Peaceful Rise or World War III

The West have feared for the rise of a new power in the East ever since the end of Cold War that marked the end of the Soviet Era. Who better to take up the place of the imaginary enemy now that the Soviets are divided into many pieces with Mother Russia barely able to look after her own affairs much rather than threatening anybody else. Here's where the hate for communism comes in handy. North Korea is too small and too underdeveloped to make a noise. What about China? China would be perfect. Largest population on Earth, fueled by a crazed economy, ruled by a communist dictator. Fits all the descriptions of the enemy state. The US can illegally invade countries to obtain resources, establish military bases everywhere in the world, fund behind the curtain private wars without consequences. Yet a diplomatic visit of the Chinese President to Africa would "raise alarms" in Washington and all of the coalition of the willing. The way I have it figured, every country in the world is trying to be the hegemon. Some opt for relatively ethical ways, some opt not to. Just a side note, the US and many western countries are not exactly on the ethical side. If viewed from a neo-realist's perspective, every state will do whatever it takes to empower itself while damaging the others. It's not a surprise that China are trying to get in African nation's good graces. Being the largest consumer of natural resources in the world, with the US simpling taking over countries that possess those crucial resources. China would be stupid not to secure supplies that would ensure its future development. The article mentions china's failure to pressure Sudanese government to accept UN peacekeepers in Darfur. This following link will prove that China is in fact sending peacekeepers to Darfur.
http://sinodefence.com/news/2007/news07-09-17.asp

In addition, the argument the west have used against China is ridiculous. If you have heard the news report on various news agencies such as CNN. They are saying that China's Unconditional Aids and Economic help to Africa is horrible. I don't care what the intention maybe, if the people in Africa are receiving help, which they desperately need, I would think that no one should criticize the one providing the aids.
The following is more of a neutral opinion of the matter presented by our good British friends.

i Robot?

The human imagination knows no boundaries. Wow, did they ever get it right with that one. I now pronounce you man/woman and robot, how awkward would that sound? As if homosexual marriages are not controversial enough, we'd just have to take it to the next level, human and machines. The politicians will really go to town with this one, democrats and conservatives alike.
I do see some merit in the author's argument though. Look around, automation is a essential part of our life. Like McLuhan said, machines have became a medium for us, acting as extensions of our bodies. As of now, the reality is that our society can not effectively function without helps from automated systems. Who knows, in 2050, if robots can really develop to the stage where we can not effectively distinguish them apart from real humans. There will be some courageous adventurers that will give it a shot. As for the sociological implications, apparently having sex with robots could decrease the spread of human prostitution and eliminate all the problems that comes with it. Just exactly how far would those quasi scientists go to get some attention?
Maybe I am just too short sighted to envision the future, or maybe some people in this world are just plain crazy. Either way, human's natural ability to think, communicate and to feel are something that can not be duplicated by technology at the moment. Our brain is simply to complex to be mimicked by electrical circuits. If anything, my generation will probably never have to deal with this problem, never mind our children.

One last thing, what if you are trying to get some, and your robot lover runs out of battery?? hmm.. to think of it, that may actually make robots resembling more like real people.

Hear from what other people think about this article on youtube.com

CCA2

Communications is not simple. Take a look at our southern neighbor’s presidential speech, and you would have know what not to do when conducting a public speech. Most people assume that communication skills are developed naturally without the need for training. This is true in some sense as almost everyone is able to communicate, and the few who do it better usually had no more training than the rest. However, while basic communication skills can be naturally learned through interpersonal contacts, superior communication skills usually need to be taught and developed.
Infants that not socialized properly will not possess the necessary skills to communicate. Occasionally, I have read news reports discovering infants raised with zero or little human contact who are unable to communicate in our society. (Think Tarzan). It is only through extensive teachings of our languages and cultures, were they able to gain the supposedly “natural ability” to speak and understand. I think this is a sufficient proof that although we may not have been specifically taught communication skills in a formal classroom, we learn to communicate skillfully because of our exposure to others in our surrounding environment.
In addition, even the better communicators are far from being perfect. I have found that on occasions, good communicators often are unable get the message across effectively as well. As stated in the textbook, communication skills are rather like athletic ability, and can be improved with consistent training and practice. The most incompetent of us can learn to communicate effectively with proper training. Taking this course would be as good as a start as any.

