There truly is a silver lining to every cloud. Poor Iceland suffers from financial crises and mismanagement, but on the bright side, due to all those difficulties, the McDonald's franchise in Iceland is going out of business. This is sure to improve Icelanders' health.

Interesting to note that the first person to eat a Mickey D's junkburger in Iceland, then Prime Minister Oddsson, was also forced out of office by his incompetence in handling the financial crises which have almost bankrupted his country. But then, nobody ever called McDonald's brain food.

孔子誕辰不放假了、光復節不放假了。

中美斷交後，很多人講一句「國民外交」，處處想如何讓自由中國臺灣在國際上形象美好。很久沒聽到人家說「國民外交」這一句，現在取而代之，是「愛臺灣！」的怒吼。愛臺灣，紀念黷武濫殺、反對民主的日本帝國軍閥投降、撤出臺灣的光復節怎不放假呢？

但現在很少聽到「國民外交」。臺灣現在給世界甚麼樣的印象？除了颱風水災、前總統貪污，新聞、輿論、世界耳目，有沒有我們市井小民可以左右的事？

一個在泰國舉辦生態旅遊的美僑一講到臺灣就罵。他說，除了幾位環保人士之外，他見過的臺灣旅客全都是混帳：口袋裏有幾個錢就瞧不起天下的人、毫無文化氣息、沒品味沒格調；他問我怎能忍受住這種爛地方？我叫他來臺灣看看，根本不是那一回事。可是他印象已經太糟，堅決拒絕來臺灣。

你看這種國民外交的實效。

你說「愛臺灣」，還留這種印象給別人。

再想。大家說愛臺灣要環保，我們作得怎樣？幾年前，念環保出身的郝龍斌推了一個法案，為了保護臺灣的環境，少用塑膠袋。需要立法強制才減少用塑膠袋，這個問題暫且不談：人民履行的績效如何？

日本人不重視環保，惡名昭彰，平均日本人一年一個人用三百個塑膠袋，高居全世界第三名。第二名是文化水平低落的澳洲，全世界第二名：平均一年一個人用三百二十五個塑膠袋。第一名，平均一年一個人用九百個塑膠袋，就是臺灣。

讀者說，「哇，真丟臉！都是別人不檢點、揮霍浪費，把臺灣的名聲搞壞掉了！」瞋罵一陣，然後呢？請問看倌，下次出門，帶環保袋嗎？能減少用塑膠袋的量嗎？能持之以恆嗎？…還是罵貪官比較過癮吧。

(Blogger自白：我平常大概平均十天用一個塑膠袋。)

「愛臺灣」的問題是，「愛」是甚麼？大家都知道愛，可是實在很難說明愛是甚麼。這樣說如何？愛一個人，不是光跟她逛街、跳舞、狂歡一陣便另求新歡；愛，日日年年想照顧她、年年怕她受傷、自己差一點沒關係，只希望她越來越好。

如果愛是這樣的話，依我個人的觀察，我覺得戒嚴時期的人比較愛臺灣；現在只愛商品與廣告。

但愛臺灣的愛，不應當是男女熱戀的愛吧，應當是一種比較像親情的愛。

親情，建立在「孝」，可惜孔子講的孝被誤解。「不孝有三，無後為大」，這句不是孔子說的，是曾驂曾子說的。夫子自己說曾參頭腦不靈活(「參也魯」)，死抓一個呆板的「孝」觀念，常讓夫子無奈。

曾子想的孝順，順多于孝，以為父母之言不敢違、乖乖聽父母的話就是孝，所以孝經記錄，曾子問孔子，「敢問子從父之令，可謂孝乎？」子曰：「是何言與，是何言與！昔者天子有爭臣七人，雖無道，不失其天下； 諸侯有爭臣五人，雖無道，不失其國；大夫有爭臣三人，雖無道，不失其家；士有爭友，則身不離於令名；父有爭子，則身不陷於不義。則子不可以不爭於父，臣不可以不爭於君；故當不義，則爭之。從父之令，又焉得為孝乎！」

于孝經，夫子又說，「君子之事上也，進思盡忠，進思補過，將順其美，匡救其惡，故上下能相親也。」忠孝，不是唯命是從。韓詩外傳記孫叔敖曰，「畏鞭箠之嚴，而不敢諫其父，非孝子也；懼斧鉞之誅，而不敢諫其君，非忠臣也。」

其實，夫子講的孝道，耐人尋味。夫子說，孝在揚親；讓大家說你父母把孩子教的很好、父母的孩子是有用的人、對天下、社會負責、付出，就是孝。孝，並不在于生不生小討債鬼。孝而不忠，是不為孝；害天下以利父母，是為不孝。

我真希望大家能把夫子講的孝道(不是曾子的呆板孝順！)，廣泛施用于臺灣社會。

不只是施用于臺灣的社會。大家耳熟能詳的孝經一句，夫子說，「身體髮膚，受之父母，不敢毀傷，孝之始也。」這句，稍微調一下：「身體髮膚，受之天地，不敢毀傷生態，孝之始也。」如果大家能保護臺灣的環境、不再任意破壞山林海灘湖埤造成災害，留個美麗、健康的臺灣給後人，這應該稱得上愛臺灣吧。

也希望明年起，教師節、光復節放假！

Yumin has been climbing trees again.

