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chengdu4me

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Posts posted by chengdu4me

  1. I have to agree. My fathers generation was the greatest so far. We(Americans) have reaped what they have sown and squandered the harvest. My Dad was born in 1917. A family of 7 children. All you need to know about his upbringing, you can learn at the dinner table. When he is done, you can put his plate back in the cabinet..no need to go near the sink with it...it is so clean, it looks polished. Everything he has ever done has been for the good of his family. For himself, he asks nothing. The golf clubs he uses everyday he bought at a flea market back in 1935. He just repairs them and uses them. All original (well, more Weldwood and Contact Cement than wood and metal), but he never complains about them and he still drives 275 yards (He's 92) He has never owned a new car. Mom always had the new one. Dad never bought a car for himself that was less than 10 years old.

     

    I will say this. He was never a "Dad". He was always a "Father". No play time with the kids. Never came or cared about the kids extra-cirricular activities. Never came to a baseball, football game. Didn't even want to hear about them. If we weren't studying or working, by his standards, we were wasting our time and he would have nothing to do with it.

     

    I don't fault him for that attitude. It is all he knew. He, like everyone else, is a product of the environment they grew up in. He grew up in a tough one! The Depression in Arkansas was nothing to take lightly. Then, as soon as there was something to eat, the war came. Life for him was never easy.

     

    Fast forward a few decades...I find out my Dad is the chief inspector for the rockets that will take man into outer space! The company he worked for was a sub for Boeing and other aerospace companies and they were making the rocket frames. My Dad was the man that put the official Okey-Dokey on every single rocket frame that was launched in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space flights.

     

    Many years later, I found out from my Uncle that my Dad is the man that was the first person to ever be able to weld aluminum successfully. Want to know how? He did it in the bathtub so the aluminum wouldn't melt under the extreme heat of a torch. Did that back in WWII for the Generals airplane that he was crew chief.

     

    Many times I was surprised about my Dads accomplishments! He never said a word about them. To him, that was his work. That is just what he did.

     

    My Dad and I are alike in many ways. But we are worlds apart in many ways. I learned a strong work ethic from him. I learned good morals and ethics from him. Bu that is where it ends. Everything about us other than that are as different as night and day!

     

    I wouldn't trade him for any other Dad in the world!

  2. This isn't in Chinese, but watch this...

     

    its 18 minutes long

     

     

     

    http://dotsub.com/view/9518104c-aa15-4646-9a39-a789e5586cdb

     

     

     

    If you create a membership, you can change the subtitles to any language you want. I haven't played with it any, but it looks interesting

     

     

    OK...I figured it out..if you become a member you have access to every word spoken/every word in the subtitles. You can write your own subtitles effectively making the written subtitles any language....then you play it back choosing the language you want to use.

  3. Henry and Mei....once you are married, your wife can take you to the local PSB and register you as a visitor.....then...you take that visitor registration to the man PSB office in your city and they will give you a one year L visa with multiple entries. This means you can stay in China up to one year...If you need to stay longer than one year, you just go get it stamped again before it expires....you can to this for as long as your passport is valid.

  4. Freedom of religion is a prime example of one of the ways that the majority does not rule in our system of laws. I think most would agree that the majority of Americans profess to be Christian yet even the smallest minority religion has the same rights to worship or not worship without the majority foisting their beliefs on them with any legislation.
    I think it was as much about freedom FROM religion as some of these guys were only "diests" themselves and a couple were atheists. But I don't think the founding fathers really foresaw non-christian religions ever being a part of the fabric of this nation.

     

    Nevertheless you can go into most any county courthouse and look at records from say the 1890s and see people 'ticketed' for not keeping the Sabbath (working on Sunday).

     

     

    You don't even have to go back that far. In the South (the Bible Belt), many cities had ordinances against any retail businesses operating on Sundays other than grocery stores. There laws were on the books and enforced in one way or another at recent as the late 80s' depending on the town.

     

    I remember a cardinal sin was to have your store open on Sunday. If the law didn't get you, the towns people would. Open your store on Sunday and you would never see another customer walk through your door...You were done!

  5. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

     

     

    I understand that Carl, but the question is..if these rights are endowed by the Creator and someone does not believe in the existence of any higher power, how can they claim to have these rights?

