Asta e prima data cind scriu in acest jurnal in limba romana. E ceva special pentru o ocazie speciala. Duminica sunt alegerile parlamentare si prezidentiale in Romania, si voi avea ocazia sa votez la sectia de votare din Dallas, la 600km de Fayetteville si University of Arkansas. In ultimii ani, dar mai ales in ultimele saptamini am urmarit foarte atent stirile din Romania. In cei trei ani si jumatate de cind sunt in State am realizat importanta politicii in viata de zi cu zi a oamenilor. Cind eram in Romania ma gindeam cu scirba la sistemul corupt din politica, la uniformitatea tuturor partidelor, la politicieni ca la o gloate de profitori, speram cu naivitate la oameni perfecti, modele de inteligenta si moralitate care sa ma reprezinte. Doar acum imi dau seama ca nu exista tara in lumea asta unde politica e un ceas elvetian. In America, cea mai veche democratie din lume, aproape 30% din lume nu s-a identificat cu nici unul din candidati. Lipsa cronica de inteligenta si legaturile directe ale lui Bush cu familia regala din Arabia Saudita, furturile indirecte din buget ale lui Dick Cheney prin firma sa Halliburton, indecizia cronica a lui John Kerry, un bogat putred care cerea votul oamenilor simpli si saraci, sau smecheria lui John Edwards, un avocat slinos care apara pe oricine care ii ofera mai multi bani au scirbit pe multi americani. In Franta in alegerile trecute oamenii au avut de ales intre un candidat rau si unul abominabil. La fel s-a intimplat si in Romania in 2000 cind am avut de ales intre un comunist si un nebun.
Oricit de amar e gustul politicii si oricit de imperfect arata sistemul, asta e democratia. Unii profita de pe urma lipsei de interes a altora. Dar mai exista undeva, in coltul cel mai negru al cutiei, SPERANTA. Fiecare om are un singur mod de a isi face vocea auzita, de a spune ce crede, de a ii scuipa intre ochi pe cei care l-au furat, de a spera in ceva mai bun. Acesta este VOTUL. Patapievici are un comentariu superb la Europa Libera prin care argumenteaza foarte elocvent ca nu e nimic mai democratic decit un vot contra. Refuzul de a merge la vot, o greva japoneza politica, mi separe metoda cea mai ineficace de lupta. Inteligenta le induce frica PSD'istilor, si indecizia oamenilor care gindesc este exact ce vor sa se intimple. Cosmarul care are loc acum in Ukraina, convorbirile gen clanul Gotti ce au loc la sedintele PSD, armata de minciunosi, lichele si idioti care se incoloneaza in spatele lui Nastase" ar trebui sa indrepte pe toata lumea la cabinele de vot pe 28 noiembrie si sa le dea acestor mafioti ce merita.
Nimeni nu garanteaza ca totul se va schimba peste noapte. Cu siguranta Basescu nu e un Prisnea-cel-Voinic, dar nimeni nu poate sa argumenteze ca e mai putin cinstit decit Nastase. Basescu stie sa faca. A condus nave, a schimbat Bucurestiul, a spus intotdeauna ce gindeste, le-a dat cu tifla la toti care l-au calcat pe coada, in timp ce Nastase a lins pe oricine l-a lasat. Deasemenea nu cred ca poate cineva sa o compare pe doamna Mona Musca cu unealta de Ecaterina Andronescu. E o gluma sa il pui alaturi pe un Tariceanu care a condus cu profit citeva firme cu un Mitrea care abia a reusit sa termine liceul. Exemplele sunt nenumarate. Sunt plin de speranta ca fiecare va deschide ochii si se va duce sa voteze. SPER.
P.S. Poate sunt eu cel naiv, dar chiar daca ceva o sa se schimbe sau nu, voi fi cu constiinta impacata ca am facut tot ce am putut. Si sper sa nu se ajunga la varianta asta.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
America and Wal-Mart
What is America like?
I will hear this question more than a hundred times while in Romania this December. And I know there are millions others that want to know the answer to this question. People have dreams about the Promise land, and many of them are misconceptions. I can only relate to myself 4-5 years ago. So every time I try to answer this question I get bogged down under piles of details. Direct comparison doesn't work because America is so different than anything else. Examples don't work either because America is so diverse. Well, the other day I watched a documentary about Wal-Mart on PBS and I thought it was the best short lesson on America that I have seen so far.
