Article on Higher Education in North America

Hi,

I noticed this article from one of my Japanese friend's facebook, and I found it kinda interesting. To say this article is simply on higher education in North America is not 100% correct, for the author addressed some phenomenon caused by Asian students, which is also the reason that I found it interesting. I really like this article, yet the only downside probably is that the article is too long. Anyways, here it goes.

The enrollment controversy: Worries that efforts in the U.S. to limit enrollment of Asian students in top universities may migrate to Canad

(Actually the original title is "Too Asian," which seem controversial. Thus the editors or whatsoever changed the title...)

Hope you enjoy it :)

Angela 

Article on Housewife

Hey all,

i hope you are doing well. This article is an interesting one, check it out.

Happy Housewives: Women like Sarah Palin are calling themselves "housewives." What does the term mean? By Jessica Grose

Best,

Angela

Everything you learned at school was wrong

Hi all!

I happen to read this article, and I think it's worth sharing.

Everything you learned at school was wrong

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! ^.^


cheers,
maria

Let's Talk about Flora Expo!

Hi there,

Guess it's because I'm so far away from Taiwan that I am so desperate to go to the Flora Expo, which, of course, is far from possible to me now, haha. I think it would be a good idea to read some articles about the Flora Expo, so that we know how to describe or introduce some of the exhibitions or performances or characteristics of the whole events, well, at least to some of my Caucasian and Indian friends here.

Maybe we can also talk about something beyond the event itself, say, national pride / visibility, whether it is worthwhile to organize such event, and maybe some construction issues.

So here are some of the articles and video clip I found online that are related to the Taipei Flora Expo:

1. Seeds sewn by Flora Expo will take time to blossom (from ChinaPost)
2. Flora Expo to highlight Taiwan's 'flower power' (from ChinaPost)
3. An Explosion of Flora Expo Originality (from Discover Taipei)
4. king shih architects: taipei flora expo (from Designboom)
5. Taipei-Flora-Expo-Preview (video clip, from NTDTV daily news)

These materials seem a lot. No worries, 'cause you don't have to read / watch them all. Try to pick at least 2 that are interesting to you :)

That's pretty much it so far. Talk to you later :)

Best,

Angela 

Meals on Wheels

Hey there,

Check this out! Looks interesting! Let's talk about food this time :D

Meals on Wheels: Should I buy my lunch from a food truck or a restaurant?

Angela 

Articles for September 4th Discussion

Hi all,

Here are articles for the coming discussion:

1. 1 min reading: Killing our dreams
2. Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty: Is it legal to eat your cat?
3. Scandals: Why We Can't Live Without Them

James will be in China, where he is not sure if the internet will work for our online discussion. If he posts nothing here then we may assume the internet is not working. Maria if you can't make it for the coming weekend, inform me either via this blog or skype message panel. In that case, we'll discuss the three articles the week after. 

That's pretty much it so far. 

Best,

Angela  

Saw this interesting view Killing our dreams


The first symptom of the process of our killing our dreams is the lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The truth is, they are afraid to fight the Good Fight.

The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those who are engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the Good Fight.

And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state, we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams – we have refused to fight the Good Fight.

When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a short period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being.
We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves. That’s when illnesses and psychoses arise. What we sought to avoid in combat – disappointment and defeat – come upon us because of our cowardice.

And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breathe, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from our certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of our Sunday afternoons


I used to love reading Paulo Coelho's works, sort of self-help books that was told by story ... very intersting first, but boring after I read more than 3 of his works ^.^


just wanna share
maria

Scandals and culture evolution

Hi Angela and James,

I somehow am intrigued with the evolution of human culture, and I found these 2 articles:
Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Is it legal to eat your cat?
Scandals,Why We Can't Live Without Them

And if you are intersted at Arabian Female clothing, you can folow this Women in Arab societies

Though I can't join you at Aug 28, do feel free to use this topic.


cheers,
maria

Article for discussion on 8/21

Dear all,


I plan to spend some time on discussing the issue of Afghan women, which I read it on the newspaper recently and found it worthy to explore.

