Brooklyn Bridge to Midwood

Today I rode the subway up the Brooklyn Bridge and then walked back to my apartment in Midwood, stopping to take photos along the way. Unfortunately my battery ran out of power before I made it home. Below are a few of the photos I took.


This is the famous Brooklyn Bridge, with part of the the Manhattan skyline in the distance.



This is "Kennedy Fried Chicken" which uses red and white in its logo. There are many around the New York City area. Kentucky Fried Chicken claims it is an intellectual property rights violation.



After seeing this ice cream cooler, I was homesick for China!



Here is a building with interesting archictecure near the Dekalb Avenue stop.



The Brooklyn Academy of Music.



This street food vendor also reminded me of China, until I saw his prices!



Pizza by the slice! There are so many stores in the NYC area that sell pizza by the slice for anywhere between $1.75 and $3 per slice.




I also got a few photos of a group of protestors yelling for the US and Israel to leave all Arab lands immediately. The group was yelling many different slogans as they passed.



The protestors had their own protestor! Following behind them, a man held this sign very quietly as he marched in the rear of their group.

Appreciating Chinese Money

Chinese Renminbi (RMB) dropped below 7.90 against the dollar yesterday due to speculation that the government will soon expand the band within which the currency is allowed to fluctuate. The rate was fixed at 8.28 from 1994 until July 21, 2005. It has been slowly appreciating against the dollar ever since. Some economists predict it will appreciate up to 6.5. The US continues to put pressure on China. My Senator Chuck Schumer & South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham continue to back legislation "encourage" China to allow the currency to appreciate faster.

Who's Next?

In this Congress, Republican Representatives Cunningham, Delay, and Ney have all been caught up in scandals. The Vice President's assistant Scooter Libby has been indicted. And now Mark Adam Foley. Who's Next?

Florida Congressman Mark Foley abruptly resigned from Congress today after it was reported that he had sent inappropriate sexually graphic messages to Congressional pages under the age of 18.

The details are still a little bit fuzzy, but I have 3 thoughts on the matter:

1. The instant messages he sent were from account maf54 (mark adam foley, born in '54). Why would anyone send these messages from an account with his name on it?

2. There are conflicting reports as to how much the GOP leadership previously knew about this. If it is discovered that they were aware of the explicit messages and covered this up, it will be the final nail in their political coffins. This scandal is big news because it has the potential to destroy many political careers, not just Foley's.

3. The blog that "outed" Foley is very suspicious. It was set up in July in total obscurity with the stated goal of catching sexual predators. No one knew it existed and no websites linked to it. We are told that somehow several Congressional pages found it all at the same time and provided info on Foley. The website has never "caught" any other predators. Before the Foley story broke, the only information on the site is information copied from other web sites. What information? In August the site owner posted stories about Chandra Levy and other Congressional sex scandals. How conincidental is that? The owner refuses to identify her/himself. Who is behind this? I have no doubt in my mind that the owner of the blog knew about the Foley emails in July when the blog was created. If it is later discovered that some politician is behind this (one would assume a Democrat, but who knows) and held it back as a last minute political surprise before the upcoming midterm election, then it could backfire on them.

Collapse of the Cards?

Are we witnessing the biggest sports team collapse ever?

The St. Louis Cardinals are 1-7 in their last 8 game and are now 81-76. The Houston Astros have won 8 straight and are at 80-78. Both have 4 games left (Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun).

If the Astros & Cards finish within 1/2 game of each other....
(for example, the Cardinals go 2-2 and Astros go 3-1)

Then St. Louis will have to make up a missed game next Monday against San Francisco.

If they are tied following that game, then they play 1 game playoff on Tuesday in Houston.

Politician Trivia

I've heard several politicians recently make firm statements about Iraq and whether or not the US should set a deadline to get out. I was curious whether or not these politicians are consistent in what they say. I just find it odd that almost all Republicans favor the war and almost all Democrats are opposed. Shouldn't there be more independent thinkers like Joe Lieberman or Chuck Hagel? So I searched around to see what I could find on the Internet.



Do you know who made these 10 Quotes?
(Answers at the bottom... Hint: 4 from Republicans; 6 from Democrats)


A) "If Hussein has chemical and biological agents, and I believe he does, he would have no incentive not to use them then, if he knew he was going to be killed anyway and deposed."

