2009年1月30日 星期五

全球投訴《崖上的波兒》大行動


前几天看《 崖上的波儿》, 提到 「这套片讲人和鱼相爱, 会否变成煽动或鼓吹或提倡人兽交合法化思想的武器吖? 盲光社/某些宗教团体可要注意了.」岂料, 相关的宗教团体果然「做野了」,在 facebook 搞了一個反擊大行動,計劃叫做「全球投訴《崖上的波兒》大行動」

轉載內容:
本人乃是「浪子回頭」的基督徒,自幼隨家人返教會,近二十年,但後來受不了魔鬼的誘惑,離開了教會,離開了耶穌基督,過著沉淪的罪人生活,如今已「覺今時而 昨非」重新歸向主之懷抱。我們基督徒抱的是一顆耶穌基督的心,「願萬民得救,不願一人沈淪」。我曾經沈淪過,所以我知到耶穌基督乃是惟一的道路,若不是藉 著主基督,沒有人能到父的天堂去。所以聖經乃是世上惟一的真理。有見近日社會上的色情資訊氾濫,侮淫侮盜,不單為了滿足成人荒淫,更要荼毒我們單純的下一 代,我實在看不過眼。

近日上映的合家歡賀年電影《崖上的波兒》(下簡稱:崖波),實在是近期「教壞細路」的代表作:
1. 《崖波》片名意淫,當一位女士站立的時候,其腹無疑就如一幅山崖,而崖上的波兒,明顯意有所指,其心可誅。
2. 《崖波》片中,說及一個五歲的小孩愛上一條魚,片中主角宗介更大膽言明:「不管波兒是魚還是半人魚…都喜歡他」,這明確地是有意鼓吹人獸交。
3. 如果《崖波》能是「第一類別」的電影,無疑是間接認同人獸交,如果認同了人獸交,就是主張有性無類,那麼就等於認同同性性交,認同了同性性交就等於鼓吹同 性戀,鼓吹同性戀也就讓同性戀無止境擴張,那麼人類就會絕種。聖經上清楚記載所多瑪城滅亡的故事,如果讓《崖波》成為「第一類別」電影,誓必引致地球大爆 炸。
4. 教會經常接到貓、狗、金魚、螞蟻等等的救助,表示曾受不同程度的性騷擾,如遭主人強迫觀看其自瀆。因此我們經常要提供心理輔導,如果讓《崖波》在香港上映,實在會大大增加我們前線工作人員的負擔,火頭愈多,我們救火的人便愈辛苦,乞求大家不要再放火。

人 獸交在任何地方都是不可接受的,更是違反香港法律,《崖波》實在比「四仔」有過之而無不及,不單不應是合家歡電影,更是不應讓其流通。我們知道所有情慾的 罪都是由眼目而來,故此政府應大力監管資訊的流通,建議回復文革時代的樣板戲,維護我們香港的核心價值,基督教不可踰越的道德標準。

關心香港幸福
特別是我們下面果代的
老虔基督徒 谷精上腦謹啟

2009年1月29日 星期四

圣经故事 = 性经故事



伸延阅读:
http://truthbible.net/

赤口饭局

年初三赤口, 四位命硬而又不相剋的女子约出来吃饭. L 小姐大谈「她的肥胖之道」, 但你可要知道, 即使你肥了十磅, 还是穿加细码的衣服哦. 如果太瘦, 岂非没有衣服可穿? 音乐家 H 小姐刚刚从欧洲回来, 由于旅行途中病了, 所以没有心情搞艳遇. G 小姐原本害怕这天约人会令朋友反目成仇, 因为她曾有此经验, 邪到极点. 可是这次我们的「神秘乐观」技术击倒了她的信仰, 没有人发神经地反檯 (虽然爆粗是少不免), 也没有因为遇上靓仔, 为争仔而大打出手.

我们去了一间日本餐厅吃晚饭. 由于我戒口的关系, 没有吃寿司. 我叫了一个饭, 一个菜及一锅豆腐. 我觉得这个豆腐蛮不错的, 比我想象中好吃.


大家酒过三巡 (其实是以茶代酒), 开始忘形的谈起3P4P5P. 本来服务员正在为我们倒茶, 可被我们的一番言论吓倒, 茶还未倒完就急急脚走了.

新年的最后一天假期, 便在饮饱食醉的情况下, 开开心心的结束了.

2009年1月28日 星期三

天水围的日与夜


这套片的生活蛮像我以前的生活啊! (其实和现在的生活也分别不大.) 张家安的家太大了, 不应该有自己的房哦, 以前我一家三口住的公屋都是没房间的. 政府才不会分配这么大间屋给穷人呢!

这片中的青年张家安回应父母唠叨的风格跟我太相似了:
父母: 「穿多点衣服!」
小瓶子:「得喇! (喇字的尾音稍微向上)」 (仍然穿着原本那件衣服出门)
父母: 「早点睡啦!」
小瓶子:「得喇! 」(仍然没有上床睡觉的意思)
父母: 「现在不睡, 明天没有精神上学/上班」
小瓶子:「得喇! 」(眼珠仍然盯着书/电脑不动)
父母: 「今晚早点回家哦.」
小瓶子:「得喇! 」(仍然是晚上十二点多才回家)

灰姑娘


昨天晚上与朋友们去唱K. 差不多到12点的时候, 看看手提电话. 依? 没有 miss call, 非常不对劲. 平常父母的「夺命追魂」 call 应该是差不多十点多十一点杀到, miss 了一个会有第二个第三个接着来, 今天为何如此反常? 所谓反常即为妖, 不会家中有些什么事吧. 由于无事的话父母已经一早睡了, 所以我没有打电话. 而且打电话去问父母「为什么你不打电话给我?」这不是自招麻烦吗? 结果, 我赶在十二点前, 离开了K 房, 回家去了.

幸好, 家中无事. 父亲一向「醒訓」, 还说睡到像死猪般, 外面发生什么事情都不知道是不行的. 所以每次迟归, 一开门他便醒了. 一定要听到我的声音, 确定进来的是我, 才能安心睡去.

崖上的波儿





与朋友们一起去看《崖上的波儿》, 观点如下:
1. 波儿的妹妹是一大队红色人头鱼身的「金鱼」, 集体游来游去, 好恐怖吖, 这是恐怖片来吗?

2. 这套片讲人和鱼相爱, 会否变成煽动或鼓吹或提倡人兽交合法化思想的武器吖? 盲光社/某些宗教团体可要注意了.

3. 为什么片中的男主角, 五岁的宗介会直呼他父母亲的名字, 而不喊「爸爸」/「妈妈」? (我们看广东话版) 小朋友看完, 没大没小的跟着学, 怎么办?

4. 五岁的宗介和波儿私定终身, 如果将来宗介不爱波儿的话, 波儿就会变成水泡. 朋友的见解是: 「99.9% 变成水泡啦!」想想又真的是, 「波儿」这个名字, 不就是象征着「泡」吗? 改名的一刻就已经揭露了她的命运.

5. 五岁就可以谈恋爱, 这是否因应现在的潮流趋势, 索性鼓励孩子们早熟点? 「终身承诺, 由五岁开始」将会是一个不错的口号.

