This is sort of part of the series of blogs that I plan on doing.  This is like an intro to the whole thing.  I’ve been keeping things under wraps because I am still not sure what they will all be about.  However, in this blog, I am going to make a list.  This list is going to contain certain things that I enjoy doing.  I think everyone should do something like this.  It all goes hand in hand with my theory on positive thinking.  You’ll feel better when you think of the things that make you smile.

So here is the list – they are in no specific order.  Just random things off the top of my head.

• Playing poker. Obviously, it is no secret I love to play poker.  I feel good when I’m at the table.  In a way, it’s my release from the outside world.  I play with the same people a lot of the time and I feel like we are a little different than the rest of the world.  We just do a lot of things that most people wouldn’t think twice of doing.
• Listening to Music. I love listening to a lot of different music.  Because unlike movies, I think you can make music what you want it to be.  You relate in your own way, and just enjoy it.  There is such an abundance of music out there.  On a given day, I rather listen to a 70 minute album over a 90 minute movie hands down.
• Hanging out with my Niece.  She is only 10 months old but she is just awesome.  I never seen a little girl so smart.  She can light up anyone’s day.  This goes way back to a blog I posted earlier in the year – ways to be positive.  It said to hang out with little kids under the age of 4.   Life becomes simple and you forget everything else.
• “Chillin”. I know it seems ridiculous but I like to just sit back and relax.  Whether be on the porch watching the world in front of me or in my house watching some television with a cold beverage (non-alcoholic of course).  It’s even better when you got a few friends with you.  Just good times.
• Blogging. I like to do this thing.  I know I don’t blog that much but when I finally decide to write something, it is always refreshing for me.  I usually do it when I’m up really early or really late with nothing to do.  But, it passes the time and makes me think…sometimes.
• Thinking about the World. I like to think about everything I see on a day to day basis as it happens.  I usually have my headphones when I’m walking around outside and I will always try to read people and wonder what they are thinking.  I question everything I see and ask Why?  All of us as people do certain things but when asked why, they probably don’t have an answer.
• Bills Football. No matter how many times they break my heart with their play on the field, I still come back for more. It’s like an obsession.  Nothing beats watching Buffalo give their all on a Sunday afternoon.  A Bills win on Sunday changes the whole complexion of not just Sunday, but the rest of the week.  We have to be the most optimistic fans in the world.
• School. I am not talking about just going to school.  I am talking about getting back the good grades that I have worked for.  I love getting exams or papers back with that big “A” on the top.  I said it before, school usually comes easy to me.  Some classes trip me up, but then I know I have to put in some extra work and it makes the grades even sweeter.

I will end the list there but don’t worry, there will be more to come.  These are the items that just came off the top of the head.  I could probably go on, but not now.  In the next couple blogs, I will probably expand on my theories and views of certain aspects of life.  They are changing daily, so the readers will only get a taste.  I hope I can also supply some good advice that makes the reader question things.

Maybe acting like you’re happy–declaring it to others–is another key to being happy. You begin to believe it.

On another note–Jesus, these former “friends” of mine.

lembutkan hatinya….

I’m trying to redevelop content for my new website. Since I’m in so much transition mentally right now, it’s been reflected in my process for the new direction of my business. I want to shift the website so that it reflects more where I am going than where I have been. Starting with my bio, under “About Me”, it is so interesting to see that ever since I started this path five years ago, my accomplishments are no longer easily listed in a list format, as had been the case for the prior twentysomething years. That’s interesting that things don’t read like a checklist anymore, because I haven’t been living my life that way. I’ve tried, don’t get me wrong. But it just hasn’t been that way. My life has guided me in a different direction. First I have to embrace that.

The second main area of fogginess right now is figuring out what exactly I want people to contact me for. What is the work I want to be doing? It was easy to write the website for my school because it was clear that people with children ages 2.5 and up would come to me to learn about something to do with violin training. Ironically, nowhere on that site were the words “violin lessons” because that’s not what I was offering. I was offering something bigger, but it was never quite articulated on the site. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I made a video. This helped me for several years, along with our live concerts.

But now the video is out of date with my current teaching style and the focus of my efforts. I am at another juncture of getting up to date with what I’ve learned so far. This leads me to ask the next important marketing question which is, “Who are My People?” Meaning, who do I expect to find me based on the way I describe myself and what I have to offer? I’ve always been very conflicted about this, going back to my match.com profile several years ago (one example of my trying to live that “check the box” lifestyle).

As I’ve thought about this question, I find myself imagining who I think my people “should” be – meaning, people who are similar to me demographically – instead of looking at who my people really are. All of the people who are currently in my life – both business and friendship – are reflections of who My People are. I started writing down attributes describing some of the people I’ve experienced the best energy with. But then I realized that there are people out there who can learn from what I have to offer but are very different from me. I can’t limit My People just to the kinds of people I might invite over to my house for a cup of chai. I can’t limit My People just to the people who are as devoted to yoga as I am. These attributes that I am targeting are very specific, but the types of people who possess the attributes can come from a very diverse cross-section of the culture.

One question I keep coming back to is Asian-American women. Where are we? Who are we talking to about our lives? Where are the circles of truth and listening and love and crying and mentorship that are so necessary for a woman to step into her own power? Who is the “Oprah” for Asian-American women? Who is giving voice to the internal conflicts many of us face, between tradition and freedom, our responsibilities and our deepest desires? Who is asking the tough questions to get us to think about what America has done for our families and what it has done to our families? Who is helping our understanding and acceptance of what is lost and what is gained with each generation? This is what I need for healing. Is anyone else out there ready to listen?

Về “thư bạn đọc” của báo Tuổi Trẻ

1. Web cho giới trẻ: có một đống rác! chỉ trích trực tiếp kenh14.vn, một kênh thông tin của lứa tuổi đang lớn (+- 14 tuổi) với những hình ảnh mát mẻ và đời tư ngôi sao (xịt hay nhấp nháy).
2. Một tạp chí dùng tiếng Việt dị dang chỉ trích gián tiếp Thế giới Văn hóa, một tạp chí thuộc hàng nhảm nhí như con chí, bàn về đời tư ngôi sao (xịt hay nhấp nháy).

Một mặt, tôi đồng tình với chuyện là có quá nhiều rác trong các tạp chí và kênh thông tin kiểu đó. Nhưng mặt khác, tôi cho rằng, nó chỉ phục vụ độc giả của nó thôi. Tuổi Trẻ tự dưng xía vô làm chi?

Thì ra câu trả lời cho 1) là việc Tuổi Trẻ chuẩn bị lập ra một chuyên trang cho lứa tuổi hoc đường 13-18, (thế các bạn trẻ cùng lứa tuổi nhưng không đi học thì chẳng lẽ không được Tuổi Trẻ để mắt đến sao?), dù hiện tại Tuổi Trẻ cũng gọi họ là Teen (hãy coi đường dẫn thứ nhất, chuyên mục đăng bài tên là Teen – Nhịp sống số). Tôi ủng hộ chuyện Tuổi Trẻ cho ra chuyên trang này vì nó cung cấp cho bạn đọc thêm lựa chọn. Nhưng đánh một kênh thông tin khác để dọn đường cho việc ra đời sản phẩm cạnh tranh hoàn toàn là một việc làm thiếu đạo đức và phản ánh tâm thế đáng nghi ngờ của một trong những cơ quan truyền thông lớn nhất nước.

