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Tobacco Legislation - It's About Time

2009-05-12T00:44:00.005+08:00

Dear Visitor:
Whenever I see attempted legislations with regards to smoking, it makes my heart leap. Why? Because this is something society and humans can do without. It is harmful, causes pollution and wastes money, energy and one's health. I applaud and strongly support any politician(s) who have the guts and conscience to do away with it... Why on earth would any government enterprise encourages something so toxic and undesirable and profit at the advantage of its citizenry- its' something I can never understand here...For those of you who smokes, hope you will find the will to get rid of it. Take care, Regards, WON.

Chances Bright for Legislation Seeking FDA Regulation of Tobacco

By Lyndsey LaytonWashington Post Staff Writer Monday, May 11, 2009
After 15 years of debate, tens of millions spent on lobbying and a roller-coaster legislative history, public health advocates say they believe Congress is finally ready to regulate tobacco -- and their opponents privately agree.

This week, a Senate committee will take up its version of a bill that passed the House by a comfortable margin last month. Supporters say they have more than the 60 votes needed to make the legislation filibuster-proof when it reaches the Senate floor sometime after Memorial Day.

The sponsors, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), with help from party leaders, have pushed the legislation onto a fast track. And President Obama, himself a smoker who has struggled to quit, has said he intends to sign the bill -- a reversal from President George W. Bush, who sought to kill it.

The legislation would give the Food and Drug Administration broad powers over the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco, a product used by 20 percent of Americans yet largely unregulated.

The very idea of tobacco regulation strikes some as nonsensical: Take a product that, if used as directed, will kill a third of those who use it and place it under the control of an agency charged with protecting public health. But advocates say FDA oversight is the best hope for reducing the 400,000 deaths each year from tobacco use.

"If this happens, and if the FDA uses its powers, it will be an enormous public health achievement," said Matthew L. Meyers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who has been pushing the legislation for 15 years.

For the first time, the $89 billion tobacco industry would have to disclose the ingredients in its products. Under the measure, the FDA could ban the most harmful of the estimated 6,000 chemicals used in cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products. And it could reduce the amount of nicotine, perhaps to a point where tobacco is no longer addictive and smokers who want to quit can break free more easily. The bill stops short of allowing the FDA to ban tobacco or reduce the amount of nicotine to zero.

The legislation would require tobacco companies to expand the size of warning labels from 30 percent to 50 percent of the package. The Senate bill mandates that graphic images of the health effects of tobacco consumption be included.

Advertising and promotion would be restricted. Tobacco manufacturers would be unable to use the terms "light," "mild" and "low" unless they can scientifically prove that the product so labeled is less harmful than standard tobacco. The bill would also create a tobacco center within the FDA funded by fees from the industry that are estimated to reach more than $500 million annually by 2013, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The FDA first tried to regulate tobacco in the 1990s, but the industry battled it to the Supreme Court, which ruled 5 to 4 in 2000 that the agency had exceeded its statutory authority. It called on Congress to amend the law.

But during that legal battle, the political climate surrounding the issue shifted rapidly enough that by the time the Supreme Court rendered its decision, a curious thing had happened: Philip Morris, the maker of Marlboro and the largest tobacco company in the country, said it would accept some government oversight.

At the time, Philip Morris executives were charting a strategy to improve the company's image and regain the social acceptance it had lost in the 1990s as congressional hearings, court cases and suits by state attorneys general unearthed evidence that tobacco companies lied to the public about the addictive nature of nicotine. In late 2001, Philip Morris changed its name to the Altria Group; executives said they wanted to craft a new image untainted by cigarettes. They also embraced federal oversight as a way to convince the public that Altria was socially responsible, according to internal company documents.

William Phelps, a spokesman for Altria, said the company thinks FDA approval will help Altria market new products that are less dangerous to the health. Altria recently acquired U.S. Smokeless Tobacco; is testing "snus," a new line of "spit-free" smokeless tobacco products; and recently opened a $350 million research facility in Richmond to develop products that pose lower health risks.

Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the top Republican on the committee that will discuss the bill, said he wants to see some kind of legislation on tobacco but is opposed to the Kennedy measure. "It makes me leery when a tobacco company is backing this," he said. "Nothing changes in it without Philip Morris's approval."

Some public health professionals are also skeptical.

"I'm a little suspicious of anything that Philip Morris supports," said Richard Hurt, a doctor who directs the nicotine-dependence program at the Mayo Clinic. "I haven't known Philip Morris to do anything in the interest of public health."

Altria's competitors also oppose the bill. They say Altria is backing it because restrictions on marketing tend to freeze market shares, which would lock Philip Morris into the top spot.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), whose state is home to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Lorillard Tobacco, has threatened to filibuster the Kennedy bill. He and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) have proposed an alternative bill that would promote "reduced risk" tobacco products instead of restricting cigarettes.

David J. Adelman, a tobacco analyst for Morgan Stanley, said FDA regulation was not likely to hurt the industry's overall profits, unless the agency demands so many changes in tobacco products that consumers no longer want to smoke them. He said the bill could squeeze out small companies because they are less able to afford the process involved to get a new product approved for the market.

Lobbying activity surrounding the bill is intense. In the first quarter of 2009, Altria spent $4.29 million to make its case regarding this bill and a couple of other pieces of tobacco legislation, according to federal lobbying records. Its chief rival, Reynolds American, owner of R.J. Reynolds, spent $1.59 million in that period. Lorillard, the third-largest tobacco maker, paid lobbyists $850,000 in the first three months, records show. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, meanwhile, spent $157,000 during that period.

"I think a lot of people want to get something on the books to begin the process of regulation," said Hurt of the Mayo Clinic. "The tobacco companies are still wildly successful. They still have 43 million smokers, and they're not going to give them up easily. Only time will tell whether this is a mistake or the beginning of reducing the tobacco toll in this country."

Labor Day Weekend Visit to HuangHua Water Great Wall 黄花水长城 in Huairou District 怀柔

2009-05-03T14:20:00.033+08:00

Dear Friends:

Thank God for long weekends...we need them to help us maintain our life's balance. Like many others this Labor Day holiday, I mulled over exactly where I should go, and then with whom? The latter I knew - with two young friends (a Sinagporean and a Malaysian) who are cool to hang out with.

As to the where, I knew it had to be somewhere North and outside of Beijing (either to Huairou or Miyun District), but where exactly? While cleaning out my apartment last week, had found a flyer of a place called 桃园仙谷. It seemed like a nice place to visit at first, but after calling around several 农家院 ie farmer's inn, the voices of those whom I had spoken with didn't sound helpful nor enthusiastic. My heart was reluctant to go to a place where my womanly sense didn't feel good 100%. I know it is a strange way to judge a place. I even told my dear good friend Grace J. about it. She looked at the flyer that I had brought to her office the day before Labor Day. Grace suggested I waited until the cherry picking season so several of us could drive out and enjoy ourselves. ..Sure I'd love to do that.....But still, I did want to be in the outskirt of BJ badly because I needed to be in the arms of Nature again. Another thing bugging me about going to 桃园仙谷, is that we would still need a car to take us around to the other sights - and I didn't want to have to do that.