6. 在香港养一个小朋友要四百万, 现在宗介父母平白多了一个童养媳, 岂不是要八百万? 幸好, 这个故事背景是在日本.

2009年1月27日 星期二

长发? 短发?


大美人留了一辈子长发, 又负离子拉直又游离子电发, 转了数次发型后闷得发慌, 不停问朋友: 我剪短头发好唔好吖?」

事实上, 大美人就算剃光头, 都是一个美人胚子. 就例如, 武则天去了感业寺做尼姑, 还不是把唐高宗勾引得三魂不见了七
魄吗?

我对于她
剪短她头发的意见是: 唔系甘好睇咯!」即是现在大美人的容貌外表是100分, 剃光头是90分, 那么剪短发则是95分.

大美人, 你愿意放弃手上那5分, 令你与我这些只有10分的女人距离拉近吗? 若果是, 也算是功德一件.

落叶归根


年初二百无禁忌, 所以看了一套长辈知道定必会说「睬!睬! 睬!, 新年流流看死人戏!

开初认为主角趙本山坚持送老朋友的遗体回家乡, 是太固执. 遗体发臭了怎办? 传染开病毒怎办? 但随着故事 发展, 却开始欣赏起趙本山来. 他千辛万苦, 所有钱都没了, 有上餐没下餐的, 背着一条干尸, 走几千里路, 就是为了一句对朋友的的承诺.

趙本山这一路上, 遇到各式各样的人, 有好人, 有坏旦. 后来他遇上了意中人 - 一位以拾荒及卖血供儿子上大学念书的寡妇. 那位寡妇说儿子后来不愿意见她, 叫她寄钱就行了, 这段说话令我心酸落泪. (大吉利是!) 幸而, 他们俩马上好上了, 把这悲哀冲淡了许多.

这套片笑中有泪, 苦乐掺半. 看趙本山走这一条落叶归根的路, 就好像人生道路的缩影.

题外话, 开始看这套片的时候, 我没看字幕. 但后来发现不看字幕, 没法听清楚演员的对白. 看来我的普通话只够应付梅蘭芳》此类电影, 有点乡音的变调就不敷应用了.

2009年1月26日 星期一

Talking to God


I met god the other day.
I know what you’re thinking. How the hell did you know it was god?
Well, I’ll explain as we go along, but basically he convinced me by having all, and I do mean ALL, the answers. Every question I flung at him he batted back with a plausible and satisfactory answer. In the end, it was easier to accept that he was god than otherwise.
Which is odd, because I’m still an atheist and we even agree on that!
It all started on the 8.20 back from Paddington. Got myself a nice window seat, no screaming brats or drunken hooligans within earshot. Not even a mobile phone in sight. Sat down, reading the paper and in he walks.
What did he look like?
Well not what you might have expected that’s for sure. He was about 30, wearing a pair of jeans and a "hobgoblin" tee shirt. Definitely casual. Looked like he could have been a social worker or perhaps a programmer like myself.
‘Anyone sitting here?’ he said.
‘Help yourself’ I replied.
Sits down, relaxes, I ignore and back to the correspondence on genetic foods entering the food chain…
Train pulls out and a few minutes later he speaks.
‘Can I ask you a question?’
Fighting to restrain my left eyebrow I replied ‘Yes’ in a tone which was intended to convey that I might not mind one question, and possibly a supplementary, but I really wasn’t in the mood for a conversation. ..
‘Why don’t you believe in god?’
The Bastard!
I love this kind of conversation and can rabbit on for hours about the nonsense of theist beliefs. But I have to be in the mood! Its like when a jehova’s witness knocks on your door 20 minutes before you’re due to have a wisdom tooth pulled. Much as you'd really love to stay… You can’t even begin the fun. And I knew, if I gave my standard reply we’d still be arguing when we got to Cardiff. I just wasn’t in the mood. I needed to fend him off.
But then I thought ‘Odd! How is this perfect stranger so obviously confident – and correct – about my atheism?’ If I’d been driving my car, it wouldn’t have been such a mystery. I’ve got the Darwin fish on the back of mine – the antidote to that twee christian fish you see all over. So anyone spotting that and understanding it would have been in a position to guess my beliefs. But I was on a train and not even wearing my Darwin "Evolve" tshirt that day. And ‘The Independent’ isn’t a registered flag for card carrying atheists, so what, I wondered, had given the game away.
‘What makes you so certain that I don’t?’
‘Because’, he said, ‘ I am god – and you are not afraid of me’
You’ll have to take my word for it of course, but there are ways you can deliver a line like that – most of which would render the speaker a candidate for an institution, or at least prozac. Some of which could be construed as mildly amusing.
Conveying it as "indifferent fact" is a difficult task but that’s exactly how it came across. Nothing in his tone or attitude struck me as even mildly out of place with that statement. He said it because he believed it and his rationality did not appear to be drug induced or the result of a mental breakdown.
‘And why should I believe that?’
‘Well’ he said, ‘why don’t you ask me a few questions. Anything you like, and see if the answers satisfy your sceptical mind?’
This is going to be a short conversation after all, I thought.
‘Who am I?’
‘Stottle. Harry Stottle, born August 10 1947, Bristol, England. Father Paul, Mother Mary. Educated Duke of Yorks Royal Military School 1960 67, Sandhurst and Oxford, PhD in Exobiology, failed rock singer, full time trade union activist for 10 years, latterly self employed computer programmer, web author and aspiring philosopher. Married to Michelle, American citizen, two children by a previous marriage. You’re returning home after what seems to have been a successful meeting with an investor interested in your proposed product tracking anti-forgery software and protocol and you ate a full english breakfast at the hotel this morning except that, as usual, you asked them to hold the revolting english sausages and give you some extra bacon. ‘
He paused
‘You’re not convinced. Hmmm… what would it take to convince you?’
'oh right! Your most secret password and its association'
A serious hacker might be able to obtain the password, but no one else and I mean
NO ONE
knows its association.
He did.
So how would you have played it?
I threw a few more questions about relatively insignificant but unpublicised details of my life (like what my mother claims was the first word I ever spoke – apparently "armadillo"! (Don't ask…)) but I was already pretty convinced. I knew there were only three possible explanations at this point.
Possibility One was that I was dreaming or hallucinating. Nobody’s figured out a test for that so, at the time I think that was my dominant feeling. It did not feel real at the time. More like I was in a play. Acting my lines. Since the event, however, continuing detailed memories of it, together with my contemporaneous notes, remain available, so unless the hallucination has continued to this day, I am now inclined to reject the hallucination hypothesis. Which leaves two others.
He could have been a true telepath. No documented evidence exists of anyone ever having such profound abilities to date but it was a possibility. It would have explained how he could know my best-kept secrets. The problem with that is that it doesn’t explain anything else! In particular it doesn’t account for the answers he proceeded to give to my later questions.
As Sherlock Holmes says, when you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
Good empiricist, Sherlock.
I was forced to accept at least the possibility that this man was who he claimed to be.
So now what do you do?
Well, I’ve always known that if I met god I would have a million questions for him, so I thought, ‘why not?’ and proceeded with what follows. You’ll have to allow a bit of licence in the detail of the conversation. This was, shall we say, a somewhat unusual occurrence, not to mention just a BIT weird! And yes I was a leetle bit nervous! So if I don’t get it word perfect don’t whinge! You’ll get the gist I promise.***********************************

