Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Anca$h Tripod in 'Merica!
I've been very negligent. A quick update...I was working my butt off during the last few months of the year. I'm doing business development in Asia and that means bringing in money. Good news - I hit the annual target set out in the beginning of the year! Because of that - I rewarded myself with a trip home to see family and friends.
Some of those friends were the Ancash Tripod. If you followed my blog while I lived in Peru...you will recognize these guys! We met in Boulder, Colorado for New Year's Eve. Frank is almost done with his Master's in Social Work. Vishal frolicked around South America for about a year climbing things - he has just started his Master's in Public Administration. Both are happy...though I wouldn't expect to find them any other way. "If you're not having fun, it's your own fault."
Some of those friends were the Ancash Tripod. If you followed my blog while I lived in Peru...you will recognize these guys! We met in Boulder, Colorado for New Year's Eve. Frank is almost done with his Master's in Social Work. Vishal frolicked around South America for about a year climbing things - he has just started his Master's in Public Administration. Both are happy...though I wouldn't expect to find them any other way. "If you're not having fun, it's your own fault."
Friday, November 19, 2010
Nee How!
Just got back from China for my 4th time in the last 6 months. Appears like China is in the press a lot and Americans are using it as a scape goat for the problems in America. I'll save my opinions for another post.
Part of my job is getting to go around and visit companies. For instance, in this last trip, I visited IBM, Ford, GE, and Exxon. Last time I was in Hong Kong we hosted a meeting at the Disney office. Here are a few pics from my trips there.
I'm learning a lot and working a lot. Across the next month I'll be rather negligent on putting up posts, as I have been for the year. I'll do a better job in 2011 of sharing my experiences out here. Some of these are from Hong Kong - though the Ford and General Electric are from their offices in Shanghai!
Part of my job is getting to go around and visit companies. For instance, in this last trip, I visited IBM, Ford, GE, and Exxon. Last time I was in Hong Kong we hosted a meeting at the Disney office. Here are a few pics from my trips there.
I'm learning a lot and working a lot. Across the next month I'll be rather negligent on putting up posts, as I have been for the year. I'll do a better job in 2011 of sharing my experiences out here. Some of these are from Hong Kong - though the Ford and General Electric are from their offices in Shanghai!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pictures from Bali
These are from back in July when Jenifer was visiting. We had some time so we went down to Bali. Went scuba diving, dinners on the beach, monkey-forests, clubs on the beach. Lots of tourists, but for a reason. Will definitely be going back at some point.
It's part of Indonesia, but there are very few muslims there. The religion is mainly Balinese Hindu...which is Hinduism and a combination of a bunch of other beliefs...which makes for more fun. In my opinion, if you're going to believe something whacky (and yes, Christianity, Islam, Judaism are whacky), at least make it fun with a bunch of beautiful colors and weird dances and magic. Enough with all the pain and guilt brought on by religions out of the middle-east that were simply plagiarized accounts of religions before them. Let's have some magic!
Much love,
Jake
It's part of Indonesia, but there are very few muslims there. The religion is mainly Balinese Hindu...which is Hinduism and a combination of a bunch of other beliefs...which makes for more fun. In my opinion, if you're going to believe something whacky (and yes, Christianity, Islam, Judaism are whacky), at least make it fun with a bunch of beautiful colors and weird dances and magic. Enough with all the pain and guilt brought on by religions out of the middle-east that were simply plagiarized accounts of religions before them. Let's have some magic!
Much love,
Jake
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Where's the good news, America?
Since graduating college, I've spent the majority of my post-undergraduate time overseas. I mainly view America through the news – both the American publications and the publications of the countries I've lived in or visited – and through my friends and family.
To quote Sam Harris, "Our country now appears, as at no other time in her history, like a lumbering, bellicose, dim-witted giant." Looking at different parts of life: politics, education, fiscal responsibility, recreation, health-care, religion/spirituality, energy, military, consumption (food & merchandise)...there is very little good news coming from America.