It was then that I remembered a professor friend whom I had met online. ZH had travelled and seen many beautiful parts of China. As a Beijinger, I was certain he would know the outskirts of Beijing intimately. Even though we hadn't communicated for several months, ZH still remembered me. I told ZH of my predicament, and without hesitation, he suggested visiting the 水长城 The Water Great Wall in Huairou. ZH said that it is not only a great place to be but a wild Great Wall that isn't opened to the public. I have not heard of 水长城 before. Naturally this pique my interest visiting as many different sections of the Great Wall in China is still one of my goals. Besdies, the name itself sounded unusual too. ZH further stated at this time of the year, the area is magnificient to look at, and the surrounding 景点are easily accessible by frequent local buses plying the area. ZH kindly offered to check out all info and email those to me. Unfortunately, when he was about ready to do that, the computers in their office went dead. ZH called back and guided me where to look and what to do. Thanks to him, an hour later and before the close of business Thursday I was able to make reservation for a room for 3 not to far from the Wall. My travelling companions weren't aware of where we will be headed, but I was sure they would be just as thrilled as I was...

We made arrangements to meet at Dongzhimen station at 0830 hours. Bon and Lee were early and were already waiting in line at the busstop for No. 916. I was late when I got there. While I knew it would be crowded, I was taken aback by the number of people at the terminal -- it was swarming and overflowing with Beijingers, who like us, were wanting to escape out into the outskirts too. One had to almost fight one's way out of the crowd...

I had thought we were at the express bus stand - turned out that we were not. With so many people queueing at the express line, and since we were then at the front of the non-express line (thanks to Bon and Lee), we decided to stay put. Ordinarily, the trip into downtown Huairou would have taken us only an hour and a half. Being a holiday, it was so ant packed with bumper to bumper traffic crawling at a snail's pace, the journey took us nearly 3 hours instead!!!

After we got off, I was of the impression that it would take us only 30 minutes to reach our final destination - the time given to me by the owner of the 农家院. I should have known better. In China, always make it a point add 50-80% more time or distance to those guesstimates given to you by the locals. Most people here have no concept of time nor distance. If they think they do (which is rare), it is generally as inaccurate as the size of an iceberg. That's not because people are unwilling (except for the illegal drivers who intentionally mislead you) to help. They are but even if they do not know, they generally won't say they don't so as not to appear ignorant. So the best bet is to really double and triple check - let's hope one's own sense of direction is good. Carrying a map is actually better sometimes. Of course, locals within their own locality knows but beyond their comfort zone, that could be asking too much...That's why I enjoy conducting classes on the chapter on "Giving Directions" to my students. It usually ended up being a very funny and interesting class - especially after each time I laughingly pointed out that if they were really to give direction in the current manner they had given, tourists in China will never get to their intended destination(s), and that would not be very good for China...

The conductor told us to deboard at a certain bus stop, and take another bus. When we walked to the stop in question, we were horrified that all buses on the signboard were 916s? Who in their right mind would do that? There is the 916 exernal bus (外环), 916 internal bus（内环), 916 standard (直达), 916 express (快束）etc. We were truly flabbergasted - we looked and looked but was unable to find the name of the destination we wanted to reach. Perplexed and being close to lunch hour, we decided to eat at KFC (not because we like it, but because we needed to use the loo and we knew it would be clean with toilette papers) before continuing on.

After lunch, we walked to a nearby bus stop and asked around. Again no one seem to know, or different people would give us different directional information. Finally, about 20 minutes later, an illegal taxi driver told us that for 1RMB he would drop us off at the bus stop where we could take the bus to our destination. Turned out he had taken us for a ride. No one at or near the busstop had any clue as to how to get to where we wanted. Tells you how even the locals are as unclear about their own place than the weather.

However, I will applaud my 2 travelling companions for neither losing their cool nor nagging at me. For that I was quite grateful - I cannot stand being nagged at (so if any of you reading this do get to join me in any type of trips, know that please). The last thing I wanted is a scowling and blackened face. That will ruin the mood and fun of the trip - "Take it all in stride" is my travelling philosophy - not a 小姐脾气 or 啰啰嗦嗦 type when adventuring out, know what I mean or don't come with me...

Incidentally, one of the many good things about living here in China is the slow but surely acquisition of and training of our quality of "patience"...My companions' statement that " This is China" (and the unsaid phrase "What do you expect?" is enough for one to utter nothing further. If you do go further, one will only end up positively negative - haha!!!). Some of you will say "So, Natassha, why do you like living in China then?" Yes, it's exasperating under such circumstances, but overall the good still outweighs the bad (for me, that is, though Bon & Lee disagree, but both being too good natured a people to go into a nagging mood - Bon likes to laugh (awkward) things away - this, to me, is a most exceptional and unique ability that not many people possesses... )

While my companions went into the China Mobile office to ask for information, I called 114 and got the number to the Huairou's Tourist Office. Yes, someone did answer the phone that day. However she doesn't know how to get to where we wanted either (haha!). She did provide an alternate number where a live person can help. Before hanging up, I asked if she could feedback to the local tourist office about the 916 crazy numbering system and consider changing it to eg 916A, 916B, 916C or something that would be un-confused visitors? She laughed and agreed....At the next number called, I informed the gentleman about our predicament, that we had been oh so misdirected and lost and if he could kindly lead us back onto the right tract? He did, but we have to change 2 buses. We got to the station where we were supposed to be looking for a bus with a sign on the dashboard. 15 minutes later, our magical bus finally appeared.

Happily we boarded. We asked the conductor how long it would take to get us there. "An hour and a half," she replied. "Huh......？" You would think we would be out of our mind and in extreme pain and frustration by now.... As I've stated earlier, my really cool travelling companions decided to take it all in stride and take a nap instead. I didn't want to nap as I was eager to find out what's in store along this leg of the journey? 15 minutes into the ride, my patience was rewarded by the grassland-like scenery which appeared before me (much like you see at the beginning portion of the "Sound of Music" movie where you see Maria stood singing "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music...." or it can also be compared to the opening scenery in the Lord of the Ring 1 where Gandalf is seen riding into the beautiful greenery of the Shire to visit Bilbo Baggins on his 111 birthday celebration...That was indeed heartwarming....My heart actually felt like that as the bus travelled along the road which, by then, had turned into a one lane traffic, winding into and out of little villages surrounded everywhere by hills, mountains and valleys, dotted by different tones of gorgeous green. I loved each different scene presenting itself before me, much like course upon course of different dishes "served up at my table waiting to be tasted." I love the hues and tones of the different types of green, the textures of the grasses, the leaves, the trees, the shrubs, the hills, and the fresh crispy clean, early summer air. As we advanced further and deeper into the hills, I found myself loving the journey more and more...and dreaming along...