‘Forgive me if it takes me a little time to get up to speed here, but its not everyday I get to question a deity’
‘The Deity’ he interrupted.
‘ooh. Touchy!’ I thought.
‘Not really – just correcting the image’
Now That takes some getting used to!
I tried to get a grip on my thoughts, with an internal command - ‘Discipline Harry. You’ve always wanted to be in a situation like this, now you’re actually in it, you mustn’t go to pieces and waste the opportunity of a lifetime’
‘You won’t’ he said.
Tell you! That’s the bit that made it feel unreal more than anything else - this guy sitting across the table and very obviously accurately reading my every thought. Its like finding someone else hand inside your trouser pocket!
Nevertheless, something made me inclined to accept the invasion, I had obviously begun to have some confidence in his perception or abilities, so I distinctly remember the effect of his words was that I suddenly felt deeply reassured and completely relaxed. As he had no doubt intended. Man must have an amazing seduction technique!
So then we got down to business…
‘Are you human?’
‘No’
‘Were you, ever?’
‘No, but similar, Yes’
‘Ah, so you are a product of evolution?’
‘Most certainly – mainly my own’
‘and you evolved from a species like ours, dna based organisms or something equally viable?’
‘Correct’
‘so what, exactly, makes you god?’
‘I did’
‘Why?’
‘Seemed like a good idea at the time’
‘and your present powers, are they in any way similar to what the superstitious believers in my species attribute to you?’
‘Close enough. ’
‘So you created all this, just for us?’
‘No. Of course not’
‘But you did create the Universe?’

