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Tuesday, January 31, 2006

The Middle East

mood:
listening to: The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra - Air on the G String

I've been keeping up with news over at the Middle East. Al Qaeda has threaten to attack the US again, and saying that the US should accept Osama bin Laden's truce proposal. I think the US is right in not falling for their truce proposal.

A lot of people cannot understand the situation in the Middle East, and this is because they have not tried to understand Islam itself. If you look at the Islamic teachings and their history, you'll see that they've been waging wars like the ones today far before the US became a country.

In fact, if we look at the beginnings of Islam, we'll see that when Muhammad first told his people, the Quraysh, about his relevation from God, he was rejected. Being abandoned by his own people, he later found a group of tribal warriors who believed that Muhammad was the Prophet. Together they attacked the Quraysh, whom Muhammad had great hatred towards, and killed many of them.

Later they broke a truce they had with a Jewish tribe, the Banu Qaynuqa, when the Jews refused to convert to Islam. The Muslims killed many of the Jews. And after that they broke a ten-year truce with the Quraysh at Medina, and killed many of them.

Truces in the Muslim world are only to be used as long as needed, until the Muslims can gain an advantage over their opponents. The Qu'ran teaches that Muslims should kill unbelivers (or infidels). (Sura 3:145, 47:4-6, 2:154, 9:14, 47:19, 8:72) It isn't a peaceful religion, not like what many Muslims in the West want people to believe. The truces they offer only lasts long enough for them to get enough power to smite their enemies. So the US would be dumb to take up on bin Laden's "truce" offer.

In regards to so many other things the Islamic governments and militants are doing. They can be understood once a person knows what Islam is truly all about.

posted by Jack at 8:21 PM |

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Saturday, January 28, 2006

Bank Card = Credit Card

mood:
listening to: Nami Tamakio - Realize

I went to my aunt and uncle's place today, because my SSN and bank stuff came in the mail. I got my social security card and my bank card. The SS card is pretty crappy... it's just a piece of paper, and it's not even lamenated!

But the interesting thing is that my bank card says "MasterCard" on it (with the logo and everything). Well, I actually knew this from talking to other people before, but in the US bank cards can be used the same way as credit cards. The only difference being that you don't actually have credit, it is debit but you use it the same way as credit cards. It's very convenient... I don't like having to punch in my PIN when I use Interac. =P

posted by Jack at 6:56 PM |

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Thursday, January 26, 2006

Google Is Evil?

mood:
listening to: Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

For those of you who have been keeping up with the latest Google news will have heard about the Feds subpoenaing Google (for their search records), as well as Google's censoring in China. For those of you not familiar with these news items, the US government has asked Google, as well as Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo for search logs, in a fight to protect minors from porn. Google took a stance and refused to hand over search logs, seemingly to protect its users' privacy -- which immediately caused millions of web users to praise Google. Then later we learn of the news that Google has "caved" in to the Chinese government's pressure to start censoring its search engine in China. So certain search terms, such as "Tiananmen Square massacre," are now censored in China. This censoring by Google has led many to call Google "evil."

Many jumped to conclusions way too early, without looking at the two situations more carefully. It seems that, while Google is willing to fight against the Feds to protect its users, the same Google caves into the Chinese government. So one may ask: Why doesn't Google fight against the Chinese government the same way it is fighting against the Feds? The answer is very simple.

What Google is doing in the US is perfectly legal, whereas going against the Chinese government's censorship in China would be illegal. That's a huge difference!

Whether you are for or against the "Chinese Wall" -- I personfally am against it -- you have to play by their rules, because it is their country. There are only two options for Google in China, either comply with the censorship, or pull Google search from China completely. You decide for yourself which is better.

As an aside, Google does censor search results in the US as well. For example, a search for "kazaa" will have one result removed -- citing complaint under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act as the reason for the removal.

posted by Jack at 7:53 PM |

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Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Liberals Dethroned

mood:
listening to: Outkast - Hey Ya

The Liberals are, at last, toppled by the Conservatives. I, for one, am glad to see the change in government. The feelings across Canada seem to be mixed, and it appears that most of Toronto support the Liberals. I'm in the US right now, so I can't say if that's true or not, but it's how it seems to me after reading some articles.

I think the "scare" tatic that Paul Martin used to try and gain support is just plain dumb. Firstly, you're making an enemy of all the social conservatives in Canada, which is a good percentage of the population. Has he no considered that maybe a more right-wing government is just what some people wanted to see? Secondly, it just goes to show how desparate he must have been to resort to such a tatic.

Just how the Conservatives will do as the minority government, only time will tell.

posted by Jack at 6:36 PM |

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Monday, January 23, 2006

And I thought TTC trains stunk

mood:
listening to: Vanilla (Unplugged)

So I decided to take the V train back two stations so I can transfer to the E train (which is faster to get to work with). As the train pulled up, I saw that one section was completely full while the other had a lot less people in it. The obvious choice was to go in to the one with less people, which I did... BIG MISTAKE!! As soon as I stepped in I knew why there weren't many people in there. There was a man sitting on one of the seats that stunk sooo bad. I have never smelled anything as close to the putridity of that man. Just imagine body odour, urine, feces, sweat, feet, and barf all mixed together... and then some...

