das Blog d'Hiroizumi

Yinchao Shi Art Exhibition: 56 Ethnic Groups (News by Phoenix Television)

2010-02-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

Danger: Chinese language skills required...

WSOP

2010-02-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Gestern Abend habe ich das Final Table des WSOPs, mein Lieblingsfernsehshow, gesehen. Mir gleicht das Leben ziemlich dem Hold’em. Wenn man ein paar Asse hat, bedeutet es nicht, daß er die Hand gewinnen kann; wenn man der beste Pokerspieler der Welt ist, deduetet es nicht, daß er sogar beim Final Table sitzen kann; wenngleich man In Wahrheit alle Karten der anderen Spieler sehen könnte, bedeutet es nicht, daß er notwendigerweise jede Hand gewinnen würde. Alle bedeuten, daß man wahrscheinlicher gewinnen wird.

石瀛潮：56民族，56幅画、长卷

2010-01-31T09:22:00.001-08:00

石瀛潮：56民族，56幅画、长卷

What the Bible says...

2009-05-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Deuteronomy 21:18-21:21

If a man has a stubborn and unruly son who will not listen to his father or mother, and will not obey them…all his fellow citizens shall stone him (the son) to death.

Exodus 21:7

When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as male slaves do.

Exodus 35:2

On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be sacred to you as the sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day shall be put to death.

1 Corinthians 11:14

Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears his hair long it is a disgrace to him.

人兽之辩

2009-05-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

很多人，如果一生中真能做到“衣冠禽兽”，已经很不错了。

譬如狗对主人的忠诚，是很多人做不到的。平时狗会陪伴主人左右，危险时，我们都听说过狗奋不顾身救主人的故事；有时主人死后，驯养一生的狗会哀伤废食，最终饿死。动物的本性是生存，这种超越自然本性的行为，确实可贵。反过来，如果对一个人赋之无条件的恩情，不一定能换来无条件的忠诚。忘恩负义的事太多了。难怪很多人喜欢宠物，因为宠物不会叫人伤心难过。

譬如集体生活的狼，从捕猎到育仔，都是团队一体的，真像集体公社。捕到猎物，整群分享，小崽也是整群共养，不分彼此。但无论是在中国，前苏联，还是以色列，乌托邦被证明是办不下去的。人与生俱来的私欲，是必不可少，又很难抑制的。人类大多数团队只是个体私欲暂时的联盟，“为公”是手段，不是目的。而狼群的“群”，既是手段，又是目的。所以狼群比人群更有效率。

下一次有人说你“狼心狗肺”，要说“谢谢”。

农夫的蛇和南郭的狼是对动物的污蔑，把蛇，狼换成人，寓言就成了活生生的历史了，屡演不止。

譬如企鹅，终生只有一个伴侣。鸟类中一夫一妻很多。除了生存，动物的另一本性是繁衍，即使很多伴侣，也是为了繁衍。但人似乎有着第三本性：追求感官刺激，永远追求更强，更新的刺激。女人对男人最大的误解是，胸其实不在于大小，而在于新旧。这就是为什么，休·格兰特家有美娇娘，仍然要花钱尝野味。有人说，女人不管多漂亮诱人，总能找到一个已经厌倦了她的男人，这不无道理。性，有钱者可以买，有貌者可以诱，有计者可以骗，唯有力者只能抢了，他们不是“兽性大发”，只不过是“人欲横流”。

有人说，动物是残忍的: 如狮子猎捕刚出生的斑马，丧子的母马是多痛苦。但这丛林规则，在现代全球化的竞争中尤为突出。如果不在政府机构，就会体会到这一点：希望自己的公司蒸蒸日上，抢夺市场，巴不得竞争者工厂倒闭，公司破产，员工解雇，老板跳楼。但很多家庭因此陷入困境，他们的孩子嗷嗷待哺，失业的父母也是非常痛苦的。这种弱肉强食的法则在人类社会中也能体现得透彻淋漓。很多动物貌似凶残，如狮，虎，但“虎毒不食子”，就连用来吓唬小孩的狼，也曾有过抚养“狼孩”的慈心。但人类历史中，古今中外，父子相戮，手足相残的事比比皆是，这类人真可谓“禽兽不如”。

仁义道德虽然是人得意的发明，但其根源在于自然。如果我们能返璞归真，顺应自然，做到“人面兽心”，那人类社会会和谐安宁得多。

日寇该不该抗？

2009-03-25T02:24:00.001-07:00

上世纪军国主义日本大规模入侵中国，给中国和中国人民带来了极大的灾难。诸多惨绝人寰的暴行，是不争的事实。那为什么要问：日寇该不该抗呢？

因为三百年前，另一股力量也试图占领中国。满清和日本对中原的战役有相似之处，但结果不同。反清失败了，抗日成功了。如果历史是只看结果的话，那“该不该”的问题就出现了。

首先，两者都是异族。虽然满族现在是中华民族的一部分，但在明末，“华夷之辨”是非常清楚的：多尔衮消灭了李自成，张献忠后，农民军的余部，放弃了阶级斗争，将民族矛盾放在首位，拥明抗清；连清末孙中山也号召：“驱除鞑虏，恢复中华”。二十世纪之日本是异族，这点是毫无疑问的。

其次，两者都是中原政府的宿敌。女真的祖先金朝完颜氏是宋朝的死敌，皇太极改国号“后金”为“清”以避免汉人的怨恨；倭寇是明朝的祸害，而十九世纪的殖民主义日本更是击败了当时的天朝大国，迫使签了辱国的《马关条约》。

第三，两者的武力镇压都是血腥的。后金在辽东一贯实行屠城，三光政策；多铎破扬州后，十日内“无日不杀人”，据说有八十余万人被杀，史称“扬州十日”。日军的暴行，无需多说了，南京大屠杀中约三十万遇难。

对于这两股以关东为基地的凶悍的异族宿敌，中原政府和人民做了顽强的反民族压迫的抵抗。当时抗清是应该的，抗日也是应该的，两者之间有一定的共同性。

但为什么现在没有人“抵制清货”呢？全家老少都喜欢看“格格戏”呢？可能因为清朝早已成为历史，而日本不但存在，而且不断地做出伤害周边国家的事。除了这原因外，还有其他因素吗？

反清失败了。除了明廷昏庸无能，八旗军骁勇善战外，更重要的是清廷自太宗皇太极至世祖福临（顺治）的“满汉一体”的战略思想。太祖努尔哈赤一统辽沈之后，对汉人采取残酷的民族压迫；太宗一改这种错误的政策，在推动满族文化的同时，更推动了汉文化的融入，缓解了满汉矛盾。对明以招降为主，受降了“三顺王”，洪承畴，吴三桂，成为八旗汉军，南下灭大顺（李自成），大西（张献忠），和南明的主力，连出尔反尔的祖大寿也仍受礼遇。多尔衮入关后，做了很多收买人心的事，特别是重葬崇祯帝和取消剃发令，得到诸多大明遗臣的赞许，连誓死抗清的史可法都认为“此等举动，振古烁金，凡为大明臣子，无不长跪北面，顶礼加额”。世祖更是加快了仿明，汉化的步伐。多尔衮入关，仅有十二万八旗军，但不断地受降明军，不断地扩充实力，打败了近两百万农民部队，过百万的南明军，这不能不说是清廷战略上的胜利。

然而日本的战略思想是“三月亡华”，而对中国人民残酷的民族压迫，颇有当年清太祖的错误性。虽然日本也建立了很多伪政权，伪军势力也曾经多达百万之众，但这些只是在无法全面统治侵占区后的权宜之计，表面文章。当时的日本，沿袭着自甲午战争以来的优越感，对中国和中国文化带有强烈的鄙视，中国无非只是用来提供无限自然资源，奴役，实验品，和慰安妇，一切“东亚新秩序应由中日共同主导” 之类的宣传只是掩人耳目的幌子。在这样的思想下，是无法得到战略上的胜利的。所以抗日期间的贰臣，远远少于明末，因为大多数中国人都看清了日本殖民侵略的本质。

但是，如果日本当时也采取了“逆取顺治”的战略思想，尊重汉文化，真正实行“中日共治”，那么那种日寇该不该反抗呢？如果那种日寇也可能带来“康乾盛世”的话，我们中也会不会有怀念日治的欧巴桑呢？是不是有可能把大和也算成是中华民族的一部分呢？

彭莹玉该不该退?

2009-03-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

元末彭莹玉大和尚利用弥勒教组织了广大农民群众，建立了西系红巾军，与北系白莲教的红巾军相呼应，成为反元初期的主要势力。彭大和尚对革命“是一生至业, 勤勤恳恳播种，施肥，浇水，拔草”，失败了，从头再来。成功了，决不居功。第一次起事，以其弟子周子旺为王；第二次是徐寿辉做的皇帝。起义成功后，彭大和尚却从史书上消失了。红巾军终于在另一个沙弥朱重八的带领下，推翻了蒙古大汗。

六百年后在西柏坡，毛爷爷对彭莹玉的功成身退却不以为然，提出“彭的下落是消极的，道家的，称赞不当”。后有人认为彭大和尚可能于1352或1353年在战争中牺牲了。如果是事实，也不存在退与不退的问题；但如果彭大和尚真的在农民政权建立后回归人民，那他是否该隐退是值得讨论的。

虽然无法知道彭大和尚自己的想法，但如果他真的退了，我们可猜测以下几种原因：一是他可能认为他最大的影响力是在基层，以教育和培养新人为革命做贡献。做领袖做大官不是他的所长。这也许是他为什么总是在起义中做副手的原因，尽管“彭大和尚”是一个家喻户晓，令元军大伤脑子的名字；二是他可能认为革命即将胜利，该急流勇退了。1353年朱重八只是个小卒（刚刚当了郭子兴的女婿，取了官名叫元璋），但是其他地区的红巾军却打得有声有色：1353年代徐寿辉、小明王前后称帝，郭子兴起义，非红军的张士诚、方国珍大败元军。元廷行将就木。三是遭人排挤，被迫退出红军。这和该不该退的讨论关系不大。

如果是第一个理由的话，彭大和尚其实没有退，只是换一种非显性的方式继续为起义出力。是积极的，该称赞的。

那第二个理由，“功成身退”，是消极的的吗？可能彭莹玉退得稍早了一点，革命尚未成功，大和尚仍需努力。那至多是彭莹玉在判断上过于乐观了，在中原的元朝还有15年的阳寿。但如果彭莹玉继续革命15年，再“功成身退”呢？毛爷爷恐怕又会说：参加了革命斗争，不参加革命建设，也是消极的。朱元璋不是强迫知识分子当官吗？不肯做官的，不仅全部处死，而且全家籍没。所以，干革命，恐怕一定要“鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已”，才是积极的。

但这个“死”是善终呢，还是走狗之烹呢？先看看朱爷爷的顶级良弓走狗：刘基，李善长，宋濂，和他儿时放牛的伙伴徐达，周德兴，都是在功成名就后，鞠躬尽瘁时被朱爷爷清除的；明初的四大案被诛杀的超过十一万人。洪武年间，朱爷爷通过文字狱，检校，锦衣卫搞的大清算，不幸的是，不是空前绝后的。毛爷爷在西柏坡说，吴晗的《朱元璋传》手稿对他“启发不少”。可惜的是，天资同样聪慧的毛太祖只是受到了如何进行大清算的启发，却一昧地批评明哲保身的彭大和尚。而且，毛太祖有两个现成的镜子没有能好好地照一下：孙中山和华盛顿，都是功成名就，克服了私欲而急流勇退的好例子。在洪武30年和新中国30年中，两位卓越的军事家，革命家，和政治家都不同程度地把中国人民推向了另一个火坑，其责难逃。

朱爷爷传，本来用来影射历史的，不幸的是，却预示了历史。历史的无情轮回，聪明绝顶的朱爷爷，毛爷爷不能跳出，但彭莹玉似乎做到了，恐怕彭大和尚的修行要在上位之上啊。

文天祥该不该降？

2009-02-24T01:24:00.001-08:00

元军兵下临安，南宋已处弥留之际。西路元军围攻钓鱼城（今重庆附近）。主帅王立率十几万军民奋力抵抗。城内绝粮，外无援军。王立牢记当年蒙古大汗蒙哥立下的遗言：“若克此城，当尽屠之”。后经斡旋，元廷保证降则不屠城。于是王立出降，元军也恪守其言。

后人有骂王立为民族叛徒，历史罪人。如果那时是文天祥守钓鱼城，他会不会降呢？

幸运的是，历史没有把这十几万生灵压在文天祥的肩上，但他自己的选择也绝非容易。在元大都的牢房里，饱受着肉体，精神上的折磨，和与妻女分离的痛苦。最终舍生取义，成为不朽的民族英雄。

如果只用一个字来形容文天祥，那就是“正”。他的《正气歌》以“天地有正气”开头。这个“正”恐怕包含两层意思：一是中原汉族为正，二是儒家之“君臣天理”为正。这两层意思都清楚地在《正气歌》中表现出来了。

在《正气歌》中，文天祥引用了诸多“以正压邪”的例子。以说明“中原汉族为正”的有：张良刺秦，苏武牧羊，五胡乱华时祖逖中流击楫，安史之乱时张巡、颜杲卿忠烈殉国；以说明“君臣天理”的则几乎全是，包括春秋时齐崔杼，晋赵盾弑君，八王之乱，曹魏篡汉，武侯讨贼兴汉。所以赵宋王朝，既是中原正统，又是自家的君王，投降“鞑虏”对文天祥是无法接受的事。

所以如果文天祥守钓鱼城，也一定会身死城破，成仁取义的，十几万军民也恐怕会无一幸免。

民族气节中所包含的“正”一般都很容易被接受。但儒家之“君君臣臣”为“正”，就很令人困惑。赵匡胤年轻时，受柴荣（即周世宗）赏识，提拔很快。但在周世宗死后六个月，赵匡胤就取代了七岁的周恭宗（周世宗之四子），建立的他的宋朝。赵匡胤欺负七岁小孩，这是不仁；而对赏识提拔自己却尸骨未寒的周世宗来说，这是不义；除了忘恩负义，最重要的是，赵匡胤逆反“君臣天理”，篡夺王位，实在是不忠不正，也应该是《正气歌》中所要鞭挞的。这样一个在私欲和不忠，不仁，不义中诞生的王朝，与“天地有正气”实在相去甚远。

也许文天祥没有足够的资料来知道“陈桥兵变”的真实内幕，他或许被诸如太祖生时，“赤光绕室”之类的话所迷惑。在文天祥的眼中，赵宋代周是奉天承运的事。但是在《正气歌》中，他却引用了“为嵇侍中血”的例子。大意是：八王之乱时，侍中嵇绍为保护晋惠帝，被杀，血溅到惠帝衣服上。惠帝一直保留着这件带血的衣服。这是“护主之危，以身殉之之例”。但是司马家族篡夺曹魏是事实。虽然曹丕代汉一直被儒家所唾骂，但是司马氏祖孙三世欺负曹家孤儿寡母，逆取天下，也是事实。当王导把那段历史说给晋明帝司马昭听时，明帝惭愧地说：“若如公言，晋祚复安得长远”。所以两晋的根和两宋的根一样是不正的，而为什么《正气歌》中要引用“为嵇侍中血”的例子呢？

文天祥因不叛宋不降元而死。不降元是因为民族气节之“正”，而不叛宋是因为什么之“正“，却值得商榷。但不管怎样，因为文天祥之不降，我们才有了近似于理想化了的“民族情操”和“坚贞气节”，为后世之标榜。

岳飞该不该杀?

