Me, after completing residency. 

The Dark Side

Previously, someone mentioned how angry I sounded on my blog. Ummm...it's true; I do sound angry. Maybe because I AM angry. God knows, I have a million-and-one reasons for being so. Just read my profile and it'll explain a lot, already.

I know, I know. If residency is such a royal pain then why go through with it? The same reason for climbing Mt. Everest; because it's there to conquer. It's all about enduring self-inflicted pain. j/k Actually, it's not the residency itself that has turned me in to a crazed lightsaber-swinging madman intent on destroying all. It's not the patients, it's not the rat-race competition with other residents jockeying for a fellowship spot, it's not even the HMO's, believe it or not. It's the co-workers and politics and bureacracy. Anakin was right all along, especially when it comes to a residency program. Dictatorship all the way! It's the only way to get things done. Within the program, if it were left to me I'd make Darth Vader look like Barney the Dinosaur.

Outside of the program, well that's different. I'm actually a nice guy.

"Rise" of the East?

I was in the bookstore today and was browsing the "World News" magazine section. I was intrigued by the multiple headlines that read "The Rise of East", or "Managing the New China", or "A New Cold War with China". My first action was to take a deep breath and try not to take any offense, that this was just all yellow journalism written by some idiot columnist who would write just about anything to sell his or her story. Then of course I immediately picked up the magazine and started reading the article.

In short, the people of America feel threatened now that China is REgaining financial success. That's it; that's the bottom line. I did have a big problem with those headlines and articles, though.

What's all this crap about "rise" of the east? First of all, China has been established long before Yankee Doodle came to town; China has been an established and unified nation for hundreds of years. It's one of the oldest and largest civilizations on Earth that dates back thousands of years. The U.S. has only been in existence for a mere 200+ years. And some American columnist is arrogant enough to describe the "rise" of the east? Second, ressurection would be a more accurate term.

And what's this nonsense about "managing" the new China? Again, how typically arrogant for a nation to think that it's up to them to control and manage a re-emerging economic superpower. The rise of economic power of any nation isn't up to Americans to "manage". (The hypocrisy of the American philosophy astounds me. As Americans, we pride ourselves as the land of the free. And yet, we take on the responsibility of controlling what goes on in other countries).

Basically, now that China is flexing its economic muscle, Americans are scared and saying, "oh crap, what do we do?" The answer is: you don't do anything! You go out and buy some cocktail buns and on the way home, stop off at Wal-mart to pick up some toys for the kids that were "Made in China". Then you go home, give the food and toys to your kids, and they respond by saying, "Shieh-shieh."

Don't get me wrong, now. For those diabolical maniacs who seize power and take over a nation and wreak havoc, strict intervention is necessary and I totally applaud that. This world doesn't need any more Adolf Hitlers or George Bushes (oh, wait....). But just because China's economy is exploding doesn't mean Americans need to manage it. Why don't we take care of the hundred-plus billion (or is it trillion) dollar national debt, unemployment, social security, education, crime, and drugs in this country FIRST before we start worrying about how well others are doing?

Blog Comments

The other day I was checking out Richel's blog site and in one of her entries she spoke of free makeup products she received. To which she received 15 comments. 15 comments for beauty products?

Okay, let's compare that to my blog site. I comment about interesting social/political (more social than political - I try to avoid politics) issues, or philosophical issues, or of the like. And yet, as Richel pointed out, no one ever comments on my blog. I'm not saying that one blog site is "better" than the other, but it is an interesting observation.

This theme goes back to the observation I made with my niece a few months ago. While I was talking with her on the phone, I asked her if she knew who Jun Kimura was (who's he?). I think 99.99% of the US population doesn't have a clue who he is. Compare that to how many people who know who Britney Spears is. 99.99% of people know exactly who she is, and over 50% idolize her.

You could argue that the pop-singer icons have accomplished much more. But have they? Let's compare:
One has published hundreds of research and peer-reviewed artciles, written and published a number of books, given lectures around the world, has been the chairman of Ohio State Dept. of Neurology AND Kyoto University, and has been awarded the lifetime achievement award by the American Academy of Neurologic and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. (you guessed it, that's Britney!)

The other starred in a movie that received awful reviews, sang about 5 popular cd's with a singing voice that doesn't even compare to a vocal talent like Lea Salonga's, has gone on national and international tours, and has been on hundreds of interviews. And yet, has millions of screaming fans.

It almost seems like the more you've accomplished, the more talented you are, or the more you contribute to society, the less recognition you get.

So I'll leave the 4 of you who read my blog site to ponder this (and to look up Jun Kimura on Google), while I go back to checking out blog sites about make-up products.