Library book irritation
Hmm.. Looking at the title of this post, it does sound weird. Anyway, I am not getting a skin irritation from the library book, or irritated because of a library book. Rather, I am extremely irritated by those who borrow library books and start making notes, defacing the books, highlighting, canceling or underlining pages of the book.
I am not against making notes… But if you want to make notes, buy the book yourself or do it on a separate piece of paper. Don’t do it on shared property..
Don’t these people have any sense of civic minded-ness? Or a sense of what does the term “property of others” means?
At the very least, a library book is property of the library, and they are kind enough to share with the public.
Do the public a favor and keep the pen/pencil or whatever u write with off the books.
Stalin: Purges
A continuation of last weeks Stalin: Power Struggle essay…
Stalin was constantly suspecting a coup or assassination, as well as conspiracies against him.
There was a need to rid the country of anti-Communist elements. Stalin wanted total power for himself and wanted to terrify and disorientate population to prevent assembly of rebels. There were internal party rivalries, while the NEP worsened and thus needed a scapegoat for its failings. There were serious differences over how society develops and stability was required to build a country as quickly as possible. These reasons accounted for Stalin’s purges.Target groups of purges were technocrats, managers, military led by Trotsky and political opponents.
Engineers, managers and planners of the First 5 year plan [Mensheviks background] in pre-1934 were used as purged and used as scapegoats as industrialization was not going smoothly.
Kirov, second in charge and party secretary in Leningrad, was murdered by the secret police in 1934, because he was more popular than Stalin, and Stalin feared Kirov would replace him. Furthermore Kirov had criticized Stalin’s role in speech, and was seen as a political opponent, especially since he won the highest number of votes. Following Kirov’s purge, purges were no longer selective. Kirov’s assassination was used as a pretext for unleashing terror upon old enemies and potential Nikolaev. These caused almost 1 million associate deaths.
An extraordinary law denouncing…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/03/30/stalin-purges/
Dots and Dashes
This is so random.
But I just want to say: “dots and dashes here I come!!!!!”
haha.
(p.s Don’t think this post makes any sense to most people….)
Stalin: Power Struggle
This is one topic which was quite hilarious at that time when I attended the class. The class took the incidents and saw it as a boxing match…. Such wonderful memories of the History class…
Stalin and Trotsky struggled for power after Lenin’s death, with Stalin succeeding for various reasons.
The struggle occurred as Lenin died leaving no logical successor, as his leadership was based on his role in the Bolshevik’s foundation, and not in any party position. Also, power was vested in party organs, not individuals.
When Lenin died in 1924 of a stroke, Trotsky was falsely told he would not be able to attend the funeral in time, allowing Stalin to lead the mourners and give Lenin’s eulogy, strengthening his image as the successor.
Lenin’s will contained his fears of a party split because of this struggle as well as of Stalin’s use of his limitless power as Secretary General, even suggesting his replacement with a more qualified individual. This information could have crushed Stalin’s chances of gaining power, but because the…
The full essay can now be found at: http://fusedthought.com/2008/03/23/stalin-power-struggle/
Timeless Vault: CHEAT and avoid going NUTS
Guess this is the first entry to my “timeless vault”.
I was looking through my old blog searching for another article when I chanced upon this one dated: 7/2/05
Did anyone read today’s Straits Times?? Creative Technologies founder, Mr Sim Wong Hoo’s secret key to success: CHEAT (Create Huge Excessive Advantage Tactics) and avoid going NUTS (No U-Turn Syndrome). No wonder he named his company creative.
However, if this were to be applied to school, I think CHEAT will stand
for: C (Pronounced: See) How to Excel in All Tests.
Even now when I look at it, I can still see slight humour in it…
Quiz: What Major Is Right For You?
I don’t normally like to do online quizzes but I guess this is one exception.
QUIZ:WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU? (http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=35647N)
You scored as a Mathematics/Statistics
You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in Mathematics, Statistics, or related majors (e.g., Accounting, Actuarial Science, Astronomy, Computer Engineering, Computer Information Systems (CIS), Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Finance, Management Information Systems (MIS), Operations Management, Physics, Risk Management).
It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would–it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it.
Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests.
69% Mathematics/Statistics
69% Accounting/Finance/Marketing
63% HR/BusinessManagement
63% Nursing/AthleticTraining/Health
56% Physics/Engineering/Computer
56% Visual&PerformingArts
56% English/Journalism/Comm
56% French/Spanish/OtherLanguage
56% PoliticalScience/Philosophy
56% Education/Counseling
50% Biology/Chemistry/Geology
50% Psychology/Sociology
44% History/Anthropology/LiberalArts
38% Religion/Theology
Decisions
When you come to the crossroads, many things occupy your mind. Outside appearances may not change, but inside appearances would have evolved.
I heard this question over the radio…
你会为了一棵树而放弃一片森林吗？还是会放弃那棵树来探索那片森林？
(Translation: Would you be willing to give up a forest for a tree, or would you give up the tree to explore the forest?)
Its a question that only we can answer for ourselves… and I don’t think I have an answer to that yet.
Lost as I am, I know that:
Opportunities come and go. However, it is our decisions that lasts a lifetime.
And it is because of this mindset that makes a decision hard to arrive at.
All I can do now is to pick a choice that seem right now, smile =) and hope that it will still look/feel/be right in the future.
