China's earthquake

The devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan provence occurred 3 days ago. All the major news outlets in the US and England reported the chaos and pain that befalled the people in my native country. I don't consider myself a chinese national anymore. I'm an American from China. The American part of me comes before the Chinese part. But reading, hearing, and seeing the sadness that blanketed the faces of people who look so much like me made the pain feel more real.

And today, I heard an NPR podcast about the mother and father who deperately searched for the 2-year old toddler that brought tears to my eye. I can hear her plead in a language that I was borned with. When the parents found that dead body of their little boy, the pain in their voices were tangible. No translator could have conveyed the same pain than hearing it myself and understanding every word in the mother's cry.

I wish all my distant kins hope and strength to live past this devastation.

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Cheat Neutral

The concept, if or when you cheat on your significant other, you log onto www.cheatneutral.com. Pay them a small fee so that they can give that fee to other non-cheating couples to continue not to cheat. This way, your wandering libido can help other faithful couples to continue to be faithful. And you can offset your guilt with just a small fee.

Okay, I found out after watching the first 3 minutes of the clip that this site doesn't exist. It's a project to convince the British government and the British masses that the concept of carbon offset is just as non-sensible as cheat neutral.

For those who feel guilty of driving the big SUV and not recycling, and want to do something. There are companies that will take your money and promise to plant trees in Third World countries so that you are absolved of the guilt. The entire monetary transfer scheme can be remove if you just not drive the SUV and recycle.

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$102 a Night

"Man must pay $750K to Spurned Husband" says the headline. (story). The gist of the story is, a Mississippi millionaire business man, Jerry Fitch, must pay the husband of the woman whom he stole away. The price tag, $750K. That amount probably won't make much of a dent in his bank account. Jerry Fitch probably loves her very much to pay that. I also don't question the spurned husband's action to seek revenge. The arcane law that allow a husband to claim monetary compensation for lost of a wife makes me ill. But, what really irk me is the price.

The law that allow this suit to stand is "alienation of affection". In other words, she stopped having sex with the husband, and she's giving it to another man. Now, let's calculate what that $750K means. Looking at the picture, she looks like she's around 40 years old. Jerry Fitch looks to be around 60+. Let me be kind and assume that both of them have 20 good years of sexual life left in them.

20 years = 7300 days

$750K / 7300 days = $102/day

So, assuming that she can have sex everyday for the next 20 years of her life, her performance is worth $102 a day. Not questioning her endurances or her skills, $102 a night is a bit low. If I'm being treated like an property and my worth is calculated by my "affection", I know my "affection" is worth more than $102 a night.

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Hillary wins NH

Barely. As of 11:30PM, Hillary Clinton is the winner of the Democratic primary in NH. I'm a bit surprised. Obama won Iowa, and he was expected to take NH too. Although I'm not a dem and I still haven't made up my mind, but I really don't like Hillary. I'm not sure if I'm for Barak, since I've been leaning GOP since I started voting. But, the GOP candidates are very lacking. A Mormon plastic doll, Evangelical who believes in Creationism, a Big City mayor that only have one platform, and a man who will be the oldest president to be sworn in if he wins. Not much of a choice for me.

Hillary's tears probably did help. I know women react to stress differently than men. I've welled up myself under stress in my professional life. But, can a president cry under stress? Well, whoever decided that Hillary should pull the crying card is a genius. Personally, I feel betrayed as a woman if the crying was just a ploy.

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Libby - Guilty!

Scooter Libby is found guilty of leaking the identity of Valerie Plame, the CIA agent who's the wife of a anti-Bush politician. Libby was the chief of staff of VP Dick Cheney. This whole thing just filled with DC intrigue and political conspiracy.

The maximum jail time for Libby is 30 years. However, I don't think he'll do more than 2. He and his lawyers of course started the appeals process. That will take awhile. If the appeals fells, Libby will probably will not see much of the inside of a prison. When Bush leaves office in 2008, Libby's pardon will be the first "to-do" on his list.

American politic is so predictable and unsavory.

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Wife Murderer and Butcher

Stephen Grant confessed to killing and dismembering his wife. The police found the wife's torso in their house garage. According to his confession to police, Grant killed and dismembered his wife, Tara Grant. He tried to hide her body in a nearby park. However, when the cops started looking for evidence in the part, Stephen Grant retrieved the torso of the body and hid it in the garage.

Didn't Stephen Grant ever watched CSI or Forensic Files? Couple of episodes of these shows will give anyone ideas on what the cops will look for. A few more episodes will definitely give a large pool of how where to dispose a body.

 Granted, I doubt I will be able to commit the perfect murder and dispose of the body without the professional crime scene investigation team pinpointing me as the culprit. But, I think hours of CSI and Forensic files have given me many do's and don'ts of how to commit a crime.

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$0.41 for a Letter

The US Postal Service suggested to increase the first class stamp by 2 cents to $0.41. I think the last time the rate increased was early 2006. I don't remember because I don't use stamp anymore. The last time I bought stamps was before Christmas of 2006 so I can send a few Christmas card through the mail. Majority of my holiday greetings were done via emails or ecards. Only a few people, like my grandmother, still uses snail mail cards.Â

 My normal needs for stamps have all been replaced by online bill paying and emails too. In total, my annual stamp usage is about 20. I wonder if I'm the norm or the leading edge of technophiles.

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Rats, Rats, and more Rats

Rats and cockaroaches were filmed running through a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City's Greenich area. Local news crew interviewed people on the street making statements that they will not return to the establishment ever again.

 I have been to that specific fast food joint before, during my graduate school days. Since it is located 5 blocks away from NYU and right next to the subway entrance, it was extremely convenient. I always thought the place was a little dirtier than other food places in NYC. But, seeing the rats scurrying around the seats made me gag.

Beyond the disgusting images, my thought moves to the franchisee. The location is a prime spot, on a main avenue, near an international University with tens of thousands students.  That's on top of foot traffic in the area. The franchisee must have paid a handsome amount for the licensing and rent for the location. How can a business person not care about the investment that much to let it be tarnished to the point where recovery will be impossible.

I doubt the KFC/Taco Bell will be there for long, even if the health inspectors give it a clean bill of health. That location will have a hard time attracting another food services entity. It will turn into another tattoo parlor, sex novelty shop, or another Baby Gap.

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Prince Harry off to Iraq

It's official, Prince Harry will be sent to Iraq along with his Blues and Royals squad. British officials have already announced that Prince Harry will not be assigned to any duty that will attract attention and pose additional danger to his fellow squad members. To me, that sounds like Prince Harry will be in the command center somewhere and never really expose himself to any danger and see real action.

 Of course it is great propaganda for the royal family to have the third in line to the throne to demonstrate his allegiance to his men. Historically, war heroes became kings and emperors. Alexander, Julius Caesar, just to name a few. Staying within the British history, Richard the Lion Heart was in battle majority of his reign. Looking even in the more recent history, Harry's uncle, Prince Andrew flew battle helicopters in the Faukland War.Â

 I support Prince Harry going to Iraq. It's his duty to be there. The British people and people around the world will see him as a leader, a warrior, and a man worthy of the royal title.Â

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