Naked or veiled violence: who has a bigger gun wins in China. The ultimate logic is the violence in the dark. notes Jewish Council for Public Affairs: Our Jewish values demand we speak with moral clarity: we know where unchecked power leads, and that true safety can never come through fear, militarization, or violence. 犹太人知道，不受约束的权力会把社会带向何处；真正的安全，永远不可能通过恐惧、军事化和暴力来获得。 China: 党军国三套权力，对内控制和对外冒险，台湾问题和生育低谷带来人口萎缩和老龄化的担忧。毛时代的文革、邓时代的六四和习时代的军委。“反腐”：军委副主席郭伯雄、徐才厚被定罪。二十大之后的中央军委几乎被视为“习家军”的总汇：张又侠任第一副主席，何卫东任第二副主席，委员包括李尚福、刘振立、苗华和张升民，再加上军纪委书记张升民，几乎清一色是习近平亲自选拔。 父亲（谭继洵）守的是一家安稳，儿子（谭嗣同）要的是天下太平。谤风遍万国九州，无非是骂；昭雪在千秋百世，不得而知。人民的愚昧和统治者的残暴，常常一起出现。 杜琪峯： 青春很多时都是冲动的，也因为冲动，所以没有顾忌；没有顾忌，所以浪漫。随着年纪渐长都消失了。 要发生的总会发生，要消失的终会消失；有些事你以为你知，其实你不知。但只要用心去做，祂便会告诉你答案。但当然，我们都不是神仙，只是局中人。道理是知道的，做不做到却是另一回事。 命是天生的，而运是可以转的。而我的理解就是机会与选择，比较没有那种宿命性的论调。人不会没有机会，但每次面对机会，你会怎样选？我要行一条快路，去立即揾到钱；还是选择一条所谓正确的路，然后慢慢走下去？急起上来，当然拣快路，但通常这样都很少会有好结果。Chance and Choice: 事情会一直发生，机会也总是会出现。每次面对机会，你会怎样选择？ Julie K. Brown, Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story 美国司法制度怎样在许多年里纵容他犯罪 ...
Notes: this is the introduction from the book, HISTORY OF THE WARFARE OF SCIENCE WITH THEOLOGY IN CHRISTENDOM By Andrew Dickson White. the interesting point is that from the perspective of A.D.White, the fight between science and religion is actually the one between science and theology. the coexist of science and religion would benefit each other. English Thoughts that great hearts once broke for, we / Breathe cheaply in the common air. – LOWELL ...
It’s a pleasure — and a duty — to be with you at this turning point for Canada and for the world. Today, I’ll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints. But I also submit to you that other countries, particularly middle powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that embodies our values, like respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. ...
Theodosius Dobzhansky: Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. 2026-02-05: stock slide continues, Bitcoin down below $63K. After quarterly report, AMD down from $251 to $237 yesterday. Its peak is $266, now its around $201 premarket and around $195. Google (GOOG) down 3% to around $323 after earning report. Amazon down 3% to around $225 before quarterly report. After hour with quarterly report, its stock fell 20% to $200 from its peak $255 in November 2025. ...
Why do some British people not like Donald Trump? Nate White A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. ...
George Orwell: Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood. a christmas cat this year end was definitely different. down for four days and nights with low fevers as I seldom got sick. the weather was pretty cold during the time. it felt colder with fever. then on the christmas eve, early morning, a cat landed on the roof covered with snow and meowed outside at the sill of a window of the second floor. ...
Emily Dickinson: Faith – is the Pierless Bridge / Supporting what We see / Unto the Scene that We do not Seamus Heaney: If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Magic is believing in yourself; if you can do that, you can make anything happen. Claire Keegan: “It seemed both proper and at the same time deeply unfair that so much of life was left to chance.” from Small Things Like These ...