2009-02-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

提起岳飞，大家都会想起他是“中国历史上的民族英雄”。但在多民族大融合的现在，我们恐怕只能叫他 “汉族的民族英雄”。这样说还是难免有点民族狭隘性。我们不妨叫他“中国历史上的英雄”。

英雄是见解、才能超群出众的人。岳飞很会带兵打仗，受宋朝老百姓爱戴，连金朝兵将都很敬畏。军事才能超群出众，堪称英雄。见解呢？岳飞的反侵略反压迫的民族气节是一直被颂扬的。但汉族老百姓在受到外族压迫的同时，也受到腐朽的宋朝的压迫。徽宗时的宋江，方腊起义及两宋之际的钟相，杨幺起义，就是“被逼上梁山 ”的例证。岳飞参加了高宗时的部分“剿匪”工作。岳飞即使能收回失地，也只不过把老百姓从一个火坑中拉出来再推进原来那一个火坑。作为一个见解超群出众的人，岳飞应该另立贤才，或者用训练岳家军的卓越才能自立门户，真正地解救百姓。

有人说“愚忠报国”只是当时的历史局限性，但我认为这应该是他本人的局限性。自先秦到隋唐，由内宗外戚，权臣近宦发起的宫廷政变不计其数。屠君易主，或者取而代之的事也司空见惯。可能是“君权神授”的谎骗，更可能是 “君臣天理”的禁锢，岳飞始终认为天下是赵宋的天下。总之，受十二道金牌召回，被也许有的罪名处死，实在是太窝囊了。

在战争中，金兵有屠城抢掠的行为。岳飞死后，宋金有了绍兴和议，边界确定了下来。特别是之后的金世宗，金章宗时期的“大定明昌之治”，经济繁荣发展，女真，契丹和汉族的老百姓也相安无事。可见和平时期的金朝，不见得是个大火炕。

再说宋高宗，其实他是个明白人。自太祖释兵权之后，宋军毫无战斗力。对辽，对夏，对金，屡战屡败。岳家军的神话无法驱散近一百七十年的心理阴影。他的“逃跑主义”是可以理解的。高宗在位三十六年，逃命享乐两不误，又做了二十五年逍遥自在的太上皇，死时八十一岁高龄。他已经在极度困境中积极努力地创造出享乐的天堂，在临安和在开封没什么不一样，可能气候还更好一点，所以他不需要谁来退金兵，所以他一定要坚持“投降主义”。更何况万一退不了金兵，连现有的都会失去；如果灭了金国，必迎徽,欽回宋，自己的位子也就没有了。岳飞这个军事天才对自己是有害无益的。再加上汉奸秦桧的怂恿，岳飞不乖巧的性格，和岳家军有点尾大不掉，杀岳飞已经是事在必行了。

对于高宗来说，岳飞该杀，但从历史上看，如果历史的正义性是以大多数平民百姓较长期的生活好坏来衡量的话，没有一个成熟开明的政治头脑的军事天才也只能是被人使用的利器，它的两刃性或多刃性是很危险的。做一，两个不是最恰当的比较，如董卓手下的吕布，最终还是被斩杀；隆梅尔和山本五十六都是二战名将，军事天才，但我们不能称他们是“人类历史上的英雄”。

做人的标准

2008-11-29T00:18:00.000-08:00

不是每个人都能符合我的标准，
我也不能符合每个人的标准。

别人的标准只要合情合理，我会努力改善自己，
但即使我的标准合情合理，我也不会对他人寄予很大的希望。

Leute sind verschieden. Ich erwarte nicht, was die Anderen könnten, aber tue was ich kann.

杜柯坊

2008-10-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

青皂黑黝乌漆墨
丹赤红彤朱绯胭

China Welcomes You

2008-08-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Mentioning “China”, some would smile, some frown; visiting China, some would be awed and impressed, and some frustrated and disgusted. China is like any other country in the world with its shares of accomplishments and disappointments. As China welcomes the world to the Olympics, the world needs to hug back and say: “Welcome back, and let’s together make China and the world a better place”.

Kibbutz Living

2008-07-27T20:12:00.001-07:00

“Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world”

Struggling and adapting, what failed categorically in Russia and China has nevertheless survived in the unexpected Land of Holies. Kibbutzim in Israel, however, are not what they used to be. Community members mostly eat their meals at home, receive salaries according to contribution, and the commune may now be professionally managed. Palmachim, 30 minutes southwest of Tel Aviv, is a typical example of the present day kibbutzim.

I was greeted by 80-year-old Mr. Zvi who looked like Jack Lemon’s twin brother. One of the founding members of Palmachim in the late 1940s, Mr. Zvi spoke with nothing short of great pride and confidence. The first place we went was the dinning hall which is at the heart of the kibbutz. Communal meals were essential and necessary to kibbutz living at the beginning when most of the members were in their youth and owned no personal properties. As community has grown, most people now choose to spend their private time with their family members. The dinning hall still serves meals, and a simple lunch costs less than 30 shekels (or US$ 8.60)

On a land of dirt and sand, Palmachim was built from scratch on the Mediterranean coast. Today it looks like a resort cluster near Caesarea that may cost US$ 10,000 per square meter.

There are a few different building types in this 500-member community: single family homes close to the entrance, two-level multiplexes along the beach, and various two- to four-unit apartment buildings in the middle. The kibbutz has an expansion plan to virtually double its current size, but most of the new buildings will be up for sale.

This “new” capitalistic management system as almost all kibbutzim in Israel are desperately adapting seems to have turned the original socialistic ideal right on its head. “The new system”, as Mr. Zvi tactically put it, is expected to save the financially struggling utopia. People now receive salaries and are paid differently based on their individual contribution. With advancement in agriculture and relocation of the cow ranch, many people work in the nearby city of Rishon LeZion during the day, and return at night. Some of the buildings are current rent out to outside companies. The kibbutz can no longer provide free housings, so the new condos will need to be purchased by the community members. These are just a few examples.

“We all voted for it”, said Mr Zvi. The despair and disappointment were as evidently poignant as the hot and salty Mediterranean breeze. China has been doing the same transmorphing for almost 30 years. The otherwise long extinct Marxist mammoth is now the world’s most coveted commercial paradise and is hosting the spectacular coming-out-of-Commie-closet extravaganza this August. So, Mr. Zvi, everything will be sababa, but I didn’t say it to him.

Nurseries are located between the dinning hall and the living quarters. In such way, the kids are safe and not likely to wander into the sea without being noticed. Kibbutz children are raised together. The parents don’t give up their newborns but share the responsibility of taking care of all the children in the commune. This is similar to how cubs are raised in hyena packs. Lactating hyenas feed any needy cubs in the pack, and spoil is also shared with no discrimination. Despite hyenas’ deceivingly lowly appearance, I have the highest respect for them, probably the most efficient and tenacious survivalists in Serengeti. I don’t know any kibbutz kids, but I bet almost all Israelites know this kibbutz boy. His name is Ben Gurion, the founder of the modern state of Israel. When the national airport in Tel Aviv is named after him, I guess he must have done something right in his life.

The last stop was the kibbutz museum. When building the community, people discovered many items of archaeological importance. Right at the crossroad of culture highways, the Judea Hills witnessed and, many times, endured the coming and going of many great peoples: Phoenicians, Canaanites, Israelites, Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzentiums, and Arabs. The list is of course not exhaustive. When the dust settles, millennia of dynastic changes, gruesome conquests, massive losses of human lives, all seems to amount to little more than a few fragmented potteries, eroded coins, and cracked skulls buried deep in the dirt.

Greed, probably the greatest motivation in human history, has propelled us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, yet with an equally staggering price tag. I suspect with confidence that the renunciation of greed for personal gains was part of the reasons that the ideal of kibbutzim was developed and implemented on this restless land. Sadly, the world is not ready for it, neither was it kind to Russia and China in the 20th century. Change is inevitable for survival, but may not be a betrayal. The question whether to die for an ideal or to live another day trying to fulfill it later has been answered, both in Masada some 2,000 years ago and in present day Palmachim.

Shalom, Mr. Zvi and Palmachim. Behatzlacha!

The White City of Bauhäuser

2008-07-26T12:46:00.001-07:00

A world heritage site by UNESCO, Tel Aviv boasts over 4,000 Bauhaus buildings, which originated in pre-WWII Germany and make no distinction of form and function. One of the best examples is supposed to be 34 Frug Street in the city center. Pretty illiterate about architecture, I think I can appreciate its function, but its minimalistic match-box form is quite plain and unremarkable.

Its rectangular balconies may have maximized the usable area, but the edginess and stiffness in form bring on tension and stress. The ornamental gap, a nice addition, seems to serve no functional purpose. The dimensionally matching overhang looks like a sharp blade cutting abruptly into a vanilla cake, which seems to help further psychological strain. The size of the windows may suffice for lighting and ventilation, but enlarged windows, while enhancing the functionality, might help reduce greatly the surface tension of the blandness of the flat white exterior wall. Often found in luxury condominiums, the roof awning supported by a colonnade does produce a much needed spatial relief from solid planes, but, judged from the street, its practical purpose eludes me. So an amateur’s opinion, I think the distinction of form and function at 34 Frug Street is quite clear, and they do not seem to complement each other quite well. But again, the days I spent in studying architecture is zero. So for the moment, I will pretend to agree with UNESCO.

A few more examples of Bauhaus structures around Dizengoff Square are stored in my unwilling camera.

Useful Hebrew Phrases

2008-07-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

shalom
lehitra'ot
boker tov
toda
toda raba
tov me'od
bevakasha
ken
lo
regga
rak regga
beseder gamur
sababa hegozim
ma shlom cha?
baruch hashem
savlanut (= patience)
bidiyuk (= exactly)

Carlin (1937-2008)

2008-06-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

The first Carlin piece I saw was “flying on the airplane” in which he challenged some conventional use of words, which, if you think about it, doesn’t really make much sense. Examples include “pre-boarding process”, “non-stop flight”, “check the vicinity of your seating area for any personal properties you might have brought on-board”, etc. A language teacher myself, I was much inspired thereby and did discover that our daily communications were often overwhelmed by hackneyed clichés and true meanings often were lost in the process.

Many comedians do such routines in which they challenge conventional wisdom, but nobody has been more direct, poignant, and precise than Carlin. He never hesitated in spitting out the naked truth about religion, ugly facts in politics, shameless abuse of language, capricious trends in society, and the list goes on. Walking away from lucrative contracts doing clean, safe and brownnosing Vegas shows, Carlin reinvented himself, or went back to his true roots. His life long anti-establishment motif is utterly absent in the cautious Seinfeld or the hilarious Williams, yet the influence is apparent in the neurotic Black and the slightly gay Maher. He could fire more rapidly than the obnoxious Miller yet still sound more eloquent than the witty Letterman. Carlin was really among the very few who were able to stun, challenge and entertain his audience at the same time.

Carlin, thank you for all the grievances and complaints. I will miss you...

Kung Fu Panda

2008-06-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting, and everybody loves Kung Fu Panda

My First Hebrew Lesson

2008-06-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

I met with Chen for some Hebrew lesson this evening. It was totally a Donna Chang situation, because her name wasn’t really Chen, but חן. There wasn’t any English equivalent. Anyway, getting through the alphabet was challenging, since there were many exceptions to the rule. At the end, I tried to say something coherent:

אני אהוב את סין

Was it?

Une Nouvelle Chine

2008-05-25T03:31:00.000-07:00

À 14.28 le 19 Mai, 6 jours après le tremblement de terre ravageur à Szechuan, toute la Chine avait un moment de silence pendant 3 minutes, une coutume chinoise réservée seulemment pour un chef d'état. C’était la première fois pour les sinistrés dans l’histoire de la Chine.

Il y a un tremblement de terre plus dommageable qui a tué plus de 250,000 personnes en 1976. À ce moment-la, la Chine a refusé toute l’aide un tout le média aux pays étrangères, comme le gouvernement de la Birmanie cette année. Maintenant, au contraire, le sauvetage des “goons and thugs” est arrivé beaucoup plutôt que l’Air Force One qui est seulement descendue aux 17,000 pieds au-dessus du Mississippi 4 jours après Katrina et jamais fait atterrir dans la région dévastée.

J’ai quitté la Chine il y 14 ans et le pays a changé de façon significative depuis. Un ne voit pas seulement les gratte-ciel flambants neufs, voitures et restaurants fantaisies, Louis Vuitton et Chanel ominprésent, mais également une entièrement nouvelle génération qui est folle de l’idéologie et philosophie de l’ouest et, en même temps, de l’idée qui la Chine est l’un des plus grands pays au monde.

La Chine rouge a commis beaucoup de fautes dans le passé, mais depuis les années 80 la Chine s’a dégagé de son âge des ténèbres et embrassé le monde. Elle continue à épouser bonnes pratiques telles que l’économie de marché, le fair-play, la protection de la propriété intellectuelle, etc. Le changement le plus important est la transition du centre de l’attention sur l’état en les citoyens. Les sociétés essayent de concevoir merchandises plus humaines; le gouvernement modifie ses routines pour mieux service; les talk shows prospèrent en parlant des vies des personnes ordinaries. Le centre du sauvetage après le tremblement de terre à Szechuan est de sauver les rescapés à tout prix.

Si vous envisagez de saisir une torche d’un athelet amputé encore à l'avenir, regardez ce film :

4.1 MET: The Beautiful Nile

2008-05-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Almost all civilizations started by rivers: the great Tigris and Euphrates, the mighty Yellow River, the mythical Indus River, and of course, the most magnificent Nile.

