Samson Yuchi Mai's Latest Blog Postings
October 18, 2010It is said often that what separates America from other countries is the prevalence of the rule of law. However, many indexes and studies show that America is relatively low in aggregate rankings of justice and law. The USA is at the bottom of all developed countries in terms of access to civil justice according to the World Justice Project...
October 18, 2010Every decision involves an opportunity cost. The decision to go to war is no different. The decision to invade Iraq incurred heavy opportunity costs. In a recent NY Times article written by Joseph Stiglitz, the tally of the Iraq War was 3 trillion. Let me repeat that figure. 3 trillion. This accounted for government expenditures and the war...
March 27, 2010Here they are. 1. Ban discrimination of pre-existing conditions for children immediately. Ban on discrimination of pre-existing conditions on adults goes into effect in 2014. 2. Firms with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 50% of employee premiums. 3...
March 3, 2010In the 2010 State of the Union speech, President mentioned the support of the use of nuclear power as a pillar of the United States’ path to sustainable energy production. Members of Congress of both aisles stood and applauded his support. On February 16, 2010 Obama revealed plans to issue government guaranteed loans to two new plants...
January 12, 2010About a month ago, 100 world leaders gather in the Danish capital to discuss how to deal with the problem of climate change. The outcome was the Copenhagen Accord; a legally non-binding agreement drafted by the US, South Africa, China, India, and Brazil to cut emissions. However, it was touted by many...
January 10, 2010In defense and diplomacy circles, mutually assured destruction (MAD) refers to the presence of nuclear weapons as a deterrence against enemy nuclear attacks. An enemy will not dare to launch a first strike because the other side can retaliate in equal manner. However,...
December 18, 2009Hey guys, I hope you are having a wonderful holiday break. I just wanted to give out a few reminders before you guys come back to San Diego. 1. Post a blog post if you have not already. 2. Finish up your paper for publication before the first meeting. 3. ...
November 19, 2009The regents decided to raise tuition mid-year by 32% and another 32% next year on top of increases in the summer and fall. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves.
October 31, 2009Once again, the UC system has raised tuition for a straight third time. John Muir college at UCSD has raised activity fees by four dollars. All of these raises are larger than any previous hikes. This comes at a time when faculty are getting pay cuts, workers are getting cut, and families are suffering from the recession. Add that to the previous...
October 30, 2009All the problems are interconnected. What happens in Afghanistan affects India and Pakistan of course. And there are major events happening dealing with this region. Obama is considering increasing troop numbers by 40,000 to the already 100,000 international and US forces there. Secretary Clinton just visited the region to push the Pakistani...
October 30, 2009I am a college student so I LOVE technology, computers, and the INTERNET. The internet was born in the USA. But over the years, other countries that have surpassed us in internet capabilities. For example, many countries have faster average speed. A friend brought to my attention that Obama's telecom advisor is visiting Australia to learn from...
October 30, 2009So I found this article on BBC news. It is quite groundbreaking. It starts with, "The internet, we are told, has just gone truly global. For the first time in its history, users will be allowed to create full web and e-mail-addresses using non-Latin characters." Here is the link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8333209.stm
October 29, 2009US economy 'pulls out of recession' So the US economy is pulling out of a recession...on paper. But there are plenty of problems still left. However, there are still high levels of unemployment, tons of debt, strained budgets, and other structural problems. This is the time to be careful or we fall right back into another big ditch. Here is a link...
October 29, 2009This summer, I finally went back to my motherland after a long hiatus. I have not seen my family for a while and I reconnected with them. Yes, the trip was a personal journey. But I am not going to talk about that. I am going to talk how the trip affected my outlook on policy here in America. Between the last two times I have gone back, China has...
October 27, 2009Hey, want to help out the push for health care reform. Go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hrvcvideos/ to vote for the best video. Thanks!