You can go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/ and read the interviews, main points and discussion. After Friday they will have the entire show in video format, so if you have a good internet connection you can try to watch it online. I rarely find things that I get excited about anymore, and I felt like I needed to shout to the entire world about this documentary. If by any chance you have the slightest curiosity about what drives America, what makes America move forward you have to see this show.
If you don't have time to sit down and waste (in your opinion) an hour of your life or if your internet is too slow then I can try to sum it up in a few words here. The show is about Wal-Mart the No. 1 company in the world. The company is founded in Bentonville, Arkansas a few miles north of Fayetteville, where I study at University of Arkansas. Wal-Mart grew exponentially over the past 10 years. It started with a little grocery store in the 70's and now has 40% of the retail market of America. Yeas, entire America, the biggest consumer market in the world. Last year Wal-Mart had sales of 250 billion dollars, more than the budget of some countries, more than the sum of its 3 or 4 competitors.
America= capitalism+succes+profit+image and Wal-Mart is nothing less. It sounds like Wal-Mart is perfect, right? Well not quite. How is this success achieved? How are the profits really made? How big is the greed that generates success, what are the repercussions of these profits, and what is society's net gain out of the whole deal? I can't give a definite answer to this one, but you can make your own opinion after you watch the documentary. It's a really close call, I tell you. I am sure it will make some people excited about the smarts of Wal-Mart and others disgusted with this cunny and merciless system we like to call capitalism.
I will hear this question more than a hundred times while in Romania this December. And I know there are millions others that want to know the answer to this question. People have dreams about the Promise land, and many of them are misconceptions. I can only relate to myself 4-5 years ago. So every time I try to answer this question I get bogged down under piles of details. Direct comparison doesn't work because America is so different than anything else. Examples don't work either because America is so diverse. Well, the other day I watched a documentary about Wal-Mart on PBS and I thought it was the best short lesson on America that I have seen so far.
You can go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/ and read the interviews, main points and discussion. After Friday they will have the entire show in video format, so if you have a good internet connection you can try to watch it online. I rarely find things that I get excited about anymore, and I felt like I needed to shout to the entire world about this documentary. If by any chance you have the slightest curiosity about what drives America, what makes America move forward you have to see this show.
If you don't have time to sit down and waste (in your opinion) an hour of your life or if your internet is too slow then I can try to sum it up in a few words here. The show is about Wal-Mart the No. 1 company in the world. The company is founded in Bentonville, Arkansas a few miles north of Fayetteville, where I study at University of Arkansas. Wal-Mart grew exponentially over the past 10 years. It started with a little grocery store in the 70's and now has 40% of the retail market of America. Yeas, entire America, the biggest consumer market in the world. Last year Wal-Mart had sales of 250 billion dollars, more than the budget of some countries, more than the sum of its 3 or 4 competitors.
America= capitalism+succes+profit+image and Wal-Mart is nothing less. It sounds like Wal-Mart is perfect, right? Well not quite. How is this success achieved? How are the profits really made? How big is the greed that generates success, what are the repercussions of these profits, and what is society's net gain out of the whole deal? I can't give a definite answer to this one, but you can make your own opinion after you watch the documentary. It's a really close call, I tell you. I am sure it will make some people excited about the smarts of Wal-Mart and others disgusted with this cunny and merciless system we like to call capitalism.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Garden State
Yesterday I saw a movie that deserves an entry in this blog. Garden State is an independent film written and directed by Zach Braff who also plays the main character. The film is a journey of self appraisal, of homecoming and discovering the beauty of simple life. As the main character learnsmore about himself, he gets caught in a unconventional relationship that develops into a love-story. For me this movie had the optimistic taste of Amelie projected on the current American culture. But probably the main attraction to Garden State is its soundtrack, which I have been listening to for a couple of weeks and it seems to grow on me with every occasion. If you are looking for a movie with a real message take my word and go and see Garden State. Buying the soundtrack wouldn't be a bad idea either!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Kerry will lose
I think it's time for another entry in my blog. I just finished watching the last presidential debate and I have reached a verdict. I know who is going to win the 2004 election. I risk sounding ridiculous, but I think Kerry will lose. I was watching the debate and I just realized that Kerry will lose just because he is catholic. It is a fact that the protestant community decided the election four years ago when they voted for Bush's messianic message. I think that this time around the protestants will vote against Kerry just because they can't identify with him. This huge voting base will not be able to trust Kerry because he is a catholic.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Uuh, Eeeh, Ohhh