‘This One. Yes’
‘But not your own?’
‘This is my own!’
‘You know what I mean!’
‘You can’t create your own parents, so No’
‘So let me get this straight. You are an entirely natural phenomenon.’
‘Entirely’
‘Arising from mechanisms which we ourselves will one day understand and possibly even master?’
‘subject to a quibble over who "we ourselves" may be, but yes’
‘meaning that if the human race doesn’t come up to the mark, other species eventually will?’
‘in one.’
‘and how many other species are there already out there ahead of us?’
‘surprisingly few. Less than fourteen million’
‘FEW!?’
‘Phew!’
‘And how many at or about our level?’
‘currently a little over 4 ½ billion’
‘so our significance in the universe at present is roughly equivalent to the significance of the average Joe here on planet Earth in his relation to the human race?’
‘a little less. Level One, the level your species has reached, begins with the invention of the flying machine. I define the next level in terms your Sci Fi Author Isaac Asimov has already grasped. It is reached when you achieve control of your own primary – the Sun. What Asimov calls a Type I technology. Humanity is only just into the flying machine phase, so as you can imagine, on that scale, the human race is somewhat near the bottom of the level one pack’
‘and all these species are your children?’
‘I like to think of them that way’
‘and the point?’
‘at its simplest, "Life Must Go On". My personal motivation is the desire for conversation. Once you’ve achieved my level, you cease to be billions of separate entities and become one ecstatic whole. A single entity that cannot die, however advanced, or perhaps, more accurately, because it is so advanced, will get lonely and even a trifle bored! I seem to be the first. I do not intend to be the last’
‘so you created a Universe which is potentially capable of producing another god like yourself?’
‘The full benefit will be temporary, but like most orgasms, worth it.’
‘this being the moment when our new god merges with you and we become one again?’
‘don’t play it down, that’s the ecstatic vision driving us all, me included – and when it happens the ecstasy lasts several times longer than this universe has already existed. Believe me, it really is worth the effort.’
‘Yes, I think I can see the attractions of a hundred billion year long orgasm’
‘and humans haven’t even begun to know how to really enjoy the orgasms they are already capable of. Wait till you master that simple art!’
‘So its all about sex is it?’
‘Ecstasy is merely a reward for procreating, it is what makes you want to do it. This is necessary, initially, to promote biological evolution. However once you’ve completed that stage and no longer require procreation, you will learn that ecstasy can be infinitely more intense than anything offered by sex’
‘Sounds good to me!'
'How direct is your involvement in all this? Did you just light the fuse which set off the big bang and stand back and watch? Or did you have to plant the seeds on appropriately fertile planets?’
‘The seeds evolved in deep space, purely as a result of the operations of the laws of physics and chemistry which your scientists have begun to attain a reasonable grasp of. Yes I triggered the bang and essentially became dormant for nearly 5 billion years. That’s how long it took the first lifeforms to emerge. That places them some 8 billion years ahead of you. The first intelligent species are now 4.3 billion years ahead of you. Really quite advanced. I can have deeply meaningful conversations with them. And usually do. In fact I am as we speak’
‘So then what?’
‘Do I keep a constant vigil over every move you make? Not in the kind of prying intrusive sense that some of you seem to think. Let's say I maintain an awareness of what's going on, at a planetary level. I tend only to focus on evolutionary leaps. See if they’re going in the right direction’
‘And if they’re not?’
‘Nothing. Usually’
‘Usually?’
‘Usually species evolving in the wrong direction kill themselves off or become extinct for other reasons’
‘Usually?’
‘There have been one or two cases where a wrong species has had the potential of becoming dominant at the expense of a more promising strain’
‘Let me guess. Dinosaurs on this planet are an example. Too successful. Suppressed the development of mammals and were showing no signs of developing intelligence. So you engineered a little corrective action in the form of a suitably selected asteroid’
‘Perceptive. Almost correct. They were showing signs of developing intelligence, even co-operation. Study your velocirapters. But far too predatory. Incapable of ever developing a "respect" for other life forms. It takes carrying your young to promote the development of emotional attachment to other animals. Earth reptiles aren’t built for that. The mammals who are, as you rightly say, couldn’t get a foothold against such mighty predators. You’ve now reached the stage where you could hold your own even against dinosaurs, but that’s only been true for about a thousand years, you wouldn’t have stood a chance 2 million years ago, so the dinosaurs had to go. They were, however, far too well balanced with the ecology of the planet, and never developed technology, so they weren’t going to kill themselves off in a hurry. Regrettably, I had to intervene.’
‘Regrettably?’
‘They were a beautiful and stunningly successful life form. One doesn’t destroy such things without a qualm.’
‘But at that stage how could you know that a better prospect would arise from the ashes?’
‘I didn’t. But the probability was quite high.’
‘and since then, what other little tweaks have you been responsible for in our development?’
‘None whatsoever. I set an alarm for the first sign of aerial activity, as I usually do. Leonardo looked promising for a while, but not until the Montgolfier brothers did I really begin to take an interest. That registered you as a level one intelligent species’
‘So Jesus of Nazareth, Moses, Mohammed…’
‘hmmm… sadly misguided I’m afraid. Anyone capable of communicating with their own cells will dimly perceive me – and all other life as being connected in a strictly quantum sense, but interpreting that vision as representing something supernatural and requiring obeisance is somewhat wide of the mark. And their followers are all a bit too obsessive and religious for my liking. Its no fun being worshipped once you stop being an adolescent teenager. Having said that, it's not at all unusual for developing species to go through that phase. Until they begin to grasp how much they too can shape their small corner of the universe, they are in understandable awe of an individual dimly but correctly perceived to be responsible for the creation of the whole of that universe. Eventually, if they are to have any hope of attaining level two, they must grow out of it and begin to accept their own power and potential. Its very akin to a child’s relationship with its parents. The awe and worship must disappear before the child can become an adult. Respect is not so bad as long as its not overdone. And I certainly respect all those species who make it that far. It’s a hard slog. I know. I've been there.’
‘You’ve been watching us since the Montgolfiers, when was that? 1650s?’
‘Close. 1783’
‘Well, if you’ve been watching us closely since then, what your average citizen is going to want to know is why you haven’t intervened more often. Why, if you have that sort of power, did you allow such incredible suffering and human misery?’
‘It seems to be necessary.’
‘NECESSARY??!!’
‘Without exception, intelligent species who gain dominance over their planet do so by becoming the most efficient predators. There are many intelligent species who do not evolve to dominate their planet. Like your dolphins, they adapt perfectly to the environment rather than take your course, which is to manipulate the environment. Unfortunately for the dolphin, his is a dead end. He may outlive the human race but will never escape the bounds of planet earth - not without your help at any rate. Only those who can manipulate the world they live in can one day hope to leave it and spread their seed throughout the universe.
Unlike the adaptors, who learn the point of cooperation fairly early on, manipulators battle on. And, once all lesser species have been overcome, they are so competitive and predatory that they are compelled to turn in on themselves. This nearly always evolves into tribal competition in one form or another and becomes more and more destructive - exactly like your own history. However this competition is vital to promote the leap from biological to technological evolution.
You need an arms race in order to make progress.
Your desire to dominate fuels a search for knowledge which the adaptors never require. And although your initial desire for knowledge is selfish and destructive, it begins the development of an intellectual self awareness, a form of higher consciousness, which never emerges in any other species. Not even while they are experiencing it, for example, can the intelligent adaptors - your dolphins - express the concepts of Love or Time.
Militarisation and the development of weapons of mass destruction are your first serious test at level one. You're still not through that phase, though the signs are promising. There is no point whatsoever in my intervening to prevent your self-destruction. Your ability to survive these urges is a crucial test of your fitness to survive later stages. So I would not, never have and never will intervene to prevent a species from destroying itself. Most, in fact, do just that.’
‘And what of pity for those have to live through this torment?’
‘I can’t say this in any way that doesn’t sound callous, but how much time do you spend worrying about the ants you run over in your car? I know it sounds horrendous to you, but you have to see the bigger picture. At this stage in human development, you’re becoming interesting but not yet important.’
'ah but I can't have an intelligent conversation with an ant'
'precisely'
‘hmm… as you know, humans won’t like even to attempt to grasp that perspective. How can you make it more palatable?’
‘Why should I? You don’t appear to have any trouble grasping it. You’re by no means unique. And in any case, once they begin to understand what's in it for them, they’ll be somewhat less inclined to moan. Eternal life compensates for most things.’
‘So what are we supposed to do in order to qualify for membership of the universal intelligentsia?’
‘Evolve. Survive’
‘Yes, but how?’
‘Oh, I thought you might have got the point by now. "How" is entirely up to you. If I have to help, then you’re a failure. All I will say is this. You’ve already passed a major hurdle in learning to live with nuclear weapons. Its depressing how many fail at that stage.’
‘Is there worse to come?’
‘Much’
‘Genetic warfare for instance?
‘Distinct Possibility’
‘and the problem is… that we need to develop all these technologies, acquire all this dangerous knowledge in order to reach level two. But at any stage that knowledge could also cause our own destruction’
‘If you think the dangers of genetic warfare are serious, imagine discovering a secret thought or program, accessible to any intelligent individual, which, if abused, will eliminate your species instantly. If your progress continues as is, then you can expect to discover that particular self-destruct mechanism in less than a thousand years. Your species has got to grow up considerably before you can afford to make that discovery. And if you don’t make it, you will never leave your Solar System and join the rest of the sapient species on level two.’
’14 Million of them’
‘Just under’
'Will there be room for us?'
'it’s a big place'
‘and, for now, how should we mere mortals regard you then?’
‘like an older brother or sister. Of course I know more than you do. Of course I’m more powerful than you. I’ve been alive longer. But I’m not "better" than you. Just more developed. Just what you might become’
‘so we’re not obliged to "please" you or follow your alleged guidelines or anything like that?’
‘absolutely not. Never issued a single guideline in the lifetime of this Universe. Have to find your own way out of the maze. And one early improvement is to stop expecting me - or anyone else - to come and help you out.'
'I suppose that is a guideline of sorts, so there goes the habit of a lifetime! '
'Seriously though, species who hold on to religion past its sell-by date tend to be most likely to self destruct. They spend so much energy arguing about my true nature, and invest so much emotion in their wildly erroneous imagery that they end up killing each other over differences in definitions of something they clearly haven’t got a clue about. Ludicrous behaviour, but it does weed out the weaklings.’
‘Why me? Why pick on an atheist of all people? Why are you telling me all this? And why Now?’
‘Why You? Because can accept my existence without your ego caving in and grovelling like a naughty child. '
'Can you seriously imagine how the Pope would react to the reality of my existence?! If he really understood how badly wrong he and his church have been, how much of the pain and suffering you mentioned earlier has been caused by his religion, I suspect he'd have an instant coronary! Or can you picture what it would be like if I appeared "live" simultaneously on half a dozen tele-evangelist propaganda shows. Pat Robertson would wet himself if he actually understood who he was talking to.
Conversely, your interest is purely academic. You've never swallowed the fairy tale but you've remained open to the possibility of a more advanced life form which could acquire godlike powers. You’ve correctly guessed that godhood is the destiny of life. You have shown you can and do cope with the concept. It seemed reasonable to confirm your suspicions and let you do what you will with that information.
You can and will publish this conversation on the web, where it will sow an important seed. Might take a couple of hundred years to germinate, but, eventually, it will germinate.
Why Now? Well partly because both you and the web are ready now. But chiefly because the human race is reaching a critical phase. It goes back to what we were saying about the dangers of knowledge. Essentially your species is becoming aware of that danger. When that happens to any sapient species, the future can take three courses.
Many are tempted to avoid the danger by avoiding the knowledge. Like the adaptors, they are doomed to extinction. Often pleasantly enough in the confines of their own planet until either their will to live expires or their primary turns red giant and snuffs them out.
A large number go on blindly acquiring the knowledge and don't learn to restrain their abuse. Their fate is sealed somewhat more quickly of course, when Pandora’s box blows up in their faces.
The only ones who reach level two are those who learn to accept and to live with their most dangerous knowledge. Each and every individual in such a species must eventually become capable of destroying their entire species at any time. Yet they must learn to control themselves to the degree that they can survive even such deadly insight. And frankly, they’re the only ones we really want to see leaving their solar systems. Species that haven’t achieved that maturity could not be allowed to infect the rest of the universe, but fortunately that has never required my intervention. The knowledge always does the trick’
'Why can't there be a fourth option - selective research where we avoid investigating dangerous pathways?'
'As you can see from your own limited history, the most useful ideas are also, nearly always, the most dangerous. You have yet, for instance, to conquer fusion power but you need to do so in order to achieve appropriate energy surpluses required to complete this phase of your social development. It will, when you've mastered it, eliminate material inequalities and poverty within a generation or two, an absolutely vital step for any maturing species. Yet the discovery of the principles which will soon yield this beneficial bounty could, had you abused them, have ended your attempt at civilisation.
Similarly, you will shortly be able to conquer biological diseases and even engineer yourselves to be virtually fault free. Your biological life spans will double or treble within the next hundred years and your digital lifespans will become potentially infinite within the same period: If you survive the potential threat that the same technology provides in the form of genetic timebombs, custom built viruses and the other wonders of genetic and digital warfare.
You simply can't have the benefits without taking the risks'.
‘I’m not sure I understand my part in this exercise. I just publish this conversation on the web and everything will be alright?’
‘Not necessarily. Not that easy I’m afraid. To start with, who’s going to take this seriously? It will just be seen as a mildly amusing work of fiction. In fact, your words and indeed most of your work will not be understood or appreciated until some much more advanced scholars develop the ideas you are struggling to express and explain them somewhat more competently. At which point the ideas will be taken up en masse and searches will be undertaken of the archives. They will find this work and be struck by its prescience. You won’t make the Einstein grade, but you might manage John the Baptist!
This piece will have no significance whatsoever if humanity doesn’t make certain key advances in the next couple of centuries. And this won’t help you make those advances. What it will do is help you recognise them’
'can I ask what those advances may be?'
'I think you know. But yes - although you are at level one, there are several distinct phases which evolving species pass through on their way to level two. The first, as we've discussed, is the invention of the flying machine. The next significant phase is the development of the thinking machine.
At your present rate of progress, you are within a few decades of achieving that goal. It marks your first step on the path of technological evolution. Mapping the human genome is another classic landmark, but merely mapping it is a bit like viewing the compiled code in a dos executable. Its just meaningless gibberish, although with a bit of hacking here and there, you might correctly deduce the function of certain stretches of code.
What you really need to do is 'reverse engineer' the dna code. You have to figure out the grammar and syntax of the language. Then you will begin the task of designing yourselves. But that task requires the thinking machine'
‘You say you avoid intervention. But doesn’t this conversation itself constitute intervention – even if people alive now completely ignore it?’
‘Yes. But it's as far as I’m prepared to go. Its only effect is to confirm, if you find it, that you are on the right path. It is still entirely up to you to navigate the dangers on that path and beyond.’
'But why bother even with that much? Surely its just another evolutionary hurdle. We're either fit enough or not…'
'In many ways the transition to an information species is the most traumatic stage in evolution. Biological intelligences have a deeply rooted sense of consciousness only being conceivable from within an organic brain. Coming to terms with the realisation that you have created your successor, not just in the sense of mother and child, but in the collective sense of the species recognising it has become redundant, this paradigm shift is, for many species, a shift too far. They baulk at the challenge and run from this new knowledge. They fail and become extinct. Yet there is nothing fundamentally wrong with them - it is a failure of the imagination.
I hope that if I can get across the concept that I am a product of just such evolution, it may give them the confidence to try. I have discussed this with the level two species and the consensus is that this tiny prod is capable of increasing the contenders for level two without letting through any damaging traits. It has been tried in 312 cases. The jury is still out on its real benefits although it has produced a 12% increase in biological species embracing the transition to information species.
‘Alright, so what if everyone suddenly took it seriously and believed every word I write? Wouldn’t that constitute a somewhat more drastic intervention?’
‘Trust me. They wont’
'and so its still the case, that, should another asteroid happen to be heading our way, you will do nothing to impede it on our behalf?'
'I'm confident you will pass that test. And now my friend, the interview is over, you have asked me a number of the right questions, and I’ve said what I came to say, so I’ll be going now. It has been very nice to meet you - you're quite bright. For an ant!’ He twinkled.
‘Just one final, trivial question, why do you appear to me in the form of a thirty something white male?’
‘have I in any way intimidated or threatened you?’
‘No’
‘Do you find me sexually attractive?’
‘er No!’
‘So figure it out for yourself…’