Còn về 2) thì Tuổi Trẻ có vẻ như mải đọc tạp chí lá cải bên ngoài mà quên mất rằng, trên Tuổi Trẻ cũng đầy sự sính tiếng Anh khắp nơi. Đơn cử như trang mạng Tuổi Trẻ được gọi là Tuổi Trẻ online cung cấp cho bạn thông tin mới nhất qua mục Newsletter và sự năng động trên từng cây số qua mục Tuổi Trẻ Mobi. Bản quyền báo Tuổi Trẻ được gọi là Copyright, nhà thiết kế trang mạng Tuổi Trẻ được giới thiệu bằng Powered by. Còn trong bài viết mới gần đây Gặp gỡ tác giả Cô đơn trên mạng: sau tình yêu mới là sex thì ngoài từ sex được sử dụng rất tự nhiên thay cho tình dục, trong bài còn nào là email, best-seller, tabou.

Một cơ quan truyền thông mang tính tiên phong cần có những bài viết thực sự có giá trị và hướng đến tri thức cho cộng đồng. Tuổi Trẻ, trong tham vọng trở thành số một đã mất đi khá nhiều thiện cảm của tôi. Đã từ rất lâu tôi không còn được đọc những bài viết gai góc, dám đi vào sự thật với tính báo chí cao trên Tuổi Trẻ. Hiện nay, chất lượng Tuổi Trẻ đang xuống dốc một cách không phanh, trong khi nó cố gắng lan tỏa tầm ảnh hưởng với sự thành lập mới những chuyên trang. Với đà này, chẳng bao lâu nữa, Tuổi Trẻ sẽ đi về đâu? Một tập đoàn truyền thông của những Kenh14 phẩy, Thế giới Văn hóa phẩy?

Đoan Trang

Chiếm vị trí nổi bật trên báo chí những ngày qua, vụ án Nông trường Sông Hậu đang đặt ra nhiều vấn đề xã hội gai góc. Phát ngôn & Hành động ấn tượng tuần này cung cấp một góc nhìn về vụ Nông trường Sông Hậu thông qua những phát ngôn điển hình về sự kiện này trong 7 ngày vừa rồi.

Quân pháp bất vị… nhân thân

Bộ trưởng Công an Lê Hồng Anh đã có một phát biểu hay đề cao vai trò của nền tư pháp độc lập, công bằng, nghiêm minh, khi ông nói: “Thành tích có thể rất nhiều nhưng khi xét xử thì phải theo luật”. (VietNamNet, 23/11)

Bộ trưởng Công an Lê Hồng Anh. Ảnh: Cao Nhật

Đó là câu trả lời của ông khi được hỏi về vụ án Nông trường Sông Hậu, với bị cáo Trần Ngọc Sương (Ba Sương) từng được phong danh hiệu là Anh hùng lao động, còn Nông trường Sông Hậu mà bà từng làm GĐ đã có rất nhiều thành tích.

Trên phương diện luật pháp, điều vị Bộ trưởng nói là hoàn toàn chính xác. Pháp luật phải nghiêm minh, duy lý. Anh hùng trong quá khứ không có nghĩa là hiện tại và tương lai không bao giờ mắc sai phạm và không thể bị xét xử. Nói cách khác, không thể vì bà Ba Sương có nhân thân tốt, có cống hiến trong quá khứ, mà đương nhiên miễn tố đối với bà.

Đó là biểu hiện của một nguyên tắc bất biến: Mọi công dân đều bình đẳng trước pháp luật.

Cùng lắm thì có thể quy những đóng góp, công lao của cựu GĐ Nông trường Sông Hậu thành một giá trị nào đó để tưởng thưởng cho bà, nhưng việc đó độc lập với quá trình xét xử, vì công là công mà tội là tội.

Thế nhưng, dư luận sẽ chẳng ồn ào lên đến thế nếu cách đây không lâu, ông Huỳnh Ngọc Sĩ, bị cáo trong vụ án PCI liên quan đến cáo buộc nhận hối lộ gần triệu USD tại dự án đại lộ Đông – Tây được giảm nhẹ hình phạt xuống còn 3 năm tù giam “nhân thân tốt, có quá trình cống hiến lâu dài, gia đình có công với cách mạng, quá trình làm việc đã đạt được nhiều thành tích tốt được biểu dương… Do đó, cần phải xem xét, giảm nhẹ hình phạt”.

Và dư luận cũng không cảm thấy bức xúc đến thế nếu những tình tiết báo chí hé lộ sau đó khiến người ta không thể không đặt dấu hỏi nghi ngờ về những uẩn khúc phía sau vụ án.

Thành ủy Cần Thơ: Có hay không chuyện chỉ đạo án?

Bí thư Thành ủy kiêm Chủ tịch HĐND TP Cần Thơ Nguyễn Tấn Quyên khẳng định với báo chí: “Vụ án Nông trường Sông Hậu cơ quan pháp luật người ta đang làm. Thành ủy chưa có ý kiến gì. Các đồng chí thông cảm. Tôi cũng chưa có ý kiến về vấn đề mà cơ quan pháp luật họ đang làm”. (VietNamNet, ngày 24/11).

Nhưng ông Nguyễn Tấn Quyên vừa trả lời phỏng vấn xong thì các báo đã lục lại tài liệu cũ và tìm thấy văn bản số 91 của văn phòng Thành ủy, trong đó nêu rõ: “Sau khi xin ý kiến đồng chí Bí thư Thành ủy, đồng chí Phạm Thanh Vận, Phó Bí thư Thường trực Thành ủy kết luận như sau: … Thống nhất chuyển sang cơ quan cảnh sát điều tra những nội dung vi phạm nguyên tắc quản lý nhà nước đã rõ (…). Trước mắt khởi tố vụ án về tội cố ý làm trái gây hậu quả nghiêm trọng”. (Tiền Phong, 25/11)

Thành ủy Cần Thơ sẽ giải thích trước dư luận về văn bản này thế nào đây? Nói sao để không gây bức xúc trong dư luận, ít nhất là về sự mâu thuẫn giữa lời nói (của Bí thư) và văn bản một năm về trước?

Ngoài ra, khó mà phủ nhận rằng quyết định trên văn bản đó của Thành ủy Cần Thơ đã đi ngược lại mọi nguyên tắc cơ bản của pháp luật và thủ tục tố tụng. Đảng lãnh đạo, nghĩa là nắm cái tổng quát, chứ không chỉ đạo chi tiết tới từng vụ việc dân sự như vậy, nhất là khi đó vốn là nhiệm vụ của các cơ quan hành pháp và tư pháp.

Có thể tóm tắt ngắn gọn bản chất sự vụ này bằng một câu mà cố Thủ tướng Võ Văn Kiệt, trước khi mất, đã viết trong thư gửi Thành ủy Cần Thơ để bày tỏ sự quan ngại: “Tôi không rõ có những lý do gì bên trong để các đồng chí giải thích cho việc này: cơ quan Đảng chỉ đạo cơ quan điều tra khởi tố vụ án”.

Án tại hồ sơ, quyết định tại văn bản. Mặc dù trả lời báo chí là “không có ý kiến”, nhưng quyết định của Thành ủy Cần Thơ liên quan tới vụ án thì đã nằm trên văn bản. Sự tự mâu thuẫn đang đẩy Thành ủy vào thế lưỡng nan.

Bói ra ma, kiểm tra ra tội!