My hotel room in Luxor was just at the riverfront and I woke up to one of the most beautiful scenes in the morning. The Nile in brilliant dark Periwinkle blue was sprinkled with dawn sunlight; fleets of feluccas parked along the riverbank with proudly erect masts coated in gold; so were the dwellings reflecting the shining golden sunlight. A few hot-air balloons were flying some thrilled early birds over the Theban Necropolis and the Nile.

When the sun was high, more colors came out and vied for my attention. Bright white felucca sails stretched fully in confidence. The rich jungle green outlined the waterfront with a backdrop of sand hill in creamy café au lait.

At dusk, the sun graced the river again with its magnificent golden color, and the sky precipitated from pale blue to a real beautiful dark sapphire. The palm trees turned rusty green and their trunks subdued orange red.

I took a sunset felucca ride in Aswan. The winter tropical breeze was mild and pleasant, propelling the boat at a leisurely speed. Cruising the Nile was simply astonishing, even not in a basket or along with the logs carrying rocks for the pyramids. I think it’s something everyone should do once in his or her lifetime.

4.1 MET: En Train to Luxor, Part Two

2008-05-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

On the train to Luxor, there was a German family sitting behind me, parents with two boys who just loved the Rock-paper-scissors game. The funny thing is that when one boy played with his brother, he used German: Schere, Stein, Papier, while using French, pierre, papier, ciseaux, when he played with the dad. The dad, from Köln, said that French speaking boy lived in Belgium for a while, which accounted for his familiarity with the language.

Later, I commented on the grand Kölner Dom, but the dad was somehow bitter about it. He complained about the Allied bombing during the war which practically razed the city saving the cathedral. He considered the city was at its best in the 80's when artists flourished, but now most of them had moved on to Berlin. Even my Muslim seatmate picked up a sense of bitterness. Luckily the train was approaching the destination, and the conversation was saved by the horn.

4.1 MET: En Train to Luxor, Part One

2008-05-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

I took an overnight train to Luxor. I boarded the train in late evening at the Ramses station in central Cairo, and the train stopped briefly at Giza Station 30 minutes later. An attractive young Muslim lady got in and seated herself next to me. The First Class cabin I was in had seating like the business class on a plane. I was pretty beat after a long day, so fell asleep quickly after Giza.

The train ride was smooth and pleasant. I didn’t wake up until we were about an hour away from Luxor. My seatmate also woke up, and we began socializing.

Originally from Haram, or Giza, she was an endocrinologist working in Sinai. Still a medical degree candidate, she was traveling to Luxor for a medical conference after stopping by Cairo to see her folks. Her father was a diplomat but had already passed away, and her mom was a physician herself. Since her childhood, she had already traveled to most of the Arab world.

Intrigued by her background, I asked her about her experience as a Muslim studying western medicine. She said that the US and European communities had advanced researches in medicine. Although she disagreed with western family values and foreign policies, one of the Egyptian ways was to adopt good things. Western medicine was a good thing. She had no problem studying it and had been to the US for medical conferences. That reminded me that the American fast food chain stores were ubiquitous in Cairo. The Egyptians may oppose America’s junk policy, but certainly enjoy its junk food.

Feeling emboldened by her frankness and friendliness, I ventured an aggressive question: “Would you go if you were invited to an important conference on endocrinology in Tel Aviv?” Daughter to a diplomat, she said she would go to Belgium where the endocrinological research was most advanced. “Seriously”, she continued, “ I have to think about it if it’s in Israel”. In her opinion, the appearance of reconciliation between Egypt and Israel remained at a diplomatic and business level, and as for the public, there was still palpable tensions. Regular Egyptians still had problems with the state of Israel.

I noticed my seatmate covered her hair as many Muslim women I saw in Egypt, so asked her about this Islamic practice. She informed me that according to the Qu’ran, a woman needed to cover her hair, neck, and arms. If someone dressed up like a beekeeper, it was more a local and sect tradition, but was certainly not required by the Scriptures.

Asking about my itinerary, she commented that although most people visiting Egypt wanted to see the ruins from ancient time, to her, an Egyptian, those legendary structures meant little as they were merely an evidence of pharaohs’ self grandeurs, and they had little to do with an average Egyptian, then or now. She appreciated more about the Islamic teaching about caring the people around you. Preaching or now, she sounded sincere.

Obnoxiously persistent, I asked her about another Islamic practice: praying. When I was visiting the pyramids, I sat on a hill overlooking them and the modern city of Cairo waiting for sunset. Then the call for the sunset praying went on from probably thousands of high volume speakers all across Cairo. To me, it would be inconceivable for doctors to simply stop surgeries or soldiers to drop their weapons. She responded that she just prayed in her seat. She supposed that praying was not just a physical activity. If one could stop and pray, that’d be nice, but if one couldn’t, she thought, it was also fine as long as pray took place in one’s heart. The act of praying was independent from the actual behavior.

Then she smile and said, she just prayed that I would have a safe trip in Egypt.

友人の一日（第四回）

2008-05-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

BOOBYがアメリカで最下位というのを知った、日本では最下位から二番目を意味する。12AMがここで真夜中を意味する、でも日本では正午を意味する。私に語源を勉強するいい機会をくれるので、違いは興味深い。違いのために、まだ言葉を誤用する。

4.1 MET: Religious Reformers

2008-05-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

When Pharaoh Amenhotep IV and his feminist Great Royal Wife Nefertiti systematically destroyed the centuries-old worship of Amun and other deities in ancient Egypt, they might have done so to consolidate power in the New Kingdom, or to legally rob the priesthood of its immense wealth, or simply to proclaim their preference for an obscure god called Aten. Whatever their motivations, they seemed to do so for their personal benefits. With resistance from almost everyone plus a devastating pandemic, their reformation and royal reign was short-lived.

Amenhotep IV, aka Akhenaten, might find his plaque in the Hall of Fame, but the Michael Jordon of religious reformers has to be Martin Luther. The lowly monk’s detest of papal sanctioned indulgences and renascent emphasis on a personal relationship with the divinity might have won some minds and hearts, but his IPO was far from spectacular. He was declared an outlaw of the state and excommunicated from the church. Protestant Inc. was de-listed. Yet, the ruling Germanic princes saw the real economical implication: less participation in the church meant more disposable and taxable income to the principalities. The financial gain was so great that the princes went to war for it, and for 30 years. Thus the ultimate rivalry of Coke and Pepsi was created.

Since almost all religion founders are, in a sense, reformers, and vice versa, the success of a religion or a religious reformation hinges on its alignment with the interest of the ruling class, not necessarily of the actual ruler. King Henry VIII promoted the English reformation so that he could marry the woman he shacked up with, yet his successor disagreed so strongly that we named a cocktail after her commemorating her brutality. Although Constantine adopted Christianity after a few rapid eye moments, JC’s peaceful and Buddhistic preaching, a drastic departure from the violent and vengeful Judaic fables, actually worked well in helping stabilize the vast and heterogeneous empire of Rome. It should come with no surprise that it went on and became the most successful enterprise in the history of mankind.

4.1 MET: Egyptian Antiquities Museum

2008-04-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo seems at first lacking its uniqueness among other major museums in the world, many of which house an abundance of Egyptian sculptures, sarcophagi, mummies, and large murals. When I first stepped into the Egyptian Arts Department in the MET in New York years ago, I was met with two colossal seated pharaoh statues flanked by equally tall limestone walls, which temporarily made me feel spatially displaced as if I'd been all of sudden dropped in Egypt. The Louvre and the British Museum are also well stocked with Egyptians artifacts. So the first impression of the Cairo museum is somewhat of a déjà vu.

However, as I walked around the spacious galleries, the shear number of artifacts was simply overwhelming. Besides quantity, there were still many unique objets d’art that weren’t on permanent loans to Western museums.

Colossal statues of Amenhotep III and his Royal Great Wife, Tiye, parents to the famous religion reformer Akhenaten, grantparents to yet more famous Tutankhamun. Statuettes of their three daughters stand by their feet, a tradition in ancient pharaohic monuments.

A pyramidion or pyramid capstone from Dahshur. Some believe that a capstone contains the information to allow the pyramid it caps to make contact with other universal systems in the chain of cosmology it arises from and reflects into the Infinite.

Egyptian hieroglyphs on the capstone.

The ancient Egyptians mummified almost everything. Some of the animals, like this mummified Crocodile, used to flourish in both Lower and Upper Egypt, but today they move south to the warmer heartland of Africa.

Cats are sacred animals in ancient Egypt. The most famous cat goddesses are Bastet and the lion headed Sekhmet. On display are some mummified cats whose vertebrates and limbs were broken to fit the shrouds.

A mummified baby baboon.

Of course, the highlight for most visitors is Tut’s treasures, of which the most famed artifact is the Boy King’s gold mask.

Tutankhamun’s funerary bed in the form of ancient god, Mehet-Weret.

Akhenaten, or originally Amenhotep IV, changed his name to pursue a monotheistic worship of Aten. He and his world-famous chief wife Nefertiti even moved the capital away from Thebes (Luxor). The stunt was only reversed by his successor Tutankhaten or Tutankhamun, as he renamed himself later to resume his loyalty to Amun.

The great Ramesses II, no longer 20 meters tall by Lake Nasser, lies quietly, humbly, and humanly in this air conditioned, humidity controlled, and shock absorbed glass case.

The Mist

2008-04-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Even with the best intention and the best laid plan, we often get unfavorable results. That’s okay. We can not foresee the future, nor can we control every detail in our lives. We should be judged by our intention and effort but never the outcome.

“We gave it a good shot. Nobody can say we didn’t.”

4.1 MET: Inside the Pyramids

2008-04-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

The pyramids have been looted many times over in history, and there is nothing to see inside. However, just physically being inside these mysterious structures is a lifetime experience.

Among others, you can go inside the Red Pyramid in Dahshur or the Great Pyramid of Cheops or the Khufu Pyramid, in Giza. I chose the less touristy and quieter Red Pyramid. It’s about 343 feet tall, and the entrance is 94 feet above the ground level. Stone and wooden steps were installed for easy access.

The tunnel into the interior is narrow, low, and long, and slopes 27 degrees downward. I practically crawled down the path with my backpack rubbing the rocks above. I arrived at Dahshur very early that day, so I was the first and the only one in the tunnel. I would imagine in the middle of a hot summer day, crawling down this passageway with dozens of other visitors would not be most comfortable.

The 206 foot length seems to extend for ever. Looking back at the opening, I seemed to understand why the pyramids were designed for the renaissance of the souls which could go though the long dark tunnel heading for the bright light at the end.

Finally I got to the bottom where the tunnel leads to a rectangular chamber with a pointed roof. The corbeled high ceiling tapers faster than the pyramid itself, leaving me wonder what lies between the large limestone walls of the chamber and the outer surface rocks. There aren’t any ornaments or objects in this bare chamber. On the other side, there is another opening.

The passageway on the other side connects to another chamber which resembles the first one. This chamber seems to be the only one lying directly beneath the apex of the pyramid. Yet another passage opens up on the other side leading to the final chamber believed to be the actual burial place. It also has a high stepped ceiling. The floor of the burial chamber has been excavated but no other passageway has been found so far.

I didn’t know what was first found inside the pyramid, nor could I imagine the excitement of the treasure hunters who first made it into the chambers. Mais, du centre de ces pyramides, quarante siècles m'encerclent. From the center of the chamber right under the apex, I took a deep breath, taking in, along the musty air, the forty centuries of solemnity and spirituality of a long lost civilization.

4.1 MET: Who Built The Pyramids?

2008-04-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Did aliens build the pyramids? After a few hours touring those majestic constructions, the answer becomes quite obvious.

The oldest standing pyramid was the Step Pyramid, built around 2,600 BCE (III Dynasty of the Archaic Period). It was the first attempt to break away from an earthbound tradition and create a “straight up” structure, or per-em-us in ancient Egyptian.

Version 2.0 was designed to smoothen the steps. The Bent Pyramid, built in the IV Dynasty of the Old Kingdom Period, managed to get rid of the steps. However, the project started with an ambitiously steep 54.3 degree slope and tapered abruptly at a gentler angle (43.5 degrees) towards the top. The change of slope stabilized the structure, and nicely commemorates a stunning learning curve in an engineering feat.

The first true pyramid was the Red Pyramid, built for the same pharaoh Snofru after the Bent Pyramid. It had the same lower angle of 43.5 degrees.

The master pieces were completed by the later pharaohs of the IV Dynasty. The so-called Great Pyramids of Giza have wondered their admirers for millennia. However, looking at the history of pyramids, one could easily recognize that the sole standing wonder of the ancient world was not conceived, created, nor perfected over night.

If all the pyramids had been built by aliens, who must have journeyed millions of light years by either bending the space-time or traveling faster than light, or by other means too sophisticated for the feeble human brains, why would they have had so much trouble with steps and angles in putting a few rocks together?

Since it’s not likely for intergalactic visitors to have to learn and experiment with simple earthly geometry, it’s not likely they were the pyramid builders. QED.

4.1 MET: 上海美女在埃及

2008-04-03T18:23:00.001-07:00

居然在金字塔上肆情放纵, 春光外泄, 真是大逆有道, 十恶可赦.

免费地区到此为止, 洽谈入会事宜请联系版主.

A Tibetan Riot Or A Chinese Crackdown? A Simple Analysis

2008-04-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

On March 15, 2008, there was a violent clash between Tibetan protesters and the police force in Lhasa. Some argue that it was a peaceful demonstration brutally suppressed by the authority. Others insist that it was a violent disturbance from the get-go and the government responded with proper policing measures. Which one is closer to the truth?

Chinese authority released videos a few days after the conflict. However, since no western journalists were allowed in Tibet during the incident, there hasn’t been any first-hand independent coverage. Therefore, the CCTV footage is impermissible.

Without direct evidence, circumstantial evidences and mitigating factors play a stronger role in this case.

Let us assume it was a peaceful protest. The facts are:

1) the demonstration was peaceful
2) no western journalists were in Tibet to report this parade to the outside world
3) the Chinese government, well-known for its censorship, could've easily chosen not to report this incident to anyone

If all of above are true, there seemed to be no motivation for the Chinese government to do anything. The incident can be simply ignored or buried.

