闰年，2月29日。2月的尾巴上，万分期待三月和春天的来临。
2008年开始的时候，我心里默念，认真过2008年，坚持写博客，为思路清晰，为文字流畅；坚持每月读书，充实心灵，活跃大脑。
2007年的痕迹似乎仓促而模糊。
上半年即研一下半学期主要是集体上课，擦边球的外行们和懂理论的学者纷纷在讲台上完成课时任务，台下的人渐稀少，心渐散落。
下半年-研二上学期，唯一一门课程里就剩五人上课，也难为，这是一门纯理论课，主打Agenda-setting Framing ，与平时在外的实习完全两个世界，兼容性低。
2008年的日程表满满的，
1.毕业论文-我即将写出一份？万的论文，这是历程是称其为研究生的过程，我要脚踏实地走过来。
2.GRE - 既然选择了考，就扎实去“洗礼”吧，不管结果如何。
2008年2月23日星期六
简单生活
钱包里插着若干张花花绿绿的信用卡，当时基本是买椟还珠-为开卡附赠的礼品而办，也是想尝尝信用卡城市生活。
果然，被信用卡给套了。有几个年轻人会去仔细研读使用规章？我也无知地被利滚利了，这次被罚了一百多元的利息。孩子，赶紧还清欠款然后收手吧！
其实，现在的我并不适合使用信用卡，每月就花那么点钱，所有的花费都可以现金完成，玩信用卡不过就是跟风和显摆的心理在作怪。爸爸和思思都谴责我的折腾。的确，可恶的是每月为了还贷骑自行车去几里外的银行，麻烦而琐碎，有时候忙起来就熬着良心拖延还款，滞纳金、利息滚滚而来。
今年寒假在家，那份简单的生活与淳朴的亲情让我依依不舍，也反观到我的所谓忙碌丰富上海式生活，是我自己把日常生活和人际关系给复杂方程式了，套牢得疲惫而无趣。
思思说过，生活简单，思想复杂。反之，纷繁的生活蕴藏的或许就是空白浅薄的头脑，因为人的精力总是有限的，平衡的。
果然，被信用卡给套了。有几个年轻人会去仔细研读使用规章？我也无知地被利滚利了，这次被罚了一百多元的利息。孩子，赶紧还清欠款然后收手吧！
其实，现在的我并不适合使用信用卡，每月就花那么点钱，所有的花费都可以现金完成，玩信用卡不过就是跟风和显摆的心理在作怪。爸爸和思思都谴责我的折腾。的确，可恶的是每月为了还贷骑自行车去几里外的银行，麻烦而琐碎，有时候忙起来就熬着良心拖延还款，滞纳金、利息滚滚而来。
今年寒假在家，那份简单的生活与淳朴的亲情让我依依不舍，也反观到我的所谓忙碌丰富上海式生活，是我自己把日常生活和人际关系给复杂方程式了，套牢得疲惫而无趣。
思思说过，生活简单，思想复杂。反之，纷繁的生活蕴藏的或许就是空白浅薄的头脑，因为人的精力总是有限的，平衡的。
2008年2月21日星期四
我的博客们
没有博客的人如同一间没有窗户的房间
-引自思维的乐趣
最初接触博客是2005年，现在居然还能找到那份页面，第一篇日志是纪念我20岁生日。
那时在上外参加暑期高级口译培训，好不容易找到学校外面的一家网吧敲字。偶尔满怀期望登录我的自耕地，发现访问量很小也没留言，甚是懊恼。其实没人知道地址怎么会有访问和留言呢，真是傻。
之后9月回学校准备考研，几乎没上网，更无暇顾及网络日志，直到买了笔记本电脑后才有发挥的个人空间。
06年9月开始上外研，在leethe.blog-city.com近半年后废弃，如今This site is no longer available，因为blogcity从08年开始收费，我的data也被彻底清除了吧。
07年4月18日在blogbus开新博，持续到9月中旬也不再更新。
其实，自07年6月开始实习，渐渐积累了一些想法，但大部分写作时间在啃稿子，以及其他事务。更重要的是，在观看者的目光下坦露心境，我总有一种不安全感。反而面对空白的WORD文档，思绪才放开。
此外，日志下方的横幅广告也是我反感blogbus的原因之一。看着琐碎的日志，偶尔有全部删除的冲动，但终究不忍心，就放着存档吧。
每隔一段时间，我都需要停下来小结回顾，文字是最便捷和畅快的方式，其次是和朋友交流畅谈，这通常要电话或网络实现。
没有博客的人如同一间没有窗户的房间。我的窗户关闭许久了，终于憋不住打开透透气，果然踏实明朗了许多，这是文字的力量，尽管承载的形式从日记本到网络日志，但其精髓未曾变化。
-引自思维的乐趣
最初接触博客是2005年，现在居然还能找到那份页面，第一篇日志是纪念我20岁生日。
那时在上外参加暑期高级口译培训，好不容易找到学校外面的一家网吧敲字。偶尔满怀期望登录我的自耕地，发现访问量很小也没留言，甚是懊恼。其实没人知道地址怎么会有访问和留言呢，真是傻。
之后9月回学校准备考研，几乎没上网，更无暇顾及网络日志，直到买了笔记本电脑后才有发挥的个人空间。
06年9月开始上外研，在leethe.blog-city.com近半年后废弃，如今This site is no longer available，因为blogcity从08年开始收费，我的data也被彻底清除了吧。
07年4月18日在blogbus开新博，持续到9月中旬也不再更新。
其实，自07年6月开始实习，渐渐积累了一些想法，但大部分写作时间在啃稿子，以及其他事务。更重要的是，在观看者的目光下坦露心境，我总有一种不安全感。反而面对空白的WORD文档，思绪才放开。
此外，日志下方的横幅广告也是我反感blogbus的原因之一。看着琐碎的日志，偶尔有全部删除的冲动，但终究不忍心，就放着存档吧。
