sequel of "to kill a mockingbird"

On this coming Tuesday, a sequel to the magnum opus, "to kill a mockingbird", will be published. I still remembered vividly, even after 50 years, the touching scene when the upright lawyer, Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck), despondently walked out of courtroom while all black people on the gallery stood up to show their respect. Now, this sequel totally upends this indelible image since Atticus Finch was a racist as revealed in this sequel. Though this is a fiction, "to kill a mockingbird" is a book that all U.S. school children have been required to read in the last 50 years, its impact will be enormous, especially in this era of racial conflicts.

income substitution rate

最近看到很多年金改革的新聞，大部分退休人員的所得替代率都超過5成，甚至超過八成。這在美國是很難想像的。 在美國每次的薪水都一定要扣6.2%的社會福利金和1.45%到65歲以後才能享受的老人醫療保險. 62歲以前不准拿退休金，66歲又兩個月才能夠拿全額退休金，而且要工作滿35年。 如果只有工作25年，那剩下十年的薪水全部以零計算。即使像這樣的社會福利基金制度，也將在不久的將來破產。 下面兩張圖表是根據美國社會安全福利局的公式算出來的。(美國去年的國民所得平均五萬五千美元)  

Superbugs resistant to all antibiotics

Value of human life is always eclipsed by the concern of profit. No pharmaceutical companies have done serious R&D on the new antibiotics to attack the two superbugs, NDM-1 and KPC. In 2011, KPC bacteria killed 12 patients inside the state-of-the-art NIH clinical center in Maryland, USA. NDM-1 and KPC are still lurking all around the whole world and prepare to launch another bout of outbreak.   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hunting-the-nightmare-bacteria/

plutocratic dog with two gold Apple watches

Perks enjoyed by dogs in the super-rich Chinese family? Two gold Apple watches owned by this "lucky" Alaskan husky (愛基斯摩狗).  dog wearing two gold Apple watches

wealth distribution in Taiwan and U.S.

台灣最富有的5%佔全國財富的25.3% 美國更嚇人, 全國最富有的1%就佔全國財富的39.8%

choice of much lower medical testing cost

We always complain the steep medical testing cost. Yet, if you check the site of https://www.theranos.com/test-menu, its cost is only 8% (more expensive ones) to 15% (less expensive ones) of the leading player, Labcorp, in the U.S. Founder of Theranos and a Stanford dropout, Elizabeth Holmes, deserves respect for her dedicated mindset to help people stay healthy.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21656193-theranoss-boss-says-her-mission-extends-beyond-making-fortune-holmes-where-heart

melliflous remix

First remix done by Andy.  He tried to pick up his musicality learned in his childhood.   Enjoyable remix with synchronized video and mellifluous audio.