B) "I think it's also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long (U.S. troops) will be involved and when they will be withdrawn....Victory means exit strategy and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is."

C) "These arbitrary limits (setting a deadline for military withdrawl) are not going to be helpful."

D) "I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now....There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory...There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our overextended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today."

E) “We have to be able to convince the American people that this (military action) is in our interest. I don't think you need much of an imagination, though, to know what happens if all of this gets out of hand.…I think we can avoid that with a little preventative medicine. That's what this is all about. It's preventative, and I think it will work.”

F) He "views it (Congress setting a deadline for military withdrawl) as a legislative overreach on the powers of the presidency."

G) "What if someone had listened to Winston Churchill and stood up to Adolph Hitler earlier? How many people's lives might have been saved? And how many American lives might have been saved?...We have to take a stand now. If we don't do it now, we will have to do it later."

H) "In my judgment, it's a question of whether it's wise to set a deadline, and we might as well address that issue first and foremost....Now, if the sponsors of the language in this bill want to strike that deadline, we have a totally different situation. But the deadline is there, it is July of next year, unless Congress changes its mind. That creates between now and then, a very dangerous period of uncertainty and instability, which ...creates danger for our forces, that period of uncertainty is very dangerous because ... (they) are going to seek to arm themselves for the day in which we leave. "

I) (in regards to setting a deadline for military withdrawl) "signs of impatience can be misinterpreted as symptoms of weakness. We cannot afford that in a region where weakness attracts vultures."

J) "whether or not there was an exit strategy. I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I don't think we can be all things to all people in the world. I think we've got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation-building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders."


Obviously, these quotes were cherry-picked. The situation was different (all refer to Kosovo with the exception of Clinton's comment (a) about Iraq). But it is interesting to see what politicians said in the past.

A) President Bill Clinton (D-AR) (September 9, 2003)
B) President George W. Bush (R-TX) (April 9 & June 5, 1999)
C) Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) (Sept 15, 2000)
D) Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) (April 1999)
E) Seanator Tom Daschle (D-SD) (1999)
F) Scott McClellan, for the Bush campaign (R-TX)(May 2000)
G) President Bill Clinton (D-AR) (March 22, 1999)
H) Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) (May 17, 2000)
I) Sec. of State Madeleine Albright (D)
J) President George W. Bush (R-TX) (October 3, 2000 debate)

The Devil was Here

On the way to class the other night I saw a flyer recommending the city to go protest Bush's speech at the United Nations on Tuesday. I didn't go, but one protester was a day late. Venezuelean President Hugo Chavez spoke at the UN today, calling Bush "the devil".

Since the whole world knows that Chavez is crazy and hates Bush, this was not a big surprise. What was a surprise to me, was Democrat representative Charles Rangel's response when Chavez repeated his sentiments in Harlem. Rangel, known for his criticism of Bush, said, "You don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district and criticize my president."

Gallup & the Do Not Call List

On Saturday, September 16, I got a call from a woman working in the Nebraska office of Gallup/USA Today and became one of the 1,003 adults interviewed for their most recent national poll. Most questions dealt with President Bush and the upcoming midterm election, but I was also asked questions about professional baseball's MVP awards. The results of the political poll are available. You can see how much I altered the results.

Ever wonder how they determine whether someone is a likely voter? Here are the questions they asked me (after they asked if I was registered to vote):
1. Do you know where your local voting place is located?
2. Are you registered to vote in the district where you live?
3. Did you vote in the November 2002 midterm election?
4. How much thought have you given to the upcoming election?
5. How likely are you to vote?

I thought it was strange that I got called by Gallup just days after getting phone service established. In the last week that I've had phone service, the phone has rung all the time with people marketing products or asking for donations. It is so overwhelming that I just went and added my name to the Do Not Call List. Ever wonder what the effect of the Do Not Call List is? I'm guessing the few poor folks who aren't on it get bombarded with calls all day. I also wonder how it affects polling? Wouldn't Gallup and other polling agencies be restricted by the DNCL? If so, does that bias poll results at all? If a slightly higher percentage of Republicans or Democrats are on the list, then that slight bias could have an effect on the poll.

Chinese Caution

Many people ooh and aah over the potential market power of China. 1.3 billion consumers. A cheap labor force in the millions. GDP growing steadily at about 10%. What's not to like? You hear reports about how America's day has come and gone and how China will soon overtake the USA.