In addition, the timing of the conflict is crucial in analysis:

4) on March 24, the Olympic flame was to be lit in Greece
5) Olympic Games were to be held in Beijing 5 months later

For the Chinese government, nothing is more important in 2008 than hosting successful Olympic Games in August. Anything else can wait. It would do anything to avoid any negative publicity at least from now until after the Games. If any negative news leads to actual damage to the Games in August, losing face right at home is unbearable in Asian cultures. Therefore, a priori, cracking down a peaceful and insignificant parade would be the last thing on the to-do list.

On the other hand, 2008 is the best and probably the last time for the Tibetans to stage a successful bid for independence. Besides the Olympics:

6) after the aging Dalai Lama, independence seeking Tibetans will not have a spiritual leader commanding a wide support from the West.

With the Olympics and still outspoken His Holiness, 2008 offers the best opportunity. A violent conflict in Tibet to attract world attention seems to work in great favor of the Tibetans.

When a crime is committed, the first suspect usually is whoever benefits from it the most, and that person usually is the evil doer.

So if you are the jury of this case, how would you decide?

4.1 MET: Mişr! Mişr! Mişr!

2008-03-25T01:07:00.000-07:00

My first night in Cairo was also when the final match of 2008 African Cup of Nations took place between Egypt and Cameroon. After the only but decisive goal scored by the Egyptian soccer team, the city started to boil. People were congregating on the streets around the once fashionable Midan Talaat Harb, where I lived, and the famous Midan Tahrir nearby, or Liberation Square.

Car horns mingled steadily with excited singing, chanting, and cheering. Black-and-red national flags filled the night sky accompanied by colorful confetti. Midan Tahrir was soon crowed with overjoyed Cairenes.

Fireworks and fire shows rekindled Cairo’s warm and pleasant winter night. Cars and buses passed by slowly, many of which came from a distance to join the celebration in Central Cairo. Passengers with their upper bodies outside the vehicle windows, echoed their countrymen on the street with their own roar of ecstasy and national pride.

The thrill was contagious. I couldn’t get by without being noticed. A few young Cairenes asked me where I was from, to which I responded “China”. They suddenly showed great interest and admiration and pulled me in to the big dancing circle. I grabbed a big Egyptian flag and joined the cheering crowd. I waved the flag and yelled “Mişr! Mişr! Mişr!”, Arabic for Egypt, which was only reverberated by the multitude. Soon, someone started to shout “China! China! China!”, and everyone followed. It was really a surreal experience for me, a Chinese tourist waving an Egyptian flag, dancing in the middle of Liberation Square with the locals who were shouting along “China”!

With such a wild welcome, I started my four-week vacation in the Middle East.

4.1 MET: Spitzer’s Favorite Hobby

2008-03-25T00:47:00.000-07:00

The world’s oldest profession runs its best and leanest operations in Amsterdam. The smallest business unit is a room that has everything the business needs: a bed, a chair, and a small sink. Most rooms are illuminated by red lights, hence the name for the famous district.

The entrepreneurs do their own real-time marketing and advertising right on the spot, and service inquiries, pricing negotiation, and transaction execution all take place right in that room as well. I am afraid the business is even one sigma leaner than Toyota’s.

Why is this occupation legal in some countries, but not in others? Another popular destination for pleasure seeks is Bangkok, with a different business model, called Asian Buffet by the fast talking Detective Tucker. The streets in the famous or infamous Patong area:

Interestingly, Amsterdam and Bangkok enjoy the lowest sex crime rates among major international cities. According to an independent report in 2004, if prostitution were legalized in the US, there could be, with 90% confidence level, a 25% decrease of sex crimes or approximately 25,000 rapes a year. Same logic goes for violence in TV and video games which provides a private, safe and legal venue for catharsis. Anyone opposing to the logic should also agree, a priori, that NASCAR and F1 races should be banned to ensure road safety, or boxing and WWE for personal safety.

In fact, the key to world peace is ample supply of X-box, PS, and Wii consoles.

The fall of Eliot Spitzer is a story of a hypocritical man living in a hypocritical society where the highest rating for Desperate Housewives is found in the Bible Belt, and where the annual 10-to-14-billion-dollar adult entertainment business far outweighs any major league sports. Spitzer is no threat to American families.

Marital infidelity breaks up families, but patronizing call girls does not. The difference is that the former is an affair of emotional betrayal, while the latter is a strict business transaction with no strings attached. Spitzer never has to worry about finding a pet rabbit being boiled in his kitchen pot.

If you don’t like your wife’s cooking, you can go to Fook Yu Garden and get a Kung Pao Chicken. Is it cheating? Confucius says: 饮食男女，人之大欲存焉, which leads to a more famous paraphrase by Gao Zi: 食色, 性也. Craving food and sensuality are simply basic human desires. People dine out but don’t go home with the chefs. For great culinary cultures of Italy, France, China, etc, family or communal meals are of great importance and are sometimes considered sacred during holidays, but I think I have seen a few Italian or Chinese restaurants around flourishing.

When I was roaming the dim streets of Red Light District, I had only 5 euros in my pocket, which could probably just buy a peck on the cheek. Kidding aside, advocate of legalizing prostitution, I don’t think I could ever be a patron myself. Why is this reversed hypocrisy? Here is a paraphrase of an eloquent quote, possibly by Voltaire:

I disapprove of what you do, but I will defend to the death your right to do it.

The Taiwan and Tibet Issue

2008-03-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

When your 19-year-old one day comes up to you and says, “You are not my real dad”, or your estranged biological son decides one morning that he wants nothing to do with you because of what you did or what you didn’t do, what would you do?

It’s not uncommon, especially in the Western civilization in which the will and value of an individual is often placed above the common good of the group he belongs to, that an offspring decides to sever its family tie. The cause could be parents being abusive, negligent, distant, or the child being rebellious, emotional, immature, or simply led astray. The parents could try to reach out and make up for what’s missing, if any, but the run-away kid should make the final decision, as long as he or she is legally able, but, unfortunately, not necessarily mature and responsible enough at the same time.

The answer to Taiwan’s and Tibet’s decades-long quest for independence doesn’t lie in history but the present. The decision belongs to the majority of the native inhabitants, however “majority” is defined by international standard, simple or three quarters. When it happens, the decision should be respected.

However, in the global village today, there is more at stake than a sometimes empty title of democracy or independence.

The Mainland-China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou, of Nationalist Party, won a landslide victory in the recent presidential election in Taiwan defeating, by the largest margin in the island’s history, the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which has fiercely sought the island’s formal independence and return to the UN during its 8 reigning years, at the expense of sluggish economy and the declining living standard.

When I visited in Taiwan in 2003, I was shocked to discover that in Taipei’s subway, public announcements were in two languages (English and Mandarin Chinese) and two local dialects. On today’s flat earth where globalization is the inevitable future, Taiwan under the leadership of DPP, was stepping backwards and localizing and isolating its culture to return to its aboriginal form. In 2007 when people around the world were eager to learn Chinese, buy shirts and caps bearing Chinese characters, or even to tattoo them on their skin, DPP started the process of desinicization. One of the mandates was to remove the word “China” from the names of all Taiwanese companies.

Last Saturday, the people of Taiwan stamped an “F” on DPP’s report card for its priority on a quixotic quest for nominal independence over providing milk and bread to the ordinary people. How would the people of Tibet vote when they ponder over the harsh economical realty of an independent Tibet without any vital subsidies from Beijing? By the by, Tibetan economy is an oxymoron. After 5 years of imported over-glorified democracy, the daily life of an average Iraqi seems just as bad as before the war, if not worse. What does democracy and sovereignty mean when you are 肚子扁扁? (a popular political vernacular in Taiwan meaning “empty stomached”, which cleverly rhymes with the name of the lame duck DPP president who has caused the widespread problem.)

But patriots should never sell out sovereignty, right? Just ask the nations who can’t erase their borders fast enough or shred their banknotes quickly enough to join the exclusive country club called the European Union.

What if the country club is run by a mad man? For some dark hours in the modern Chinese history, especially in the so-called Cultural Revolution, things got out of hands. I saw this in a Tibetan temple.

But it’s a very different time now. Chinese government like any other in the world is not perfect. It is vigorously improving itself. For the last 30 years, it has continuously placed economical growth and prosperity of its people above all other objectives, just as the new Taiwan president-elect promised to do in his own term. How is China doing nowadays as a result? It’s not a trick question.

What if the regime is still run by a tyrant? The answer lies quietly in a fortress called Masada in the Judean desert.

The story of rebelling Jews, commonly referred to as Sicarii zealots, chose mass suicide over surrendering to the ruling Romans didn’t survive as a heroic legend, but as a shame (until reevaluated by the Zionists to support the ideology of the modern State of Israel). The fact that it was only found in the writings of Josephus who, ironically, escaped a similar mass suicide and surrendered to the Romans, indicated that the Jewish people disapproved the act. Most modern historians concur that the appropriately labeled zealots defending Masada should have negotiated with the Romans, who in fact were surprisingly tolerant, contrary to popular belief (of course, before the great Christian Emperor came along). Violence has never been the answer. The recent turmoil in Tibetan areas will not become anything but another embarrassment in history.

The Taiwan and Tibet issue may be an issue today, but as the globalization, economic development, and democratic improvement progress, the political and economical borders in the region will be too faint to notice. The hot spots will become non issues. And that is probably the best solution.

4.1 MET: Amsterdam & Its Museums

2008-03-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

I had a 9-hour layover in Amsterdam. The beautiful buildings of Venice of the North is somehow unremarkable and indistinguishable from other northern European cities. The calm and hugging canals, with an air of Germanic seriousness, are not as intimate as those in Venice. It was still a very pleasant walk along Damrak to explore the historical city center.

However, the highlights of the day are surely the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum.

Under construction until 2010, the Rijksmuseum, nevertheless, still has its best on display: masterpieces from the Golden Age painters Pieter de Hooch, Jan Vermeer, and of course, Rembrandt. Looking at paintings in the textbook and seeing the real frames are two different things. Unlike the overwhelmingly colossal size done by Jacque-Louis David, the Dutch canvases call for close examinations.

The serene scenes of leisurely and well-to-do Bourgeois families presented by de Hooch, as in The Linen Closet, show an orderly urban life style and also set an equally orderly moral tone, a philosophy possibly picked up by the Pre-Raphaelites 200 years later. The carefully arranged signature key-hole perspective invites your imagination to travel beyond the canvas. The exquisite and smooth brush strokes remind me of the clean licked-surface style of the great Ingré.

Another fine example is Mother's Duty.

Vermeer’s maids are seemingly ordinary, themes mundane, and composition simple. But historians argue there are full of religious connotations (possibly the Calvinistic emphasis on daily labor). There are often windows in his paintings, indicating the source of light, with which the painter masterfully rendered the imagery with splendid delicacy and elegance. The Milkmaid on display is truly a tour de force.

I am not familiar with Rembrandt, synonymous to (probably) the greatest painter. With so much hype, I finally got to look at the originals. He is truly a master of drama. The employment of light and stark contrast reminds me of the dramatic compositions by Caravaggio. The limelight is not on (possibly) Prophetess Anna, rather on her book upon which the audience’s center of attention is immediately drawn. Her face, usually the focal point of any portrait, turns sideways, hides in the shade, and remains sketchy at best.

Also seen in Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet sits inside a cave near the burning city, but the mysterious light from outside the canvas drenches him in golden illumination.

Rembrandt also invented a technique: using the other end of a paintbrush, the tapered wooden end, to scratch the paint. On some of his famous self portraits, I saw this technique in use on the hair area.

On the northwest corner of the beautiful Museumplein, a short 5 minute walk from Rijksmuseum, is Van Gogh Museum, a glassy modern building dedicated to the post impressionist whose significance still confuses me. What is not confusing is that this guy was really a quick learner and good at the fundamentals. On his first ambitious attempt at serious painting, The Potato Eaters, the figures are distorted, light and color depressed, rigid and wood-cut like strokes confined in color blocks. I wasn’t sure whether the artistic disfiguration was conscious. The answer lies in the museum. Van Gogh started learning painting at the age of 27, ten years before he died. He painted The Potato Eaters after 5 years of earnest learning. I saw one of his early portrait studies in the collections. His mastery of form, shape, and proportion is superb. On one of his letters to his brother Theo, he explained his idea of using layers of thick and daring colors on a rice field to express different feelings. So I got my answer.

However, if I had 10 million dollars, I would still prefer Renoir's Theater Box to his Sunflowers.

4.1 MET: The Power of Religion

2008-03-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Jews wailing before the Western Wall (Jerusalem)

A Muslim performing Salaah quietly at noon in Küçük Aya Sofya Camii (Istanbul)

Filipino pilgrims carrying a cross and retracing the steps of a great man along Via Dolorosa (Jerusalem)

A Tibetan Buddhist prostrating herself outside Jokhang Temple (Lhasa)

As the cliché goes: Great power comes with great responsibility. Throughout history, more people have died in the names of Elohim, Yahweh, God, Lord, Allah. etc. It’s never too late to step back and think about something any religion would teach us: the sanctity of life.

4.1 MET: Random Thoughts

2008-03-13T15:17:00.001-07:00

I bought a statuette of Anubis which is the jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. With its characteristic extending right arm, the statuette made packaging difficult. After a few trials, it occurred to me: I could mummify it. With layers of paper wrapping, the deity, in this reversal of roles, was ready to go (Aswan, Egypt).

After Anubis safely arrived in the US, I, by the power vested in me by the great State of California, brought the god of the dead back to life.

Many archaeologists might have overlooked the true reason for the fall of Masada: King Herod might have liked the stairs, but the Zealots forgot to destroy them before the Romans came (Masada, Israel).

I exclaimed: “Ecce Auto” (Ecce Homo, Jerusalem).

Me’raj (ascension) might have needed some extra help: a ladder, a doorway and a skylight (Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem).

I went to Hell on 3:15PM on February 24th, 2008, and stayed there for about 12 minutes, and left. It was really peaceful and quiet. The Jewish Hell in the Old Testament is called gehinnom (גהינום) which was also mentioned in the New Testament and the Qur’an (where it’s called Jahannam, جهنم). Gehinnom, or Gei Hinnom, is a valley south of the Zion Gate stretching from Mount Zion to Kidron Valley (Jerusalem, Israel).

Prior to visiting Hell, I went to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the Last Judgment is held. Hell is a pleasant 10 minute walk from here (Jerusalem, Israel).

People always slur that Jews are cheap. Over the years, I found that groundless and offensive. Unfortunately, I did stumble upon a piece of historical evidence to partially substantiate the aspersion. The tomb of the great Oskar Schindler is so depressingly unremarkable it took me 20 minutes to finally find it among other beautifully ornamented mausolea of rich Jews and Arabs (Jerusalem, Israel).

