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San Francisco, USA

 

Who Will Replace Boris Johnson

After several rounds of voting, Rishi Sunak took the lead among three remaining candidates. The new Conservative party leader will replace Boris Johnson as the new British prime minister.

BBC - Who will replace Boris Johnson?

I do not know Rishi Sunak. What stands out is he is of South Asian origin. Besides Sunak, there were two more minority contenders, Suella Braverman and Nadhim Zahawi, are of minority origin. They were voted out. But that made the original panel of contenders rather diverse. The current London mayor Sadiq Khan is a South Asian. Sunak could surpass him to become the first South Asian to lead the entire country. Would people have foresee 2022 is the year for UK to select a non-white leader?

2022.07.19 comments

 

Round Midnight

I have finally watched Bertrand Tavernier's Round Midnight (1986), a story of a talented American Jazz musician Dale Turner, who went to Paris of the 50s to find a new lease of life. I actually have the movie soundtrack for a long time. Herbie Hancock’s composition is one of my most favorite Jazz albums. For some reason I have never watched the movie until now. This turned out to be a really beautiful and moving film, despite the difficult circumstances.

round midnight

I was taken by the scene where Dale’s and his mistress Darcey shared the stage together. Dale was a gifted but washed up musician, until Darcey showed up in Paris unannounced. She, the woman who believes in him with no reservation, drew him back to life. They were intimate on the stage. Affectionate glances were exchanged as if they were the only people in the world. This is the scene where Lonette McKee performed the soulful song 'How Long Has this Been Going On?'

2022.07.16 comments

 

In a Better World

Danish cinema has created many exceptional works that explore morality in a penetrating way. Borgen (2010) took an insider’s view in government’s backroom deals and ethical compromises. A War (2015) explored conscience and European’s preponderance over weaker people. Susanne Bier’s 2010 film In a Better World is a poignant drama that challenges our sense of justice. Each of them creates credible moral dilemmas that provoke contemplation.

Anton was a doctor serving aboard in an rural African field hospital. Back home in a small Danish town, he raises two sons Elias and Morten with a shared custody. Christian’s dad Claus brought him back to their native home in Denmark from London after his mother was deceased. He befriended the feeble Elias and plotted a fight back against the school bully. The film contrasts the violence of war in Africa with the more mundane skirmishes in Denmark. Both stories question our approach in resolving conflicts and serving justice.

To put it simply, I see two justice systems. I call them primal justice and enlightened justice. Primal justice is the old way. The key value is power and dominance. Tit for tat is a just response to aggression. In modern times, our enlightened justice disavows violence. We value peace, fairness and collaboration and fairness. Law and police are created to resolve conflict and make peace. Today, we view primal justice as brutal and horrifying. We are to evolve away from the barbaric past to an enlightened system.

The morality is challenged when Christian violently attacks Sofus in retaliation for his bullying. The logic was obvious to him. He has to flight back to establish himself, or he would risk being considered weak and falling prey to bullying. Tit for tat, a perfectly just action in the primal justice system. His father reprimanded him. Yet neither the parents nor the school can effectively police their children. Bullying is a fact of life. Primal justice rules in this world. Christian has a dark character that can be quite chilling. Yet his morality is consistent in this system.

This logic applies to the society level as well. There is no better example than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine today. Russia attacks because they can. The plan is simply to apply superior force to dominate weaker neighbors. All the protests and sanctions from Western government and the UN have limited effect. At the end of the day, if Ukraine prevails, it is due to the Ukrainian people’s valor and sacrifice in defending their country. We might think we are living in an enlightened world. But power still rules. Perhaps we are not as evolved as we think.

In a smaller arena, I reflect on how conflict is managed within my family. As a father of two small children, I am the arbiter of petty fights. I taught them that things shall be shared among all fairly, fighting is not right, and instead of hitting the other to take back what was yours, you should call in adults to settle disputes. Yet fights still happened. The little brother was more often the one who started, never mind being the weaker one. Despite my lectures, admonitions and threats, aggression would break out between them. At times, I decided to use the ultimate means, by force. I snapped the little brother’s hand for beating others.

This might sound counterintuitive. By snapping him, I was protecting him. His brother was angry. He was going to retaliate and he was much bigger. Snapping him would not do him real harm. Getting punched might. To keep peace, I have to deliver sufficient punishment to the offender. If it is unconvincing, he might believe the only way to settle things is to fight back himself.

