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Kennedy was about to say in his undelivered speech in Dallas on November 22, 1963 (per Theodore C. Sorensen): ” Words alone are not enough….Where our strength and determination are clear, our words need merely to convey conviction, not belligerence. If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words…
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So this is what it was like: watching news of war from foreign soil in the comfort of home i.e. TV dinner between viewers and the 19-inches screen. Back then, it’s the three networks, beaming daily footage back to American homes from the rooftop of Saigon’s Caravelle Hotel. It’s surreal, to have lived here almost…
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Erich Maria Remarque set Ravic, his German refugee surgeon protagonist, in the shabby Hotel International, not far from the Arc de Triomphe with its “faint, lonely flame on the tomb of the unknown soldier, which looked like the last grave of mankind in the midst of night and loneliness.” At one point, in between Adieu…
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In life, not everything is cut and dry e.g. Santa vs Santos, Kissinger praised, Kissinger despised. It’s complicated. Not just in diplomacy i.e. the enemy of my enemy is my friend etc… That path, pretty soon, leaves us with no real friends. I have good friends for a good five and a half decades. Being…
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Self-editorializing instinctively precedes self- expression. We all are self-editors of words said and unsaid. To err is human. To unleash uncensored unedited thoughts e.g. racist, put-down or out-of-bound/below-the-belt comments is to ask for a tit-for-tat, if not outright violent reaction. Lately, uncensored expression under the guise of freedom of expression have been rampant and re-tweeted.…
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Walk like one. Die like one. Must be one. We’re told to watch and listen with our eyes. To adjust and survive, in war and in peace. As if living were just playing for time. Breathe in and out. Never listen to oneself, the complex person inside, completely unknown nor fully known. (I was just…
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People are clustered and bunched up via personal preferences. All due to the accident at birth. Village people look up to the Chief. Urban the mayor and in a Democratic society the President. Individual freedom vs Internet freedom. A scary thing. We have at our finger tips all the knowledge in the world (including bias,…
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I meant for it (the title) to set the tone. A right one. Non-judgmental. Just in plain gratitude. However, what I want to say is, for the “children of the dust” ( or worse, ” cho muc i.e. black dog ” as Vietnam era Amerasian were coined in private), Homecoming Act could only help so…
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You have to say it with a Southern drawl….” Just stuccccck”. Can’t go far without destroying the transmission. Kevin Kelly said “technology wants to be free”…flow and fluidity. Yet both people and technology often times are just stuck. No flow, no fluidity. In Beijing, where millions of cars clogged up the highways, one can call…
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In looking around there at the gym, I must be the oldest. Of course I don’t have the latest and greatest gym wear. Nor do I bring all the gadgets like bluetooth and Apple watch. But I showed up. Like clockwork. Like I have always been there and forever I will be. Gym fees are…
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Thang Nguyen 555 