charvey in Vietnam

My New Blog

Hi Public,

I've started another blog to share experiences and ideas about leadership and management.  Check it out at chrisfharvey.com.

I'll continue to update "charvey in Vietnam" from time to time with pictures, personal thoughts and experiences of living in Vietnam.  Eventually if I stop being lazy I'll even post something other than pictures.  Requests from my Public are always welcome.  I serve the people.

Love,
charvey

 

Media Bias

I'm sick to death of rampant bias in the media.  

Actually, no I'm not.  People naturally have political opinions.  Their political opinions naturally will bias their coverage of an event.  You can no more remove bias from reporting than you can remove flour from a baked cake.  I have no problem with that.

What I'm really sick of is reporters *pretending* they're not biased.  They offer stories and opinions they claim are "non-partisan" and "factual" when they are anything but.  How could they be?  It's bullsh*t of the highest order. 

Two of my married (to each other) friends live in Washington, DC.  The wife is a reporter and liberal Democrat, the husband a business guy and fiscally conservative Republican.  They're a real odd couple, but it works.  We all like to talk politics.  

Last time I was there the husband complained that his wife's employer, a national media outlet, forbid employees and spouses from displaying political signs or bumper stickers.  "Employees are to be non-partisan," she explained.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you *are* partisan," I said.  "Maybe the real reason is that media companies don't want everyone to know that their employees and reporters are 90% Democrat."  

She didn't like that at all.  

But hey, wouldn't knowing a reporter's political affiliation help you to measure the content of their article better?  It's plain fiction to claim that someone who is rabidly liberal or conservative can keep their beliefs from slanting their reporting (or debate-moderating, *heh*).  It's only human, and totally natural.

Everyone gives Fox News a hard time.  But hey, they don't try to hide that they're conservative.  So what?  I agree that their "fair and balanced" motto is baloney and that they should drop it.  Similarly, CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post should admit that they are composed of overwhelmingly liberal people.  So what?  

But they won't do it.  Because doing so would deny their claims that their opinions are "factual" and not biased by their own beliefs.

Saigon Street Graffiti Dec 2012

Recently I've been seeing artful street graffiti in Saigon. This one is pretty cool.

Relaxing in Nha Trang

Life is Beautiful.

Rainstorm Philosophy

"There is something to be learned from a sudden rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."
- Hakakure

Saigon Heat

Last night I attended the first ever Saigon Heat basketball game in Saigon.  It was pretty cool.

The Saigon Heat are the newest addition to the Air Asia ASEAN Basketball League in Southeast Asia. 

There were cheerleaders, a guy getting the crowd to cheer and throwing T-shirts into the stands, advertisements and TV cameras.  The quality of play was surprisingly good.

 

Great job Connor Nguyen and Henry Nguyen for having the vision and drive to make Saigon Heat a reality!  I'm buying tix for the home games.

 

 

All Aboard

Things are done differently in Vietnam.

One example is boarding aircraft. Vietnam Airlines often has passengers walk across the tarmac and board the plane from front and rear simultaneously.

Saigon Scene 9

Blackout

I subscribe to the paper edition of The Wall Street Journal Asia.  It is printed in Thailand and flown to Vietnam each day.  Sometimes my newspaper arrives with content related to Vietnam blacked out with a heavy marker.

From the January 12 edition of The Wall Street Journal Asia:

Saigon Scene 8

Clever