每隔一段时间，我都需要停下来小结回顾，文字是最便捷和畅快的方式，其次是和朋友交流畅谈，这通常要电话或网络实现。
没有博客的人如同一间没有窗户的房间。我的窗户关闭许久了，终于憋不住打开透透气，果然踏实明朗了许多，这是文字的力量，尽管承载的形式从日记本到网络日志，但其精髓未曾变化。
向上看 向前看
其实，快要返沪了，2月24号晚上的K288,兴许是坐了太多次D92，念念旧吧，而且夕发朝至于我还是方便。
在家会缓缓上海式节奏，忘了开手机就忘了，手机一天不响也很自然清净。
水至清则无鱼，人至察则无徒
——《大戴礼记·子张问入官》
万分不情愿回到那个逼仄的四人间，闭塞的窗户里各种混浊的气味，交流乏匮的室友让我在拥挤的空间更如坐针毡。三楼的光照也是那么吝啬，靠门的床位是无缘阳光的。
大部分时间在外面，或图书馆，或实习。晚上通常9点后回来洗洗睡，尽量避开寝室人群的噪音，虽然她们也是正常闲聊，但我难以调起兴趣去参与，我也向来不善于佯 装和逢迎。倪云说这是我的真实也是弊病，ustravis说这是我的自我及自私，秋秋说做好自己，干嘛要伪装，思思妈妈说顺其自然，不要勉强。我说经营好自己，并稍调试于周围生态环境，保持独立性与完整性。水至清则无鱼，人至察则无徒，勉励即将出发的我。
告别的方式——憧憬下一次相遇
大学毕业酒会，很多同学抱在一起哭，离别的情绪感染和蔓延着，而有一部分同学，我即在其中，坐在后面被前面的呜咽感动落泪，但终究没有走上前去痛哭一场。胡里坐在我左边轻叹一句“四年就这么过去了”，站在 酒店门口等车时糖森猪说“其实别那么伤感，毕业后在同城，见面机会还是多嘛”，倪倪和我都觉得毕业是个新开始，我们向往那个新城市的邀请信。
08年春节高中同学十周年聚会，收尾得太仓促和些许混乱，我也被个人事务所心急，没来得及和久违的同学聊上几句再次分道扬镳。下一个三年或五年，渐行渐远。
每次思思都跟我说，未来会更美好，所以避开伤感的离别，憧憬下一次相遇。
2008年2月20日星期三
高中生
在家，我有一所大房间，面朝太阳，春暖花开。
有阳光的日子里，房间整天都散发太阳的味道。
晚上从窗户探头出去，大口呼吸，有时候是泥土的气息，有时候会有潮湿的预兆，无论合适，都是过滤了一天的尘埃和烦扰的“轻"(清)。
因为离一中近，学生们的放学声固定在午间11点45和晚间9点下自习时响起。先是铁大门被拉开的哐当声，不过一会学生们走路和说话声音像河流般涌出，伴随着校门口招呼的摩托车此起彼伏的嘟嘟滴滴。我们曾经也是这么走过来的。
门口的两家书店，除了主营的考试教材，陈列还是那些杂志，《读者》类、《体育画报》类。
来来往往的学生还是我们那时高中的穿着。一个人走路时看着前方，很少打量周围，也确实也没有什么可观察的，或者一群人低声有说有笑，不会出风头或喧哗。
我窗户对面的窗户帖上了喜字，窗户后面也挂上了窗帘。现在不租给学生了吧，我的高中同学少华恰在那里住到高考结束，印象里一位钢笔字和文学功底不错，有人生理想的小伙子，毕业之后我们再也没见过。
有阳光的日子里，房间整天都散发太阳的味道。
晚上从窗户探头出去，大口呼吸，有时候是泥土的气息，有时候会有潮湿的预兆，无论合适，都是过滤了一天的尘埃和烦扰的“轻"(清)。
因为离一中近，学生们的放学声固定在午间11点45和晚间9点下自习时响起。先是铁大门被拉开的哐当声，不过一会学生们走路和说话声音像河流般涌出，伴随着校门口招呼的摩托车此起彼伏的嘟嘟滴滴。我们曾经也是这么走过来的。
门口的两家书店，除了主营的考试教材，陈列还是那些杂志，《读者》类、《体育画报》类。
来来往往的学生还是我们那时高中的穿着。一个人走路时看着前方，很少打量周围，也确实也没有什么可观察的，或者一群人低声有说有笑，不会出风头或喧哗。
我窗户对面的窗户帖上了喜字，窗户后面也挂上了窗帘。现在不租给学生了吧，我的高中同学少华恰在那里住到高考结束，印象里一位钢笔字和文学功底不错，有人生理想的小伙子，毕业之后我们再也没见过。
2008年2月18日星期一
The Atlantic-James Fallows
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/by/james_fallows
Atlantic Unbound | Archive
James Fallows
Recent articles by James Fallows:
Atlantic Unbound | Archive
James Fallows
James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and has worked for the magazine for more than 25 years. He has written for the magazine on a wide range of topics, including national security policy, American politics, the development and impact of technology, economic trends and patterns, and U.S. relations with the Middle East, Asia, and other parts of the world.