In a similar way, In a Better World ponders on the limitation and failure of our institutions in maintaining justice. The school investigated and settled the students’ fight by having them apologize to each other and shake hands. It felt like a ritual that’s forced. It kept peace on the surface but did little to confront the underlying social dynamic. Anton was snapped by an aggressive man in a dispute set off by a playground fight. He refused to fight back or to call the police. Instead he challenged him to explain his action, not backing down even though he was slapped again. In Anton’s mind, he has stood up to him. The children were unconvinced. In their eyes, it was an ineffective move that did nothing to deter the impulsive man. In Africa, the warlord Big Guy terrorized the population with impunity, all because he has the fire power. Where is justice?

Before we went away with a dark view, I noticed a few details that were worth a note. Elias intervened in a conflict to avoid harm to a mother and children. It is an honor code to cause no harm to the defenseless and innocent. Not all bad guys are equally bad. The Big Guy is more despised because he sadistically tortured women. Even Christian has a sense of guilt. This set him apart from psychopathic villains like Vladimir Putin.

As much as we believe enlightened justice should rule over primal justice, does it succeed in the real world? The film uses a series of dramas to confront us with a reality we are uncomfortable to acknowledge. The enlightened justice system is limited and failed often. Even today, the primal justice system plays a big and often the more decisive role.

2022.04.17 [] - comments

 

Fentanyl overdose

Fentanyl overdose is laying waste to San Francisco. More people die from overdose than COVID-19 in the city. The human misery plays out in the open in the Tenderloin everyday.

Narcan spray is effective to rescue people from near death. Some drug abusers are saved this way, maybe once, maybe twice, until one day they finally kill themselves. Mayor London Breed has declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin. Other people object to her approach. Either way, no one really has a promising solution to turn the tide.

Overdose stat

Out of this despair, I want to point out a fact that jumps out at me. The chart above shows that Asian stand out as the group least affected by the drug epidemic, much less compared even to the economically well off white population. They are clearly doing something right. Learning how they successfully resisted drugs could reveal key insight against the calamity.

2022.02.24 comments

 

Chan is Missing (1982)

In Chan is Missing, a 1982 film set in Chinatown, San Francisco, two taxi drivers Jo and Steve were searching all over town for their disappeared business partner Chan. Wayne Wong’s first feature film reflects on the Chinese American identity. They speak to many people who have seen Chan. Everybody has a different impression on him. He was said to be a recent immigrant yet to learn the American way; an honest and trustworthy father to his daughter; a failure to his wife. He is an eccentric who likes Mariachi. Yet he is also considered just too Chinese. The Chinese American, after several generations in this country, remain an outside group with an incoherent image in this movie.

chan is missing
Chan Is Missing

After this independent production, Wayne Wong continues to make more well known films, including his landmark film the Joy Luck Club, and my personal favorite, Chinese Box. Forty years after its initial release, I have finally had a chance to see his debut work.

The film gives me a vintage feel. The cars, the hairdo, the fashion trend, a lot has changed in 40 years. But even more remarkable, the society itself has changed.

I moved to the US from Asia in the late 90s as a software engineer. Had I seen Chan is Missing before, I would not have found their world myself. Perhaps the culture has really changed swiftly. Perhaps I simply have the luxury to immerse myself in a professional environment. I hardly have to mull over being Chinese in America. In my world, we have deliberated far more on the dot-com revolution than being in an outside group.

Jo, an native born citizen who speaks English perfectly, was unsure about Chinese’s place in the mainstream (i.e. white) society. Me, a true outsider who only manages English as a second language, has found this an exciting cosmopolitan. This is a remarkably accepting place that welcomes people arriving from all over the world, a rather different place than the Chinatown depicted not so long ago.

Together Together
Together Together

If I am to find another movie to reflect today’s zeitgeist, I will choose the 2021 comedy drama Together Together. Matt, a middle aged white single, decides to become a father on his own. He contracts Anna, an Asian woman, to be the surrogate to bear his baby. True, Anna was only a surrogate, not his lover. But they were together the entire film and have gotten quite close to each other. When asked why they did not consider dating, the dealbreaker was said to be their 20 years age difference. Not once has the question that they are of different races come up. Not once.

Two films, two eras, two ideas and a thought provoking contrast.

2021.12.31 comments

 

Think of You Still

I just rediscovered Lowell Lo's 1983 love song - 又再想起你. Lo speaks so lovingly of a love that did not come to be. I find it so romantic and moving that I decided to create an English rendition and translate it.

