Allon

I am really glad I don;t have to go through what Randy and other ex-pats are going through. I am sure the latency is bad too. I know when I get to people in China or even Singapore, the latency is really bad. We do global conferences using video cams and the delay is noticeable to the point of distraction. We just give up and stick to audio only. You almost feel like saying"over" when you finish talking so as not to interfere with someone else talking at the same time. So far, ExpressVPN is handling this issue pretty well. I have switched to Nord and others just for grins but ExpressVPN seems to handle the interference well. Skype by the way, sucks.

Larry is closer to Wilmington if I recall, right near Camp Lejeune. I know the power was out and still may be in some areas. Sneads Ferry, to the left of the storm where the winds would have pretty fierce, too a big hit. Hopefully, all is well for Larry and Charles.

Not to belabor the point but I live in Scottsdale and know the University area where this happened very well, and followed the accident afterwards. It's right along Mill Avenue where there is an art festival every year. I attended art school at ASU just down the street. It took some time before the final analysis was made and the Tempe Police released the video from the car. All of the analysis points to the fact that the car did not detect the woman crossing the road, and the driver was not prepared to take over in the event of a failure. If you check out the film from the car itself, the woman had only a few seconds to react. That crazy pedestrian was almost running across the road. The diagrams show the position of the lidar detectors. There is some speculation as to why the woman was not detected. She was in the sweep area of the cameras but she was not walking slowly. Some have speculated that the bicycle she was walking and that she emerged from a stand of trees may have caused the failure to recognize the pedestrian. When the Tempe Police released this capture, the family got a lawyer and filed suit.

Yes, both you guys be safe. I don't trust this one......

Well, here in Scottsdale we had a fatality involving Uber that shut down all testing of these autonomous automobiles, and is the first pedestrian fatality involving autonomous vehicles. I saw the vid cam of the accident. The driver was distracted while the car was driving itself, at night, on a road frequented by pedestrians who jaywalk. It's a 3 lane highway. A woman crossed the street with her bike at 10:00 PM and the car (Volvo SUV) did not detect her. (I would wager, neither could an average human being.) I don't think I will ever agree that a car should be autonomous unless it is running under severe controlled situations, like not where places have stupid pedestrians who jaywalk.

OTOH, computers do "learn" in the sense of coming up with something "new" from "old data." CS'ers have come up with neural networks that can generalize about events, even conversations. Can they come up with more than one event for a given circumstance? No -- not yet. I have seen demonstrations where a computer was asked questions about patterns of dots (much like the one discussed in the below article from Scientific American) and it came up with different patterns of dots according to the instruction required of them. It even came up with improvements to the patterns in successive runs having deciphered what was required and needed by itself, without instruction from humans. I know we are all trained in GIGO, Garbage in Garbage out. But with neural networks, that is not necessarily so. In fact, in terms of Garbage In, neural networks can screen data better than humans. (We are working exactly on that problem now with container tags and Bills of Lading.) And computers have come up with "new" answers as a result, that researchers plug back into the network, as a further learning exercise. To me, it is all quite primitive by human standards but when we see computers reducing the workload algorithm compared to humans, and also coming up with recommendations on further reductions, without further instruction from a human, you have to think of the possibilities. But as the question was originally asked, is it pie in the sky, or down to earth? I am afraid pie in the sky fits better, at least right now, unless someone starts plugging in some kind of new protoplasm. And then we get into questions of what is life? Oh my. Now there's an easy answer.....In reading for this post, I ran across an article (last one) that says neural networks are good at new conclusions but they are not so good at what our average calculator can do in simple math. So they are working on improving both kinds of systems. It is why I say we are at a primitive stage in AI. I do understand why that contradiction exists: the neural networks are based on rules that are more logic than math. (And there is a difference.) I would love to work on such a project since I have a great passion for logic and wonder how these set of rules can be operationalized. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-neural-network-comput/ https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/440231/can-computers-learn-like-humans https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22429932-200-computer-with-human-like-learning-will-program-itself/

In the case of AI, I remain a feet-on-the-ground kind of guy too., although on other subjects, I don't mind dreaming. And AI right now is not even a dream, but a nightmare. I studied in college and it went nowhere then. Since that time there have been technical improvements in technique and language but work remains. We tried to operationalize an "AI" product and it fell flat on its face. It could not retrieve from the screen when different platforms computers, boxes, what have you) were being "read." It made mistakes on them whenever it went from say an upload to a Unix box or a read from a different machine. The rate of reading was different and the pixel assignments were not the same. Result: read failure. When it happened, every virtual user after the failure was held up, and then the performance degraded beyond measure. Every trick available was used to get it in synch but just could not be done. Whether the tech can be used for driving, probably but as you say, Randy, under controlled conditions. I am a skeptic.

