The economic benefits of inflation: newyorker.com
posted @ 9:08 AM |
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The first step of virtue we must know - Gratitude.
We should not take whats given to us for granted and hence we must all learn to appreciate its existence.
At an individual level, our senses bestowed upon us is something that we must be grateful for. Our eyes add animation and colours into our life. While our ears and mouth enhance our ability to communicate and listen, which is what a social being like us always do. The sense of touch links directly to our emotions, as it allows us to feel pain and comfort. Be it pain by a pinch or a relaxing time in a massage, these emotions make us feel happy or sad. Last but not least, the sense of taste and smell is why we have acredited top chefs in the world. They make us enjoy the flavours of life. What more can you get than a nicely prepared meal after a day of hardwork.
Moving on to social cluster level, our family is what we must truly appreciate. In times of joy and during downtimes, they constently provide a pillar of support for us. It is them that we trust to walk down the deepest alley and scale the highest mountain. We must also appreciate, in particular, our parents that give us life. Do not complaint that they brought you to a world of sufferings but give thanks that you were given born, as some were not even. Birth opens up many opportunities for the beholder, it is only the attitude and how grateful you are to life that writes your success story.
Next we look at things in a country's perspective. As much as we love to complaint in Singapore, we must know that we are living in a more fortunate place than the others. Let us not compare how poor the African countries are but take a look at the United States per se. Singapore is not trillions in debt like the US, neither it has astounishing unemployment rate of more than 10% nor the Singapore government sending its troops to the frontline in Afganistan. We live in times of comfort and peace yet we only know how to compare the bliss faces of other nations and not be grateful of what we have.
Lastly, we shall take matter into an international level. I had a dream recently and in it i got this letter from a distance friend.
Letter from an intelligent being from outerspace Year 2060.
Report of Earth Status
Earth is dead. What's alive is raging fire, sorrow, regret and torment from the past. Findings show that the battle of Earth started when a spieces of living beings called homo sapiens invaded planet Earth. They forcefully snatch reasources such as oil and land from Earth and lanuch a biochemical attack on it eg. releasing greenhouse gases. As these gases thins the atmosphere, a higher intensity of sun rays was able to penetrate into the planet, thus, heating it up. This resulted the polar caps to melt, which led to a series of natural disaster such as global flooding and earthquakes. Earth was a living hell.
Solution to save the planet: We can make use of our technology no intelligent beings in the universe has, which allows us to reverse time and space. By turning time back to the year 2010, we shall give Earth, not homo sapiens, one more leash of life.
P.S. The latter were a bunch of ungrateful brats.
The time is now! We, humans, must show that the chance given to us was to salvage us and Earth together. Stop greenhouse emission by tapping onto the power of "We".
We can start by leading a frugal life.
We can start by learning to appreciate simple things in life.
-ECONO
posted @ 12:10 PM |
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thomson Reuters expert David Pendlebury might have an idea. At least one of the picks from his annual predictions of winners (economics, chemisty, and so on) has won a Nobel prize over the years. Here is his short-list for economics this year.* Alberto Alesina of Harvard University in Massachusetts for research on the relationship between politics and macroeconomics, especially politico-economic cycles.* Nobuhiro Kiyotaki of Princeton University and John Moore of Britain’s University of Edinburgh and the London School of Economics for their Kiyotaki-Moore model, which describes how small shocks to an economy may lead to a cycle of lower output. It described Japan’s real-estate crisis in the 1990s and could describe some of the causes of the recent U.S. recession.* Kevin Murphy of the University of Chicago for research in social economics, including wage inequality and labor demand, unemployment, and how medical research pays off.
Source: Reuters
posted @ 3:06 PM |
Sunday, October 3, 2010
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.
A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.
Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.
The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.
The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.
He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.
The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.
The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.
He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.
The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.
The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;
This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.
The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.
The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.
One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.
He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.
He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.
The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.
When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.
The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.
The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
posted @ 12:24 AM |
Saturday 2/10/2010 - 23 more weeks to freedom/ Reality
This week had been a very tiring week!
With ATEC stage 1 for the past few weeks, we were both mentally and physically drained. Fortunately, I have a bunch of great section mates to share this heavy burden with. Alright, less on the dull army stuff.
Today was a day of sorrow as our beloved wife of MM Lee Kuan Yew passed away in the afternoon. If I have put myself in the shoes of him, the agony will be overwhelming. First was the passing of his trusted cabinet ministers that fought along side with him to build our country, for example, Dr Goh Keng Swee and Mr Rajaratnam. Secondly, it was his beloved wife. Will he be next? But I believe Mr Lee Kuan Yew is a strong man, a warrior I would say. A warrior fights till his last breath for the country. I salute thee!
Alright, today I just paid 203bucks for the registeration of SMU AY2011. So expensive can! Tomorrow I should be paying Jerome the air tickets for our Langkawi/ Hongkong ORD trip. Oh man, spending is inevitable ! We just have to keep earning them !
Lets keep this short and sweet. Till next time!
posted @ 12:22 AM |
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I have been using xxx blogging tool till now and I feel that it is not user friendly at all. We can't customize our own blog and putting a tagboard is not possible too. Perhaps I'm too noob to fully utilise its function. Alright, so i'm starting this blog to write about more personal views and matters. Only occasionally I will post some economic post to kick start our rusty brain when doing NS.
Yesterday ( 18 Sep 2010)
It was a great day with Clarence, Maung and Zhi Xiang. We went to check out the lifestyle Emart at Mt Faber SAFRA. Nevertheless, it is bigger than Chervons. Compared to the latter, this lifestyle Emart sells more commercial items like sportswear, bags and camping related accessories. It even has a cafe at the entrance of the emart.
After stockpiling insect repellents at the emart, Maung and clarence had a showdown in a game of bowling. Two games were played. Maung was leading with an outstanding score of 119 compared to Clarence's 90plus in the first game. But Clarence totally trash Maung in the second game with a score of 116 and 45 respectively. Perhaps Maung has beginner's luck during the first match? The bowling game ended with Maung's epic funny face.
Thereafter, Clarence offered his service to fetch us to Ang Mo kio as it will be convient for Maung and I to go for our taekwondo training at Yishun. This was another epic funny moment for us. Maung gave Clarence wrong and misleading directions, actually Clarence ended up sending us to Yishun instead. Maung was smart as we managed to hitch a ride from Clarence ! But one conclusion when you are navigating on the road that is " NEVER TRUST MAUNG's SENSE OF DIRECTION." Sorry, but no offense (0_0)V
Alright, lets talk about taekwondo class yesterday. The Indian Master was not here and, on top of that, their grading is looming near. hence, the whole session was dedicated to practising their poomsae (pattern). Practise, practise and practise is the advice that i can give them.
Ok so how do we change the blogskin, add music to the blog, add a tagboard, link friends? Gosh, what a complex world we are living in now!
HELP !
posted @ 10:22 AM |