Politics makes no sense in the economy

As much as I try to avoid taking a stand in the randomness of politics, I was appalled by the lack of common sense in politics.

1. How can Democrats expect a debt limit increase without planning massive budget cuts and expect not to need another debt limit increase in the future?
2. How can Republicans expect USA to pay for previous lavish spending without a tax increase? (I do agree that it is unfair to tax regular citizens like myself who contributed positively to the economy with hard work and regular contained spending, hence never really contributing to the deficit...)
3. How is ROI different across currencies?

Actually the motivation of the post was the last one. It was so funny that I could not help myself. With people like these leading the sheep across the world, its not wonder there is only so much chaos. Where my Avril picture when I need it?

Edit: I forgot to plaster this post but since Straits Times removes articles periodically, I decided to do a Print Screen. Fallacies: (1) predictions on CPI is as vague as predicting interest rates (think China and USA) (2) no mentioned of growth period (3) 5% over a few months is not good news either yearly or monthly comparison. Summary: While putting news on a newspaper is important, but when it is filled with unknowns, newspapers do not add value to society, even if it is the national press. Same goes for political entities.

My Idea Of Talent Creation

Phew, finally calmed down. I slept the most of today and woke up just to do my chores. What a wonderful life!

Anyhow, without further ado, I will present my idea of Talent Creation formally. This is a full departure from my previous 2 posts that are more like a preview of this boring topic that I'm going to talk about. However, it is part and parcel of life that everyone has to go through. Yes, parenting, and a bit of politics.

Before I jump into the details, I wanted to differentiate between my ideas, parenting and politics. My idea is a very philosophical and generic view of life. Since it is generic, parenting is difficult because it requires a lot of trial and error. Politics, however, should not confuse my ideas. It is just a more fashionable way of setting up a factory to create intelligent humans that can do very complicated work but not rebellious enough to circumvent the owners, aka politicians. Now, not all people in politics are bad, but we all know, the truly good ones are rare.

Now, back to the 4 A's. Again, they are Aptitude, Ambition, Academy and Adversity.

Notice that in previous post, I singled out Adversity as the one hardest item to quantify. The reason is, while all 4 items are fairly ambiguous at times, Adversity is required as an input for the other 3 A's in order for someone to develop his talent enough to overcome Adversity. In fact, Adversity itself is its own input to inspire more Adversity.

Aptitude is often overqualified as the true variable of talent. However, just like we know that there are "many fake prophets", the same applies to talent scouting. In fact, I would like to draw the similarity of religion and politics as the masses following the directions of a leader, spiritual or physical. Hence, the truth I wanted to say is, be glad with the talent you have, seek the talent that can be found, but do not overdo your greed for power by seeking talent that might not be there. False gold is a common phenomenon.


Ambition is often under qualified actually, at least when it comes in contrast to talent. Ambition is often matched to talent without the knowledge of talent creation, and that often leads to dysfunctional talent sourcing. An example, one comment I always hear is that, how can a less capable person be promoted over a more capable people. The common conclusion is nepotism. It is mostly true, but another point that we should understand is, talent can be nurtured. There is a limit through each of our aptitude, but producing beyond expectations set upon us is not uncommon. If such is the case, the leadership is fairly well read into talent creation. Unfortunately, the reason why I'm writing this is because I feel it lacking abundance right now.


Academy is probably the easiest to qualify but often unrealized until after the fact. This is because Mother Nature is the true parents of us all. It provides all 4 A's without most of us knowing it, yet it is part of us as well. A less educated person can go through the same amount of academy through experience rather than literature. A less talented can compensate for its lack through industry with experience and literature. All in all, an academy should be as forgiving to everyone as Mother Nature. The problem with humanity is the shortage of such forgiveness. It is such that causes academies to become dysfunctional and decline in status.


Adversity, as before mentioned, is the hardest to qualify. It is in everything we do. It is life. Life is difficult. I feel that Life is the toughest lesson among all my lessons, yet it is the one I enjoy most and I think I have a decent handle of it. Not an A+ student, but maybe enough to pass. I can provide many examples of failure due to a lack in adversity, much more than the other 3 A's. As such, I think saturation is when recessions happen, factually of metaphorically. We know monopolies are bad, we know dictatorships don't last. Why? Lack of adversity.

Adversity is the key element of evolution. There is a problem, we need to solve it. If it is one off, we will forget it. If it keeps occurring, we will find a way to solve it completely. That shows you how difficult it is to contribute adversity into talent creation. How can you tell 2 talented individuals not to kill each other? It is almost impossible in a push and shove situation, yet, it is necessary and doable. 


This is where tolerance for mistakes comes in. If we recognize that we are mere humans and cannot exist alone, accepting compromise and yet trying to outsmart one another without trying to destroy one another. The lifetime opponent as you might have heard. That is the ultimate adversity that is most conducive to talent creation. However, as all good things in life are, it is limited and it cannot be faked. One view I want to present is that propaganda is often aimed at achieving domination through suggestion and implied and fake adversity is one of politics' most common tactic. What is more satisfying to a greedy man if he can get other men to steal from people other than himself and enrich himself in the process? What is more important than keeping your society sufficiently educated and curious if you know telling the truth will make everyone lazybones like me.


Finally, I want to conclude this post with the 5th A, an item which is actually not really relevant to talent creation but one that I realized to be very crucial as well during the drafting of this post.

Acceptance. Yes, acceptance in both oneself and others. While commenting on tolerance, I noticed that I was able to come up with this post because I accepted my flaws. I accepted the flaws of people around me. In being honest to whatever I can think of, I was able to learn as much as I can from every scenario. I cannot learn everything, which I accepted, but I did manage to learn what I would have thought I couldn't. I remember I was told to give up subjects for good grades, which first, I do not accept and secondly, since it made me unhappy, the teachers did not get good grades out of me either. Deny others too much and you will be defeated.


For those in Singapore, that is the one thing I want you all to know. Tolerance for mistakes. If there is one thing we want our politicians to know is that their lack of tolerance for mistakes is unacceptable. Especially when they make so many mistakes as well. Until we can tolerate another person's mistake as long as it doesn't hurt us too much, we will never be able to find the person that can truly lead Singapore. Fortunately for me, I grew up in a family that is tolerant and have lots of love to share.


As such, feel free to share my love for the world and the world full of talents. We all can learn from one another, and I want everyone to know that.

The 4 A's

I'm not a scholar. I'm not a jock. I'm not a genius. I'm not intellectually challenged. Wait, maybe I am, cause I can't remember too many things and loves to sleep.

Well, whatever. I wanted to deviate from my cynical tone and switch to a more serious, world loving one.

Yes, this is going to be philosophical. Well....only slightly.

