Actually Recession Might Be Good

Rain, rain, rain, more rain. We have been soaked by heavy rain during the last few days, which prevents me from hiking in Marin Headlands today. That’s okay. We need the rain anyway. This winter has been so dry that the idea of drinking the ocean surfaces again. On Friday when I was in my office, a huge storm rolled in from Twin Peaks direction, while it was still sunny in downtown and over the bay. However, that didn’t last long. A few minutes later, the bay was as dark as night. That trend didn’t stop by the time when I got home. Marin Headlands were covered by the dark clouds as well. Apparently, the storm in the sky is not as bad as the economy. I keep seeing new "Out of Business" signs when I walk around the city. I hear more layoffs in the news. I won’t have a raise this year either. But, that will be alright. There will have a tax hike, and reduction in services. That will be fine by me as well. We are all in this mess together. I doubt that "$787 billion stimulus plan" will stimulate me in any way. $787 billion!? I don’t think those politicians in Washington have any idea how much money that is. I certainly have not seen that much money in my life. On the other hand, I think the recession is not necessarily a bad thing. It brings Americans back to earth. Americans need to learn how life should be. The other day, I heard "news reports" saying that Americans are tightening up their wallets and only buy what they really need these days. Excuse me? Isn’t that what everybody should be doing all the time? All these financial crises are caused by greed and stupidity, as far as I see it. People want bigger houses and cars than they really need and they can afford. They want lavish life style without thinking how to pay for it. Consumerism sets the root in American lives, and is exported to the rest of the world, especially the developing countries. I am extremely saddened to see how China is stepping into American’s foot steps these days when it comes to life style. It especially irritates me when banks claim that their huge bonuses and expensive parties are not using tax payer’s bailout money. Whom are they kidding? Aren’t they the ones who ask tax payer’s money because they are short on cash? Are they saying that they have cash to spend on somewhere else such as bonuses, therefore, they need a bailout? What are they smoking? I should stop reading news, because there is no good news. Even Bay to Breakers are getting screwed this year. WTF!? Luckily, the 27th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival comes to rescue. The festival program looks fantastic. I am very excited about it. Finally, I am pleasantly surprised by Yi’s photos shown by Reuters today. I have not seen him since we had lunch in Beijing almost two years ago. I am proud for what he did yesterday in Beijing. They are inspiring and encouraging. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf It’s still wet outside which I don’t mind, although I have to go to work tomorrow — we never consider Presidents’ Day a holiday. Today is the first day of the rest of my life, I better have a good start. I am going to watch more movies.