Fallows grew up in Redlands, California and then attended Harvard, where he was president of the newspaper The Crimson. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1970 and then studied economics at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He has been an editor of The Washington Monthly and of Texas Monthly, and from 1977 to 1979 he served as President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter. His first book, National Defense, won the American Book Award in 1981; he has written seven others. He has worked as a software designer at Microsoft and from 1996 to 1998 he was the editor of U.S. News & World Report.
In the five years after the 9/11 attacks, Fallows was based in Washington and wrote a number of articles about the evolution of U.S. policies for dealing with terrorism and about the war in Iraq. One of these articles, "The Fifty First State?," won the National Magazine Award, and another, "Why Iraq has no Army," was a finalist. He also writes a monthly technology column for the magazine.
His books Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy (January 1996), and Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel were excerpted in the February, 1996, and June, 2001, issues respectively. Looking at the Sun (1994) was excerpted in several installments in the early 1990s. His latest book, Blind into Baghdad: America's War in Iraq (2006) is based on several of his Atlantic articles.
His latest writings can be found on the James Fallows blog.
Recent articles by James Fallows:
State of the Union: Post Mortem
Bush's 2008 State of the Union address, annotated by The Atlantic's James Fallows.
The $1.4 Trillion Question
What do we owe China?
The Travel Advisory
How to get to the Wolong Reserve and how to support its panda programs.
Among the Pandas
Our cub reporter exposes China’s soft underbelly. [Web only: Slideshow: "Panda Land"]
The View from There
What living in England, Japan, and China has taught one American about the character of his own country.
Simple Security
Protecting files and programs need not make you crazy—or even cost you a cent.
Macau’s Big Gamble
Even as foreign investors pour billions into ever-glitzier casinos, the tiny peninsula’s bid to become the Vegas of the Orient depends on China’s larger willingness to embrace transparency and the rule of law. [Web only: Slideshow: "The Many Faces of Macau."]
China Makes, The World Takes
A look inside the world’s manufacturing center shows that America should welcome China’s rise—for now. [Web only: Slideshow: "Made in China."]
What Was I Thinking?
Computers may not be able to make decisions for you (yet), but they can sharpen your judgment.
Group Therapy
New programs ease the frustration of working with others online.
Wolfowitz = McNamara, Chapter 402
I await a version of the The Fog of War starring Paul Wolfowitz.
Intellectual Piracy? Who, Us?
Shanghai resident James Fallows reports that his local pirate-video store is doing a brisk business, despite China's claim that it is cracking down on such enterprises.
Wolfowitz = Swaggart, Chap. 1
"Do the words 'Caesar's wife' ring any kind of bell? Or the name Jimmy Swaggart?"
Virginia Tech Shooting
One American woman terrifies China.
Sun-Times vs. China Update (re. Va Tech shooting)
"Wasn't this pretty much what Orwell had in mind with the concept of the 'memory hole'?"
Win in China!
A reality-TV show is teaching the Chinese how to succeed in business. [Web-only: Watch video clips from the show]
One-Button Translation
Newly sophisticated “machine translators” let you browse foreign Web sites in real time.
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
A nice man, not just an eminent one.
Another win for Carl Malamud
Or: news you won't see in the May 2007 issue of the Atlantic
Thoughts on Writing This Column
James Fallows on what most surprised him about this topic and the biggest development that happened after press time.
The Boiled-frog Myth
Hey, really, knock it off!
Back in the U.S.A.
What you first notice if you're in America after six months in China...
Colbert-ology
What you know if you've seen the show live...
Mr. Zhang Builds His Dream Town
A singing workforce, Mongolian millionaires in Porsches, and saving the planet—inside the empire of a Chinese tycoon with more than money on his mind. [Web-only: "At Home With Mr. Zhang." A narrated slideshow.]
Crash Insurance
New programs back up everything you do— in real time, online, and automatically.
Dear Vice President Cheney
Go home, and shut up.
Where Congress Can Draw the Line
No war with Iran.
The Squeegee Men of Shanghai
Forget running for president, Rudy. Come deal with the shoe-squeegee men of Shanghai.
This Is What I Call a Cultural Revolution
Queuing Day in China.
Thank you, Martha Raddatz
"For the first time, I actually felt sorry for the President."
Am I Being Too Rational?
The prospect of war on Iran.