The famous Roman toilets are actually surprisingly comfortable. It’s not big enough to cover the entire posterior, but it definitely allows sufficient and efficient mass transfer (Ephesus, Turkey).

It’s okay to take a business trip, but when the trip lasts over 10 years, do expect some drastic changes at home. The great King Agamemnon, after sacking Troy, was murdered here in the palace by his wife Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus (Mycenae, Greece).

When you own the world, you don’t need God. Alexander the Great asked for Oracle’s blessing, but the priestess asked him to come back the next day. The young king of Macedon pulled the priestess by the hair and dragged her all the way out of the temple until she uttered, “You are unbeatable”, to which Alexander replied: “You damned right” (Temple of Apollo, Delphi, Greece).

A famous Chinese idiom goes: 温饱思淫欲, which means after one can eat well and stay warm, he will be thinking of carnal desire. The old oriental saying is actually materialized in the red light district of Amsterdam, conveniently located next to Chinatown.

4.1 MET Blogs

2008-03-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and Greece, with a short stop in Amsterdam from February 8 to March 9. I will try to write a few postings documenting the things I saw and people I met along the way. MET stands for the Middle East Trip, and 4.1 means four countries plus one city. The itinerary looks like:

Amsterdam
Egypt: Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Taba
Israel: Jerusalem, Masada, Ein Gedi, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem
Turkey: Istanbul, Ephesus
Greece: Crete, Olympia, Corinth, Mycenae, Nafplio, Epidavros, Athens, Delphi

Free Will & The Soup Nazi

2008-03-13T10:36:00.001-07:00

A typical Christian apologia to the question “Why evil exists” is to allow free will. People are free to choose good or evil, God or the devil. However, the verdict is already in. If you choose not to believe in God or follow Him, you will burn in hell for eternity. Is that really free will?

Isn’t there another similar strict code of behaviors somewhere? It goes something like this:

Thou shall not be loud or annoying in His shop
Thou shall not take forever on the order
Thou shall not make small talk with Him
Thou shall not stand around idly (rather, place the order and step to the left to receive)
Thou shall not embellish on the order
Thou shall not make any extraneous comments
Thou shall not ask any questions
Thou shall not make any compliments

Otherwise: “NO SOUP FOR YOU”!

友人の一日（第三回)

2008-02-04T14:21:00.001-08:00

先週の土曜にある駐在員とゴルフをした。でも渋滞した、コースを終えられなかった。コースで待っていた時、何でゴルフは四人でするのか、スループットの観点で一番良いのかと思っていた。グルプの二人のプレイヤーがやめた後で、私達六人が一緒にしてみた。ほかの五人のプレイヤーに注意するのが難しいので、六人のグルプでゴルフをするのが危ないだろうと分かった。

Meaning of life (Part One)

2008-02-04T01:31:00.000-08:00

It can be paraphrased by two questions: “why do we exist” and “how should we exist”. Call them the strong and weak anthropic questions, if you will.

First, the strong anthropic question: Why do we exist?

Science may have set out to find the answer, but the scientific method is never designed to reveal the motivation behind any physical phenomenon. While most cosmologists are confident in describing the universe a few seconds after the Big Bang and thereafter, no Friedmann models try to answer why there was even a Big Bang. When we successfully establish the unified theory of physics in the near future, it probably won’t tell us what “breathes fire” into those equations, as commented by the impressive Stephen Hawking. Science is designed to answer “how we exist” but not “why we exist”.

Wherever science fails to respond, religion thrives. Explaining the purpose of life has always been the first and last frontier of any religion.

The Abrahamic God is said to be perfect. Yet humans were created in order to serve Elohim or Yahweh, to love the Lord, and to worship Allah. The fact that human actions are required upon Him means that He needs something and is not complete. The definition of “perfect” is “lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind”. If we take the Scriptures literally, the motivation for Creation is confusing at best.

The Vedic and Puranic cosmology of Hinduism is probably the most scientifically comparable in all ancient civilizations. While the Hebrew universe lasts 6000 years, and the Chinese cosmos, a few tens of thousands more, the Hindu scriptures revealed a stunning scale of 4 billion years. Its creation-destruction cycle of Yuga corresponds to the theory of Big Bang, Expansion-Contraction and Big Crunch. The ultimate goal in a Hindu’s life is to achieve moksha from samsāra so that the ātmā, could unite itself with Brahman. Some Hindus believe that ātmā and Brahman are indistinguishable, and the detachment is caused by māyā. The existence of humans and its purpose is nothing more than a cosmic game of the divine. The forward path to overcome māyā and samsāra resembles that of a pawn in chess to reach the end zone so that it can be promoted.

Inheriting the tradition of kárma and samsāra, the dharmic protégé Buddha didn’t offer anything new to explain the meaning of life. In fact, Buddha refused to answer the question to the origin of the universe and life, because he thought it was irrelevant to a Buddhist’s quest: nirvana, a slight different form of moksha.

In Taoism, Tao, like Om, neither being nor non-being, gives birth to everything. Its indescribable mysticism in creation eludes its purpose. Although it stands out from the rest childish creation stories in ancient China, it offers no real insight as why there was even one.

So far, no single theory can satisfy the strong anthropic question. Therefore, I seek comfort in three working theories about the purpose of our existence:

1) There is no purpose. Life on this remote corner of the universe is a pure accident explainable by the Uncertainty Principle. God does play dices after all.

2) Humans were created to fulfill some unrevealed purpose, but the watchmaker walked away. Gott ist tot. The physical laws may still function, but the absolute morality no longer applies.

3) “God is a mean kid over an anthill with a magnifying glass”. The concept of cosmic game could potentially explain everything. Yet it renders the meaning of life meaningless. We are nothing but puppets to satisfy some sadistic perversion.

Guilty As Charged

2008-02-01T23:30:00.001-08:00

I went to a traffic court yesterday, not to confront my accuser but to ask for court’s leniency. I was cited about four months ago for driving in a carpool lane during restricted hours. Guilty as charged, I accepted the consequence. Aware that I could go to court and ask for a fine reduction, I booked a trial date.

I arrived early yesterday. When I saw a stern and sharp looking guy in suite walk into the courtroom, I thought that was the citing officer. I was convinced he must have been thinking what a dishonorable person I was who wanted to contest a known fact. I felt bad for his misjudgment of me. A few minutes later, I found out that serious looking guy was just another defendant. Then I started to look around for the officer. When I was pulled over, I didn’t even get a good look at him because I was ready just to take the ticket and leave. My officer didn't show up.

So my case was dismissed for lack of prosecution. I will get my bail money of $396 back in 4 to 6 weeks.

But I wasn’t happy about the unexpected favorable outcome.

If we could get away with things, we would do anything, lying, cheating, stealing, to maximize our own benefit. Two things keep us in check: guilt and shame. We fear of judgment, terrestrial or celestial. Western legal system and religious morality are designed to create the sense of guilt and sin in us. Eastern philosophy invokes shame. Fear for disgrace and embarrassment can be just as powerful.

Yesterday I felt ashamed for what the officer might have thought of me. I was declared innocent but was still guilty. On the way out, a thought occurred to me that in court, I should’ve admitted my guilt, despite the absence of my accuser, and still asked for leniency. But I didn’t have the courage to do it then, and doubt I would have the courage to do so in the future. I guess my clear conscience has a minimum market value of $396.

夭夭に送った可愛いビデオ

2008-02-01T22:39:00.000-08:00

Religious Fundamentalists

2008-02-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

People always associate religious fundamentalists with terrorists and fanatics. However, if you really think about it, any devout religious person must be a fundamentalist.

When reading the scripture, the devoted must take it literally and accept its totality. One can’t interpret it according to his own likings. Nor can he pick and choose whichever suits him well. Otherwise, he is a religious opportunist. When one denies one part of the scriptures, it’s corollary that one can deny any part thereof. That’s the beginning of the end of his faith.

So there is no such term called religious fundamentalism. If you are truly religious, you have to be a fundamentalist.

Before Sunset

2008-01-20T23:19:00.000-08:00

She is “neurotic” as Jesse said. Crazy and unstable, Céline has a problem of keeping a meaningful relationship.

She had a lot of exes. The men were nice to her. They liked wine and cooked well. And she was never screwed over by any of them. But what did Céline want to do to them? She wished they would have proposed to her so that she could reject them. Why was she so cruel to break their hearts? “The French men aren’t as...what's the word...hmm...horny”, she managed to murmur. In a worldwide survey done in 2004 when the movie was released, the French were the most sexual active (137 times per year), compared to an average American (111). Well, don’t believe the stats, mais est ce vraiment difficile de trouver un Parisien sexuellement actif ? Notice the calculated pause before “horny”. If it were the real reason, Céline would have used it so many times and might have written a guitar song about it. So clearly it was a lie.

She longed to love and be loved but when love came, she felt “suffocated”. For her, it was never true love or the right person. The solution was to have a patronizing and meaningless liaison with a kitty and marry a photo journalist who always travels abroad. Did she ever have true love and the right person? Céline thought it was the night with Jesse.

Was it?

Jesse is less psychoneurotic, but his weakness is not being able to hold on to his idealistic beliefs and caving to pragmatism. He married the school teacher because she was pregnant, and stayed with her because of their son. If he were an idealist he thought he was, he should have gone to Paris after the ill-fated rendezvous in Vietnam. He would have spent all his life searching for her, if he believed she was his true love. No, he didn’t do so. He settled. He knew it was a wrong thing to do, as he was thinking of Céline even on his wedding day, but he settled. He was the reason for his own agony.

So was it true love between Jesse and Céline on that fateful encounter on the train nach Wien?

No.

What Céline was looking for was curiosity. She loved the US. She left New York because she couldn’t renew her visa. She took on projects in India and Mexico. She wanted to learn Chinese. Only exotic things intrigued her. And a handsome American on a train from Budapest to Vienna intrigued her. She fell madly for him, hormonally. He felt for her because she was French. However, they knew themselves well enough not to exchange any contact information. They foresaw that if they had stayed in contact, their affection would have vanished quickly. The rendezvous in Vietnam was designed to be a staged second “magical encounter” so they could relive the moment again. They couldn’t handle the “everyday love”. In that sense, they were chasing fantasy or a fairytale that ultimately eluded reality. That’s why Céline couldn’t keep any meaningful relationship, and Jesse could only fantasize it in his book.

There is a little detail earlier in the movie: when Jesse told her he spent a couple of days in Vietnam in her absence, she asked, “Did you meet any new girl there?” He joked, “of course, there was this girl Gretchen…”. Gretchen is a common German girl’s name. So it shows that she could easily fall for another exotic person in Vietnam in just two days, and he could easily fall for another European girl in an equally short time.

At the end, Jesse will miss his flight, and Céline will fall in love again with Jesse because the Paris meet was unplanned and presumably destined, which translated to “magical”. However, it won’t take long for Céline to get tired of the American stud. She is destined to be depressed and alone.

Looking at the title, any photographer knows that the light at sunrise and sunset is magical. Screenwriters call it “magic hours”. It’s ephemeral. That’s how long Jesse and Céline’s passion towards each other will last.

After sunset, there is just darkness.

Cloverfield

2008-01-19T01:16:00.000-08:00

When Monet, von Gogh, and Picasso first came out, people were shocked. You call those paintings? They are not finished; the figures are deformed; the proportion is way off. They are works of an amateur.

Most people don’t think that way any more.

J. J. Abrams intended to rock the audience off the usual comfortable observation deck with the best vantage point, and throw them right into the middle of chaos, confusion, and fear. Blurry images, disoriented angles, sharply truncated compositions, and hysterical and deafening screaming made me dizzy and caused a headache. A few times during the movie, I wanted to shut my eyes. However, I am convinced that’s the exact effect the director wanted to achieve. Maybe that’s how one would feel in a real apocalyptic moment.

For that, I applaud the artist’s ingenuity, audacity and integrity.

I love Monet, I am okay with von Gogh, and I don’t care too much for Picasso. As for Cloverfield, I wouldn't recommend it. I had feared the movie might just turn out like the trailer. I wouldn't have watched it if I'd known. The bottom line is: I wouldn't spend a nice evening watching a "hand-held" style movie on a big screen, no matter how professionally done it was.

An Uncomplicated Analogy

2008-01-17T22:32:00.001-08:00

I am invited to visit this house. The owner is away, but the caretaker is very hospitable. It’s on a big lot with a few other similar houses around it, but it is indeed the most grandiose and decorated.

It’s pouring outside. I get in quickly. As I am about to fold my umbrella, I find, to my great surprise, that it’s also raining hard inside. The caretaker, wearing a raincoat, welcomes me and leads me towards the main hall. Still holding my umbrella, I want to ask but feel shy. I am sure an explanation will be volunteered, but the caretaker is busy pointing out different rooms in the house, showing no sign of offering any explanation.

As I follow him, I tilt the umbrella and look up. I notice that the entire roof is leaking. The damage is so extensive that wind gushes in, rain pours down, and it feels just like standing outside. Walking ahead of me, the affable caretaker still talks about the history and stories of the house, totally oblivious of buckets of water hitting on his body.

The layout is nice, albeit a little dated. Soon we reach the great hall. There is a tent set up in the middle. I can see a bonfire inside and shadows of other guests. The caretaker lifts the front door for me.

I lower myself, get in, and sit among the guests. It’s considerably warmer inside. I am greeted with warmth and enthusiasm. I can’t help but notice the loud pounding rain on the paper-thin polyester and the howling storm outside. Yet the guests are chitchatting happily unmindful of the noise.

The caretaker enters bringing wine and bread which we start to share. Taking my share from him, I whisper a question to him: “Why don’t you fix the roof?” Handing over the a piece of bread, he answers calmly: “What roof? The house is fine.”

God On Trial

2008-01-17T01:48:00.000-08:00

Job wanted to put God on trial: “Oh! that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge” (Job 23:3-7)

When Job confronted God, the all-loving Almighty babbled some mumbo jumbo which conveniently concealed his childish bet with his loyal Attorney General Ha-Satan (the wrongfully accused Satan). Job gave up, was blessed, and lived happily ever after.

The profound meaning of human suffering is thus fatally compromised, forever, for a cheap Hollywood ending whose target market mostly composes of mental teenagers.

Thousands of years later, a group of Jewish inmates in Auschwitz, on Rosh Hashanah, before their death, convened a beth din, a Jewish court of law, to put God on trial.