Finally, we arrived at the bus stop we were to get off. A caveat here - there is a stop several stops before our stop called HuangHua Zhen黄花镇。The stop we had just gotten off is called 黄花城HuangHua Cheng. So make sure you do not get these 2 confused and alight at the wrong stop or you may have to wait another 30 minutes before another comes along. We looked around and saw no 农家院. So I contacted the owner of August Inn whose wife drove out to pick us up. The Inn was OK - passably clean for a nongjiayuan. At night though, we had bugs visiting us that almost freaked us out (not many, just a few) - possibly attracted by the lights, and no water after 8 or 9 pm. The owner provided 2 thermos flask of hot water which you can mix with the cold well water to have a wipe wash.

Remember, accommodations around here are mostly farmer's inn, not hotels or even motels. We are out in rural and natural territory. So do bring your own towel, soap, slippers and any travelling minis that you might have picked up at posh hotels where you used to stay. These all come into handy in China and on trips like this. Am sure there are 2 stars hotels around but I didn't bother looking for it. - we want a local experience all all. For those of you in Singapore who remembers the early kampong life, well, that's as close to it as you can get except it is on a larger scale...

Of course we will like it better if the toilette facilities are better (that's a must where possible). Coming back to the Inn, there weren't any chairs or cupboard for one to hang one's clothes, or even hangers. So be prepared for this. But you can always haul a stool from the restaurant and use it for the night to place your stuff on. But the toilette is cleaned. For some unknown reason, I did not take a picture of our Inn which I regretted...

Most famer's inn have their own pets, generally of a German shepherd variety. There was a young couple who had brought their adorable, loving golden retriever. According to Bon, the lady owner knows nothing about caring about dog. This type of dog is usually very friendly, and loves being surrounded by people, but the owner had it on a leash the entire time. It tried to come to over to us several times to be petted, but the owner kept pulling it away from us. This drove Bon nuts to see her doing that! Real dog lovers know the characteristics of their dogs It appears not to be the case here --Bon was throughly disgusted that the owner didn't even know how to properly comb the retriever's hair. Furthermore, the owner had claimed it to be 6 months - to us, it looks more like a year old for its size, and that made us realized she is rather ignorant too.

That's the kind of dog I would get for Natalie if we have a home here in Beijing. Bon had told me that she loves dogs very much. I was most impressed when I found out that she has a certificate in styling and grooming dog's hair too...See, the more one hangs around with friends, the more one learn sabout the secret skills friends have :-)

From the Inn, it took only 5 minutes for us to walk to the unofficial entrance of the Wall. We paid RMB2, collected by an unscrupulous local who have no actual authority to collect it. We didn't want to argue but other tourists were displeased. This reminded me of WuXia movies I've seen in my childhood days where mountain rouge demanded toll charges to pass through... Later, when we ascended about 50 m, an old old lady wanted to collect another RMB2. Luckily I had asked for a receipt from the first and showed it to her and she let us pass. The others just ignored her and continue up... I had text message this issue to ZH about it. When we meet up later this week, will discuss this matter with him as I have some ideas about handling this matter that will benefit the local people...

So in the first of many pictures in the link below, you will see sights surrounding us - enchanting, and quaint. Even though this section is not yet opened to tourism, already there are many local tourists. The Water Great Wall is simply amazing, quite unlike JuYongGuan, Mutianyi or Simatai or even Badalin Great Wall. Originally, I had thought Mutianyi was the most beautiful - this one is many more times so. I actually fell in love with this place, and immediately wish I have a place out here to come to every weekend - seriously, anyone interested in sharing a country home???

The local signature dish is of a variety of fish called 红鳟鱼. It taste superb (no little bones enmeshed in its flesh) and supremely fresh. You can eat it BBQ (best), or raw like sashimi or steam too. Just tell the waiter how you like it made... This dish is simply mouth watering. Try the local mantou (corn buns) and bread. Most of the other dishes are just ordinary. At our inn, we paid only RMB9.9 per Jing while at others they charge as high as RMB15-18. They are all the same variety of fish, but some will try to convince you theirs is better. All other things on the menu are regular ones you can find back in downtown BJ.

Anyway, as we descended, we chose another route on the other side of the Wall. Almost at the foot of the Wall, I slipped, fell and hurt my lower right leg, unfortunately. Bon quickly and gallaently helped and took my backpack. So we descended at a slowler pace the rest of the way and into the backyard of what seemed like a newly opened restaurant just above the lake. I stopped and spoke to the elderly couple who were busying getting things ready. Without warning, it started raining and we started to run. My non-mobility made me walked into the cover covered, but Bon and Lee were already over the bridge. I called to them and Mr. Liu also called out and beckoned to us to come back in to avoid being rained on. We chatted some more with Mrs. Liu. We found out their doctor son had set this restaurant up for opening the next day. We were invited, went but decided against staying since the guests were mostly their son's friends whom we did not know. So we went exploring in an area further up the road called the Ling Long Mountains, about 3 major bus stops away (or 6 mini stops) away instead.

Back to the evening of the Friday night - it was cool, soothing and tranquil....We had the BBQ fish (2 in fact). The landlord suggested their toufu special which we ordered, stir-fried spinach, eggs with tomatoes, 2 plates of local fried bread, and of course beer and sprite (to concoct our own Shandy). Hmmmmmmm, BBQ HongZun was simply delicious...After dinner, we took a walk up the lane back towards the Great Wall, following the curve of the road...the poplar lined trees on both sides of the road made marachas rambling sounds each time the breeze blew- i adores the cha-chaing sounds the leaves makes as if signalling to say "Let's Fiesta! Come on, come on, come on!)....The evening sky was clear-and hazy after the rain.. We got back to the Inn and decided to take turns washing up.

(Un) fortunately, there wasn't any TV in the room. We didn't bring any games to play but asked the owner for a pack of cards which we dealt with....Lee went out, came back and said the night was good, but by then Bon and I were laying on the double size bed, too lazy to move. I knew the nite sky would be gorgeous with stars sparkling like diamonds in the sky. It was also a litle chilly too.

On summer nights, we were told, it is usually fabulously and cool. One can hear Nature's orchestration of the insect world singing, chanting and playing their own kind of folk music...We didn't stayed up late or go to a bar (none there, hmm, maybe I should set up one)....It took us all a while and separately to fall asleep - at one point, I woke up, decided to took a short walk outside to look at the sky again. Being out in nature calmed and comforted me. When I got back, I was able to fall asleep shortly after...

Wished all my family members are here enjoy this with me.... I had not savored enough of this place yet, and shall definitely return often. Perhaps I will speak to this professor friend and hear his stories of his many visits every weekend from 1991 - 1998. I know I will enjoy listening to him...

The next day, we checked out the Ling Long Mountains as stated earlier. Ling Long Mountains is apparently where the Monkey King, Sun WuKong who proclaimed himself Qi-Tian-Da-Sheng 齐天大圣 (translated "Great Sage Equal to Heaven") of the famous Chinese literary classic "Journey to the West" was born - out of a rock. A recorded tape played this story over and over again which was how we found out. We didn't go in because we were sort of tired from yesterday's climb plus the fact that the fall I had made me less mobile. We were contented just waiting for the returning bus to take us back.

