臺灣履薄冰、臨深淵，必須謹慎、步步穩固，避免千古恨。

要民主嗎？民主是法制，法制重程序、證據。

警察打人的照片被撤。我電腦技術不好，我無法追究是哪個駭客撤的。我可以猜測，但我沒有證據。

誰撤照片，箭頭向馬政，但有證據嗎？馬政有動機嗎？

在國際上，警察打學生，司空見慣，常有的事，新聞價值不高(君不見去年U C Davis警察用胡椒粉噴示威學生，法院還給造事警察三萬元美金精神賠償；南方警察看到大學生晚上在路邊跑，開槍打死，沒事)。馬政沒有必要撤照片。馬政應該知道在世界輿論上打學生沒甚麼，但是干預言論自由──尤其在臉書──事情就大條。他們不需要給自己背這個黑鍋。

但是問，照片是馬政撤的？我只能回答：不知道。

可能是政敵要嫁禍，知道大家會怪馬政，也未可知。我個人懷疑是記者所為。記者可以推翻垃圾桶，甚至動手打人來製造新聞；唯恐天下不亂的臺灣記者也很可能撤照片、捅蜂窩、營造熱鬧畫面來報導。我這樣想，但是我沒有證據。

犯罪現場的人有嫌疑：多少人在網路上？每一個都可能撤照片，可是有沒有動機？搞不好是哪一個網卡一個駭客技術很強的高中生鬧著玩的撤照片，來看熱鬧。是不是這樣？我不知道。

你要說是馬政撤照片，可以，但請拿出證據給我看。我的想法偏向民主、法制。

學生不該離開立法院。他們在立法院已經成為一個基地，被承認被默許，有屋頂擋風躲雨，有牆護著。

學生讀書沒讀兵法。人在牆內，外人進不去，引到牆外，才能下手。

悲。

可是我真的很想知道：一，馬英九這幾天到底在做甚麼？二，馬英九認為一個總統的職責是甚麼？

遲來的文章：link

終于完成一個心願：做了一隻竹筒琴(阿美族傳統樂器，如今幾乎已經失傳了)。很可惜，最後竹子裂了，但現在知道怎麼做，可以再接再厲！Today I finally finished making my first tiftif: this is an Amis musical instrument that has almost been forgotten (and the Amis are a tribe of Taiwan aborigines). Unfortunately, in the final stages the bamboo split, but now I have figured out how to make them, and more will come. 

借~ 海雅谷慕的話：

「幹

噁心死了

他媽的我愛台灣還需要你來提醒或檢視嗎」

link

巳時，烏來打春雷

In Listening class, we once had a sentence: 

If you can’t reach the top shelf, stand on a stool.

A student was quite distressed: Why do you have to stand on a stool if you can’t reach the top shelf? She was a lab technician. 

民國六十一年春夏，我住國際學舍，在信義路、新生南路口。年輕外國遊客來臺差不多都住那裏。一位叫Phred的加州遊客來臺灣玩兩三週，發現臺灣正在放他半年前在加州看過的影片，他想在臺灣再看，一定有趣。當時臺灣還不富裕，國外看完的電影，才輪到臺灣來看，所以比加州晚半年，差不多正常。加上技術問題，35mm影帶在國外放過幾百次，來臺灣已經襤褸，畫面很多白點黑線，加上斷了再補，補了又接，順序錯亂，淫穢片段刪剪，經過遍體鱗傷的音響設備，約翰偉恩聽起來比較像兔寶寶，所以在臺灣看外國片，常給人一種「語無倫次」的感覺。但是Phred想看，義不容辭，我們國際學舍幾隻老鳥答應帶他到西門町看。但是我們叮嚀再三，影片前會放國歌，一定要站起來立正，不可以亂動，以示敬意，因為民眾以國歌為榮，不立正示敬，觀眾會罵：「怎麼可以不尊敬我們的國歌？」講了好幾次，Phred說他不會忘記。好了，我們買好票、爆米花也買了、擠進了窄小坑坑洞洞的座位。我們跟他講，爆米花盡量不要掉地上，以免引老鼠來吃。