I think about you again
it feels so wonderful
I will not forget
我又再想起你
感覺那樣美
相信我是難忘記
together everyday
we laughed at all the things we saw
next to me
we napped away to serene dreams
共你每天相見
跟你笑著看
睡蓮尋夢去
how poetic
how genuine
tender and sweet like nothing else
是那麼的詩意
是那麼的真摯
溫柔甜蜜不可以比
I
long to be together with you
the whole life
love
unto infinity
我  願意一生一世
願意一生一世跟你  相愛
勝似無限次
you made me feel intoxicated
can't stop loving you
can't stop speaking of you
你令我心痴痴醉
心裏愛著你
口裏也是常提起
Yet you'd not find out
that I think of you still
even after we're parted
但你永不知道
跟你決別了
亦常懷念你
I
wish we really can
the whole life
be together
how did we separate
I no longer remember
(我)願真的可以
共你一生相對
因何離別  不想記起
Ah
it was the truest love
the deepest love
I think of you
still
那  是最真的一次
是最深的一次  戀愛
今天我  也在懷念你

This is Lo's song on YouTube for your enjoyment.

作詞:鄭國江
作曲:盧冠廷
編曲:Joey Villanueva

2021.12.27 comments

 

Charlie Chaplin Masked

Bay Area continues the mandate requiring all people to wear masks indoors. I support health directives that have a meaningful impact. At this point in the pandemic cycle, I do not see evidence that it does though. To my annoyance, the requirement stays.

Certain individuals announce they intend to wear masks indefinitely. They believe it is useful to not only prevent covid, but also other infectious diseases like seasonal flu. Since this is a low cost measure and beneficial enough, they say they will keep wearing masks forever.

I found such justification alarming. Humanity has lived with infectious diseases since the beginning of time. Is there such a grave threat that, at this point of history, we decided to change our behavior permanently? Are these people just overdoing it?

I am particularly opposed to the idea that wearing a mask is a low cost measure. There are common objections. It constricts airflow and is uncomfortable to wear all day. It makes speaking and hearing more difficult. Fogging on glasses is a constant annoyance for me. Even if it is low cost for an individual to do, mandating something for the entire population for an extended period of time automatically makes it not low lost.

My greatest concern of all is that it impairs our emotional connection with other human. The economic cost of wearing a mask may be small compared to shutting down the city, but the social and emotional cost is not. We are just not good at measuring it.

Scientists have learned human brains are hard-wired to recognize faces. We are social species. We communicate a lot simply by reading other people’s facial expressions. Does the other person agree with us? Are they happy? Angry? Worried? All this we can tell to a great degree from other people’s faces. This is our innate ability as a human. Face masks obscure half of the face from us. It impairs our ability to read and understand other people.

Perhaps the greatest master of facial expression is Charlie Chaplin. His silent movies have delighted us since last century. His comic character, the Little Tramp, produced belly laughs to generations of audiences. Chaplin delivered the dynamic performance through pantomime acts using only facial expressions and body gestures. His presentation is understood and beloved universally across all cultures.

Charlie Chaplin Masked

If Chaplin were to perform with a mask on, it would lose much of the charm. We won’t see the character’s signature mustache. There won’t be a grinning teeth smile, nervous smile, embarrassed smile, surprise face, disdain face, or frightened face. Charlie’s performance would have fallen flat if it was hidden under a mask.

Charlie Chaplin

Like many pandemic prevention measures, they incur hidden costs for inhibiting social and emotional connection. Having no dollar amount attached does not mean it is not significant. Quite the contrary, its toll on our well being should not be underestimated. We don’t want to keep on inhibiting social connection beyond what is necessary. We want to see Charlie Chaplin’s beloved characters as a complete person, not hidden under a mask.

2021.11.14 comments

 

Half For Me, Half For You

Honeyland

Half for me, half for you, says beekeeper Hatidže Muratova. The traditional saying intructs people to harvest only half of the honey for themselves, but leave the other half for the bees. This is sustainable agriculture summed up in one phrase.

2021.10.04 comments

 

Farms from air

Mainly due to Covid travel restrictions, I still haven’t visited any of our customer’s fish farms. Salmon aquaculture is a large industry in Norway. Many fish farms can be found in Norway’s inlets. With Google maps, I can take an aerial tour. [more...]

2021.09.22 comments

 

Mask Primacy, Why?

Coronavirus is once again making waves in the US. Many people, once relieved by the wide availability of vaccines and low inflections rate, are on the edge once again. The necessity of wearing masks comes up in the headlines. Many governments are considering making it mandatory again. [more...]