1. The Plight of Afghan Women: A Disturbing Picture
2. related comments. (optional)

See you this Saturday.....

James

Remove the World Clock Gadget

FYI. It seems to me that the world clock gadget contains some virus. Therefore I remove it from this blog.

Best,
Angela

Article for Discussion on August 14th

Hi Maria & James,

Hope the weather in Taiwan finds you well! As the discussion last time (Aug. 7th) did not take place, I think we can still use the Little Shenyang article. Here it goes:

The Dirtiest Man in China: The success of cross-dressing comedian Little Shenyang shows that sexual humor is coming out of the closet. Is China ready for raunch? 

I was planning to touch both soft and hard issues related to this article, from sharing what is the funniest performance (e.g., talk show, drama, tv program, movies, novels, you name it) you ever watched, to some differences in culture and ideology and how to interpret them.

That's pretty much it so far. Hope to talk to you soon!

Best,
Angela

message

Hi there,

I've posted to apply for absence for 8/7 discussion, but I don't see any responses from any of you. Just in case you don't notice my previous post, I leave a new message here. Hope you all enjoy this weekend's discussion.

James

Article for Next Discussion (just in case)

Hi Maria and James,

In case we don't have articles for next discussion, here's one I found interesting, from Newsweek:

The Dirtiest Man in China: The success of cross-dressing comedian Little Shenyang shows that sexual humor is coming out of the closet. Is China ready for raunch?

If James can make it and be the host next week, then let's use the article he finds later. We can always use this one later on :)

Best,
Angela

Article for July 31st Discussion

Dear all,


I enjoyed last week's discussion where not only ufology but also religions, cultures, and issues of right to know are addressed. Thanks James for having the interesting article!


This week we are going to talk about issues of the conflict between mother tongue and English. Though the case the author addressed is happening in Indonesia, I think we may reflect what happens there to what may happen / has happened in Taiwan. As Maria is from Indonesia, it would help us better understand the situation if Maria can provide her personal experiences and perspectives. However, Maria can't make it on July 31st. That's ok. We still have alternatives. If possible, Maria you can leave you comments regarding the article below on this blog, or you can share your perspectives with us the week after.


Sorry Maria I did not intend to put you on the spotlight, hope you dont mind :P


So here's the article we are going to discuss on July 31st (Taiwan time):


As English Spreads, Indonesians Fear for Their Language


Talk to you soon :)


Best,
Angela 
 

An article for 7/24 discussion

Hi there,


Last week we had a great time talking our visible friends, pets, and I would like turn our focus to the "visible/invisible" friends for 7/24 discussion. UFO!!! Here is an interesting but a little bit long article regarding to UFO and science.

Science, Secrecy, and Ufology


Hope you enjoy the space travel.


James

Articles for July 10th Discussion

Hi Maria hi James,

Hope you have a nice weekend! In the coming discussion we're going to talk about bureaucracy, specifically international bureaucracy. We may start our discussion by sharing some bureaucratic phenomenon we encountered and talking a little bit about the G20/G8 Summit held in Toronto during June 25 - 27. Here are some articles we can take a look:

1. Secretariat Work: Bureaucracies grow faster than they can be pruned (on international bureaucracies, from The Economist magazine)
2. some more explanations on bureaucracy can be found here.
3. To quickly gain some ideas about G20 / G8 Summit in Toronto, see this summary report.
4. you can find more topical articles on G20 / G8 Summit here, from CBC website. 

For James' information, Maria will have a class to attend on this Saturday, thus she won't be with us then. She will be back the week after and host the discussion on pet again. 

Guess that's pretty much it so far. Have a good one :)

Best,

Angela 

absence

Dear all,


I will be absent for the following two weeks. On June 26, I plan to move to Taichung. It will be very busy on that day. On July 3, I plan to go to Taipei to attend a conference. I'm sorry that I can't participate our study group for the following two weeks. Hope you have a lot of fun on the puppy issue.