To make things easy, I decided to write about the requirements of developing a talent. I worked real hard to find 4 words that start with the same letter, plus I don't really want to waste time and find a word from the 4 initials. Without further ado, I will list what I think is necessary to develop a talent.

It is....drum rolls...OK, waste of time here...The 4 A's. Are you expecting something else?

1. Aptitude
2. Ambition
3. Academy
4. Adversity

I think it is really easy to illustrate the first 3, with a bit of argument for the 4th later.

Aptitude. No, I'm not talking genes like LKY prefers to believe. I mean, isn't Singapore's system trying to show the opposite and say leaders can be made, hence Academy? Frankly, everyone has talent, not just one, a wide range of them, some people having a more acute range, others with a wide range that doesn't even add up to the sum. But everyone needs to be honest. I am honest with myself. I'm not very smart, not very hardworking but I need to use all my wits and labor to survive. That's what I mean by being honest. Play to my strengths, although I still like to play on my weaknesses to see how far I can go with a handicap. Anyway, like I said, you need 4 A's, not one, so read on.

Ambition. This is quite a no-brainer. Where is our great leaders if they do not have ambition? Of course, they need to have aptitude as well, along with the other 2 A's. Why else would you kill all your brain cells for something you will lose at the end of your life anyway? Really, I mean, I really just want to sleep on the beach all day or some meadow all my life. I like the idea of myself being a farm boy. But I guess, I felt compelled to do a lot of things and that drove the first part of my ambition until I met really smart and ambitious people who spurred me on. Really, how far can your car go on only one tank of gas? Oh, wrong analogy.

Academy. This one should be quite easy, but wait, how did Conan become king? Oh, he's fiction. But there are "less educated" leaders as well. They are not taught by school. They are taught by life. To survive, to become better just to survive. Yea, they went through the academy of life alright. Too bad the only things we can learn nowadays are all in school and all from books and only try to marginally apply the theory on work when we come of age.

Adversity. This one is a tough cookie, not just because it means having a challenge, but it is the invisible teacher that makes us grow. Why is it that success is hard to maintain? Is it because the sky is not the limit but the coconut tree is? Bad example. How about evolution? Right, that will do. You and I need to evolve to try to overcome difficulties to be successful.

So, do we really need to know what the missing link between us and apes are? No. I mean, the way you evolve will be different from the way you have evolved. That's the beauty of evolution. It cannot be defined. It cannot be quantified. It can only be felt. Like relativity. No, not the force, Jedi fan.

Now, with all these, does it mean that we can always groom talents? I think this is ambiguous. People come and go. Leaders come and go. You cannot look for them, but wait for them to appear. If you have all 4 A's, you can strive to be a leader, but only time can answer for you.

Also, don't mix political adversities up with adversity. The whole fake drama like the "Cold War" or "Alien Invasion" as Michael "I only have explosions and explosive sex scenes" Bay like you to believe. If there is someone out there to beat you, everyone is. No one wants to hurt you because it could be everyone, including yourself. The debt limit, the fat cats, the Greek Crisis, really, its all fake in the sense that it doesn't matter to you as much as you think it does.

Confused? Yes, we all are going to be jobless. Yes, ALL OF US. So, who's the enemy here? The ones the politicians want you to think is your enemy or yourself for letting the politician lead you by the nose? Yes, they lied and they will continue lying to keep their skin. That is politics. That is not life. If you cannot be honest with yourself, no one can. I will wake up tomorrow as I did today. So will you. Maybe you will do something different, which is natural because it is a different day! So let's forget what the politician likes us to believe in the definition of talent and really put a great show for ourselves. Yes, the one where we go do what is right for us.

And one last note. If anyone wants to debate on "Are Leaders Born or Made?", I have a picture to show you what I think of this debate.

Man, I love it when a cute girl does that with an (almost) smiley face. If only I have a naughty wife like that. OK, off topic.

Oh, even if its LKY, with all my respect of his contributions to Singapore, I do not agree on one ideal way to develop talent. Plus, you claimed that talent is born, not made, which reversed everything you did on forging talent. My 4 A's is only a generic make up of how talents come to age. It can be refined to enhance education and talent development but it cannot be perfected. Unless you want to claim you're God or God's messenger. I prefer you don't.

Also, to LKY personally, Tony Leung will make you look ugly, please veto the movie project before it mars the handsome image you have all on your adventure in 1965. I think that photo of you in the suit in 1965 looks cool and befitting of a political leader. Tony Leung is nothing compared to real kick ass hard work. Sorry for my American-glish. I tried very hard not to add words to the dictionary after inventing "chemicalize" in 4th grade.

Why so serious?

Ok, this is a ripoff from a few things:

1. Heath Ledger's famous Joker
2. Steve Johnson's infamous post TD celebration

Yet, I found myself over reacting to my friends' over reaction to many over rated things that I decided, you know what, I'll write about something I care about for the betterment of many kids in future.

Yep, you guessed it wrong, it's not education. Yes, it is related to education but really, it is more about life than just education. It is about bullying.

I noticed an up tick in the concern over bullying. Like really, when did we know that bullying is a problem? Oh now? What? Are you serious that poor kids are not suffering at the hands of bullies since the beginning of time? Why now? Because some celebrities' kids are bullied? Or some media moguls'? Or is it really a problem? Wait...Bullying existed since the first worm existed on Earth, and people are only worried about it now? Give me a break.

What people needs to really focus on is: Have they done enough good in life to not be worried about being scorched forever in Hell because if Armageddon comes tomorrow like some nut has it, a lot of "nice" people who are worried about things like bullying and corruption, and many problems that are not problems to them until it affected them, will definitely be burn in Hell when Death comes to shuffle us all in line to meet Michael and Lucifer to see who deserves to go into the Kingdom. Me? I don't really care. I think I have done enough to be able to sit around and have a cup of tea with all the big shots up there and chat what the world really needs other than apocalyptic nuts.

Ok, so back on track for the topic of bullying. Wait, wait. I need to state a few things first.

Truths about Humanity, or Life, or everything about the world we are able to understand due to our fantastic evolution with science:

1. Survival of the fittest is a fact, not a myth, because if you cannot win by brute strength, you will try to win by sheer intelligence
2. Power corrupts, another fact because of the above rule, because if you can get everything you want without having to work for them, why not?
3. Evolution is a fact, at least from a theological standpoint, and leads to (1) and (2)
4. Extinction happens when other species outgrow a current "master" race by a lot to the point where regeneration of the "master" race is no longer enough to keep their existence obsolete (I thought of this as I went along, not a fact but theologically sound)

Ok, now I can start.

So, why am I annoyed that bullying is now a public enemy?

First, it happened after so many kids have had their childhood messed up by societal mismanagement. Yes, societal, not just a kid, not just the teacher, not just the parent but society. If a kid is a bully, why aren't others stopping him? Kids don't know any boundaries to begin with, so they need to be put on the right track, which actually happens some times, or perhaps they should be jailed, which should not happen. Right now, bring the whole "bullying is bad" case is poor parenting and education to both sides of the bullying because no one learns from it.

