Why is New York City so outstanding? Because they have Cash Cab!

It's hard to disagree that New York City is the most distinct city in the United States. There are many dramas and movies with plots taking place in NYC. Entertainment industries gather in this city. Many companies and organizations place their headquarters there.

But, what make it so different? Of course public transit (my favorite topic) can be one. But, Chicago has good one as well as Washington D.C. Strong presence of financial sector? Sure. But Los Angels also has great financial district. same for the entertainment industry.

I think NYC is distinct because the city is home of Cash Cab!

Wait. Isn't Cash Cab just a TV show? Having one cab that gives out money makes the city so different?

No, that's not what I mean. Let me rephrase that.

Conditions that NYC provides to help the TV show run so successfully make the Big Apple so different.

Every time I watch Cash Cab, I wonder why Cash Cab doesn't come to other cities like Birmingham or Atlanta. Birmingham may be too small to have good number of questions, but Atlanta is large.

But it doesn't because Atlanta doesn't have what NYC does to create the successful game show. Here are some conditions that NYC offers.

1. Strong pedestrians presence

To run a game show, you need to have players. In Cash Cab, players are pedestrians who use taxi cabs to get to destination and end up in the one giving out money for playing the game. Primary mode of transportation in New York City is walking and there are plenty of potential players. Driving is the worst choice (in my opinion) and you either walk or take subway or have someone drive for you.

2. Destination that attract people

Having sidewalk isn't enough to convince people to walk. There have to be destinations for them to come. In New York City, shops and businesses are so close to each other that walking is the most reasonable mode of transportation. Also, when you walk, you more often find new things like shops than when you drive. When you are walking in a city like NYC for shopping, you just walk in. You don't have to spend 10-20 minutes to find a parking space. People more interact and expose themselves to new culture. It is also good for environment to get them off single-occupant cars, too.

3. Safe enough to "kick out" passengers

When players give three wrong answers, they are kicked out of the cab even if they are even halfway toward destination. They may find another cab, or if close enough, walk. And New York City is a safe place to do that. In other cities, it's not necessarily the case. More often, you drive simply for a safety reason.

4. Reliable and trusted taxi industry

This is just because I had a bad experience with taxi cab in Birmingham, where I called for a cab and the cab didn't show up. I don't really know how to make money with cabs that don't come to pick up passengers, but it seems that cab service in New York City is so reliable that many people use it. So, one Cash Cab that looks exactly like other cabs can easily get players of the game on the street.

Birmingham is reviving its downtown and businesses have begun to return to the city center. It would be great to have everything close and not to have to drive for 30 minutes just to shop for daily necessity. Ultimately, isn't it what a city is for? For a city to be successful and vibrant, maybe it should look to Cash Cab and ask if the famous game show can come to make its version of it.

Hesitation to Music Streaming

Format of music marketing has changed dramatically in last decade. CD took over the market from LP. Late 90's, when I started to listen to Pop musci (that is... J-Pop as well as some Americaner), MD (Mini Disc) became a popular format, at least in Japan. (According to Wikipedia, MD didn't succeed as much in other countries.) MP3 came out afterward. iTune and Amazon became two major marketplace for music download.

Now emerging is streaming service. You can listen to your favorite music for free with advertisement or monthly fee. Pandora, iHeartRadio, Spotify... It is like internet radio. But there are services that allow you to choose songs to play. Comparing to buying albums, it may turn out to be cheaper to subscribe such services.

I think streaming can bring substantial change in music industry, better or worse.

Since I got Sony Xperia, I looked into Music Unlimited, Sony Entertainment's music streaming service. But I am hesitant to have my playlist fully dependent on streaming service. I don't know exactly why. I just don't feel right about streaming.

First of all, under a streaming service, you don't own the music. You just have access to the music through the Internet. The access is not free. You either listen to commercial or pay a fee to maintain the access. Fee itself is not expensive. As I mentioned above, it can be cheaper than buying songs. But, ultimately service providers have control and once they decide to remove certain songs, you cannot play them even if you put them on your playlist.