----------------------------------------------------------------
Just finished reading this passage from someone's blog. The writer intends to spread out his conversation with God and hence I copy and paste it to my blog.

The feeling of reading this story is like watching "Matrix", interesting and enjoyable. If you ask whether I believe what the writer said? My answer is no. Purely because if I were him, I was not able to memorize the content of such long conversation in this level of details and then put it down into words.

However, I am pleased if what the writer said was true - Through evolution, human will one day attain the power and life form of God.

年初一

新年新希望, 小瓶子祝大家:


zwani.com myspace graphic comments

年三十

昨天与父母一起, 拿着一袋二袋的礼品上酒楼与亲友吃饭. 从背后看父母的背影, 他们将近七十了, 仍然那么壮健有力. 来年的愿望很简单, 一家人齐齐整整, 身体健康.

2009年1月25日 星期日

《逻辑思想上的謬誤》前言


我写《逻辑思想上的謬誤》这篇文章, 并非抱着我够醒我够型嘴瞄瞄寸寸贡黎横折曲乱up无谓的态度, 而是既然在《吵架》里面提到的一种思想謬誤解释得并不清楚, 那么不妨再用些篇幅去深入讨论.

而自问遣词用字已经非常小心, 尽量做到中性客观, 作出有逻辑的解释.

但如果有人认为这是无事生非, 多一事不如少一事, 真理越辩越混乱, 你有你逻辑我有我逻辑精神病人有精神病人逻辑, 套用陈大文的一句话「港式的和諧為本,體諒和包容,積極聽取各方面意見,殷切考慮平衡各方利益,在一個大家都接受的框架內作出微調,並經常作出檢討,以達致長遠對香港有利的方案,雲吞麵波羅包熱檸茶阿媽係女人等等」这种劝戒别人放弃理性思考的态度来看待逻辑上的謬誤, 我是恕不同意的.

逻辑思想上的謬誤


某些人对于我在吵架里所提到的一个自我推翻的思想謬誤, 不甚了解. 刚巧有位叫的blogger留言, 让我展示何谓思想上的自我推翻.

