Seagull 1963

" The movement is high quality, but the exterior quality and fit and finish are poor, as is typical with Chinese watches. It still looks nice and is very unique though, so I am happy to have it in my collection. It's from the Seagull watch factory. "
I'm very interested to know that Dave owns a 1963 Chinese Air Force watch. He collects wristwatches and bought this from a German man in Hong Kong last summer.

Gun Ban

I disagree completely. Look at Chicago, murder capital of the US.
Since they enacted their (highly illegal) gun ban in the early 80's.
Violent crime has done nothing but go up.
Then let's look at Detroit. In 2002 Michigan passed concealed carry.
Violent crime in Detroit has fallen since.

Rainy Day

"Some bad news is that I think my BMW is shot. I have been noticing blue smoke between shifts, which is a sign that oil is leaking into the combustion chamber. There is probably something wrong with the valvetrain, which is a very expensive problem to fix." Well,well,well...I suppose that's what Dave gets for driving so aggressively. LOL~

Good point

"The British system is based on the medieval traditions rather than classical traditions. This is why classical architecture never really took off in Britain - it's Gothic all the way.
Even the 'Mother of Parliaments' is a Gothic building, a cathedral to bourgeois liberalism rather than a temple to republicanism.
Our political traditions are medieval rather than classical, enlightened despotism rather than classical republicanism.
We trace our liberties to the early medieval kings like Henry II or
King John rather than to Cicero or Demosthenes.
The problem was that medieval England was more liberal and more advanced than almost any other medieval European state (merrie olde England), so when feudalism was swept away everywhere else
in Europe during the 18th century, the archaic semi-feudal system
in Britain creaked and swayed a bit, but did not fall.
The Enlightenment failed to take hold in England, and our feudal system continued unbroken. We are now stuck with it.

The Founding Fathers were absolutely right to chuck out all that medieval rubbish and start again from first principles.
The Magna Carta was not a founding document of the American Republic, and it was deliberately excluded from the canon.
Rightly so. The Founding Fathers went back beyond the medieval feudal concept of rights and obligations and returned to the classical republican tradition. This is why public buildings in America all
look like classical temples. Public buildings in Britain look like Gothic cathedrals. That fact symbolises the political differences between our two countries."

Sage of the Seers

"From what I've experienced, I believe they are correct. Its active ingredient, salvinroin A, is the most powerful naturally-occurring hallucinogen." Well, Salvia Divinorum does indeed mean "diviners' sage". It is used by the Mazatec Indians of Mexico in their religious ceremonies. They believe it gives them access to the spirit world.
The herb itself is perfectly legal to smoke in Britain,
and is becoming increasingly popular.

Singin' in the Rain

It begins just after sunrise.
After a good night sleep, I leave home to go to work.
I do this so I can provide a better life for my families.
So I can afford to buy nice things and have a reason to get up in the morning. When the exhausting work is done, I come back home
again and begin counting the days...till my next vacation.

Long Time No See

Dear Blog, I'm sorry about neglecting you recently.
It's just that I had run out of things to say about McDonalds lunches.
Anyway, I'm obsessed with food. Food seems to have always been an important part of Chinese culture, unlike Britain. In fact, one of the main ways in which Chinese culture has influenced the West is through its food -- the West has embraced Chinese food in a big way; most towns in Britain have several Chinese restaurants and takeaways.

An early bird

While other siders are hitting the snooze button, I had a rude awakening when the rooster crowed at dawn this morning.
And I'm serving a week of hard time.

Misery Love Company

Positive thinking can change our life.
"You cannot put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get." In Phelps's cases, positive thinking produced an attitude of hopeful expectation and armed him with the necessary tools to make his dreams come true.
Dear Alex, it can do the same for us, too!

A Complete Idiot Way To Einstein

This is a very great book even with a very small title.
It's very easy to read with several cartoons on one page, this style is very suitable for me.
Also the length or the number of words on each page is all very short. And the way in which the author tried to show his opinions is also very diverse. Anyway, this would be a very good book for me to understand Einstein and Physics and History of Physics.

Devil in the Details

An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is good to know no matter
where you live. Once needed, it is too late to learn such things
which prevent panic in an emergency.

AIAA JOURNAL

"The authors provide a very good description of their objectives, approach and results obtained. Their description of the wavelet
based neural network that was used in their analysis also very
good, as are the conclusions drawn from their results."
Alex's manuscript was sent out to 5 reviewers.
As of now 4 reviews have been completed.
He'll modify his manuscript in accordance with the reviewers'
comments and suggestion.

Valentine's Day

I havenot actually decided how to celebrate yet.
Perhaps I'll go out for a meal at a restaurant and eat alone.
I havenot talked to Alex lately because he has been so wrapped up
in preparations for his thesis.

Mississippi

William Faulkner was a famous author from Ole Miss. The State is named after the River.
It is located in the Gulf of Mexico directly adjacent to Alabama. It has a grand tradition of plantations and cotton fields. Mark Twain wrote about the river and the state.

A History of the American People

Volume two is beyond the Civil War to the present day.
That is just how the class is split up because the Civil War was such a pivotal moment in America's history, half of the semester is spent on that single topic and all of the battles and the differences between the two governments. Many are still fighting that war.
Reconstruction nearly permanently divided the country.
Some remnants of it are still on the books today.

Friends

American humour is based on slapstick - visual, physical humour. This makes it easy to understand for an international audience,
and is probably why American film comedies became so successful from the 1920s onwards.
British humour is based on irony and social discomfort,
which is difficult for a non-British audience to understand.

Free Talk

The media complex has a huge Jewish component. It has a huge Catholic component, too. But the biggest component is a giant Protestant one. Everyone has their own specialty.
The Jews, humor, production values, the "news" and marketing.
The Catholics, ancient superstition and vengeance.
The Protestants, crime, horror, God, money and twisted sex.
Altogether it spells American E-N-T-E-R-T-A-I-N-M-E-N-T!

A Real Concern

"We have a basic human rights stance that the government
should get involved before people starve to death."
Well, human rights always wins over greed. There are programs
for people living in certain conditions that will allow them to get a subsidy from the governmentto buy food.
The numbers are getting larger for people who need such assistance.

Financial Crisis

Now we are having much unemployment. 6 months ago the rate was 4%, now it is over 8%. In another six months it may be 25%.
That number is the rate of people who are receiving government unemployment benefits but doesnot include the people who have been out of work for more than six months.

HBO

'Rome' is one of the best historical series ever made.
It's violent and bloody because ancient Rome at that time was itself violent and bloody. And watching the series would actually be a
good way of learning about the history of that time.

Henry VIII

'Divorced, beheaded, dead; divorced, beheaded, survived.'
LOL, six wives! He was a busy man.

The Last Samurai

There were a series of violent crimes committed by thugs and hooligans using cheap imitation samurai swords which they purchased on the internet, so the government banned the sale
and ownership of those kinds of swords.
Real swords are still legally available.
After all, a thug is not likely to slash or stab somebody with a
sword that costs £2000, is he?
He's going to use an imitation sword that cost him £30 on eBay,
then throw it into a canal afterwards.