Best,
James

Topic for July 3rd: Is the Dog Human's best friend, or is Human the Dog's best friend?

As you know that I have a puppy now. When the first time we took her to a pet hospital to have a health check up, surprisingly, the venetarian called me "mother" ... because I am adopting a ... PUPPY.
So I wonder ... what is the social status of a dog in human society nowadays?

Found some interesting articles about this:

1. Our Dogs, Our Selves


2. Since dog usually is treated a part of the family, this article Why Can't We All Just Get Along? The complex dynamics of babies and pets has some interesting issues.


3. And if you are also interesting in having a dog as a pet, you might want to read this article Finding the Perfect Dog There is no such animal. So, stop looking

Hope you find this interesting ^.^

maria

Change the blog background and more :)

Hi dear all,


Just being notified by google that they have new template for the blogger, thus I changed a little bit. hope u like it :)

as i mentioned earlier, i can't participate for the following 2 weeks, for my mom and boyfriend are coming to attend my convocation. In the meantime, we will go to Rocky mountain and Baff National Park and some other scenic spots in great Vancouver. This means that I will be seldom around computer and internet during these 2 weeks. Sorry for not being able to participate on June 19th and 26th.

Last afternoon Maria and me hardly talked about the blind people articles, simply because we only had one hour and we talked a lot about elections, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia stuff (mostly, politics and history ha). I'm thinking that maybe James you can still use the blind people article on the discussion next time (i.e., June 19), given the condition that u can be the host and that Maria can attend the session. If any of you can't attend the session next time or the week after, please do feel free to postpone or cancel it. 

I'll be back on July 3rd. Hope to talk to you soon :)

Best,
Angela    

Sorry

Hi there,

It's me again.
I'm sorry that I can't make it this week for unexpected work.
I need to accopany a Korean scholar to the Taipei airport tomorrow morning.
In that case, I just afraid that I can come back to Tainan on time.

I know it's kind of last minute. I'm really sorry for that.

James

June 12 discussion

Hi,

For the June 12 discussion, we gonna only call attention on the issue of the social interaction in blind people. Here are the required article and video clips:

Challenges of Being Blind
Blind, visually impaired enjoy bicycle outing
In Beep Ball, Umpires Aren't Blind, But the Players Are

Jams.

Discussion June 5th (Taiwan time)

Dear all,


sorry forgot to make this post earlier. hope you don't mind. this week we're going to discuss the article i posted last time:

In quite a state: How many countries in the world? The answer to that question is surprisingly difficult


for the reason that Maria and I did not have sufficient time discussing this one; last time we simply talked about the other article, the people power article. 


please leave your message here if you can't attend the session this time, otherwise let's just chat  as scheduled :)


PS1. Maria your adopted dog is really cute!!!


PS2. James how's your conference? I'm sure it must be great :)


Talk to you soon!


Best,
Angela 

Discussion Material for May 15th (Taiwan time)

Dear all,

Hope you all enjoy what you've been up to currently, workshops, activities, etc. Before I post the discussion materials for the coming discussion on May 15th (Taiwan time), I would like to ask if any of you can't attend the coming session. As James had mentioned he can't make it for the following three weeks (from May 15th to May 2th) and Maria mentioned earlier that she can't make it until May 15th, I'd like to confirm if Maria can make it this week :)

If Maria can't make it this week, then we can postpone the discussion to next week. Just to let me know in advance :)

Whether it is May 15th or May 22th that we're going to have our next session, here's our discussion materials for next discussion. We're going to talk about people power and what defines a country. Both articles are from Economist Magazine.

1. Wheel of misfortune: People power ain't what it used to be; actually, it never was
2. In quite a state: How many countries in the world? The answer to that question is surprisingly difficult

We've had quite a bit sunshine here in Vancouver, hope you have sunshine in Taiwan too. Good luck for whatever you want to achieve and hope to talk to you soon :)

All the BEST,

Angela  

Discussion for May 8

Dear all,

It's me again. Since I won't be here for the following three weeks (5/15, 5/22, 5/29), I volunteer to lead the discussion again, and I recommand to talk about "the blind people." Actually there are very rich discussions on the blind. For the May 8 discussion, we gonna only call attention on the issue of the social interaction in blind people.