Two, I mentioned learning, how? If you read the 3 points I mentioned above, you should have figured it out by now. Yes, thats how creatures evolve. Defense mechanisms, counter measures, anything. If our DNA did not alter for the past few aeons, how did we have better technology than we did a few centuries ago. But lets keep our fingers crossed as I hope the end of the 4th solar cycle and the birth of our 5th human recorded solar cycle will not render any of our current technologies obsolete.

To add a bit more to what I meant, I'll admit first. I was bullied in school when I was a kid. My teachers did not know, nor did my friends, nor did my parents. But that did not harm me. I later grew up with some of the more "bullying" type of people to be friends, not great buddies but ok friends that will help each other. Yes, I still hate some of the bullies I saw earlier in life but really, other than looking at where their life is now compared to mine, and bettering my life by actually growing older and better, I don't think there is much for me to do.

Dude, I had to be ostracized by the smartest boys in my class, made to look like a weirdo because despite my friends, I am not part of the "boys". I had the bully's mom call me at my home to reprimand me for picking my nose when I was twelve. Heck, seriously? You call the "fights" we see now on Youtube bad? Given the weapons we have on the streets, that's child's play. We as knowledgeable human beings can do better. By the way, my back was broken when I was twelve when one of the smart kid bullies did a judo slam on me for soccer. Yes, SOCCER.

My childhood was pretty much ruined by my last 2 years in elementary school, although I did have a relatively fun and crazy time when I was young. Now, how your kids will be like depends more on how you treat your kids, not just how you treat other people nor other "kids" treat your kids. Yes, the "kids" can be of any age, as long as humanity lives. Do I feel sorry for myself? Yep, maybe I should still be crying everyday now but frankly, no. I am having a good life and I'll do my part to help others have a good life too.

Three, if you stop people from bullying, aren't you acting like a bully yourself? Oh, you can't do this. No, my kids won't do this. Stop that nonsense, everyone makes mistakes. I got punished for my mistakes and I learn well from it. I listen and advise others on how to deal with their life and I learn well from them too. The minute you stop information from flowing because you believe you and your kids and do no wrong, you're obsolete, waiting for extinction. Maybe not in your lifetime but in one of your descendants.

Yes, and power corrupts. The minute you get to call the shots on how others should run their life, I don't expect anyone to be able to be themselves without you calling the shots. Yes, I'll fire my maid which I do not have yet if she keeps breaking my plates not because of money but because it is a household hazard. Oh, and where's the saying that no human should play God? Is that something the politicians, religious leaders, pop icons and media moguls say to others so that they themselves can Lord over people's lives?

And finally, four, the lack of innovation. I need to credit USA and Ryan for helping me understand this. I sort of know it when I was young and it is most probably why I left Singapore. Laws and bans are just pathetic excuses to stop someone from doing something without being legally called any names from prejudiced to racist. Yes, I'll fire someone if they smoke crack and mess up their work but if thats not the case, I'll just avoid crack myself. By stopping the whole idea that bullying exist, how are kids going to learn from adversity? Because they are competing against foreigners? That's nonsense. We are all neighbors and friends living in the same planet.

Fact, I am a foreigner in USA because I'm not really born there. I am half a foreigner in Singapore because I am away for so long. Where do I belong? I belong to Earth. I should have the right to decide my own life, learn my own life and not take crap from nonsensical people. Yep, that's my rule for myself. And I try to help people stand up for themselves. Give a beggar a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life. We all need help from each other and we all learn, day by day.

Yep, the whole hype thing is crap. The media focus on "bullying" is crap. The "counter measures" are crap because as adults, we cannot fix our problems with our societies and resort to the same solutions that kept us alive to keep our pathetic lives longer. Yep, QE, bailouts and after votes are thrown into the hate, post GE complaining. Some good things will come out of it, but most of it is still hot air. I find the lack of creativity in media nowadays boring and obsolete. Really? I need more drama over the petty things in life?

What I did instead of all these and will continue to do is what I have done all my life, Listen and Feel. If you cannot even spend some time to listen to someone's problems, you will never be able to feel their pain. Yep, doctors, nurses, lawyers, accountants, bankers, managers, whoever. If you tell me that I cannot complain because my suffering is not worse than yours, then you need a brain scan. And yes, your suffering is worse than mine because you're too mentally damaged that you need a brain scan.

What I propose to solve for "bullying" is this: Social Responsibility. I never liked the whole "Green" movement, but heck, I have been conserving for the natural environment since I was young and I may not look like it, I'm quite a tree hugger, as long as the bugs don't get to me because I like to feel the cool breeze.

Frankly, the whole idea of the Social Responsibility thing is this, if you can't execute responsibility, I doubt you can manage anyone's behaviour. Also, your kids are not stupid. They are smart, just like you and me. They learn from you and me and they will adapt. We grow old and become obsolete, but are all people mass murdering old folks? No! Because we're smart enough to know that wisdom does come with age. Some get it faster than others. That's why Social Responsibility is more important than some rule or law that prevents bad people from being bad. Because there are bad people, like how apples will rot naturally and the whole "Power Corrupts" thing.

By stopping a bully or putting him or her on ice, we are allowing stopping our kids from evolving into smarter creatures. Also, who says bullying must be using fists? My bullies were sophisticated, smart and never really threw any punches. Where did they end up? Not doing society any good, that is one thing I know. If they are bad, they are bad. We punish them for what they did, no more, no less. What we need to do is to ensure that everyone gets the same amount of opportunity.

Ok, not completely equal, since we know from the earliest days of life that not all things are equal but you know what I mean metaphorically. It's not like I can control other people's life anyway so I cannot ensure that the brightest kids can grow out of being bullied or resist bullying others. But if I can put them on the right path as much as I can, I know they will grow up happy. I think that's what you want as a parent, right? Or no? Ok, I'll stop here regardless then.

Today, I successfully explained the idiosyncrasy of having fiat money. We need fiat money but we should not be a slave to any form of money, real or fiat. Yea, I felt like a good preacher today. And if you feel aligned to what I said about the whole nonsensical drama about bullying, I think I did even better. I'm definitely open to how we can be charitable to our community and help kids learn how to deal with bullies, defend themselves and not to become bullies themselves, and if you feel my blog might help people understand how to form a better community, feel free to pass this post on.

Ok, I might want money for it but that's not the biggest thing in my mind. We'll figure it out when people help one another more.

Time to finish the beer I have before I started this post.

Un-Hibernating in May

Well, I finally caught some time to spare to blog, especially after wasted time driving and waiting at a MVA to realise I need a million other things to register my car.

Anyway, I thought I wanted to blog because of all the nonsense going around all week in Singapore.