The Surprising Antiwar Message of 24
"If season 2 of 24 aired now, conservatives would assume that, torture and all, it had been sponsored by the Dennis Kucinich campaign or MoveOn.org."
Market Crash Day in China
The view from Shanghai.
Nothing to Celebrate in Saddam's Hanging
This act makes neither America nor Iraq look good.
"Another Wrong Thing"
Why the surge is a bad idea.
Bush's Address: Postmortem
James Fallows takes stock of Bush's effort to sell Americans on his "troop surge" plan.
State of the Union Address 2007: Instant Analysis
Atlantic correspondent and former Presidential speechwriter James Fallows shares his impressions of Bush's speech.
Post Mortem: State of the Union
Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, annotated by The Atlantic's James Fallows.
Post Mortem: State of the Union
Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, annotated by The Atlantic's James Fallows.
Sympathy For, Yes, Microsoft
Vista's worldwide release is greeted in China with in-your-face piracy.
Tag Teams
Social-search programs like Flickr and del.icio.us guide your Web browsing toward places you probably want to go.
A Turning Point
The Iraq Study Group may be remembered as the Walter Cronkite of this war.
How China Is Making Me Into a Worse Person
You think you can shove past me in the line at the airport or at the bank? Think again, buster.
Microsoft Reboots
A preview of the new versions of Windows and Office.
Postcards From Tomorrow Square
Our man in Shanghai samples budget beer, survives subway scrimmages, and starts living the contradictions of China’s breakneck modernization.
Improbable but True
James Fallows on how he came to co-write a 1980 Atlantic cover story advocating the draft with Senator-elect Jim Webb.
Proud to Be an American, Chapter 12,745
Life is about to become dramatically more pleasant, positive, and effective for Americans in their dealings with every other part of the world.
Has Bush Been Smart All Along?
James Fallows marvels at a side of President Bush we haven't previously seen.
A Candidate Worth Supporting: James Webb
The kind of politician this country needs more of.
Election-watch 2006: Shanghai Edition
Americans who don't like Bush are happy about the recent election results. The Chinese are not so sure.
Getting out of Iraq
What's the right idea when all ideas are bad?
Making Haystacks, Finding Needles
New programs let you easily categorize anything you come across on the Web or in your own files—and, more important, let you find it all again.
The Cory Lidle Crash in New York City
Atlantic correspondent James Fallows, who used to own and fly the same kind of plane in which Cory Lidle died, reflects on the meaning of the crash.
The Cory Lidle Crash: One Fact, Two Explanations
James Fallows ponders what might have gone wrong.
Was Cory Lidle's Airplane at Fault?
James Fallows suspects not.
A Nation of Ninnies
How Gary Cooper can save us (from mayor Daley, among others).
Artificial Intelligentsia
How the Internet is fitting its users with mental eyeglasses— and letting them see new vistas of knowledge in the process.
Go Harvard!
(Believe it or not.).
What's Wrong With Academia, Chapter 972
Is it too much to expect an academic to read before criticizing?
File Not Found
Why a stone tablet is still better than a hard drive.
Declaring Victory
The United States is succeeding in its struggle against terrorism. The time has come to declare the war on terror over, so that an even more effective military and diplomatic campaign can begin.
Pitfalls of the Air Defense Identification Zone
A consideration of the "preposterousness of the regulations."
Can We Still Declare Victory?
Yes. James Fallows explains why the foiled airline bombing plot actually strengthens the argument for declaring victory in the war on terror.
The Electric Mind Meld
Two new elegantly conceived programs help you unjam your digital life.
E-mail Out of Every Plug
Broadband sent over power lines offers Internet access everywhere in your house—and could also offer the country a way to save energy.
Tinfoil Underwear
Tools to protect your privacy on the Internet go just so far, and the businesses that dominate it have no incentive to let them go any farther.
The Nuclear Power Beside Iraq
Now that Iran unquestionably intends to build a nuclear bomb, the international community has few options to stop it—and the worst option would be a military strike.
A Thousand Words
Cameras and telephones are coming together—and bringing people together—in ways that can shape society.
Spy’s-eye View
Google Earth and its rival programs offer (civilians) a new way to look at the world.
Post Mortem: State of the Union
Bush's 2006 State of the Union address, annotated by The Atlantic's James Fallows.
Why Iraq Has No Army
An orderly exit from Iraq depends on the development of a viable Iraqi security force, but the Iraqis aren't even close. The Bush administration doesn't take the problem seriously—and it never has.
Countdown to a Meltdown
America's coming economic crisis. A look back from the election of 2016.
Getting Out Right
Warnings from many experts went unheeded before we entered Iraq. Let's listen as we prepare to "shape the exit"
Inaugural Address Post-Mortem
An analysis of President Bush's "startling" speech.
Success Without Victory
A "containment" strategy for the age of terror.
Will Iran Be Next?
Soldiers, spies, and diplomats conduct a classic Pentagon war game—with sobering results.
Bush vs. Kerry: Final Round
Now that the debates are over, some quick final thoughts about the debating styles of the two candidates.
Bush vs. Kerry: Round One
Immediately following Bush and Kerry's faceoff last night in Miami, James Fallows penned some thoughts on their respective performances.