2021.08.01 comments

 

Metaphor in Computer Science

I have enjoyed Lakoff and Johnson's classic book Metaphors We Live By. Originally published in 1980, they argue that metaphor is not simply a literary device. Instead it is a fundamental way the human mind makes sense of the world, by using knowledge in one domain to reason about another domain. The use of metaphor is pervasive in our throught, whether we are aware of it or not. [more...]

2021.07.24 comments

 

Obituaries - Art Gensler

I have a devotion to obituaries. Most of the time, I don't find them sad at all. Instead, it is a review of what one accomplished in life and the legacy they left behind. They actually cast a guiding light for living. While we constantly struggle in the hectic day to day life, they tell us, at the end of the day, what really matters. [more...]

2021.07.18 comments

 

Rescind Social Distancing

Today, the Covid pandemic has receded definitively. A large majority of people have been vaccinated. The case rate stays low. Death from Covid is vanishing. We are finally coming out from the emergency. With most restrictions lifted, what are we going to do now? Should we stop wearing masks? Should we go on long delayed vacations? Going back to the office? Jump back into events with large crowds? [more...]

2021.06.27 comments

 

Dreams

Dreams can be surprisingly creative. Regrettably, I forgot most of them. The wild dreams I had while sleeping evaporated quickly once I woke up. Only on some occasions, I remembered enough and cared to write them down. This leaves me with some complex and intriguing stories. [more...]

2021.06.20 comments

 

End Of Covid - Check In

At the end of February, I have predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will recede definitively. I said I will hold myself accountable and evaluate my prediction after three months. The time is due. As promised, I reviewed the current situation. [more...]

2021.06.05 comments

 

On Two Dose Vaccine

In the United States, many people have received either Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines require two doses spaced one month apart. There is a period between the first dose, when the vaccine provides some degree of protection, to after the second dose when the vaccine protection is maximized. In public, this is often described as partially vaccinated v.s. fully vaccinated. The label partially vaccinated has a connotation of temporary and insufficient. I believe this is not accurate. I suggest a different set of labels, vaccinated and double vaccinated, to describe these two stages. This label could help shape public perception and health policy and improve outcome. [more...]

2021.04.25 comments

 

Where Are We With Vaccination

San Francisco’s COVID vaccine effort continues at a brisk pace. Today, 56% of adults have already received at least one shot of vaccine. How much longer does it take to vaccinate 80% of adults? At the current pace of 12.6k vaccination per day, it will take 15 more days. April 26th is the earliest day where everyone who wants a vaccine will get a vaccine (assuming 20% of people decline). In practice, it will take more days because some vaccines are used for second shots. Nevertheless, it is tremendously encouraging to see the progress. This schedule is ahead of even the most optimistic prediction at the beginning of the roll out. [more...]

2021.04.11 comments

 

We have a lot of vaccines

I find it frustrating that, when it comes to covering COVID-19 issues, the media and the community has largely remained gloomy. For example, this is an article headline [more...]

2021.03.31 comments

 

Nomadland

Sometime ago I discovered Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, the story of a Native American boy planning to leave his family and the reservation. I like the subtle connection and tension between his sister and him. Her films are great portraits of characters from the margin of the society, first Native Americans, then in Nomadland, the tribe of wanderer by choice. It surprised me to learn Chloé was not born American but came from China, for she has made such fine narration that even American filmmakers would have admired. [more...]

2021.03.28 comments

 

End of COVID outbreak

The COVID trend, in SF, California, and the US as a whole, is clearly heading down. In addition, vaccination is producing result. Vaccine production and vaccination rate is set to multiply in the coming weeks. My prediction is the COVID epidemic will recede definitively in just three months. [more...]

2021.02.25 comments

 

past articles »

 

BBC News

 

Prague gunman killed himself on roof as police approached (22 Dec 2023)

 

Bodycam footage shows police hunting Prague gunman (22 Dec 2023)

 

Alex Batty: Police launch abduction investigation into disappearance of British teen (22 Dec 2023)

 

Banksy stop sign drones art removed in London (22 Dec 2023)

 

Martin Kemp refunds disabled ticket after fans' difficulty with seller (22 Dec 2023)

 

Queues at Dover as Christmas getaway begins for millions (22 Dec 2023)

 

New £38,700 visa rule will be introduced in early 2025, says Rishi Sunak (22 Dec 2023)

 

UK at risk of recession after economy shrinks (22 Dec 2023)

 

Mohamed Al Bared: Student jailed for life for building IS drone (22 Dec 2023)

 

Andrew Tate denied request to visit ill mother in UK (22 Dec 2023)

more »

 

SF Gate

more »


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