't lie about this, and he has always been a perfectly normal person he wouldn't invent such a stupid story to get 11 million pounds. "only...only if I had money then I can employ the best lawyer to fight in court for me!"
he got out of bed, it was half past two, everything was very quiet. he took his camera out and like a detective, he fully examined the crime scene and took pictures of all the evidence - the piece of scrap paper, the telephone, the open window, the neighbour's house that can be seen out of the window etc etc.
he got out of bed, it was half past two, everything was very quiet. he took his camera out and like a detective, he fully examined the crime scene and took pictures of all the evidence - the piece of scrap paper, the telephone, the open window, the neighbour's house that can be seen out of the window etc etc.
Monday, 8 February 2010
the story of the potential millionaire. part 0
Every saturday, James goes through a routine. he gets up at 8, for no reason other than that the alarm clock has been set that way, he cooks his own breakfast, he sits in his little lounge if the weather is bad to read a newspaper, or he sits in his garden to enjoy it. his house is small but it is situated in such a peaceful area of town that he often leaves the door unlocked unless he is going out for a whole day.
in the afternoon, he spends his time working in a charity shop which he enjoys a lot - the people to talk to, the feeling of practically helping those who are in need and above all, a way of passing time. today is a little different. he has to stay at home because he is expecting an important delivery of his purchase of a top-of-the-range home cinema system yesterday. he waited excitedly, but it never came. the clock strikes 8 and he gave up hope.
he turns on the tele and he saw that the lottery is going to be drawn in 20 minutes. he day-dreams about winning the jackpot, he'll quit his job, he'll buy a new house, he can forget about the home cinema he bought, his life will change, in fact he will literally buy a new life. then he woke up. he picks up the phone and frantically try to buy a ticket but of course, it is too late. when he puts the receiver down, the balls have started rolling. "2" he shouted, number 2 comes up! "38!", ball number 38 comes up! "10, 13 20 49!!" and sure enough, they all have been rolled out.
he jumped up in joy, he just cannot believe his luck. until, he heard the woman saying in the tele that no one has won the jack pot.
the lottery, rather than giving James a chance to become a multi millionaire, has instead set him on a long and rough struggle.
in the afternoon, he spends his time working in a charity shop which he enjoys a lot - the people to talk to, the feeling of practically helping those who are in need and above all, a way of passing time. today is a little different. he has to stay at home because he is expecting an important delivery of his purchase of a top-of-the-range home cinema system yesterday. he waited excitedly, but it never came. the clock strikes 8 and he gave up hope.
he turns on the tele and he saw that the lottery is going to be drawn in 20 minutes. he day-dreams about winning the jackpot, he'll quit his job, he'll buy a new house, he can forget about the home cinema he bought, his life will change, in fact he will literally buy a new life. then he woke up. he picks up the phone and frantically try to buy a ticket but of course, it is too late. when he puts the receiver down, the balls have started rolling. "2" he shouted, number 2 comes up! "38!", ball number 38 comes up! "10, 13 20 49!!" and sure enough, they all have been rolled out.
he jumped up in joy, he just cannot believe his luck. until, he heard the woman saying in the tele that no one has won the jack pot.
the lottery, rather than giving James a chance to become a multi millionaire, has instead set him on a long and rough struggle.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
please...journalists....I beg you to stop
I know that sometimes you have not much to ask or no one to interview on a sunday, but I beg you to stop asking the christians why God allows a disaster such as that to strike a poor country like Haiti killing so far 50,000 people and many more to come.
I do not know which bishop it was that was interviewed, I can almost hear in his head saying that "well, it's good for them cos now they are all going to heaven.", but of course he can't say that in public. so he instead elaborated on how people have freedom (totally irelevant), and it's up to us how we respond to such disaster (totally irelevant as well) - the question is, bishop, why did god allow such a disaster.
mr journalist, I beg you to just stop questioning them on this, they have a terminal (or shall I say eternal) mental illness called faith, (which most people do have but not as badly affected if they are not religious), one of the symptoms is that they reach conclusions before they have evidence or arguments, they are willing to go to whatever length to stick to their conclusions, sacrificing all other believes, common senses if necessary in order to preserve their eternal conclusions.