Let me make a disclaimer, I realize, similar to most other lands, the crazies make the headlines. Every land have Sarah Palins and Glenn Becks that makes the population appear to be crazed zombies that feed off of misinformation, hate and fear while making firm opinions combined with ignorance appear to be a virtue. Looking beyond the headlines of the most popular news sources that are entertainment with the façade of being news...I still don't see much good news. It scares me.
Immigrants account for 50% of science researchers in America...in 2006, 40% of doctorate graduates in science/engineering and 65% of computer scientists were immigrants. In Asia, many western companies hire locals, train them and educate them, to later see them quit and return to local companies. Those well-trained workers then take those practices that have been built through trial and error over the past 50 to 100 years and implement them in their native lands. As immigrants native lands become more appealing and the US gets tougher laws around who stays, America loses.
Some think the answer is to keep immigrants out...failing to realize we can't get enough of our own people to work hard to make a difference. They'd rather placate themselves in front of the television. Then, some of our smartest and most ambitious people get lured into craptastic industries that don't solve society's problems. Think of all those things that make your life better...healthy bodies and healthy food, technology, good friends, family, stable room temperatures, etc. Bankers, politicians, lawyers – they don't add value – they create just as many problems as they try to solve.
My basic point is that there isn't much good news coming out of the States...and I don't see it trending well. The silver lining to the tea party is that it is injecting something different and different is good. However, the injection is more dim-witted people that are trying to hold onto yesterday. But they'll soon learn, to quote a political journalist, "In public, the [political] parties stage a show of bitter bipartisan stalemate. But when the cameras are off, they fuck like crazed weasels in heat."
Some good news from my end, those Americans that are working hard and making efforts to educate themselves throughout their life are still the best problem-solvers I've come across in my short time. If I had to pick people who are going to solve problems, or in corporate lingo, 'put out fires', I would still pick people educated in America (and parts of Europe). Teaching people to think is difficult – and even though it is a waning population in the States, they are still some of the best I've come across.
To quote Sam Harris, "Our country now appears, as at no other time in her history, like a lumbering, bellicose, dim-witted giant." Looking at different parts of life: politics, education, fiscal responsibility, recreation, health-care, religion/spirituality, energy, military, consumption (food & merchandise)...there is very little good news coming from America.
Let me make a disclaimer, I realize, similar to most other lands, the crazies make the headlines. Every land have Sarah Palins and Glenn Becks that makes the population appear to be crazed zombies that feed off of misinformation, hate and fear while making firm opinions combined with ignorance appear to be a virtue. Looking beyond the headlines of the most popular news sources that are entertainment with the façade of being news...I still don't see much good news. It scares me.
Immigrants account for 50% of science researchers in America...in 2006, 40% of doctorate graduates in science/engineering and 65% of computer scientists were immigrants. In Asia, many western companies hire locals, train them and educate them, to later see them quit and return to local companies. Those well-trained workers then take those practices that have been built through trial and error over the past 50 to 100 years and implement them in their native lands. As immigrants native lands become more appealing and the US gets tougher laws around who stays, America loses.
Some think the answer is to keep immigrants out...failing to realize we can't get enough of our own people to work hard to make a difference. They'd rather placate themselves in front of the television. Then, some of our smartest and most ambitious people get lured into craptastic industries that don't solve society's problems. Think of all those things that make your life better...healthy bodies and healthy food, technology, good friends, family, stable room temperatures, etc. Bankers, politicians, lawyers – they don't add value – they create just as many problems as they try to solve.
My basic point is that there isn't much good news coming out of the States...and I don't see it trending well. The silver lining to the tea party is that it is injecting something different and different is good. However, the injection is more dim-witted people that are trying to hold onto yesterday. But they'll soon learn, to quote a political journalist, "In public, the [political] parties stage a show of bitter bipartisan stalemate. But when the cameras are off, they fuck like crazed weasels in heat."
Some good news from my end, those Americans that are working hard and making efforts to educate themselves throughout their life are still the best problem-solvers I've come across in my short time. If I had to pick people who are going to solve problems, or in corporate lingo, 'put out fires', I would still pick people educated in America (and parts of Europe). Teaching people to think is difficult – and even though it is a waning population in the States, they are still some of the best I've come across.
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