塔的留言如下:
我絕對認為每個人都是entitle有自己的意見 這是不容置疑的這些意見是屬於個人的難定對錯
但如何抒發那些意見 就是重點了
如果有blog主評論私人事 而我不認同 我不會在他blog留言說 你呀 這樣這樣是不對的 你呢 應該那樣那樣
我算老幾? 去指導人家該如何處理私人事
要指導人家 也要看自己在對方心中是否有份量 有資格去指導 否則徒然惹人笑話
你對家用、孝心的價值觀是為我所認同的
我不能認同的 是你指導空姐該省下買名牌/搬出去住的錢來付家用
另 每人都有自己的傷心事 難道因為世上有比我的經歷慘一千倍的人 我就不能為我的傷心事而傷心了嗎? 因為覺得別人不夠慘而漠視別人的傷心 是很不要得的
一條洗得薄薄的校服對你來說微不足道 加條底裙就可以了 但對某些人來 可能在心靈上留下很深的烙印 即使以后再富足 還是不能磨滅的烙印
別人的傷心事對你來說不算什麼 因為傷了的那心 是她的 不是你的

(大部分灰字说的是空姐的家事, 不是这篇文章的讨论范围)

我在BLOG里面说三道四是私人事, 难到这能算是公众事吗? 而根据塔所言, 遇到这种情况, 她是"不會在他blog留言說 你呀 這樣這樣是不對的 你呢 應該那樣那樣", 因为她觉得自己不是老几, 若要指导别人, "要看自己在對方心中是否有份量, 有資格去指導", 否则惹人笑话.

既然如此, 那么留了这一大片"指导性言论" 岂非自打嘴巴?

这就是我所提及到的思想上自我推翻.

讲到
吵架里面的一个观点不能用A的价值观念去衡量B(的价值观), 其实这是取自李天命提过的「极端相对主义」.

李博士所说的「极端相对主义」定义如下:


"「极端相对主义」认为: 「每个人都可以有他自己的价值判断, 价值判断是没有是非高下之分, 见仁见智, 我们不应该把自己的价值判断加诸别人身上.」"

李博士提出, 这有两处弊病:

"1. 实踐上此路不通
就我所见, 口头上认同极端相对主义的人, 都是口不对心的. 不久前,有个朋友问我怎么办, 他的女儿很不听话, 不论教她什么, 她都顶撞说: 「我就是喜欢, 怎么样? 」我的朋友就不知道怎么办了. 事实上如果极端相对主义者真的心口一致的话, 他就很难维护法治或者为法治辩护, 很难从事教育, 很难教小孩子了. 比如, 你教小孩子的时候对他说: 「用功读书吧, 不要这么懒, 不念好书, 长大了要做乞丐的.」小孩子就这样回应:「做乞丐好不好是一种价值判断, 价值判断是没有是非高下之分的, 见仁见智, 我就是喜欢做乞丐, 怎么样?」你就很难办了, 对吗? 又如果说: 「要有礼貌些, 吃东西时不要发出像猪吃飼料的声音.」他就回应说: 「猪吃飼料的声音好不好听, 是一种价值判断, 我就是喜欢这种声音! 怎么样?」要是你奉行极端相对主义, 你就不知道怎么教导他了. 由此可见, 所谓「价值判断是没有是非高下之分, 我们不应该把自己的价值判断加诸别人身上.」这种论调, 实际上是行不通的."

"2. 思想上自我推翻"
以上我已经用的留言作例子, 就不再赘.

人力车伕的故事


有位叫 Daniel 的 blogger 向我提出: "回想一下朱自清講人力車伕的故事......"

说实在, 朱自清的文章我只记得《背影》而已, 而讲人力车伕故事的, 我书架上倒有一本老舍的《駱駝祥子》. 顺手把它拿了出来重新细读了一遍.


駱駝祥子是一个从乡下出来的小伙子, 他自觉身骨子不错, 当上了人力车伕. 他一直梦想买一辆人力车, 所以每天到努力工作, 省吃省用, 一分一分的把钱存下来. 辛苦了一两年, 终于买到了梦寐以求的人力车, 想着好日子该快来了吧. 可惜不久他便给军队平白拉了去做苦工, 车丢了, 自己并了命才逃出来. 他从军队里面拉了几隻被丢弃的駱駝回来贱卖, 然后又一切又要重新开始. 他駱駝祥子的称呼, 就是这样来的.

后来駱駝祥子经历了人生的几个重大打击, 想着自己终究逃不过命运的作弄, 他彻底地放弃了自己. 駱駝祥子由当初一个勤劳/节俭/诚恳/不烟不酒不嫖不赌的人, 慢慢变成一个懒惰/挥霍/四处骗财/出卖朋友/嫖赌饮吹样样精的人.

老舍籍着駱駝祥子, 描写一般貪苦農民在半封建, 半殖民地的悲剧, 揭露了当时人民想以最大的代價和最低的條件求生存之不可能.

2009年1月24日 星期六

转载: 说错话


关于说错话

大家只是普通人,永遠無法掌握一件事的全部。所以,只能憑事情的局部去發表意見。

例如,根據我對聖經的理解,我認為教會應包容同性戀者。

如此陳述,既清晰表達自己意見,同時自處於一個較謙卑的位置,因為「我對聖經的理解」是有限的、可能充滿謬誤的。如果閣下有更佳的見解,提出來就是,尤其要發表有爭議性話題時,可以減輕backfire的力度。而且說話沒講得那麼「死」,往後仍然可以調整意見又保持誠實。

雖然黑人一直政冷感,貝理雅卸任時講的一句,卻印象深刻: I did what I thought was right for our country.

這句說話很高明,隱含了幾個意思1.) 我盡了力把事情做好 2.) 我的能力是有限的,也沒有水晶球 3.) 縱使盡力做正確的事,可能不夠好甚至是錯的

相對起大言不慚 I did the right thing,前者來得謙卑誠實。

日後發表批評或偉論,可借鏡貝理雅的修辭。

----------------------------------------------------------------------

我同意黑人所讲, 发表批评时, 可以找更好的修辭. 既可以表达好意思, 也更能让人接受.

毕竟我不是什么文膽出身, 要写出好像陈大文这样的文章, 需要有一定文学修养及知识, 写作技巧也需经过岁月的磨练. 在这方面, 我还是有许多要改进的空间.

而对于在空姐处的留言吵架里面我所讲过的话, 我只能说某些可能欠缺了润色, 使空姐本人或是拥护空姐的人, 难以接受. 如果我下笔前, 再花多点时间去注意遣词用字, 效果可能不一样.

此外, 我对于部分人士以匿名之便, 在留言区里面作口号式的叫嚷, 或者作出一些不合理的要求, 感觉到很无奈. 大家不能以事论事, 以理服人吗?

而对于在空姐处的留言这件事上面的价值判断, 我不认为有错, 论据已经讲得很清楚了, 就不再重复.

2009年1月23日 星期五

吵架


昨天的一篇在空姐处的留言让我与数位blog友吵架了.

或者吵架一词太强烈, 但我又想不起什么适当的词语去形容. 反正大家不同意对方的观点, 然后各自表术了自己的意见.

其中有一个观点是: 不能用A的价值观念去衡量B(的价值观).

这句不通哦, 这是自我推翻, 因为它本身就是一种价值观. 当我们要求别人不要用A的价值观去衡量B时, 我们恰恰就是要求别人接受这种价值判断.

每个人的成长背景不一样, 所以各自有一套价值观念存在, 看世事的时候, 是不可能撇开固有的价值观. 除非自己的价值观转变了, 或是随着年纪增长, 更能理解及体谅别人的价值观, 把辛辣的批评搁下, 多点包容.