I do not know which bishop it was that was interviewed, I can almost hear in his head saying that "well, it's good for them cos now they are all going to heaven.", but of course he can't say that in public. so he instead elaborated on how people have freedom (totally irelevant), and it's up to us how we respond to such disaster (totally irelevant as well) - the question is, bishop, why did god allow such a disaster.
mr journalist, I beg you to just stop questioning them on this, they have a terminal (or shall I say eternal) mental illness called faith, (which most people do have but not as badly affected if they are not religious), one of the symptoms is that they reach conclusions before they have evidence or arguments, they are willing to go to whatever length to stick to their conclusions, sacrificing all other believes, common senses if necessary in order to preserve their eternal conclusions.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
disaster and disaster
Before I start writing about disasters, I want to say that because of the snow, I have been working from home quite a bit, and yesterday I thoroughly enjoyed watching prime minister questions. it has to be one of my favourite "show." By the way, it was the session where Gorden Brown kept going on about David Cameron's poster.
Haiti is the second poorest country in the west I was told by the news reporter, I'm sure it's THE poorest now. presumably people know this all along - that Haiti is poor and has 200 years of misery, it's not as if there's an earthquake, and all the statisticians and historians work overnight to produce the facts that Haiti is in a bad state. you get my point, people know this all the time. and surely, people know that Haiti is on the Carabian fault line, it's not as if the geologists work over night again to find this out. what I do not get then is this: why wasn't the standard of living improved before disaster strikes? easier said than done. if there's no earthquake, people will say "well there are poor everywhere, even in the USA there are people who are forced out of their home to live on the streets" etc. after an earthquake, a spike of emotions comes, so everyone rushes to donate, and a huge amount of money can be collected. financially speaking, if this huge sum of money and effort was used before the earthquake, to build the structures, I think rescue operation can be much less painful and financially more worthwhile too.
Haiti is the second poorest country in the west I was told by the news reporter, I'm sure it's THE poorest now. presumably people know this all along - that Haiti is poor and has 200 years of misery, it's not as if there's an earthquake, and all the statisticians and historians work overnight to produce the facts that Haiti is in a bad state. you get my point, people know this all the time. and surely, people know that Haiti is on the Carabian fault line, it's not as if the geologists work over night again to find this out. what I do not get then is this: why wasn't the standard of living improved before disaster strikes? easier said than done. if there's no earthquake, people will say "well there are poor everywhere, even in the USA there are people who are forced out of their home to live on the streets" etc. after an earthquake, a spike of emotions comes, so everyone rushes to donate, and a huge amount of money can be collected. financially speaking, if this huge sum of money and effort was used before the earthquake, to build the structures, I think rescue operation can be much less painful and financially more worthwhile too.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
part 8: the envelope
the postman has been at his job for over a decade, he knows all the little sidestreets of every main road, he knows all the names in all the families in the small town, he knows the Harold who has just passed away, he found the address that looked to match that on the envelope. he held the letter in both his hands and said a prayer. he was very curious as to what the whole letter was, he stared at the window on the envelope, he ran his finger across the seal...to his surprise, it was not sealed.
the postman looked around and saw no one, he hesitated, then he understood. the semetry is not guarded even though what is held here is the most precious to the deceased's families. he could not open the envelope just as he couldn't so disrespectfully disturb the dead by looking into the coffin. little did he know, that this particular coffin not far from where he stood was a little different.
the postman looked around and saw no one, he hesitated, then he understood. the semetry is not guarded even though what is held here is the most precious to the deceased's families. he could not open the envelope just as he couldn't so disrespectfully disturb the dead by looking into the coffin. little did he know, that this particular coffin not far from where he stood was a little different.
Monday, 31 August 2009
part 7: the first letter
When the postman saw the address on the back of the envelope, he instinctively thought that it was a prank mail and put it aside. when the letter was laying with the window facing up however, something caught the postman's eyes.
On one side of the envelope it was written:
which made it look like someone is messing about, but in the window of the envelope, someone seemed to have carelessly put the letter in in such a way that the following writing can be seen:
the postman was tempted to open the envelope, but in the end, he kept the letter in his pocket, and delivered it later on that day.
On one side of the envelope it was written:
My dearest Harold
the semetry
which made it look like someone is messing about, but in the window of the envelope, someone seemed to have carelessly put the letter in in such a way that the following writing can be seen:
...ings only come to being when I lookat them, time...
