(It appears that I should no longer title my journal entries as 'Random ramblings:__________' beyond this point, since I have been pretty consistent with regards to the recurrent underlying topic, which happens to be related to accounting.)

1. I had an interesting time at my nighttime economics class. There was a class discussion about the current US economic bail-out plan. My professor suddenly talked about Larry Flynt. (For those who are not familiar with this name, he is the head of LFP: Larry Flynt Publications. He is famous for LFP's top seller: Hustler adult magazines.)

Recently, there was an interview of Larry Flynt. (I did not see the interview, but my professor did.) One of the things he mentioned was that the porn industries should get a portion of the bail-out money! He pointed out that porn industries provide many jobs, and thus an integral part of the economy. Why just the banks and the auto industries getting bail-out packages? Everybody laughed. However, my professor pointed out that Flynt was not nonsensical. The single greatest source of internet traffic comes from internet porn sites. Something to ponder about, hehe.

A related issue is the period of time between the New Year's Day and the 15th of April: Many Americans are filing their income tax returns now. Among those, many have been and will be getting tax refunds. Interestingly, revenues from internet porn sites jumped up. Apparently, there are many folks finding themselves sudden awash with money from their tax refunds spending some of them on porn site subscriptions.

2. (Follow-up from my last journal entry) Hmmm ...... I wonder what would it be like if parents have to 'incorporate' their babies, just like what you would have to do to establish a corporation? Maybe I should write about this one in the near future. This one is going to be much less kind than treating baby/toddler/growing-up/teen expenses as notes payable ...... hahahaha

I wonder what would it be like if the parents were to treat child-raising in terms of accounting.

For example ...

1. Baby care supply expenses: Diapers (nappies), baby powder, formulated milk, etc.

2. Educational supply expenses (other than those offered by tax money from the government): Pencils, notebooks, books, artist supplies, etc.

3. Entertainment expenses: Electronic toys (I-Pod, X-Box, PS3, for example), dining out and hosting parties, etc.

4. Living expenses: Housing rent, utilities (electricity, natural gas, telephone), etc.

5. Transportation expenses: Automobile (if he/she happens to start driving but the insurance, gas/petrol and maintenance expenses are being paid by his/her parents), bus, train, taxi, etc.

6. Personal expenses: Clothes, accessories, etc.

Accrue all of the above until he/she becomes a legal adult. Then deduct the amount contributed by him/her from both jobs and housework. Then, the net amount becomes the principal of a loan, in which the parents are the lenders, while their grown-up child is the debtor. Just like all other kinds of loans (e.g., auto, home, business, student), the parents amortize the principal and thus set up a payment schedule which includes interest payments. With regards to the interest rate, depending on individual scenarios, it could be either fixed or variable. The grown-up child has the choice of choosing either one.

If the grown-up child happens to become delinquent or default on his/her liabilities, then the parents, as the lender, make a report to the credit bureau/agency (which will damage his/her credit score). If such a grown-up child happens to have become either delinquent or defaulted, then the next time he/she jumps to a bank to ask for auto, home, student or business loan, the bank tells him/her ... 'We regretfully inform you that, based on your credit score, you do not qualify for ______ loan. If you have further questions, please call 1-800-123-4567 in the US or 0800 123 456 in the UK.'

'Theological accounting': I have been thinking about this over many many months -- 'What would it be like if the Holy Bible were written like bookkeeping journal?' Sounds weird? Here are some examples:

Genesis 1:1 -- In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
____________________Debit_____________Credit
Heaven_______$500 000 000
Earth__________500 000 000
God, Capital____________________$1 000 000 000

(The numbers involved in the above are absolutely arbitrary. I had to choose a set of particular numbers, in order to conform to the way 'General Journal Entries' are written.)

Genesis 3:6 -- And when the woman saw that the tree [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

___________________Debit______________Credit
G&E, Knowledge.____$10 000
Sins payable__________________________$10 000

('G&E' = Good and Evil. 'ayable' = typical business terminology implying liability of some form.)

Genesis 4:1 -- And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

Debit Credit
Cain $100
Adam $50
Eve $50

(Insofar as I am concerned at this moment -- to generalize, it is obvious that Cain is 50% Adam and 50% Eve.)