When we got back to the inn, we checked out and look for another place to have lunch. There is a restaurant overlooking the lake by the Great Wall. So we decided to go there and try its food. But the price for the BBQ fish was not only 50% more, but I suspected we were overcharged for its weight too since the fish was smaller than the 2 we had the night before.

What bothered us during lunch was that many young Chinese tourists discarded their trash overboard into the lake. There was a young not-bad-looking Chinese girl with her friends, and all their boyfriends who kept on dropping trash into the lake. It annoyed me so much that when I saw one of her male friends walked down the steps, I decided to follow and spoke to him about it and have him asked her to stop littering. I told him it makes Chinese people looked bad, and reinforce upon foreigners' mind that Chinese people's totally uncivic minded, and have no love for their country. He said he would. Later when I went back upstairs, he asked me again who it was, and I pointed her out. She sulked of course, and the others in their group said nothing. Subequently, they left without ordering...I know it hurts to tell the truth, but I felt I had to let them know because I love this place vey much. It really bugged us and those Chinese twho loves China that many of their countrymen think nothing of turning their surroundings into an open air rubbish dump, out of habit. But that is another subject to be discussed elsewhere, not here in my blog.

Our return journey home on Saturday was much easier though the place got even more crowded as we were leaving. The bus took us directly back into Huairou Central not too far from the doorstep of the Huairou to Beijing express bus terminal...Honestly speaking, I was reluctant to leave...

Overall, the trip was good, worthwhile and fulfilling because I've found another new place where I can be lost in. Bon, Lee and I did enjoy it....'Hope you'll enjoy these pictures by clicking on the link below... Regards, WON

http://picasaweb.google.com/BeyondDesiderata/May12009LaborOvernightAt?feat=directlink

Great Quotes By Great Leaders

2009-04-07T23:29:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends:
I love reading great quotes - it keeps me going and recharges me whenever I wish to feel better on any particular day....May it lift your spirits too whenever you read them....Regards, WON.

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interests" -Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." -Sir Winston Churchill, 1871 - 1965

"The Boiserous sea of Liberty is never with a wave." - Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826

'Be courteous to all, but intimate with a few and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence." - George Washington, 1732 - 1799

"Love is the Only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." - Martin L. King, Jr. 1929-1968

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time." - Abraham Lincoln, 1809 - 1865

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence,
regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." -Vince Lombardi, 1913-1970

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962

"A people that values its priviledges above its principles soon loses both." - Dwight Eisenhower, 1890- 1969

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." - Nelson Mandela, 1918 -

"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character." - Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

"Liberty without learning is always in peril, learning without liberty is always in vain." -John F. Kennedy, 1917- 1963

"We must become the change we want to see in the world." --Mahatma Gandhi, 1868-1948

"The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen, not touched, but are felt in the heart."
-- Helen Keller, 1880-1968

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." --Henry Ford, 1863-1947

"The worst prison would be a closed heart." --Pope John Paul II, 1920-2005

"To reach a port, we must sail - Sail, not tie to an anchor. Sail - not drift." --Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945

"If a man does his best, what else is there?" --George S. Patton, 1885-1945

"There are two ways of exerting one's strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up." --Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." --Theodore Roosevelt, 1859-1919

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. " --Albert Schweitzer, 1875-1965

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." --Harry S. Truman. 1884-1972

"In life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love. " --Mother Theresa, 1910-1997

From: Simple Truths

Poem "Invictus" By William Hensley

2009-04-07T23:19:00.000+08:00

Poems of this nature inspires and keeps me singing... May it do the same for you as well...
Regards, WON

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloodied but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the manners of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the Master of my Fate:
I am the Captain of my Soul...

彩云追月 By 李娜

2009-04-06T23:19:00.000+08:00

弯弯月儿夜渐浓
月光伴清风月色更朦
胧倒映湖中她面容
柔柔身影中点点相思愁
月色似是旧人梦
遥问故人可知否
心中望相逢
唯有请明月
带走我问候
彩云追着月儿走

From the Poem of Alfred Lord Tennyson -

2009-04-06T22:30:00.001+08:00

Dear Visitor:
I've been pondering over this Tennyson poem for quite some time now- still not sure if I agree with him or not. One supposes that if the other party whom one has once loved is still very much a gentleman (or gentlewoman), then that love lost might be worth it. However, if that party whom one once loved is no longer a gentleman (or gentlewoman) by any means (there are much of these people around nowadays since values have changed greatly from days past), then I'd much rather not have had that love lost at all. In fact, the sooner one forgets about it, the better off one is....

Still, leave it up to you to decide....Regards, WON

In Memoriam:27, 1850:

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;'
Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all...

From William James' Philosophy of Pragmatism

2009-04-06T22:20:00.000+08:00

Let no youth have any upshot about the anxiety of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If s/he keeps faithfully busy every hour of the working day, he may safely leave the final result to itself. He can, with perfect certainty, count on waking up some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent ones of his generation, in whatever pursuit he may have singled out...

The Optimist's Creed

2009-04-06T22:17:00.000+08:00

Something We Need to Constantly Remind Ourselves:

Be Too Large To Worry
Too Noble for Anger
Too Strong for Fear and
Too Happy to Permit
The Presence of Trouble

Think Well of Yourself
and Proclaim This Fact to the World
--not in Loud Words
But in Great Deeds

中山公园的春天Spring@Zhong.Shan.Park - April 4th, 2009

2009-04-05T10:18:00.000+08:00

Dear Visitors:

Here's many pictures taken of Spring at Zhong Shan Park. Zhong Shan Park is located to the immediate left of the Palace Museum main entrance along Chang An Avenue. In the imperial days, it was part of the Palace Museum but is now separated for tourist purposes. The entry fee is only RMB3. That's a fantastic rate considering what one can see and experience. There are many long corridors flanking both sides of the park and at various locations where one can sit and soak in the beauty, to dwell upon whatever private thoughts you may have, or to simply observe the different kinds of people visiting. There is a wonderul lake with an equally wonderful pavilion, lots of flowering plants which continue to bloom up through fall. One can sit under the shades of various trees, arches or wisterias in tranquility... There is also a performing arts center within the ground. that you can enjoy all sorts of music. Although it is only a fraction the size of the botanical garden, ZSP never fails to cheer me up whenever I visit for moi generally comes out feeling refreshed after an exhausting day...

Hope you will get a chance to visit...Enjoy these pix at link below. Regards, WON.

http://picasaweb.google.com/BeyondDesiderata/SpringZhongShanPark?feat=directlink

2009-04-01T17:39:00.001+08:00

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7052044

The Great Love of Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher

2009-03-28T21:23:00.000+08:00

Each time I happen upon pictures of Demi & Ashton, they never fail to bring a smile to my lips. I love the great relationship they have....Despite their age differences, it is quite apparent the love and adoration one sees in both their eyes.. I'd like to see their love lasts till the end of time...Their love story is better than any other public ones I have ever read....Those who have experienced any "great love" in their lives are so very very lucky indeed.....WON.