Some apps, including Music Unlimited, let you download songs on your phone and play offline. I think this is what keeps me from fully shifting from buying to streaming. It's great that I can listen to music that I like, even offline. But isn't it too much of consumerism? How are those artists and bands paid? I read a few article about how little the pay is even if their songs are played so many times. I feel like if I store songs in my devices, either my laptop or phone, streaming apps or MP3 player, they should be purchased. 

Recently I had a conversation with friends about music download and streaming. They were discussing how great Spotify and Pandora are. And I was not as positive as they were. To me, having music in my devise from streaming is like downloading music illegally when download was booming. 

I have to admit that streaming has its own strength though. New artists can be more visible. It can be great alternative to radio too. I think streaming will never go away. But, I'll probably rather download songs that I like so much that I want to have them in my devise.

2013 Iron Bowl

I love watching American football. Despite the complexity of its rules, I find myself enjoying great games and turns of events. I like NFL, but I'm more passionate about college football since Alabama does not have a professional team. I root for Falcons, but don't really keep up.

For those who don't know, in the State of Alabama, there are two college football giants, University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers. Every year, the two play each other on Saturday after Thanksgiving. This rivalry game is called Iron Bowl, and the whole state watches this match. Half of state root for Alabama and the other for Auburn.

I was originally neutral just like others who are new to the state. But after a couple of years, I started rooting for Alabama. There is no specific reason, but probably I had more friends who are Alabama fans.

Of course I watched the game yesterday. Alabama was up for third consecutive national title, ranked no. 1 in the nation. Auburn was no. 4, which was remarkable because it ended last season with no conference win and had to hire the new head coach. This year, Auburn had only lost to LSU.

Alabama had the game in hands until the middle of 4th quarter. Then, a field goal kick was blocked. They allowed Auburn to make a touchdown to tie the game. After a few plays, Alabama was going for 57-yard field goal with 1 second left on regulation.

Then unbelievable happened. The kick fell short, and Auburn had 1 player in the end zone to catch the ball and carried it all the way to the other end zone, ending with first Iron Bowl win since 2010.

I was wordless as most of Alabama fan at Jordan Hare Stadium (Auburn's home stadium).

You could blame all the failed field goal attempts, but it really could have turn either way. In fact Alabama was leading the game during the second quarter and first half of the 4th quarter. Alabama defense could not effectively stop Auburn's running offense. Last field goal attempt was just an unfortunate turn of event.

As much as I hate to see my team lose, I love this kind of great games. Auburn plays SEC Championship next Saturday and Alabama probably will land on an BCS bowl game.

Speaking of BCS (Bowl Championship Series), they will begin four-team playoff for FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) next year. Until this year, FBS has determined its national title with National Championship game played by No. 1 and 2 teams on BCS ranking. I like the idea of playoff since you may not get to go to National Championship with no loss or get to go even with one loss. Alabama in 2011 actually lost to LSU, but still played National Championship game with LSU (strange, isn't it?). Alabama ended up winning this time, but it is a strange system to decide.

Lower FCS (Football Championship Subdivision), where my JSU Gamecocks play, has playoff with more teams, conference champions and at-large bid. JSU was actually picked for at-large bid to the playoff and beat Samford on Saturday.

FBS should expand its playoff. In current BCS, it almost seems that National Championship is the only game that matters. One loss could result in losing chance to play national tile game even if you win the conference. Playoff where conference champions and other qualified teams play toward the title just like FCS can be really exciting. Of course there is conflict with sponsors of bowl games. But, maybe those bowl games can be integrated into the playoff system.

Get Ready for "the New"

I've discussed about some of problems that Japan faces on this blog. Hiring process, economics, politics... But, I think what lies at the bottom of these issues is the fear of change.

This is nothing new. Human are made to be afraid of change. Even in the U.S. you see it quite often, most recently debate over the health care system. Even though they know this reform aims at stopping hiking of the health care costs, some people refuse to believe it, despite many cases that universal healthcare has actually reduced the cost. They think the U.S. is different. Well, I think this country is very unique, but as for the context behind the healthcare, it's not much different other than the fact that it lacks universal access to health insurance.

