China is trying to force multinational companies to move production into China. China increased their export tax of yellow phosphorous in order to get chemical production companies to expand production in China. I don't understand why China would incur more costs on their exporters. Aren't exports good for the Chinese economy? Are they doing this to keep their natural resources within China?

I wonder what it would be like to take classes for the sake of taking them and not for the grade at the end. I think I would know more.

the love key

I'm starting to understand how important it is to love things in life in order to be productive. In the beginning of college I couldn't figure out anything that I really loved because I was so busy occupying myself by the "I should" way of life. My mom, who took up so much of my life was gone and I was left feeling empty. So I started doing all the things I thought was right. efficient. forward-thinking. I got a job to keep myself busy; I joined a business fraternity to make friends and learn about business; I studied for classes I didn't care for. I did this for three years and I don't think I ever was engaged in any of it.

Work was good because it gave me instant praise from my co-workers and I liked that; it made me feel like what I was doing wasn't a waste of time. But finally being able to breathe in my last two quarters at school after I dropped those commitments that were weighing me down has given me so much opportunities to find things I love. And I begin to realize that all the times I came home feeling productive after work was just me running faster in the wrong direction.
After a fall quarter of just cover letter haze, I secured a job, and felt free to discover myself now. I know that the things I've done in the past is what got me to the job, but I would argue that I could have done it differently and still be where I am. Or perhaps I'd be at a different place, but who is to say it wouldn't be better?

Life is hard, but the things you do should give you certain payoffs in the present.
living for:
The present (1 definite win, 1 chance of gain, 1 chance of loss)
The future (1 definite loss in present, 1 chance of gain, 1 chance of loss)
Winner: the present

Perhaps that was a convoluted way of saying that as college students right now, we have the luxury to do what we want, study what we want. The foundation of college is supposed to help you in the future and if you don't like it now, the chances of liking it in the future are slim jims. When you find something interesting, that is when you're about to push yourself to be better. Any field you go into, it's going to be hard. Sacrifices will be inevitable. Being lazy is untenable in any profession if you want to be great. I based so much of the last few years on things I thought I should do and got frustrated with myself for not wanting to do them. I thought study hard, work hard, and then party hard is the key to success but it's not. At least not for me. So I've finally decided to throw away this key since it hasn't been working for me and I'm seeing all the good things that have unlocked all by themselves. I'm trying to live life on a better balance between what I want to do and what I should do.

Even though I am stressed and anxious about this documentary I'm working on, when I actually get myself downtown, I love it. Even though I'm nervous going up to the people because I'm unsure of their reactions, I love when I can get people to open up and speak easily to me. And when my professor sees my work, I get nervous but excited too. Her approval means a lot to me. I'm definitely engaged and invested in making this good!

Peter Sellar lecture

The well-being that we're living on is based on other people's non-well being. And they are karmically linked. What is the real cost to everything around you. What are the things that you don't see? That is the real deal. What is real are the things that we're not allowed to say. And it's not that it's not there; it is, it just doesn't come up.
Art is invented to talk about the things we can't in real-life. The silence is the damage. Violence comes because we're not allowed to talk about something. It is art because it is about being skillful talking and doing things that are provoking. Art is used to activate the imagination. Activate an alternative.

Are you who you are or what everyone imagines you to be?
Actions that took no sacrifice resonates no meaning. It' s not until people see you something hard, they don't respect you. They need you to do something amazing because they earned that. Create a focused space of what you care about. Power is in concentration. You know it of sports and meditation, etc. Everything you are, you recognize it. And you honor it.

Everything that you're carrying with you; you recognize and you honor it. Announce everything you care about. Declare your independence. Instead of keeping inside, it's outside and it's shared. (African culture)

Economy- notes

Alan Greenspan on "The Age of Turbulence"
-end of Cold war led to the housing bubble
-abandonment of central planning
-long-term low interest rates. housing prices went down
-no way to diffuse the bubble until the speculative fever dies down

"subprime mortgages"
popped asset bubble
"mother of all hangovers"

Bernie Madoff- Lehman Bros
Goldman
Ben Bernanke-current chair of Fed Reserve

amos lee

I'm always a bit slow with music, and it seems this time I'm about five years behind, but Amos Lee is really good! Folksy, jazzy--that's what I like. It's easy listening and makes you want to bob your head.
Whata romantic experience when you just find an artist you like by yourself and not have people tell you what to like. I feel like I'm just grooving hearing his music. I just meld with his beat and don't have to think twice or try too hard. It's like a good relationship should be! Easy and groovy!

sweet pea
colors
making love
morning
arms of a woman

US-China

Baum put up an article from Time on US-China relations and I've found the struggle between the things they agree on and dispute about quite interesting. The five things that they agree on is 1/ Trade 2/ Green tech 3/ North Korea 4/Mutual Uncertainty and 5/Education. The main disputes are over 1/Taiwan 2/Currency 3/Military relations 4/Intellectual property rights 5/Human rights issues. Obviously, China and the US agree with each other on issues that revolve around their economy. They both play a mutual part in the $400 billion of exchange in trade yearly. The problem, therefore, is in their policies. Because China is still emerging in the international community, it's policies have remained antique. And they cannot be blamed for this. Their insecurities have been building up since the first Opium War and won't dissipate until they are able to regain a sense of superiority.

article: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1978640-1,00.html

It was interesting to meet the people who live in China. The difference definitely exists between Beijing locals and Shanghai natives. Much to my surprise, I found people in Beijing really knew how to enjoy their time. My Shanghai travel study group went for a weekend trip up to Beijing (for future me: a weekend is not enough time to do anything!! Please stay for at least 4 or more full days) and while we passed the park to get to the road lined with bars, I remember how much activity there was in the park--and it must have been past 9pm! I didn't think much of it then because everything was novel. I just busied myself with taking a picture of an Asian-ified Starbucks store at the moment, but thinking back on it, it is quite to see the community. There were people of all ages: from children to the elderly. The festivities might have been from some holiday unbeknownst to me, but it was amazing to see the openness and freedom and safety that could not be matched in the safest of parks in Southern California. There's a community in Beijing that is not just rare in Shanghai, but in many parts of America.

to read: http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/what-chinas-currency-shift-could-mean/?ref=asia