Blog Hiatus

"Finals" have finally arrived. Good luck to everyone who'll be enduring the finale examino syndrome.

Yes We Will ! Hillary '08

Today, Pennsylvania decides !

Yes We Will!

The Clintons at Penn's Palestra

FLINOLA 5 - That's it

Message written on a piece of wood =)

The owner of the home..

Vandalism by the students..

The 100 or so student from Penn who were in NOLA

Ammesty International Report - the AI report

The AI report on Death Sentences and Executions was released yesterday. I found it extremely "exciting" that for some reason, the name "malaysia" (which appears twice in the report) always pairs with "Mongolia" even though we hardly have anything in common.

For instance,

Introduction :

Many countries carry out executions in secret and refuse to divulge any information on the use of the death penalty. Such countries include China, Singapore, Malaysia and Mongolia.

Reports on execution :

Amnesty International remains concerned that executions may have taken place in Mongolia and Malaysia.

Anyway, I don't think anyone should look into the report seriously. The method used to compute those numbers is dubious. AI has not quoted any official figures from the respective governments and the compilation of such a report should at least attempt to obtain the official figures from reputable sources. What happen to Congo, Algeria, or Iraq? AI left these countries out (whether accidental or on purpose) from the report even though their numbers per capita are way more pressing that Malaysia's. What a broo-ha-ha on nothing!

Beijing 08

I found it disturbing that many are calling out that politics should be kept out of the coming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

For starters, China is hosting the Games for POLITICAL reasons. I was attending a talk by a former Wharton MBA dean, Professor David Reibstein a few weeks ago when a Chinese MBA student bravely stood up and refuted that the Chinese officers are well aware that they will lose a few billion this summer. Huge global brand names have been turned down for more coverage even though millions have been offered. In place, China will be putting forth local-named-products that have no international value but would definitely paint a rosy picture of the nation's progress. Heck, these brand names may not even be in business at all. So be prepared to see various banners, advertisements or fliers that promotes a product you may not even find in the market.

Beijing '08 is simply a political statement. The Games is about self pride, dignity and prestige. China wants the world to see that all is well in China (but in fact, amnesty international should really whack them hard for all their humanity oppression). The spirit of sportsmanship has been tainted by the numerous dubious moves that Beijing took to sidestep the world into believing that the People's Republic of China is A-OK behind their bamboo curtains. Now is the time for the people to stand up and make things count. It's no accident that the crackdown on the rebellion in Tibet is done just 3 months before the Games. I'm sure there'll be many more similar crackdowns in the run-up to the Games but will be left unreported. There's simply more than meets the eye here.