Dream and Reality

Dream and Reality are not two separate houses. They are two adjacent rooms in the same house. We all go in and out of the two rooms. Don't stay or spend too much time in one room only. Please use and take care of all the rooms at home. Enjoy !     

Please Shake Hands

Chinese President Xi Jinping met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing. Both looked relaxed and shook hands.

Shaking Hands is always better than Shooting Bullets and Dropping Bombs. When is Obama going to shake hands with Putin? I hope soon !!!

Could China Kill The US Dollar ?

I've just finished watching a Youtube video titled 'Could China Kill The US Dollar?' Here are my thoughts and comments:

My personal opinion is that China could indeed kill the US Dollar, but she would do so only gradually, not suddenly. She has been doing so slowly, but picking up speed recently, as evidenced by the newly formed China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), increase of gold production and purchase, and bi-lateral agreements signed with many countries in using their own currencies for trading, bypassing the use of US Dollar. 

The HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British Bank with a deep Chinese root. Both UK and Hong Kong are HSBC's 'home markets'. HSBC is thinking of moving its headquarters from London to Hong Kong. The UK was the first Western country and US ally that joined the China-led AIIB, followed by many others. Uncle Sam was not pleased.

I don't think China really wants to kill the US Dollar completely. China just wants to de-dollarize the world. China, Russia, Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East, even Europe and the World, just don't want to be completely dominated by the US any more. No more unipolar world controlled by big-boss America !
 
There are many speculations or predictions that the US Dollar will collapse, but my guess is that it will not die with a big bang but with a whimper. China is killing the US Dollar softy with her Yuan (Chinese Dollar), also known as Renminbi (People's money). 

Some Americans are super wealthy, but as a whole, the US as a country is broke, owing trillions of dollars to China, Japan and other countries. The 1% is still doing great of course, but the 99% is struggling. Does Uncle Sam still want to go to war, which is a super expensive, terrifying and deadly game, profitable only to a few people, but at the expense of the life and death of many ? 

The US Dollar may not even die, but it will no longer be the only dominant trading and reserve currency of the world. China's rise is certain, but the US' decline is not. Instead of setting road blocks and preventing China from rising, Uncle Sam should pay attention to his own many problems. As Jimmy Carter said, the U.S. must respect China, and vice versa. If a nuclear Third World War breaks out, the whole world will be finished. We must never let that happen. 

How Long Can We Live ?

How long can we live ? Can we extend human life to 150 years? 1000 years? or even forever? A cynic would say that you are crazy to believe that you can really live that long, let alone forever. Well, I am one of these 'crazy' people.

However, I believe longevity and eventually immortality would be achieved through advanced science and bio-technology, not by waving a magic wand. It would be a 'scientific miracle', not a 'religious miracle'. 

Now, believe it or not, it was recorded that there was a man Li Ching-Yuen in China, who was born in 1677 and died in 1933. He lived 256 years. In the Old Testament, it was recorded that there were people who lived more than 900 years ( for example, Adam at 930 years, and Methuselah at 969 years ). 

Do you believe in Science or Religion, or both ? Do you believe that we can stay young and healthy for a very long time, and that it is no longer a pipe dream?

True Moment

If you live in the past, you are depressed. If you live in the future, you are anxious. If you live at the present, you are at peace - Lao Tsu. 

Reality is an unbroken past, present, and future.The only true moment is the Here and Now. 

Enjoy, Enjoy. Enjoy your life Here and Now !   

Happy Mother's Day

Happiness is the arrival of Mother and the departure of Mother-in-Law.

Happy Mother's Day !!!

Omar Khadr versus Stephen Harper

Omar Khadr is free on bail. Thumbs up to his lawyer Dennis Edney ! The argument of Stephen Harper's Government that setting Omar free would hurt U.S. and Canada relation has been rejected by the Court.

