working @ liberal arts college Former Tenured Professor geopolitics，globalization，Information Literacy，East Asisn Studies，Critical Thinking
Wshington State
Joined January 2026
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My central point is this:
In a country saturated with surveillance, forget about the right to own firearms—even kitchen knives used in restaurants in Xinjiang have to be kept under lock and key.
This country has a nationwide Great Firewall that filters and blocks independent voices from abroad. People are required to register online using their real identities, and their speech is subject to strict censorship. Citizens are denied access to foreign media. Even during holidays and festivals, people are restricted from gathering in public places, because the government fears that they might organize, exchange information, or, once they learn the truth, rise up in protest—or even overthrow the government.
China calls this “security.”
Meanwhile, in the United States, the government allows people to express dissenting opinions. Society allows people to take to the streets in protest (although protests may require advance notification or permits, something many foreigners don’t understand). People are allowed to own firearms. Homeless people can live on the streets, even right outside government buildings.
And this is called “insecurity.”
This is exactly the point I’ve been making: When people lack critical thinking skills, they cannot even grasp the most basic definitions and concepts, let alone distinguish between them.
Japan is very technologically advanced, but living space is really a problem there. I visited Japan in 1993 and traveled around Tokyo, Osaka, and many other places. One thing I remember is how tiny the hotel rooms were. But even back then, Japanese toilets already had built-in bidets that sprayed water to clean your bottom.
The U.S. military has conducted a series of limited "minor strikes" targeting
Iranian military assets on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. [1, 2]
According to U.S. military officials and statements from President Donald Trump, the defensive strikes targeted and destroyed an Iranian anti-aircraft device and missile launchers to prevent further attacks on commercial vessels. Iranian state media confirmed that multiple missiles struck the Souza area of Qeshm Island.
This is the McLennan Library Building at McGill University. I was right inside this building from 2001 to 2003 pursuing my MLIS (Master of Library and Information Studies). From 1969 to 2009, McGill University's Graduate School of Library and Information Studies was located on the street level of the McLennan Library, until it moved in 2009.
I feel like becoming good at fixing things yourself is a gradual process.
One time, my dryer stopped working, so I called the manufacturer. They told me the warranty had expired, and it would cost $75 just to send someone out to diagnose the problem.
And let me be clear: $75 was just for the diagnosis—simply figuring out what was wrong. It didn’t include actually fixing anything.
I thought that was way too expensive.
This was back when YouTube already existed, but AI wasn’t around yet. So I searched YouTube and found a video about a similar dryer problem. I followed the steps in the video to troubleshoot it myself and discovered that a fuse had blown.
I ordered two replacement fuses from Amazon. When they arrived, I replaced the blown fuse, and the dryer started working again!
人的动手能力我感觉是有一个过程的。又一次我家的烘干机不工作了。我就打电话给厂家，厂家说保修期过了，如果要派个人过来诊断一下就是75美元。听清楚了是诊断就是找出怎么回事。不是帮你修改。我想想那也太贵了。那时候已经有YouTube但还没有AI。我就找到了一个类似的YouTube视频，按它说的步骤去检查，发现是一根保险丝断了。在亚马逊订了两个。回来换上就继续工作了。
The U.S. is actually facing a shortage of civil engineers. Guess how I found out?
An American friend of mine asked me to help her look into which universities in Seattle offer civil engineering programs.
I asked her, “Is civil engineering really a good field for finding a job in the U.S.?
Because in China, some universities can barely keep their civil engineering programs running anymore.”
So I decided to check the U.S. job market, and to my surprise, it turns out that America really does need civil engineers!
如果一个国家标榜自己是世界上最安全的国家，为啥要花这么大的人力物力警力维稳呢？@grok 你能解释这个矛盾吗？什么叫稳？把一个国家管理成一个大监狱？
@grok ，我的问题焦点是：
一个国家装满了监控，不要说用枪了，在新疆甚至菜刀也上锁，有全国防火墙，网上严格审查言论内容，屏蔽外国媒体，连过节也不能聚集在一起，就怕串联闹事，民众知道真相后闹事甚至推翻政府，这叫做安全。
而美国，允许你发表不同言论，允许你上街抗议（要报备得到批准，这点很多外国人不了解），可以拥有枪支，流浪汉可以住大街甚至政府门口，这叫不安全。这就是我讲的要有critical thinking ability！
中国有三亿枝枪仅仅是治安问题吗？@grok 你没脑子了。政府估计都要天天换
还有一个是群体暴力或者冲突仍然有但不报道。不像美国，哪怕社区来了个陌生人，警惕的社区居民也会报警。而年度统计就会统计进去。而中国社区很多事即使报警了也不一定统计进治安年度报告。@grok 。我的意思不要比较也不要自豪。如果中国民间有三亿枝枪（美国的民间有），中国的治安还会和美国一样（总体很好）吗？
而且没有全面监控含人脸指纹等监控前治安也很不好。偷盗和暴力也很多。@grok 所以这种安全犹如你说，在一个监狱里最安全是一样的。
我也同意，但是安全的定义我要加很多条件和限制🚫@grok 你知道为什么吗？