The Big Picture
Our annual survey of the admissions landscape uncovered recent and upcoming changes to the process, growing concern about tuition increases, and serious questions about whether colleges are fulfilling their mission.
Bush's Lost Year
By deciding to invade Iraq, the Bush Administration decided not to do many other things: not to reconstruct Afghanistan, not to deal with the threats posed by North Korea and Iran, and not to wage an effective war on terror. An inventory of opportunities lost.
Organize Your Life!
The modern condition is to be overwhelmed by everything. Now comes David Allen, who can teach even you how to stop stewing and start doing.
When George Meets John
A viewer's guide to this fall's version of "asymmetric warfare"— the presidential debates.
The Hollow Army
The U.S. military is stretched to the breaking point—and one more crisis could break it.
Blind Into Baghdad
The U.S. occupation of Iraq is a debacle not because the government did no planning but because a vast amount of expert planning was willfully ignored by the people in charge. The inside story of a historic failure.
The New College Chaos
College admissions officers say they now have many, many more applications than they know how to handle—and, often, less reliable information to help them decide which students to admit.
The Age of Murdoch
Many see him as a power-mad, rapacious right-wing vulgarian. Rupert Murdoch has indeed been relentless in building a one-of-a kind media network that spans the world. What really drives him, though, is not ideology but a cool concern for the bottom line—and the belief that the media should be treated like any other business, not as a semi-sacred public trust. The Bush Administration agrees. Rupert Murdoch has seen the future, and it is him.
Who Shot Mohammed al-Dura?
The image of a boy shot dead in his helpless father's arms during an Israeli confrontation with Palestinians has become the Pietà of the Arab world. Now a number of Israeli researchers are presenting persuasive evidence that the fatal shots could not have come from the Israeli soldiers known to have been involved in the confrontation. The evidence will not change Arab minds—but the episode offers an object lesson in the incendiary power of an icon.
Post-President For Life
The post-presidency of Bill Clinton will, like the Clinton Administration, be noisy and attention-getting. Will it accomplish anything—or turn out to be limbo in overdrive?
The Forgotten Home Front
What are the main elements of national well-being? It is startling how out-of-date and out-of-touch our official politics has become.
The Fifty-first State?
Going to war with Iraq would mean shouldering all the responsibilities of an occupying power the moment victory was achieved. These would include running the economy, keeping domestic peace, and protecting Iraq's borders—and doing it all for years, or perhaps decades. Are we ready for this long-term relationship?
Uncle Sam Buys an Airplane
How Lockheed Martin beat Boeing for the biggest military contract in history—and how that one contract could change the way the military builds and pays for its weapons.
Behavior Modification
Soon after the Afghan war began, the Air Force dramatically altered its tactics. What lay behind the change?
The Unilateralist
A conversation with Paul Wolfowitz.
Councils of War
Military spinoffs have transformed civilian life. The momentum right now may be running in the other direction.
Councils of War
Every American war has changed our society in ways that were not anticipated. What will be the consequences of the latest war?
Councils of War
Matching confusing new realities to historical experience.
New Life for Moore's Law
After four decades of remarkably steady progress, advances in computer-chip technology seemed in danger of slowing. Not anymore.
The Early-Decision Racket
Early-decision programs—whereby a student applies early to a single school, receives an early answer, and promises to attend if accepted—have added an insane intensity to middle-class obsessions about college. They also distort the admissions process, rewarding the richest students from the most exclusive high schools and penalizing nearly everyone else. But the incentives for many colleges and students are as irresistable as they are perverse.
Freedom of the Skies
Everyone knows about the horrors of modern air travel. What almost no one knows is how inventors, entrepreneurs, and government visionaries have teamed up to create new kinds of small planes that can take off from and land almost anywhere. "Escape From Airline Hell" the scenario might be called, and it's coming soon to an airport near you.
Forget the Yellowfin
How much does a company's culture really contribute to its success?
He Was Slick, Thank God
Bill Clinton's talent for confounding his enemies, manipulating his friends, and playing all sides against the middle helped to create the economic golden years.
Inside the Leviathan
A short and stimulating brush with Microsoft's corporate culture.
A Talk With Bill Clinton
The President shows himself to be at once confident about what we should do to better life for the next generation and guarded about how much we can achieve toward that end.
Throwing Like a Girl
Throwing style is not determined by biology—anyone can learn to throw like an athlete.
Why Americans Hate the Media
Why has the media establishment become so unpopular? Perhaps the public has good reason to think that the media's self-aggrandizement gets in the way of solving the country's real problems.
A Triumph of Misinformation
Most of what everyone "knows" about the demise of health-care reform is probably wrong—and, more important, so are the vague impressions people have of what was really in Hillary Clinton's plan.
Talent on Loan from the GOP
The Rush Limbaugh story.
How the World Works
Americans persist in thinking that Adam Smith's rules for free trade are the only legitimate ones. But today's fastest-growing economies are using a very different set of rules. Once, we knew them—knew them so well that we played by them, and won. Now we seem to have forgotten.
Low-Class Conclusions
A widely reported new study claiming that all classes shared the burden of the Vietnam War is preposterous.
Remember Pearl Harbor How?
