Been busy for a few weeks, so I m still making my way through the war on normal people by 2020 presidential hopeful Andrew Yang. Although his prospects dim as president Trump succeeds in North Korea negotiations, his arguments are still very refreshing.

The one thing I wonder, in the zealous disclosure of all these cool economic data and progressive thoughts on how the govenrment should help its people pursue happiness, I feel that in order for this to work, he has to explain the American freedoms of his system. In essence an America UBI imposes a financial action on each person to contribute to other Americans or companies. Some could argue that this deprives them of a freedom to not spend money that way.

I really love his idea for more wholestic medicine valuing quality over quantity. This definitely has roots in Chinese culture and teachings. Once Chinese, one never free one’s self of the feeling that the whole needs more servicing than it gets and the parts less. But it would seem to be a common complaint against thst philosophy that lacking money driven competition, healthcare just cannot be as good as it is today because there wouldn’t be as many people trying as hard to do better than other people. In some sense, people can argue that his idea for reformed medical system is unamerican. Fuethermore it is unrealistic in 2020. But let it be said that I do think human health is a basic human right worthy of national protection, possibly more so than speech, press, assembly, religion, politics, property and money.

I think he will need to publish more books to explain what is planned for the 2020 term.

The Amerian exchange program or citizenship trip he proposes is a horrifying idea: all graduating highschool seniors are scheduled to go on a trip to take part in other parts of America. So… Lets see as recent as the 2010’s Taiwan had a “national” draft that forces every capable man(i.e. highschool grads) to take part in military. So, most Taiwanese man(by “citizenship”) you meet for the next decade, probably all served in Taiwanese millitary for 1-2 years. Indeed, this is well known in the US as its famed computer scientist Feng–hsiung Hsu, maker of DeepBlue which beat human champion in chess, mentioned that he felt liberated to have, at begining of his computer career, come to study at Carnegie Mellon University from a very boring Taiwan draft. Yang’s dad probably had to take part in it too… or not since he seems of a borderline age when Taiwan wasn’t a thing yet.

Thats not the scary part. The sending school-aged kids to an unfamiliar environment so they can learn about fellow citizens was actually a fate suffered by many PRC Chinese. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, Communist China engineered a social movement called 上山下乡，according to wikipedia, to:

decrease difference between industry and agriculture, rural and urban, and physical and mental laborers. All educated kids we sent away from home to live in the worst and most unfamiliar places they could find.

This, btw, is one of the reasons why Chinese think China is still very ver behind other countries in technology and science, their youths were sent to waste time and many died of malnutrition or other dangers. In any case, Yang’s proposal sounds eerily similar in means and ends to PRC’s 上山下乡 movment. Maybe he shares some Hunan ancestry with Mao?

Of course, it is en vogue to copy PRC China. For one example, silicon valley have in recent years adopted this word of a “lead” to mean a role in a company that demands more responsibility and more expertise and of course more political alignment. A non-lead, is a less responsible and lesser expert and may question the plan more than their leads. This in particular is not a word used else where until perhapd very recently replacing or superseding words like “manager”, “director”, “partner”, “president”, and “executive”. Or modifiers like “special agent in charge,” “managing partner,” “lead investigator.” I guess if you search the IMDb you may find a “situation lead” in military context where it is used as a noun. What happened to a good old American title like “boss,” “chief,” “honcho,” or “jefe?” But the “lead” concept is the foundamental management role in PRC China since its early days mid last century. They have roles called 领导，literally “lead and guide”. While there are still leveling, to be a 领导, very much demands political alignment and responsibility, and in particular more than those that you lead. So, it would appear, at least superficially, that copying communist PRC isn’t a real deal breaker. (Even if it was copied from military origins in America, it has been the public knowledge and concern that many of the the hugely successful Chinese enterprises that grew from startup were run by ex-military persons possibly using skills they acquired in the military)

Good effort so far, lets see if the third half of the book is any better in these aspects.

Just had a cystoscope (yeah look that one up), all normal, cancer scare’s over. Last one I’ll need to have now that they’ve established a baseline for me. Went to Gott’s roadside at town&country and had me a Impossible Burger(were half of you thinking dr. Who’s Impossible girl?)