Examples are plenty, that Stephen Harper's get-tough-approach didn't seem to respect and care about Canada's constitution and judicial system, international laws, and the UN Charter. Our prime minister seems to be just following, copying, obeying and taking orders from Uncle Sam. He seems to have been Americanizing and militarizing Canada. He has made Canada join the American Fighting and Killing Club, whose war hawk leaders seem to have a never ending agenda for fighting, killing and wars. Canada under Stephen Harper's rule is not the same Canada of peace and peacekeeping that we used to know. Sometimes I wonder if Stephen Harper is a closet dictator and would-be war hawk, or what ?     

In the case of Omar Khadr, Stephen Harper's approach is typically an American macho-man approach, with little Canadian compassion and sensitivity. Omar was a child soldier. He was only 15 years old when he allegedly killed an American soldier in Afghanistan. Even if he did kill an American soldier, he was still only a child. He was labelled as a terrorist and illegal combatant by Uncle Sam, and certainly Stephen Harper concurred.   

This case of Omar Khadr smells strongly American, not Canadian. Stephen Harper had chosen not to seek extradition or repatriation, despite the urging of Amnesty International, UNICEF, the Canadian Bar Association, the Federal Court of Canada and other prominent organizations. What does this tell you about Stephen Harper and his not-so-Canadian way of treating Omar? Did all these respectable recommendations matter to him at all? Was pleasing Uncle Sam more important than everything else?

Omar's lawyer Dennis Edney accused Stephen Harper of being a bigot, but I won't go that far. However, I do feel that under Harper's Government, it seems that Canada no longer treats its citizens equally. In a few cases, Stephen Harper seemed to be biased and selective, in deciding which Canadian citizens to protect, and which just to ignore, when they got into troubles in foreign lands and needed help.  

There are 2 undeniable facts about the case of Omar Khadr: (1) Omar was a 15 years old child soldier. Calling him a terrorist or illegal combatant did not change the fact that he was only a minor at the time, and (2) Guantanamo Detention Center in Cuba was the hell hole and military base outside the legal system of Uncle Sam, where Omar was imprisoned, tortured and grew up. 

Regarding democracy, freedom, human rights and international laws, Guantanamo is a shame of Uncle Sam. Didn't Obama promise he would close it down in his first year of presidency ? ( please read my blog of Dec.16, 2013 titled Guantanamo Prison ). Omar said the plea agreement that he signed was completely created by the U.S. Government, and that he signed it only to escape the continued abuse and torture at Guantanamo Bay.

This case of Omar Khadr is not over yet. The story goes on, hopefully with positive development, and not with any more political interference.  

Japan Must Apologize

Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the U.S. did not meet with welcome everywhere. In Youtube, I saw an American Second World War veteran accusing Abe of dodging the issue of Japan's war history. In Los Angeles, Abe's last stop, there were Chinese and Korean Americans protesting Japan's war crimes, and demanded Japan's apology. Apologize, Apologize, they shouted !

History is not fiction. It is about facts and what actually happened. Japan must own up its war crimes and atrocities committed in the Second World War against China, other Asian and non-Asian countries, and issue an official apology.

The China-Japan relationship today is still very difficult, largely because of Japan's continued denial of the 'real' history of Japan's invasion of China, the Nanjing Massacre, the sex slaves, and many such undeniable war crimes and atrocities. Changing facts and white-washing history just doesn't work. Nor can the U.S. deny the fact that it dropped 2 atomic bombs on Japan, killing 300,000 Japanese civilians. Nor can Japan deny the Pearl Harbour incident.

In order for countries to move forward and repair damaged relationship, they must admit what they did wrong, and apologize to the victim countries. In return, the victim countries must forgive the countries which did wrong and have officially apologized. It takes a lot of moral courage to apologize, and it is not easy to do so for most politicians who have very little spiritual I.Q. (a term I coined).

It's very sad but true, that the humans are quite advanced now in science and technology, but they are still spiritually very primitive. Their values are still about Money and Power, not Peace and Love. We, 'uncivilized' humans, continue to engage in warfare to fight and kill one another. Until and unless we make drastic changes of our current financial, economic and political systems in the world, I doubt Peace on Earth will come soon. We need a LOVE revolution !!!