I reported on this blog last year that Yumin treed a kitty-cat and then tried to climb up after it.

This morning we were awakened by the racket of Byajing's barking in the ravine out front. I went out to investigate and found Tlahuy and Byajing craning their necks at a kitty high in the tree, and Yumin muscling his way up. He's actually got good climbing form. He uses pressure on his back to force his way upwards, but unluckily for him, luckily for the cat, the branches branch apart before he can get close to the perched cat.

I finally asked Sabiy to go get some dog treats. Then I lifted Yumin off the tree, and carried him away. Tlahuy and Byajing followed, and we gave them all treats and praise. The plan was to give the cat time to slip away.

Notice that Tlahuy and Byajing just stay earthbound and hope gravity will bring Cat to Dog, but Yumin exerts his powerful imagination and physique to bring Dog to Cat ("If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad…") You can't help but admire his imagination! Yumin was unable to go too high because the branches separated, removing his friction. But what if he found a tree which enabled him to go all the way up to the cat's perch? I'm sure the cat wouldn't stick around, but I worry about how Yumin would get down.

That would be a terribly embarrassing phonecall to have to make: "Hello, fire station, could you please send someone over, my beagle has climbed up a tree and he can't get down…"

This morning the trees were full of raucous birds. I recorded three sets and posted them on flickr. In the first, you can hear 樹鵲 tree pies and 藍鵲 blue magpies staking claim to the large tree out front, while to the right, a flock of 笑鶇 laughing thrushes trill in warning. Other birds also sing in the background. The birds flit back and forth among the branches. A blue magpie takes a strategic perch on a branch.



City dwellers are highly recommended to watch and listen to all three, to recall the wonders of our world, and to cleanse the soul.

Today Denise the Vet came to give the dogs their annual shots. Yumin HATES to have shots ~ I think it's the indignity of it all that distresses him, because he is generally impervious to pain. He remembers Denise, no doubt about that at all! He wouldn't come near her, so I told her to stay indoors while I coaxed Yumin over. I took a firm grip on his collar and held him while Denise gave him his shots. Then Yumin at a brisk pace trotted as far away from us as he could get and still remain on our property, by the front gate, sat down, and waited to be comforted.

Typhoon Parma should get an award for Most Persistent Typhoon.
Now go away, please!

「Yugan，你那邊蚊子多不多？」

「烏來哪裡蚊子不多？」

「那麼你就燒蚊香吧！」

「沒用。」

「有！蚊香一定有用，因為蚊子受不了味道，所以牠們飛的時候，需要捏住鼻子。這樣的話，牠們沒辦法平衡，飛不好就比較不能咬人。」

「對呀，沒錯，飛不好，所以牠們用走的來咬人。」

"Yugan, do you get a lot of mosquitoes at your place?

"Where in Wulai aren't there a lot of mosquitoes?"

"Then you should burn mosquito coils."

"Doesn’t work."

"Yes it does! Mosquito coils do work, because the mosquitoes can't stand the smell, so when they fly, they pinch their noses shut. That way, they lose their balance, and if they can't fly well, they can't bite people so well."

"Yeah, right, they can't fly, so they walk up and bite you."

We all sleep easier when we remember how the Republicans and the Christian Right are protecting everybody’s morals. These are people who take strong moral stands, believe in the sanctity of marriage and the family, and man the bastions against divorce and pornography.

The latest Republican candidate for Vice President, ex-Governor Palin, was so proud of being absolutely right on all moral issues that her unmarried teenage daughter got pregnant. The father of Palin’s grandfather, who of course has long since broken up with Bristol Palin, is now working out at the gym. Reason? To get in shape, because he is going to pose nude for Playgirl magazine. Here:::

Hurrah for Christian Republic morals and good old-fashioned hypocrisy!

愛臺灣！愛臺灣！可是拜託，芭瑪颱風可不可以不要那麼愛臺灣？

懇請芭瑪，不要一直留戀在巴士海峽，請快走！

Of all the holidays on the calendar, Western or Chinese, the only one I really celebrate is 中秋節, the Mid Autumn Festival, October 3 this year by the solar calendar. The main activities for the Mid Autumn Festival are admiring the Harvest Moon and eating mooncakes, yum yum!

I love this holiday because a} it means the torrid, muggy Taiwan summer is just about over and relief is in sight; b} the moon is beautiful; c} isn't it beautiful to have a national holiday for nothing more political or religious than admiring the moon: and finally, most important, d} mooncakes, yum yum!

This is the theory, mind you. The day before yesterday, it started raining. The weather has been cloudy all week, because we have two typhoons bearing down on us. Yesterday, the big day, it rained all day, and it's still raining now.

What can you do under such circumstances? First, we moved our tea drinking indoors from the porch. Yum yum, 民國八十四年珍藏的普洱，現在大約四、五十年 + mooncakes. Rather than admire the Harvest Moon, we admired our beloved 臺灣土狗Taiwan tugo Byajing, the Canine Moon.

Explanation: 'byajing' is Tayal for 'moon.'