Newton's Inertia At Work

I notice that it always takes a strong and opposite force to change an inertia. I will take big examples, as it is easier to look at. Take the revolution in Indonesia, when Soeharto was taken down. It took a big strong and opposite force, in a form of major demonstration/revolution, to change an inertia, aka. Soeharto regime, after 32 years of strong arm rule. Or how about war in Vietnam, where the deaths of roughly 50.000 US soldiers and also major demonstrations became the the opposite force that change the inertia of US involvement in Vietnam.

Nevertheless, inertia is basically a much stronger force, building up over years, slowly, steadily. Sort of like snowball rolling down the hill, getting bigger and harder to stop as it rolls to the bottom. It takes a tremendously stupendous force to stop such inertia, as in a case of corrupt and dictatorial regime for instance.

The bad news here is this; I think this is the reason why on a country level, it is very difficult to change things, unless things go so awry for the majority of people, that they decide to become that opposing force.

At an easier, individual level, this inertia also exists. Take those who smoke for instance, an inertia that builds up over the year, tearing your inside organs. It will usually take a big force (major illness, cancer, etc.) to make the inertia stop.....or maybe not.

So just make sure that you know what your bad inertia is, understand it, and fight it before it becomes embedded within you. Each one of us has it :)

Ganbatte ne!

The Power of Skype

All,

This is not an article, but more of a promotion for SKYPE. I highly encourage all of you to download the free software and start using them. I just used it recently and found it to be very good. For example, I called a long lost friend in Denmark through Skype and I must say, the voice quality is probably better than my land line. There is even a feature to have conferencing and also ability to call from Skype phone to regular line, for a small fee (use Skype out program). It is that good....

I thought I wanted to share this with everyone, so we can in touch with friends, relatives for no or relatively small fees. Happy Skyping everyone!

My Skype ID is: wisnu73

Dewi Fujin

I thought the following article is interesting for Indonesians in particular. Fujin in Japanese perhaps can be equated to "Madam" in English. So here, the term Dewi Fujin basically refers to the wife of the first president of Indonesia, Soekarno. She happens to be a Japanese to whom our president fell for when he visited Japan a long time ago.

I have not heard much of this lady while I was in Indonesia, only once in a while, when she visited Indonesia for unknown reasons. But in Japan, she is a celebrity, someone who is quite famous (or notorius??) actually. I think she appears on TV at least once a month, appearing on variety shows. Be they comedy, cooking, travel programs or even political program, she manages to show up in all of them!

Frankly speaking, it is somewhat awkward to watch her on TV, especially when it relates to comedy shows. I just find it odd to see one of Indonesia's ex first lady doing comedy shows, which in Japan can be quite brutal in its stupidity/hilarity. I just thought that since she was married to one of our president, she still carries Indonesia wherever she goes....I mean, even her name stays as Dewi Soekarno. But hey, what do I know, perhaps even ex first lady needs to live :)

Violence Begets Violence

Yet another tragedy in our lives occurred. My deep condolences for those who perished in this latest act of violence, one amongst the streams of those that happens daily in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world.


It is a sad and depressing day to see the images and listening to the news, just as it was depressing to see 9-11 and the tsunami. Most of all, I feel helpless to see and unable to stop the never ending senseless killings that we humans seem to master. We just never really learn, collectively as humans, from our history, not in the past, now and possibly in the future.

Violence begets violence...as long as injustice is spread by those who wield the power to do so, I fear that these strings of carnage will repeat itself. This great article from the Guardian possibly sums up my thoughts much more eloquently.

Let's take a moment to pray and hope that our leaders have the courage, compassion and the moral to uphold the right values, values that I believe all of us share when it comes to having a peaceful, just, happy and prosperous lives. Let us start from ourselves and convince ourselves and descendants that violence is not the answer, but a last resort to solve our issues. Let us have passion and kindness to each other and spread that instead. May God have mercy on us.....

Rain Of Life

I love rain, in all its forms and shapes. Hard, pouring rain with thunderstorm and needle like droplets. Or how about the softly falling rain that looks like mists, diffusing the passing lights and creating a very mysterious atmosphere. Not only the rain itself, but the effects that rain have on the soil and the smell of freshly rained grass is really awesome actually. I also remember during my childhood playing in the rain a lot of times, taking a hot shower after that and have "kayuputih" oil spread on my chest and back. Those were good memories to live by...

For some, rain brings the dreary, depressing emotion to them, although perhaps it is because of the grey color that accompanies rain. I have never thought of it that way though. It is like a blessing to have rain, as it carries life in the form of water. On the other hand, if it is the weekend, rain is a perfectly good excuse to tuck in your warm bed and do some reading or enjoy a good time with your family :)



Rainy days in Tokyo