Japan is no exception. Even though they have been stuck in deflation and unsuccessful in generating economic growth, they are very reluctant in taking drastic change. I argued that the job market should be more open and fair to all. Current budget relying on bonds for over half of its revenue and running huge deficit is not sustainable. Yet, they are reluctant on raising sales tax from current 5%. They are slow in participating TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) negotiation.

Huge external impact has been required to change direction of Japan as a nation. It took showoff of strong Western fleets and a civil war to open the country to international trade, get out feudal system under shogunate, and form an modern and unified nation. It took World War II and countless deaths to install democratic government.

Now, Japan has been yet to fully recover from the burst of bubble economy and Great Recession. What does it take to get out of this struggle this time?

While Japan made several attempts to turn around its economy for past two decades, the world has shrunk and become more competitive. I don't think it is ridiculous that many countries step forward to join TPP negotiations. Domestic market is not enough. They want to export.

Japan is playing very conservatively on this negotiation, especially because of agricultural market. They are afraid of eliminating tariff on the products severely hit Japanese farmers. And I understand. But at the same time, I'm sad about not seeing Japanese products in grocery stores in the U.S. Japan imports a lot of beef from the U.S., and it is quality meat usually. But, Japanese beef, like Kobe beef, is a well-established brand. Japanese products can be expensive, but I believe it has strength to compete in international market as well.

This is why Japan needs to make changes in many things. Change the traditional simultaneous recruitment to a hiring system that is fair to different job seekers and encourages continuous career growth. Change the education, so that it push kids from bottom to up. It shouldn't need expensive cram school to be successful. Encourage global education, so that they are ready to compete with other countries and see Japan through outside views.

Change can be tough, but not changing can be even thougher.

What we cannot afford is...

So, it's been over a week since the government partially shut down. And whether Republicans or Democrats, majority of Americans don't like Republican strategy of bringing Affordable Health Care (Obamacare) to the budget negotiation. I agree with them. It has nothing to do with government funding or debt ceiling.

As Obama and many Democrats say, GOP is taking the whole citizens hostage. Well not just Americans, but also people around the world. They should pass clean CR and raise the debt ceiling ASAP.

Now, I hear many Republican legislators say ACA is too expensive, Americans cannot afford it, killing jobs...etc. My reaction was...

"What we cannot afford is status-quo."

Think about it. Healthcare cost was increasing much faster than inflation rate. Those who really need health insurance cannot get it because of its cost and preexisting conditions. So, when they get sick, they go to emergency room, so that they cannot be rejected. Hospitals have to come up with money for the unpaid treatment cost from somewhere else. So they have to charge more for regular patients. More charge means insurance have to pay more, which leads to higher premium.

If the law doesn't require drivers to have auto insurance, probably many, if not most, of them decide not to purchase insurance. But accidents happens. As Liberty Mutual Insurance commercials say, this is an imperfect world with imperfect humans. Without insurance, you may not be able to cover the liability in case of accident. Since the law requires, most of drivers purchase auto insurance and since demand is high, the cost of the insurance is affordable if you have clean driving record.

Human body is not perfect either. Although there are disease that can be prevented by keeping healthy living, sometimes your body needs repair. It can be genetic cause or external causes. Then, why not health insurance while auto insurance is mandatory?

 Another argument is that "we don't want the government to control my life"

Okay... first of all, with high healthcare cost and premiums, do you really have control of your life? What happens when you get sick, you cannot perform work, and you cannot afford the treatment. You may lose your job because you can no longer work. Plus, it's not government takeover. What ACA sets up is private insurance market place, where insurance companies compete for customers.. You get to choose your insurance, coverage. Government subsidy is available and insurance company must use certain percentage of revenue from premium for medical payment. 

It may take a while until the system become fully functional, but the insurance should be affordable like in other industrialized countries.

To combat the high cost of healthcare, insurance reform is not enough. It needs comprehensive approach. Maybe you need to educate people about healthy diet and lifestyle. You should build infrastructure that is friendly to bikes and pedestrians and promote smart growth of cities that give people to walk. Improve public transit and land use. Try to rebuild cities to be more compact, not sprawl. Get them out of cars.