Here are the required article and video clips:
1. Challenges of Being Blind
2. Blind, visually impaired enjoy bicycle outing
3. In Beep Ball, Umpires Aren't Blind, But the Players Are


James

Tabacco issues continued (May 1)

Hi,

Angela and I decide to continue to talk about the tabacco issues this week. Initially, I plan to focus on the oversea labor, but after reading some related materials, I discover some surprising facts about the tabacco industries's advertising strategies. Here it goes:

Tobacco Industry Targets Africa
Tobacco giants ‘targeted African children to boost flagging profits
Tobacco Industry's Targeting of Youth, Minorities and Women

James

On Enforcing Surrogacy and Adoption Contract

Hi folks,

Again I just finished watching another episode of Harvard Justice course. Part of Episode 5 talks about surrogacy and adoption, even the sperm and egg donor. Some of these reminded me of weeks ago what we talked about surrogacy issues. Students from different sides questioned each other's viewpoints. I think some of the viewpoints are quite interesting. If you have free time, watch this episode (starting from roughly 30 or 35 min to 45 min).

 

On the Successful Owe a Debt to Society

Hi folks,

Recently I start to watch a series of videos on Justice courses through Youtube. The Justice course  , a general course and philosophy course, is given by Harvard University. It is said that the course is so popular that Harvard decides to share the lectures with public, and that's why we can watch them through Youtube. This series is so insightful that my thought kept being challenged whenever watching them.

Here's the link: Harvard University Justice Series

Just now I finished the 3rd episode: Free to choose. In the video, the professor Michael Sandel talks about utilitarianism and libertarianism. He talked about one of the four common objections to libertarianism that he discovered from his online course is "the successful owe a debt to society." This actually reminded me what James (maybe) and I discussed weeks ago on big companies have to take the so-called social responsibility. From libertarian's perspective, taxation, especially for redistributing wealth, is coercion, labor force, theft in fundamental, and violation of self possession. A student (Victoria, 48min) who kinda objected libertarianism argued that we lose our self possession once we live in the society.

I think this series is really informative and thus recommend to you now. If you have free time, I highly recommend you watching them :)



Best,
Angela

Article for this week (4/24)

The tabacco issue has already raised lots of social attention. But I find out that some important issues, especially with regards to tobacco industries, ecological damages, and children right, still remain unexplored in Taiwan. Here are some related articles:

1. Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship
2. Individual and human rights in tobacco control: help or hindrance?
3. Hold Tobacco Industries Accountable for their Human Rights Abuses Overseas

Some discussion guideline as what follows:
1. Have you ever heard of the relation between tobacco industris and oversea poverty?
2. Do you agree with tabacco control? Why?
3. Do you think that tabacco industries have the right to advertise their product?
4. In terms of children right, do you think that the goverment should forbid teenagers to smoke? Or just let them take responsobility for their own health?

Best,
James

Maria is applying on leave

Dear Angela and James,

I joined a project that was held by Formosa Charity last Sunday at 雙溪, which hasn't been finished. So just in case I might go there again this weekend, I think I better inform you both in advance.


cheers,
maria

About Discussion on April 3rd (Taiwan Time)

Dear all,

For some unknown reason, the discussion on April 3rd (Taiwan time) did not go on as usual. James did not show up. I was online for the whole two hours and did not see James. I guess you might forget the session or be feeling sick or something like that. As Maria mentioned earlier that she needed to help her friend and thus cannot attend the session this time and as James did not show up, the discussion thus is cancelled this time.

Please let me know any of you can attend the session next time (April 10th, Taiwan time). Also, Maria, if you can attend next time, please let me know if you can be the host or not (since you prepare the articles weeks ago and we haven't discussed it.) If you can't make it time, I can still be the host as well, as I also prepared the materials earlier.

