Posts

A Question of Troops Discipline

 A story in the Shang Wars series. The Barbarians were one of the hardest the Generalissimo had to fight. They were cunning, and knew the limitations of the Empire in fighting them. The troops fought on weapons and ammunition that were hard won on petitions after petitions sent to the Imperial Court, staffed by eunuchs whose only mission in life seemed to be to prevent the war from being won. "Generalissimo, a missive from the special envoy sent by the Emperor to inspect the camp." The Generalissimo could not believe his eyes. The missive was full of complaints about the weapons of the troops being dirty, their shoes being not shiny and the camp being full of bandages left behind by the troops. Yes, they were all true, and all a sign of poor discipline in the camp. The Generalissimo understood that when troops were giving their lives trying to fight the enemy, the last thing anyone at the frontlines would think about was bearing and turnout. Sometimes he could not help but wo
Post a Comment
Read more

The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

This line comes from the famous Melian dialogue, in which a powerful Athenian navy besieges Melos. The Athenians thus speak from a position of power. "...we shall not trouble you with specious pretenses---either of how we have a right to our empire because we overthrew the Mede, or are now attacking you because of the wrong that you have done us---and make a long speech that would not be believed; and in return, we hope that you, instead of thinking to influence us by saying that you did not join the Lacedaemonians, although they are colonists, or that you have done us no wrong, will aim at what is feasible...since you know as well as we do the right, as the world goes, is only in question between equal power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." Melos attempted to argue from a "law of equality", of humanity at its best. Athens argued with reality. Melos, being weak, has no capability at all to discuss anything in equality. Singapor
Post a Comment
Read more

When AFP contains errors

Agence France Presse is a major recognised news aggregator. But as with anything produced by humanity, bias or errors creep in. False GPS signal surge makes life hard for pilots This link from Channel News Asia was last viewed by author on 12 March 2024, Are my students able to find out what the error is? Hint: Chinese students or military fans may have a better chance of knowing this. Leave your answer in the comments!
Post a Comment
Read more

On Politics and Chinese Double-Entende

Image
A prominent politician in Taiwan DPP Zhao Tian Lin was recently exposed to be having an affair with his Chinese mistress. The Taiwanese media had a field day. And since journalists are people whose pen is mightier than the sword, double-entende are all over media. The very first was the tease that Mr Zhao, well known for his hardline stand on China issues was actually 亲中. The play on word on 亲 being both "close to" and "kiss" was plastered all over. He was obviously NOT "close to" China but was definitely "kissing" a Chinese! And then came the infamous tweet. On the surface, the tweet says "To take a hard stand against China, to use the sticks of flesh (a metaphor for sacrifices of soldiers) to protect Taiwan against China, to enter deeply into the den of the enemy!" The double-entende was unfortunately, very obvious and also intended, "To harden (referring to the penis) against China, to use the fleshly stick (again referring to t
Post a Comment
Read more

When Youths Do not See Hope

 A good post in Quora: https://qr.ae/pyLVmK Basically when the youths of today no longer see they have the same hope for a better life that their parents have, the nation goes boom.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Realistic Parable of the Mexican Fisherman

I got this from an entrepreneur DJ DeMarco. It is so good I need to share it. BREAKING NEWS: The Mexican Fisherman has filed for bankruptcy. Beware of romanticized stories that convince you to adopt a  dangerous financial strategy  devoid of any reality in today's world. One such story is the Mexican Fisherman parable I scrutinized in  Unscripted  over 5 years ago. Today, this parable is being enthusiastically circulated around the web as some modern "lifestyle doctrine" you should adopt without question or critique. However, for most people, this parable has become a risky and convenient excuse for sloth and poor financial planning.  If you haven't heard the Mexican Fisherman parable, it goes like this: A businessman stood at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish. "How long did it take t
Post a Comment
Read more

Generational Dynamics and the Rise of Fall of a Nation

Image
I have previously written about why Singapore (and in fact many nations) are going through difficult times politically. I have found a nice graphic recently that displays this very well. I encountered this graphic when reading about the rise and fall of dynasties in China. Singapore, like China then, started from a lower wealth and population base back when we started our journey as a nation. Under capable men, backed by a population willing to make the necessary sacrifices for their future, Singapore grew rapidly...and ran into the present situation. Singapore's relative productivity level (relative to what it was in the growing years) has fallen as our population numbers and demands grow beyond what we can provide for. Population demands is especially interesting - what used to satisfy no longer does, and the populace clamour for bigger, better things. It is like the satiation effect of a drug. You want more and more as the previous "high" no longer satisfies. Wealth c
Post a Comment
Read more