Hold your horses. China has a good chance to become a major world power, that is true. But it won't happen as fast as many think. Poverty is widespread, most of its workforce is uneducated and unskilled, the legal system is showing promise but corruption is still widespread, and capital markets are young and untested.

Well, just this week we found out Malcolm Bricklin's Visionary Vehicles will be forced to delay the arrival of its Chinese produced Chery cars in the USA. He had been claiming a 2007 arrival date, but that has now been postponed to late '08 or early '09. Starting an automotive company is difficult, as it is a highly capital intensive industry. I seriously doubt the long term viability of Bricklin's cars. I do feel Chinese produced cars will be shipped to the US in the near future due to the cheap labor there, but I think established car companies such as GM, Toyota, and Volkswagen will most likely be the ones to be successful at this. The global automotive industry is already in bad shape. The market is mature, oil prices are rising, the industry has an excess of capacity, profits are dwindling. China will soon be an economic force to deal with, but its days as a fully developed nation are still far off in the future.

Darfur

Over the past week, the NYU campus has been covered by fliers urging students to go to the Save Darfur Rally at Central Park tomorrow afternoon. For those who might know, the region of Darfur in Sudan has been the site of immense violence over the past few years. Some estimate that close to 1/2 million people have been killed and more than 2 million civillians have fled their homes. The rally is being held in order encourage world leaders, specifically US President George Bush and UN Secretary General Koffi Anan to intervene.

This story also has an international aspect relating to China. The Washington Times ran an editorial a couple weeks ago claiming that Darfur is exposing Chinese hypocrisy. China holds enormous leverage over Sudan due to its investment in Sudanese oil fields. And, despite Wang Guangya, China's UN representative to the UN, claim that China supports sending peacekeepers to Sudan, they have been lobbying against the resolution to send in peacekeepers.

Yale PhD runs in McLean

My friend Matt Gunterman, who was my roommate when we studied Chinese history in Kunming China in 1998, is running for Judge/Executive in McClean County. He won the primary with 51% of the vote in a three way race, but faces a challenge in November when he takes on the incumbant. Matt is now pursuing a Ph.D. in history at Yale.

After 18 days, phone & Internet access!

I now have a working phone and Internet access in my apartment! Finally, after much prodding, the phone company Verizon sent someone over yesterday to see why my phone was ringing when people call the number but not working inside the apartment. I set my appointment to be from 1-5 PM because I had class at 6:20 PM in Manhattan and usually leave home around 5:30 PM to go to class. Well, at 5:25 the Verizon phone man still had not arrived yet! I wrote a note to tape onto the outside of my door as I left for class. As I opened the door to walk outside, a man walked up and said, "I'm Verizon. Are you the one with phone problems?" I grumbled, "Yes." I didn't want to show my anger because this was the guy that was going to help, and, I have to admit, I have been late a few times in my life. :) He then asked, "How do I know that you are?" This really made me angry. I just sort of glared at him and then he went out behind my building to "check on things." After about 20 minutes, he told me that he couldn't fix it but would have someone come soon. Thankfully, I was able to leave at 5:45 and still get to class right as it was starting.

Today, nobody contacted me, but I looked outside at 10 AM and saw a Verizon truck outside. I looked and saw a man outside working, and about an hour later he left and my phone worked! So 18 days after ordering phone service I finally get it. That is just pathetic. At least now I don't have to make calls from pay phones and get Internet access from NYU or Internet cafes.

Brooklyn Primary

The current representative in Congress for my Brooklyn neighborhood (NY District 11) is Major R. Owens (D) who won 94% of the vote in 2004, but he's retiring after 24 years. Evidently, he likes to put his political speeches in Congress into rap!

Anyway, we had a primary election in New York yesterday. Few races were competitive - such as Hillary Clinton for senator or Eliot Spitzer for governor. The only interesting race in my district was the Democratic primary for US House to replace Mr. Owens. The district is overwelmingly Democratic in party registration and has demographics of 59% African-American and 32% Jew. In the primary race, three of the democratic contenders were black (one of which was Owens' son Chris), and one was a white Jew named David Yassky, a Brooklyn city council member who moved recently moved to the district in order to be eligible to run for Congress.

