April 2003 – The Mad Philosopher

The Mad Philosopher gets political

During my year’s time in China, I’ve struggled with how to express myself politically while living in a country where it isn’t safe to do so. For example, people in China generally hate the American government. They talk about the U.S. invasion of Iraq (2003), but are quite isolated from the discussion and dissent going on around the world. Yes, there were anti-war protests in Hong Kong, but it would surprise me if the media in China reported this. Protests are illegal in the rest of China.

So I am left wondering how I can join and contribute to the discussion going on elsewhere in the world. Well, I listen to CJSR, a community-based radio station in Edmonton, the BBC news, and I read some of the independent media columnists on the Internet.

Here, I give the following two audio clips which were taken from the “Jay and Penny Show” on CJSR, and I encourage you to give them a listen as these are things you won’t hear elsewhere in the media.

The Worst President Ever (1.5 MB)

Howard Zinn on Just and Unjust Wars (3.4 MB)

Welcome to the new website

Welcome to my new website! It’s finally here (to those that have been waiting). I’ve been using Blogger since the beginning of 2003, writing new content from time to time, and I thought it was about time that I integrated my weblog into my website. In fact, the old website was the first one that I’ve ever made, which I created when I started my Masters degree in 1999. That makes it quite old.

So, here’s the new one, redesigned with a lot of old content gone, a bit of new content added, and some of it remaining the same. But now that I have the new design and framework in place, I can start adding new content easily. What’s new? Well, the banner at the top, for one. In the top, right-hand corner you’ll see two graphics showing the geocentric longitudes of the Sun and the Moon, respectively. The positions are generated using the Swiss Ephemeris every five minutes, but you’ll have to refresh the page to see any updates. Also, the quote at the top of the page is now no longer given out at random, but a unique quote is given every day. View the source for this page to see how I do this.

Anyway, I hope you like the new design, and that you’ll keep coming back to see what’s up with me. Let me know what you think. Cheers!