对于一些事情, 在没有充分理解前因后果便马上作出批判, 或者透过批评别人来讲述自己的价值观, 都不是什么光彩的事情. 在这方面, 我承认我是有待改进的.

脚板

昨天去Nokia维修中心拿电话, 但脚板伤痕累累, 伤口处还有点肿了起来, 我翻箱倒柜左找右试, 也找不到勉强令我可以走得动的鞋子. 就在这兵慌马乱的时候, 父亲不忙在旁边搞 gag : 「平日看你好象很精明要强, 怎会做出这种蠢事? (指我撕走了脚上的皮)」虽然这个gag 烂得不可再烂, 但却逗得母亲陪他裂嘴而笑, 而我则一脸无奈.

结果, 我发现只有穿着这对一直在家穿的拖鞋, 才勉强可以行动.


我明白, 穿这对鞋由美乎去旺角实在是十级样衰. 平时也没有察觉它已经霉烂成这个模样. 但自作孽, 又有什么办法呢? 总好过赤脚吧!

去到Nokia 维修中心, 脚边的胶布还让这拖鞋给刮了下来, 黏着一点肉边条条 fing. 天啊!

2009年1月22日 星期四

在空姐处的留言

(设计图片)

空姐的原文:

媽媽:
在這個不可開電視、不可發出任何聲音、不可開燈的晚上,有點話想跟你說。
如今,除了工作需要,我已經不會回這個家的了,你有必要那樣對我嗎?
我不是朝九晚六的OL,也有freelance工作尚未完成,不可能晚上十一時就關燈關電腦睡覺的。
在這間屋內,連房間都沒有的我,如何生活呢?
睡在房中的你,以空氣流通為由,明明有四隻窗戶可開,偏不肯關上房門,要我關燈。
你說最近買股票蝕了錢,又說爸下年退休了,問我你倆日後的生活怎辦?
我怎知道呢?
你倆至少有買股票的閒錢和退休金,我甚麼都沒有。

其實,我是知道的。
你說過想要八千至一萬元家用。
每當你提及從前給了很多零用錢,讓我可以過較其他人豐裕的學校生活,如今合該在家用扣回時,都想坦白說清楚。
你給予的零用,只夠我乘搭巴士來回學校與家,還有canteen兩餐。
相對豐裕,只因為差不多一星期七天都有兼職。
還有,從小看到貧賤夫妻百事哀的實況,那時期,我不會找一個吃飯要AA制的男友。
說到這裡,如果你看到的話,一定又大罵我「等天收」。
是的,我在等天收,越快越好,最好在爸退休前收我回去。
我死了,你有了那份保險金,就不怕老來無依了。

你的女兒

------------------------------------------------------------------------
有些blog 客提议空姐搬出去住, 以后只用户口过家用给父母, 连见也不需要再见. 这件事情至于这个地步吗? 空姐也是偶然发泄一下, 何以要这样挑拨离间?

以下是我的留言 (有一些修订):


搬出去住支出更大, 把这些钱省下来给父母做家用更好啦.

其实阿妈要你关电脑, 早点睡, 是否为你健康着想呢? 我以前做审计的时候, 经常都带东西回家做到三四点, 就算父母先睡, 也是睡不安稳, 每隔一小时就会醒来, 看到我还未睡就会催我快点睡, 当时我会觉得他们很烦, 但心底里面知道他们是为我好.

至于你说父母期望你给予家用, 首先, 我觉得你与父母同住, 家中费用要负担一部分实在是无可厚非, 而且金额不算是很大 (HK$8K -HK$10K only). 就算你搬出去住, 自己租一间屋, 光是租金都要HK$7K-HK$8K吧, 还未计管理费/电/煤/水/NOW/cable/宽频/电话 etc.

你说小时候母亲给的零用钱只够搭车和吃两餐饭. 我不知道为什么求学时期早餐和晚餐会不在家吃而要出外吃. 如果因为做兼职而需要外出吃晚饭, 这不打紧哦, 你做兼职赚钱多过那餐饭钱就行了. 求学时期如果有空余时间, 去做兼职更能历练自己. 有些时下青年时间过多, 一有空就抽烟喝酒上disco界仔界女, 去深圳抽大麻索K吃白粉fing头3P4P5P, 高呼自己生活苦闷寂寞, 没有人了解自己. 做兼职总比做颓废青年强哦.

如果你只是偶然与朋友外出吃晚饭, 那么就算你不做兼职, 只把平时多出了的一餐 canteen 饭钱储起, 也应该够间中去些好点的餐厅了. 这又有何不够用之处? 起码比起同龄的我(我估计我们应该是差不多年龄的)富裕多了. 如果你要买参考书或者有其他必要用途, 需要额外金钱, 那时才向父母商量也行啊! 如果理由充分的话, 你父母也是会给你吧.

做学生应该是朴素些好, 现在的父母给子女过多的零用钱, 他们便花在买名牌书包/捧明星, 小学初中便把头发梳到鬼五马六, 眼影烟脂涂到一塌糊涂, 晚晚出去夜夜笙歌, 难道这又对子女好?


伸延阅读:
1. 養壞個仔要四球
2. 我死後必下地獄
3. 從freelance到連身裙到跑馬地
4. 衣

股票街

前两天改了喜帖街的词, 今天用手提电话录音, 有兴趣听的人请有心理准备, 我唱歌绝对会走音, 如果阁下冷伤风或者穿不够暖的话, 请不要按play 键或者先准备羽絨.



如果听不到全首歌的话, 试一下这条link 吧, 我也不知道为什么只有我自己可以听到全首, 而其他人不能.

股票街

---------------------------------------------------------------------



词: 小瓶子

忘掉過的
重新的出發 放棄汇丰
別再看塵封的股票 你正在要福街
築得起 人應該接受 都有日倒下
其實沒有一種安穩快樂 永遠也不差

就似這一區 曾經稱得上 美滿甲天下
但霎眼 全街的單位 快要住滿烏鴉
好景不會每日常在
恒子不可只往上爬
愛的 沒有一生一世嗎
大概不需要害怕

忘掉過的
當初的大行报告印着那位
派股息封信
及一切美麗舊年華 明日同步拆下

忘掉有過的
港交所汇丰雷曼中信泰富
溫馨的光境不過借出 到期拿回嗎
等不到下一代 是嗎

忘掉過的
回憶的笨象 刹那已倒下
面對這 墳起的荒土 你註定學會瀟灑
散户不會拒絕
大魔會唱好汇控
有感情 就會一生一世嗎
又再惋惜有用嗎

忘掉過的
當初的大行报告印着那位
派股息封信
及一切美麗舊年華 明日同步拆下

忘掉有過的
港交所汇丰雷曼中信泰富
溫馨的光境不過借出 到期拿回嗎
終須會時辰到 別怕
請放下手裡那股市 好嗎

完全虐待脚板手册


早两天试用在Scroll买的鞋垫, 穿了一对三寸高的高跟鞋懒有型地逛街, 脚枕位没错是舒服了些, 可是由于脚掌被垫高了, 脚指脚壁位空间少了, 所以全部都被磨到出水泡. 这不打紧, 我回家马上用针拮穿了那些水泡. 本来就这样用药水消毒, 然后黏上胶布就可以万事大吉. 可是我不知道是痴了那条根, 还是被鬼上身, 竟然手多多, 神推鬼撞下撕下了盖在伤口上的那层皮. 结果, 现在无论是穿什么鞋子, 反正一掂到伤口就痛到飞起.