We cannot afford default either! If that happens, the cost would be far more expensive that what the U.S. is paying. I'm talking about screwed markets and lives of many that would be affected. Credibility of U.S. bonds drops, economy crushes, not just the U.S., but world economy. They literally taking the world economy hostage. It would leads to unemployment, cash flow would stop. And this time, the government cannot borrow money, so it won't be able to bailout any failing company.

 I can't believe there are people thinking that it is okay to default. They don't understand basic economic. It is network of people. They should be aware of how the shutdown already affecting private businesses. Since government workers furloughed, those restaurants don't get customers. And they might have to lay off its employees if shutdown continues. It is affecting so many lives already.

Yes, the U.S. has running on deficit. Yes, I agree that we should balance the budget. But, in current economy, we have to circulate cash in economy. The huge spending after 2008 was to prevent the cash flow from stopping. The government need to raise the debt ceiling, so that it can continue to provide service to citizens and improve economy.

They need to take economy class, micro and macro. This is not just about the U.S. anymore like they like to believe, but it is about the world economy. It would ruin so many lives worldwide.

... I think this is the longest blog post that I wrote in a while, but bottom line, the House Republicans had better let the clean CR pass and raise the debt ceiling without any string attached. They have plenty of time to discuss about healthcare later. But this is not the time. Certainly not with budget.

Encouraging songs

I listen to a lot of Christian music lately. I find it really encouraging in time of uncertainty.

My latest favorite is Love & the Outcome's "He Is With Us." This is how it goes.

"Remember when your hope is lost and your faith is shaking
 Remember when you wonder if you're gonna make it
 There is a hand stretched out now to your deepest doubt
 We can't pretend to see the end or what's coming up ahead
 To know the story of tomorrow
 But we can stay close to the One who knows

"We can trust out God
 He knows what He's doing
 But it might hurt now, but we won't be ruined
 It might seem there's an ocean in between
 But He's holding on to you and me
 And He's never gonna leave, no
 He is with us He is with us, always, always
 He is with us He is with us always."

Another one is MercyMe's "The Hurt and the Healer"

"Why?

 The question that is never far away

 Healing doesn't come from the explained

 Jesus, please don't let this go in vein

 You're all I have, all that remains

"So here I am

 What's left of me

 Where glory meets my suffering

"I'm alive!

 Even though part of me has died

 You take my heart and breath it back to life

 I'm falling to your arms open wide

 Where the hurt and the healer collide"

When I was in school, there was always a way for me to take. You take classes, take notes, and do some assignments... until graduation. Yes, I loved to listen to Christian music while in school, but I also liked secular music too. Probably majority of my play list were Bruno Mars, Ne-yo, Charly Rae Jepsen (and yes, I listened to "Call Me Maybe"...), Lady Antebellum.

Now I'm on job market and have no idea where I'm going. It really scares me. It is often discouraging. When I struggle and worry, these Christian music reminds me that God is in control and He is alway close to me. He has a great plan for me.

My prayer is that I be able to trust in God completely, cast my anxiety on him, and let him do the work.

Grace, not Work

While reading Acts in New Testament Bible today, I came across the part where controversy broke out over the issue of whether the believers need to be circumcised. Those who were Pharisees before becoming believers argued that Gentiles are required to circumcised and follow "the law of Moses."

Council took place, and apostles and other church leaders agreed that they do not need to put burden on Gentiles other than abstaining "from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality." (Act 15:29)

Peter said "He [God] did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? NO! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." (Act 15:9-11) James argued "It is my judgement, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." (Acts 15:19)

I see something here that some modern church also struggles with. Quite often church appear to be caught in legalism and tell people not to do this and that. Church also uses politics to push some of the legalism. For example, in the debate of gay marriage, church appears as a strong opposition. I personally do not like church to push its doctrine in the political arena. Yes, scripture doesn't support homosexuality. But, again, God doesn't discriminate. Rather than bringing it to political arena, why don't we show how Christ-centered marriage is a blessing for us by living it.

