JETLAG RADIO 076-077-078 | BENKYO/BENKYOU! RADIO 003-004 | 08-02-18

  • NASA's TESS Spacecraft Starts Science Operations [NASA]
  • Watch Drake Take the "In My Feelings" challenge to New Orleans In New Video [NPR]
  • 12 Safety Tips for Your Next Road Trip [Parents]
  • Walkenhorst-BMW secures memorable win at 70th edition Total 24 Hours of Spa [24Hrs of Spa]
  • Volkswagen I.D. R Sets Goodwood EV Record [autoblog]
  • How Apple Overcame Fits and Flops to Grow Into a Trillion-Dollar Company [Bloomberg]
  • Gran Turismo Sport July Update: New Cars, League Events, More [playstation]
  • Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change [New York Times Magazine]
  • The world is losing the war on Climate Change [The Economist]
  • Climate Change and the Giant Iceberg off Greenland's shore [New Yorker]
  • How LeBron James' new public school really is the first of its kind [SB Nation]
  • MSF opens a surgical field hospital in Mocha to treat war-wounded patients [MSF]
  • How Ahed Tamimi Became the Symbol of Palestinian Resistance to Israeli Oppression [The Intercept]
  • When Technology Gets Ahead of Society [HBR]
  • Texas Smashes 1925 Heat Record as Power Prices Surge on Demand [Bloomberg]
  • Apple Watch, FitBit could feel cost of U.S. tariffs [Reuters]
  • Machine Learning in Google BigQuery [Google AI]
  • When medication is essential to mental health [Outline]
  • Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project [Verge]
  • Researchers use Google Glass to help kids with autism [engadget]
  • Saudi Arabia planned to invade Qatar last summer. Rex Tillerson's efforts to stop it may have cost him his job. [The Intercept]
  • Road Safety Takes Center Stage at the FIA Region I Summer Cocktail [FIA]
  • Tesla briefly offered $1,500 surfboard [Verge]
  • A Century of Air Force Magazine [AirForceMag]
  • Joe and Jill Biden Are Committed to Supporting Veterans' Mental and Physical Health [NowThis]
  • Hillary Clinton teams up with Steven Spielberg to bring female voting rights story to television [CNBC]
  • Barack Obama just issued his first 2018 endorsements [Vox]
  • Our Revolution endorsed candidates [Our Revolution]
  • Matt Damon: A million people die 'completely needlessly' from a lack of clean water [CNBC]
  • The 2019 Nissan Leaf Nismo is Happening [Jalopnik]

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JETLAG RADIO 076-077-078 have been uploaded. With BENKYO/BENKYOU 003-004 episode, here comes a commentary quote from Verse 3 and Verse 4 from The Tao Te Ching from my copy which I got at B&N.

When our physical, emotional and spiritual needs are unfufilled, we develop desperate cravings because we are starved
— The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu Page 170
As the creator of all mythologies and realities, the Great Integrity (Tao) is the paradox that transcends all states of being.
— The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu Page 171

I just finished "Genius" season 1 on Einstein. Wow, what a fascinating story. It makes me want to read Walter Isaacson's biography even more. I look forward to season 2 with Picasso.

FMP4! was great, but I hope we don't have to wait a few more years until the next season. I want to thank the creators, because fans have been waiting for the new series for many years now.

I really like what Marvel is doing with Netflix, I understand they're inundating us with "too many shows," but here is the good part: they are addressing very important topics on multiple fronts. There is a story for all of us. Each superhero has his or her own background that helps you on whatever topic is dear to your heart.

Given that it is Ibiza season, all of our favorite DJs are unleashing a bunch of new music. Look for it on your favorite streaming portals. I am especially waiting for ASOT IBIZA 2018.

France won the World Cup! It was amazing. It brought back memories of '98, when we first won in, I was just a teenager in High School, and so excited. It is crazy how much time flies. Nobody wants to say it, but it's definitely a nice revenge from 2006 WC in Germany. I can't believe I'm missing celebrating a WC win in France for the 2nd time in a row.