I saw it a few days ago. And read the criticisms. It's amazing how the stimulus generalization starts when anything that approaches something a capitalist regards as poison. They go from the Some (or logically, One) to the All in a heartbeat. I won't elaborate. The film was supported by the Obama's production company, Higher Ground. The film makers said they were being as objective as possible and continued to follow (not lead) the story when the UAW forced a failed union vote. I note that the Chairman fought tooth and nail to prevent the vote from happening, a man who comes from a country whose founding father was an avowed Marxist. I am sure some people got fired (illegally) for supporting unions. It was intimated in the film. I do not feel it went one way or the other. It just presented what happened, as it happened. My wife watched with me. She mentioned when they got to the part about the difficulties of the Chinese workers there, how difficult it is to live in America. She identified with them. And she noted the Chinese are accustomed to 12 hours 7 days a week. But she had no answer when I noted how many festivals (translation: time off) China has compared to 7 legal days per year in many shops here, 10 federal holidays. I had to get out a calendar and show her. And what about life expectancy? China is lower (76 but gaining on the US at 79) than the worldwide average. Expectancy is also a factored by the health care system and social conditions too. But working conditions are a major factor. There is lots of room for discussion in that film. Of course, the first question I had was: who the hell lives in Dayton anyway? When I was there, hardly a soul walked the street. And that is when the car factories and a major computer manufacturer were there. (Reminds me of the John Denver song about Dayton's neighbor to the north, Toledo: Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio is like being nowhere at all.... Let's let the sleeping dogs lie And here's to the dogs of Toledo, Ohio Ladies, we bid you goodbye! https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.INhttps://www.federalpay.org/holidayshttps://chinapower.csis.org/life-expectancy/http://www.songlyrics.com/john-denver/saturday-night-in-toledo-ohio-remastered-live-lyrics/

I will use this article to demonstrate to my wife the education system she comes from that teaches Hong Kong and Taiwan were always part of China, among other topics where history is mis-taught. I hope this does not affect you, Randy. Looks like you are pretty well entrenched in China. I think I remember you were not teaching anymore. I wonder if "cyber crimes" might include use of a VPN. Hang in there....

I am familiar with reading the Federal Register and it takes a Ph D to really understand them, so don't feel like the lone stranger. I have had more fights with DOL bureaucrats about their wording than I would care to count. But I am getting that these new rules really run counter to any previous publications. When I did some qualifying rules for our people who interviewed incoming refugees, it was accepted practice for them to automatically be eligible for public assistance of many kinds. And they had already received some payments by the time we saw them. With these new rules being applied to older receiver's of refugee status visas and eventual AOS, it leaves them vulnerable to deportation. One equivocating factor is the exemption of spouses who are US citizens. If that refugee or LPR is married and receives assistance through the spouse, they should be OK. But I don't see where a LPR is totally safe even if they do not apply or get public assistance. If they end up divorced, and struggle to make it, they are vulnerable to deportation despite contracts by the sponsor to take care of them. (We all know of sad cases where some LPR's were just deserted by their husbands. Abused spouses are exempt, one saving grace.) THis situation will cause some heartaches.

Old or not, it points out cases that are being handled by lawyers even now. Public charge is taken into account on citizenship, and if denied, the green card is then vulnerable to revocation. The tone is that the administration, in much the same way they handled banning Muslims by banning Muslim predominant countries from being allowed in the country, are moving to challenge the original decision on the 2 year LPR. I heard a case this morning on NPR where a woman was being deported for being a public charge on the basis of her 2 year green card application at a time when she was applying for citizenship.

Not sure I agree with some of the statements from this law firm considering the August 12 release from USCIS. https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-announces-final-rule-enforcing-long-standing-public-charge-inadmissibility-law I have no doubt this will be challenged in court. Already lawyers are advising their immigration clients who apply for citizenship to make sure they meet the new guidelines. Some have already been denied citizenship and also will lose their green card. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/now-trump-administration-wants-limit-citizenship-legal-immigrants-n897931

The word "admission" or "admissibility" is used throughout the article but is applied to an application for PLR, permanent legal residency, as is admission to the US (i-94, etc.). There is no distinction between 2 year and 10 year. I would agree that a 10 green card should not be denied just due to prima facie evidence of being able to remain in the US under the circumstances listed. But "mostly" means one 10 year application for renewal (which is a term missing here) can be denied. Now given that there is no retroactive denial, most renewals would probably ("mostly") be renewed but it is not clear in the article or in others I have looked at. Maybe such is the intent -- to be vague. A 10 year application for extension is still called a Green Card. Terms in this article are used for instance that require years of employment history and tax returns going back 3 years, beyond the normal 2 year application for a 2 year green card. (These days a 2 year green card is renewable at 10 if the USCIS deems it so.) Vague terms.

He has a good point that makes the study of China so interesting. The narrow question is, does capitalism come with (a sense of) new culture? I think so, albeit it for China in most regions (Shanghai and Beijing exceptions, maybe Chengu too) it is slow in coming but welcome when it does? There are books devoted to this subject......