Gorgeous Day @ the Beijing Botanic Gardens, 2009/03/28

2009-03-28T19:36:00.000+08:00

Dear Students & Family:
I am extremely happy that some of you brought your family to the Beijing Botanic Garden today. The signs of Spring are everywhere -in the buds of flowers, in the new growth of leaves, in the feel of the breeze, in the warmth of the sun... We got to enjoy the many light breezes that kissed and caressed our faces and cheeks every now and then. I loved listening to your laughters and looking at the smiles of your faces as we go a-walking, a-talking and a-wondering...Perhaps we could do it again this late Spring or early summer, have a lovely picnic, with tents and such, and more of us participating....May life be as tranquil as this we experience today...

By clicking on the link below, you can access all the pictures I have taken today...download any one of interests to you...Would love it if you write your comments here, in Chinese or English.

For my foreign friends, BBG is located on the NW of Central Beijing. It is one of the largest public garden ground in the world. It is generally crowded from Spring till the end of Fall, on weekends. There are much to do and see within the botanic ground. There are Rose Gardens, Peonies Garden, a tropical hothouse, a very large open-air circular theatre-like water fountain display surrounded by rose climbers which is extremely popular with parents and children during the hot summer months, several small waterfalls, and streams, one of which "leads "uphill to the top called the "Origin of Water," several lakes, pavilions. There is supposedly a home of the famous Chinese author who wrote the well known literary classic called "Dream of the Red Chamber." In addition, there is the world's largest singularly carved from a trunk of the Sleeping Buddha at the Sleeping BuddhaTemple. That part of the temple is itself surrounded by many centuries old Cypress trees. There is also a quaint courtyard-like hotel where many corporate meetings are held, many footpaths that criss-crosses throughout the entire garden. One can also see many kinds of Spring flowers that are commonly found in Southern California too and rows and rows of tulips near the hothouse....I'm sure you get the picture....So should you come to Beijing, that is a place not to miss. Actually you do not need to join a tour group when sightseeing around Beijing since most places of interest are reachable via subway or express buses....Regards, WON

http://picasaweb.google.com/BeyondDesiderata/BotanicGardenVisitMarch282009?feat=directlink

AIG Still Isn't Too Big to Fail

2009-03-20T17:53:00.000+08:00

Dear Students & Friends:

Below is a business related article that we can learn something and be smarter about - one thing about this financial and economis crisis - we are learning much from the mistakes of others -apply this knowledge wisely in your future life and endeavours...Regards, WON.

AIG Still Isn't Too Big to Fail

By LUCIAN BEBCHUK WSJ March 20, 2009

The AIG bailout -- at $170 billion and rising -- may end up as the costliest rescue of a single firm in history. There is much debate about bonuses paid to AIG's executives. But there is far too little debate on the government's willingness to back all of AIG's obligations.

The company claims any failure by the government to do so would have catastrophic consequences. This claim is exaggerated. Serious consideration should be given to forcing AIG's partners in derivative transactions -- which are mainly buyers of credit default swaps from the company -- to take a substantial haircut.

AIG is a holding company, conducting most of its business through insurance subsidiaries organized as separate legal entities. The financial products subsidiary, which has produced the huge losses from derivative transactions that brought AIG down, is also a separate legal entity -- but AIG has guaranteed the subsidiary's obligations.

While AIG has thus far been able to cover derivative losses using government funds, the possibility of large additional losses must be recognized. AIG recently stated that it still has about $1.6 trillion in "notional derivatives exposure." Suppose, for example, that AIG ends up with losses equal to, say, 20% of this exposure -- that is, $320 billion. Suppose also that the value of AIG's current assets, including the shares in its insurance subsidiaries, is $160 billion. In this scenario, the government's fully backing AIG's obligations would produce an additional loss of $160 billion for taxpayers. Should the government be prepared to do so?

The alternative would be to put AIG into Chapter 11. In this case, AIG's creditors, including its derivative counterparties, would obtain the company's assets. They would end up with a 50% recovery on their claims, bearing those $160 billion of losses themselves.

AIG recently stated that failure to meet all of the company's obligations could lead to a "run on the bank" by customers seeking to surrender insurance policies and "would have sweeping impacts across the economy." But insurance policyholders wouldn't be at risk if AIG failed to meet its obligations. The insurance subsidiaries are not responsible for the debts of their parent AIG, and insurance policy claims are backed both by the subsidiaries' required reserves and state insurance funds.

Still, what about the concern that losses to derivative counterparties -- which are now known to include major U.S. and foreign banks -- would substantially deplete the capital of some of them? That concern would be best addressed by the U.S. government (or foreign governments in the case of their banks) infusing capital directly -- in return for shares -- into the banks that need it. There is no reason to back AIG's obligations as an instrument for infusing capital (with taxpayers getting nothing in return) into, say, Goldman Sachs or Spain's Banco Santander.

It is true that the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September led to a crisis of confidence among depositors in banks and money-market funds, which had a dramatic effect on markets. Letting AIG's derivative counterparties take a significant haircut, however, should not lead to such a crisis. AIG's obligations are to derivative counterparties, not to depositors. Moreover, governments world-wide are now committed to backing fully the claims of depositors in financial institutions.

It is important to understand that the government can also employ intermediate approaches between fully backing AIG's derivative obligations and no backing. For example, the government could place AIG in Chapter 11, but commit to provide supplemental coverage that would make up any difference between the value that creditors would get from AIG'S reorganization and, say, an 80% recovery. Such an approach could allow setting different haircuts for different classes of creditors. The government, for example, might elect not to provide such supplemental coverage to executives owed money by AIG.

At a minimum, the government should conduct "stress tests," estimating potential losses in alternative scenarios, and formulate a policy on the magnitude and fraction of derivative losses it would be willing to cover. A policy that doesn't fully back AIG's obligations should be seriously considered.

Mr. Bebchuk is a professor of law, economics and finance, and director of the corporate governance program at Harvard Law School. This op-ed is based on his forthcoming paper, "Is AIG Too Big To Fail?"

Memoirs of The Last Day of Class...

2009-03-20T00:07:00.002+08:00

Hi Folks:

Having had to do so much reading for my work project, I decided to take a short break and read my email. A friend of mine had apparently went into Baidu to google my name, and found that one of my graduate students at the Central University for Nationality in Beijing, China had written something about me on the last day of class.

