What is Success in Life?

A friend posted 11 rules, or life lessons, according to Bill Gates in Facebook.

My thoughts and comments:

What Bill Gates said is generally true but not absolutely true. Rule #11 is sort of funny. It says if you born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake.  

Have you heard of this Chinese saying? What a person's life is like, or whether it will be successful or not, depends on these 5 determining factors: birth, luck, feng shui, karma (charitable work or helping others) and education.

Indeed life is not fair. Only death is fair (everybody dies). If you were born to poor parents in a poor and backward country, you would face much greater challenge in life. If you were born to rich parents in an advanced country, you would gain much advantage to succeed in life. Still, Bill Gates' advice or life lessons are good references to think about.

My philosophy is that whatever card life gave you at the beginning, you just have to play the game the best you can. Got an Ace? Good for you. Got a 5 only? You still have to play the game and never give up.

What is success in life? There are so many different definitions. To most people, it means money, power and fame. To some spiritual people, it simply means health and happiness. To me, success in life is not about money and material possessions. Peace !

Problems In The World

I think most problems in this world are caused by 3 kinds of people: stupid, crazy and bad. It is most dangerous and worrisome to see these people in power. A friend gave me the 4th kind: smart people with shallow mindset and / or unadaptable mindset. What do you think?

Three Powerful Men

I call Putin the Chess Player, Obama the Smooth Talker, and Xi Jinping the Deal Maker. Arguably, they are the 3 most powerful men on earth today.

Korea (2)

Early this year, on January 13, 2015, I wrote about the two Koreas showing hints that they were willing to talk, which I supported. Now North Korea accuses South Korea of political and military provocation and threatens to risk an ' all out war '. The U.S. then halts military exercise with South Korea.

Dear Uncle Sam and Korean people of the North and South, please don't play chicken. One miscalculation could lead to irreversible disaster. No war in the Korean Peninsula ! No war period !

A Canadian Korean friend told me that this is the way the game is played:

North Korea under the dictatorial leadership of Kim Jong Un would threaten to go to war with South Korea. Rich corporations of South Korea then made big donations to North Korea, which enabled them to pay less tax to the South Korean Government. The leadership in the North got what they wanted, and the leadership in the South stayed in power. If the US or UN would bomb North Korea, then the ' Mafia Bill ' from North Korea would be even bigger.

Money and Power Games everywhere, only played in different ways. Peace !  

American Politics

American politics is a two-headed snake (or eagle, if you wish). Whether you give your vote to the Republicans or the Democrats, you end up with the same old snake. The snake doesn't work for the common people, but the rich and powerful. When money and power are the priority, people become much less important.

Burt Reynolds and What is Success ?

In the news, also posted by a friend in Facebook, Burt Reynolds, the famous movie star of the 70s, is apparently broke and is selling off his stuff. 

I feel sad to hear about this. He was a big star. However, he is not alone. Many people succeeded in beating poverty, but failed to manage wealth. As comedian Bill Hicks said, "It's just a ride." 

This is what I think: a successful person is not necessarily rich and famous. A successful person is one who is able to live happily under any conditions in life, whether rich or poor, famous or unknown, married or single, powerful or common, and is able to do what he or she loves to do. Enjoy your ride !!!

Elephants

This is so horrific: according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, 96 elephants are kill every day in Africa. That's 35,000 elephants killed in a year.

A friend Mariah said that if you believe BBC, the majority of the tusks went to China.

I said yes, Chinese gangs and criminals made deals with poor African poachers, to illegally smuggle the elephant tusks to China, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc. to make ivory artifacts. It is not only elephants. Humans should be ashamed of themselves, to keep destroying the environment and abusing the natural resources and wildlife on planet earth. Unfortunately, money and the economy often speak louder than ethics and morals, and people would even break the laws for greed of money, power and self interests.

I said yes,

October The First

October 1 (Wed), 2014: today is Jimmy Carter's birthday. He is 90 years old. Happy Birthday, Mr. President !!!

Today is also the national day of China. The celebration is dampened by the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. It is unlikely that the Chinese Government in Beijing will back down, but the protesters also stand firm on the ground, demanding Leung Chun Ying, the current chief executive of Hong Kong to step down. In any case, I hope peace and calm will prevail, and pray that there will be no violence and bloodshed.

Jimmy Carter is a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Here are his words: " My position has always been, along with many people, that any differences be resolved in a non violent way ". Peace !!!

Nine One One

Today is the 13th anniversary of 911. Is the U.S. and the world getting safer and better ?

Is USA a Democracy ?

USA is no longer a democracy, is it ? Extreme Capitalism, with the extremely selfish and individualistic concept of winner takes all, while having no sympathy for the less capable, less fortunate and losers (deserved or not), has turned America into an Oligarchy and Plutocracy. It has become a country of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. Indeed if you have the choice, please consider moving to Canada. You probably won't regret. Take care !

Supreme Adaptation

Philosophy of Life: I call it Supreme Adaptation. Being stiff makes you dead. Being flexible makes you alive. Pick it up and make it yours with no regret. Put it down and let it go with no regret either. Switch it on and off as you wish. You are more powerful than you think.

Land of the Free ?