I feel like it is exactly what is happening today that James described. All the "rules" and "what Church is against" become burden for people who are searching for salvation. Church forgets what the grace has done for us and trapped in what to do (or not to do).

No! We do because the grace saved us. We serve in and love the community because Jesus came down to serve and loves us. We provide shelter and food to those in need because of the grace. We must not forget the Grace that saves us.

It's interesting that modern church faces issues that early church faced, even 2000 years later.

Remembering the war...

As I think of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 68 years ago and pray for peace, I still can hardly imagine what and how it really happened. So many lives were lost instantly and in excruciating ways.

I browsed through articles and comments over the anniversaries of the attacks, and just like every year, I came through comments that justified the attack. Many said there would have been more casualties if the bombs had not been used. Others said Japan deserved it for whatever it did in the course of the war. A few are sympathetic.

I'm not writing this post to agree or oppose to the argument. If you are looking for that kind of posts, you can just google it and easily find.

What I want to say is... Can we just acknowledge that so many lives were lost by the attacks on the two cities? Instead of arguing right or wrong, or that many lives were saved because of the attacks, why don't we just think about lost lives each of which was unique and only one. It's so easy to count lives as number, but there are no two lives that are same. Each life is so precious and valuable, and has not existed and will not exist.

During Christmas break last year, I visited Nagasaki Peace Memorial Museum. It was very eye-opening experience, and I suggest everybody to go. You will have glimpse of what really happened in the city under the terrible explosion and what victims faced.

It's easy to make the argument simply right or wrong, or quantify lives. That way, you "feel" like you have legitimate interpretation. But, it only makes up one side of story. I don't think that is enough for humanity to grow in the future.

Why Japan lost outgoing energy

It's been while since Japan began to see decline in students studying abroad. Now Chinese are the largest among international students studying in the U.S. The inward tendency has become the tendency of Japanese students.

Studying abroad widens your view of the world. If you stay long enough, you start to understand why things go in what direction and how. You may question why your home country do or doesn't do in this way or that way.

One of my major question is, why Japan still maintains simultaneous recruitment of newly graduate. I do know it was ideal for recovering Japanese economy. But, now the growth stopped or even declined, but the tradition continues. It is widely discussed that this employment style does not fit with current Japanese economy. But, companies keep doing anyway. It looks like they don't know any other way to hire.

This produces discrimination in age. Older graduates, with higher degree and more experience, are shut from the opportunity simple because they have already graduated. Only because you study abroad and could not make it on the recruiting schedule, you lose the opportunity even if you may be able to bring new idea, different view into the company. It's discrimination. If a company recruited in this style, you will be accused of violation of civil rights laws.

I join the argument that the fear of not being on schedule keeps students from studying abroad. Many are caught in finding jobs and forget about academic work and your dream. Instead of choosing what you want to do in career, employers have a say and give you training in what they want you to do. And that's bad because this gives companies a whole lot of power in your life.

My parents seem misunderstanding my dream. They think that I want to make a living with helping other. That's not wrong, but it's more than that. They think I can help others even if I work in a big private company. Maybe. But that's not totally true. Private companies' ultimate purpose is to make profit and distribute to stockholders, sometimes even by taking advantage of the weak. Great Recession are triggered by loans made for those who could not pay back. As a result, a lot of people lost jobs and houses.

That's not what I want to do. I want to work for an organization whose purpose is to make the world better place to live. I do understand I need to feed myself, but I want to utilize what I have learned for good cause, not just making money.

Any system made by human is not perfect. But this Japanese recruiting system should be removed, ASAP.

Are you worshiping Founding Fathers or Heavenly Father?

When browsing through my newsfeeds on Facebook, sometimes I come across some political meme or status. Some or them are rather funny, but many are quite filled with madness.

They are mainly against current administration. Increasing debt and deficit, gun control, overreaching federal government, Obamacares... They can go on and on.

Then, when I see the type of ads or status that says something like "Founding Father didn't intend this country to be ...," while putting very "Christian" status like scripture, it makes me think, especially if those are shared by a Christian.