Wow, I’ve been vegetarian for around 20 years, many of those were vegan years. This Burger does taste like a hamburger. I am really surprised that I remember the texture of the the veins and fat popping as I bite into the Burger. The slight smell of heme is definitely a big hint!

The meal was very enjoyable. The cook on it could probably used a bit more sear, jalapeño would hit the spot for me personally, and maybe more burger, as I find myself wanting another one after eating the one I had. The bread is too heavy, or rather he patty could probably be a little fattier so that it doesn’t crumb as much. The fat would also help with the sear. The hint of red is too uniform. I think a little bit more with-in-party variety could do this Berger some good.

I’d definitely order another one for the taste of it. The website says it is made out of coconut oil and potato, so it’ll mostly be for fun I guess.

Next step for me, being in the unfortunate disposition of having only CS training is probably to try to find a way to buy some of their stock. All their jobs (presumably companies by steeply discounted burgers) are non-computer work. Sigh…

I didn’t completely understand the Catholic and Jewish dialogs. I don’t know that Catholics are shun here?! My former Employer Jack Dorsey isn’t shy about his and his family’s afinity for Catholics. Indeed many employees found him quoting from the Popes speeches directly or indirectly when directing his company. I just am completely missing the joke here or I just don’t get this genere thst also includes Beavis and Butthead?

Also, this whole Asia copying America thing. Yes it happens so much and so blatently that its disgusting. But its really not that odd. Copying is a very normal thing to do, I mean your genes do it many times a day… Its part of nature like peeing pooping and bad comedy. Alas, it can be pointed out, while I still have this memory, in 2005, I was working at Yahoo! A bunch of execs just returned from a visit to Asia, mostly because of the typhoon their EA scheduled them to fly into, but also because of the awesome tech they saw. “The Taxi driver has two phones! One for nav and messaging and the other one to making calls… And theres this crazy micro-blogging thing thst every Korean is doing right now, especially young people whom we want to target” The exec blurted out in a single breath…

And sure enough, twitter was founded in the same year to do the same thing. Admittedly, nobody here admits to cooying Asia(or funding an idea that was successful in Asia), but one craze did mature in Asia before the other in America. And of course in Silicone Valley we know that today’s Chinese weibo is a copy of twitter or facebook… But its actually named, literally, a micro-blog. And they’ve had that before we did. Facebook, too, the social network has a broadcasting self-publishing and self-promotional functions that is basically you writing a short text and showing it to a lot of people. It all satisfy some kind of human need, and Asian human needs are just same as American human needs. I mean I’m writting a blog, aren’t I?

(And there are other similar examples, including moocs, escooters, all female executive teams…, etc.)

But I did not know about the horse manure problem of 1894. That was quite a jewel in the rough. Some writer sure sounds inspired…

But with so much other weird things like attacking people who have weird machine related sexual orientation… Thats so rude. We haven’t really established thst his robot was… errr… inappropriately handled. It goes to motive that if no wrong is done, why would he launch an ddos? This whole subplot is just an excuse to shine a derissive light on those with agalmatophilia.

You people make me sick!

Ps ohhh, okay, wait, there was this thing where many thousands of cases of Catholic priests sexually mollesting kids(and mostly male homosexual abuse as seen on TV) and the then holy see hid the fact and kept priests priests… Yeah i guess thats pretty nasty. although I don’t know that Silicone valley is more disgusted by this than people and companies elsewhere.

You know, I abhor Trump’s attack on naturalized citizens who hold opposing political views against him. I do not think it is very presidential or even legal for him to ask American citizens to leave the country for exercising their political voice and powers.

But as a naturalized citizen, I can’t help but cheer him on towards acquisition of 51st State of America. Like who gives a shit about the Mexican wall if we get another state. Americans should carve Greenland coast into a profile of Trumps face to celebrate his presidency if he pulls off a real deal. The New millennial manifest destiny! We can conquer the whole world with American ideals for human rights and our economical political system–by buying it!

Of course, it might very quickly melt or get washed away due to global warming.