For starters, I'll have a legend key:

WP = Worker's Party, GE = General Election, SG = Singapore, OPM = Other People's Money (Taxes),

LKY = Lee Kwan Yew, LHL = Lee Hsien Loong, LTK = Low Thia Kiang,

MP = Member of Parliament, FT = Foreign Talent, CPI = Consumer Price Index,

FB = Facebook, MVA = Motor Vehicle Admin, QE = Quantitative Easing

One, as I now know that Hougang is again safely in WP's hands, I don't care much more than that. But knowing that SG still has a lot of selfish, incapable MPs sitting on insanely high wages on OPM does make me very sick.

Two, the (non) creativity induced nonsense spewed to get people to vote with their "mind", not their "heart". This makes me sicker, and justifies my thought that the current crop of ministers can't handle what's left of LKY's mantra.

Three, for all the science and tech stuff we're proud to be capable of in Singapore, really, explaining the "problems" in Singapore is that hard? Really?

I really want to get this off my chest but I thought it would be really be misunderstood if I put it in less than three paragraphs on FB.

GDP. Can a country's GDP grow like SG organically? Yes. It's only a numbers game anyway. Print as much money as you want and your GDP can "grow" from 1 trillion to 2 trillion. Of course, I left out details of how the financial system works but I'm sure you get the gist of it. But Singapore did not do QE. So why the explosive growth?

Well, for one, with USA and Europe struggling with debt and unemployment, where do people put their money? Japan? China? Taiwan? Hong Kong? South Korea? Singapore? Well, pick your poison. Either way, there is always a reason not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Still, being one of the tidiest places on Earth, Singapore does make the top of many banker's place to be in. Oh, did I mention that people are generally bilingual in English and one other language, like Mandarin, Malay/Bahasa or Tamil?

Ok, so why didn't my paycheck grow as fast? Well, not mine, since I'm in USA.

Let's stop for a second and look at Singapore's population growth. Why population growth? Well, if there is only one gold bar for one person, he is rich. What if there is a lot of people? Yea, duh, everyone will fight, so no one is rich.

Now, Singapore's population has grown at least one percent almost every year over the last two decades. There are only three years with less than one percent and only one with a negative, although it is quite a strangely large drop in 2003, maybe because a few immigration law changes.

So, is most of these growth organic? Well, maybe, but that means at least a family in a hundred has a new baby every year, not taking into account deaths and aging. So no. It's because of Singapore's FT program, from actually screening good candidates to blatantly giving away free citizenships.

I have no doubt the people we scouted are smart, but how many are loyal? Productive? Blended well into Singapore's kampong culture while many upstarts are trying to get out of it? Are we treating them as part of the family? All these affect how good the society is. As a foreigner myself in USA, I know what it feels when locals are pinning problems on you, and I have absolutely no illusion than SG's version is any different.

I know at least one example where we brought over the smartest man we can get from another country, only to have him leave us for greener pastures because NUS is not big enough for him. This is uncommon, I know, but this is not rare. And this is of no fault to the man in question, or the many immigrants who came to Singapore. It is the program's fault. You cannot blame people for taking free money when MPs offer it with OPM irresponsibly. Maybe you can blame PAP, but did anyone try to advise otherwise?

Ok, not to ramble too much over something which I condemned long ago anyway. Now, with steady, if not strong, inorganic population growth, CPI will go up faster than it does in general, with or without GDP growth.

Add the foreign investments that has come into Singapore, or perhaps simply Singaporean (people or funds) withdrawing funds from foreign investments, that explains the GDP and CPI increases. Let's not forget all the well publicized problems with other countries, hurting supply streams of oil, vegetables, fish and whatever you need in your life, yea, life is expensive.

Now, how does all this affect paychecks? Well, no connection really, if you believe what I read, but of course, I don't. I love to see connection in things even if its not there. Well, I am not throwing darts into the dark for this one though.

SG have a large supply of work, turning into a huge demand for skilled workers, but wait, we're also growing our supply of workers through FT. We're also importing people to do the harsh labor work we no longer want to do, so, am I getting the best job I can get in the market?

Let's see. In 2003, I came out with just a BSc in Stats. I can't get into Department of Stats because I do not have do honors for playing around too much taking courses that I think will help me create the craziest math theory in the world, well, so I did temp work there.

So, while I was there, I found out that I am equally trained as my supervisors and I think now, I code far better than them. Oh, I also do analyses, although RCI did not give me any modeling opportunities other than simple ones, so maybe they win in that one. Still, I'm good at automating reports. I like to look at things outside the box. But wait, I'm not good enough for the Statistician position in 2003. Do I believe that has changed now? Maybe, but I have a MSc now, so it's a different scenario we're talking about.

So, can I get a high paying job in Singapore now? Probably, with my current qualifications and work experience. Would I get the same opportunities if I had stayed in Singapore? Based on my personality, probably no. I'm too much of a wild sheep. Unsynchronized with the other sheep because I like to be myself. But I am also too in tune with the herd, preparing for the worst like most Singaporeans. Not preparing for Doomsday like the funny stories but similar.

Ok, so does my experience explain why a typical Singaporean's paycheck cannot grow? No?

How about some logic now?

Good GDP growth, good.

Good population growth, good? Yea, it's good. I like more friends anyway. Ok, back to the point.

Good growing demand for work, good.

Good growing supply of workers. You decide. Need I mention that the need for MSc isn't really there in Singapore anyway? So maybe I won't really get paid as well as I am over here, even with the low tax rate. Simply, I'm not the only smart human around. And I'm not even near being smart enough in the world.

Oh and yea, SG need more PhDs to push us higher in the tech world, but we don't have that many PhDs, so we import them. Yet, we don't aggressively get them to train Singaporeans.

Maybe, it is ineffective to get them to train our citizens because they are too smart.

Maybe, we don't give enough opportunities to talented Singaporeans to learn from them.

Maybe, we brainwashed Singaporeans with Capitalism so much that learning from the smartest isn't efficient enough for most people to make a living?

Anyway, does that explain the disconnect between GDP growth and salary increases?

One thing I like here in USA is that I can fight for what I want. I can challenge myself, fail and given an opportunity to try again. If I feel I can get paid better, the only thing stopping me is myself. If I am really not as capable as I think I am, all I have to do is to challenge myself to accept the truth. Either way, I am myself.

So, am I sympathetic to the "problems" in Singapore?

Yes, because I have friends and family there. Did I also tell you how much I think it is still a good place to be in?

I always try to advise them what to do even if times are tough. Coming to USA is another big challenge and not everyone wants to take that up, and I understand that. I don't advise it for everyone but I definitely support any courageous effort.

So what do I dislike about all the "drama" I'm hearing from the internet and friends to make me complain this much?