Trong khi dư luận đang đặt câu hỏi về bản án 8 năm tù, buộc bồi thường 4,3 tỷ đồng đối với bà Trần Ngọc Sương, thì Phó đoàn ĐBQH Cần Thơ Huỳnh Văn Tiếp như rót thêm ít dầu vào lửa khi ông nói: “Bây giờ có vấn đề đặt ra là có khả năng còn bỏ sót tội cho chị Ba Sương hay không, tại sao có nhiều tội mà khởi tố có một tội…”.

Ông Nguyễn Tấn Quyên và ông Huỳnh Văn Tiếp. Ảnh: Cao Nhật

Và khi PV hỏi về việc 110 người cùng ký tên vào đơn xin ở tù thay bà Ba Sương, ĐB Tiếp nói: “Bây giờ phải kiểm tra xem cái đó như thế nào, động cơ nào người ta ký cái đó, phải làm rõ”. (VietNamNet, 24/11)

Trước những phản ứng của công luận, cho rằng bản án đưa ra “không thuận lòng người”, bất công đối với một phụ nữ độc thân có nhiều cống hiến như bà Sương, ĐB Huỳnh Văn Tiếp lại thiên về hướng soi tìm những gì có thể bất lợi cho bị cáo, đồng thời tỏ ý băn khoăn về “động cơ” của dân, trong khi chính ông cũng thừa nhận mình hầu như chưa có thông tin gì về vụ án.

Tạm đặt sang một bên chuyện phát ngôn của ĐB Huỳnh Văn Tiếp vào thời điểm này có thể lại làm bùng thêm bức xúc trong dư luận, cũng cần chú ý rằng ông đang đề xuất một khả năng rất dễ thành hiện thực: Nếu cơ quan điều tra lật lại hồ sơ để xem còn sót tội của “chị Ba Sương” hay không, thì rồi sẽ tìm ra tội.

Bởi vì, ở Việt Nam có một thực tế mà nhiều người đã biết, rằng nếu cứ chiếu vào giấy tờ, thủ tục, luật lệ các loại – lúc thì thay đổi xoành xoạch, “không biết đâu mà lần”, lúc lại quá trì trệ, không theo kịp thực tế cuộc sống – thì luôn luôn có thể tìm ra sai phạm của doanh nghiệp.

Trường hợp này sẽ càng dễ xảy ra hơn đối với những giám đốc như bà Ba Sương và người cha quá cố của bà – ông Trần Ngọc Hoằng. Họ là những người Nam Bộ phóng khoáng, những doanh nhân thực tế. Rất có thể vào những ngày đầu của Nông trường Sông Hậu, họ đã chỉ nghĩ làm sao để nông trường đứng vững và phát triển được thì làm, không nghĩ tới việc có thể sai phạm, một ngày nào đó…

Những lời ĐBQH Huỳnh Văn Tiếp nói, phải chăng thể hiện một cái nhìn có phần thiên lệch, theo hướng cho rằng bà Sương có tội, còn người dân thì có động cơ gì đó không vô tư nên tìm cách “chạy án”?

Trưởng ban Dân vận TW: Lỡ thì đã lỡ rồi…

Bí thư Trung ương Đảng, Trưởng Ban Dân vận Trung ương Hà Thị Khiết. Ảnh: Cao Nhật

Bí thư Trung ương Đảng, Trưởng Ban Dân vận Trung ương Hà Thị Khiết tỏ ra thận trọng: “Tôi mong các cơ quan pháp luật ở Trung ương cần xem xét thận trọng và kỹ càng hơn, bây giờ sự việc lỡ thì đã lỡ rồi nên chúng ta càng phải thận trọng hơn”. (VietNamNet, 25/11)

“Lỡ” ở đây có nghĩa là đã “lỡ” xử án như vậy rồi, bây giờ cơ quan tư pháp và những người chỉ đạo bản án cần có cách xử lý sao để vừa làm yên lòng dư luận, mà lại vừa đảm bảo kết quả mới (nếu có) không quá mâu thuẫn với kết quả cũ, bằng không sẽ tiếp tục bào mòn lòng tin của người dân vào tính công minh sáng suốt của nền luật pháp nước nhà.

Đó là một lời nhắc nhở khôn ngoan của bà Hà Thị Khiết đối với “các cơ quan pháp luật ở Trung ương”. Tuy nhiên, nói thì không khó, cái khó là phải xử lý cụ thể như thế nào? (đã đành là phải hết sức thận trọng). Một bản án xác đáng, hợp lý (và bây giờ còn thêm yếu tố “hợp lòng dân” nữa) là có kết quả xử án ra sao?

Cái gì khiến một phụ nữ có công thành có tội?

Có lẽ một bản án xác đáng, hợp lý, và trong trường hợp này là hợp cả lòng dân, là phải chỉ ra được công và tội rõ ràng. Hay nói như nhà sử học, ĐBQH Đồng Nai Dương Trung Quốc: “Cái gì đã khiến một người có công thành có tội? Phải trả lời được câu hỏi này…

Nếu không giải tỏa dư luận trong vụ án này thì bản án không có hiệu ứng như chúng ta mong muốn. Tôi nghĩ vụ án này cần tiếp tục làm rõ ra. Bởi đây không chỉ là một bản án cụ thể mà còn là một hiện tượng xã hội”.

Đó phải là một bản án chỉ ra được đích xác hành vi và mức độ sai phạm của bà Trần Ngọc Sương, trên cái nền lịch sử của sự kiện, cũng như những khuất tất, những bất ổn, những thứ vô hình, hữu hình còn lẩn khuất đâu đó trong vụ án, “đã khiến một người có công thành có tội”.

Cuối cùng thì quả thật, vụ án Nông trường Sông Hậu đã và đang đặt ra cho chúng ta rất nhiều điều đáng phải suy nghĩ. Một vụ án mà:

- Đảng ủy địa phương chỉ đạo cơ quan điều tra khởi tố;

- Hơn 100 người dân ký đơn xin chịu phạt tù thay bị cáo;

- Dư luận ồn ào phản đối kết quả xử án;

- Cơ quan pháp luật TW phải vào cuộc…

cho thấy rằng đường đến một nhà nước pháp quyền còn lắm chông gai…

Đ. T.

Nguồn: http://www.tuanvietnam.net/2009-11-26-phat-ngon-hanh-dong-an-tuong-cau-chuyen-nong-truong-song-hau-

ĐỌC THÊM : 

Phiên tòa Kangaroo

Anh hùng Trần Ngọc Sương. Ánh: TTO

Người mê chơi cờ đang nghĩ về hai người Ngọc Sương và Ngọc Sỹ, cùng đệm là “Ngọc” trong mấy vụ án qua. Một người như quân Sỹ trong bàn cờ tướng, luôn đứng cạnh vua, được bảo vệ chu đáo. Người kia như con Tốt đội nón mê, một nắng hai sương với đồng loại nghèo khó, bị “thí” một cách thảm hại.

Bà Trần Ngọc Sương

Ngày 19/11, Tòa án nhân dân TP Cần Thơ đã đưa vụ án “Lập quỹ trái phép” tại Nông trường Sông Hậu ra xét xử phúc thẩm. Tại đây, HĐXX đã tuyên y án sơ thẩm 8 năm tù giam, buộc bồi thường hơn 4,3 tỷ đồng đối với bà Trần Ngọc Sương, nguyên Giám đốc Nông trường.