It made me laugh now reading about it....so I have copied and pasted it here for those of you who reads Chinese....it is unedited of course....& thank you, my student, whoever you are who wrote it...But, you should know that you were wrong on 2 points - that is -

1. 像我"这种性格的人” decided to make Beijing my last and final home。。。

2. 你的老师是先去日本留学，才到纽约的。是从加州，跑到北京来的。。姑娘，你没听好老师说的话，所以在作业上没给你满分啦。老师就是这样的“事儿精”.....呵呵

Anyway,老师也挺想你们的.....祝好！WON

字体大小：大中小正文
Natassha Hu(2007-06-29 21:14:05)
分类：神游类

今天是上研究生英语课的最后一天，也许这辈子都不会再上英语课了，有点小怀念列。呵呵

虽然大家在上课的时候对外教Miss Hu多有抱怨，觉得她做事太趋于程式化，用北京的话说就是“事儿精”。但是结课了对她仍有些许不舍。仔细想想，Miss Hu也给我们带来了许多乐趣。

最佩服的是她的经历，在我们看来，可能有点传奇吧。作为一个新加坡人，在美国纽约和加州生活了十多年，在华尔街工作过，因为看不惯加州人的拜金主义，东渡到日本求学（学习服装设计），现在来到中国。我想她应该还会继续游历别的国家，这种性格的人是不会永远安于一个地方的。

还记得为了讲清make of 和make from的区别，给我们讲木质的东西时，脱下她那沾满灰尘脏兮兮的凉拖，引起我们大家的一阵嘘声。

还记得她说她上大学的时候为了写清楚乞丐一天的生活，去街边做了一天的乞丐，虽然被饿的半死，但最后那门课得了A加。她还建议我们全班去北京天桥上排一长队，去感受一下乞丐的生活。

还记得她出作文题目“if I were a tree , I want to be ”,我们有很多同学写苹果树都会以牛顿结尾，她严厉地批评了我们这种毫无想象力的做法，理由是如果牛顿站在榴莲树下的话，他早被砸死了，根本不会有万有引力的诞生。理由充足吧。呵呵

全班分小组作了那么多的presentation,我们介绍了全国名胜古迹和少数民族风情，全班都对各个景点的历史和各民族的文化都有了大致的了解。

我们还一人读了10本名著书虫,作了一厚本笔记，这些都是我们的财富。
.........

好了，一段经历就这样落幕了，就把这它记录下来，封存为一段美好的回忆吧。

评论 [发评论]
红袖添乱：2007-06-30 23:35:56

FT~~~~~~为什么你选了一张NH闭眼睛的？~~NH总的来说，对我们还不错起码最后那一节课放的ABBA的歌曲某乱还是觉得不错听的-。-

Populism's Virtues

2009-03-19T20:49:00.000+08:00

Hello Again;

As soon as I finish reading this article, I thought "Bingo, Right On The Dot!" He took all the words out of my mouth, and so do read on. Am certain you will heartily agree. I highlighted in red those statements which are so true in today's societies, from the USA to even Singapore.
Anytime you see in parenthesis (WON), that's my comments in brackets. WON = short for World of Natassha.

Regards, WON.

By E.J. Dionne Jr. The Washington Post
Thursday, March 19, 2009; Page A15

Conservatives have argued for decades that the sins most dangerous to our society were rooted in lust when in fact they were rooted in greed.

We are at the beginning of a great popular rebellion against those who showed no self-restraint when it came to lining their own pockets. Their entitlement mentality arose from an inflated sense of their own value and of how much smarter they were than everyone else.

The sound you are hearing in response to the AIG payoffs -- excuse me, bonuses -- is the rancorous noise of their arrogance crashing to earth.

Yet there is much hand-wringing that this populist fury is terribly perilous, that the highfliers who could not control their avaricious urges have skills essential to repairing the damage they caused in the first place. (WON: Yeah, right!)

Beware populism, we are told. Honor those AIG contracts. Forget about any moral reckoning and just fix the economy.

This view is wrong on almost every level, especially about populism. Of course not all forms of populism are attractive. But as historian Michael Kazin argued in "The Populist Persuasion," the "language of populism in the United States expressed a kind of idealistic discontent" and "a profound outrage with elites who ignored, corrupted and/or betrayed the core ideal of American democracy."

Is this not an entirely appropriate reaction to elite decisions dating to the 1980s that ultimately ran our economy into the ground?

The Obama administration has sent thoroughly ambivalent signals on this question. Its initial response to the $165 million in AIG bonuses (the president's lieutenants said there was little to be done about them) suggested that it did not want to join in the populist anger and maybe didn't even realize that it was there. On Monday, President Obama made clear that he got it, denouncing the bonuses.

It was the right first step. He should build on this by showing that he shares in the public's morally justified intuition that our society's rewards to the very wealthy are totally out of line with their contributions to the common good.

A study of compensation levels in 2007 found that average CEO pay at S&P 500 companies was 344 times higher than the average worker's wage, and that the top 50 investment fund managers took home 19,000 times -- yes, that's with three zeroes -- as much as typical workers earned. (WON - outrageous, isn' it. It's not just the USA).

Now, I am not against people getting rich or entrepreneurs reaping profit from their investments of time and energy. But there is no moral or practical justification for such levels of inequality. Capitalism worked extremely well in the three decades after World War II without such radical inequities. It's when inequalities soar that the system runs into trouble -- precisely what happened at the end of the 1920s, when inequality reached levels similar to today's.
With the populist furies unleashed, the Obama administration has two choices. It can try to fight the public. Or it can use the public's outrage to move the country in a better direction.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, points to the irony that populism threatens to work against Obama even though the president has proposed "a populist budget." It's a budget that raises taxes on the wealthy, cuts them on almost everyone else and spends money on programs -- notably health care -- that are of benefit to the poor and the middle class. Obama needs to show that his budget is itself a direct response to the injustices aggravating the country. (WON: Yes, absolutely!)

The president needs to do two things at once. The administration has no choice but to spend piles of money to unwind the financial mess. A share of the largess, as Frank acknowledges, may indirectly benefit some of the malefactors in this saga. But Obama has to be unambiguous in asserting that the purpose of this spending is not to reward those who got us into this fix but to solve a problem that affects us all.

To make this case, the administration should be unafraid to use its proposals on health care, taxes, education, energy and financial regulation to argue that it is building a new economy on the ashes of the old -- an economy based on fair rewards to capital and labor alike, not on an ethic of greed and excess.

Obama can work with the populist wave or he can be overwhelmed by it. As Kazin notes, American progressives have succeeded in improving the "common welfare" only when they "talked in populist ways -- hopeful, expansive, even romantic."

Kazin cites the line popularized by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "March without the people, and you march into the night," and then adds: "Cursing the darkness only delays the dawn."

postchat@aol.com
Read E.J. Dionne's tribute to Ron Silver on The Post's opinion blog, PostPartisan.

President's Visits Buoy Federal Employees

2009-03-18T13:44:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends / Family:

Whenever a country is in pain and suffering, the actions of its leaders can either bring hope, uplift morale and re-charge enthusiasm or not. Like the time in May last year, during China's Szechuan Province catastrophic earthquake, the quick actions of President Hu Jing-Tao, Premier Wen Jia-Bao & her leaders brought reassurances to those who were affected. Likewise, in these hard economic times in the US, that President Obama took the time to stop by Federal offices, especially that of the Veteran's Administration, is a step in the right direction (versus that of the previous administration). From comments listed in this article below, one sense the relief, hope, and the strong desire to be a part of Obama's team - the desire to help him change and erase the greediness and corruption over the last years.

And that is exactly what being a true leader is all about. Many CEOs of Wall Street and several large corporations can do well to heed this. The AIG fiasco - I would love to see all Americans call upon their Senators and Representatives in Congress to DEMAND the return of all Federal Funds from this and other companies.

Let these incompetently run companies really sink - sink into the abyss so that these executives can truly understand the meaning of losing one's job, losing one's home and losing one's families in the process. Perhaps that will teach them a lesson in humanity, in honesty and in humility.

