Greece and the bankrupted democracy V - unity government

Greece is facing yet another crucial moment. the politicians are debating while commoners riot. the commoners said they're no longer can stand the 'austerity' plan. seemed that again history is repeating itself. the one in power will pressure the commoner. but I believe, in this case the one in power is not the ruling people.but it is somethign else.

discipline

how long has it since my last posting... there's a lot of thing I want to share but I couldn't find a perfect time to write. I love to write. I hope that I could bring myself to overcome whatever reason that stop me from writing. I must write...

technology and death

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

- Steve Jobs, 2005

yesteryears, 'more things', house and home

yesterday I drove through a place where I brought up my family at the very early stage. it was our first home where we were bestowed with our first child. our working place was not far from the home. the life was easy then. there was no TV, just a radio, a PC without internet connection, no washing machine. we made our own shoe rack from a box. yes, we had a sofa set which was given by my mother, and we still have it. what a life!

then our life became 'more'. more things, more issues, more kids, more responsibility, more problems, and more 'more'. among the 'more', 'more things' definitely never make us happier, never. my God, it was only today that I realised deeply that more problems, issues and all the human related things may get you depressed, but in the end we become more human. on the other hand, 'more things' has never brought any value. a home bring up the family not the house. praise to God.

I've taken my bows
And my curtain calls -
You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it
I thank you all -

But it's been no bed of roses 
No pleasure cruise -
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race -
And I ain't gonna lose 


- 1977

freedom

I hope that freedom depicts in this picture will persist.

colonial

this picture was taken few weeks ago in a small local museum not far from my home. it was actually a home of a local figure head who was tried in his very own house. he was expelled from his country about two centuries ago. occasionally I bring my family here to relearn what had happened to our fathers. I teach them how not to repeat the same mistake and stupidness. the other reason is that the entry to this museum is free.

Stand and fight
Live by your heart
Always one more try
I'm not afraid to die
Stand and fight
say what you feel
Born with a heart of steel


- 1988

silver lining

next week there will be another interview for yet another company. a promised from my previous employer is now, I considered, as good as dust - it got no where. things getting worse and I keep my self listening to Bohemian Rhapsody every day, lot of times a day. "I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy", Freddie said.

Nothing really matters.

greatness, Japan style

after I finished my blog yesterday, I kept on thinking how the Japanese is facing the aftermath from the tsunami. the destruction, death, nuclear threat, political instability - all in one short period of time. but they preserver and nothing hinder them from moved forward.

they are certainly a great nation and great people. just look at how they redefined themselves after the devastating world war II. I would like to share with you an old Japanese song I learnt from my Japanese teacher more than two decades ago, 'Kojo no Tsuki' or 'The Moon Over the Ruined Castle'.

1. A banquet was held  in the splendid castle in the season of the cherry blossom.
Where is the light now, that shadowed the glasses and flew through the old pines?

2. (The second verse is difficult. There are many interpretations of the text.)
The encampment was covered with frost in the autumn.Where is the light now, that shone on the swords like plants, that were as numerous as the cackling wild geese, that flew ?

3. Now there is the moon over the desolate castle.
Whom is it shining for without change? 
Only tendrils remain on the walls.Only the storm sings between branches of the pines.
4. The shadow of the sky doesn't change. But the moon is reflecting  it as before, changing for better to worse? Ah! The moon over the desolate castle!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Nbtemm2qQ

help

I took this picture while my family & I having a diner last week. the stall is located along a river bank near to a 100m long bridge. the other side of the river belongs to another state. the river is not really healthy, the water is quiet muddy. I don't know is it because of we're quite close to the sea (lot of mud on the banks) or it is simply the doing of human being. luckily the river is not smelly.

I don't know how long this whole episode can stand. the stall might not be long on its current place before some big company acquire the place. the river, if people aren't changed, it will be polluted soon. my family, the kids will grow up and may leave this place. or it may be me who leave this place again to find a better job. the last time I traveled, I couldn't bring along my family. sure I'm a little bit negative today.

help.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

work II, 'I, Robot' by Isaac Asimov

today I went to an industry park to seek for a job opportunity. and guess what, I saw there were several others patrolling the place looking for a job. so much for the government announcement few days ago that job openings are larger in number than job seekers.

looking at those factories I remember about two decades ago I had a conversation with an old man in a train. it was a journey to the capital city where I did my undergraduate. the old man told me about his observation on the factories' workers. "the way the factories work produce a 'robot' workers", he said. "this is because with all the system in place, human being are no longer required to think but just follow". of course he referred  the 'workers' in his point is at the production level.

later I developed an interest in reading. one of the author who I like is Isaac Asimov. 'I, Robot' is one of his books. inside the book, one can find the famous 'three laws of robotics'. the laws are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

today I wonder whether that old man read the book and made the observation. I can see now the resemblance of the ideas he uttered to me and the writings by Isaac Asimov. perhaps the old man that I had the chance to converse to was not an ordinary 'old man'. it is only at this age I started to realised certain things that I've already faced in the past.


I hope that I can also can have that kind of power and accuracy of observation.


GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.2 kg

work

the picture above is very refreshing, isn't it?

story I
about 12 years ago, I was a junior electrical engineer. despite that, I was ordered to handle a procurement of 'furniture' at the tune of millions dollar. so being junior, I took the responsibility. with me to finish off the job was a clerk. and only him. I worked very hard. one day before I was forced to send the document to the headquarter, I worked very late. about at 5 a.m. the next morning I was already at the office. finally it was noon and I started my car and drove for a 200 km journey to the HQ. but less than 50 km, I got very tired and my hands were shocking. it was impossible for me to drive. I went back to my office, called HQ and continued to work. I drove to HQ that evening.

story II
six years I was again experience the same thing. this time it was a technical tender but still not in my field. and I'm still alone doing the job because my assistants weren't familiar with the scope. two days before I was supposed to send the tender document to finance department, I was told to prepare several copies. I believe the number was around 20. to save budget, I was told to go to HQ and get the documents printed. upon reached there I was told that their printers were out of toners. to procure the toners, a procurement officer must do that and that officer was on leave. what a mess. so I went back to my office and was told to get a printer to print it. I sent the document on the same evening. early in the next morning I went to the printer but the documents weren't ready. the very same morning I need to send my wife for a job interview but I need to wait for the documents. I finally got my documents later that day and sent them to the finance department at the HQ. my wife missed the interview.

story III
I was transferred to the HQ 8 years ago. within few months there was a big project scheduled to be handed over to us. one day we had a site meeting with all the technical consultants i.e. architect and engineers. I had a bad day that day and I refused to shake hand with any of them. I told them that I want the buildings to be perfect in safety, security and basic needs in addition to what ever the contract wants. and I got my lesson. few weeks after that, I went to the site just to found that buildings' fire panels were 'switch on' yet.

story IV
no job.

GREENHOUSE GAS RELEASED: 0.3 kg

Fukushima nuclear power plant leak plugged

I read about engineers at Fukushima nuclear power plant have finally plugged the radioactive leak. in my country, currently there is no such power plant though the is a plan towards building one in a decade or two. I'm in favour for nuclear power plant for one reason - its technology. someone told me that aeroplane is the safest transportation available. but of course if something (fatal) goes wrong, the result would be catastrophic. I believe that nuclear power plant is somehow the same. such advanced technology will certainly spin-off to other field. I hope I can contribute in realising the idea.

in the article, the most interesting paragraph is this:

"In order to stem the leak, Tepco (the Tokyo Electric Power Co) injected 'water glass', or sodium silicate, and another agent into the pit. Desperate engineers had also used sawdust, newspapers and concrete in recent days to try to stop the escaping water".

so the engineers have tried with all sort of method before they were able to conquer the problem. Mahatma Gandhi once said "freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes". I don't know the background from which he delivered such statement. but common human being do make mistake.


I believe by advocating nuclear power won't make me an aristocrat or a technocrat. I'm just a commoner who want to delve into such an advanced technology which until now is evolving in the hand of elites. 


what ever it is, hail to Fukushima's engineers for teaching the world.

freedom

I made a mistake! after I wrote about "freedom is all what the commoners want" yesterday, I was burdened by the meaning of 'freedom'. I believe freedom is the last thing oppressor will give to us. they would bribe us, threat us, demean us etc just to rob the freedom from us. make no mistake.. I'm no politician or aristocrat. I'm a commoner.

I remember lyric from a song called 'Civil War' by Guns N' Roses on freedom. it says "That you can't trust freedom, When it's not in your hands". on this note, Martin Luther King Jr. said "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed". on the same tune, Ronald Reagan once said

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same". and so many thoughts  on the meaning and desire for freedom. it is an easy desire, but it is not an easy struggle.


so when does a commoners has his or her freedom given all the oppression. I guess I must turn to a speech by one of opposition figures in my country "they can jailed my body but not my mind".

pretty heavy stuff, eh?

paradox

for two days i've been absent from the cyber world. reason? i got an acute tooth ache! i was just 'pampered' my self in a sofa watching what was going on in my country and around the world. up to this point of time, i think every one has already built their mind on the Japanese disastrous natural and man made events, and also foreign forces action in Libya. And back in my country, political events are becoming daily news menu. really i mean every day news feed.

then i have this feeling that any of us in this world is commoner! one day we're the master and the other day we roll down to the commoner level. Japanese may be a master of technology but nothing to the natural wrath. and know what, they are now racing against time to undo wreckage done on their own (nuclear) technology! we create weapon as means to protect humanity against tyranny and we are also the one who will destroy humanity with those weapons! what a paradox!

once i used the word 'paradox' to describe certain conflicting directions in my previous organisation to my boss. he agreed very much but he said we could do only this much. of course that statement dismayed me because as an organisation which stood on some sort of regulations, something must be done. justice must prevail! after all human being have 'perseverance' concept fixed in their soul. we live by that concept, i explained. then i realised that indeed what my boss said was true. we cannot beat our superior and i concluded that we are just commoner.

but is it? just imagine that i had to face the height of pain with my tooth ache, deterministic, and finally the feeling diminished. i took some time but i won. but in the other part of the time as a commoner i lose out. take into consideration the fact that i'm jobless now.

paradox?