Nhân thân: Anh hùng lao động. Bà Ngọc Sương là con gái của Giám đốc tiền nhiệm Trần Ngọc Hoằng. Người cha đã một nắng hai sương với hàng chục ngàn nông dân nơi đây, đưa Sông Hậu thành nông trường anh hùng.

Bà Trần Ngọc Sương trước tòa

Bà Sương, kế tục sự nghiệp của người cha, đã giúp miền đất nghèo khó thành nơi trù phú của 16 ngàn người. Bà rất nổi tiếng, từng thăm gần 40 quốc gia trên thế giới, từ Đông – Bắc Á tới Âu – Mỹ – Phi để tìm hiểu thị trường, khai thác cơ hội kinh doanh.

Nghe nói hàng trăm đoàn cao cấp khác nhau của chính phủ đã tới đây thăm viếng và khen ngợi nông trường này. Có lẽ phần lớn số tiền trong “quĩ đen” kia được đem ra chi cho các tiệc tùng đón các quan lớn, phong bì, tìm đối tác. Cơ chế nước mình nó thế, không bôi trơn khó lòng được việc.

Cho tới thời điểm này, không thấy các thân nhân “lớn” lên tiếng. Tuy nhiên có các thân nhân “nhỏ bé” là hàng trăm người dân nghèo xin được đi tù thay cho bà Sương.

Bà Sương cũng được một người “hưu” quan tâm. Khi nghe tin bà bị phạt tù, nguyên Phó Chủ tịch nước Nguyễn Thị Bình phải thốt lên về sự bất công trong lời tuyên án.

Dư luận có 3 tờ báo lớn VietnamNet, Tuổi Trẻ, Tiền Phong liên tục đưa tin về vụ án mà Luật sư bào chữa gọi là “bắn đại bác vào quá khứ anh hùng”.

Trời mới biết động cơ đứng đằng sau vụ án này là gì. Hàng nghìn hecta đất của nông trường do mấy 16 ngàn nông dân đào đắp, khai phá từ 30 năm nay, bây giờ có thể thành miếng mồi ngon cho các nhà đầu tư. Hội nhập nên có những cơn “sốt đất” thay vì “sốt vàng”.

Người ta ngạc nhiên về một người anh hùng, bị buộc tội dùng quĩ đen mấy tỷ đồng, mà cuối đời bà Sương không nhà, không cửa, ngủ trên một cái giường cá nhân với 8 năm tù đang đợi. Nghịch cảnh rơi nước mắt.

Ông Huỳnh Ngọc Sỹ

Vụ này báo chí đưa tin quá nhiều. Công ty PCI của Nhật có mấy nhân viên bị bắt đã khai là đưa cho ông Huỳnh Ngọc Sỹ hơn 800 ngàn đô la gọi là 10% lại quả để kiếm hợp đồng tư vấn xây dựng Đại lộ Đông Tây.

Do sức ép của phía Nhật, sau nhiều lần trì hoãn, ông Sỹ đã bị bắt vì tội khác, không liên quan gì đến số tiền 16 tỷ đồng.

Nhân thân: Trong ngày tuyên án ông Sỹ với mức phạt 3 năm tù giam, Tòa nói ông này có rất nhiều đóng góp cho xã hội, được tặng thưởng nhiều huân huy chương, gia đình có công cách mạng, phạm tội trong hoàn cảnh công việc “quá tải”… nên giảm nhẹ cho một phần hình phạt.

Ngoài ra, chủ tọa Nguyễn Đức Sáu cũng cho biết, trước khi vụ án được đưa ra xét xử, tòa án TP HCM đã nhận được rất nhiều đơn từ, công văn của các ban ngành, tập thể “tha thiết” đề nghị tòa công minh xem xét giữa công và tội, giảm nhẹ hình phạt cho các bị cáo.

Thân nhân: Không có thân nhân nào đáng kể. Không thấy ai to to lên tiếng tầm cỡ như bà Nguyễn Thị Bình.

Lời kết

Luật sư của bà Sương định đọc danh sách những người xin đi tù thay bị Tòa án Cần Thơ gạt đi, suýt bị đuổi ra ngoài. Phía ông Sỹ lại được chính quan tòa Tp HCM thông báo về nhiều người “tha thiết” xin giảm nhẹ cho bị cáo.

Cách đối xử phân biệt này tại tòa làm người ta liên tưởng đến quân Sỹ và quân Tốt trên bàn cờ tướng.

Ảnh: Kangaroos.org

Ở những nước kém phát triển, luật pháp “xử có tội cũng được, xử vô tội cũng được” xảy ra như cơm bữa. Dân chúng quen với những vụ án “điểm” được kết thúc như thế nào khi tòa án không được độc lập. Nhân chứng hay lời khai trước tòa không quan trọng bằng sự chỉ đạo phía sau màn nhung 

Cách đây 160 năm (1849) khi có chuyện Gold Rush (sốt tìm vàng) ở California (Mỹ) làm cho mấy trăm ngàn người khắp nơi trến thế giới kéo tới đây tìm vận may.

Đó là một nơi luật trong tay kẻ mạnh nên mọi cuộc xử án tranh chấp được quyết từ trước khi phiên tòa xảy ra. Người ta không quan tâm đến chứng cứ mà dựa trên ý kiến của một vài tay mafia hay cao bồi trong bóng tối.

Dân Mỹ gọi kiểu tòa án này là tòa án Kangaroo (Kangaroo Court), xử không cần nhân chứng, vật chứng. Kangaroo là chuột túi ở Úc, chả liên quan gì đến tòa án. Nhưng Kangaroo mẹ hay cho con vào túi bụng.

Những vị quan tòa đến xét xử đã có bản án sẵn trong túi nên mới gọi kiểu xử này là Kangaroo Court chăng?

Đương nhiên, không thể so sánh nông trường sông Hậu với cơn sốt đất như Gold Rush và Kangaroo Court ở California của nước Mỹ cách đây một thế kỷ rưỡi.

Thế giới hội nhập ngày nay phức tạp hơn nhiều, ngọc thật và ngọc rởm rất khó phân biệt.

Hiệu Minh. 22-11-2009.

Tham khảo:

• Vinh quang và cay đắng (TTO)
• Ý kiến bà Nguyễn Thị Bình (VNN)
• Bản án không thuận lòng người (VNN)
• Vụ án Huỳnh Ngọc Sỹ (VNExpress)

Source : http://hieuminh.org

It’s very, very true.

I’ve been lying in bed for about half an hour now, but I can’t sleep, all I’m doing is thinking. (why do we always think when we should be thinking?)

Do you ever feel that life is moving way too quickly? Like, one minute you’re thinking, God, I’ve got years and years ahead of me, so much time to do all the things I want to do and so much time to plan, I don’t need to do that now, I’ve got plenty of time for all that serious stuff.

Then the next minute you stop and look at your life and think, wow, the last 20 years have gone so quickly, in another 20 short years, the 20 shorts years I’ve been alive, I’ll be 40, I’ll be 10 years off half a century.

By the time I’m 40, I will want to be married, have children, definitely have my career in a steady place, I want to have travelled to Australia, Italy, America and Africa, plus all the small, holiday places in-between.

20 years really doesn’t seem long enough to achieve all of that….

I remember being asked when I left school, just over three years ago now,

‘Where do you want to be in five years time Charlotte?’

I answered, I want to be living in London, I want to have travelled and I want to have joined, or be joining the police force.