Neither Japanese nor Americans know quite how to commemorate the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the Japanese spend much more time worrying about it.
No Hard Feelings?
The aftereffects of the Vietnam War mean much more to us than to the Vietnamese, whose concern is tending to business.
No-Fat City
Walking Tokyo streets leads an American to wonder, Why are the Japanese so much thinner than we are? And why do they live longer?
Immigration
How it's affecting us.
Living With a Computer
"The process works this way. When I sit down to write a letter or start the first draft of an article, I simply type on the keyboard and the words appear on the screen"
Indonesia: An Effort to Hold Together
The islands' "guided democracy" is divided by geography, ethnic differences, and religion.
Living on the Fault Line
"Those who live in the vicinity are accustomed to earthquakes. But the prospect that scientists now suggest is different from anything within living memory in southern California."
The Draft
Why the country needs it.
Lloyd Bentsen: Can Another Texan Apply?
A "cool cat" from Texas seeks out the Democratic nomination.
China's Me Generation
Thursday, Jul. 26, 2007
By Simon Elegant /
Six friends out on a friday evening, the seafood plentiful, the conversation flowing. Maria Zhang — big hoop earrings, tight velvet jacket and a good deal of meticulously applied makeup — starts to describe an island that everyone is talking about off the east coast of Thailand. It has great diving, she says, and lots of Chinese there so you don't have to worry about language. Her friend Vicky Yang is hunched over a borrowed laptop, downloading an e-mail from a pesky client on her cell phone. An actuary at a consulting firm, Vicky needs to close a project tonight. While she phones a colleague, the dinner-table conversation moves on to snowboarding ("I must have fallen a hundred times") to the relative merits of various iPods ("Shuffle is no good") and the sudden onrush of credit cards in China. Silence Chen, an account executive with advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather in
The one subject that doesn't come up — and almost never does when this tight-knit group of friends gets together — is politics. That sets them apart from previous generations of Chinese élites, whose lives were defined by the epic events that shaped
There are roughly 300 million adults in
The rise of
All of which means democracy isn't likely to come to
For anyone who visited the workers' paradise when it was still the
That discussion took place 25 years ago, the span usually allotted to a single generation. The naive, wary Chinese I met that day could be the parents of the group gathered for the seafood feast in
The most obvious change is demographic. Because of
There's another reason for the lack of political ferment: it's exhausting. Like anyone else, members of the Me generation are shaped by their experiences and those of their families. When their parents talk about the Great Leap Forward (a disastrous Mao campaign in the late 1950s that left 20 million to 30 million dead of starvation) and the subsequent chaos of the Cultural Revolution, they mostly tell horror stories that would put anyone off politics forever. That chapter in Chinese history, which officially ended with Mao's death in 1976, is ancient history to today's young élites. They have known little but peace and an ever increasing economic boom. "We have so much bigger a desire for everything than [our parents]," says Maria Zhang, 27. "And the more we eat, the more we taste and see, the more we want."
One event that the Me generation does remember is the crackdown on student activists in
Vicky embodies the shift in the priorities of young Chinese. She's a purposeful, 29-year-old actuary who rarely smiles but loves nothing better than a party. She and her friends meet so regularly for dinner and at bars that she says she never eats at home anymore. As the pictures on her blog attest, they also throw regular theme parties to mark holidays like Halloween and Christmas, and last year took a holiday to
Encouraged by her new boyfriend Wang Ning, a keen snowboarder, Vicky decided earlier this year to take up the sport as well. To prime for it, she went to a mall in south
People like Vicky and her friends represent the leading edge, the trailblazers for a huge mass of young, eagerly aspirant consumers. All over
And so for
That's just one example of the long-term impact of the government's focus on the Me generation. In an article in the official mouthpiece People's Daily published in February, Premier Wen Jiabao stressed that economic growth should take precedence over democratic reforms for the foreseeable future, a period that he appeared to indicate could stretch to 100 years. And yet for all its machinery of control, the party is vulnerable. Senior cadres from Wen on down have acknowledged in public that growing unrest in the provinces, as farmers clash with police over expropriated land or official corruption, could threaten the party's grip on power.
As a result,
Even more telling was the passage of what was widely viewed as one of the most important pieces of legislation to be put forward in several decades of reform: the revised law on property ownership. Pushed through despite objections from old-line conservatives, the law for the first time gave equal weight to both state- and private-ownership rights. But a look at the fine print shows that the law only protects things dear to the rising middle class: real estate, cars, stock-market assets. Farmers, on the other hand, will still be unable to purchase their land and instead will be forced to lease plots from the government.