Finally, in my opinion, the US$25 billion VA package should be passed immediately, and not over 5 years - take this from the money recoup back from AIG & other failing corporations! Why should the government reward those who are incompetent and do not make any sort of constructive contribution to America or the American people? ?

Incompetence begets further incompetence. Just like greed begets more further greed - this we all know from history.

In fact, all monies doled out should be retrieved and instead given to those companies and coporations in America who are doing an excellent job. These are the companies America wants and needs. They are the ones who saw this bubble coming. Reward those who do their jobs, not reward those who DO NOT do their jobs. That is the true meaning of capitalism... Regards, WON.

By Philip RuckerWashington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 17, 2009; Page A06

President Obama strode into a cramped room at the Department of Veterans Affairs yesterday, faced a few dozen employees in stackable chairs and spoke for 12 minutes. He made no news, shook some hands and hustled back to the White House, just two blocks away.

But his short visit to the department's Vermont Avenue headquarters rallied many of the 280,000 workers at an agency bearing the brunt of two long, ongoing wars. Hundreds of workers filled a basement cafeteria to hear him speak. A 29-year human resources specialist said the president made her believe she is part of his mission to change government. And a file clerk said Obama inspired her to believe she is more than a lowly bureaucrat.

"I'm just a file clerk," said Donnice George, a VA employee for 19 years. "He's a leader, he's African American, and he's president. It's something I never thought I'd see in a million years, and I feel like I'm a part of it. Just being an employee makes me feel a part of it."

Two months into office, Obama has visited seven federal agencies' headquarters, each time appearing with his Cabinet secretaries and addressing workers. As he makes the rounds, Obama is inspiring longtime career employees with his speeches and asking them to be a partner in his agenda to change the culture of Washington.

"There's clearly an excitement and sense that you have a president that is aggressively and optimistically moving forward with making government cool again," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service. "That's the charge that President Obama said he wants to meet, and across the board federal workers feel that energy and need to perform. . . . That sense of importance and a critical role is something I sense in the federal workforce."

At VA yesterday, employees, including several in wheelchairs, packed a two-story auditorium to sit behind a red-velvet rope line and hear Obama speak. The president, alongside VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, marked the 20th anniversary of the former Veterans Administration's elevation to Cabinet-level status by reaffirming the country's commitment to veterans and calling for an expansion of services as troops begin returning from the Iraq war.

"The homecoming we face over the next year and a half will be the true test of this commitment: whether we will stand with our veterans as they face new challenges -- physical, psychological and economic -- here at home," Obama said.

In his budget, Obama proposes adding $25 billion to the VA budget over five years to help provide health care to an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013 and fund a new GI Bill.

"We'll show our servicemen and -women that when you come home to America, America will be here for you," Obama said. "That's how we will ensure that those who have 'borne the battle' -- and their families -- will have every chance to live out their dreams."

The thousands of employees who did not win tickets to see Obama watched him on television at the headquarters and at satellite offices and hospitals nationwide. Many workers said in interviews that the president gives them hope and that they come to work each day reinvigorated.

"When I heard rumors they were trying to get him here, I thought, no way," said Bill Bremby, a chief of property management who joined VA two decades ago, after 30 years in the Marine Corps. "I thought we were on the back burner. But now we're on the front burner. He gave me a lot of hope."

For Patricia Marshall, 54, an African American who voted for Obama, her job as a VA human resources specialist seems to have taken on greater meaning.

"I was a part of the process getting him elected, and now I'm part of his government, and he is my commander in chief," Marshall said. Changing government "is not going to be an overnight thing," she said. "What he has stepped into is like a hornet's nest. It's going to take time, but what he's doing is possible, and I'm part of the team."

Not every employee was as enthusiastic about the new president. Jerry Roberts, a program analyst, said Obama is "a good change for the nation." But asked whether Obama has changed the way he views his job, Roberts was more reserved: "I'll just wait and see," he said.

After Obama left the headquarters, employees gathered in conference rooms and the cafeteria to enjoy yellow sheet cake in honor of the departmental anniversary. Piedad R. Holmes, a budget analyst set to depart for Afghanistan as an Army reservist, was showing colleagues pictures of Obama she had taken to share with fellow troops.

"We'll be buoyed here for months," Shinseki said as he shook hands with employees.
"It's one thing to talk about how we're going to make change," Chanel Bankston-Carter, who directs the VA client service center, said in between serving slices of cake. "But to have a president step foot in here and want to be up close and personal and shake hands and tell you he's here with you, it's wonderful."

Standing outside the entrance, craning her neck to see Obama's motorcade, Peggy Kennedy, an 11-year veteran who is a national program manager overseeing social work, said, "He gives us a new hope, a new mission -- a joy."

Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

2009-03-16T18:23:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends/Family:

Like Carnegie, it is my belief that people of wealth should do their part in helping their less fortunate fellow citizens. By so doing, society will become a much better place. I was totally delighted when I came across Mr. Carnegie's writing, The Gospel of Wealth." It clearly explains the logic and advantages of doing so . I have copied and pasted the text below from the Univesrsity of Michigan site (listed below).. Enjoy! Regards, WON.

Carnegie Speaks: A Recording of the Gospel of WealthIn his essay “Wealth,” published in the North American Review in 1889, industrialist Andrew Carnegie argued that individual capitalists were duty bound to play a broader cultural and social role and thus improve the world. Carnegie’s essay later became famous under the title “The Gospel of Wealth,” and in 1908, at age seventy-three, Andrew Carnegie recorded a portion of it under that title.

Andrew Carnegie:

I quote from the Gospel of Wealth published twenty-five years ago. This then is held to be the duty of the man of wealth. First: to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him, and after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is strictly bound as a matter of duty, to administer in the manner which in his judgment is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community.

The man of wealth must become a trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer. Those who would administer wisely must indeed be wise. For one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than so spent as to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy.

In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who help themselves. It provides part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give to those who desire to rise the aids by which they may rise; to assist but rarely or never to do all. He is the only true reformer who is careful and as anxious not to lead the unworthy as he is to lead the worthy, and perhaps even more so, for in alms giving, more injury may be done by promoting vice than by relieving virtue. Thus, is the problem of the rich and poor to be solved.

The laws of accumulation should be left free; the laws of distribution free. Individualism will continue. But the millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor; entrusted for a season with a part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it did, or would have done, of itself. The best in minds will thus have reached a stage in the development of the race in which it is clearly seen that there is no mode of disposing of surplus wealth creditable to thoughtful and earnest men into whose hands it flows save by using it year-by-year for the general good. This day already dawns. Men may die without incurring the pity of their fellows, sharers in great business enterprises from which their capital cannot be, or has not been withdrawn, upon which is left entirely a trust for public uses.

Yet the day is not far distant when the man who dies, leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was free for him to administer during life, will pass away “unwept, unhonored, and unsung,” no matter to what use he leaves the dross which he cannot take with him. Of such as these, the public verdict will then be: the man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced. Such in my opinion is the true gospel concerning wealth, obedience to which is destined someday to solve the problems of the rich and the poor, to hasten the coming brotherhood of man, and at last to make our earth a heaven.