I do know that they are proud of this country and they firmly believe in the Christian doctrine. But, these ads make me wonder "Are you worshiping Founding Father, instead of One True God?"

Obviously, Founding Fathers played important role in forming the idea of what this country is and where it goes. I understand they made Constitution and Bill of Rights to keep the government from overreaching to individual rights.

"Our Founding Fathers didn't intend that this country make everyone to have insurance"
"Our Founding Fathers didn't like this country to go into debts"

It looks like, they are serving Founding Fathers more than the Heavenly Father. Of course they are great contributors for American history and principles. We should not forget what they have done and dreamed. But, what does it do to worship them?

Time changes. There are so many problems. Poverty, child hunger, crime, unemployment. These are not something they intended this country to have. But rather these are due to many changes like urbanization, change of economy structure, auto-mobilization.

Take the last one for example. If you advocate freedom and equality as in the Constitution, shouldn't you also support individual's right to be able to go to places like workplaces or shops? Towns and cities might not be big enough to need a car back in late 18th century, but now it is. Unemployment may be high because some people cannot afford a car and driving is the only way to get around. If that's the case, the government should step in to promote their right to work by installing adequate transit system or providing a solution.

We should think first will of our God, who says "Blessed are the merciful."

My Response to Gun Debate

Being from Japan, where strict gun control is in place, I am always surprised how some people even oppose to background checks. Being honest, I hate to see photos or reasoning on Facebook against gun control. Most of  them are like this: Which signs are better? "No weapons allowed" or "Guard are heavily armed"

I understand how deep the gun culture is here in the United States. I understand the rationale that having gun would keep danger out of your property or yourself.

Another rationale is that nothing could prevent disaster in Newtown.

Maybe. But, how many of this kind of disasters are we allowing to happen? What's important is what to do to save lives that otherwise may be lost by another gun violence.

I don't like the idea that some of uneducated, untrained people have access to such dangerous weapons. And that's the point of assault weapon ban. It may take a while to have control over the weapon. But, Keeping the dangerous weapons out of dangerous population altogether is the key I think.

I hear some say that gun control is only for law-abiding citizens, doesn't work for people breaking law. To me that's why we need to take all guns off of streets. Even law-abiding people can mistakenly grant somebody else access to their weapons. Actually, that's how the shooting in Newtown happens.

I feel like opposition to gun control, like NRA, is saying that gun violence like one in Newtown is necessary evil to protect their value or idea.

Letting these lives taken away is necessary? Really? Those twenty innocent lives are just sacrifice to protect their value?

I do understand that no regulation can prevent all gun violence. But, we need to take each lives taken away by selfish acts seriously. And as Obama says, we need to put politics aside.

About some ignored tradition

Several times, in Sunday Schools and worship services, it is encouraged to have some quiet time and spend time with God. And I find it difficult because it is my room, where there are so much distraction. I want to be in a room that is designed for prayer and worship if I want to meditate. On weekdays, even though church office is open, the sanctuary is not open or even if it is, it is dark or set up for prayer. If I get to build my own house, I would probably make a prayer room.

The church I go to here in Birmingham will have Good Friday service, which is rare in Baptist churches. In Sunday School yesterday, we talked about it and the teacher said it would be good to have some of tradition from Catholic. I agree.

As a Baptist, I think it is good to keep some of good tradition that has been practiced by Catholic and Episcopal church . I like how Catholics keep sanctuary quiet and open to public. Several Christian songs and books talk about how important to have your spirit fixed onto God rather than just motion. But, in this secular world, it is hard to find a place that shut you off from the world for a little time.

Particularly many of believers around me, mostly Baptists, criticize about how Catholics focus on motion over spirituality, but I think we should take another look on them. I agree that they may have a lot of motion that can distract you from God. But, they have some good practices too. One of our Sunday School members grew up in Episcopal family and told about how they prepared for Easter. Members take a shift for three days before Easter in sanctuary. That is very good to remember the fact that Jesus gave up Himself for our sin.

It seems to me that Baptists try to remove many ceremonies or "motions" as distraction. Yes, those may be distracting in the spiritual walk, but sometimes those tradition may be able to be aid as well.