If left unchanged, such policies could exacerbate
It was hardly Tiananmen, but a small triumph for free expression nonetheless. And if the West hopes to see
Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1647228,00.html
总有一种力量让我们泪流满面
总有一种力量让我们泪流满面
2000《南方周末》开篇辞@沈灏
这是平常的一天。人们在大街上懒洋洋地走着，或者急匆匆地跑着，每个人都怀着自己的希望，每个人都握紧自己的心事。阳光打在你的脸上，温暖留在我们心里。
这 一年，日历正在一页页减去，没有什么可以把人轻易打动。除了真实。——人们有理想但也有幻象，人们得到过安慰也蒙受过羞辱，人们曾经不再相信别人也不再相 信自己。好在岁月让我们深知“真”的宝贵————真实、真情、真理，它让我们离开凌空蹈虚的乌托邦险境，认清了虚伪和欺骗。尽管，“真实”有时让人难堪， 但直面真实的民族是成熟的民族，直面真实的人群是坚强的人群。
没有什么可以轻易把人打动。除了正义的号角。没有什么可以轻易把人打动，除了内心的爱。没有什么可以轻易把人打动，除了前进的脚步……
就像平常一样，我们与你再次见面，为逝去的感怀，为新来的准备。祝愿阳光打在你的脸上。
阳光打在你的脸上，温暖留在我们心里。有一种力量，正从你的指尖悄悄袭来，有一种关怀，正从你的眼中轻轻放出。
在这个时刻，我们无言以对，惟有祝福：让无力者有力，让悲观者前行，让往前走的继续走，让幸福的人儿更幸福；而我们，则不停为你加油。
我们不停为你加油。因为你的希望就是我们的希望，因为你的苦难就是我们的苦难。
我们看着你举起锄头，我们看着你舞动镰刀，我们看着你挥汗如雨，我们看着你谷满粮仓。我们看着你流离失所，我们看着你痛哭流涕，我们看着你中流击水，我们看着你重建家园。我们看着你无奈下岗，我们看着你咬紧牙关，我们看着你风雨度过，我们看着你笑逐颜开……
我们看着你，我们不停为你加油，因为我们就是你们的一部分。
总有一种力量它让我们泪流满面，总有一种力量它让我们抖擞精神，总有一种力量它驱使我们不断寻求“正义、爱心、良知”。这种力量来自于你，来自于你们中间的每一个人。
阳光打在你的脸上，温暖留在我们心里。为什么我们总是眼含着泪水，因为我们爱得深沉；为什么我们总是精神抖擞，因为我们爱得深沉；为什么我们总在不断寻求，因为我们爱得深沉。爱这个国家，还有她的人民，他们善良，他们正直，他们懂得互相关怀。
2008年2月15日星期五
纸上得来终觉浅，绝知此事要躬行。
纸上得来终觉浅，
绝知此事要躬行。
——宋·陆游《冬夜读书示子聿》
2008年2 月9日 星期六 正月初三
策划半个月多的1998届高三三班同学十周年聚会举行，我作为发起人之一，参与了前期寻找联系同学的工作，最终有四十多位同学到场。后期，因为我在准备一些个人材料，对聚会工作退居二线，只等活动开幕。
下面是几位参与者一起讨论和总结了这次聚会的成功与不足（2月13日）。
最初是我1月12日去杭州考IBT,和汤洁无意说到今年是高中同学十周年（1998-2008）。急于扩展人脉创业的他对组织一场正式广大的同学会表现出强烈的兴趣，而参加过TMC PARTY以及一些企业酒会的我对组织活动也跃跃欲试。另外，赋闲在家的康时间上允许，同学十周年概念的提出者MOMO同学，四位同学组成聚会策划委员会。汤是综合功能体，我主要贡献主意，康是坚定的执行者，MOMO联系到不少同学。
前期寻找同学工作完成得不错，很多高中毕业后就没有联系的同学在聚会当天都来了，我也惊讶地发现原来在上海还有不少高中同学。
后期大家回到鄱阳后，小组讨论我都没参加，主要汤洁等负责。
聚会当天早上，是被思思的电话轰醒的，他就像我的主编，严肃而冷静地告诉我“你的Personal Statement被VETO了，我给你改了，但Biolographical Essay要重写”。这个念头让我差点不想去参加聚会，最后不忍让国金同学在一中门口等那么久，康的电话让我明白集体的责任，最后终于不早不晚地到场了。还没来得及和同学叙叙，餐厅服务时间到了，一心想着回来赶紧写BE，晚上还要去阿姨家吃饭……
后来，听说不少同学以为下午和晚上还有活动，比如唱歌等，而让他们尤其是从乡里过来的同学失望了，处理投影仪的损坏问题把主办法的注意力都分散了，同学们也散了……
康不乐观地说，以后很难有机会能聚到这么多同学，有的同学虽然他高中和大家说话不多，还是特地从挺远地方赶过来。随着大家逐渐成家立业，分给同窗情的时间也会越少。
可不是嘛，今天下午，这群快乐的单身汉又聚在一起打桌球了。
这件事情让我发现活动现场把握和前期准备工作是两种完全不同的状态。总体来说，前期准备都比较完满，但败笔之处是现场没有控制好。本来打算主持的我在那么多熟悉又陌生的同学面前也开不了口，国金同学主动站出来完成剩下的主持工作，让我甚是感激和钦佩。正如思思说的，你还是要历练。
最后，投影仪的小岔子，让聚会收尾不了了之。