  6. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

    You have to take into account that the vast majority of the population was Christian with thier religion taking a very large role in thier lives. That being said, the fundimental part was that they acknowledged that our rights don't come from the king but from a higher power.

     

     

    So, does that mean a person that acknowledges no God has no rights?

  7. Glad to hear you are recuperating. Your Mei seems very wise.

    To Mei Mr. Johnson missed the whole point. To paraphrase; what she said was that until people cease to even mention differences there always will be strife on those issues.

    While the nation has come a long way on race relations, even to the extent of electing a black man for president , we won't truly be there until people say "this guy I know", instead of "this black guy I know."

     

     

    And until we are all willing to give the idea of race relations and start thinking in terms of human relations, it will never go away. But, everyone thinks they are special so they feel they must define themselves. Unless everyone accepts the fact that you and I and everyone else are just people, nothing will ever change. Define yourself by your name, your talents, your compassion...your ancestry don't mean squat. It is the one thing that you couldn't choose, so why is it such a big deal?

     

    Any one that says, I'm white and proud of it, or I'm black and proud of it...they might as well say...I breathe through my nose and I'm proud of it!

  8. An interesting angle is we revere these people as heros and patriots. If England had won the war they would have gone down in history as traitors.

    While I agree the fore fathers were great men they are also made larger than life. My favorite fore father is Thomas Jefferson who penned the declaration of independence. As great as he was he was also a slave owner who fathered children from one of his slaves.

     

     

    I think they were probably all slave owners. They were all well-off men. As I said, they were not the "cream of the crop" kind of guys! But nonetheless, they hung it all out there to try to get what no one had ever succeeding in getting before.

     

    The roots of the Declaration is a good place to start this. It gives a unique perspective into the mindset, the philosophies, the temperament of those that jump started this nation.

  9. The girls don't seem to get the significance of the anniversary. I'm certain though that if I just let it slide by that I'll get hell. A lot like not buying a birthday or anniversary gift when the wife says, "sava money." "Sava money" is not a dispensation from giving them gifts for special occasions . :rolleyes:

     

     

     

    No, but it will be when it comes to YOUR birthday! :Dah:

  10. One of the most interesting aspects of these United States is that is was started by some people that were considered nefarious, whiners, complainers, non-conformists, prisoners, parolees, and those given a choice, jail or Amerca...

     

    Such humble beginnings can only be successfully enriched by one simple, common character trait. These were some damn stubborn people!

     

    The very idea that anyone could think that they not be subject to a "ruling class" was just ridiculous! No one on this planet at that time didn't answer to some sort of ruler, be it King, Queen, or dictator. Why, the very idea! These people must be insane!

  11. Heres a start...Whatever else these men were, they knew the price they might have to pay for doing this...and they were willing to sacrifice everything for these principles

     

     

    Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men

    who signed the Declaration of Independence ?

     

    Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,

    and tortured before they died.

     

    Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

     

    Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;

    another had two sons captured.

     

    Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or

    hardships of the Revolutionary War.

     

    They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,

    and their sacred honor.

     

    What kind of men were they?

     

    Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

    Eleven were merchants,

    Nine were farmers and large plantation owners;

    men of means, well educated,

    but they signed the Declaration of Independence

    knowing full well that the penalty would be death if

    they were captured.

     

    Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and

    trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the

    British Navy. He sold his home and properties to

    pay his debts, and died in rags.

     

    Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British

    that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.

    He served in the Congress without pay, and his family

    was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,

    and poverty was his reward.

     

    Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,

    Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

     

    At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that

    the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson

    home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General

    George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,

    and Nelson died bankrupt.

     

    Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.

    The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

     

    John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.

    Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill

    were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests

    and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his

    children vanished.

     

     

    And so it began...

  12. I was wondering what Starbucks uses? I just love having a coffee in the am, so I am wondering if it's safe to drink the coffees with milk there. There are 66 Starbucks in Beijing and a little less in Shenyang.

     

    What do you think?

     

     

    I drink milk in China..what the hell...you're gonna die of something...think how stupid you'll feel when you are 95 years old and you're dying of absolutely nothing! :blink:

  13. It is difficult to live in American society without some form and use of credit. I did it. I am proud to say that I had never borrowed a dime from anyone until I starting traveling overseas. I then had to have credit cards. They get paid off as soon as I use them, usually even the same day, thanks to internet banking and payments.