I have to admit that the American voluptuary in me is in conflict with my rational scientific self. Both feel nationalistic pride but Trump sure knows how to tug at the American voluptuary’s heart.

Let’s make America Greater! Again!!

“Don’t eat our dogs!!”

“You hit my dog!!”

“Our dog lives with babies”

She managed to yell out in between grandma’s shouts of outrage against a freely roaming dog in a public space. ( we did not hit her dog! Nor did we intend to eat it)

A little dog approached my daughter recently. Trump was president, people running over other people with cars in an act of terror around the globe is still a fresh memory from days prior) the dog kind of knocked her on her back on this beach. She was scared, the dog kept on advancing at her torso and head, Perhaps just a couple of feet away.

After some many arms waving at the dog and yelling, the owner finally called the dog away from us from about an eighth of a mile away.

I raise my iphone, in the now universal gesture of insult: I have taken a picture of you, your rude acts are recorded for ever.

She responds in kind, raising her camera and records back at us and continue to barrage us with insults and demanding insinuations. (Man! Apple/google/smartphone-makers makes this society so much more civil… these could have been middle fingers or guns being raised into air)

I raise my phone to report her to the police: “she is approaching me now” I say into the mic, “I feel threatened and she is shouting at us”

I walk away hastily retreating towards the Pacific Ocean… hoping she wouldn’t follow. She follows for another 10 feet or so approaching me. (Her dog still off leash btw, she is now between me and my daughter, grandma between daughter and dog)

She backs off a bit on hearing this conversation with the police.

After a few more rounds of raising phone to take picture. They drive off in their Toyota.

Where are they driving off to? Could their gang drive up next and shoot us right on the Del Mar beach? Maybe they’ll suddenly drive their car into the beach and just wipe these dog eating chinks out!! Maybe they called for backup in way of local police who will surely love to talk these hippy sf Bay Area Asians down about how dogs are part of the family here and are treated as equals when it comes to right to use the beach.

Let’s go! I said with a grim biting tone (think Clint Eastwood)

“But why!???!!” My daughter flashed me the biggest surprise face of a broad grin (she’s on her sand toys which we have been wanting to exercise on real sand for half an age), grandma says “no, let’s stay here, let the kids play!”

“But I don’t feel safe anymore. We had a shouting fight with locals… we don’t know the rules here, this is wild wild west terra infirma, let’s get out of here” still thinking of that determined, biting authoritative tone of Eastwood, but obviously the words don’t fit the tone no more… and nobody followed me. So much for Eastwood of the family…

Well actually their backup came in way of four unspayed and unleashed German Sheppard catching balls.

We, the whole family this time, made ourselves very scare very quickly. This no country for dog fearing people.

We retrieve to the safety of a Starbucks 10 minutes from the beach in our minivan. Driving very carefully to avoid attention, checking for tails or police sirens. It seemed a distant but not nonexistent possibility that she called the cops on us, based on her accusations on the beach. One can’t be too careful.

The daughter catches the wifi two blocks away and starts watching kids show on Amazon streaming… I’m thinking she has recovered fully from that traumatic encounter… grandma is silent, deep in thought… reviewing her long and laborious journeys to America and then to California, no doubt trying to find anything similar to this kind of encounter (where she didn’t win a fight against a bully by KO)

Inside Starbucks that familiar and reassuringly familiar coffee roast smell fills my nostrils… mommy snacking with her daughter, an elderly man in his 50’s or 60’s is working on his partial differential equations homework(erf?!), gamer gaming, kid listening to music… safety at last!

I use my gold card to buy a coffee for the long journey home.

Phewwww… one disastrous situation averted…

Seriously if I actually called the cops, I do not know if the result will be favorable to us. All parks and beeches requiring leash on dogs where we live means nothing here. Dogs are “us” and dog eating Asians are not “us” as far as I can imagine in this little vacationing town. It wouldn’t be the first time we hear that from a person of officer or a public person of government either…

I did not feel the safety and comfort of an American citizen during this vacation on American soil… and I don’t blame dogs or their owners… really, I feel a strong urge to figure this relationship problem with dogs if we’re to do well in America.