Happy Memorial Day!

 

One thing I do know for sure is that military people are the bravest men and women a country has to offer. No one is more willing to sacrifice for his country than a soldier is. No one would put himself in the line of fire to protect his comrades, and to make way for them to move forward like a soldier would. Soldiers are indeed born of a different breed.  Simon Nguyen

Bird Bullies

I witnessed something quite fascinating last weekend. A crow was harassed and bullied by a band of small birds. The crow was subsequently forced to leave the scene. The story did not end there, however. The vengeful crow later returned with a dozen of his siblings to exact revenge on his bullies. After a brief battle, the small birds were battered and overwhelmed by the larger crows; they were forced to abandon their newly conquered territory.

The crows were obviously in celebratory mood, thinking that they were the invincible conquerors of someone’s beautiful backyard. However, they would soon encounter the biggest bird bully of all – Mr. Simon and his broom. I think you know who won that battle.

Am I a news commentator now?

I do some freelance writing in my spare time. The effort seems to pay off as I was recently given an opportunity to write news commentaries for Yahoo News. Since I love to comment on things, this opportunity is pure gold. Below are two of my first commentaries for Yahoo News. Give them a shot if you have time.

1) Intervention in Syria?
2) Privatization for Postal Service

Stories from Japan Disaster – Part 1

A friend relayed to me this touching story:

By chance, a group of volunteers encountered a young boy whose parents were killed in the tsunami. His father was on his way to pick him up from school when the tsunami hit. The young boy personally witnessed his dad’s car being slowly swept away by the killer wave, but was unable to do anything about it. He had not heard from either of his parents since.

For someone who had probably lost both parents in the tsunami, the young boy appeared incredibly calm though sadness was clearly visible. He was asked by the volunteers if he had anything to eat; he politely answered “no”. Hearing this, a kind person gave him some food to eat. After thanking the person, the young boy immediately went to the nearby shelter and gave the food to the aid workers there. He then went to the back of the line, awaiting his turn to receive a share.

Even in such a dire circumstance, this unfortunate boy demonstrated courage and unselfishness. This is the essence of the Japanese culture, and is something to be admired. More stories in the coming days.

Japan will rise again!

Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami over the weekend. Hearing this news makes me a little sad, as I have always had a special connection with the Japanese culture and people. In fact, I have written extensively about the country here in this blog and elsewhere. Although it may seem gloomy for Japan at the moment, I have no doubt that the country will recover from this. It should be noted that there have not been even a single report of LOOTING or ANARCHY since the incident. This is in total contrast to what occurred following other recent disasters like the Haiti Earthquake and even Katrina. This shows us that the Japanese are strong and proud people who will rise up from the ashes to rebuild their country. Pray for Japan.