And they found God guilty.

Dragon Wars

2008-01-09T00:57:00.000-08:00

This Hollywood Hopeful has probably one of the best special effects I have seen in recent years, yet also fatal defects most Asian movies share: a terrible screenplay and bad acting.

Nevertheless, I am so pleased to see at the end the traditional "Asian" rendition of a dragon: horns of a stag, scales of a carp, wingless body of a snake, and four legs with claws of an eagle.

(I can't use the word "Chinese" so lightly, as in "Chinese rendition of a dragon", after a series of acts of desinicization by the South Korean government including successfully demanding the Chinese government to change the Chinese name of the Korean capital Seoul from its 500-year-old name "汉城" (with the ostensibly meaning of "Han Chinese City") to "首尔" (a Korean transliteration meaning the Capital City). No, you didn't read it wrong. The Chinese government agreed to change the Chinese name of Seoul. It's like the German government demands our beloved George W. to stop the usage of "Munich" in the US and replace it with the fatherlandish "München". Poor George W., how can he ever say it right this time?)

Anyway, the "Asian" dragon is beautiful, and that's the point of this post.

Chinese Medicine

2007-12-30T18:34:00.000-08:00

Doktor House aus dem gleichnamigen amerikanischen TV Show kritisiert die Alternativmedizin. Er sagt:

Hang up a shingle and condemn the narrowness and greed of Western medicine, you’d make a damn fine living…The six months that he had with these charlatans might have been spent going to someone who looks at things that exist in the real world.

An Logik glaubt Doktor House. Wie kann man in etwas unsichtbares und unauffindbares vertrauen? In der traditionellen chinesischen Medizin (TCM) gibt es Meridiane, die jeder Praktiker weiβ, wie er lokalisieren soll, und Energieflüsse (qi), die herumgerückt werden können. Bis heute gibt niemand durch wissenschaftliche Experiments davon eindeutigen Beleg. Mit wenigen wirtschaftlichen Anreize ist kein Double Blind Experiment an die TCM im Westen geführt worden. Im Osten sehen manche Ärzte keine Not, die Wirksamkeit oder die Täuschung der TCM zu beweisen. Wie der Hinduismus zu den Hindus ist die TCM seit Jahrtausend ein Bestandteil des Lebens der Chinesen, für den die Medizin klappt. Anders als die Wunderheilung, die höchstens einen Placeboeffekt gibt, werden die Patienten sogar geheilt, nach sie zum Akupunkteur oder Herbologe geht. Es ist nicht einfach post hoc ergo propter hoc. Unbestreitbar ist die Korrelation so stark wie Herzanfall mit Hochcholesterin oder Lungenkrebs mit Rauchen.

Auch nicht direckt beobachtbar ist dunkle Materie, die keine optische oder andere elektromagnetische Strahlung aussendet oder absorbiert. Die meisten Kosmologen unterstützen die Theorie ihrer Existenz, die die Observation der Galaxienrotation, der Bewegung der Kugelsternhaufen und der Dynamik der Galaxienhaufen gut zusammenpasst. So real wie dunkle Materie sind das meridiansystem und Energieflüsse der TCM, deren Existenz durch die kampfstarke Korrelation zwischen der Diagnose, Behandlung und Genesung nahegelegt wird.

Ich weiβ nicht, ob Doktor House die Theorie der dunklen Materie glaubt. Bis wenn ein Gerät erfunden wird, das Energieflüsse und Meridiankanäle ausfindig machen kann, ist es unmöglich, ihm die TCM vorzugaukeln. Ich bin sicher, daβ Doktor House darauf nicht allein ist.

Brain, Beauty, and Breast Implants

2007-12-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

We admire successful people. Many of them are naturally talented in many ways. We applaud their achievements.

We like beautiful people. Many achieve richness and fame through marriage. We are often not so kind to their ascendance in the material world.

One argues that truly successful people can’t rely on their talent alone, they work hard. The light bulb guy has a formula: 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. I believe, however, the talent dosage should be much higher. Although “anyone can cook”, according to Gusteau, very few in reality can become a great chef. God is biased and unfair. Through hard labor, Salieri transformed himself from a farm boy to the Austrian court composer, yet he could never achieve the level of genius “a performing monkey” did, the boorish and vulgar Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Perspiration is certainly required. No lazy man can achieve greatness, but a great man must be a genius. My prescription for success is “diligence, persistence, talent, and a bit of luck”. Forest Gump is just a fairytale.

If we look hard into the life of Miss Teen South Carolina, we may find she takes care of her appearance diligently and persistently every day. She may not think about US maps all the time, but surely spends every single waking minute of her life to make sure she looks fabulous. That’s hard work, people! She needs to keep up with all the latest and greatest thingies in science, culture, and medicine (for cosmetics, fashion, and plastic surgery). The level of commitment is as tremendous as a successful MIT applicant would have. Besides, not any beauty can hit a jackpot. One may need some sly planning from coach Hitch, some arm wrestling with rivals, and in many cases, a prestigious background to be accepted into the elite society. Simply prostituting yourself wouldn’t get you very far. Cleopatra is just as great as, if not greater than, Gaius Julius.

(To be fair, she was pretty smart too, the first one in her 300-year Ptolemaic linage to speak Egyptian).

So it’s a corollary that if we are impressed by someone who starts to read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to enlarge his brain surface area, we should also admire someone who tries to stuff her Hans and Franz to increase her cup size.

But it seems some people just have problems with breast implants. When someone with prescription glasses opts for laser surgery, no one is ripping him a new one. The benefit thereof over ugly glasses is mostly cosmetic. You may argue for convenience, but it’s still an artificial enhancement. Hair transplant is another publicly favorable procedure that defines “cosmetic” in cosmetic surgery. The easiest and the most common among all is probably piercing, and ear piercing is so commonplace most people do not even consider it as surgery. Come to think of it, ear piercing is probably one of the most artificial, superficial, and brutal procedures. It’s artificial because it allows attachment of visible foreign objects while other nicking and tucking at least try to restore or enhance the natural beauty in human body; Ear piercing is superficial because it is really done on the surface (*); and the reason for its brutality is that it’s fundamentally a purposeful mutilation of the human body. Therefore, I think anyone who feels strongly against “distastefully superficial” cosmetic surgery like breast implants should feel the same about ear piercing.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with piercing at all. If you have a Prince Albert, more power to you!

Simply the point here is the pursuit of beauty has two objects: the much applauded inner one and the often coveted outer one. While we encourage someone to improve his intelligence, develop his character and perfect his personality, we should also cheer for his effort to attain physical perfection through natural or surgical means. Furthermore, we should embrace it with the same passion and excitement as the Romans in discovering something wonderful in Greek antiquity.

(*): it’s purely semantic, but I can’t resist.

投名状

2007-12-20T00:09:00.000-08:00

桃园美史, 缘起除宦兴汉. 同志断金, 同心臭兰. 故有弟走单骑, 兄北夷岭. 然刺马乌合, 殊心异性. 虽效投名之状, 实无手足之情. 途穷匕首现. 人性之弱乎, 人性乎.

云庞青云 (马新贻) 弃匪从军, 君子豹变. 实背信弃义, 与仇同榻. 唯利是图. 又云其不识官道, 青云难长. 史实难合. 恭亲王荐于慈禧, 赞其”精明强干, 操守亦好”, ”妥为安置”两江. 庞某深黯敌友相易, 忍辱后生以成大事, 此乃革面保身, 青云官场之必备.

而其盟友性纯, 笃信情义. 盲从无的. 有驭利器之勇, 陷敌城之谋, 降他军之信. 分掠赃之义, 重誓友之情. 惜无远瞩之才, 察人之能. 周旋之技, 变通之术. 虽可美誉”真汉子”, 终成事者鲜已.

狮豹同行, 志相异, 性相远, 术相殊. 岂能同归乎?

A Good Philosophy to Live By

2007-12-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from "House MD" (Season 1, Episode 17: Role Model). House accuses his patient, Senator Gary Wright, of lying about his medical history.

HOUSE
You need to stop lying to me.

SENATOR WRIHT
It must be miserable, always assuming the worst in people.

HOUSE
Oh, cut the crap, you’re dying.

SENATOR WRIHT
You’re clever, you’re witty, and you are a coward! You’re scared of taking chances.

HOUSE
I take chances all the time, it’s one of my worst qualities.

SENATOR WRIHT
On people?

HOUSE
Wanting to believe the best about people doesn’t make it true.

SENATOR WRIHT
Being afraid to believe it doesn’t make it false.

HOUSE
Well, that’s very moving. It’s a shame I don’t vote.

SENATOR WRIHT
This is who I am. I believe in people. I’m not hiply cynical and I don’t make easy, snide remarks. I would rather think that people are good and be disappointed once and again.

What Makes Someone Great

2007-12-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from "House MD" (Season 1, Episode 9: DNR). Dr. Foreman, after being offered a job by Dr. Hamilton from L.A., discusses with his boss Dr. House.

HOUSE
I checked him out. He’s a great doctor. You think he’s better than I am?

FOREMAN
This about your ego?

HOUSE
Answer the question. It’s not going to change my opinion of myself. Might affect my opinion of you, but that shouldn’t affect your opinion of yourself. Now I’m getting confused. If you think he’s a better doctor than I am, then you should take the job. Otherwise, you should get him to buy you two or three more nostalgic lunches and politely decline.

FOREMAN
It’s that simple? I should just ignore the mockery and abuse?

HOUSE
Oh, how do I abuse you?

FOREMAN
How do you not? If I make a mistake –

HOUSE
I hold you accountable, so what?

FOREMAN
Dr. Hamilton forgives. He’s capable of moving on.

HOUSE
That is not what he does!

FOREMAN
I screwed up his case, he told me –

HOUSE
He never said you were forgiven. I was there, he said it wasn’t your fault.

FOREMAN
So?

HOUSE
So, it was. You took a chance, you did something great. You were wrong, but it was still great. You should feel great that it was great. You should feel like crap that it was wrong. That’s the difference between him and me. He thinks you do your job, and what will be, will be. I think that what I do and what you do matters. He sleeps better at night. He shouldn’t.

What Makes Someone Successful

2007-12-16T16:04:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from "House MD" (Season 1, Episode 9: DNR). John Henry Giles is a fictitious famed musician being treated by Dr. Greg House.

GILES
It’s over. I lost my air. The session the other night, with those kids? That was a test to see if I could still play. I can’t.

HOUSE
And that’s all you are? A musician?

GILES
I got one thing, same as you.

HOUSE
Really? Apparently, you know me better than I know you.

GILES
I know that limp. I know the empty ring finger. And that obsessive nature of yours, that’s a big secret. You don’t risk jail and your career just to save somebody who doesn’t want to be saved unless you got something, anything, one thing. The reason normal people got wives and kids and hobbies, whatever. That’s because they don’t got that one thing that hits them that hard and that true. I got music, you got this. The thing you think about all the time, the thing that keeps you south of normal. Yeah, makes us great, makes us the best. All we miss out on is everything else. No woman waiting at home after work with the drink and the kiss, that ain’t gonna happen for us.

HOUSE
That’s why God made microwaves.

GILES
Yeah, but when it’s over, it’s over.

I Am Legend

2007-12-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

World calamity, natural, human-induced, or extraterrestrial, fantasized in a movie like such as well as The War of the Worlds, Nanking, Deep Impact, just to name a very few, makes me appreciate what a peaceful life I have now. In a movie when you stare at vampirist zombies or towering tripods, wouldn’t you feel lucky you live in your current life, however crappy that might be? In fact, that’s a natural reaction when a person faces his own mortality, and the apocalyptic fantasy of annihilation is just an extreme condition to bring out such desperation.

In many parts of the world, less fortunate people experience scarcity of resources, hostile environment, and physical endangerment on a daily basis. It’s a nightmare you can’t wake up from.

So shut up if you haven’t got an IPod for Christmas.

Divorce & Marriage

2007-12-13T15:55:00.000-08:00

Some people I know become disillusioned by marriage because of the many dissolutions of which they witnessed. I personally know many couples in Shanghai who are couples no more, a social taboo inconceivable just ten years ago in the land of Confucius.

The usual suspects are infidelity (or medically, phalliophilia or colpoamia), abuse, or the fashionable irreconcilable differences. The latest catalysts include feminism (or medically, Sex and the City), political correctness that leads to social tolerance, and information explosion since the advent of internet.

In the case of my fellow countrymen, the introduction of western individualism and the rapid deterioration of once ubiquitous rigid social structure ought to be the herald for the new divorce-happy life style.

The list is by no means exhaustive.

So the 50 dollar question is: outside any religious sense, is marriage relevant in our modern time?

Before marriage, there is relationship whose formula is physiological craving plus emotional dependence, the kind of math American teenagers really excel at. Relationship could be monogamous or polygamous depending on personal preferences. When considering evolution, monogamy is preferred as it provides the best possible physical and social environment for the offspring. That’s why the misconception of certain Mormon practice is so exotic.

Does monogamous relationship require a human institution of marriage? Child support, inheritance right, tax exemption; many of such legal codes ensure children born out of wedlock to have equal or at least similar filial rights. So for devoted parents, marriage doesn’t seem to help reap any more social benefits for their children.

If not for their children, the reason must be selfish. Marginally self reassuring, approval winning, parents pleasing, conformity seeking are the typical aftertastes once names are registered on the country record.

But there is more…

Some people spend their lifetime searching for the origin of all existence or meaning of life, fully aware that they will be likely, eventually disappointed. But they persist. Their act of pursuit, not the subject thereof, is an ideal. The pursuit of an ideal, whether by starving artists, self-disemboweling samurai warriors, or by prostrating believers, is our mental faculty par excellence at work. Marriage is another ideal for the brave, the passionate, and the unjaded.

For the cup-half-full folks, when the divorce rate is up, it's corollary that the marriage rate is up, a priori. So why are people disillusioned by marriage?

Human Sacrifice

2007-12-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

When an innocent person meets his untimely death, it’s His Will for His Plan. Isn’t it human sacrifice?

An argument from the apologia is that no one is truly innocent because of the Original Sin committed some 6,000 years ago.

Forgive me, but calling an unborn or newly born child Sinful and sentencing it to death is just bloody cruel.

Is there still room for forgiveness, compassion, and kindness?

Residual Morality and Critical Thinking

2007-12-12T03:51:00.000-08:00

A mom’s immunity protests her new-born for six months, after which the baby gets regular vaccinations.