2009年1月21日 星期三

点解Nokia 甘容易坏?



我部 Nokia 整完无耐, 又坏左, 今日部机突然自动熄了. 我再开机, 那些按钮完全无反应. 幸好这次我已经把 phone book 入了 sim card里面做backup.

白色羊皮boot

长假期留港, 最大的问题是消费不断. 价值HK$399的白色羊皮boot, 可以有三种配搭, 令有小师奶心态的我, 难以抗拒它的诱惑.

2009年1月20日 星期二

现代女尼


今日在 Sogo见到两位师太, 一身佛门打扮, 头发剃得一丝不剩, 拿着大包小包, 在名牌手表的柜台前左看右看. 佛家常言到四大皆空, 原来空的只是我的荷包, 师太们的钱包可涨着呢.

President Obama 2009 Inaugural Ceremony



My fellow citizens,

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them— that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence— the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

2009年1月19日 星期一

God is not Great


今日走去三联书店, 本来想买本关于护肤的书, 怎料寻不着, 接着打了三小时书钉, 看完了一本关于穿衣/仪容/谈吐的书后, 买了这本书. 这本书的书名固然吸引, 然而, 真正令我决定买下的, 是它的sub-title : How Religion Poisons Everything, 我想知道作者有些什么样的答案.

中文翻译本 ~ HK$110
英文原装本 HK$76

虽然看中文是可以快些, 不过基于价钱的考虑, 我还是买了英文版.

伸延阅读:
1. 再看基督教
2. 宗教與科學

2009年1月18日 星期日

9型人格 - 7 号人


7號人有什麼特質?為什麼7號人比較易胖?或是有憤世嫉俗的傾向?7號人在飲食及打扮上有什麼要注意?

Open Radio 2008-11-11

穿戴方面都几准, 不过关于肥, 吃东西的节制方面, 与我的性格不太相似.

Open Radio 2008-12-23

天空之城



天空之城1
天空之城2

曾蔭權 :「唔想同湯家驊狗噏辯論...」



原来「狗噏」是粗口, 未听萧若元节目都唔知, 以为只是粗俗些的语言. 不过作为一个有教养的人, 在议事廰实在不应该讲这句说话.

就算是社民联三子, 我也不赞成他们在议会上讲粗口.

伸延阅读:
曾蔭權三款狗噏電話鈴聲歡迎下載

Gucci Shoes


一个不停说港女贪恋名牌, 要男朋友送LV / Gucci/ Burberry 的男仔, 竟然买了一对Gucci shoes 给女朋友, 实在令我太惊讶了!

2009年1月17日 星期六

松本清张 - 波之塔


看了blog 友的post, 推介这套90分钟的日剧波之塔. 这套剧的感情线算几明快. 一个美丽的女人要去钩引男人, 原来是那么容易的, 方法如下:
1. 主动打电话约对方出来
2. 不留自己的电话给对方, 打电话给对方时不显示来电号码
3. 第二次约会与第三个约会要隔两个月
4. 每次约会不需要很长, 对方的问题也不必全部回应, 保持神秘感
5. 但每次约会都要温柔体贴, 有时候给对方准备好吃的食物
6. 约对方去旅行
7. 男方问你有无老公/男朋友之类, 不要去答这问题, 让他自己心烦意乱地猜测 (我觉得另一个女仔主动去追男主角之所以失败, 是因为她有个未婚夫跟出跟入, 男主角又怎会对她提起兴趣呢?)

当钓到男人后, 他已经爱上你了, 到时候向他证实你是有老公也不打紧, 因为他已经泥足深陷, 不能自拔. 确定这男人爱你后, 才与他上床.

同理, 这样的方法对女人也有效, 不过与之上床的时间要提早一些, 只要令女方与你上床, 就可以证明对方已经泥足深陷了.

当然ONS玩家不受此限.

梦幻奇缘2

http://www.ttime.com.tw/game/ts2/ts2.html

这套游戏是早前朋友借给我的. 对于电脑游戏, 我一直都提不起兴趣去玩, 不过朋友玩不到她心目中想要的结局, 所以找我来试下, 看能否达到目标.

老实说, 我玩了十五分钟已经很想放弃, 因为它实在太闷. 首先有三个女孩子的身份让你选择, 然后你去帮她编排上课及与人物见面谈天的时间, 见得越多的人, 友谊及爱情会上升, 这个游戏的目的, 是让你选择的角色透过学习, 最后成为星之少女」. 这个游戏全部都是人物对话, 你要做的事情只是不停去按下一步的按钮. 故事之中充斥着大量的废话, 实在闷透顶.

由于我房中的电脑 display card 不能支援此游戏, 我还要特地在老父的电脑上玩呢! 老父见我不停地狂按 mouse, 以为我手部抽筋.

虽然我不能成为星之少女」, 但这游戏实在太无聊了, 我不能忍受再玩第二次, 马上从电脑铲走了它.

2009年1月16日 星期五

消费


HSBC 快要跌穿HK$60了, 大魔咒它会去到HK$49. 如何抗衡它的下跌力度? 我的方法是很神奇的. 君不见我最近的post 多了很多消费品吗? 无错, 就是透过消费来平衡心理. 无论我买多少消费品, 加起来的数字远不及手上的HSBC一日间蒸发掉的财富哦.

为什么股市越跌越消费呢? 这么我的财产不是会蒸发得更快吗? 对于这种非理智的反常现象, 我也无法科学地去解释.

大大副超


不知道各位有无看过彭秀慧的29+1舞台剧, 里面她说到年到三十的女人, 买太阳眼镜都是大大个的, 简直是想整块面都遮挡着不让人见到. 我深有同感, 尤其是块面出晒粒粒同色斑后, 简直是对着块镜自己都想呕. 这副超是两年前买下的, 看来到我三十岁后它就真的会成为出街必备品了. 费事吓亲人啦!

Maquillage Make up Base

走去卓越与Sasa都找不着袁彌明介绍的makeup base, 后来去了葵芳, 无意中在新都会广场的一个小店, Lan Lan Cosmetic House (靓靓日本化装品专门店) 买到了, 价值HK$239. 我觉得 make up base 比 foundation 重要, 因为平时我用的日霜没有防晒, 而这个make up base 有 SP +25的防晒, 就算只搽 make up base 不搽 foundation, 对皮肤都有保护作用. 至于效果如何, 用后告知大家.


另外, 我也买了袁彌明介绍的IPSA粉底, 有朋友问没有粉盒的refill 装样子是如何, 所以送上照片一幅, 我是刚巧走过Gateway, 见到IPSA 在哪儿的临时counter, 所以马上买下的. 价值HK$300.

现在我的装备基本上齐全了, 至于什么Eyeliner, eyeshadow, face shadow, etc. 我会在朋友婚宴做姐妹时才考虑买.