Everything. Really. Everything. Frankly, if I learnt something in my life that I didn't know before over the past year, it would be that I am myself and I always have to do what I think is right. That is where the mind and the heart is the same thing.

Singaporeans can argue for or against PAP, from the dirty tricks LKY used to gain power, to the great work he did with Singapore, to the excess fat the Parliament has gathered over the past few years with their insanely high pay to the many smart people we still have in PAP. People should just decide on one thing. What do you want?

You can argue that you don't know it when you're a teen. You can explain you are misguided by propaganda over the past decade. But really, in GE, you only have one thing. Decide on what you want now. Regretting past mistakes is normal, but how is your past mistake affecting your current decision?

I know what I'll do.

I will whine like I have been since young about things I don't like.

I will complain like I have since young about things I don't understand.

I will listen to your problems and care for others like I have since young.

But I certainly am not stopping to think about all these nonsense more than that one minute that I need for this. I have far more responsibilities to far more people in my life since young.

If you want PAP like you have since 1965, then go ahead, vote for them. If you dislike certain overpaid politician, voice it out and make a stand. If you want a change in Parliament, vote for the opposition. Either way, its your choice. Party lines do not affect how I vote.

LTK did a good job for Hougang and I think he left a good lieutenant to succeed him so he can take on Aljunied. If he ages enough like CST and becomes incapable or simply that I worry for his health out of goodwill, I'll not vote for him. WP will decide on how my town should be run.

But I don't think LHL has done anything bad to Singaporeans, so I will continue to respect his leadership, especially with LKY mentoring him. I do agree to the fact I cannot vote against him, but there isn't enough proof of incompetence to make me do that either. If he makes a big mistake or a bad policy, I'll adjust my assessment accordingly. And I will be watching, for myself, my family and my friends.

Most importantly, I decided to work in a country where I think I can develop myself well, even if it is not where I was born. All animals move from time to time, including humans. So I did move and do I regret it? Maybe, but why think?

I have to surmise that I cannot see how PAP will remove their excess fat if they don't restructure, but if LHL tries to reinvent himself, maybe. But most importantly, no matter how much you complained, it is just words if you don't put your money where your mouth is. Unlike the many foul words a bully can throw to ruin another person's life by perception, complaining is like looking at yourself in the mirror. It is natural and it is just what it is.

As much as I don't like this line, or how it pertains to the person who told me this, or the many things I can complain about the person who told me this, it does work. "If the kitchen is too hot for you, get out of it."

As of this time, GE counts are all out, with all forms of media tormenting people I know over LTK's exploits in taking over Aljunied by delaying the inevitable announcement. That is probably why I really wanted to write about this. Really? The results is out at midnight and you can only announce it at 2am on TV?

I'm definitely glad Hougang will continue to have taller grass than other towns and I think LHL will rethink how SG looks at PAP now. Either way, I cannot predict what will happen until life comes around.

Also, luckily, I did more productive things like work, eating ice cream and blogging since midnight. And thinking how to actually not waste another trip to MVA for my license and title. And wishing all of Singapore a Happy Mother's Day because I am sure my mom will be happy.

Either way, I win, not because I won anything or outdid someone, but because I am happy. Do I really need to really do something to think I won?

Novel Reboot

Ah, finally found time to look at the many things I want to do while I clean up my place. My room specifically. This time, I mapped out things I want to do, broke them into phases and earmarked to put more effort into planning them. Among the many things are: looking for a PhD program, looking for a MBA program, looking for a new car, looking for a new place and looking for a new idea. Well, didn't see a novelty here so here's an added item, completing my novel through the steps I noted above.

I was back to the drawing board, in my head, placing what and where the characters are and nothing seemed to change. I think I was sure with the setting right from the start but my style was not good enough. Of course, it is getting better by the day and I think following the track I gave myself would put it in very good shape.

Right now, I have reworked most of the main characters' roles, penned it and should be moving on to the settings next. I hope to get cracking and continue my writing soon. One thing of note is that as we get close to 2012, we are seeing a lot of movies and scripts about the supernatural end of days. Naturally, all things die, but aren't we making too much out of it? Furthermore, I was going to play a pun on that idea in my writing.

Of note is 2012, the movie, which has a good concept of what might happen, but I think it was exaggerated. Basically, it recreation of Pompeii and The Great Flood, which is indescribably bad. Yes, it is possible for one to happen, yes, it is possible for both to happen, but the idea of creating a super shocker event to show that "humanity will prevail" is probably why the dinosaurs was sunbathing when the meteor dropped on them. Well, I made that up.

The truth is, there is one line that is good and the rest of the movie is bad, even the events that came after that good line. "The moment we stop fighting for each other, that's the moment we lose our humanity". Unfortunately, like I said, that is the only good thing about the movie. Frankly, it is a one line movie and nothing else. I would rate it 3/10 for wasting too much time on graphics and having bad acting and storyline. Well, there are good movies out there, just a lot of bad ones to swamp the market of our worthy attention. Well, I will update again soon. Very soon I hope.

Spring comes again

As everyone knows, the season of allergies is upon us again. The chill has not completely left but there are sprouts growing in every avenue. From hair to bean sprouts and noodle eating and nine ball, it seems that spring came while I am still sleeping.

This time, I am awakened by happenings within my company that made me decide to chart out a few routes which lead to a few hard choices to be made. Ultimately, these choices are inevitable, but it is now pushed forward by what I consider unfortunate mix of misdirected beliefs and misplaced trusts. Frankly, these were within my calculations but unfortunately, everyone were dragged through the mud way too long.

Well, Spring meant beginnings and I start to look at things with an added insight of my Green Card, especially when I did not think I need to decide my future this early. I have been procrastinating and just passing time as if I'm playing a game way too long. It also meant that soccer season is nearing an end, which bores me a lot.

Amidst my planning, fresh calls of emergency came from Singapore again. Frankly, things are not on red alert yet, but we definitely do not want "casualties" , so better safe than sorry. Called a few friends, inquired for insights and advice. Quite excited actually. Short term, same company. Long term, MBA plus plus. Mid term, need more money and actual recognition.

I'm definitely trying to prevent my dad from having to join the hordes of cab drivers out on the streets trying to earn that extra bit of living. Unfortunately, I am hindered by a few arrowheads on my back. Either way, I have a direction, and I am excited to awake from my mental slumber.

What is Feminism?

Actually, what you see in the entire post has nothing to do with the Feminist Movement at all. It is merely a post about whatever I saw on Youtube about posters writing their stance on feminism and throwing mud at each other.

It all started when I was watching this dude called "The Amazing Atheist", which shall be referred as TAA for simplicity, slamming Pat Robertson, who I fully agree should be in jail if not worse. Actually, I have a line which I shall now use upon Robertson. "Wait, did Robertson come from the Dark Ages when everyone opposite his belief is called a heretic?" OK, that was from the line I heard in "The Librarian". Remember the line "A thousand years ago, a girl named Pandora opened this box, and that led to very bad things...An era we called The Dark Ages".