................

Oh boy! If I were to pursue this 'Theological accounting' to its logical extremes, my version is going to make the entire generations of the Holy Bible to look rather thin by comparison!

1. It appears that I may have to consider shopping for a new flatbed scanner. The one that I have is not working. Specifically, the scanning head appears to be jammed. (It does not traverse all the way.) An inexpensive flatbed scanner can be bought for under $100 nowdays, so it is not worthwhile to spend money on repairs. Unfortunately, I have a plenty of bills to pay off and even something as inexpensive as a flatbed scanner has to wait.

(I am not too happy about this right now, because I was just getting started with my drawings. On the less negative side, I have a digital camera, but it is not designed to optimally capture document-sized images. Bloody darn!)

2. Too much caffeine from my office. (I have been working for a small accounting service for a while, mostly sorting out bookkeeping, bank reconciliations and payrolls.) Caffeine helps, as it allows me to become a bit 'hyper' which speeds up my job and allows me to concentrate better. On the other hand, by the time I jump out of the office, I feel empty-headed and worn out. However, my day is not over yet as I have night classes awaiting for me.

3. Goat milk + Earl Grey tea: Yummmmmmmm!

4. 'State Board of Equalization' ... Who has come up with that weird name? (This name should be familiar to anyone who operates or works for businesses in California. It is in charge of collecting sales tax, fees for liquor and tobacco licenses. In addition, this is the place for obtaining the 'seller's permit' which is a must for retail businesses in California.) I just feel rather funny about that name as its literal meaning have no relations to its functions ... LOL.

5. I have found out that a helpful way for me to fall asleep is to wear a pair of earphones connected to my CD player while playing one of the six recorded lectures by the late Richard Feynman. (I have a 6 CD set of his lectures on physics.) Considerably more effective than music.

6. Target America: The Soviet Union and the Strategic Arms Race, 1945 - 1964: A very good book for those who are interested in the nuclear arms race from the Soviet perspective. The story involves clashes among politicians, soldiers and engineers, as well as pushing immature rocket and nuclear technologies too far, resulting in disasters, and the constant paranoia within the Soviet leadership towards the immense American military and economic superiority which resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

From a lecture about ancient Chinese history that I have been watching from my DVD player:

1. As soon as you take possession of the imperial throne, one of the immediate task for you to do is to begin making arrangements to build your own tomb.

2. Better to make such arrangements as soon as possible. First of all, there is no telling when you will pass away. Much more complicated to begin building your own tomb after you have passed away!

........

3. During the Han Dynasty, the eunuchs responsible for making arrangements for the emperor's 'bedtime' carried a 'book' containing portraits of his wives and concubines. This was shown to the emperor, in order to assist him in deciding which bedroom to go to. Not surprisingly, among those who were more clever, they have bribed the artists in charge of the portraits. (In today's speak ...... no different than 'hoto retouch'?!?)

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From a DVD which contained a documentary regarding the history of eunuchs:

1. The Western world should not feel anything weird about the eunuchs. They were common into the Roman Era.

2. Although both China and Korea have employed eunuchs for centuries, surprisingly very little record of eunuchs in Japan. It turns out that the Japanese have employed women, instead of eunuchs, for the 'rivate' sections of the palaces of their shoguns.

3. Regarding 'which part of the body to lop off': a) In case of China, as an eunuch, both your penis and testicles are removed. b) In case of Korea, as an eunuch, only your testicles are removed.

4. For Korean eunuchs, they were legally allowed to become married. Obviously, since they lacked testicles, they could not sire children. (They resorted to adopting young eunuchs instead.) Since their penises remained intact, they could engage in sexual intercourse. However, because of their lack of testicles, they suffered from problems like erectile dysfunction. Compared to their un-castrated brothers, they experienced considerably higher rate of divorce.

5. Why become a eunuch? For boys from not-so-well-off family background, it was the best means to become wealthy and powerful. (By the way ... relative to the common population, the career of eunuch offers much better pension benefits!) However, very difficult: a) No modern medical techniques back then, so you might not survive after castration; b) You had to pass extensive schooling; c) You had to survive a set of very strict code of disciplines within the realm of the eunuchs, among other thingies.