Happy Weekends :)

Angela

Article for This Week

Dear all,

As Maria said that she can't make it this week, I think it would be a good idea to postpone the poverty and education topic she picked to next week, so that she can still be the host :)

One or two weeks ago I posted some discussion materials about Google TV Ads here. I think we can discuss it this week. Here are the materials I posted earlier, from Slate Magazine.

1. How I Run an Ad on FOX News: video clip from Slate
2. Google TV Ads Official Website
3. Google TV Ads: Still a Tough Sell: Analysis article from Business Week

Please at least take a look at the first and third materials. For Google TV Ads' official website, please take a look at sections like "Product Overview" and "Product Guideline" if you have time. (you can read more if you like :p)

Talk to you soon :)

All the Best,

Angela

on Poverty, Education and Creativity - topic for April 3rd

Lately I can't stop wondering about world poverty, which lead to the others issues. The article and clips are not new, but I don't see that the knowledge is outdated:

• Is Education the Cure for Poverty
• if too much Schools Kills Creativities
• What is Creativities anyway?
  

I tried to find some answers on the internet. But I believe both of you might have a different point of view.

1. Do you think higher education is equal to higher income?
2. Why do you think higly educated people tends to live inside an ivory tower?
3. The article wrote that "Education is a supply-side policy; it improves the quality of workers, not the quality or the quantity of jobs." If the job available is only the labor jobs, will do you still think we still need to invest on education?
4. Do you agree with Ken Robinson, that schools kills creativity?
5. Don't you agree that, dancing or performing or art profession in general can't feed you well?
6. Did you ever experience Muse, god of inspire, was sneaking around you like what Elizabeth Gilbert said?
7. Beside art and technology, caould you think of other fields that need creativities? Do you think creativity is needed for simply running our daily life?

cheers,

maria ^.^

On Capital Punishment and Anti-Olympic Campaign

Dear all,

The week earlier we (i.e., James and I) discussed anti-Olympic campaign and touched a little bit on capital punishment, though these two seem irrelevant haha. Last night I had chance chatting with my Canadian friend about these two issues and now I would like to share with you his perspective.

For one of the eight reasons for the anti-Olympic campaign, mentioned in this video, both James and I were curious about the reason of "Impact on Women," that is, causing women trade, missing, and prostitution, etc. My Canadian friend basically opposed such statement, saying that there is no valid evidence for this. He though Olympics is a family event where the activities held are healthy and joyful. He though it doesn't make sense to him that Olympics causing negative impact on women.

On the other hand, I have to mention that Olympics indeed causes heavy economic burden to the hosting country / city. With the conclusion of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic (actually now the Paralympic is still going on), the B.C. (British Columbia province, where Vancouver is located) government is going to increase the fare for public transportation system (see translink website: fare increase). effective starting from April 1st. One of the reason for the increase, according to some consensus, is because of the heavy economic burden caused by Olympics. With such policy, I will also be one of the victims :(

For the capital punishment, as far as my Canadian friend remembered, Canada has long been forbidden capital punishment, though himself, a faithful Christian, does support capital punishment. When being further asked in terms of the overall consensus here in Canada, he said that most Canadian people may be against capital punishment, yet they do think the current justice system is not good enough to supplement the absence of capital punishment. There should be stronger and fairer justice system so that the justice can be realized if there is no capital punishment.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Angela

Discussion Material for Next Session

Dear all,

Whether we will have next session on March 26 (Taiwan time March 27th) or not, and whether it is me or Maria or James who will host the session, I think it would be a good idea that we have a back-up plan, that is, some tentative discussion material for next session. I can volunteer for that. As a matter of fact, just now while googling some interesting topics, I went to Slate Magazine and found something novel to me: Google TV Ads. I think we may discuss this next time.