Anyway, TAA next hit out at a badly made video belittling him. Well, the funny part is, I do not think TAA attacked any other feminist, which I think is important. His anger has nothing to do with feminism. Like all movements or ideological beliefs, rotten apples are lumped together with the good ones when it gets too big, and I think he understands that from what I see of his video.

Biological roles has nothing to do with knowing to treat a human properly. In fact, from what I read, TAA was personally abused by supporters (male/female/whatever) of the woman in question. TAA might sound kind of angry, un-civil, but that's his thing, nothing to do with truth. If one argues in a video about something and you need to reply to tell him he is wrong, one should do so with grace. OK, maybe not so graceful, but at least with good points to counteract. Not like "He is a ******* *****, Waste of time, Blah Blah Blah". What gives a human the right to denounce another's right to life? Freedom of speech is TAA's life from what I can see, so saying that he should have no such freedom, isn't it trying to kill him? So, his detractors did not give any real good points as defense either.

If he's not civil, and one promotes the right thing using whatever ruler of faith and spirituality he/she/whatever uses, especially one who hold's the freedom to life as a truth, should it be correct to either (1) ignore his uncivility and counter with valid points or (2) state your points and leave in peace. It sounds ironically funny that TAA always peace out and not his detractors. Anyway, I'm the middle of the road, a road I feel is the peaceful way to life happily. Get angry, get over your anger, get your relationships and friendships where they need to and be happy spending the next x minutes/hours/days/whatever time being who you are.

I love women. I love smart women. I agree they should protect their rights. What I expect of my future partner follows that line of thought where she must be smart, capable and stand up for herself. Compromises to live together is important, but we would have to agree that our lives are as much shared with each other as they are independent. Till death do us part. That is the only promise I can make to any woman who loves me. I do, however, detest cowards who hide behind others' back and backstabbing friends and foes alike. There are many who does that and it has nothing to do with whatever movement, philosophy they follow.

Anyway, that's it for TAA's endevoours. It's his story. This blog is about my story.

One thing I do realize over the past weeks is the strength of my words. Not that they will blow people apart, but how people view my stance. I'm usually accepting, a bit stubborn at first because I want to think through everything, But the way I portray myself lead people to think I'm ultra stubborn who wants things done only my way. Well, I point out correctly that people judge me too quickly, not the other way round. I'm lazy, but I know better than a decade or two ago to jump into conclusions. Even if I do assume wrongly, I am often willing to back out from my previous stance.

Like one fellow said to me twelve years ago, I'm too soft actually, so I've been trying to learn the spiritual way of TaiJi/TaiChi, hopefully to find the truly round way of doing things, keeping the things important to me in my center while not hurting others. My teams are still hurt, losing to a ten men team from Merseyside and another scrapping the bottom of the Eastern Conference of NBA. Quite ridiculous I would say but well, what goes around comes around. If you do a good job and continue to improve, you can only get good results one day.

Well, back to cleaning up my work to finally, finally go on holiday.

btw, on an artsy side, I think this Youtube video is pretty good. I will only favorite and share things I rate 5 stars and this is the only one so far. My previous rating philosophy is too haphazard to standardize.

Smash and .... smash some more

Just a quick update from my online absence. Actually, just blogger absence.

I'm out of breath from my latest new low in stocks. Down near 30% after the market defied the downturn. Still holding though with the few points of note:

1. Fed rubbishes all USD to save its pride by downing rate to technical zero
   
2. Hedge funds unconstitutionally, illegally and irresponsibly suspends redemption. If the fund previously allows anytime redemption and now suspends it, it falls in this group
   
3. Madoff, enough said. I actually admire his guts and realization that he pulled off something a lot of corrupt officials have not been able to. Only bad is that the charities are hit too, which is TOTALLY the charities' fault. I would recommend legal action against the misuse of charitable funds.
4. Auto bailout. Enough protectionism already. Foreign companies hires Americans too.
5. Obama's mystical powers at work. His wow factor is killing me more than helping me. Then again, I will thank him if I still have continuous income ten years from now.

Well, not all are gloomy for shorts, but I'll rather focus my creativity on my story book. Stuck and stuck, and too much action. I need more substance in the story, which I have but cannot really express it in words. Unfortunately, formulae don't work here.

My Epiphany

I was sleepless with my back ache and suddenly I had an epiphany. It probably came about with my frustrations that I have always been punished by the system for being right. Well, what do I mean?

In army, being just does not always win. The one who wins is just. In society and work, nice attitude is right, but it does not win you promotions and pay rises. And now, in the stock market, being right does not mean you can profit from someone's mistake, it just means as a small investor, you are not alone in losing money. You probably lose less, but you still lose a lot to the dirty politicians.

So it came upon me after rounds of debate on how a country should be run, it came upon me that I have finally have a few phrases I can call mine. Well, I'm sure someone else will have thought of it, but I dare say it in my own voice and context, and know what I'm talking about, as always...

Human (Greed) is inflationary.

Hence government intervention should be slightly deflationary yet not detrimental. Before I get shot, I hate taxes, and multilayer regulations like in USA. I do a lot of paperwork in Singapore, but once past that, no worries!

And since greed has no limits, government intervention, however subtle, is a need to protect innocents. Sometimes, innocent people get into trouble because of greed too, but the call on the scale of guilt should not be zero or full, but partial. Again, bailouts are bad, but rules to ascertain bankers can't write their (check) way to billions is important too.

Actually, with that, I found a very good piece of news which even as a bear, I think it will help the market recover in the long run. Here it is. It may not be big or helpful to all, but the hardest step is the first step. If homeowners can take the hit they got themselves into, and banks are willing to admit their fault and share their burden, I see no reason why we need the 700 billion bailout which now lands all of the world's money in the worst hands possible. The people in charge had a track record of being bad decision makers and bad problem solvers, so I do not see how their tendency to support their own alumnus helps, even if they are "cream of the crop" based on academia.

Politicians are needed to make difficult decisions. I make a lot of difficult decisions myself, so if they don't help me with some of the tougher questions in life, why do I need them?

If USA can redo the primaries and elect Ron Paul, I will support it even as a resident alien. Now, that is not to say that my philosophy and his are the same, but we probably agree that the rules to run a house is different from family to family, and cultural diversification helps the smarter societies get stronger, as long as they don't pick the bad habits from each other of course...

Torment of idealessness

Weeks away from the blog. Why?

Football season is over. Basketball season is over. Not to mention the hike in gas prices made life a bit uncomfortable. The worst part I'm losing money in the stock market. Well, I have come to the conclusion that my conservativeness is not conservative enough. Unfortunately, I'm feeling upset that my richer friends can't see the problem.