Like I said, that was three years ago, granted I have two more years left, but I haven’t travelled, and I gave up on the police to do exactly that. Now I have no job, and am killing myself slowly by searching for one. I need a job to save for travelling, and I can’t see this happening any time soon. At least, not in two, small, tiny years…

I’m not complaining, don’t get me wrong, my life could be, and has been a lot worse.

I’m living in London, my favourite place in the world.

I have a brilliant family, few, but amazing friends, I don’t want for anything (except a job, my own income and my future), I’m well looked after, and my family and friends tolerate a  lot of things that many families and friends would not.

I just, I want to see the world, you know? And I want time to get my career going and build a family…It just seems, that time is running out, and I’m going to have to do all these things I want pretty damn quickly else, while I’m planning all these things, life is going to run past me, and before I know it, it will all be too late…And you only get one chance at life, there’s no re-wind button or pause button or off and on button. There’s one chance, and if you muck it up, there’s nothing you can do about it.

Conservative

Reserved

Reverent

Purity

Modesty

Divinity

Heavenly

They are defining

But not constraining

They name me

But do not stop me

My heart elevates

My mind gravitates

Toward the conservative

To God

If the male in your life has ever attempted to put together kit furniture of any kind, and you found yourself standing over him after 6 hours of waiting for the two shelf bookcase to be completed, then this is would seem a reasonable question to ask. You would be wrong. Men feel we should have the inherent ability to construct anything from a simple shelf to a fully functional log cabin in the woods using nothing more than a pen knife and some string. The television programme MacGyver is used as proof and reference for this statement. Having to admit that we might need assistance with any form of construction/ task is felt to be disrespectful to what we consider to be genetically implanted man knowledge handed down over the ages. Besides, it was usually, a man wrote the instructions, and therefore, there is an unspoken bond that should negate the need to ask.

Hazel’s morning lecture has thrown up yet another thing to think about, in the generation of ideas. We have been given a new method of creating ideas, that looks someting like this:

I doubt I’ll be using this method to create more ideas for this project inparticular – any more things buzzing around my head at the moment and I might explode! – but I will definitely be using it for the next one!

Something I forgot to mention a while back:

We were all asked to design something that DaVinci never got around to doing. DaVinci was clearly a busy man.

For a bit of inspiration in what was a very vast spectrum, I decided to link this back to my food project. After several ideas along the lines of packaging, and making comfort  food, I settled on a doughnut hole puncher. You just know Leonardo loved his doughnuts!

This will hopefully be exhibited alongside the Museum of Science and Industry’s Da Vinci exhibition that’s going up sometime soon.

Other than that, the food cushions are coming along well, looking nice and squishy, just like I intended.

Will be looking into making a life-size gingerbread man, for a bit of a change from cushions. He could be used as a hug-buddy, a rug, a scarf…

Image via Wikipedia

A question posted by Teddy, a science graduate of UC Santa Barbara asked this question:

…Is it known how many calories human thinking takes?  I see in your archives that the brain uses 10% of the body’s energy, and I’ve heard that our brains draw 25% of our blood flow, and that 25% of the heat radiated from our bodies is radiated from our heads, but is this true for all mammals?  For all primates?  How many calories are consumed by the “higher functions” of the brain that are special to humans, and how many by the parts that are found in other mammals?

———————————-

Alex Goddard, Grad student, Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School answers…

Hi Teddy,

That’s a good question! I think the short answer is that it’s less energy than you might expect. I’ve tried to explain why I think so below.

First, I’d say that the basic energy expenditure per unit area of brain is probably the same between different types of animals. A human brain uses more total energy than a rat brain because it’s bigger and more complex. This idea probably applies to heat generation, blood flow and caloric requirement as well.

I saw somewhere that the brain uses 20% of your caloric input for the day. I don’t think that number is absolute, but it seems reasonable. So, assuming you eat 2000 calories per day, your brain uses about 400 calories per day. Then, we need to ask, how much is spent on ‘thinking’ or cognitive abilities? (I’m leaving the idea of consciousness out of this, because it has no definition that has been agreed upon)

To start out, we need to realize that the energy expenditure of the brain at rest is really quite high. This is because maintaining a neuron’s baseline is very metabolically “expensive;” before neurons can transmit information, they have to be properly connected and maintained. A neuron’s ability to use electricity to transfer information comes at the cost of a large amount of energy; it needs to constantly pump different ions into and out of the cell (ions carry the electric charge). Maintaining the long nerves that may extend a meter (such as the ones from your brain to your spinal cord) is also metabolically taxing as new proteins have to be made constantly and shipped down the nerve. All these processes require energy, and we haven’t even sent any information down axons yet! I would contend that the amount of energy spent maintaining the cell is far more than is actually spent on sending an electrical impulse down an axon.

Ok, so cell maintenance requires a lot of energy. One could then ask the question, “What about the cognitive functions? How much energy do they require?” I think the best way to answer this would be to first ask, ‘How much of the brain is devoted to cognitive function?” If we could say that 50% of the brain was devoted to cognitive function, then we could say 50% of the energy is devoted towards maintaining cognitive function.

The answer to that question is a hard one to pin down. Most of the brain is involved in non-cognitive processing. The brain must recreate visual space from a bunch of pixels in your eye. It computes the location of a sound based on when the sound hits your right ear versus your left ear (within 2 degrees, I think). It maintains your balance, triggers fight-or-flight responses, and decides how your fingers must move to type on a keyboard. Lots of non-cognitive processes are going on.

Furthermore, cognitive abilities are distributed all over the brain. (For those not familiar with brain anatomy, take a peek here for reference for the following descriptions: http://normandy.sandhills.cc.nc.us/psy150/outerbr.gif )

For instance, a brain scan (functional MRI) of people doing arithmetic showed activity in frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and occipital lobe (although activation of the occipital lobe, the site of vision processing, may have had to do with the subjects seeing the math problem). Language processing and generation is located mainly in the temporal lobe and frontal lobe. Decision-making and determining the consequences of actions is thought to occur in the frontal lobe. Generally, the frontal lobe is thought to be a hot seat of ‘cognitive ability,’ but it is not a pure ‘cognitive center.’ It is thought to be involved in non-cognitive decision making (i.e. determining unconscious preference and value). So to ask how much of the human brain is solely dedicated to cognitive tasks, I’d have to hazard a very hand-waving guess of 5%. And that’s a pretty liberal guess. And most of the energy used is spent on maintaining the cells and connections in these areas, not the actual cognitive processing itself.

How does that relate to other animals, primate and non-primate? Primates have a very similar level of cognitive power. They do appear to have a simple form of language, and may even be able to read! ( http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/chimps.htm ). They can make complicated decisions. Non-primate animals definitely have cognitive abilities as well, such as decision making, risk assessment, and memory formation, though the degree to which these decisions are ‘conscious’ as in humans is quite debatable. I don’t know if I could put a number on how much more brain space and energy is spent on cognition by humans, because it could be the type and amount of connectivity between cells that is more important than the percentage of cells in the brain.

Lastly, I’ll just briefly mention one interesting tidbit of info. The process of being aware of your surroundings apparently requires a lot of energy, which is not surprising. The basic idea is that as you transmit information, it uses some energy. According to one report, “The high resting brain activity is proposed to include the global interactions constituting the subjective aspects of consciousness. Anesthesia by lowering the total firing rates correlates with the loss of consciousness.” That is to say, low conciousness = lower firing rates = less total energy consumed. fMRI really uses a measure of metabolism to determine firing rates:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12806834&query_hl=4

I hope that provides some insights. I don’t know if we know enough to calculate an absolute number. If you have more questions, please do submit them!

