Tragedy at the Nepal Border

BBC is reporting that policeman Steve Marsh was resting at a camp on the Tibetan side of the Himalayan peak of Cho-Oyu at the beginning of the month when he saw border guards shooting dead a Tibetan refugee in a group trying to flee to Nepal. He spoke of his shock at the incident, which he said scores of other mountaineers also witnessed. Tibet welfare groups say the Tibetan who died was a young nun, and add that a boy might also have been killed. Click the link to watch the video.

North Korea Nukes & TV

On October 9th, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported the country had performed a successful underground nuclear test.

MAD TV has a parody of Kim Jong-Il with his own TV show. On his show, he shows guest Donald Trump his version of the Apprentice:

GOP delays Jesus' Plans

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a Houston pastor is claiming that Republican foreign policy is delaying Jesus' Return:

Voters should oust congressional Republican leaders because U.S. foreign policy is delaying the second coming of Jesus Christ, according to a evangelical preacher trying to influence closely contested political races.

K.A. Paul railed against the war in Iraq on Sunday before a crowd of 1,000 at the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, his first stop on what he hopes is a 30-city campaign.

The Houston-based preacher said he believes that the Bush administration has delayed the second coming because U.S. foreign policy has blocked Christian missionaries from working in Iraq, Iran and Syria.

I thought Jesus' return was going to be like a thief in the night (I Thess 5:2), not based on US foreign policy. I wonder if this will have an affect on the turnout of evangelical Christians this fall. Paul has a large following but is not well-known in the USA. He did previously counsel Saddam Hussein, and met and prayed with Speaker Hastert following calls for Hastert to step down for mismanaging the Foley-page crisis.

Deja Vu?

Quick quiz: It's the 11th of the month. On a warm autumn day, people panic as a plane crashes into a tall building in New York City. What day is it? 9/11/2001? That would work, but so would TODAY! Yes, today NY Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle gave the whole city a big scare when he flew his small plane into a luxury apartment building, killing himself and another passenger. Fortunately, no one else died.

The scary thing is it was so "easy" for him to jump in an airplane in New Jersey and fly over Manhattan. What would prevent terrorists from doing the same thing? In a response, figher aircraft were put into the air above several major US cities. The quick response is good, but what are we doing to stop the first plane from hitting?

Chinese Etiquette

The Chinese government, in preparation for the coming Olympic games, has been trying to improve the behavior of its population. During this past National Day holiday (the first week in October), some tourists visiting Tian'anmen Square during the holiday received a text message on their mobile phones from the administration committee of the Tian'anmen region to remind them to protect the environment of the square. However, on October 1 alone, around 600 sanitation workers collected 39.8 tons of garbage from the square." At the Old Summer Palace some tourists were found drawing on the relics. However the government is trying and we should give them credit for that. "Education in manners and etiquette has been strengthened in some kindergartens and primary schools in China. But experts believe it may take several generations to nurture civilized behavior and form a positive image of Chinese tourists."

I know from my experience in China that some places are worse than others. I found Dalian and Xiamen to be very clean and, in some areas, very Western. My worst experience was in the Inner Mongolia capital of Huhehaote (also known as Hu Shi). Perhaps I visited it on the wrong day (it was May 7, 2005), but it was extremely windy and trash and dirt were blowing everywhere. To be fair to China, I also encountered trash on the street in some areas of Detroit when I lived in Michigan. Of all my travels, the city with the most trash on the street was Gaya (India) near the tourist destination Bodhgaya. That was just awful.

Econometrics Midterm

Well, tonight I had my first midterm exam at New York University. It was in Econometrics and Applied Statistics. The exam wasn't too bad, but I know I missed a 1-point question about moment-generating functions. It was easier than I had expected. The test had 16 questions worth 1 point each and then 12 questions worth 7 points each. Here is the easiest of the 7 point questions:

You will draw balls without replacement out of a container containing 3 blue and 5 red balls. What is the probability of drawing a red ball on the third draw?