Here are some materials that I think you may need to browse:

1. How I Run an Ad on FOX News: video clip from Slate
2. Google TV Ads Official Website: take a look at sections like "Product Overview" and "Product Guideline" if you have time
3. Google TV Ads: Still a Tough Sell: Analysis article from Business Week

That's pretty much it so far. Hope Maria and I can discuss this on March 26 (Taiwan time March 27). If not, we can still discuss this the week after. Or, if Maria you have the topic you wanna touch with, you can post it here and we can postpone this one later :)

All the Best,

Angela

Question on Mar. 26 (Taiwan Time Mar. 27) Discussion

Dear all,

Here is something about next week's discussion. James is going to France for a conference (yay!) for a couple of days and thus won't be able to make it for next week's discussion. I was wondering if Maria you are able to make it or not. If so, then we can still have the session next week, for I will be available then. If you are not able to make it, please let me know, and we may postpone the session to the week after.

Also, if you can make it next week (Taiwan time March 20), and if you are interested in leading the session, please let me know and post materials on this blog. Otherwise I will post the articles. Thank you for informing us :)

All the Best,

Angela

Mar. 19 (Taiwan Time Mar. 20) Discussion Materials

Dear all,

Hope you are all doing well. This time we're going to talk about something related to social networking sites / tools. I chose two articles, which you may find not so related to each other.

1. Let’s Come Back Offline
2. From Farmville to the classroom

We may share our experiences as to how you use social networking tools and how they affect your life. Are there any educational benefits that the cyber games can generate? If so, how? If not, why not? I think these are all interesting questions :)

Talk to you soon!

Best,

Angela

About Mar.19 (20th Taiwan Time) Discussion Materials

Dear all,

Currently I'm kind of busy and will post the discussion materials no later than March 17th (18th Taiwan time). Sorry for inconvenience!

All the Best,

Angela

Article for March 13th Discussion

As I now live in Vancouver and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Game just finished, though I spent the most of Olympic break in Taiwan, I think we can still talk a little bit about the Olympic Games.

This is the article that we're going to discuss (click it): Anti-Olympic protesters converge on Vancouver.

During the beforehand preparation and even the game events, there were some anti-Olympic protests. Such anti-Olympic events are not exclusive to the Vancouver one; they can be traced back as early as maybe a decade ago. Issues such as globalization and sustainability and poverty are often addressed in anti-Olympic demonstrations.

You can also refer to this video:Resist 2010: Eight Reasons to Oppose the 2010 Winter Olympics.

You can also take a look at the The Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) website.

What's your opinion regarding the Game and the demonstrations? Let's talk more about it on March 13th's discussion :)

Talk to you soon!

Best,
Angela

Sorry

In today's discussion, I volunteer to host the 3/6 discussion, but I forget that I need to go to Taipei next Saturday. Sorry for being unable to particpate in and host the discussion. Sorry for that. Since I can't show up, I'm wondering if Angela will be back next week. If not, 3/6 discussion probably will be cancelled.

Best,
James

Topic for Fec 26'10 - CAP&TRADE

Following our topic last week, The Story of Stuff, I would like to continue discussing our attempt to reduce the impact of the stuff we posses towards our mother earth, by inventing a trend called Cap & Trade ... but ... Who Pays?

1. Before watching the clips, what do you know about carbon emission trade? Do you agree with this solution before you knew the hidden devils?
2. If we took out "offset permits" out of the list, will you vote for Cap and Trade?
3. I say, this Cap$Trade idea exists because our need for money is incredibly vast. Do you think it's wrong to use money as a bait to allure people to concern about the environment?
4. Do you agree that at the end, it's the poor people who suffer because of the Cap&Trade policy?
5. Sarah Palin wrote that Cap&Trade eventually will not enable USA to control their energy supply and its environmental impact, but outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Do you agree with that?

cheers,

maria

Topic for Feb 20 '2010

First, Happy Tiger Year!