-Alex G

from What are the energy requirements of thought?

————————–

Can anyone translate that answer for the scientifically-challenged folks like myself?

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Tengo una guitarra en el hombro
Una montaña de asombro una ceniza en la voz
Tengo dos canciones firmadas,
una está envenenada y la otra quiere tu amor
Guardo un recoveco en el alma
Que recuerda tu cara como nadie la vio
Río, lloro y paso de todo por el bien de los dos.

Vivo en un jardín sin malvones
Un zaguán sin salones, tu amistad quinto C
Pido que me olvide tu olvido
Pero ya es bien sabido no lo va a conceder
Ando como siempre vagando
por algún escenario y no lo vas a creer
Supe que mentías y todo por el bien de los dos

Y otra vez seremos dos extraños
Otra vez volveré a hacernos daño
Otra vez estoy en el fondo del dolor
Y otra vez, tu y yo, por el bien de los dos.

Tengo un rincón en la cama
Que ya no entiende nada y me pregunta por vos
Tengo una mitad que se queja
Y otra que no me deja escapar del dolor
Tengo una tremenda ceguera
y no va a ser la primera vez que vuelva a empezar
Porque ya no estas a mi lado por el bien de los dos

Y otra vez seremos dos extraños
Otra vez volveré a hacernos daño
Otra vez estoy en el fondo del dolor
Y otra vez tu y yo…

Y otra vez seremos dos extraños
Otra vez volveré a hacernos daño
Otra vez estoy en el fondo del dolor
Y otra vez, tu y yo, por el bien de los dos
Por el bien de los dos

Me running in 2004, Helsinki City Run

My running background

Some background info first. I’ve been running now for about 10 years now, I started when I realized that my back was failing me from all the sitting in front of the computer. So I’m not a professional runner, but I’ve accumulated a few kilometers over the years. I started by running to the closest foodstore to get my 1 liter bottle of Classic Cola (sidenote: best cola drink ever, too bad Olvi poisoned it at some point with artificial sweeteners) and back. This was about 6 kilometers in total, going through a forest route and ending to a really steep uphill path of about 300 meters. I still remember that steep path upwards through the forest, it really took the last drops out of me. Sometimes I failed at midway, but usually I managed to get it up at one go.

At some point I started doing longer routes (8-15 km), usually going the same route, sometimes running it backwards now and then. This got boring at some point and I started to variate my route based on my intuition. I would go jumping over fences, climb buildings, run through peoples yards and generally just go where ever I felt like. I found that this kind of intuitive running was very rewarding and fun. If the route seems boring, just take the next path you haven’t taken before and see where it takes you. I guess you could call it freerunning or parkour with a long route, but I hadn’t heard of these things back then.

Discovering The Flow

I’ve kept this formula until this day. I have a certain nice route that takes me about 40-50 minutes to get through if I manage to stay on it. Usually I don’t When I go where my instincts take me, I get in The Flow. The Flow is a state of

This tells something about my style of running

mind where I start to lose my conscious thoughts and I just become this machine that moves through the obstacles that are in front of me. My actions are pure reactions, no thinking, no pondering, no wondering .. just action and re-action. After the Flow, I usually find myself wondering “Wow, what just happened?”.

Now, it is hard to tell when you are getting to the zone of being in the Flow, but I know if I follow my inner voice, I will get there. Listening to good trance music with a steady beat helps me achieve this. I have a lot of different ~1 hour mixes by different DJs, some of my favorites for running are Dj Irish, Dj LilJo and Armin Van Buuren for example. A steady beat that is not too fast or too slow and a good mix of progressive tunes is usually what I look for. Btw, you can get Dj Irish’s “Assorted Trance” mixes from here: AssortedTrance.com. My favorite one is “Assorted Trance vol 17”, you might want to start from that one

Running as a form of meditation

The steady pumping of the trance beat can be related to the shaman drumming and syncronizing himself into an alternative state of consciousness. This combined with demanding physical activity takes it to a whole new level. Although I’ve done this for a long time now, I didn’t realize until while ago that running is the best meditation that I’ve done! And I didn’t even know I was doing meditation This realization comes through the fact that I started doing Chi Kung and a bit later also Kundalini Yoga, and through those activies I’ve realized what is the goal of meditation.

This reminds me of a question my friend and ex-roommate Janne asked me while we were still studying and living together: “What is your motivation for running?” Which I then replied “I would go insane if I didn’t”. Little did I then know that it was the meditative and healing properties of running that kept me doing it and made me feel good afterwards. The feeling I sometimes get after I come back from the Flow is total clarity. Sometimes I don’t even remember how I got from the point A to B because I was so in the zone while doing it. Almost everytime after this my mind is filled with good ideas coming from a totally new perspective, like from a dream or if I was closer to the original source of ideas. Inspiration through perspiration

I’ve pondered on this many times, and my theory is that through this becoming the Flow, you get closer to the collective consciousness of all living things and you are allowed to grab ideas from this stream of consciousness. Many times I have struggled on some problem and through running I’ve found the answer. I’m not still sure what happens during this process, so any views on this are welcome.

This is what running means for me. I’ve pondered it for a while and gained some insights during this time. I will now share some tips and pointers that hopefully are useful for other people too:

Free your mind and your ass will follow ..

.. Or my five tips to a fellow runner/parkour/human

The original quote “Free your mind and your ass will follow” is usually credited to George Clinton, so I’m not taking credit for that. The idea to write these tips came during a long run in the cold, wet darkness that is Finland in October. I thought about the basic stuff that might be hard to realize and how long it did for me to realize even these following basic things about running & overcoming obstacles/parkouring:

My choice of shoes for running .. they've taken quite a beating

Note: Traditional running shoes might hinder your performance, natural movements and connection with your body. I suggest trying to run barefeet or use more natural shoes like the Vibram Fivefingers if you really want to get your technique better.

Leg movement starts from the hips

When running, try not to think about your legs moving and getting you somewhere, instead try to focus on your hips being the source of movement. When you do this, you get into a much more natural way of running than when just keeping your hips static and moving your legs. Try to kinda “roll” the movement through your hips all the way down to your feet. If you do this properly, you wont have to even think about the running or your legs, just concentrate on your hips swaying back and forwards.

Avoid landing on the heels

Instead, try to make your feet roll smoothly over the ground so that the contact with the ground starts from the outer side of your feet’s heel, progresses towards the toes from the outer side still and when you finally push yourself towards, your whole body is connected to the ground through your center of balance point. This center of balance point is located about 2-3 inches between your first (thumb) and second toe, towards the heel and kinda buried inside. You can find this point by gently trying to massage this point with your fingers, when it hurts you’ve found it

This nerve point is also our connection to the energies of the ground. This is something I’ve learned through doing Chi Kung. If you want to stay balanced, try to walk so that you are focusing on these points on your feet and keeping them as connected to the ground as possible.

Be confident and careful

When overcoming obstacles, remember to practice everytime you are doing something new. When practicising jumps, landings or whatever, first try at levels that you are confident with.