On the other hand, the influence of parents’ morality on the child wears off much later, if ever. The residual morality hangs on sometimes for the life span of the new host. As the child continues to get moral vaccines from school, his peers, and the society, he also picks up unwelcome viruses and bacteria. It’s his own immune system, i.e. his critical thinking, that will choose what to take in as helpful vaccines and what to ward off as harmful foreign agents. Sometimes, the residual immunity is still capable of fighting new strands of viruses, but certainly not always.

Is this analogy applicable for a child of faith? Unless spiritual healing cures all diseases, an analogy in modern medicine is always relevant.

Basic Human Feelings

2007-12-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

Can we safely say “I feel, therefore I am”? The clichés are still around: “trust your gut feeling”, “follow your instinct”, “listen to your heart, not your brain”, and so on.

Many people do follow their feelings in their dealings, but are often labeled “being too emotional”. More rational ones often pat on their own backs for having earned the black belt of suppressing their feelings and doing the logical things. In either case, the feeling, or the conscious subjective experience of emotion, is real. The neurons have fired.

Take “sadness”. When a good friend is killed in a car accident, many people would feel sad. When a good mother dies of breast cancer, her loving daughter would feel sad.

Should they feel sad?

The emotion of “happiness” is deceivingly simpler. When Dr. House cures the dying but still caring teacher of a trifactor of autoimmune, carcinoid, and hypothyroidism, her previously hopeless middle school students would jump up in hysterical ecstasy.

Should we go round them up and quiet them down, because we shouldn’t feel “happy”?

We have support groups for every possible supposed human tragedy in the world, but there is no support group for “joyous and grateful teenagers whose teacher just recovered from ungodly diseases”. Why not?

An answer from a Hindus or a Buddhist is quite simple and consistent. Basic human feelings are false reactions to the illusion of realty. The neurotic firing is preconditioned. One needs to liberate himself from the maya of duality. If someone is telling you his parents survived a 20 car pile up without a scratch, you may respond “what’s for lunch”?

When a good Christian is terminally ill, his brothers and sisters would diligently pray for the invalid. Their motive is pure yet confusing. If the patient recovers, it’s Lord’s work. The happy and praising neurons are firing. If the patient doesn’t make it, it’s also Lord’s work. Since He is omni-benevolent, the passing of the patient shouldn’t be a tragedy, but a part of His Grand Plan. The death of the sick just served Lord’s Purpose. Lord got what He wanted (not surprisingly). Therefore, death is not just good but great. The happy and praising neurons should reload for action again. So if someone is telling you about a dying Christian, you don’t have to wait for the end. Just jump right in with “Good for him” or “Good for her”, with both of your thumbs up opposing each other. (Note: you should wait at least until you know the gender of the patient).

So an oversimplified note to support group organizers on all subjects. For Hindus and Buddhists, teach them to learn how to feel nothing. For Christians, teach them how to feel joy and gratitude in all cases.

Life made easy? Maybe.

History, can be forgiven, but never forgotten!

2007-11-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

On ne doit pas comprendre l’histoire, mais la comparer. Die Deutschen haben sich vor Dekaden dafür entschuldigt, was sie den Juden angetan haben. Sie haben Auschwitz nicht vergessen. 日本人は今まで中国に侵入のために正式謝罪したことがありません。日本人は南京を全然思い出しません。L’histoire, ce peut être pardonnée, mais jamais oubliée.

Minnie Vautrin

John Rabe

A powerful, emotional and relevant reminder of the heartbreaking toll war takes on the innocent, Nanking tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, in the early days of World War II. As part of a campaign to conquer all of China, the Japanese subjected Nanking – which was then China’s capital – to months of aerial bombardment, and when the city fell, the Japanese army unleashed murder and rape on a horrifying scale. In the midst of the rampage, a small group of Westerners banded together to establish a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge. Unarmed, these missionaries, university professors, doctors and businessmen – including a Nazi named John Rabe – bore witness to the events, while risking their own lives to protect civilians from slaughter.

The story is told through deeply moving interviews with Chinese survivors, chilling archival footage and photos of the events, and testimonies of former Japanese soldiers. At the heart of Nanking is a filmed stage reading of the Westerners’ letters and diaries, featuring Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway and Jurgen Prochnow. Through its interweave of archival images, testimonies of survivors, and readings of first hand accounts, the film puts the viewer on the streets of Nanking and brings the forgotten past to startling life.

Nanking is a testament to the courage and conviction of individuals who were determined to act in the face of evil and a powerful tribute to the resilience of the Chinese people – a gripping account of light in the darkest of times.

Ratatouille

2007-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

Ratatouille

Tags: Ratatouille Pixar Animation

Le Festin

Les rêves des amoureux sont comme le bon vin
Ils donnent de la joie ou bien du chagrin
Affaibli par la faim, je suis malheureux
Volant en chemin tout ce que je peux
Car rien n’est gratuit dans la vie...

L’espoir est un plat bien trop vite consommé
À sauter les repas, je suis habitué
Un voleur, solitaire, est triste à nourrir
À nous, je suis amer, je veux réussir
Car rien n’est gratuit dans la vie...

Jamais on ne me dira
que la course aux étoiles,
ça n’est pas pour moi
Laisser moi vous émerveillez,
prendre mon envol
Nous allons enfin nous régaler...

La fête va enfin commencer.

Et sortez les bouteilles, finis les ennuis
Je dresse la table, demain nouvelle vie
Je suis heureux a l’idée de ce nouveau destin
Une vie à me cacher, et puis libre enfin
Le festin est sur mon chemin...

Une vie à me cacher et puis libre enfin
Le festin est sur mon chemin...

Ero blanc et noir

2007-11-22T13:15:00.000-08:00

c'est photographie artistique, malgre tous images erotiques. Alles ist simuliert.

Ero blanc et noir

Tags: Photography arts fantasy erotism sexy

My wonderful hometown - Shanghai

2007-11-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

157 Minutes Wasted (Lust, Caution)

2007-10-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

The movie ended abruptly, although to my relief: it finally ended. I simply didn't get the movie: be cautioned, a woman could betray her belief for lust (or 6 karats of rock, to be exact)?

The best way to prepare for retirement is to keep working.

2007-10-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

I heard an interview while driving today about how the baby boomers started to retire and how Social Security was bankrupting. One of the experts interviewed suggested, "one of the key elements to solve this problem is to keep working for some extra years".

What a brilliant idea! The best way to prepare for retirement is to not retire! As long as you plan to keep working, there won't be any retirement, so you don't have to worry about preparing for it. Voila, problem solved.

March of the Penguins

2007-09-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

Evolution is so economical.

Penguins warm their eggs between their legs! How awkward this is! They can't walk fast, they can easily drop the eggs, and the male penguins need to maintain that posture for 4 months of the year!

What if there is a predator around the icy corner?

No, there isn't. That's the point. Evolution is not about elegance but practicality. It works for the little tuxie birds. No natural predators around, so they can afford to look awkward and be clumsy.

However, if there is ever a designer, His better work is obviously something with a pouch, hopping high and far gracefully. Penguins are perhaps the early prototype and most likely never went on to beta testing.

But they are still cute, so it's not an entirely lousy design.

Sicko

2007-09-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

My Dating in the Bay Area

2007-09-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

Plus on vieillit, plus on devient difficile と言われている。Fast vor einem Monat habe ich mich von einem ziemlich attraktiven Mädchen getrennt. Avant ça, une autre rupture était en janvier. ところで、彼女が今年の夏にもう結婚した。Die meisten meiner Freunde haben innerhalb von vergangenen ein paar Jahren geheiratet und ihre Erstgeborene bekommen. ピアプレッシャーの本物の意味を今だんだん分かれ始める。Ne te méprends pas, autant j’aime la liberté célibataire, autant je suis prêt pour une famille. Aber ich habe « the right girl » schon nicht gefunden. Mais j’ai déjà cassé avec deux filles au cours des 10 dernièrs mois. 沢山の友達が同じ質問をあると思うだろう。Bin ich dafür zu wählerisch?

Je ne pense pas, mais il doit en être ainsi. Ich denke, daβ ich eine vergleicheweise groβe Auswahl von Interessen habe. スポーツもよくするし、文化や芸術も好きだし、ずっと自分を忙しくならせる。Si je veux parler d’Orsay à Paris et ma compagne seulement sait tous les nouvelles de Paris Hilton, ça ne marche pas. 相手が同じじゃない言葉を話す人と話したくなければ、難しいね。Mann könnte fragen ob es etwas narzisstisch ist. Je ne crois pas que une fille sait tout ce que je sais, parce qu’il y a beaucoup trop de choses que je ne sais pas. 中国の哲人が『闻道有先后』や『三人行必有我师焉』といったように、だれでも僕の先生で、ずっと周辺の人から習ってきた。Il ne faut pas que la fille idéale soit sophistiquée ou parfaite, mais il faut qu’elle soit ouverte d’esprit et ait le potentiel pour être parfait.

今週末ハイキングに行こうと思う。Zusammen gehen vier Familien und zwei Paaren...mit mir. Dois-je céder à la pression de groupe? Something’s gotta to give ?

分からないね。未来へ…

Last words on God

2007-09-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

"It is very important not to mistaken hemlock for parsley; but not at all so to believe or not in God."

- Denis Diderot in response to Voltaire

Don’t get me wrong. Not that I don’t care. It just seems that we don’t have any direct evidence for or against the existence of God.

(A little disclaimer is hereby warranted by now.

"The figure “God” discussed here is not associated with any earthly religion, especially not with Judaeo-Christianity. Any similarity to any person living or dead is merely coincidental.")

However, many circumstantial ones do exist. If you watch as much Law & Order as I do, you should know by now that circumstantial evidences hardly make a case.

Here is my logic that the existence of God is possible and cannot be disproved by mere common senses or primitive observations. Following is a list of things that seem intuitive and appear to agree with casual perceptions.

- The earth is flat
- The earth is stationary
- The sun moves around the earth
- Things are made of fundamentally different elements.
- The space has three dimensions
- The universe is static

And so on. Most of us now agree that the things listed above are false. Imagine 6-dimensional creatures live among us but we can’t see them, or you can get the shortest distance between two points by warping the space, or the universe is mostly composed of dark matter. Many times, things we cannot perceive or even possibly fathom do exist.

That the earth is moving and circling the sun was as ridiculous to the Europeans in the 1500’s as the existence of God to the atheists.

Nevertheless, Buddha once cautioned that we shouldn’t believe something just because it’s possible. It’s possible that God exists, but it doesn’t mean that it does.

If God does exist, it should be nothing like the one depicted in the Bible, in either volumes.

A popular Chinese fable goes like this:

『An armor peddler claims to make the best spears and shields.
He says: My shields are so strong they cannot be penetrated by any weapon. He then points to his spears and says: My spears are so sharp they can pierce any shield. A bystander asks: What happens if you throw your spear at your shield?』

If we take the Bible literally, we should believe the universe is only a few thousand years old. If we argue that the biblical definition of time is different from our common understanding, we then have no way to understand the biblical definitions of “good” or “evil”.

Therefore, if a Christian God exists, He will be restrained to the Judaeo-Christian logic and face such paradox as: Can God create a rock so heavy that He himself can’t lift?

However, I do hope there is a God in the universe. Life would be so simple. All the questions can be answered easily or have the potential to be answered easily. But He sure knows how to run and hide. So far we can't find him. He is like the ultimate Mr. bin Laden.

C’est bon. Genug gesagt.

Miss Teen South Carolina vs George W

2007-09-14T02:43:00.001-07:00

Bush at APEC 2007

2007-09-14T02:04:00.001-07:00

Talking at a business forum on the eve of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney, Mr Bush told Mr Howard: "Mr Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit."

He continued his blunders by thanking Australian premier John Howard for visiting 'Austrian troops' in Iraq.

There are no Austrian troops there, although Australia has 1,500 military personnel in the region.

fantaisies africaines

2007-09-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

magnifique.

Transparent Screens from Apple (iScreen)

2007-09-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

Following its sensational successes of iMac, iPod and iPhone, Apple presents the next generation of computer screen: iScreen. It's transparent! Suggested retail price: $799 (14").

You are a Chinese if...

2007-09-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

A list of old stereotypes, but some are still funny and true. =)

Funny Asians Bad Asians of 2007

2007-06-04T23:25:00.001-07:00

Nakamura Hiro: comedic, warmhearted, childishly optimistic, and at last immature.

Mohinder Suresh: tall, handsome, with a beautiful voice, yet gullable and ultimately ineffectual.

Cheng Zhi: a villain in its entirety.

友人の一日（第二回）

2006-12-26T20:29:00.001-08:00

先週末リノへ行って、大変な見に遭った。お金を失ったが、カジノで大変楽しかった。帰り道で、雪がひどく降ったから、チェーン規制が求められた。沢山の人が車を止めて、チェーンかスノータイヤを着けなければならなかったから、ひどく渋滞した。どちらも持っていなかったから、ゆっくりと注意して、運伝しないといけなかった。家まで１０時間以上かかったので、長くて大変な運伝をして、疲れきった。もし日曜日夕方あちを出ていたら、月曜日に会社に行く事ができなかっただろう。

友人の一日（第一回）

2006-12-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

この場所で一番速く車を運伝しますか。間違いなくパトカーだと思います。先週San Tomas Expressway を車を運伝していた時、制限速度は時速４５マイルだったにもかかわらず、パトカーが時速７０マイルより速く走っているのを見た。日本ではそなん事を見た事がありません。パトカーの速度違反を誰が取り締まる事になっていますか。

The purpose of logic faculty in us

2006-11-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

One comedian once said: "I really tried to have the faith (that the earth was created in 7 days), but...I have thoughts, which can really xxxx up the faith thing".

If we are created, why would we be given the capability to reason well enough to deny our origin? If the design is perfect, every bodily part has its own function and purpose. Our eyes enable us to see, ears to hear, and a brain to know, learn, and reason. Sometimes things are not obvious to our sensory organs, like air molecules or microwave. But over the course of human civilization, we learned through the logic faculty in our brain to use tools to detect things invisible to our eyes or inaudible to our ears. Therefore the purposes of eyes and ears are once again fulfilled.

Overlooking all major world religions, there are still a few questions that demands better answers. For example, the purpose of existence. Why was the universe created? Some people would say: "Oh, I don't attempt to second guess His purpose". But can we even if we try? We are created because our creator is bored? Or is He/She lonely? Can we reach a reasonable conclusion? At least I haven't thus far.

