Friedman's June 29 excerpts

New York Times Op-Ed Columnist: Thomas Friedman

Anxious in America

Published June 29, 2008

.....

My fellow Americans: We are a country in debt and in decline — not terminal, not irreversible, but in decline. Our political system seems incapable of producing long-range answers to big problems or big opportunities. We are the ones who need a better-functioning democracy — more than the Iraqis and Afghans. We are the ones in need of nation-building. It is our political system that is not working.

I continue to be appalled at the gap between what is clearly going to be the next great global industry — renewable energy and clean power — and the inability of Congress and the administration to put in place the bold policies we need to ensure that America leads that industry.

...

We used to try harder and do better. After Sputnik, we came together as a nation and responded with a technology, infrastructure and education surge, notes Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International. After the 1973 oil crisis, we came together and made dramatic improvements in energy efficiency. After Social Security became imperiled in the early 1980s, we came together and fixed it for that moment. “But today,” added Hormats, “the political system seems incapable of producing a critical mass to support any kind of serious long-term reform.”

If the old saying — that “as General Motors goes, so goes America” — is true, then folks, we’re in a lot of trouble. General Motors’s stock-market value now stands at just $6.47 billion, compared with Toyota’s $162.6 billion. On top of it, G.M. shares sank to a 34-year low last week.

That’s us. We’re at a 34-year low. And digging out of this hole is what the next election has to be about and is going to be about — even if it is interrupted by a terrorist attack or an outbreak of war or peace in Iraq. We need nation-building at home, and we cannot wait another year to get started. Vote for the candidate who you think will do that best. Nothing else matters.

global ghost

I was making this graphic for my laptop background. Red is place that I have worked in. Green is place that I have visited. Orange is place that I have worked in and visited. Pretty cool hah. Now that makes me looking for a place where to put a white dot, place I have lived in, the place that I really feel connected. The pendulum of my territorial existense has swung to the other side from an ideal to a cynical one. I have passed an invisible line, and without realizing, from the self that is aspiring to become a global citizen, well connected to origin and history, to the self that is floating and feeling deterritorialized (if I could hack Delueze's term). I am spiritually and emotionally still connected to the homeland but physically and intellectually more connected to my 'away'land, and vice versa. In other words, today I have become a global ghost.

amman

I fall in love with Amman ... yes Amman the city. I have been researching and looking into the city since October when we started a work over there. You can also got a little glimpse of the city from some good videos in youtube. It's modern and ancient at the same time. The city and government really understood this and provided a very extensive masterplan guidelines for the city growth for the coming decades. The masterplan mission is to provide a clear track for developments and at the same time preserving the character of the city. Check out the city website, it should be an example of what any city should do in sharing with the public http://www.ammancity.gov.jo/english/ . I am waiting for the chance to go there and, oh ya, not to forget also, all the ancient cultural sites from Roman times that are scattered across the hills in Amman.

creature with beautiful form

Betting on Dead Dinosaurs

Ah.. just want to share a quote from "People vs Dinosaurs" the latest op-ed of Thomas Friedman, my favorite journalist. As usual, he is just so sharp and penetrating in his analysis or resistance of the oil economy. Go to the NYTimes website and check it out.

"Iran’s economic and military clout today is largely dependent on extracting oil from the ground. Israel’s economic and military power today is entirely dependent on extracting intelligence from its people. Israel’s economic power is endlessly renewable. Iran’s is a dwindling resource based on fossil fuels made from dead dinosaurs.

So who will be here in 20 years? I’m with Buffett: I’ll bet on the people who bet on their people — not the people who bet on dead dinosaurs."

About Daisy - Version 1.2

Hey, here is the recommendation letter for a friend I love. I revised to fit into a page in the letter head. I hope it sounds sincere and personal, not too flowery.

June 5, 2008
RE:

Personal Testimony for Daisy D
Greetings, my name is B I am writing this letter as a personal testimonial statement for Daisy D who has been a personal friend as well as a peer model that I respect for many years.

In our undergraduate years at the Ohio State University, we managed to form an intellectual discussion group with an eclectic group of Indonesian students who were interested in social and political issues on Indonesia. We then met regularly in coffee shops to discuss the larger and historical purpose of Indonesian students in America. Without any practical or technical knowledge in journalism or web publishing, we pulled together a website and self-published a magazine that featured articles and creative works from fellow students in the United States and Indonesia. The fruits of those days can be seen six years later now in which many of the former members are dispersed to different part of the globe. They continue to pursue their social passions, first ignited in that humble group, to become a journalist in a major news network in Jakarta, a renown political commentator in Jakarta, an architect practicing in China, and a Phd student in the United Kingdoms. Daisy was the key figure in that group.