When I’m doing something I haven’t done before, like going over a new kind of fence or jumping at an odd angle that I havent tried before, I first try the movement at a smaller scale. When I know what muscle and leg movements are required for me to perform, I focus on the big picture:

Visualize your goal, not the way to get there

Try to visualize your goal, not the movements that will get you there. This is especially important when jumping over obstacles or doing any kind of movement where there is the possibility of injury through failure. If you doubt your goal, you will fail. This is where being confident about your skills comes into play too. Don’t try to do something you are not sure about.

Quoting the words of Jedi Master Yoda: “Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’ “. Visualizing your actions helps your body to do all the different steps it was trained to do. First train your body to perform the movement on a smaller scale, then just go for it and let your body do what it was trained for. Trying to think how to move your legs during a jump will take your focus away from the goal.

A good example of this is walking. If you walk and think about walking, you will probably start to alter you walking or even fail to walk like you normally do. But if you just walk and not think about (like we usually do), you will get where you were planning on going. Apply this same to every action you do and you will succeed. Of course you will first have to learn how to walk

You can also think your body as a collection of independent machines or forms of life. You train your hand to do a movement, and then you just do it without thinking about it. The human body is an incredible collection of autonomous forms of life, seemingly connected and controlled by a central nervous system that is connected to a central CPU called your brain. A hand or a leg can move without a brain, and a brain can operate without a hand attached to it.

Shaman running, visualization practice for uphill running

This is something I’m still learning. I got the tip from some book I read concerning shamans, but I can’t really remember which one. Anyway, in the book there was instructions for running uphill without getting really tired at the same time. Apparently Native Americans and indigenous people around the world use this technique to travel long distances or go uphill easily. I’ve tried it for some time now and was kinda surprised that it actually works.

Here’s what you do: when running uphill or any steep path, rocks or cliffs, try to visualize a string  coming from just below your naval point. Imagine that this string is attached to some tree, rock or other object that is along your path. When you have made the connection, feel the object pulling you towards itself with this string. Keep focusing on this string and the feeling of being pulled. Turn your hands  so that your palms are facing downwards towards the ground and imagine that beams of energy or light are coming from the center of your hands. Visualize that this beam of energy is supporting you and helping you to run, much like your legs are doing. Focus on these two points and keep your breathing steady at the same time.

I usually use trees, as they are living objects and I can feel their energy flowing. Again, this is something I’ve learned by doing Chi Kung.

This documentary film tells about our Home and why we should  treasure it, earth’s exploitation and the fact that earth can’t keep it up. Because I care, I’m obliged to show you the fact about our extreme exploitation to meet our need and its influence to our earth. Here are some points I collected:

• Captured by more than hundred million ago, million of plants. Oil. Began the era of human.
• In 50 years, in a single lifetime, the worls has been radicaly changed more than by all previous generation in all of our 200,000-year history.
• The last 60 years, the earths’s population has almost tripled.
• Shenzen in China with hundreds of skyscrapers and millions oh inhabitants, was just a small fishing vilage barely 40 years ago. Shanghai, hundreds towers and skyscrapers have been built 20 years ago, more are under construction.
• In America, 3 million farmers are left to feed 2 billon people. But grain is not only used to feed people but also for biofuel and livestock. In LA, the number of cars is almost equal to the number of inhabitants. 80-100 liter water was consumed per person per day in Las Vegas. Las Vegas was built out of the desert. Million lives there. Its inhabitants are the among the biggest water consumers in the world.
• Since 1950, the wolume of international trade has increased 20 times over. 90% of trade goes by sea. 500 million containers are transported every year.
• Dubai has built artificial island in the sea. Dubai has few natural resources,  but with the money of oil it can bring milions of tons of material. Dubai has no farmland but it can import food. Dubai can afford the machine to desalinate seawater and build world’s highest skyscrapers. Dubai has endless sun but it has no solar panel.
• 1 of 10 rivers no longer flow into the sea for several months of the year.
• Level of the Dead Sea goes down by over one meter per year.
• Water shortage could affect nearly 2 billion people before 2025.
• the world’s largest rain forest has been reduced by 45% .
• Barely 20 years ago, Borneo, the 4th largest island in the world was coverd by a vast primary forest. But at the current of the deforestation, it will have massively plummeted within 10 years. One of the explanation was that it was provoked by the decision to produce palm oil. The forest diversity is replaced by a singles species, the oil palm.
• Another example of  forest deforestation is the use of Eucalyptus that it used ti make paper pulp.
• The city of Lagos has 700,000 population in 1960, that will rise to 16 millions by 2025.
• We don’t change our model. Oil might run out, we can still extract  oil from tar sand in canada.
• Process of heating and separating bitument from the sand requires millions of cubic meters of waters.
• In few decades, the carbon that made our atmosphere a furnace, and that nature captured over millions of years, allowing life to develop, will have largely pumped back out.
• The north-west passage that connect America, Europe and Asia via the pole is opening up. The arctic ice cap is melting and lost 40 % of its thickness in 40 years. Around the north pole,  the ice cap has lost 30% of its surface area in 30 years. Greenland’s ice contains 20% of the fresh water of the whole planet. If it melts, salt water will rise by nearly 7 meters. 80% of glacier in mount of Kilimanjao has dissapear.
• 5000 people a day die because of dirty drinking water. 1 billion people have no access to safe drinking water.
• Over 50% of grain traded around the world is used for animal feed or biofuels.
• 40% of arable land has suffered long-term damage.
• Every year, 13 million hectares of forest dissapear.
• 1 mammal in 4, 1 bird in 8, 1 amphibian in 3 are trathened with extinction. Species are dying out at a rhythm 1000 times faster than the natural rate.
• There may be at least 20 million climate refugees by 2050.
• The average temperature of the last 15 years has been the highest ever recorded.

I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Chilean poet and writer, Pablo Neruda, till I read this quote on a blog yesterday:

“You are the result of yourself.”

It really made me think… all sorts of things.  About myself, my family, my colleagues, my students, disadvantaged people, privileged people, famous people, criminals…

I wondered what kids would make of it.  Here are some responses from 12 year-olds, some of whom didn’t write their names. Thank you 6B for your awesome thinking!

The decisions and choices you make reflect the deep inner person you are. (Jessie)

The only competition is yourself. (Ellie)

I think it’s saying, try your hardest.. that is good enough.

Your mind is controlled by you, so you choose your future (Aria)

If  you want something, you have to work for it. (Benji)

You are you who you are. Don’t try and be someone who you are not. (Ruby)

It’s up to you to decide what you are in life.

I think it means I must take action for what I believe in. (Jessie. H)

I think it means however you choose to live your life, you will get the results back. (Melanie)

The effort you put in affects the outcome that you carry around.

It means whatever you do, you can succeed in life, if you think you can.

If you try something, the result is you. You can make something happen.

If you do something wrong or right, you are responsible for the outcome or consequences. (Justin)

It’s about responsibility and thinking carefully before you do something. (Joel)

What ever you do is a reflection on you. (Talia)

What you do is what you become.. think carefully before you do! (Natalie)

You control your own actions. If you do something you must know that it might kick you in the butt later! (A.R)

Your past will come back to you in your future. (Ruby)

P.S. I only found the whole poem afterwards.

How easy it is to forget about things when you’re busy. I have forgotten about my writing, about my meetings. Can you believe that last night I didn’t even realize that it was Wednesday and the thought that the meeting would be that night didn’t even cross my mind? I felt guilty afterward, but I guess all I can do is try harder.