Let's practice our listening this time.
A year ago my ex-study group showed me this clips "The Story of Stuff", which is awesome, and it also gets a new topic "Cap & Trade"



But let's focus on "The Story of Stuff" first:

1. What is in the clips that impressed you most?
2. Have you ever thought about the story of stuffs that you bought?
3. Do you agree that if we don't buy or own stuff, we don't have value?
4. Which one will you choose, avoiding toxin by living in Prairie, or using toxin-stuff and live a convenient life?
5. Do you think you need to contribute to the "Golden Arrow" by not being perceived obsolescence?
6. Do you feel that you're also inside the evil-circle of working-spending-TV-working?
7. I say: being rich make us overuse resources, do you agree with that?
8. After watching this movie, is there any "light-bulbs" in you head that will change your present shopping habits?
9. Won't the shopping-less attitude halt the global-economy-growth, especially for production countries like China?
10. If you think it will, is there any other way to save the world without give any negative affect on the economy?
    

And just for fun, a comedian George Carlin said: "Have you ever noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff? God! And you say, "Get that shit off there and let me put my stuff down!"

cheers,

maria

2/13 discussion

Hi,

Maria and I have a wonderful discussion on censorship this week. I'm really impressed on the speech censorship in Singapore!!!

Since next week will be the Eve of the Chinese New Year, both Maria and I cannot show up. I'm wondering if it suits others (acually, Angela only...haha) well to postpone our discussion until the week (2/20) after next week.

Besides, regarding to the host, Maria says that it is fine for her to host the discussion if Angela wanna take a rest. Maria's tentative topic will be a movie. (sorry, I forget the title...)

Happy Chinese New Year & Valentine's Day!!!

Best,
James

Discussion Topic for Feb. 6, 2010

Hi, there,

It's my turn to host the discussion.
The topic for Feb. 6 will be "Internet Censorship" via the case study of Google in China market.

You might need to read this one, or, if you got time, more related articles (optional).

Here are some relevant questions for discussion:

1. Have you ever heard of this news? What's your opinions?
2. Have you ever encounter "internet censorship"? What's your experience?
3. Do you argree with the idea of internet censorship?
4. In terms of children welfare, does internet censorship benefit or damage kids' rights?
5. How should we set up a more proper internet censorship system, if we need it?


Cheers,
James

MBA Discussion Follow-up

Hey all,

Remember several weeks ago we had discussion on MBA ranking? Precisely, it's only me and James haha. Just now I checked out udn News (聯合新聞網) and saw this: 倫敦商學院 蟬聯最佳MBA. The article is not only related to the MBA ranking but also the recent trends toward MBA programs, which are kinda similar to what we discussed and what our discussion article talked about: slight downturn in MBA programs and its return on investment rate.

Followed by what the udn article mentioned, I found the original raking and report on Financial Times. Some key findings from this ranking report, also mentioned in udn's article, are relevant to what we discussed back then. The findings, again, are striking to me. Same with the ranking. Though I do know Wharton (U Penn) and LBS are also excellent business schools, I do feel surprised that Harvard is in the third place. The implications? As my research project is about business schools, I think I need to pay more attention on both LBS and Wharton, instead of Harvard, haha.

Just some interesting follow-up :)

Maria's Self Introduction

My name is Maria, and I'm a negative person ^.^ The reason? Just wanna protect myself from disappointments. Yup, I wasn't used to be negative, I chose to be one after I say bye-bye to the age of the Innocent. I think you need to know that in advance so in the future you won't get surprise with my negative comments.

I'm a Indonesian passport holder. Born in Indonesia, breath her air and only hers until 18 years old, before decided to try Taiwan's. Gosh Mandarin with it's 5 different tones is one of the most difficult languages in the world! But it's the first happiest time I ever had!

I was lucky enough to be able to spend the next 5 years in Tung Hai university as an architecture student. Working as an architecture designer in Taipei for almost 4 years gave me the chance to study MA Degree of the Environment in Chelsea College of Art&Design, London. That is my second happiest time.

Happy time never last long. I applied a work in Singapore, a very beautiful country that was built with "sweat and blood" and COMPETITION! I'm sure they're plenty other good stuff in Singapore, but too bad ... I'm already a negative person by then.

And here I am now, in Yilan, with my husband, pressing down all desires ...

