The good: My new SHURE brand earphones that just arrived in the post courtesy my brother Jeff. They are fantastic and very comfortable. Cancels all outside noise (yelling mother, Oprah, typical household anarchy) even inside noise (Johny, Frank, Bill and sometimes Scruffy). Oh yeah, makes the music sound infinitely better too.
The bad: The correctional system in our country. Based on 3 R's... Rehabilitation, Restitution, Reintegration, it more often than not churns out a slightly less than desirable 3 R's: Recidivism, Racism, Re-victimization. I see too many people arrested one day and back out a few days later doing exactly what it was they were just arrested for a few days ago…
The funny (in this case cute): My 86 year old Poh Poh, grandma for the non-Chinese audience members, telling me in-front of my date (who she just met) that her bum-bum was hurting when I asked her how she was doing. After using the kindergarten term for her posterior, she proceeded to close her eyes, pout her lips and rub her back side. Then she asked me if she should go see a doctor. : )
The sad: I still miss my little guy Pudge incredibly. He was a great, if not crude little character and S’Mat can attest to that. Anyone that knows my family could rightly claim that he was the most normal out of our whole lot. We had to say bye to him a couple of months ago now, but the sense of loss has an annoying way of remaining fresh in mind.
The down right odd: The Hisatagakuen Sasebo Girls' High School in western Japan will require a 10 minute test using chopsticks to transfer beads, marbles, dice and beans from one plate to another. To give nervous test-takers a helping hand, students will use special six-sided chopsticks, believed to be easier to wield. Surveys periodically show that Japanese worry a rising number of youngsters do not have proper chopstick skills. Some parents even buy "training chopsticks" with loops to help children learn to hold the utensils properly.
I heard though that they won't fail outright if they do well in other subjects and drop the odd sashimi slab.
4 comments:
Aw, puppy.
The correctional system. So what is the ideal system? I mean, the alternate is the Chinese system, in which 99% of those tried (for anything) are found guilty (I read this in the New York Times, maybe?) Also those who are executed (many, sorry for the lack of supporting stats) have to pay for their own bullets. I was going to come up with three R's, but I have some stuff to do.
I remember eating dinner at a friend's house in middle school and having her Korean parents suggest I use the "training" chopsticks before we ate. I showed them my mad chopsticking skills though. I think I temporarily gained some bonus points but lost them when I refused to eat the little silver fish (it was like a bowl of minnows) they served. I do like Kim Chi though!
this, my dudefriend, is one of the most well-rounded collection of points i've read in a while. i giggled and lamented and went hmmm in turn.
one of the heights of my past year i cannot relate in such a sweet post as this (too scatalogical). but i'll save the comment until appropriate. check you later.. T
I hesitate to leave this comment because I'm feeling very hopeless about the justice system right now, and therefore am not very objective. I have a pair of trials on monday and tuesday, same accused, both assaults. Accused has told me that he has witnesses to support his innocence, and yet has failed to furnish me with any of their contact information.
Right now I feel like in the vast majority of cases by the time a person actually is arrested/prosecuted under the criminal code, they already are a lost cause. There's nothing "correctional" about the justice system, only punitive. The only way a person has a chance is if you get ahold of them before they get caught in the system. Although I do make some exceptions for some of the initiatives that are being made in the context of Aboriginal justice, but these are most often grass roots and rural programs. If you're in the city you're screwed. And I blame a HUGE proportion of the crime that is committed on drugs and alcohol either directly or indirectly.
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