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Søren Kierkegaard life is a terminal illness with a bad prognosis. – Carl Jung Life is lived in a forward direction but only understood backward sergei yesenin (1895-1925) “bitter tears” of the “evening silence”, translated by Anton Yalovlev, The Last Poet of the Village. In this world you can search for everything, except Love and death. They find you when the time comes. another long poem Is it my fault that I’m a poet Of heavy suffering and bitter fate? After all, it wasn’t my choice— It’s just the way I came into the world. Is it my fault that I don’t cherish life, That I love and simultaneously hate everyone, And know things about myself I don’t yet see— That is my gift from the muse. I know there is no happiness in life, Life is lunacy, the dream of a sick soul, And I know my gloomy tunes bore everyone, But it’s not my fault—that’s the kind of poet I am. I will not lie to myself, Woe has settled in my misty heart. Why am I known as a charlatan? Why am I known as a brawler? I’m not a villain. I haven’t robbed anyone in the forest. I haven’t shot wretches in dungeons. I’m merely a street rake Smiling at passing faces. I’m a mischievous Moscow playboy. In Tver, every neighborhood dog Recognizes my breezy gait In the backstreets. Every bedraggled horse Nods its head to greet me. I’m a good friend to the animals, Healing them with my verses. My top hat is not to impress the women. My heart can’t bear meaningless passion. It makes it easier, soothing my sadness, To give gold oats to a mare. I have no friends among people. I’m loyal to a different kingdom. I’m ready to put my best tie On the neck of any local hound. Now I won’t hurt any longer. Swamp is drained in my murky heart. This is why I’m known as a charlatan. This is why I’m known as a brawler. The rude are destined for joy; The tender are destined for sadness. I pity nothing; I pity no one. I pity myself a bit; I pity stray dogs. This path has led me straight To a tavern. Why are you yelling, you devils? Am I not my country’s son? Everyone here has pawned His pants for a drink. Hazy eyed, I look out the window; My heart is heavy and hot. The street in front of me, Wet from sunlight, rolls on. There is a boy in the street. The air is fried and dry. The boy is so contented And picks his nose. Go right ahead, my dear, Get your whole finger in there, Just don’t burrow into your soul With the same force. I’m toast… My courage is failing… Look at my host of bottles! I collect corks to plug The holes in my soul. two poems by W.S.Merwin Separation BY W. S. MERWIN Your absence has gone through me Like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color. the second one Rain Light By W.S. Merwin All day the stars watch from long ago my mother said I am going now when you are alone you will be all right whether or not you know you will know look at the old house in the dawn rain all the flowers are forms of water the sun reminds them through a white cloud touches the patchwork spread on the hill the washed colors of the afterlife that lived there long before you were born see how they wake without a question even though the whole world is burning 苏轼《西江月 平山堂》 三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中。 十年不见老仙翁，壁上龙蛇飞动。 欲吊文章太守，仍歌杨柳春风。 休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦。 平山堂位于扬州西北的大明寺侧，乃欧阳修于公元1048年（庆历八年）知扬州时所建。欧阳修是苏轼的恩师。 Marcel Prouse I seemed to see that this life that we live in half-darkness can be illumined, this life that at every moment we distort can be restored to its true pristine shape, that a life, in short, can be realised within the confines of a book! ...
Albert Camus: Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. Peter Coviello: Maybe don’t talk to the New York Times about Zohran Mamdani For some time I’ve been saying that the storied choice between socialism and barbarism was made exquisitely clear a good many years ago in the United States, and both major parties chose barbarism. They are obviously and consequentially different barbarisms — one had reproductive freedom, vaccines, and trans health care in it, at least for a while — and I can tell you why I have sincerely preferred one to the other. But we oughtn’t to kid ourselves. From the perspective of a world of increasingly unimaginable maldistribution of resources, cascading ecological collapse, a genocide cheered on by a putatively liberal order, both are barbarisms. Mamdani seemed to me a small glimmering break in the wall of all that. A part of me wanted to do him a solid. ...
20251226 After Christmas, Gold price had another record of US$4,556/ounce. Then it retreated back to US$4,300 on 12/29. Sliver had the same trajetory, $78 on 12/26 and down to $72 on 12/29. At the same time Bitcoi is around the level of US$87K. 20251210 as expected, Fed cut rate 0.25&, with a 9-3 vote. at the same time, resume purchasing Treasury securities, starting with a $40B purchase. the response of market is just ok because it’s already priced it in. both gold and oil around the same level, crypto down below 90k. in the end, the concern is still about inflation and the economy growth. 20251209 Many countries will kepp the rate unchanged. will fed cut the rate in December in the coming Wednesday? Bitcoin jumps 4,000 to more than $94,300. Oil price slides 1% to about $58.2. gold price up a bit above $4,200. the global bond selloff paused on Tuesday 12/09. all indexes are up. so if the rate cut has already been priced in the stock market, unchanged rate and easing pause will definitely upset the market a bit. if there would be .25 cut, the rally would continue. ...