Some other people would say: "Oh, you don't have to think too hard, just take a leap of faith". But why should we give up something which is given by our creator and which is perfectly purposeful and functional in order to take on faith about our creator? I think there is something wrong there.

Tom Leykis

2006-11-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

I just started listening to Tom Leykis. An interesting fella. Some of his preachings include (from the two weeks I listened):

1) Three strikes on dating: if the girl doesn't put out after the third date, DTB (dump that bitch)
2) A man should never get married nor should he move in with another woman. A man has nothing to gain in any relationship, except sex, which he should have gotten within three dates.
3) As a rich and successful man, Mr. Leykis never comprises with any woman. Zero tolerance. His way or the door.

Many women called in criticizing him for demeaning comments and immoral influences, while young men called in worshipping him as "a father they never had".

Is Tom Leykis bad?

Mr. Leykis' preachings come from his own experiences. Despite what he says or does, namely treating women no more than sex objects, he finds no trouble getting young and pretty girls into his bed. As a matter of fact, there is probably a long queue outside his door beating each other up trying to get in. So given Mr. Leykis' social and financial status, what he says or thinks is irrelevant. So it's quite a fair trade. Mr. Leykis looks only at faces, boobs, and asses, and his female counterpart looks only at cars, boats, and penthouses. She may be at a slight disadvantage under certain zero tolerance rule, but "sleeping with Leykis" could be a big plus on her resume to land in an even bigger name. So really it's a win-win situation for both of them, and we should be happy for them.

The society is never short of either kind. Such codependency works. Mr. Leykis won't be on the air bragging if there are no girls throwing themselves at the rich and famous. Conversely, without those "free spirited" girls, guys who practice Mr. Leykis' philosophy will soon run out of dates and have to rethink their strategy.

Well, is Tom Leykis bad? Like everything else in this universe, Mr. Leykis exists for a reason. If he got reasons to exist, he can't be too bad after all.

(btw, he is doing much better than just existing...)

"Click"

2006-11-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's a really good movie. It may look like another cheesy Hollywood flick, but I think the script is well written. Auto piloting through life, its self-reinforcement, and human's tendency to repeat mistakes. The situations are familiar, and morals simple. Yet the metaphor of a remote with all its functionality is clever.

However, I'd have cast differently. A much less goofy male protagonist with better acting would be better. I feel that Mr. Sandler is Mr. Sandler in all his movies. Definitely fewer unnecessary eye candies, namely the attractive Beckinsale and Cassidy which are quite distracting from time to time. And too many doggie styles.

Despite all those, it's a good script. Too bad many good people don't get a break in life. C'est la vie, oui?

God In Perspective

2006-11-07T22:14:00.000-08:00

Q1 of 2: Why would god care about us?

He's been busy. As far as we know, the universe is huge. There are millions upon millions of galaxies. All his labor's fruits. We are on a tiny dust bit called Earth. Imagining god is having fun putting his right hand toward a black hole to get a thrill of sucking feeling, or moving a bunch of galaxies away to create a reddish coloration so his neon disco party decoration is really brightened up. To him, human beings are maybe like tiny, albeit very cute, amoebas. Imagine coming home from a great day with your golden retriever in the park, you put on your bifocals and set up the microscope. "They are so cute, swimming away with their pseudopods...Oh My Self, I killed them with my bread crumbs."

Q2 of 2: How in the universe would we be able to understand god?

If you play a recording of K550 to a petri dish, imagine one amoeba says to another: "I really appreciate the distinct quality of the submediant E flat major, in the overall G minor key". The other one says "Who cares. Look, there is a piece of fibrous crap, let's swim there as fast as we can, okay?"

God In Our Genes

2006-11-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

There is just one basic human instinct: self preservation.

To preserve ourselves in this life, we defend ourselves against wild beasts, natural disasters, sickness and other uncertainty and unknowns in our realty. Scared, desperate, disillusioned, we need something who is bigger than us, who cares about us, and who has all the power in the world to keep us off the harm's way. The concept of god, an absolute certainty, gives us comfort, hope and courage to carry on our lives. We need god just as we need the next breath of air.

To preserve ourselves beyond this life, we need to have a soul to survive our flesh and enjoy eternal bliss. To make sense of the good and evil in this world, we need someone to hand out carrots and sticks on the last day. Who else would be a better candidate?

If there is no god, it's necessary to invent one.

Top 10 Things Not To Do From Mr. G (aka the Buddha)

2006-11-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

1) Don't believe anything simply because you've been listening to it for a long time;
2) Don't accept traditions simply because generations of people have been doing that way;
3) Don't believe gossips easily;
4) Don't affirm anything simply because it goes well with your beliefs or thoughts;
5) Don't rely on theoretical inference alone;
6) Don't affirm anything simply based on what you see or hear;
7) Don't simply look at things as they appear;
8) Don't insist on any of your favorite opinions or thinking;
9) Don't believe anything simply because it's possible;
10) Don't accept any ideas of your master simply out of your admiration or reverence for him/her.

from 南传<<增支部>>之<<迦摩罗经>>

The Definition of Karma

2006-11-07T01:29:00.000-08:00

A kid grows up and old. Within there is an evolving continuity, and the force that sustains such change is called karma.

Blind Faith vs. Intellectual Conviction

2006-11-07T01:19:00.000-08:00

Buddhism isn't a religion but a philosophy.

Mr. Siddhartha Gautama himself discouraged blind faith or idol worship. Instead he encouraged his followers to observe his own behaviors, investigate his own words, experience and practice his own dharma. In short, Mr. G was promoting an intellectual conviction.

Mind and Matter

2006-11-03T23:49:00.000-08:00

According to Dalai Lama, mind and matter are indivisible at the basic level, much like the dualism between particles and waves at quantum level. That should explain why karma transcends the physical world and no supreme being is required for karmic causality to be fulfilled.

Very interesting.

Yet His Holiness provides pretty much no more insights beyond that. Nevertheless, I admire his effort to promote science among Buddhists and vice versa. It's like proposing a unified theory reconciling science and religion, at least Buddhism. As a high monk or even, allegedly, a living saint, his open-mindedness is truly laudable.

On a separate note, for a high monk in Buddhism, His Holiness is a bit too insistent on politics, especially on the issue of Tibet's independence. Since there exist no permanent or distinct ego in anything, how could any Buddhist be so persistent on something being somebody's own? Borders may exist on maps, but not in the mind. It's like Mr. JC, able to walk on water, does trip over rocks from time to time.

The Universally Irresistible Charm of the White People

2006-11-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

なぜ?

今車を運転する時、エフエムラジオ聞いて、音を多きくするのが好きだ。Magnetisch, klangvoll, sexy, und unwiderstehlich finde ich die Stimmen des Radiosmoderatoren und Radiomoderatorinnen. Quelquefois je me dis: “Il a un tres bon voix”, geschweige denn, dass die Moderatorinsstimmen mich Hals ueber Kopf verlieben koennten.

Warum?

Eine schoene Stimme ist sicher ein guter Grund. Gute Gelegenheiten gibt es fuer die Leute mit angenehmer Stimme Moderatoren/innen zu werden. Mais la chose plus importante, c’est que ils parlent l’anglais parfaitement.

１１歳から、英語の勉強を始めた事があって、アメリカで１２年間住んでいた。Viele Menschen machen Komplimente, dass ich fliessend englisch spreche, mais il y a encore un accent apparent et j’essaye toujours　de l’ameliorer.

Im Grunde versuchen ich seit 11jaehrigen wie einen Amerikaner zu sprechen habe. Immer bemuehen Auslaender sich die Muttersprachler nachzuahmen und nachzueifern. 他に、慣用語が一番難しいよ。 Bettinaさんに尋ねた事がある: “Sticks and Stonesが英語で何だ”。Les enfants, ils ont l’appris probablement dans l’école maternelle. Mit dieser Kenntnis des Slangs scheint mann ein bisschen gewitzter.

Les personnes de langue maternelle, ils ont donc deux avantages linguistiques. Un, la prononciation parfaite. Deux: le savoir-faire d’argot. Oft ist mann lieblich, weil er ein “smooth talker” ist, nicht wahr?

今お目です。

In Asien gibt es irgendwo les images des Blancs: dans les films, les annonces, les magazines et sur les panneaux d’affichage. C’est vrai. Mit luxurioesen Waren, haute couture, Hollywood flicks, und dem amerikanishen Lebensstil sind die unterbewussten Normen der Schoenheit, Maennlichkeit, und Erwueschtheit vorgepackt. Schliesslich koennen die Praktiker von Tai-chi nicht herausgesucht werden, an die Magnificent Seven zu rauchen. Aus dem gleichen Grund hat Jackie Chan in der nahen Zukunft keine Gelengenheit, Herr Cruise zu ueberwaeltigen und ein schoenes Maedchen zu gewinnen.

Yellow Fever, Accents, and Fobbiness

2006-10-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

Waehrend den vorgangenen 200 Jahren hat mann ueberall die absolute Vorherrschaft der griechisch-roemischen Kultur gesehen. Plus tard, les medias, ils sont arrives. 特に映画だ。その中に沢山の美しいブロンドある。Un mot: Hollywood!

Une copine de l'ecole, elle m'a dit, quand un Asiantique sort avec un(e) Blanc(he), c'est "dating up". ほんと? =) Es gibt viele asiatische Maedchen, die nur kaukasische Maenner suchen, peut-etre, comme les filles qui cherchent des types avec "a house in the Hamptons".　白人の恋人がほしかったり、金がほしかったり、亜細亜の女が大好きだったり、違わないね, n'est-ce pas? =) Un mot: -diggers!

Mir klingen alle weibliche Stimmen sexy, auf deutsch, 日本語で, en francais, 中国語で, et cetera.　どんな訛りか、il n'y a pas de difference. Warum hat der asiatische Akzent einen starken Klang des "fobbiness", aber l'accent francais, sexy? Un accent, c'est une fausse prononciation.　人によって、フランス語がセクシかどうか、違うよ。Quatre mots: just say it right!

Moi, だれ? Un mot: fobulous!

What's Being Chinese?

2006-10-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Being Chinese is:

1) knowing Chinese culture
2) understanding Chinese culture
3) accepting all or the majority of Chinese culture.

and/or

4) being an ethnic Han Chinese person.

Culture is the philosophical essence of an ethnic group. It evolves constantly, so is the definition of Chinese. I am not knowledgeable enough to generalize what the philosophical essence of Han Chinese is. If I am forced to, the various philosophical schools from 475 to 221 BC (commonly known in Chinese as 诸子百家), especially Confucianism, and Taoism, plus the later imported Buddhism are the foundations of Chinese culture.

Some just know Chinese history without fully understanding it; some do understand Chinese philosophies but reject them outright for various reasons, while others practice Chinese traditions without even knowing its heritage or origin.

You can be partially Chinese (philosophically, of course), and the majority of us are in this highly globalized and diversified world, which is a good thing.

First Cause

2006-10-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

The establishment of First Cause is critical to judaeo-christian concepts and Hinduism. However, according to Buddhism, the time and space is limitless. So first cause seems unnecessary.

In time, there is no beginning or end. In space, there is no limits or boundaries.

The universe is, some would say, finite yet expanding. If it is, what's outside the candy wraps? What's "nothingness"? To me, we are like holding a flashlight in an infinitely large dark room. The area where the light reaches is defined as the known universe or the knowable universe. However, and the universe expands, there is no qualitative difference between the unknowable "nothingness" and the barely knowable edge of the universe. The "nothingness" is simply the potentially knowable universe. Together, the space, which includes the knowable and unknowable universe, is infinite.

Time will go on. There is no "end of the time". Although infinity is a concept difficult for a human mind to fathom or visualize, we accept its existence, as in math where there is no the biggest or the smallest number. So it's reasonable to accept that there is no beginning of the time or space.

Hence, the first cause is irrelevant. In other words, God is irrelevant.

Why Evil?

2006-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Interesting question. Simple answers:

1) no God at all.
2) God died or is taking a very long vacation in a galaxy far far away.
3) a naughty God.

Thanks, but no thanks.

There IS an omni-this, omni-that, and omni-again God. Well, things become not so simple.

Why us? Why our existence? God was bored. We are his private picture show. So evil in this world is just maya, not real. But apparently entertaining. So He is at least sadistic.

What if evil is real?

Then "evil" is not "evil", but an incomprehensible event. If that's true, how can we comprehend "goodness"? When "good" things happen, it's Him. When "bad" things happen, well...we don't know what really happened. Well, that's not really "bad" per se. If so, was that really "good" per se? No good or bad, no heaven or hell. Sweet like a song.

Well, there is a Plan. "bad things" might have happened, but it's the Plan. We are not equipped to understand the grand scheme, so just suck it up! Quite convincing, isn't it? So far, la grande schema hasn't really unfolded itself for the last 2,000 years. I wish I could just live a little longer to see it happen.

Three strikes.

How about another simple answer: God designs, builds, but meddles not. Just ask George, Thomas and Benjamin.

God must exist in Buddhism

2006-10-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

The biggest challenge any God-worshipping religion faces is the existence of evil. What Buddhism attracts me is its doctrine that there exists no God.

Buddha is no God, but an enlightened human, and any human has the potential of enlightenment and becoming a Buddha. Everything in this world, or any previous worlds and upcoming ones, is determined by causality. Good deeds lead to good karma, and bad deeds, bad karma. All the karma will settle up eventually, with no exceptions. This is essentially what Buddhism is to me.

All is good and dandy, except for three things.

One, who has decided what's good and what's bad? With the moral absolutism here, there must be a supreme lawgiver who has already laid out all the ground rules: murdering is bad but donating is good, and such. So that good karma can be rewarded, and bad one, punished.

Two, who is making sure the karma will be dealt with, eventually? Causality doesn't mean that life is predetermined. It means that things happen for a reason. Your greed for money makes you kill a breadwinner for money, whose family may fall into mishap because of the incident. However, there is another level of causality here. Your evil deed creates a bad karma which will determine your future punishment, which could happen in this life or many lives later. Now, who is keeping track of it? Since it's not a direct physical, psychological or physiological effect, there got to be some super Pentium X somewhere recording it.

However, that's only half of the task. We want to make sure the due punishment (or reward) will be delivered someday. So a very good accountant is not enough. The super Pentium X also needs to meddle in so that certain conditions suffice for the punishment/reward to materialize. That's a tough gig. Third thing, that it.

So, for Buddhism to work, we need someone to set the rules of the games, keep tallies, and do a lot of meddling. That's a toughie for any human being...