(1) The 2008 Beijing Olympic Game closed on Sunday. The host country got 100 metals. Out of this total, 51 are gold -- a gigantic achievement for China. One day after the game’s closing, the media started to worry about an after-match trauma. As cars started to swamp Beijing streets once again, how long would the Beijing residents be able to enjoy a clean air and blue sky? What people should do about the run away inflation? What the government would do with the stock markets which after hitting a 3 year low before the Olympiad dropped another 30 percent during the game? What would the business do as exports showed a first sign of slow down in a 10 year up trend? Would the government really be able to recover all the money invested in the sports facilities? Good questions.
Watching the 2008 Democratic National convention in Denver, I suddenly got an answer to the last question. In fact, Beijing had had some football size stadiums that could have hosted the Olympic opening ceremony. Why did they bother to build a new one? This architectural master piece is most suitable to host a national convention. One day, billions of Chinese will hear the voices of their own Ted Kennedy, Hillary Rodham Clinton from a podium at the Bird’s Net. Once that happens, China will recover the full cost of all Olympic infrastructures. On this subject, professionals can forget about their mathematical, financial equations.
(2) Barack Obama officially accepted a Democratic Party nomination as a presidential candidate on Thursday night. It was the first time I heard an Obama speech in its entirety. Mr. Obama looked presidential. His tones carried a quality of a persuasive priest. He rightly pointed out that we should withdraw from Iraq – from a war of no win. He also nailed it on the head that we should complete the war in Afghanistan by wiping out the theorists in the caves. Mr. Obama also gains points by making compromising suggestions on the two issues that potentially could split the country, abortion and gun controls. Some other promises he made, such as tax reduction for 95% of Americans, universal healthcare are good to the ears. But I have not been able to come up with Obama’s math. Obama said he will elaborate those plans in the future presidential debates. Let’s just wait a bit.
Last night was an Obama’s night. He put on his best show and scored nicely. He apparently convinced his believers. Will he win in November? Here let us draw parallelism from the Olympic gymnastic shows. One girl has just scored nicely. The audience has to wait for second girl to complete her exercise. If John McCain makes many ‘un-forced’ errors, Senator Obama will be the next president.
(3) I have been having ‘Network World’ magazine for many years. Never read it seriously. Last time when my free subscription was about to expire, I renewed reluctantly only after the magazine simplified the renewal process to a single mouse click. In the last issue, an article stuck a cord in my heart. “20 ways to survive a layoff” stood out from many of the articles on this topic. It was written by an author who has been there, done it and survived it himself. The author’s personal experiences are not what the academic career counselors can offer. The author throws in many personal details that gave the article an irresistible power. In bed, I picked up this magazine to make me go asleep fast but ended up reading the entire article multiple times. All the advices are genuine. Some details are extremely touching such as on applying for unemployment claims, in cutting the cost of food by storing milk bought in bulk in the freezer, buying health insurance and using job boards. Thank you, Ron Nutter, for writing such an authentic piece. Speaking of authenticity, maybe it is not a bad idea to send a copy to Senator Obama's new partner Senator Joe Biden.
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