...you only die when I look at you. perhaps you...
the postman was tempted to open the envelope, but in the end, he kept the letter in his pocket, and delivered it later on that day.
Monday, 24 August 2009
part 6: the clock
In the town where she lives, a river cuts the town into two halves. one of the tourist attractions on the river bank is a dome like structure which has four rings on the edge of the dome. the outermost ring has a male figure placed on it who faces inwards, the second outermost ring has a female figure facing outwards, the two inner most rings have one child each facing towards where they are travelling.
the two children mark the 0 minute of an hour and 0 hour of a day position, where the woman is the mark of the first day of a week, while the male figure marks the first week of the four weeks in a lunar month. the rings are constantly spinning such that the position of the family can be used to indicate the current time and day of week and the phase of the lunar month. the children hold hands once every one hour and 5 minutes, while the couple kisses roughly once every 9 days. the dome is entirely powered by the river. next to the dome there is a table on which instruction is given as to how to convert what is on the dome to the familiar western calendar.
many come in summer to watch the moment when the couple kisses and the children hold hands at the same time against the background of the gently flowing river, and they, were no exception. many summer evenings they spent sitting in the middle of the dome, watching the hour child run pass in front of them time and time again, chatting, laughing, cuddling, kissing...
it was a cool evening, a full moon was hanging from the sky. since it was Wednesday, she knew before she got to the clock that the couple will be kissing. when she reached the dome, the female figure was slowly moving towards the man, they showed no hurry at all as if they knew that they will have their brief but regular romance as long as the river flows.
she walked to the river, and she imagined herself standing in it, her giant hands blocking the water flowing into the dome so that there is a power cut. will the couple then regret not to have hurried? will they charish their moments, however regular they are, a little more?
she looked at the dome again, and by now the couple were kissing, she watched until they moved apart, and she went home.
she remembered someone said to her once that when a tree falls in a forest where no one hears, no sound is made. she said to herself, "this, is the last time they kiss..." it suddenly dawned on her that he has not died! he is only dead when she looks into the web cam, he may still be alive when she is not looking!
with that, she picked up a pen and began to write.
the two children mark the 0 minute of an hour and 0 hour of a day position, where the woman is the mark of the first day of a week, while the male figure marks the first week of the four weeks in a lunar month. the rings are constantly spinning such that the position of the family can be used to indicate the current time and day of week and the phase of the lunar month. the children hold hands once every one hour and 5 minutes, while the couple kisses roughly once every 9 days. the dome is entirely powered by the river. next to the dome there is a table on which instruction is given as to how to convert what is on the dome to the familiar western calendar.
many come in summer to watch the moment when the couple kisses and the children hold hands at the same time against the background of the gently flowing river, and they, were no exception. many summer evenings they spent sitting in the middle of the dome, watching the hour child run pass in front of them time and time again, chatting, laughing, cuddling, kissing...
it was a cool evening, a full moon was hanging from the sky. since it was Wednesday, she knew before she got to the clock that the couple will be kissing. when she reached the dome, the female figure was slowly moving towards the man, they showed no hurry at all as if they knew that they will have their brief but regular romance as long as the river flows.
she walked to the river, and she imagined herself standing in it, her giant hands blocking the water flowing into the dome so that there is a power cut. will the couple then regret not to have hurried? will they charish their moments, however regular they are, a little more?
she looked at the dome again, and by now the couple were kissing, she watched until they moved apart, and she went home.
she remembered someone said to her once that when a tree falls in a forest where no one hears, no sound is made. she said to herself, "this, is the last time they kiss..." it suddenly dawned on her that he has not died! he is only dead when she looks into the web cam, he may still be alive when she is not looking!
with that, she picked up a pen and began to write.
