回味逝去的童年﹐慨嘆成年的顧慮。
恐怖的是我竟然可以說得出MTV中每一套卡通的名字﹐是不是我小時候看得太多電視呢﹖
超合金魂
回味逝去的童年﹐慨嘆成年的顧慮。
恐怖的是我竟然可以說得出MTV中每一套卡通的名字﹐是不是我小時候看得太多電視呢﹖
Women are better shooter
Most people think shooting is a men’s sport, as women don’t usually associate with guns. Today I just learn that women are better natural shooter than men, since women can shoot more accurately. In my shooting club, the best shooter is a woman and some experience shooters said they have a hard time completing with women.
The difference is not due to skill nor training, it is due to the body structure of the two genders. Women has a low center of mass, while men has a high center of mass. When aiming a target, higher center of mass makes the body less stable. Having the body stable is the most important key factor determine where the bullets will hit. Since women has a natural advantage in shooting, we should correct the stereotype that shooting is men’s sport. Shooting is a sport suits well balanced for both sex. Where women have more stable hands, men have faster reaction time.
請給與緬甸人民推翻暴政的力量
今天新聞看見緬甸軍方開槍鎮壓首都仰光的示威﹐令我聯想起六月某天在北京發生的某件事情。緬甸的軍方政府推翻民選政府﹐實行極權統治多年﹐早把國家弄得民不聊生。僧侶發動和平示威爭取民主﹐學生和人民響應上街遊行﹐本來是個很好的改革契機。軍方政府貪戀權力為保政權﹐寧可甘冒被世界各國遣責﹐也要對手無寸鐵的人民開槍鎮壓。世界各國也基於人道理由﹐發出遣責緬甸軍方暴行的聲明﹐可是只是遺責聲明有用嗎﹖
跟據聯合國以往的慣例﹐ 遣責接下來的行動就是經濟制裁。可是跟據以往的經驗﹐經濟制裁基本上沒有用﹐反而國家經濟蕭條﹐最終受苦的是緬甸人民。獨裁者才不會因為人民受苦而自動放棄政權﹐看看古巴﹐北韓﹐利比克等專制國家﹐給聯合國制裁了幾十年﹐獨裁者還是好端端地享受富貴特權。經濟制裁並不會影響獨專者的生活質素﹐反正有走私販子提供所需的奢移品。沒有與外國通商貿易﹐國民接觸外國思想的機會少﹐更加易於實行專制統治。遺責沒有用﹐制裁沒有用﹐還有沒有其他辨法呢﹖
辨法也不是全完沒有﹐聯合國可以派維和部隊進駐﹐推翻軍方政權成立民主政府。先不論這方案負上干預別國內政的罪名﹐這個方案也並非萬試萬靈的妙方。雖然維和部隊在南斯拉夫和岡果有點成績﹐但緬甸軍方並非泛泛之輩﹐有一定程度的軍力實力﹐聯合國的軍隊可能會陷入苦戰。看看美國在伊拉克泥足深陷的反面教材﹐就算成功打敗獨裁者﹐國家局勢還是十分動蕩﹐距離民主和平政府還有很遠的路。現實中干預別國內政的爭論﹐只是地緣政治權力鬥爭的潛台詞﹐決定如何分配外國對新政權的影響力。可是在理論的層面上﹐干預別國的內政涉及國家主權與普世價值的悖論。基於人道理由﹐我們不能無視專制政府屠殺人民。可是揮軍進佔別國﹐以武力阻止屠殺﹐又會變成了帝國主義。我雖然支持殖民主義﹐認為文明國家有啟蒙開發落後國家的責任﹐也不會輕率地支持出兵。若果出兵對文明國家沒有利益﹐總不能叫文明國家的國民﹐白白去落後國家送死吧。有利益會被指動機不純正﹐沒有利益而出兵又不划算﹐如果有足夠的軍事力量和國民支持度﹐出兵他國推翻暴政在理論上可行。可是基於現實上限制的考慮﹐出兵也不是可行的解決辨法。
制裁沒有用出兵又不切實際﹐那麼我們是否只能眼白白看著專制政權欺壓人民﹐什麼事也不能幹呢﹖一個國家的命運﹐應該由那個國家的人民決定﹐旁人不能亦難以代勞。若果人民不夠忍受專制政府的統治﹐人民有權發動革命去推翻獨裁政權。手無寸鐵的平民沒有能力反抗迫壓﹐我們應該做的事情是緬甸人民一個機會﹐讓他們可以主宰自己的將來。既然人民和平示威完全沒有效用﹐兼會被暴政屠殺﹐武裝起義是迫不得爾的最後選擇。我們不能夠代替緬甸人民去打仗﹐我們只能提供資金和武器﹐讓他們有能力自己作出決定。他們可以選擇在專制統治下苟且偷生﹐他們亦可以選擇冒生命危險英勇地反抗暴政。若果每個緬甸人民也擁有槍械﹐軍隊不敢輕易地開槍屠殺人民﹐人民就有力量站起來推翻軍政府。只有人民和政府的權力得到平衝﹐才不會產生殘暴的獨裁政權﹐人民擁有槍械是自由的基石﹐所以請支持槍械合法化。
Mid Autumn Festival
Today is the mid autumn festival. In Chinese tradition, people suppose to look up the sky tonight and adore the roundness of the moon. To me, today is just a normal work day and then have some church function in the evening. I am not even aware it is the day of mid-autumn festival until Pat gave me a moon cake. I didn’t bother to raise my head and check out the moon, since the shape of the moon is none of my concern.
