Sleepless Night

Drank a pot of green tea.

Stories from Mr Chiam.
The neighbors have been asking me to do stuff.
HDB and ABC.
Maybe I should.
But who'd benefit?
Is it worth fighting for?

Syria today. Bangkok soon.
Sudan.
A never ending chain/cycle of human suffering/liberty/decadence.
Polarity, antithesis and the divide that multiplies like cancer cells.
Where does one even start?

Can't imagine what it will be like to compile all the information and knowledge that I've been gathering for the past few years.
Wonder if i can dish out something coherent, useful.

Dimidium facti qui coepit habet: sapere aude, incipe ("He who has begun is half done: dare to know!")
The iPad will arrive in 2 weeks time. Cold turkey till then. 


Can't believe that I actually desired it.
Desire, Dispair, Desire... So many monsters...
It's opening a can of worms/pandora's box. 


What happened to enlightenment?
Buddha or Kant?
Shit I'm back to square one.
Or did I just begin?


Sapere Aude!

Politics and Leadership

Thank you Lingyan for your reminders and encouragement. =) This post is dedicated to you.


Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/patrick_awuah_on_educating_leaders.html

There is something in the way which we educate our leaders and pick them from schools

• The method of teaching and learning is by rote, that there is a formula to being successful.
• Lack of creative and objective view of the world.
• This success is reinforced and expected within families of the higher socio-economic backgrounds.
• There is little emphasis on ethical and moral thinking, and much focus on the attainment of the individual rather than on pursuit of ideals and excellence.
• Students develop a stronger sense of entitlement than responsibility
• The reason why a company or corporation like microsoft can have annual turnover higher and in steady growth than the GDP of many countries, is the way the organisation is run, the working conditions and the selection process of its staff.

References from a A full-time community choreographer
http://www.ted.com/speakers/dave_meslin.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/751975--a-mez-merizing-list-of-city-specific-ideas


People do not shun politics because they don't care, are too selfish, too stupid or too lazy to try to make a difference in their community. We live in a world that actively discourages involvement and engagement and puts in obstacles and barriers in our way.

• Intentional exclusion as seen in the way leaders pitch and invite involvement of the community in the decision making process of the community. Why doesn't the leadership institutions put in ads in the media to provide updates and invoke response?  Case in point in Toronto: Ad by city hall Vs commercial ad by nike.
• Misuse of visual and mental environment (public spaces and media): Instead of messages that inspire action, we are bombarded and influenced by profit driven forces that impresses people the things we should want. Advertisements require $$ and social messages cannot afford to keep up.
• Lifestyle as depicted by media includes food, entertainment and personal development ads and articles - Mainly participatory and self-indulgent with little emphasis on community involvement! Peoples interest as piqued by media enforces the idea that Politics is a Spectator Sport, just like how we read about lives of celebrities or follow the sports news. No real relationships follow and hence little interest and stake.
• Depiction of heros and leaders in pop culture (such as movies matrix, pokemon, harry potter, alice in wonderland, lord of the rings) and even in religion enforces the idea that the hero is one who has a mark on this head, is bestowed upon, comes from prophecy, is extraordinary, is chosen, is special and has magical or special talents. There is also an expectation that the hero is perfect and cannot fail, make big decisions and impacts, and spends his entire life dedicated to the good of the people.
• Political Parties are uninspiring and uncreative, relying heavily on focus groups, market research, polling (Information collected from specialists and solicited based on purpose) and hence reactionary at best. Pitching of ideas to people are regurgitative, non or selectively engaging, and all groups argue and say the same thing, feeding mass cynicism.
• Important social groups are silenced or drowned by the voices of the masses.
• Elections as an enforced proceeding rather than desire is a joke.

Some other ideas

• Leadership should be a long term relationship with the people, where it is a 2 way street of constant communication and interaction rather and a single sided action-reaction and an affair during election time.
• Ordinary individuals with dreams of making the community better, who are uninvited and are willing to work with others to make their dreams real should step up to be leaders. Leadership should be seen as collective effort, tolerance of imperfections, actions that can be very small, voluntary and are made up of ordinary people - you and I who just want to make things better.
• People are not apathetic and apathy is not a personal syndrome. People 'are faced and influenced by a complex web of cultural barriers that reinforces disengagement.'

Evangelion and the Love Guru

Finally I managed to catch it after soooo many years!
Wow forgot the effect anime has on me! It seemed that the last one was more than a year ago.
And a cross reference brought Pipa's Song:


The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearl'd;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven--
All's right with the world! 

Robert Browning.

Most inspiration comes from the bathroom. Why is it that I forget everything the moment I step out of it? If only i could type while showing. Or the focus would distract me?
Or is it savage gardens that blasting, it.

D.R.A.M.A.Distraction. Regression. Adjustment. Maturation. Action
G.U.R.U.Gee, You are you
B.I.B.L.E.Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
Farnie!

Now to research on tag software.

Abandon ship or abandon hope!

Skin tight leopards
Bochap heads, bleeding of talents.
Children self centered requiring change of mindsets
teachers equally responsible
Japan in ruins, yet holiday makers mourn most
Ruien, LUXurious Shuqi
Falling paint and water sprays
Washing machines and clogged up pipes
IT Fair steps on feet, shove and tussle,  racial distinctions
Piteria and heavy metals

All in a week.

Rant

I'm going to try something for the first time.
I'm going to rant.

What is rant?
I actually searched for its meaning on Wikipedia
from which I was distracted by dialectic.


This is one of the reasons why I chose to rant!
I believe it is one good way to clear my mind.
Its getting too wild and out of hand, distractions abound.
And yet it is always organising, reviewing and sorting itself out on its own.


Just from these past paragraphs, these thoughts popped into my head.
1. This isn't really a rant, in the sense that it is not focused on anything at all? 
2. It eventually will lead to something I suppose, especially when I'm good at taking totally unrelated ideas and putting them into some awkward, yet reasonable conclusion so this post might be a rant after all.
3. But then again it might not lead into a conclusion as I get a) distracted easily, b) tire easily or c) just cannot stay focused for whatever reason (which case a,b could be the reasons) and it has the potential to be a rant but never come into fruitation - a thought experiment
4. It may not be a rant but something more, if I am motivated and focused enough, it'll be easy to turn any rant into a highly established argument backed with evidence, anecdotes, theory and consist of established ideas and thoughts. 
5. But then again because there really isn't any constructive purpose nor impact on the world, so it won't happen, plus point 3 has a knack of always happening. Especially more so now. Or has it always been? 
6. Quick review. 1.Doubt  --> 2. Method --> 3.Hindrances --> 4.Right motivation --> 5. Self doubt.


A summary of what's going on in my life. 
What goes on in my mind. 
I'm living only in my mind.

Learning from Lady Gaga

Check her out! Is she all trash?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I

What are some of her reasons for such performances? Is it purely entertainment?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFgTP47R4Ic&feature=related

Check out her influence on University students!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUWfL32S5PA

And finally
http://bayblab.blogspot.com/2011/01/zheng-lab-bad-project-lady-gaga-parody.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4L4M8m4d0
What is your mental image of a scientist?
Do you think its such a waste of taxpayers' dollars for researchers to do this?