Source: Courtesy of the Michigan State University Voice Library.
Web link: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5766

Web link with more complete info of the Book Gospel of Wealth: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5767/

How America Got Herself Into This Financial Mess...

2009-03-16T15:38:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends:

I read with total agreement the comments made by a Robert CT after watching the interview by Charlie Rose of Morgan Stanley Chairman & CEO John Mack (who happens to be Charlie's pal). It is greedy executives and the likes of John Mack who contributed to the erosion and decline of America - excessive greediness that knows no bounds.... Charlie Rose disappointed those of us who had watched his show....Nevertheless, here is the article that I have copied and pasted below....

robert_CT 02/26/2009 04:04 PM Report

“Nobody saw this coming”

Mack is an idiot! The history of markets is a history of bubbles and any CEO of a major financial firm that couldn’t see the biggest bubble in history doesn’t deserve a job.

I am a nobody with no special insight whatsoever yet I put 25% of my net worth into gold in late 2005 specifically because I thought that U.S. economic activity had reached an unsustainable frenzy and because I believed that such activity was built on a reckless and unsustainable increase in leverage.

I am not a “gold bug” and had never bought gold in my life. I feared a complete collapse of the U.S. financial system and believed and continue to believe that we may witness the insolvency of the U.S. government or a Weimar Germany style inflationary spiral which are really the same thing. Time will tell but this scenario is a possibility.

Furthermore I sold off all my financial stocks by October 2006 in anticipation that they would crash. While I wanted to short them I didn’t because being short is very challenging psychologically. I am now buying selected stocks including the financials in expectation that I will, with some luck, make at least a 500% return over the next five years. That is if the U.S. government doesn’t go insolvent, a real possibility, hence I continue to maintain by gold position.
So if someone like me had a sense of this impending disaster how couldn’t Mack see it? Has Mack ever heard of George Soros who warned of such a scenario beginning a few years ago. In addition, Soros has a view of markets that is at odds with the conventional economic dogma taught in American business schools and he has written several books outlining his ideas. Is Mack so dumb as to believe in the efficient markets theory?

I also note that Mack is one of the clowns who went to the SEC in 2005 and persuaded the SEC to change the regulations limiting the leverage for investment banks, thereby allowing MS to increase its leverage from approximately 12:1 to 31:1.

And there is no doubt that Mack is one of the fools, along with Robert Rubin, Alan Greenspan and Larry Summer who argued against regulating credit default swaps and other derivatives.
Of course Charlie Rose is Mack’s buddy so none of these inconvenient truths come up in this interview.

I worked for one of the major investment banks for about 8 years in the early 90s and by my estimate only about 30% of the business activities at these firms relates to the real or productive economy. Sure they issue bonds and stock on behalf of real companies engaged in real economic activity but about 70% percent of what they do involves promoting hair brained mergers for the sole purpose of generating fees (i.e. AOL-Time Warner which I promptly shorted post merger); financing financings to generate fees (see CDOs and CDOs squared) and running speculative leveraged interest rate arbitrage portfolios (at the peak about 2/3 of MS’s, MER’s and LEH’s balance sheets consisted of nothing more than naked speculative interest rate arb positions which collapsed under the weight of their own stupidity). Then you have all the fee generating activities geared to private equity and hedge funds which are not part of the real economy but rather “helpers” to use Warren Buffet’s euphemistic term.

In reality private equity and hedge fund firms are parasites on the economy who have learned to use the banking system and capital markets to turn the real economy into a big game of monopoly for their benefit. In short the financial services industry became corrupted by greed, arrogance, hubris and more greed. The investment banking/banking industry needs to go back to what it was at one time. A legitimate business that promotes real economic activity by making markets on behalf of real investors and that raises money for real companies.

Mack, Fuld, and Stan O’Neal should be forced to forfeit every penny they made beginning from the day they increased the leverage of their firms above approximately 12:1 Then we can debate whether they should spend any time in a federal prison for destroying the savings and livelihoods of so many ordinary Americans. Don’t get me wrong there is lots of blame to spread around but these people were at the center of this calamity and it was all driven by sheer unmitigated avarice.

As it stands Wall Street is primarily just one big “pump and dump” operation, that lurches from one scheme to the next. After the dot com bubble Wall Street needed another scam to generate fees and massive bonuses and when Alan “the ideological fool” Greenspan lowered rates to 1% he laid the ground for Mack and company to gin up the next bubble. The problem this time was much worse than the dot com bubble because it was built on leverage, hence the calamity we are now living through.

I wouldn’t be nearly so angry about this if these people had any sense of shame or contrition but Mack seems so pleased with himself because of the three of four weeks he spent huddled in his executive suites working around the clock to save MS. It would have been nice if Rose pointed out to this jackass that the firm wouldn’t have needed saving if it weren’t for Mack’s stupidity and greed. In any event Mack’s idiocy and incompetent management allowed me to take a nice position in MS on Oct-10 for $7.00 a share. I can’t wait to bail out of this stock in a few years time at or near the peak of the next bubble assuming of course that we aren’t running around with wheelbarrows of worthless money by then.

Mack, Fuld, O’Neal, et al. want us to believe that the system was swept away by some unforeseeable event but the reality is that the financial system collapsed under the weight of its own greed and stupidity. Nice work guys!

Great take on the financial crisis, huh? Many of these executives and CEO really think the American public are stupid. It tells us that capitalist Americans are MORE corrupt, mean ande brutal than any others where this is concerned, and unashamedly so... The American People should feel indignant, and have the right to demand that justice be done - and soon. President Obama should have the right to fire existing officials or anyone in government who have had a hand in contributing to this terrible mess - even those he has just appointed. There is no shame in doing that.

I'd rather see a President admit his error and take immediate corrective action, than let an existing corrupt official continue doing further damage to America's economy. and this is probably what most Americans want too.

This financial crisis further convinces me that corruption exists everywhere, no matter the form of government a country has. The differences are in the degree. After this crisis, no one can point a finger at China anymore. At least, in China, the current leadership in government is stamping corruption out steadily...

And if these CEOs are in China, their heads will really roll....and that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what accountability is all about...

If you are one of my students reading this article, I want you to forward it to all your classmates and friends. Let them all learn from this, and not be sucked into this sort of corrosively, unethical behaviour. Let it be a reminder to "CAVEAT."

Regards,

NH

Let us Love Our Earth more...

2009-03-16T15:09:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends/Family:

This morning, my dear, dear friend M.B. of Egypt sent this youtube video link to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhaLMotfvqg

After watching it, I decided to post it in my blog - Why? Because this is an important plea that comes directly from the hearts of a small group of children, only 12-13, about the survival of Earth.

It is not only about their survival, but that of our children, our children's children, and also of us human beings, and all living things around us.

Do watch it... and please share this link with all your children and friends...If our politicians aren't doing much about it, let us at least give our kids the opportunity to do it for themselves right
now...

Let us Love Our Earth more,

Regards, WON
Beijing, China