There is quite a bit of diversity other than just Cantonese and Mandarin. Languages from Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, and Shanghai (just all in the south of China) are probably less than 50% mutually intelligible. There are languages within Guangdong province itself, while supposedly dialects of Cantonese, are pretty unintelligible with each other.
SnoPUD customer here - agree with all your points. Although I'm getting my gas from Puget Sound Energy (haven't investigated to see if there is another choice). All I know is SnoPUD has lower electric rates than unregulated, free-market Texas, where both Texas and Washington have cheap electricity (from wind and hydro, respectively).
Doesn't help that Puget Sound Energy is now sold off to Canadian investors, last I checked.
I can't think of a private business that has the same problems.
Sounds like Fry's to me.
Just last week, I did not receive a DVD that I had ordered. Tracking info states that package has already been delivered. I called the post office at 4:45pm. By 6:00pm, they had sent someone personally to deliver my package. UPS or Fedex would have (and have in the past) just told me to haul my ass down to the distribution center 15 miles away to line up and pick it up.
It's not just personal costs - there's a tangible economic detriment as well.
Even within a single large company, the support staff is often located somewhere else. Last week, 3 people on the team spent 1 hour each with phone tech support to reset passwords.
That's 6 man hours total wasted with no measurable economic activity. 3 at full American engineer salaries and 3 at Indian call center salaries.
That's how my mother-in-law justifies buying $900 shoes. She'll go out of her way to tell you she wore them at least 20 times, and therefore the shoes have "paid for themselves".
A good number of east Asian societies used Chinese characters exclusively in the past. (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.). To varying degrees, they've switched to their separate writing systems which are either based on Chinese characters (albeit much more simplified versions of), or artificial ones from scratch (like Korean Hangul), or completely Latinized versions of the native language (like Vietnamese), or slightly simplifying Chinese characters (like mainland China).
Does this trend have something to do with the shifting of the balance of power in the world?
The Japanese language is well-known for absorbing foreign words and language concepts into its own domestic use, especially from cultures / societies it deems powerful or dominant. It was Chinese during the Ming dynasty, Portuguese/Spanish during the 1600s, German during the 1800s, English from WW2 onwards.
Now that China is a relative economic superpower, maybe the trend is now to absorb Chinese words again?
Even in many parts of Asia without a one-child policy, culture (and also some economic factors) often dictates that 3 generations (parent, child, grandchild) live under one roof.
86 Dodge Caravan - replaced transmission 3 times before 30,000 miles; another family member experienced the same.
89 Plymouth Reliant - dead transmission and seized engine both at around 45,000 miles.
No thanks.
Since then, my family has put over 200k-300k miles each (without any major component failures) on a Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, Subaru Legacy, and Mazda MPV.
Then we made the mistake of going back to buying American with the 2002 Ford-made Mazda Tribute, and 1999 Chevy Malibu. Both have less than 70,000 and are falling apart quite badly.
My favorite bullying types are all either high school teachers (the type whose life's glory peaked in high school and never wanted to leave) or cops now (a la Clockwork Orange). And many of them are hardcore Tea Party activist types.
And of course they've gone through 3-4 kids and at least 2 wives by now.
Speaking as someone raised in Hong Kong, it doesn't take long to notice that HK people fanatically follow the latest trends in fashion and entertainment. They're far from being an individualistic people.
In the U.S., people ask "What music do you like?" In Hong Kong, it was more like "What's the popular tune these days?"
All the smart people in India have already moved to the States with their families for a better living environment and better pay.
All the rest stay in India, where they job-hop every 3 months for a raise until all the remaining smart ones end up being in management, which really doesn't do their technical productivity any favors.
We're seeing the same sort of thing (with the job-hopping) in Eastern Europe now, but albeit at a much slower pace.
I did a business analyst internship with Weyerhaeuser, and their corporate policy specifically allows gifts to be given to business partners, vendors, and government officials whenever "the local custom or culture dictates."
I owe about the same amount this year too. Then I look back at my paystubs and I see that my employer only took out 10% for withholding on my and my wife's paychecks. (I'm in the 28% bracket).
If it wasn't for the credits for my wife's education expenses, I'd be writing a $3000 check this year.
Hsinchu, Taiwan is one of the few (are there any others?) successful examples of centrally-planned science cities (founded during its period of totalitarianism).
And how many people in America can have a meaningful existence without a complete database of your personal information being held by the credit bureaus, banks, and the federal government?
most Americans could not give a damn about the color of your skin, as long as the middle class are relatively comfortable and people are not fighting over scraps.
FIFY. Since when are Americans some special, enlightened breed impervious to racial hatred?
My hunch is that this is an economic strategy. Japan has a history of doing stuff like this before - this is not strictly an example about genetic superiority - but they have claimed that Japanese snow has a unique texture, and therefore only Japanese-manufactured skis are suitable for their ski resorts.
A lot of seaweed gets exported from China and Korea. This may be to stem the import of foreign seaweed.
Slashdot Mirror
There is quite a bit of diversity other than just Cantonese and Mandarin. Languages from Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, and Shanghai (just all in the south of China) are probably less than 50% mutually intelligible. There are languages within Guangdong province itself, while supposedly dialects of Cantonese, are pretty unintelligible with each other.