With school stuff taking over, I hardly write anymore. Right before I fall asleep I have words all over my head. And I recite phrases that are really unlike me to think or feel. It’s weird. It’s like when I’m about to go to sleep or when I’m in the shower, or cooking or doing random stuff, I have the most inspiration of all. Maybe not inspiration. Maybe it’s just talent. I’d like to think so.

Anyway, I plan on writing much more from now on. But sometimes my hand is afraid to touch a paper. I’m afraid of knowing my thoughts are sad again, that deep inside, I’m not ready to face what I am old enough to face now.

I was telling a friend the other night that I am afraid of how I’ll end up. That I might get a crappy career that I’m not happy with. That I’ll marry the first guy that comes along and treats me right – just to make my parents unworried about me, just to check another thing on the list of my senseless illusions. I don’t want to live my life on auto-pilot anymore, you know? I want to know what I’m loving and put all the passion I can into it. I want to do better and wish well for others. I think I’m not doing so bad in trying, but for some reason, I’m just not succeeding.

I want to move away, far away…I want to go to a place where I can be me all over again. But then I remember one of my favorite but most true lyrics…”every step that you take could be your biggest mistake; it could bend or it could break, but that’s the risk that you take”. All I wonder is, should I let that truth cripple me while I try to make decisions, or should it make me strong? I think it’s telling me to be strong. I think it’s saying that no matter what you do, it’s all hanging on a piece of thin wire, and your life could change for the worse or the better….so I might as well do what I want the most and see which way that takes me.

beautiful girl at the cafe waiting and thinking

beautiful girl at the cafe waiting and thinking

female,waiting,thinking,women,looking,one person,hair,caucasian,portrait,young,beautiful,adult,face,cute,woman,close-up,smile,beauty,horizontal,head,healthy,glasses,serene people,purity,young female

Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays, not for the sake of the various foods prepared, but because I find a true joy in being grateful. Though it can be supressed or misdirected, I think gratitude is probably the most natural response humans have to God. Expressing gratitude has such a wonderful way of benefiting both the recipient and the person sharing it, which is why feels so right. The reality of my own photographic style is that I am often completely caught up in the moment and my surroundings, but when I take time to contemplate the act, I recognize my underlying goal to show appreciation for the experience of living. The camera allows me to be consistently conscious of the multitude of blessings that surround me, even when I don’t have it in hand.

Last Sunday afternoon (because that is when the sun goes down these days), my wife, Breea, gave me the gift of time to hike out into the winter wilderness. I was hopeful that the increasing clouds on the horizon would not interrupt completely the light of the setting sun, and I hiked the trail above the west side of the Mendenhall Glacier to a spot that gives a stunning view over the ice and of the surrounding peaks. The sky was plain in the direction I wanted to focus, and my tripod was unwieldy on the steep slopes and snow, so I composed all my photos with a long lens using IS. Shooting handheld is unusual for me, but I love the incredible freedom it gives to respond quickly to the ever-changing light on a varied landscape.

I almost always hike to my destination enjoying my surroundings but with my camera remaining in the backpack. But because of the fickle light, I forced myself to stop when I got to a place on the trail that offered a clear view of a scene I had been enjoying through the branches of the trees. Indeed, the light only lasted for about a minute after I stopped. What I found special was the role warmth plays in this photograph of snow and ice because of the way the warm light reflects back and forth in the crevasses.

The contrast of warm and cool became something of a theme through the rest of my outing, and each subsequent image would show the combination in a new way. The photo below was not one I knew I would like as much some others at the moment I tripped the shutter, but I wanted to make a record of the impressive lighting and features. While later viewing the image, I grew more and more fond of the lines and colors. Sometimes we don’t appreciate something the way we should at first, but when we take time and give consideration, the value that was initially misjudged becomes apparent.

I saw the paths of light and shadow from this next photograph leading away from each other within the scene, and I thought it made a poignant statement about the paths of thought we choose to follow. When we perseverate on the darkness that surrounds us, and everyone faces their own challenges, there’s a tendency to become despondent or even despairing. When I instead count my many blessing, it’s a way to follow the light path toward a place filled with peace that is easily missed. In the end, I know that the metaphor is a bit of a stretch, and the photo doesn’t quite capture the response I had to the scene for some reason, but I still like the concept.

This broken section of glacier where the edge of the ice is falling over a steep bank has always caught my attention on visits to this location. Theres a fanning pattern and a sharpness in the edges of the ice that continues to conjure up images in my mind of tongues of flame. Even as the light faded on this afternoon, I got that same impression. Again, it connects to the theme of pairing cold with hot in an unexpected way.

In the final photo from the set, direct light is completely absent from the scene, and yet there are some ways that a subdued warmth covers an even greater percentage of the image that in any of the previous pictures. It’s about perspective, and I controlled the white-balance settings to reflect my impression that the cold didn’t take over the scene after the sun set. It’s like the part of the classic movie, Pollyanna, where the main character claims she can find something to be thankful for in any situation with a list of examples that border on the ridiculous. This may, in fact, be my favorite photo of the group.

I find that the beauty of the Earth is an inspiration to be thankful for a great many things with more significance than a stunning landscape can possibly have. It’s a hook that pulls me in and reminds me to consider all the blessings of relationships that will be more permanent than glaciers or even the mountains and valleys that they shape. This morning I have plenty of other inspirations for a grateful attitude: my daughter, Della, crawled into my room about an hour ago and asked me to tell her if her feet were stinky after I took off the brace she wears on them at night; I talked to my brother on the phone yesterday just hours after the birth of his twins; I’m looking forward to an evening of celebrating this holiday in the company of most of Breea’s immediate family. I could go on and on, but I will do that in my own mind over the course of the day and those to come.

Thanksgiving is a state of mind that is much more easily attained with knowledge of God’s greatest gift to each of us. When Jesus paid the price for every wrong we’ve ever thought or done, God showed us a love that was beyond anything we could merit. The only reasonable response is thanksgiving, and eventually we learn to love in return. Every good gift comes from God, and I would like to close these thoughts with a line from the chorus of the song from which I borrowed the title for this journal entry. “Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise!”

]]> http://suwandaru.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/inspiring-classical-music-cum-dederit/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:50:39 +0000 Agung Suwandaru http://suwandaru.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/inspiring-classical-music-cum-dederit/

Having listened to the astonishing soundtrack from movie Home, I am dazed by its simplicity, and beauty. The title is “Cum Dederit dilectis suis somnum”, sung by Sadrine Piau originated performed by Vivaldi, and in Latin.

Here is the lyric:

Cum Dederit dilectis suis somnum
Cum Dederit dilectis suis somnum
ecce haereditas Domini
filii merces
fructus ventris
fructus ventris

Cum Dederit dilectis suis somnum

ecce haereditas Domini filii merces
fructus ventris

fructus ventris
fructus ventris
fructus ventris

for He gives sleep to His loved ones.
Behold, children are a heritage of God.
The fruit of the womb is His reward.

I think the relation of this song with the film is that, God have given many things in this world, including the earth. The earth is a miracle from God, we share the same earth, we breath the same air, we drink the same water, there are may animal and grain, mineral and oil, until we doze and sleep. Nonetheless, in the last 50 years, we have radically change our world, also disrupted its balance. We don’t have time to wait, our children crave for fruit we plant in the humus. so this is the time to conserve our only earth and care for ourselves, biodiversities, and earth itself.