Columiba Prof wins Econ Nobel

Columbia University professor Edmund Phelps on Monday won the 2006 Nobel prize in economics for pioneering work on the relationship between employment and inflation, which has influenced central banks around the world. Phelps, 73, is the first solo winner of the $1.37 million prize since 1999.

During the 1960s, Phelps built on what is known as the Phillips Curve, which held that when unemployment fell, there was a one-time rise in the rate of inflation.

Phelps felt that view didn't take into account the fact that consumers and businesses operate with incomplete information. He theorized that inflation depends on unemployment and expectations for future inflation.

As a consequence, the long-run rate of unemployment is not affected by inflation but only by the functioning of the labor market. Cutting interest rates or taxes to stimulate employment works temporarily, but can lead to higher inflation.

Further, policies that promote low inflation today will produce lower inflation expectations, aiding policymaking in the future. Phelps also looked at economic trade-offs, showing that deferring consumption in the short run to fund research, education and other business investment can improve economic conditions in the longer run.

Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le!

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie in Chinese). The date is based on the lunar calendar (8th month, 15th day), and it also known as the Moon festival or the Lantern festival in other Asian nations. In China, we ate lots of mooncakes. I've seen a few here in New York. We do, after all, have almost 400,000 people of Chinese ancestry living here!

I have a mideterm in my statistics class on Tuesday. I went to ask questions of the teaching assistant this afternoon. She told me she is a 5th year Ph.D. student from Shenyang. She almost fell over when I told her I was familiar with the capital of Liaoning province and the big Mao statue there. Anyway, she had to leave early for a Mid Autumn Festival party. Afterwards, I went over to look for free food on campus! I did discover an all-Korean party celebrating Ch'usǒk (the Korean name for Mid-Autumn festival), but I didn't go. Anyway, for the first time since 2003, I didn't eat any mooncakes on Mid Autumn day.

Chaos at Columbia

Last Tuesday, I received an email from the NYU College Repulicans that invited us to go to a speech at Columbia:

"3. Columbia has invited us to the event below. There will be a huge
protest so it would be nice to have a strong showing. E-mail me your name
by 9am tomorrow if you want to go.
Columbia students host The Minutemen and founder, Jim Gilchrist, for
their pre-election forum: “Defending America’s Borders”"

I didn't go, and it seems I missed a national event! If you haven't heard, protesters (supposedly from a socialist organization) crashed the speech and knocked over the guest speaker. You can read about the event at FoxNews.



I'm not sure what I think of the Minuteman Project. Honestly, I didn't read the email from the NYU CRs until after the event took place. So perhaps the chaos was good for them to get publicity. Still, shouldn't they be allowed to express their views? What happened to free speech? I never heard of the Minutemen until after this incident. Apparently, they self-patrol the Mexican border with guns. I'm not sure if I agree with that either though.

New York really is an interesting place to live!

Matzah!

As an evangelical Christian from the South, moving to Brooklyn has given me another opportunity to better understand another religious group. I live in a predominantly orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn and encounter Jews everyday here. I have no problems with that, as they are friendly. I've encountered different religious groups everywhere I've previously lived - evangelical Protestants in Kentucky (my home state), Catholics in the Midwest, atheists in Silicon Valley, & Buddhists in China. But I don't think I've ever been so shocked before. Not that Jews here do anything shocking -- I'm shocked that I was so uneducated and unaware of their customs. We recently celebrated Yom Kippur here. That's not a big holiday in Kentucky or China, but, in my neighborhood, everything was shut down. When I walked outside to take the subway to class it was like living in a ghost town. The grocery store, the convenience store -- almost all businesses were closed. In Manhattan, the place I usually buy my dinner was open but had no food for sale. Anyway, this week, I searched the Internet and came across the following funny Matzah rap song.



No, I haven't seen anyone rapping in the neighborhood - but I can appreciate and understand some of the things in the song more now after living here. Just so you know, Matzah is unleavened bread eaten during Passover.