CCA1

“What’s your name? Hu. Not who! What’s YOUR NAME. My name is Hu!” Who could forget that hilarious first meeting scene between Chris and Jackie from the movie Rush Hours? The inability of both characters to communicate successfully with each other despite using the same language is an ideal example of how culture serves as a perceptual filter that influences the way we interpret events. In the following paragraphs, I will share my personal experiences with two different cultures to demonstrate the impact of this principle on the effective communication process between people from different cultural backgrounds.
Quite frequently, a gesture towards someone can construe entirely different meanings based upon the cultural backgrounds of the communicator. Being a Chinese-Canadian, I have personally experienced the cultural shock when I moved to Canada at the age of 11. As I arrived, I was surprised to realize that the difference in language was not the only factor prohibiting my capability to communicate effectively with others. Growing up in China, I was taught that looking directly in the eyes of the person you are speaking with is a sign of disrespect, and it is appropriate to remain quiet when there’s nothing important to be said. As a result of such custom, I often bowed and avoided eye contact while making conversation with my classmates and teachers. Therefore, I was often mistakenly labeled by my teachers as introverted and incapable of leadership, which is not true of my personality. The difference in cultural perception between Chinese and Canadian caused disparity on our perception of identical signals and caused unfortunate and unnecessary misunderstandings between me and my instructors.
It is important to realize that failures to recognize cross-cultural differences can lead to impairments of effective communication, causing unnecessary confusions. However, these differences can be effectively eliminated with increased knowledge of other people’s cultural backgrounds. Living in today’s increasingly diverse society, shouldn’t we all be educated in how to better understand other people?

The people have spoken, No MMP!!!

Green party actually having a standing in the parliament? haha, who are we kidding? At least it would seem that the minority of Canadians who bothered to vote are sensible enough to not let a hippie group have a say on our country's future. NDP with a majority setting? now that's a scary thought.
Yes I am a conservative, so what? one thing to be clear though, i claim no affiliation with with the republican party down south.

If you don't already know, check out what exactly what MMP is by clicking on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_member_proportional_representation

Despite my personal feelings towards the MMP reform campaign. The referendum most likely failed because of its poorly structured publicity campaign. I consider myself as relatively up to date on what's happening on the political world, and even I have not heard much on the reform proposal. Apparently the "millions and millions" they spent on advertising and "awareness campaign" were absolutely useless. When the voters at the poll are still asking what the hell MMP stands for, your advertisements failed. Sure you could say that you've spend millions, but you've got to learn to do it EFFECTIVELY." Pretty big E there, works the same way in Elections. Point to be said, next time, hire a better publicity firm.

Either way, we are stuck with McGuinty for another year. Wish I could say John Tory would be much better. Hey, at least we dont have a hippie groupie in control.

Halo 4?

Halo 3 has finally arrived, woohoo. Truth to be told, I’ve probably spent at least 3 hours everyday in the last week sitting in front of the TV pushing buttons. All thanks to my deep pocketed roommate who generously brought over his brand new Xbox 360 and coughed up 60 big ones to get Master Chief’s new work right on its release day. Gotta tell you, the game is worth every penny….every penny not out of my pocket. What more could you possibly ask for when you have religious aliens determined to come to your planet and blow you up to piece? Anybody see a resemblance between the story line and our world? “cough” Never mind.
What greater way to sell a game than making the player feel like he’s skilled in all deadly combats, with a hot AI girl as you companion, being the person on the face of the planet able to save humanity from almost certain doom. Microsoft has certainly done its market research and used up all its combined resources to create an absolutely unreasonable hype for a simple game that makes gamers and non-gamers alike interested. Since I have first hand experience playing the game, I’ll talk about what the gamer experience will be like. The game itself is very much like its predecessor Halo 2, with a slight upgrade in graphics. Throughout game play, the CPU controlled marines constantly praise and shows the utmost respect to the player controlled Master Chief, making one effectively feeling like…well…God. Here’s proof, watch their marketing campaign on television.
Frankly I don’t get what all the hype is about. I am more of a computer gamer myself, the key is the mouse. Point and shoot. How simple is that compared to the complicated joystick aiming. The trailer for the game does look amazing though. It’s Microsoft’s way of communicating and attracting potential customers before they actually realize how unoriginal Halo 3 really is.
Finally, enjoy the official trailer of Halo 3. For whatever its worth, the trailer looks amazing.