Monday, 17 August 2009
part 5: the poster
there is a small church right next to the park, a small crowd came out after the sunday service. they all looked generally happy despite the fact that they had to change their plan for barbecue because of the rain.
when they reached the side of the church, someone spotted a poster on the wall. from distance, they could make out two figures, one looked like Jesus, and the other looked like a Greek God of a kind. when the crowd gathered in front of it, they saw jesus setting up a barbecue, and the Greek God pouring down rain for a bunch of kids to enjoy splashing water in a puddle. the congregation stood there wondering, while some took their umbrella out. suddenly, someone from the back shouted, "what a horrible poster!"
he came forward and tare the poster down. to everyone surprise, there was another one underneath it. the second poster looked almost the same as the first, except that the children are now crying, and the charcoal is beginning to burn. one of the children said "you got what you prayed for now have you?"
the man who tore the first poster down was visibly angry. he tore the second one down, and there was a third. he tore it down without looking at it, and finally, there was the bare wall they never paid attention to but familiar with. on the bit where the posters were, it read "tare me down too."
at this, the man punch the wall, and someone next to him shaked his head "that's the church you're punching my friend."
she stood by and saw the whole scene unfolded, she was struck by what has changed in all of those people in just a few minutes. she realised, that what left behind, was not the posters, but the idea, the trick.
she wondered, what was left in her, that was left by him?
when they reached the side of the church, someone spotted a poster on the wall. from distance, they could make out two figures, one looked like Jesus, and the other looked like a Greek God of a kind. when the crowd gathered in front of it, they saw jesus setting up a barbecue, and the Greek God pouring down rain for a bunch of kids to enjoy splashing water in a puddle. the congregation stood there wondering, while some took their umbrella out. suddenly, someone from the back shouted, "what a horrible poster!"
he came forward and tare the poster down. to everyone surprise, there was another one underneath it. the second poster looked almost the same as the first, except that the children are now crying, and the charcoal is beginning to burn. one of the children said "you got what you prayed for now have you?"
the man who tore the first poster down was visibly angry. he tore the second one down, and there was a third. he tore it down without looking at it, and finally, there was the bare wall they never paid attention to but familiar with. on the bit where the posters were, it read "tare me down too."
at this, the man punch the wall, and someone next to him shaked his head "that's the church you're punching my friend."
she stood by and saw the whole scene unfolded, she was struck by what has changed in all of those people in just a few minutes. she realised, that what left behind, was not the posters, but the idea, the trick.
she wondered, what was left in her, that was left by him?
Saturday, 8 August 2009
part 4: the rain
she finally turned on the computer to look at the video the next day. she felt surprisingly calm, the pale face, to her eyes, looked like ... the chicken piece. perhaps because of the lack of emotion she felt, she was disappointed.
it was raining outside, she took her umbrella and left the house. it was a quiet sunday afternoon, the kind of days they'd enjoy the tranquility together in the park because no one likes going out in the rain, like the way that peace only comes when the chaos brought about by war is fully realised and everyone is exhausted.
she felt cold, and realised that half of her body was soaked because half of the umbrella is covering an empty space. there was water dripping from her hair: "Water?" she exclaimed. "when did the rain die to become droplets of water?" at that point it was more like a storm. she pictured herself watching a scene in a movie where millions of rain parachuting down, falling to the ground, dying, screaming, trying to hover in the wind, but in the end, all swept down to the river. and the river...as one body, it runs to the sea, the river dies, and all become part of the ocean. and the ocean...always evaporating, ceasing to be part of the ocean, rise up to form clouds. a strange thought appeared in her mind: "if people know that their bodies do nothing but recycle, will they still commit suicide? won't they need to do more, like totally destroying themselves, or ejecting themselves into space, in order to escape the horrible cycle?"
it was raining outside, she took her umbrella and left the house. it was a quiet sunday afternoon, the kind of days they'd enjoy the tranquility together in the park because no one likes going out in the rain, like the way that peace only comes when the chaos brought about by war is fully realised and everyone is exhausted.
she felt cold, and realised that half of her body was soaked because half of the umbrella is covering an empty space. there was water dripping from her hair: "Water?" she exclaimed. "when did the rain die to become droplets of water?" at that point it was more like a storm. she pictured herself watching a scene in a movie where millions of rain parachuting down, falling to the ground, dying, screaming, trying to hover in the wind, but in the end, all swept down to the river. and the river...as one body, it runs to the sea, the river dies, and all become part of the ocean. and the ocean...always evaporating, ceasing to be part of the ocean, rise up to form clouds. a strange thought appeared in her mind: "if people know that their bodies do nothing but recycle, will they still commit suicide? won't they need to do more, like totally destroying themselves, or ejecting themselves into space, in order to escape the horrible cycle?"
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