This came out of a conversation I had recently, with a software engineer whose wife is a musician.

1. They both express their ideas via instruments that have hardly changed for long time, although frequently tweaked.
2. They both express the creativity under a strict set of rules that are mathematical.
3. The forms of the expression are of convention, not rules.
4. Individuals who practice the art are hardly rich. Institutions that hire many of them tend to reap most of the wealth out of their creativity.
5. Both like to spread their work freely. Both struggled to find a way to monetize.

Anything else?

Why is California not governable? Gray Davis exited in disgrace and Arnold really did not do much better. So neither the professional politician nor outsider worked. Is there any hope for either Jerry Brown or Meg Whitman to make this state golden again?

The sad fact is that Californians made themselves ungovernable. Of course no politician will assign blame to the people. So they can only blame other politicians. But that cannot solve the fundamental problem. Therefore the politicians can also strive for a short-term win that makes the system even worse a couple years later. This is the end of a democratic system: everyone suffers like the proverbial frog in a boiling pot that does not jump out until its demise.

The environmentalists want to save the beetle, Earth, or whatever. The farmers want more water and subsidy. The high-tech people want to brainy engineers. The corporate America want to outsource to profit more. The immigrants want to bring their family here. The incumbent want to keep their ways of life. The general population just want to happier life but cheaper, preferably free. Since there is no way to satisfy everyone, let’s just vote. But minority sue when they lost in the election.

This is why I love Niven and Heinlein. They dreamt up Utopian worlds that made so much more sense. Usually, they also contrasted with the sad and impossible purgatory that this Earth has become.

Back to Earth. What to do with this life, this country, or this state that I live in? Yes, I would vote. I now almost always vote against the incumbent. The new comers will at least make this political soap opera more interesting to watch. No, this life won’t get better because we the people won’t let it. Let’s stop blaming Obama, Arnold, or whomever.

IMF publishes World Economic Outlook twice a year. The latest one was out in October. You need to read only the executive summary and the first table to get the idea.

It predicts that the US will have 2.7% growth this year and 2.3% next. Correspondingly, China will have 10.5% and 9.6%, India’s 9.7% and 8.4%. The good news is that we will be growing; the bad news is no where near the pace that we wish.

What should these countries do? In plain English, IMF recommended that:

• The US should cut deficit, stabilize banks, and export more.
• China should export less, consume more, and allow currency flexibility.

Sigh… Guess this means one more year of the same.

Fairness is an opinion frequently disguised with numbers and charts. It is also the most convenient excuse to justify whatever action. I have learned never to enter an argument on whether something is fair or not. No one wins on those debates.

Case in point: taxes. Washington state is considering to tax the very rich. On the surface, the argument seems very straight-forward.

Middle-class families pay more than 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes, and poor families pay 17 percent. Meanwhile the state’s wealthiest residents — like us — pay just 2.6 percent of their income in state and local taxes. That disparity is clearly unfair.

In other words, relative to the income, poor people pay more taxes than rich. That is clearly not fair. The image of few fat rich enslaving the mass populous poor comes to mind. Clearly something must be done to right this wrong.

Wait. Relative to the income, the poor also pay more for foods, transportation, housing, health care, energy, child care, or education. This is simple math: the rich has more and, therefore, everything is relatively less for them. This is the very nature of being rich or poor.

At the heart of fairness is the concept of equality, or sameness. Since individuals are fundamentally unique, there can never be absolute equality for everyone. Fairness, therefore, lays its foundation on two elements: freedom of choice and the transparency of the rules.

The US is a mobile society. Google told me that Alaska has no income or sales taxes. Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no sales taxes. Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming has no income taxes. As long as people have this information and the means to transport themselves, they will end up in the state with acceptable taxation system.

Washington may need the income taxes for its revenue problem. Just say so. Fairness has nothing to do with it.

Fallen Angels Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Michael Flynn 978-0743471817

I nearly forgot about fictions. For so long, my reading queue has been exclusive non-fictions. Anything else got de-prioritized. Kid left this book for me after her visit and it popped to the top of my queue recently.

How delightful: Niven, SciFi, fictional world. I became envious of Kid’s 165-book reading year.

When Kid was in college, she described how Earth can turn into an ice ball. It was rather simple. Geothermal energy is not enough to keep Earth warm. If Earth reflect more sun energy than it absorbs, it get cooler. Once the polar ice sheet grows to a certain size, the entire ecological system turn into a positive feedback loop: the more ice, the more reflection, more heat loss, more ice. In time shorter than a lifetime, the whole Earth will get permanently stuck in deep freeze.

And Niven depicted how it would like. He (they) has the talent to make science personal.

The story began in the era that environmental and religious extremists have taken over the US government the 1984 Big Brother style, only they are in general against all forms of technology. Right before they seized power, a group of people escaped to the space and been living in orbit. Several decades later, two space dwellers came down to Earth accidentally, hence the title.

The authors were critical to irrational thinkers, hypocritical rules, and, of course, bureaucratic and corrupted governmental agencies. Against a group who were against animal furs, they argued that leather should be hated equally and suggested protesters to throw fake bloods toward bikers who wore leather jackets, in addition to rich women who wore furs.

At the time of their writing, Exxon Valdez spill was the worst in history. Yet most media have moved on and forgot about it a year later. I wonder how long would people remember this summer’s BP spill.

Which is the less evil: global warming or ice age? A very warm Earth will flood many beach properties but the ice age will also render many areas not habitable. If we tinker the climate and make a mistake, this Earth will likely to become one or the other. Choose.

Spoken In Taiwanese (a dialect of Chinese, very similar to those spoken in southern FuJian Province), Pineapple pronounced like On-Lie, very similar to “Fortune is Coming.” The fruit therefore became a symbol for prosperity and a favorite gift. But fresh fruits are perishable, Pineapples are particularly unwieldy, most importantly, they are not expensive enough for serious gifting. The solution is the delicious Pineapple cake, a snack that is uniquely Taiwan.

First of all, it is really not a cake, more a cookie. Imagine Pop Top with Pineapple filling, but morphed into the shape of a ring box. There are probably hundreds of bakeries in Taiwan making Pineapple cakes. When I was a kid, people would bring those all the way from Keelung city; everyone knew the best was made by Lee Hu (李鵠) then. Nowadays, there will be a Pineapple cake tournament every year and the gold medalists will command great sales for years to come.

ChiaTe (佳德) seems to the latest fad. On this raining day, I arrived at a 300+ feet queue that snaked around the next corner. Polite attendants worked the queue, keeping order, offering bottle water, and reminding everyone the quota: only 7 boxes for each customer. We watched people carrying out large bags and got anxious, “Would there be any left when it is my turn?” It felt like the bakery version of the iPhone debut.

The best ones have light, flaky, and buttery shell that can crumble with the slightest squeeze. The filling must be distinctly Pineapple, a bit chewy, and not overly sweet. Pineapple cakes are a bit dense. A couple will make a wonderful breakfast or a afternoon snack. The perfect companion will be a nice cup of hot green tea that leaves the grassy freshness in your mouth. Coffee will do, but sweet drinks, like soda, will not. I have never tried them with wines. I love to microwave it for 5 seconds first. The filling will be slightly warm and extra fragrant.

Next time you are in Taipei, give it a try.