LeBron James moved to Los Angeles! Argh. I can't root for the Lakers, that's my brother's team. I mean LeBron is still my favorite player, but, how to best explain this...it would be if my favorite player went from Manchester United to Arsenal. I will still root for Cleveland because I spent a decade in Ohio, plus Kevin Love is still there. I guess it's Sacramento Kings all the way. Let's make great things happen before we hopefully get the All-Star NBA Game here in Sac. Speaking of Football/Soccer, let's do everything we can to turn Sacramento Republic FC into MLS in the future.

I just finished reading every Malcolm Gladwell books. I noticed that a few months ago that cutting down on a cup of coffee or a night of a few beers with my buddies, I saved $80 and signed up for a year of Masterclass. There is an abundance of classes that they are teaching. Whether you are interested in getting back into writing (like I am, because let's face it, if you haven't written term papers in a few years, your fancy skills are gone), music (there are classes from Armin van Buuren & deadmau5, and even one from Hans Zimmer, I mean, who wouldn't want to learn how to do a superb movie score). The only class that is going to upset me will be the Basketball one, it's taught by Stephen Curry. Consider the outrage over a Cincinnati Bengals fan seeing Pittsburgh Steelers on the cover of Madden 19.

Playing around with Logic Pro X but it will take a lot of practice to make a track.

I saw a few great French movies recently including:

  • Blind Date
  • The Climb
  • I am not an Easy Man

I believe I need to release one more BENKYO/BENKYOU before the next JETLAG RADIO. The next JL will be tough because there are so many summer bangers from Ibiza/Tomorrowland season.

To raise awareness for Midterms 2018 season, I am currently reading Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton. I've already read Senator Sanders and Senator Warren's books. If you're curious about what I'm going to read in September/October, I can tell you right now it's Keith Olbermann and Madeleine Albright. Do you know how Obama won in 2008? It's because Students went door to door, making phone calls, talking to people, raising awareness about voting. I was part of that bunch of crowd in College. The evening when they announced Obama won the presidency was one of my most memorable life experiences. Flashback to 4 years prior, I will never forget this, in 2004, a woman came knocking on my door of my off-campus college apartment, in the rain (I'm not making this up), and ask if we voted. I was not yet a citizen at the time, so unfortunately I told her I can't vote. If you remember, that is the election that John Kerry lost, because of a couple of hundreds of votes. Do you see how important voting is? Yes, the system is flawed, yes, the gerrymandering is ridiculous (FiveThirtyEight has so much coverage on this), but regardless, we have to vote. You need to vote overwhelmingly to beat the competition.

I started the Taylor Branch trilogy on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This is because we have to read about history. Let's be frank, we didn't have 8 years of change just to let it be dismantled in 2 years. Hence, I don't know how else to say it but "get your reading on," and make sure you vote during the Midterms 2018. It's also summer reading time, so don't forget to get the youngsters to read books as well. Heck, I am even reading the Harry Potter series. I was a bookseller during the Midnight releases of the books back in College, and I remember how much joy people would have in their eyes whenever I would hand them a copy of a new Harry Potter book. The magic of reading!

For those who haven't read the Panama Papers yet, please read it alongside as I am. There is some really f-up content in there. These corrupted individuals have money hidden not just in places like Swiss bank accounts, but all over the world. Meanwhile the rest of world live like peasants while they run around with millions of dollars. The investigation (of the Panama Papers) is over, but Good Lord, read the book, the story is an important lesson in history which we have to learn from.

I just read that the Supreme Court decided the kids can sue Trump over Climate Change. Gotta keep that pressure until the United States is fully committed to the Paris Agreement. Have you seen these forest fires in California? Climate Change is real, damnit. Firefighters are getting no rest, they are upset, and need our help.

The new Mission Impossible movie was superb! Make sure you watch it.

Drake, I heard the new album, it was really great.

I went to see Manchester United at Levi Stadium, it was a dream come true!

Until Next Time!