SnoPUD customer here - agree with all your points. Although I'm getting my gas from Puget Sound Energy (haven't investigated to see if there is another choice). All I know is SnoPUD has lower electric rates than unregulated, free-market Texas, where both Texas and Washington have cheap electricity (from wind and hydro, respectively).
Doesn't help that Puget Sound Energy is now sold off to Canadian investors, last I checked.
I can't think of a private business that has the same problems.
Sounds like Fry's to me.
Just last week, I did not receive a DVD that I had ordered. Tracking info states that package has already been delivered. I called the post office at 4:45pm. By 6:00pm, they had sent someone personally to deliver my package. UPS or Fedex would have (and have in the past) just told me to haul my ass down to the distribution center 15 miles away to line up and pick it up.
It's not just personal costs - there's a tangible economic detriment as well.
Even within a single large company, the support staff is often located somewhere else. Last week, 3 people on the team spent 1 hour each with phone tech support to reset passwords.
That's 6 man hours total wasted with no measurable economic activity. 3 at full American engineer salaries and 3 at Indian call center salaries.
That's how my mother-in-law justifies buying $900 shoes. She'll go out of her way to tell you she wore them at least 20 times, and therefore the shoes have "paid for themselves".
I've lived in Seattle for almost 20 years and just recently visited the Space Needle. But that was only because a friend's wedding was there.
You mean Ballmer will be shipped off to the Bangalore office to personally make sure all the chai cups are filled at all times?
Southern Chinese have problems with R sounds.
Northern Chinese have too much R sound. Even more than the Japanese - letter="retter".
So why is this offtopic?
A good number of east Asian societies used Chinese characters exclusively in the past. (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.). To varying degrees, they've switched to their separate writing systems which are either based on Chinese characters (albeit much more simplified versions of), or artificial ones from scratch (like Korean Hangul), or completely Latinized versions of the native language (like Vietnamese), or slightly simplifying Chinese characters (like mainland China).
That's because a portion of pinyin evolved first from the use of the Cyrillic alphabet. "zh" is an example of that.
Does this trend have something to do with the shifting of the balance of power in the world?
The Japanese language is well-known for absorbing foreign words and language concepts into its own domestic use, especially from cultures / societies it deems powerful or dominant. It was Chinese during the Ming dynasty, Portuguese/Spanish during the 1600s, German during the 1800s, English from WW2 onwards.
Now that China is a relative economic superpower, maybe the trend is now to absorb Chinese words again?
Japanese students now prefer to study abroad in China rather than the U.S.
Even in many parts of Asia without a one-child policy, culture (and also some economic factors) often dictates that 3 generations (parent, child, grandchild) live under one roof.
Chrysler made solid automobiles.
Funny +5.
86 Dodge Caravan - replaced transmission 3 times before 30,000 miles; another family member experienced the same.
89 Plymouth Reliant - dead transmission and seized engine both at around 45,000 miles.
No thanks.
Since then, my family has put over 200k-300k miles each (without any major component failures) on a Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, Subaru Legacy, and Mazda MPV.
Then we made the mistake of going back to buying American with the 2002 Ford-made Mazda Tribute, and 1999 Chevy Malibu. Both have less than 70,000 and are falling apart quite badly.
My favorite bullying types are all either high school teachers (the type whose life's glory peaked in high school and never wanted to leave) or cops now (a la Clockwork Orange). And many of them are hardcore Tea Party activist types.
And of course they've gone through 3-4 kids and at least 2 wives by now.
I'm not sure about using raw numbers either - it's highly dependent on where you live. Urbanspoon gives 81% for Olive Garden in Tacoma, WA.
Speaking as someone raised in Hong Kong, it doesn't take long to notice that HK people fanatically follow the latest trends in fashion and entertainment. They're far from being an individualistic people.
In the U.S., people ask "What music do you like?" In Hong Kong, it was more like "What's the popular tune these days?"
All the smart people in India have already moved to the States with their families for a better living environment and better pay.
All the rest stay in India, where they job-hop every 3 months for a raise until all the remaining smart ones end up being in management, which really doesn't do their technical productivity any favors.
We're seeing the same sort of thing (with the job-hopping) in Eastern Europe now, but albeit at a much slower pace.
Costco sells respectable looking ones for a little under $1,000. Don't know if you have to buy a 3-pack, though.
I did a business analyst internship with Weyerhaeuser, and their corporate policy specifically allows gifts to be given to business partners, vendors, and government officials whenever "the local custom or culture dictates."
I owe about the same amount this year too. Then I look back at my paystubs and I see that my employer only took out 10% for withholding on my and my wife's paychecks. (I'm in the 28% bracket).
If it wasn't for the credits for my wife's education expenses, I'd be writing a $3000 check this year.
Hsinchu, Taiwan is one of the few (are there any others?) successful examples of centrally-planned science cities (founded during its period of totalitarianism).
And how many people in America can have a meaningful existence without a complete database of your personal information being held by the credit bureaus, banks, and the federal government?
most Americans could not give a damn about the color of your skin, as long as the middle class are relatively comfortable and people are not fighting over scraps.
FIFY. Since when are Americans some special, enlightened breed impervious to racial hatred?
My hunch is that this is an economic strategy. Japan has a history of doing stuff like this before - this is not strictly an example about genetic superiority - but they have claimed that Japanese snow has a unique texture, and therefore only Japanese-manufactured skis are suitable for their ski resorts.
A lot of seaweed gets exported from China and Korea. This may be to stem the import of foreign seaweed.