Author: Y C

  • Where’s the rage?!

    RE: Officials: WMD chief may quit

    I’m totally dismayed but not surprised that people have not taken up arms on this latest development. Perhaps it’s just too much Iraq and bad news and people would rather just bury it and move on with life’s mundane issues — like where’s my next job coming from? All the critics can and should gloat about this. Bush has so set back America’s credibility and standing in the world with its cowboy foreign policy. Only someone who’s never stepped outside of America could come up with such a brain damaged policy. Poor hick white trash, art thou Mr President. Yale should disown your legacy and bestow it upon more worthy candidates.

    However, this is something the pundits and Democrats needs to latch onto and beat Bush into a pulp even though Saddam has been caught. Good news however… Bush is still laboring under the weight of the poor economy and people feel there’s a need for a new president. See Re-Elect Numbers Still Behind in Newest Zogby Poll
    for some news on this. In a perverse way, I was hoping that the economic malaise would continue unabated into 2005 which would insure a resounding Bush defeat in the 2004 elections (You know the old adage about history repeating itself). Even now I think that 2004 won’t see much but 2005 and 2006 we will see significant improvement in the employment/economic sector. 2004 will be full of empty pyschological placebos, to make people think that things are better, when in fact, that is so far from the truth. An economic paradigm shift is occurring and the professional class is not immune to the same fate that befell the blue-collar class.

    So, a wish for a depressed 2004 so we can have a brighter future in 2005 ….

    =YC

  • Band of Brothers

    Last night I sat down in a marathon session and watched the whole 10 episodes. It was nuts, I couldn’t put it down and sleep. This box set would make a great gift for any guy during this holiday season. The top 4 war movies would go down as:
    1. Das Boot
    2. Band of Brothers
    3. Saving Private Ryan
    4. Apocalypse Now

    =YC

  • The Governator

    Re: After First Month in Office, Schwarzenegger Continues to Surprise and Dance steps and missteps: Governor Displays Unique, Brash Style

    When I visited NYC this past Thanksgiving holiday, a few friends joked with me about Governor “Ah-nold” and what a joke it was to have him be California’s newest governor via special elections. I admit yes, it’s rather bizarre and it could only happen in California, uniquely (and sometimes fondly known as) the land of fruits and nuts.

    On the other hand, one had to have lived in California for a little while to appreciate why this could ever happen. Knowing this history, it’s not hard to understand that this was the only possible result due to a chaotic and broken political process. Viewing it from the lense of the common citizenry, this is nothing short of a citizen’s revolt against the political establishment. Both Republicans and Democrats fully participated in these elections — the outrage, the desire for change, or whatever was palpable. This was more a testimony against the California political establishment, not a right vs. left. Many conservatives voted against Arnold because he was too “left” for their tastes. Many Democrats/liberals voted for him because Gray Davis and his Latino side-kick Bustamente were just too Establishment and the California mess was blamed on the long-time politicos and needed someone new and not beholden to the usual constituencies was going to trump anything resembling a “professional politician”.

    Arnold is a centrist and my prototypical Republican candidate. I can’t wait to vote Bush out of office.

    =YC

  • Golden Globes

    This is a rare moment, for once I cared to see what the nominees are as a precursor to the Oscars which I find to be as numbing as novacaine.

    I’m shocked that The Last Samurai didn’t garner a nomination for Best Picture, Drama. Looks like this movie is going to be shut out. It’s a crime. So is this some punishment for Tom Cruise by the Hollywood society over Nicole Kidman (still?). Conspiracy theorists where art thou.

    =YC

  • Movie season climax

    Not a real big movie goer and having missed a number of big ones this year (like T3 and Matrix3), I’m definitely not missing Lord of the Rings. I saw The Last Samurai only because a couple of my friends wanted to go. I’m really glad I did, despite me not being a big fan of Tom Cruise.

    I saw The Last Samurai twice. The second time, it was more powerful emotionally to me. I was able to appreciate the actor’s and character portrayals more and realized that was a big reason for its effect. Probably won’t get a lot of awards but definitely for me a big winner. The movie spoke to me and I wasn’t sure if it was due to my “Asian-ness” or because of the universal (maybe, maybe not) virtues of service and honor. My swedish friend saw it twice and was also completely taken in by the movie and the virtues the movie tried to depict through the movies characters.

    Don’t know enough about Chinese history to say whether or not there have been any similar classes in China. Service, honor are also very Confucian type of virtues. Going to do some preliminary research into this but probably won’t turn up much. I think this movie is a Top 5 movie of all time for me.

    =YC

  • 6000 Years of Chinese sexual history

    Move over Kama Sutra. http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3717283&p1=0

    Interesting reading on the major portals. I find that MSNBC from the MSN homepage and Slate always makes for hilarious to amazing reading. Coupled with a healthy dose of NYTimes and Washington Post and Businessweek, you’re pretty much covered all around. No time for CNN, substitute MSNBC for CNN just for convenience sake. I also prefer the Newsweek articles over the TIME articles. TIME used to be so good 20 yrs ago but now it’s pretty pathetic. Newsweek is so much better I think.

    I miss all the snow out there… makes for a really good holiday spirit.

    Ho-ho-ho!
    =YC

  • Happy Holidays

    My first blog post and am glad it is on FC’s uber-cool site.

    So happy holidays to all … have a happy and healthy one.

    If this works ok, I might start serious blather.

    Respect mah authoritai!!! 😉
    =YC