康其实是最通晓实际的人之一，他说这次聚会其实不需要太多的主持活动，就让大家随意坐着聊聊天叙叙旧就够了，硬是要组织什么击鼓传花真心话的活动反而束缚了。可惜他的声音在现场被淹没了。
大家都尽心尽力了，能来那么多同学就是成功的一半。我和汤的理想化指导在一定程度上影响另一半的效果，我心里些许抱歉，但也是这些不圆满让我反观到不足并改进。
绝知此事要躬行。
——宋·陆游《冬夜读书示子聿》
2008年2 月9日 星期六 正月初三
策划半个月多的1998届高三三班同学十周年聚会举行，我作为发起人之一，参与了前期寻找联系同学的工作，最终有四十多位同学到场。后期，因为我在准备一些个人材料，对聚会工作退居二线，只等活动开幕。
下面是几位参与者一起讨论和总结了这次聚会的成功与不足（2月13日）。
最初是我1月12日去杭州考IBT,和汤洁无意说到今年是高中同学十周年（1998-2008）。急于扩展人脉创业的他对组织一场正式广大的同学会表现出强烈的兴趣，而参加过TMC PARTY以及一些企业酒会的我对组织活动也跃跃欲试。另外，赋闲在家的康时间上允许，同学十周年概念的提出者MOMO同学，四位同学组成聚会策划委员会。汤是综合功能体，我主要贡献主意，康是坚定的执行者，MOMO联系到不少同学。
前期寻找同学工作完成得不错，很多高中毕业后就没有联系的同学在聚会当天都来了，我也惊讶地发现原来在上海还有不少高中同学。
后期大家回到鄱阳后，小组讨论我都没参加，主要汤洁等负责。
聚会当天早上，是被思思的电话轰醒的，他就像我的主编，严肃而冷静地告诉我“你的Personal Statement被VETO了，我给你改了，但Biolographical Essay要重写”。这个念头让我差点不想去参加聚会，最后不忍让国金同学在一中门口等那么久，康的电话让我明白集体的责任，最后终于不早不晚地到场了。还没来得及和同学叙叙，餐厅服务时间到了，一心想着回来赶紧写BE，晚上还要去阿姨家吃饭……
后来，听说不少同学以为下午和晚上还有活动，比如唱歌等，而让他们尤其是从乡里过来的同学失望了，处理投影仪的损坏问题把主办法的注意力都分散了，同学们也散了……
康不乐观地说，以后很难有机会能聚到这么多同学，有的同学虽然他高中和大家说话不多，还是特地从挺远地方赶过来。随着大家逐渐成家立业，分给同窗情的时间也会越少。
可不是嘛，今天下午，这群快乐的单身汉又聚在一起打桌球了。
这件事情让我发现活动现场把握和前期准备工作是两种完全不同的状态。总体来说，前期准备都比较完满，但败笔之处是现场没有控制好。本来打算主持的我在那么多熟悉又陌生的同学面前也开不了口，国金同学主动站出来完成剩下的主持工作，让我甚是感激和钦佩。正如思思说的，你还是要历练。
最后，投影仪的小岔子，让聚会收尾不了了之。
康其实是最通晓实际的人之一，他说这次聚会其实不需要太多的主持活动，就让大家随意坐着聊聊天叙叙旧就够了，硬是要组织什么击鼓传花真心话的活动反而束缚了。可惜他的声音在现场被淹没了。
大家都尽心尽力了，能来那么多同学就是成功的一半。我和汤的理想化指导在一定程度上影响另一半的效果，我心里些许抱歉，但也是这些不圆满让我反观到不足并改进。
暖暖的午后
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
-(Reinhold Niebuhr 1892-1971)
Nana去上海的票买到了，思思家的效率总那么高，惭愧的我早上还在睡懒觉。
我也不用明天一大早坐班车去南昌和她见面了，回上海后我们见。希望Nana顺利，春天也快来了，一切都在新生。
连续几天暖暖的阳光照射在我房间，被子衣服都是太阳的味道，每天爸爸变着戏法为两个女儿准备好吃的，衣食无忧，让我极不情愿返沪。
现在回家耗时耗钱，不像本科时那么便捷了，进入上海状态后也难以分神回家，像个轮子不停运转，节假日才稍微停下来。倪云般的厦门日子我偶尔憧憬，上海的生活方式是难以走厦门风格的。
除了形式化的研究生集体和窒闷的寝室，还是有很多向往的，比如Lighthouse Toastmasters，学品老师，放开眼睛，相信在上海我们会找到希望和自己的。
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
-(Reinhold Niebuhr 1892-1971)
Nana去上海的票买到了，思思家的效率总那么高，惭愧的我早上还在睡懒觉。
我也不用明天一大早坐班车去南昌和她见面了，回上海后我们见。希望Nana顺利，春天也快来了，一切都在新生。
连续几天暖暖的阳光照射在我房间，被子衣服都是太阳的味道，每天爸爸变着戏法为两个女儿准备好吃的，衣食无忧，让我极不情愿返沪。
现在回家耗时耗钱，不像本科时那么便捷了，进入上海状态后也难以分神回家，像个轮子不停运转，节假日才稍微停下来。倪云般的厦门日子我偶尔憧憬，上海的生活方式是难以走厦门风格的。
除了形式化的研究生集体和窒闷的寝室，还是有很多向往的，比如Lighthouse Toastmasters，学品老师，放开眼睛，相信在上海我们会找到希望和自己的。
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