Wow! I am writing in my blog again. This is unheard of. Sometimes I just feel that is so much to say, that it would be impossible to write down in words what I feel and I give up and I start thinking about it. But that's not true only for writing. How many times haven't I repressed my feelings and didn't say anything just because of societal constraints. There are so many ways to verbalize or jot down an idea, a feeling or a state of mind and I feel so little in the big scheme of things. There are millions of words, that can be arranged in trillions of combinations. How can I possibly find the right combination of words that will perfectly project my thoughts into this critical world. It's like breaking a 100 digit code of a cipher? Mathematically it sounds impossible. But there's nothing worst than keeping all the ideas and feelings locked in my mind. The sleep of reason will give birth to monsters, some french once said. And he was right. And that's why I am sitting in front of this computer writing all this instead of going to bed. That's why I play with this cipher lock, plugging in numbers based on flair hoping that I will get it right one day. Practice and perseverence. And the funny thing is, that sonds so much like the boy looking for his fortune in the Alchemist. The treasure, the philosophical stone is right next to you but you never paid enough attention.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Patience
Patience is one hell of a virtue. I feel the desire to right this down because I will need to reference to it in the future. I was reading Coelhio's Alchemist and I just realized that his book is nothing but an advocation for patience and perseverance. And its allegorical approach to life reminds me of the Bible; no wonder Coelhio is so popular these days, especially amongst American readers. He does such a fantastic job at inspiring a purposefully driven lifestyle. In a nutshell, from what I've got from the first half of the book, Coelhio says that our lives are driven but our innermost, fundamental dreams, and as long as we keep the flame of enthusiasm alive, we will be able to achieve those dreams. I don't know yet if that's going to happen to the hero, but I'll be able to tell you tomorrow after I finish the book.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
On a mission
It's waaay past my bedtime, but I have to say a few words in here. It feels like I am reporting to Big Brother, but as there is nobody really reading this, the Big Brother is myself. Tomorrow is a big day. If I do well on the in class linear algebra exam I get to skip the final. And well, of course, means A. My computer is here.. yay.. but I am not supposed to get it until Tuesday. It actually arrived by Fedex on Saturday, and apparently they tried to deliver it but the front desk worker must have not been there. However, I am glad I didn't get it before this test, because it would have been a powerful distraction. I can't wait to get it over with 2 of my classes tomorrow (LinAlg and Instrumental Analysis). On Thursday I will take the Film and Architecture finals.
Something not related to school that needs to be mentioned is the dream I had last night. Because U.S. controlled all the oil resources in the world, Russia decided to attack Alaska. A very convenient move because it was very easy to move the troops right accross the border, and the US was not using the Alaskan oil for environmental reasons anyway. In I don't know what circumstances I got drafted for this war with Russia over Alaska. And since the US didn't feel that strongly about defending such a cold undesirable place, they decided to spend the least and didn't equip us very well. So in a reeditting of a North Pole movie, we were striding northern and northern, marching for hundreds of miles in search of the enemy. I really lost track of the story afterward and I woke up with gallons of drule on my pillow. I have 2 explanations for this dream. First, last night I watched a panel discussion about the war in Iraq where 3 soldiers came back home to continue their student life after 1 year of service. They were descrbing the war scene from a very non-Holywood, non-mediatic perspective. The second explanation for my dream is that the AC blows right on my face, so instead of a dream in the hot Iraqi dessert, I was deployed in Alaska.
Enough about dreams, because I have an important mission to complete now. And who knows where I will end up going this time.
Something not related to school that needs to be mentioned is the dream I had last night. Because U.S. controlled all the oil resources in the world, Russia decided to attack Alaska. A very convenient move because it was very easy to move the troops right accross the border, and the US was not using the Alaskan oil for environmental reasons anyway. In I don't know what circumstances I got drafted for this war with Russia over Alaska. And since the US didn't feel that strongly about defending such a cold undesirable place, they decided to spend the least and didn't equip us very well. So in a reeditting of a North Pole movie, we were striding northern and northern, marching for hundreds of miles in search of the enemy. I really lost track of the story afterward and I woke up with gallons of drule on my pillow. I have 2 explanations for this dream. First, last night I watched a panel discussion about the war in Iraq where 3 soldiers came back home to continue their student life after 1 year of service. They were descrbing the war scene from a very non-Holywood, non-mediatic perspective. The second explanation for my dream is that the AC blows right on my face, so instead of a dream in the hot Iraqi dessert, I was deployed in Alaska.