You see, like when I was studying my Masters, I'm worried that my family will need help paying for the house. So, while they can afford to lose money with enough backing to go back to in their family, it's a different family upbringing for me. As the eldest, I see it as my duty to remain the flag bearer who needs to stand even when everyone else is beaten down. So while I might whine a bit like a kid, I feel I genuinely can't afford to lose too much ground. And it's not personal. Not me directly at least.

Anyway, for whatever reason, these few weeks is also a downturn in my ideas. I'm also finding my expenditure for my apartment is getting unnecessarily high. Maintenance fees, cleaning, space, whatever. I think the "Sometimes I don't really care" attitude from my roommate is probably a mitigating factor as well. It's easy to say I'm being negative, but if I put in effort for stuff, I expect people to put in something as well.

Ah well. It's funny that bad things must always happen together. Like above, my ideas is also running into a dead end. There is a skeleton for my little trial novel, but I'm just running dry for a while. To make things a bit more edgy, I contacted a friend to see if her husband can help. Not in terms of idea, but in terms of experience. Her husband published a fantasy book before, so I thought I could get some idea what I need to go through. I'm not sure if the shut door I got was because they thought I wanted more help that experience pointers.

Of course, these aren't really the only bad things happening. So to top it all off, I decided to declare myself broke. As in, no fun, no excitement, just plain Joe from step one. Well, I'm living pretty cheap actually, but I suppose I can find excess fat to rid myself of. And as the flag bearer statement, I think precluding my savings for my parents' house is the best I could do to ensure that they have a backing right now. Well, that probably means I definitely won't get married anytime soon, but I did not have a girlfriend to begin with, so that was easy.

Euro! Euro!

The European Championships started! Finally! Some decent international competition!

Unfortunately, Mike, my boss, is still not convinced that it will provide enough entertainment. Well, at least he's not using the "macho" excuse. America has occurrences of worse excuses.

I actually missed Ryan's birthday. As his roommate, I feel obligated to buy him a drink or something. And I did, of course, after the fact of missing it. I don't feel that bad actually, since most did only slightly better. Mine was an everyday thing. I wish I can charge him extra maintenance fees.

Anyway, this Euro was pretty bad from a refereeing standpoint. Atrocious! So many bad calls! Even if perfection is not the deal breaker, blatant bad calls are still sickening. Of course, I wouldn't mind it happening to Italy, but well, things do go around, so either way, its bad, even on Italy. The Dutch turned out fantastic. I wonder if their stomach can go the stretch. The last they were that fantastic, they fizzled out as suddenly as they starred.

Of course, the stock market is always my downfall. I just seem to eat scraps. I need better ways of income. Unless Buffett manages my money like his, I probably won't even earn a pinch of his total.

Oh, since I'm on this topic, I have a very simple question for CNBC haters. I hate the Kudlow show, as like many viewers, for its insensitive opinions and shouting. But if everyone boycotts his show, ratings go down the drain, would we not be saved from his over opinionated, unfeeling, insensitive and incompassionate assessment of the true economic status. So why bother watching Kudlow and Company? I think that is a waste of CNBC airtime. Fast Money and Mad Money may not be spot on to help people, but it gives a healthy debate which I can watch with a pinch of salt. Jim Cramer's antics is also a bit silly though, but on a scale of 10, I'll put him as 5 for entertainment and 7 for information, so he passes.

Sigh. What a rush. Too many things to write, but too little time to filter the good ones. I'm continuing hard to complete my trial story though. Maybe the pent up ideas I have finally have a place to stay. Hopefully, I'll do better than pass on my "harmonic power generator" idea like ten years ago. Well, I just need one crazy idea to work, but which one will?

Peak Oil

Or Oil Geyser. Oil went from 135 to 125 in a week and back to 138 within 3 days, well, I can't remember but you probably hear everyone talking. I lost a bit, based on my micro-small portfolio of mostly cash and little stock. Based on some of the best advice, I even lost money to begin with and got back through a lucky pick.

Well, two, one was SKF which is Proshares Ultrashort Financials which went through the roof, but I was not good enough to capitalize, cause I sold too early! So, I'm upset. Well, not as upset and most I see. Until I strike a billion, I'll keep working to earn money to stay alive. If I strike a billion, I'll probably retire myself to a little island by the equator and fortify it with missiles and build a orphanage and school there.

Anyway, things were not going well recently. Business is bad, economy is bad, people are getting worse. Like what? It's a recession, more politically correct, economic slowdown, except is like hitting reverse rather than the brakes. I would have rather worked through it but people are getting so negative that I think its not a Bear market, it's a grieving market. I'm not a CNBC guy. Well, I watch Cramer for entertainment and some info on things I never heard off. I watch Fast Money, but NEVER more than 1 minute of Kudlow. Info is free, interpretation is proprietary. (Thanks Shravan!)

Why is that? Well, people are just like its going to end and all that. I get that feeling when I lose money, but I know my friends lost more money than I have. And I have my job which I work hard to keep. Well, as hard as my work needs me to be. And with that, even if I worry for my job, I need to work hard and keep myself alive. So? Need a moment? Take a fresh deep breath of air and wait for the next sunrise, run until you drop on the next sunset. I think that will be a nice way to do things. And happy. And fun. And not recessionary. And not inflationary. And peaceful. And considerate. And courteous. And polite. Well, whatever.

Now, I enrolled myself in Discover Card, and I got this deal to sign up for 5% gas back. Now, I think being a miser is wrong, but scrimping or living a modest lifestyle is good. So, goodbye oil. I'll start walking when I find a decent place from my workplace. Oh, and I'm still in America. Not the best way to work, but I'll work things out! I can't trust the government here to provide decent public transport anyway.

Menacing Phamtoms of Luck

The week started with Everton 5th, 5 points from Liverpool. Midweek match with Chelsea, Everton rolled over, and Liverpool is now 8 points away. Realistically, I know Champions League is a dream ticket for Everton, but by chasing them, Everton will at least be 5th. Now, we have to watch the chasing Villa, assuming Portsmouth wins the FA Cup. That does not give a competitive edge to us.

Come Thursday, I was eyeing Google. I probably should have kept faith in it, but a report that morning came saying Google's ad-click business is down. Well, needless to say, Google ended the day down after that report. And as history came to be, Google recorded a 20% share's price increase in a night. Well, thats how news affect the market. Well, is that ad-click report for real? Hmmm...Of course, I'll just consider it a missed opportunity. My friend did inform me that the credibility of the "reporting" company is bad with its numbers. Well, their share price didn't go down that much. At least, I'm almost breaking even now, after a small bullish run. Not too good if you look from my perspective.