A traditional festival loses its meaning if it doesn’t come with a holiday. When the meaning is hollowed out, people will move on and slowly forget the festival. The festival may has some symbolic in the past, but in the this post-modern world anyone can associate any meaning to any symbol or associate any symbol to any day. Mid-autumn symbolizes thinking about far way family members in the past. Now you can simply call them up to say hello at any time. You can make any day carry the same meaning of the mid-autumn festival. The traditional festival has lost its meaning, what’s left in a festival is just an excuse to give us a day off to enjoy ourself.
How to buy a gun
This is a speech prepared for the Toastmaster humorous speech contest.
A woman walked into a gun shop and said to the shop keeper, “I would like to buy a gun for my husband.” The woman said she don’t know much about guns and ask for some advice. The shop keeper then asked her, “What type of guns your husband likes?” The woman said, “Are you kidding? He doesn’t even know I am going to shoot him!”
Mr. Chair, fellow Toastmasters, when you walk into a gun shop, you don’t to be as clueless as the woman in the story. Today I am going to give you some tips on how to buy a gun.
First you decide what type of guns you want to buy by asking yourself what targets are you going to shoot? Paper target, sports clay, wild games or your mother in law. You need to buy the right gun for the right target. Rifles for far away target, handguns for close combat, and shotguns for anything that flies.
Buying guns is like buying shoes, you have to try it out to find the one that fits you. You may have to try out many guns before finding one that is comfortable to use. Pick up the gun, pretend you are Bruce Willis in Die Hard, imagine you are fighting a group of terrorist. You want to make sure your gun feels like an natural extension of your hand at all time.
The next tips is specially for the ladies or any fashionable gentlemen. Guns come in different colors, such as black polyester, dark blue steel finish, shiny silver nickel finish, fine-wood walnut finish, marine camouflage in different shades of green. You may want to pick a gun that matches your dressing style. When you are holding a gun, how cool you look is as important as how good you shoot.
Last time when I went to the gun shop, I overheard a conversation between two hunters. The first hunter asked the second one, “Why do you hunt without bullets?” The second hunter replied, “It is much cheaper and the result are the same.” I am sure my fellow Toastmasters are much better shooters than the second hunter, so you may want to buy some bullets. Buying bullets require some delicate knowledge, you have to know how to read numbers. All you have to do is read the caliber marking on the gun and find the bullets that match the number.
A single bullet is not expensive, but if you plan to do lots of shooting, the ammunition bill may add up quite high. Do you know that you can get bullets in every day low price at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart carries a huge selection of bullets. If you buy in bulk, you may even get volume discount.
Let me ask you a question. What will you do if you catch you teenager son buying dirty magazines? I will tell him buying dirty magazines is wrong, because it may jam your gun. In a gun shop, a magazine is not something for you to read, it is something that holds extra bullets. It is always wise to have a few spare magazine with you. You don’t want to find yourself run out of ammo in the middle of a shooting.
Now you have buy your gun, some bullets and a few magazine. You are ready to shoot. But wait a second, let me tell you a real story of how not to use a gun. In 1990, a Seattle man named David Zaback got a gun from the black market. He decided to turn make some quick bucks. He walked in to shop, pointed his gun at the shop keeper and ask for money. However, he made a big mistake, he picked to the wrong shop. He was trying to rob a gun store! He was shot dead right on the spot by the shop keeper and other customers. Remember, don’t do stupid things with your gun. Happy Shooting.