I am not an American, but I feel sad that USA is going down. Selfish capitalism (or should I say corporatism and plutocracy?), greed for money, fame and power, endless wars and military involvements everywhere, and its ever-increasing heavy debts  - all these led to its decline. 
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American capitalism works wonderfully for the 1% but fails terribly for the 99%.The recent shut down of the U.S.Government is so crazy and ridiculous. 
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Uncle Sam spies on everyone: friends and enemies, American citizens and citizens of the whole world, foreign leaders, embassies, countries, organizations, companies, individuals, EU, even UN, I mean everyone.
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Now think about the global image of Uncle Sam in the world. Sad to say that USA no longer brings respect and admiration from the world, not even from its own citizens. Looks like America is no longer Land of the Free. Please take care !!!

Imperfect World

Currently, there is no perfect political system anywhere. The whole world culture and system is based on money, power and control. At least in Canada, people have some power. In many countries, you have to risk your freedom or even life, if you dare to criticize and complain about the police, politicians and hypocritical religious leaders.What really works is universal brotherhood and sisterhood, love and peace, but if you have that kind of belief, the unspiritual and uninspired people (including the religious extremists) will laugh at you of being too idealistic and impractical.Humanity can survive and thrive without wars and killings, but it cannot survive and thrive without love and peace.

Let No One Step On You

Beware: a big person with love will lift you up to a higher level, but a small person with fear will step on you to keep you down. Please keep your own integrity and be self-reliant. Let no one step on you. Good luck !!!

Sandy and God

There is no all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful God. Again and again, Sandy the storm and such natural disasters prove it to be so. If God created many such a disaster and allowed it to happen, by a so-called act of God, then he is not loving at all. If something else (nature) or somebody else (so-called devil) created such disasters, and God just took a back seat and didn't do anything about it,then he is not loving and powerful. It is more reasonable to think that if a supernatural God ever exists, he is not all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful. He is heartless and crazy. He is less powerful than the mighty force of nature. Dear East Coast friends, please don't panic. Please take real action to protect yourself, not just pray. Be safe.Take care !!!

Yes to win, No to lose

If you say no, you'll feel powerful for a little while, but you'll lose. If you say yes, you'll feel wonderful for a long time and we'll both win.

Thou Shall Not Kill

Thou shall not kill. Killing a human being including the killers is wrong. Only crazy people,religious people,and people blinded by money and power believe in violence,war,killing,retaliation,torture and punishment, not truly spiritual people of love and peace. Doing something wrong,like killing, to correct a mistake, like trying to stop killing,is not a spiritual solution. It is a quick-fixed illusion.It creates a never-ending negative karma.

The only time that you can kill is for self-defence, but even that, your motive is for self-defence, not to diliberately and unnecessarily kill the killer to make him die.War is a crime.Death penalty is not a solution.Stop all wars and death penalty, if humanity wish to become truly advanced and civilized.

Criminal Law

Criminals in power can pass laws to make their illegal activities legal. On the other hand, they can pass laws to make your legal activities illegal. If they do it, it is legal. If you do it, it is illegal.

Tony Blair Defense

It seems that the more religious and conservative people are, the more messed up they become. Politicians who are fervently religious and conservative often use god and religion as an excuse,to punish their enemies and justify their aggression against other human beings.Instead of following their so-called god of love, they go to war and kill their fellow human beings. Their god is rather money, power and greed !!!

We need more intelligent people of love and peace in this world, not hypocrites, bullies, morons,liars and killers. We need Spirituality which unites and liberates people, not religion which separates and imprisons people.

The Iraq war did not break out. It was manufactured by Bush and gang, including Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and more. These people and Tony Blair of UK are alleged war criminals, who told lies and played dumb that they did not know. Bush and gang broke many U.S.laws, international laws, human rights laws, the Geneva Conventions, even against and violated the U.S.Constitution and UN Charter, causing the death of thousands upon thousands of innocent people: Americans, Iraqis and people of other nationalities.

Regarding the Iraq war,Tony Blair's defense is an insult to people's intelligence and conscience. He said," This isn't about a lie, or a conspiracy, or a deceit, or a deception. It's a decision."

Can a murderer,rapist,bank robber and all kinds of criminals say something like Tony Blair did to defend themselves ? For example, if a bank robber went to rob a bank and killed some people, could he say " Hey, it was only a decision, OK ? Yes, I killed a few people, but it was only an accident, OK ? It was the result of friendly fire and collateral damage only." Call it the Tony Blair defense !!!

Some people may not be above the law, but they are beyond the law.It is very difficult to catch and prosecute them. Nobody seems to have the guts and means to bring them to justice.

If these alleged criminals think that they are innocent, then they should have no fear and worry to go to trial. I say 'alleged' because in the free world, one is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.In some countries, you are guilty until proven innocent. If you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you got screwed.

Certainly the Iraq war did not break out. It was manufactured by Bush and gang. It was not an accident. It was the 'decision' of Bush and gang, and Blair's, to invade a sovereign country,Iraq, which had no weapons of mass destruction or direct link to 911. It was all one big lie !!! If Bush and gang, and Tony Blair all went to trial,I think they would be found guilty. Liars, murderers and war criminals would be their new titles. History will not speak well of Bush and Blair !!!

War

It was probably a lie, if you were told that the wars were about god, religion, democracy, this and that, but had nothing to do with money, power and oil. Many so-called peace makers in this world were rather trouble makers, killers, money and power hungry go-getters and schemers. War is the worst kind of organized crime still being committed by the technologically advanced, but spiritually primitive humans.