Now, if things could get worse, it will be a bad weekend. No stocks, no work, Everton does not play, Liverpool's win is expected. What can be worse? Pistons lost to 76ers. What?! They did not trail by more than 5 points and LOST! Now, explain how that can happen if the coach makes right changes in time...And a championship seeking team could not have done worse. At least there are 3 more games to make it right, if they still want to win. Garnet...darn, the only player I wanted in Pistons ever. Now, I can only admire Boston for their great steal, and turnaround. If they win, I could at least say, he did go to a championship team. Just not the Pistons.

Good Sundays, Bad Sundays

This Sunday is the opening of a few items that I decided to work on. A lot of house cleaning when my roommate disappeared again for the weekend. The fact that he had not reviewed my writings had not gone unnoticed. I had two sets of reviews, plus I had some pre-planned items to work on.

Actually, the writing went better than expected. In the sense of speed, since I planned to be only at two chapters at best by this time. But! I reached number four! In fact after my first trial, so that's like five times the speed, so I got so distracted from other things as well!

One other thing I did was watch Star Wars. I never liked it, but well, at least the 70s version is much better than the recent ones. Plus, I think I saw some materials that might be useful for my writings later. Not bad for a "classic". It's not my favorite, but I must admit Lucas did well back then. Not now, obviously.

One other thing I did, GRE Math. Bad. I got about half wrong from the trial 20+ questions I had. I was watching TV with writing my fourth part of my twenty-six parts, but I definitely have quite a long way to go for this. Not to mention the GMAT.

Stock wise was not too good. Some good turns did not give me complete recovery. I'm still down quite a lot despite some recovery. Not very good news for next weeks, but some fun so far. Hopefully it does not go too bad. I probably will get a decent idea of my progress over the next few months, and hopefully it is good.

Definitely not so well for football. NBA next?

My Jump into Broke Rage!

Some time since I posted, but since then, I had to deal with negative inertia, as Ramos put it, about Patriots predictable "shock" loss to Giants. And then watch Everton getting caught up by Liverpool. And then watching Detroit go on a losing streak. Not too bad actually, since most of them got somewhere, like Champions League?

Anyway, I bought my first stock. In fact 20. In fact a slight miscalculation as I keyed in a higher value than I wanted to bid. And its for Pfizer! Well, I am not too worried, but its price dropped way below my bid price...boo hoo! Then again, based on the numbers I'm seeing, its not that bad. Just not too healthy. Sigh. Next stop, Microsoft. I'll definitely appreciate if Bill give me a hand or two!

Oh, tonnes of my colleagues are going to Singapore. SINGAPORE! Why?! I want to go on that business trip! Boo hoo!

It's another day

Today, both my teams lost. Pistons lost to Celtics and Everton lost to...Oldham! What the heck! Of all teams Oldham. I wished we lost to a EPL team. To be frank, losing early helps the team concentrate on a top 5 spot, but we should do better. As for Pistons, it is discouraging to lose at home. Anyway, both losses are at home, which makes the losses worse than it should be. Home advantage is something I believe determines the stability of the team. Well, it will get rough for Pistons since they will play the top teams in the West in the coming week.

On another item, I haven't been adding to my ideas. I'm editing my current work in writing so I spotted a few loopholes and needed to round it. Anyway, I also visited Writing.com, so I'll be trying to see if I can see anything useful...
Hopefully I can finish my trial passage smoothly.

2008 Resolution

Well, I have started on some new ideas. In fact, I wrote what they are in the post "X'mas thoughts..." Anyway, the thing about it is that my friend and colleague suggested a good idea on it. Erm, I hope it's a good idea actually.

I have an idea for a story book. The main characters, the main plot and concept is there, so I just needed to add meat to it. Shravan suggested that I start a online collaboration or something. I'm thinking about it, but I'm always on the line for the wizardry stuff, mixed with science.

Maybe my idea is a bit far fetched or even a used idea, but I thought it's probably worth a try. I've not finished reading a story book before so it's interesting if I can even finish this idea, so the online collaboration stuff is definitely interesting in my case. I'm probably going to find out more about this and even start on it! Of course, that is not all in my wish list, but getting to them one at a time definitely helps!

X'mas thoughts...

Well, I have been researching ways to increase my income. Well, not exactly fighting for a pay rise although I do expect it more or less. I'm talking about passive incomes. Like investing, finding internet resources and others. I do notice that I am a lot later than most internet inhabitants in terms of finding such income streams, but like a lot that I have seen, most aren't realistic ways of creating income. Anyway, I have started a few projects which I hope will be successful, like the below...

• Write a book
• Create an informational website
• Get good real estate
• Have a good investment stream

I must admit that most of the ideas I have are not very applicable. Like story, I'm thinking of a fantasy story. Website? Not enough information and traffic. Real estate wise, money is an issue, even if I consider borrowing from my aunt. Then again, I do think I need to try at least. If not, I'll be letting my 2005-2006 really go to waste. It's in the dumps already, its just how rotten I perceive the experience to be. I made a lot of friends, but simply, my dreams effectively got dashed there for no reason.

OK, one last thing. I'm going to write just one more post about Brady before the last Patriots regular season game. I happen to see his interview on 60 minutes, after wasting 40 minutes on 2 other rather irrelevant sections. One is about a pastor making money...which is explained by helping others...well, there is a limit, just don't break the greed limit. One is about genetics linking families...yeah, but with a long history of migration, anything can happen. To be frank, I always believe happiness is the most important, not the knowledge that it is out there.

So back to Mr Brady. He sounds down to earth, decent and definitely overhyped in terms of his personal life. There are tonnes of other people out there doing worse stuff, so just let him do his work on the field. So he said, "There got to be more out there. If not, that will be too easy." Yeah, some people are lucky and get what they want for trying. I didn't. But then again, I felt happy that there is one adventurous guy like that. The limelight he fought for and gained. Anyway, he is the type of guy I believe I will support as a fan or friend, although I am neither actually. But he does get my attention with what he does in the game, and seriously, I really hope the fairy tale tune ends with another ring. Good teams should be rewarded for their hard work. Unfortunately, Colts won't meet them in the Superbowl. They will probably meet, but in the conference finals. What a downer. The final before the final. Anyway, that's done, and next year, maybe I'll watch Tony Romo more. I knew the guy is good, except in New Jersey, I tend to get more guys hating Cowboys than not. Like my roommate.

Holiday shopping at the speed of light...

It probably is late for anyone to realize the difference, but just now, I bought my own PS2 console, memory card, FF X and FF X-2 on Amazon which free shipping. The best part. They expect to ship it by tomorrow. I'm not sure how accurate that it, but hey, it should be about this week or else! It's definitely because of the holiday season! Keeping my fingers crossed though. I almost fell off my seat when I noticed that the one day shipping wasn't better though.

I'm applying for AdSense, hopefully I get it soon as well. I sent a few emails and they got bounced back. Google doesn't work like Amazon I guess...