My respect for her continued to grow later on as I pursued my graduate studies in Architecture at the Ohio State University and Daisy also went on to get her Master degree in Management at Devry University, one of the top business and management schools in Ohio. She cleverly used her on-going professional management training to lead and organize various events that related to Indonesian students as well as many city-wide events.

Daisy was very active and influential in reviving the Indonesian Student Association or known as PERMIAS, a 300-member strong organization and one of the largest foreign student bodies at the University. She was also the creator of an annual event by Permias called Indigo or Indonesians On the Go. She rallied her fellow students and turned the otherwise predictable annual party into a more focused Indonesian cultural event, opened to the general public and the whole city. That is a testimony of how a vision works in combination with handy leadership skills. Moreover, she was always seeking to grow and never limited herself in term of abilities and responsibilities. I have had seen and been asked to volunteer in many of the social events that she was part of. Those events ranged from a biking event for a social cause to volunteering in martial arts booth in one the largest festivals in the city.

Many of us have had the privileges to know or learn with many talented and distinguished leaders in different phases of our life. I can assure you, Daisy certainly belongs to that breed of talented and distinguished leaders. She is not only equipped with professional educations but also filled with a positive spirit and fully trained with many practical leadership experiences. She is a natural team player that will energize and motivate whoever she works with. If given the right opportunity and mentorship she is the type of a person that will bring any good organization to that next level of achievement.

Thank you for this opportunity to share with you about a comrade as well as a character that I will always look up too. Please contact me at my number or email below should you need additional information.

Sincerely, B

About Daisy

Greetings,

My name is B. I am writing this letter as a personal testimonial statement for Daisy D who has been a personal friend as well as a peer model that I respect for many years.

I came to know her in our undergraduate years as students at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. In the midst of our busy college studies and lifestyle, we managed to form an intellectual discussion group with an eclectic group of Indonesian students who have same interest in social and political issues on Indonesia. We met regularly in coffee shops to discuss the larger and historical purpose of Indonesian students in America. Without any practical or technical knowledge in journalism or web publishing, we pulled together a website and self-published a magazine that featured articles and creative works from fellow students in the United States and Indonesia. The fruits of those days can be seen 6 years later now in which many of the former members are dispersed to different part of the globe. They continue to pursue their social passions that were first ignited in that humble group ranging from a journalist in a major news network in Jakarta, a well-known political commentator in Jakarta, an architect practicing in China, to a Phd student in Sociology in the United Kingdoms.

Meanwhile, my respect to her continue to grow in our graduate school years as I pursued my graduate studies in Architecture at the Ohio State University and Daisy went to get her Master in Management at Devry University, one of the top business and management schools in the State of Ohio. She cleverly used her on-going professional management training to lead and organize various events that related to Indonesian students as well as many city-wide events.

Daisy was very active in organizing fellow students through the Indonesian Student Association or known as PERMIAS, a 300-member strong organization and is one of the largest foreign student bodies at the Ohio State University. She was the creator of Indigo or Indonesians On the Go that basically turned the predictable PERMIAS annual parties into something more noble and became city-wide Indonesian cultural event for the general public in Ohio. That is a testimony of the combination her vision and handy leadership skill at work. Moreover, she never contained nor limited herself in term of her roles and responsibilities to one area or the other. I have seen and been asked to volunteer in many of the social events that she was part of. Those events range from a biking event for a social cause to a martial arts booth in Asian Festival, one of the largest events in the city with 50.000 attendances annually.

Many of us have known or interact with many talented and distinguished leaders through our life. We know and recognize them immediately through our interactions and not so much by their titles or assigned roles. So, through out my personal, academic, and professional years of learning and interacting with influential characters, I can assure you, Daisy certainly belongs to that breed of talented and distinguished leaders. She is trained not just with formal or professional educations but also full loaded with a positive spirit and practical experiences that some people would call street leadership as opposed to theoretical leadership. She is obviously a natural team player and will always energize and motivate fellow team members. Like what she has been doing early on, she will again bring any enterprise to a notch better than it is before. If given the right opportunity and mentorship she is the type of a person that will bring a good organization to the next level.

Last but not least, I want to thank you for this opportunity to share with you about a friend, a comrade, and above all, a character that I look up too. Please feel free to contact me at my number or email below if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,
B
June 4th, 2008

bank

I am pretty excited going to start project for a bank hq. Got to learn more about the banking operation holitiscally both from the insider and customer's point of view. That's it for now. Will write more later.