     

     

    You're right. You can't even rent a car in the US without a credit card. You can sometimes find a place that will accept a debit card, but are required to complete additional forms and leave a large deposit.

     

    Credit cards are capable of satisfying that, "I want it now" urge we all have. It's very easy to get into trouble though, as the quicker you pay the balance, the more the credit line gets increased. There are actually benefits to using your credit card to make purchases and paying the balance every month, like: Insurance for autos and travel from the CC company, support to dispute purchases, reward points, and cash back.

     

     

    Right you are Jesse...but...what set me apart was that what I "want now" is freedom. Freedom is not a new washing machine or a new car. That has been the overriding issue with me as far as never using credit to buy anything. I don't trust life and I never have. I have, even as a small child, always made sure than I had more "options" than the other guy.

     

    I have one credit card. I set the limit when I got it and I have a lock on it so that the limit cannot be raised. Lately, they have been wanting to cancel it because I am not a "good" customer. I don't use it often enough and they get no interest from me. Last Friday, I told them , go ahead..cancel it...I have no further use for you......5 days and a wake up!!!! :blink:

  14. It is difficult to live in American society without some form and use of credit. I did it. I am proud to say that I had never borrowed a dime from anyone until I starting traveling overseas. I then had to have credit cards. They get paid off as soon as I use them, usually even the same day, thanks to internet banking and payments.

     

    There are a lot of things I did without for a very long time because I refused to buy on credit. Looking back and knowing what I know now, I probably should have bought my first house with a mortgage loan. Putting a car payment into savings every month was hard to do, especially as cars got more and more expensive.

     

    Seeing the comment above about the credit score, I remember applying for my first credit card at the ripe old age of 50. I got a call. We have no record of you..how is this possible? When I told them, they were shocked! They had never heard of such a thing. When I faxed them my title to my house and cars to show proof that I existed, then I got the card...

  15. You might be right Don...that will be determined by how much the Chinese government lets anyone off the hook this time...

     

    This is one of those situations, pardon the metaphor, that require the use of a atom bomb to flatten an anthill.

     

    Come down so hard and so swift and so decisively on both sides that no one in their wildest nightmares would ever try this again. I don't know for sure, I've never met any, but I get the impression that the Uighurs are not "martyr" like thinking people. I don't get the impression that the Han are either.

     

    I don't like violence no matter where it comes from, but at some point it has to stop. A decisive crushing blow to everyone involved would go a long way to stopping it. When I say crushing, I mean so devastating that not man, woman or child would dare to even raise their voice in anger ever again.

  16. I was going to post a link to a story I just read, but it is so full of unconfirmed stories of "he said" and "they said" without a shred of proof or verification that I just chalked it up to tabloid crap...even though it was an AP timeline.

     

    Two wrongs don't make a right. The Uighurs were wrong, the Han were wrong to seek revenge.

     

    Post a curfew, arrest or shoot anyone not obeying the curfew. During non curfew hours, if you have anything in your hand other than a shopping bag, you either better be carrying for the purpose of work or you get arrested. This needs to be shutdown now!

     

    Law and order only work if you are given no other choice than to obey them.

  17. There are two major issues at play here..

     

    1. Many Americans have proven that they can't be trusted. Loan them money for any reason, whether you are a bank or a friend and all you will get each month for payment is excuses.

     

    2. Loan money is profitable. America is a capitalist society. If there is no profit in loaning money, there wouldn't be so many companies doing it.

     

    Credit checks are designed to separate those who can be trusted from those who can't. Banks, credit companies work on a sliding scale..the more trustworthy you have proven yourself to be, the less they charge you for borrowing money.

     

    The problem is not the companies offering to loan money. The problem is the people borrowing it. If no one borrowed money, the rates would come down.

     

    Deposits are basically the same. Deposits are usually paid on rented property. Think about this though...I own a $200,000 home and I am renting it to you for $1,000 a month. How much damage could you, your kids, and your dog possibly do to my expensive home in one months time that I will have to pay for out of my own pocket if you trash my house and then split? I want a deposit from you so that you are put in a position of loss if you mess up my house.

     

    Many stores have their own credit cards and they project profits from those cards as part of the big profit picture. They are going to want you to use their card. Most are polite about it and if you don't want it, that is fine.

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