I wonder if this new rule would apply to those who already have a green card and are applying for extension (10 year, etc). I think as long as the sponsor and the holder are married, benefits would come to the husband (assuming sponsor) rather than the holder of the card, the same way food stamps etc are given to a child who is a US citizen to a family who are not or are other green card holders. "The decision is not retroactive says" a lot, but is vague in that regard. The 10 year holder would have already gone through a review at 2 years. And employment when the sponsor and the holder are retired when they hit the 10 year? I wonder how these Draconian rules will apply.

Keep it coming, Randy. The SCMP seems to be a good source of news. I did hear this morning of the ban. Seems now there is escalation on both sides. China needs to be really aware of the consequences of going too far, and the protestors know it. Bad situation. In that sense, it reminds me of T-Square. I hope it does not get to that.

I heard this morning, the HK police are testing water cannon. One HK woman on the news said she hoped they were not that stupid. Water cannon cause serious injuries. Shades of Birmingham, AL.

Charles, just remember every even little fight adds to your blood pressure, raises your sugar level and certainly contributes to depression. It takes a toll.

I think you hit on something when you said she was born during in the Cultural Revolution. My wife was too. Look at what happened earlier and later in those times. The Great Leap Forward occurred just a few years previous and there was a famine previous to that period which killed millions of Chinese. During those times, especially in the cold northeast, the only crop they could grow quickly was corn. It was literally eaten for (not at) each meal. Corn was all they had until the New Year when the CCP gave each family a pig. And not all got it. (Is it no wonder that Chinese New Year is so special or any food that is wasted in the refrigerator brings on tears?) People died of pellagra, a disease condition caused by malnutrition -- lack of niacin (B3) and tryptophan in the diet. No protein, unbalanced diet. The 3 D's -- diarrhea, dermatitis, dementia -- and then the last D, death. Neighbors would see other neighbors pull a chair out to the stoop or front patio and sit at night, to find them dead in the morning. A work team would come pick them up. (The Dark Ages, remember: Bring out your dead.) Swollen bellies, skin darkening, sores in the mouth are some of the first signs. My wife's face turns to a kind of silent shock when she sees such a symptom in someone. It's like she is looking at a dead person. Families bringing up children in the Cultural Revolution faced ostracization if they were former KMT or held any land. Red Guards would taunt, even kill them. Mao himself participated in such activities early in his revolutionary days where landowners were literally put on show trials, and killed. Mao later called out the PLA to stop the Cultural Revolution (something he started) when the Red Guards started to form their own armies. What would it have been like if you were a young child in that time? Traumatic, to say the least. Such children would grow up to be possessive of everything, miserly, controlling, manipulative. Thay had to be in order to survive. Another characteristic of the poor is the so-called welfare Cadillac, which was really a myth but the trait of saving money only to spend it on luxury items like watches or cars is not a myth. Gambling is another characteristic of poverty stricken families. When you have no money, any chance to make big money is taken. I helped administer and was a counselor in a poverty program for many years. Not a day goes by that I don't compare my wife's behavior to those I saw in those program days. And the sad thing is, it is only rare that you will hear "I'm sorry" or "I was wrong." Defensive, controlling behavior is the norm for someone brought up in those days and that environment. I am working on her. I do have to say that what I read in Charles' postings, he truly is a saint. She is far more than sociopathic if she exhibits no sign of remorse or empathy. That's pathological. Charles, I do hope you can get her some help. But I know the attitude: "there's nothing wrong with me. It's YOU." YOU are the bad one that I have to always straighten out. If you even suggest a counselor or therapist, to her, my wife, or really any Chinese person, you will be examined as if you were some kind of alien presence. "Not in my family. We were all brought up right and had no problems." Sure..... It's a recording I have heard many times....

Conversing with a friend in HK who is young, around 20 I think, she says the HK protesters are "low life rabble rousers." Her mother had her move in with her in Guangzhou. I think it is more a question that her mother does not want the same thing to happen to thousands of protesters at T Square. I saw the same demurring attitude when I lived in Spain under Franco. Never a contrary word against one of the most bloodthirsty dictators of the time. It really looks like the people of HK are trying to goad the CCP into another blood bath. I hope the CCP has learned better tactics than tanks and rifle shots.

2010. Has it been that long, Randy? Good job.....

The exchange rate and the giving away of trade secrets are the two biggest issues where the market cannot compete to settle differences. And the exchange rate directly affects the citizens of China who are already being hit with rising prices otherwise. I think the ugly word "deflation" will be coming up soon, at least in China.

Cannot help but like Taiwan getting feisty. And it is about time. I think China knows it will get a bloody nose if it tries to occupy Taiwan. And they will lose face as a result. We can't have that now, can we?

My ride is so wild my bruises have bruises. But she is starting to settle down. She was attacked by a guy who almost killed her. So she knows who her friends are now. I am sure there are some moments of peace. I think Chinese women act that way to men because Chinese men are so bad. My daughter in China has a knack for choosing the wrong ones. Gamblers, drunks, borderline criminals, ne'er do wells.

Yeah. Imagine what that sweet wife has to go through, if she is even alive now. Some say she is dead at the hands of her husband.