I wanted to get out so badly, but I also wanted to get to work earlier today, so I endured the 20-minute train ride.

Anyway, the next time you see one section of the train full, while the other is pretty empty, go with the full one... you won't regret it. =_o

posted by Jack at 9:38 PM |

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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Social Security Office

mood:
listening to: Gackt - 12Gatsu no Love Song

I went to the Social Security Office this morning to apply for my SSN. I had to wait close to two hours before I finally got called!

I couldn't wait to get out of there. The atmosphere is there was just bad. I know this doesn't sound too good, but I almost feel like I was in a mental institution. There are some really strange people in there. Some people are talking to themselves, while others are just weird. I don't know how to explain it properly. Anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief after (at long last) I was called.

posted by Jack at 8:08 PM |

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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

My Impression of NYC

mood:
listening to: Mozart - Symphony No. 40

I've been here in NYC for close to two weeks now, and I can say that it doesn't live up to all the hype. There isn't anything you can do here that you can't do in Toronto.

Sure, it's nice to come here and visit, you'll definitely enjoy that. But then again, if say you lived in the US and visited Toronto, it'll be the same. Aside from the flashing signs and all the tourist attractions, what you're left with is pretty much the same things.

What can you do for fun? Go out to eat, watch a movie, go to a bar, go clubbing... Okay, there is Broadway if you're into that kinda thing, but I'm not really.

Don't get me wrong. NYC is fun, and I don't regret coming here at all. All I'm saying is that I don't see what all the hype is about.

Anyway, Happy belated Martin Luther King Jr. Day to everyone... boy, that's a long holiday name. I went over to Eric's apartment in Edison, NJ for the weekend. We didn't do anything productive... the usual bumming around, playing games, watch movie, etc. I met a few of his friends from med school, and played Texas Hold 'Em with two of them.

The nice thing about staying in NYC is that Eric lives really close by. I haven't seen him regularly since he moved to the US back in grade ten.

I borrow The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King from Eric (the extended version). I watched it yesterday... it's so good, but so long. -_-

posted by Jack at 6:19 PM |

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Mario Songs On The Piano

mood:
listening to: Mario Songs

Okay, you gotta check out this guy playing mario theme songs on the piano. He is really really good. O_O Go now!!

click on this link!

posted by Jack at 7:07 PM |

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Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Work Starts

mood:
listening to: S.H.E - Yes I Love You

I've had two days of work already. Lehman Brothers is huge! They have their own building in Manhattan, as well as two other locations in Manhattan and one in New Jersey... not to mention their offices in Tokyo and London, England. The people at work are nice. I've been doing nothing but reading documents and going to meetings.

I don't think I'm in working mode yet. During the meetings I just want to fall asleep. -_-;

I think I will get some good experience working here. At the same time though, it's suh as hassle to work in the US. So many phone calls to make and forms to fill out. Well, at least I get to check out NYC for four months. =P

posted by Jack at 10:53 PM |

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Sunday, January 08, 2006

Jersey for the weekend

mood:
listening to: K-OS - The Love Song

I spent the weekend with Eric and his friend from college, Alex.

Eric didn't bring his xbox home, so we ended up just chatting... and um, played Magic cards. o_o; shhh. lol

It was fun though.

So all these people are going through medical school, makes me want to join them as well. I also want "MD" next to my name. >_<

posted by Jack at 8:48 PM |

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Sunday, January 01, 2006

In New York

mood:
listening to: Nakashima Mika - FIND THE WAY

I'm here in NYC now. Woohoo! Well, I'm kinda sad I won't see some ppl for a while. =(

A lot of things happened since I last blogged.... hmmm. I don't think I'm gonna go into details. But basically my family and I have been staying with Eric and Annie's family, in New Jersey, since we arrived in New York/New Jersey on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the "kids" (Eric, Annie, Grace, Joyce and I) went to Manhattan for a whole day. We were kinda lost cuz none of us have really been around there. There was a Nintendo store and a huge Toys R Us.

We went to the Metropolitan Museum. The girl and guys split up.... ugh, it's so boring! Well, some displays are pretty cool, but we were there for a good 3 hours or so. My feet hurt so bad afterwards.

We got to rest our feet at a Italian restaurant in Little Italy. We pretty much took the last available seats in there, so we were pretty lucky.

The next day I got the flu, so I was out of commission for the whole day. Then the following day I ate some shrimps for brunch, and had an allergic reaction... my stomach hurt real bad. So I stayed home again, and finally felt good again around dinner time. =(

Then the rest of time we were playing on the X-box. Eric has a ton of games, so we had a lot to play. The best game was probably Burnout 3. hehe.... that and Hulk. Hulk Smash!!

I saw some relatives today. My aunt (mom's cousin) looks like my grandmother who passed away.... it's pretty cool, like a younger a-ma (grandma in Chinese). So yeah... lots of food since I got to the US. hehe

My family left a little while ago, so I'm all alone now. *sigh* Well, I got a lot of things to do this week.

Oh yeah, my family also dropped by this outlet mall on the way to NYC. I bought some clothes from Banana Republic. Woo... hehe. Outlet malls are great.

posted by Jack at 10:43 PM |

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