The district was created to enable minority representation in Congress (read: elect an African-American) and so some black leaders were really upset with Yassky. Assuming voters only vote for members of the same race: if the 4 black candidates equally split the black vote, each would receive about 15% and Yassky could pull out a victory. Regardless, Yassky was endorsed by the NY Times and his campaign workers were out in force yesterday. At the subway stop near my apartment, one of them asked me to vote for Yassky and gave me some information about him.

Yassky finished 2nd in the primary with 26% of the vote, behind another city council member, Yvette Clark, who had 31%..

Because the district is so overwelmingly democratic, she will be my next representative in Congress. However, she comes with her own scandal: the NY Times reports that she lied about graduating from Oberlin College, claiming she had the degree when she was actually a few classes short.
Unfortunately, she'll probably stay in Congress for the next 24 years.

Boxes from China

Today my mom emailed me and said she received the two boxes of gifts, souvenirs, and other junk that "Bill" Chen Xi and Pan Ke helped me ship back to the US on July 26. I'm glad it made it OK. I haven't seen the condition of the box yet (she said there was a small hole in it), but I am excited that the box is there. Actually, I forgot what I put inside those boxes. I guess I'll find out when I get home for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of shipping boxes to America...In late March, my mom mailed me a package with a gift for my friend Feng Fan, as she is now going to graduate school in Europe. However, I received confirmation that someone else "intercepted" this package and shipped it back to the USA on Monday, April 10. I took photos on my digital camera and the lady in the post office positively identified the culprit. See, too and friends. The gift has not been seen since. :( Sorry, Feng Fan. I admit I have made many mistakes in my life, but revenge belongs to God - not to us. Although I have forgiven the culprit, it was, unfortunately, a bad reflection on this person's character and a terrible witness to students. Just ask Bill what he thinks about it!

It's been 5 years!

Hard to believe that today is the five year anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11/2001. Time really flies. Unfortunately for Bush, he's still chasing Osama. The headlines here in New York are all about the fact that five years later the ground zero/former world trade center site is still barren and construction on the new Freedom Tower which is to replace the WTC has not begun.

The Onion wrote a parody about the 9/11 Memorial Hole here in New York. Speaking of The Onion, another funny story in the paper this week is about a Summer Intern Already Forgotten! By the way, until I get Internet access through Verizon DSL at my home, I am using it at NYU. I'm glad it is free but it is very inconvenient!

Phone Tease

Well, I flew back to New York on Tuesday. And I was able to get from LaGuardia to my apartment for $2. Not bad, huh? Especially when you consider that I had 4 extremely large and heavy bags, with a combined weight of about 170 lbs (77 kg)! It was exhausting. After leaving LaGuardia, I took the M60 bus to the Columbus Square subway stop. I was a little nervous that I would stay on the bus and miss the stop for the subway because I had not done this before. Well, after a while the bus stopped and I saw the subway so I got off the bus. After pulling all 77 kgs of bags off the bus and the doors shut, I realized I had gotten off two blocks too soon. Ordinarily that would not be a big deal, but it is difficult to pack your body weight in luggage down the street and up 2 flights of stairs to get onto the subway. Actually, after i got through the turnstyles for the subway, a woman helped carry one of my bags up a few stairs. I then took the N/W line to 57th Street in Manhattan where I caught a Q train to my apartment. The transfer at 57th is great! The soutbound N/W runds down one side of the platform and the southound Q runs down the other. That was convenient. At my stop 2 boys helped me carry 2 of the bags down the stairs to the street. I was really happy my apartment was as close to the subway stop as it is!

I ordered phone and Internet service from Verizon on August 26 and so I expected when I arrived in my apartment on 9/5 that there would be phone service. Ha ha! Today I still have no service. I spent the last three days trying to figure out how to get service turned on. Anyway, last night my mom sent me an email saying that she called my phone and it rang. However, this was just Verizon teasing me. I rushed home to find that the phone does not work. Since I will get DSL Internet service (which works over the phone line) from Verizon too, I am completely cut off in my little Brooklyn basement. No phone, no Internet, and no friends in New York. I am going to call Verizon today and see what's going on.

American Airports

Reed Jarrar, an architect of Iraqi descent, was forced to remove a T-shirt that bore the words "We will not be silent" before boarding a flight to California at New York's JFK airport on August 12. Mr Jarrar said he was shocked such an action could be taken in the US. US transport officials are conducting an inquiry after a complaint from the US Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

How much is too much? Should the government force someone to take off a T-shirt before the fly on a plane? Or is this action acceptable because it is makes other passengers at ease?