Enough about dreams, because I have an important mission to complete now. And who knows where I will end up going this time.
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Apparently writing in this blog is a periodical function of period 2 days for me. Really quickly, the state of the matter is the following:
- Instrumental analysis test tomorrow. People already hate me because I have the highest grade with a 70. The course is truly ridiculous. The teaching is useless, the classes are at 7:30, boring as hell, and the exams are fairly hard, and involve a lot of numb memorization. Tonight I have done some studying with Ajax, one of my frisbee buddies, the captain actually. Everything makes sense, the problems are doable, but again, who know what little detail from the annotations of what page he's going to ask on the test. Although I put some 4-5 hours into this test already I am more worried that some people in the class will not be able to pass, and that would translate into not graduate.
-Linear Algebra test due on Friday. Unfortunately I got stuck on problem 9. I asked Dr. Vassilev about it today and he realized that we couldn't do the problem with our current knowledge so some changes have occured. Here is a copy of the test for those interested. After I get done with my day tomorrow at 9pm, I will have to start working on this algebra test, and I just hope it won't mean another all nighter.
- Instrumental analysis test tomorrow. People already hate me because I have the highest grade with a 70. The course is truly ridiculous. The teaching is useless, the classes are at 7:30, boring as hell, and the exams are fairly hard, and involve a lot of numb memorization. Tonight I have done some studying with Ajax, one of my frisbee buddies, the captain actually. Everything makes sense, the problems are doable, but again, who know what little detail from the annotations of what page he's going to ask on the test. Although I put some 4-5 hours into this test already I am more worried that some people in the class will not be able to pass, and that would translate into not graduate.
-Linear Algebra test due on Friday. Unfortunately I got stuck on problem 9. I asked Dr. Vassilev about it today and he realized that we couldn't do the problem with our current knowledge so some changes have occured. Here is a copy of the test for those interested. After I get done with my day tomorrow at 9pm, I will have to start working on this algebra test, and I just hope it won't mean another all nighter.
Monday, April 19, 2004
On the list
Monday night, a lot of stuff to do, but writing this blog seems a legitimate way to kill some time.
The events in the past 2 days haven't been too tumultous. First, I got half of the Linear Algebra test done. Although it is probably the most work intensive test I have taken here in US, I am very upset at myself when I work on it. I just realize how much ability I have lost and how much numbness and discipline I have gained. I used to look at a math problem for a couple of minutes and understand all its guts, but now it takes forever to get the Ahaaa! On one of the problems that was asking for a proof, although it had instructions and had broken the big proof into steps I still took a couple of wrong paths in a very noobish way.
Beside the struggle with myself at working on that math test, I finally ordered the laptop. Here's what I am going to get, if anybody's interested. There were some glitches with my credit card but I solved them today. The laptop is going to ship tomorrow, so for the next few days I will be checking the shipping status every couple of hours. I know it's not going to get here until Friday or so, but is human nature to have high hopes. Mike admired my self-control on not ordering the Next Day Shipping - extra $30 - but he doesn't realize how poor I am.
Because the name of this blog requires some fuel I will digress for a couple of sentences. I finally realized that this lame online journal can be actually very useful. In a month I will be taking the GRE and in there I have to write two essays, BS essays to be specific. A full month of BS on this blog can only help, so I'd better stick to it and post regularly, massive stinky amounts of Bovine Secretions. Just like this paragraph.
The events in the past 2 days haven't been too tumultous. First, I got half of the Linear Algebra test done. Although it is probably the most work intensive test I have taken here in US, I am very upset at myself when I work on it. I just realize how much ability I have lost and how much numbness and discipline I have gained. I used to look at a math problem for a couple of minutes and understand all its guts, but now it takes forever to get the Ahaaa! On one of the problems that was asking for a proof, although it had instructions and had broken the big proof into steps I still took a couple of wrong paths in a very noobish way.
Beside the struggle with myself at working on that math test, I finally ordered the laptop. Here's what I am going to get, if anybody's interested. There were some glitches with my credit card but I solved them today. The laptop is going to ship tomorrow, so for the next few days I will be checking the shipping status every couple of hours. I know it's not going to get here until Friday or so, but is human nature to have high hopes. Mike admired my self-control on not ordering the Next Day Shipping - extra $30 - but he doesn't realize how poor I am.
