Journalism down to the bottom

Taiwan's Apple Daily (Don't be fooled by this funny title. It is actually the most widely read paper there) published a piece of mine on 7/21. I criticized the widespread blogs provided by traditional news media. Being a blogger myself, I am not against blogs at all. It is just wrong to have editors in the media writing blogs that are compiled by the same media. News reporting is a serious business. Publishing unedited blogs will only hurt the hard-earned credibility.

We Taiwanese are going through the most painful period on the way to be fully democratized. The last thing we need is irresponsible media to exacerbate our agony. I am glad that these irresponsible newspapers are gradually driven out of business by Apple Daily, which I believe is the only newspaper that knows something about journalism. Squandering their barely existing credibility is the very proof of Apple Daily's success.

You know what they say about eating apples, "It is good for your health." Well, your mind, too!

Wharf to wharf

I ran the race from Santa Cruz to Capitola. It took me one hour and 23 minutes. The winner finished the race in 27 minutes. That says everything.

50-50

Recent escalation of the Middle East crisis and the handling of the major world powers remind me of my childhood fights with my siblings. In the end, everyone got punished. My parents always attributed the responsibility equally to both kids involved. G8 just asked Israel to exercise "utmost restraint" and Hezbollah and Hamas to return the hostages. The 50-50 styled justice again came to my mind.

That is not justice to me. It is never 50-50. There is always someone that arouses the conflict and should be held responsible for the behavior. Punishing both sides just obscures the principle and encourages future stimulation. I don't like the 50-50 because I was never the party to begin the fight. So is Israel in this case.

This should be the right message to Hezbollah and Hamas: Return the hostages unconditionally!

(Picture: New York Times)

Hainan chicken

I know I am a terrible restaurant reviewer, but can't help writing about this terrific dining place. I would say Layang Layang is easily a top 10 Asian restaurant in South Bay. A friend of mine, a pregant one, was craving Hainan Chicken tonight. We had to come up with a Singaporean/Malaysian resturant fast. It turned out that Chinese Yellow Page was awesome and extremely helpful. Before the future promised by Google realizes, Yellow Pages are indeed indispensible.

Check out Layang Layang's website!

Mexican

Living in California is a bliss. You never need to take a flight to taste authentic international cuisines. But I don't like how Americans call them: ethnic foods. It just doesn't sound right. Anyway, California boasts the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam, the largest Korean community outside Korea Peninsula, and many more different ethnic groups. Despite that many international cuisines are twisted to appeal to Americans, we still can find first-rate foreign foods if we look harder.

I have an obstinate Taiwanese/Chinese stomach. Yet, I still try different foods once in a while. I love Pho, Pul-kogi, Larp, and Sashimi. To be honest, I learned to taste them only after coming to California. If you know all the names I just flashed to you, you probably know I still have an Asian stomach. Not that I don't like western foods. I need some guide to learn to appreciate American/European foods. It always takes a lot of luck if I just venture into "exotic" restaurants and try them out.

Consequently, it is safer for me to order hamburgers from Carl's Jr or Jack-in-the-Box if there isn't an In-N-Out around (don't want to talk about McDonald's here). The same logic applies to Mexican foods. Baja Fresh and Taco Bell know their ways. Yet, if someone shows me a really good Mexican restaurant and tells me which to order, I won't hesitate to try.

That is how I get to know this authentic Mexican restaurant- Tepa-Sahuayo(There is another one in Wastonville, called Cilantros. I will try it next time when I feel like Mexican). I went there and asked the waitress for some suggestions. I can't remember the names of the dishes, but the food was greasy and spicy and even came with rice, just like Chinese! Anyway, we had a good time eating. I did a poor job talking about the food, but please consider it a good review.

Chancellor Denton and the "scandal"

Chancellor Denton's story was featured in today's San Jose Mercury News. Her death is still a myth so far. Most people blame the pressure Denton had since the UC-wide financial "scandal" was reported in major media outlets here in California.

I don't know how it became a scandal. Most likely the bureaucrats in the UC system mishandled the whole executive-pay thing. Why did they try to hide the not-so-exorbitant executive salary? Let's be realistic. If UC wants to remain as top research universities in the world, the spending of the system has to catch up not only with that of top public universities, but also with that of private ones, such as Stanford. Executive compensations are part of the spending, too. Good chancellors or presidents are hard to come by. If there is anyone available in the market, guess which institution will snatch him or her up? The one with deep pockets, of course!

Let's not be hypocrite. Outstanding scholars are human, too. You can't always count on them to be philanthropic or on their endless love to public education. Let's pay them well and ask them to bring the reputation and donations Californians really want.

I don't know if the bureaucrats have learned a thing or two from the tragedy. Hopefully, they will not simply list dog runs as not-to-offer items, but also deeply re-exam their attitudes toward executive compensations. If they still feel they are inept to explain the necessity of reasonable pay package to the politicians in Sacramento, I will suspect that they feel guilty about their own pay as well.

(Picture: UC Santa Cruz Review)

The richest and the second richest

Warren Buffett announced to give away his wealth to Bill Gates' foundation. When I first saw the news, I thought they must be on to something big because Bill Gates not long ago decided to step down from Microsoft's chief software architect position and to focus on his philantrophy business. Unless they are planning something gigantic, they have no reason to combine their fortunes together. Well, they both denied it. What a coincidence!

I totally can see Buffett's reasoning. So many foundations built by so-called robber barons have fallen into the hands of crazy liberals. Were those barons still alive today, they would have found a way to kick the executives out themselves. Bill Gates is still young. He is definitely the guy to take care of Buffett's money and do things Buffett can feel comfortable when he is up in the sky.

It then comes to why Buffett's move is so novel and noble. It isn't hard to reason, either. Successful business men have a common feature: super-sized ego. Just today, I saw a story in the Wall Street Journal about a guy trying to build a dynasty. This Harlan guy literally comes up with a 200-year plan for his family. It is good to have a dream, but a wish like this? I can't really appreciate it. Ben Franklin once said(these are not the exact words), "It is insane to say that your eighth generation descendents are related to you." What is the purpose of building a dynasty when a total stranger is going to reign?

Hats off to Buffett.

(Picture: AP)