I like kids on certain ages, but only for couple of hours in a whole years! Little kids are usually innocent, like a piece of white paper, who accept anything you'll write on them. That's why one of my dream is to become an author of children picture books. Being with them makes me feel that I'm a Discovery Channel ... that I'm special. I think human, at least me, needs this kind of feeling, being different, to prove that they are really exist. I like being with elderly too ... they are my Discovery Channel. ^.^

My fantasy (yup, it's a fantasy now, not a dream) was to become an ambassador's wife, because that will give me chance to stay in different places. I love traveling. Indigenous cultures are always fascinating me. It'll be great if I can spend a year or two in different countries. But traveling needs hell lots of money, so I have to be happy with reading books or watching documentaries instead.

That's pretty much everything about me. Nice to meet you! ^.^

Topic for Jan 30th, 2010 - Surrogacy

I read this article "Scrambled Eggs" , which I think it might be interesting enough as our topic.

And to give an idea about what surrogacy is, you might need to read this one too.

Here're some questions to help our discussion:

1. Have you ever heard about surrogacy? Do you have someone close to you that are having surrogacy?
2. Which side are you: “The joy of parenthood is something that every couple should be able to experience” or “Parents should not put their own desire to be parents over the possible damage it might cause to the baby”?
3. Commercial surrogacy would involve women ‘hiring out’ their wombs to the highest bidder. Do you think surrogacy is likely to be commercialized?
4. Do you agree that a voluntarily surrogacy woman can be seen as offering the exploitation of her body for commercial gain? Or is this a good way for the woman to help her family’s financial problem? Do you think there’s a difference between commercial surrogacy and selling-blood?
5. It's generally understood that if you hire a surrogate to carry your embryo, she, not you, gets to decide whether to abort it. It may be your baby, but it's her body, and that's the legal trump card. Do you agree with that?
6. What happens if the surrogate mother or commissioning couple change their mind?
7. What happens in the case of miscarriage or multiple births?
8. What happens if the child has serious disabilities?
9. What are the rights of the child?
   
   
   cheers, ^.^
   maria
   
   
   
   

We're going to talk about Culture Shock this coming Saturday (Taiwan Time)

Hey all,

I hope you are having fun for your weekend! Vancouver is finally having sunshine right now haha. It's my pleasure again to be the host for the discussion this coming Saturday (Jan. 23rd, Taiwan time). We're going to talk about culture shock. Please watch the video I posted days ago and try to reflect any culture shock experiences you encountered until now. Do share with us during the discussion. Also, the speaker in the video mentioned three stages of the culture shock. Do you agree? How does this relate to you when you encounter something new to you? Do share with us as well!!

I'm looking forward to hearing your culture shock experiences :)

P.S. If I find some articles relevant to culture shock, I may post it here before Thursday.

Love,
Angela

Apology!!!

Dear all,

I'm sorry for not showing up today, especially it is my turn to lead the discussion for this week.
I thought today is Friday.
SORRY!!!

How's today's discussion going?
Do you still discuss "cool Japan"?

SORRY AGAIN!!!


James

[share & discussion] video of a speech on culture shock

saw something interesting from YouTube. It's a video clip of a speech on culture shock, delivered by Tiffany Chin, possibly a member of Toastmasters International Hsinchu Club. Here's the clip:

I don't belong to that club, yet I do found the topic, the three stages of culture shock, and the implication of culture shock that Tiffany addressed, interesting. I hope one day I could speak English as good as Tiffany did ha ha. Maybe we can talk a little bit about culture shock or merely the clip or the speech here on the blog or later during the skype discussion. As James is going to host the discussion this coming Saturday (Taiwan time), I think we may be able to discuss the clip and any "culture shock" we encounter the week after.

That's pretty much it so far. Enjoy your week and the clip :)

Angela L.

Discussion Material for Jan. 16, 2010 (Taiwan time)

I'm responsible for the discussion in this week. Topic for this week will be "Cool Japan." Here is the reading meterial: http://www.time.com/time/asia/2003/cool_japan/story.html

James