Because the name of this blog requires some fuel I will digress for a couple of sentences. I finally realized that this lame online journal can be actually very useful. In a month I will be taking the GRE and in there I have to write two essays, BS essays to be specific. A full month of BS on this blog can only help, so I'd better stick to it and post regularly, massive stinky amounts of Bovine Secretions. Just like this paragraph.
Saturday, April 17, 2004
GRE stupidity and laptop
It's time to go to bed and I feel compelled to say something on this Blog.
Well, today I laid in the sun for a couple of hours, reading some GRE words and getting down some tricks about the writing section. By the way, that test will suck. I have never been good at standardized testing because they are always simplified, or maybe I should say "stupidified". Take for example one of the analogy questions I was doing today. Electricity:wire:: and the answer was Fluid:Pipe:: For somebody with no common nerdy knowledge this would seem OK. Current flows through the wire like fluid through a pipe. Well one of the other options was transportation:highway:: Just basic knowledge about electricity should indicate that electriciy is a flow of electrons, the consequence of their movement, so it's more like a property rathern than being a thing like a fluid. Second of all electricity can exist only if there is a wire connecting the difference of potential. A fluid is by definition anything that can flow, but nobody says that it has to flow. Transportation is more like a property, not a thing and it's existence is conditioned by highways. Anyway, you can see my point: don't think too hard.
Another accomplishemnt was to finish 4 out of the 16 problems of my linear algebra test. This test seems by far the easiest because it doesn't consist of ONLY proofs. I love proofs, but everything has a limit. I will probably get most of the test done tomorrow and maybe get some good questions ready for some consultation during office hours.
Yet another big thing today is the decision to get a laptop. I found a sweet deal for an Averatec 3225h laptop. It's tiny (12") but it comes with all the goodies: 512RAM 2700 DDR, 30Gig HD, DVD/CD-RW, integrated wireless g and it weighs only 4 pounds (a little over 1kg). WOW, I know. And it costs only $800, brand new, 1 yr warranty. I decided that I need a computer for this summer's REU at South Carolina, so I will probably purchase it tomorrow after some more research.
Darn, this blog ate 10 minutes of my invaluable sleep time...
Well, today I laid in the sun for a couple of hours, reading some GRE words and getting down some tricks about the writing section. By the way, that test will suck. I have never been good at standardized testing because they are always simplified, or maybe I should say "stupidified". Take for example one of the analogy questions I was doing today. Electricity:wire:: and the answer was Fluid:Pipe:: For somebody with no common nerdy knowledge this would seem OK. Current flows through the wire like fluid through a pipe. Well one of the other options was transportation:highway:: Just basic knowledge about electricity should indicate that electriciy is a flow of electrons, the consequence of their movement, so it's more like a property rathern than being a thing like a fluid. Second of all electricity can exist only if there is a wire connecting the difference of potential. A fluid is by definition anything that can flow, but nobody says that it has to flow. Transportation is more like a property, not a thing and it's existence is conditioned by highways. Anyway, you can see my point: don't think too hard.
Another accomplishemnt was to finish 4 out of the 16 problems of my linear algebra test. This test seems by far the easiest because it doesn't consist of ONLY proofs. I love proofs, but everything has a limit. I will probably get most of the test done tomorrow and maybe get some good questions ready for some consultation during office hours.
Yet another big thing today is the decision to get a laptop. I found a sweet deal for an Averatec 3225h laptop. It's tiny (12") but it comes with all the goodies: 512RAM 2700 DDR, 30Gig HD, DVD/CD-RW, integrated wireless g and it weighs only 4 pounds (a little over 1kg). WOW, I know. And it costs only $800, brand new, 1 yr warranty. I decided that I need a computer for this summer's REU at South Carolina, so I will probably purchase it tomorrow after some more research.
Darn, this blog ate 10 minutes of my invaluable sleep time...
Friday, April 16, 2004
Good morning Vietnam!
I just got back from running. 5K in 21:10:50. Not very impressive, but considering that I haven't run that frequently lately and that my goal was 22 I think it's pretty good. Today it's probably the first day of summer, and deffinitely that didn't help too much with my running. It's 10:30 and the temperature is in the 70's already. Well, it's time for a shower, some brunch and then off to some linear algebra and GRE words. I have another take-home test that takes at least 10 hours to finish.
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