坐了幾分鐘，燈暗了，破舊的喇叭放出動人、威武的音樂，Phred跳起來了，立正，脊椎筆直，雙手貼大腿，頭高眼直，臉上的表情嚴肅、敬重：「黑松汽水~~~」。我們忘了跟他說國歌前會先放廣告。後來真的放了國歌，他說已經沒有那股靈感，感覺不到熱血澎湃。

In early 1972, I was living in the long-gone, little-lamented International House, home for the various and motley foreigners studying Chinese and the even more various and more motley young foreign travelers passing through. One young stalwart, Phred from LA, was spending a couple weeks in Taiwan, and noticed that a movie was playing that he had seen six months before in LA. Since Taiwan was still poor in those days, we got movies after everybody else had seen them, so a six month lag was about right. Add in technical issues: a 35mm film that had been played hundreds of times was ragged by the time it got to Taiwan, with white spots and black lines meandering all over the screen. Most had broken and been patched, the censors chopped out the dirty parts. The sequence was usually juggled about in the process. The speakers were always on their last legs, so John Wayne came out sounding more like Bugs Bunny. All together, watching a foreign movie in Taiwan always left you wondering what the heck the film had been about.

But Phred wanted to go, so a couple of us I Housers figured it was our duty to take him down to the fire trap in West Gate where the movie was showing, sort of. But we drilled it into Phred: Before the movie, they play the national anthem, and you have to stand straight without wiggling or fidgeting. People were proud of their national anthem, and if you showed insufficient respect, the audience would be displeased. Phred promised he would remember, and assured us that he could stand up straight, that part he could do, no problem. So we got our tickets, got our popcorn, squeezed ourselves into our narrow, bumpy, uncomfortable little seats, and waited for the show. We warned Phred not to drop any popcorn on the floor, lest it attract rats.

The lights dimmed, and out of the hoarse speakers flowed stirring martial music. Phred was on his feet in a flash, his body ramrod straight, his hands straight down at his sides, his head held high, eyes straight forward, with a solemn look of respect on his face: the Haysong Soda Pop song. We had forgotten to tell him that they run ads before the national anthem, and hauled him back down into his seat.

When the national anthem came on, Phred stood at lackluster attention. He said the inspiration was past, the passion spent.

But after the show, he agreed that the movie didn’t make any sense at all. 

I am rereading Peter Raby’s excellent autobiography of Alfred Russel Wallace. Which is beside the point. What interests me today is, with a name like Peter Raby, did the author, from a tender age, get called Peter Rabbit? It seems pretty natural to me.

Think of the family. How many of their dogs were shot? “Look at that dog.” “Oh, that’s the Rabys’ dog.” Bang.

How do you cope with a name like Raby? “Who are your neighbors?” “The Rabys live next door to us.” “Oh my!”

“I hear you are having company for dinner.” “Yes, the Rabys are coming.” “Well, be sure to get inoculated.”

Truly it is said, Reading broadens a person. I would never have thought of these predicaments had I not picked up this book. 

Men were needed for combat during WWII, so my mother enlisted and used her artistic skills as a draftsman. She worked in the Pentagon, drafting situation maps for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Roosevelt. For her contribution to the war effort, she was awarded the Legion of Merit, the highest non-combat medal.

She saved a couple drafting triangles. One of them had on it: PROPERTY AIR FORCE US ARMY. She liked it because it dated back to the time before the Air Force was an independent force.

She used it for years, gave it to me, and I used it for many years. Some time back, I noticed that the triangle wasn’t lying flat. It was bulging and buckling, so I put it in the bottom of a drawer to flatten it.

This morning I opened the drawer and found the plastic was disintegrating. Pretty good, you consider it was about 70 years old.

Now it has returned to the soil, as we all will some day. 

legion of merit:: link
legion of merit recipients: link

My heart just bleeds for this poor man. He wanted an extra napkin at Mickey D’s, and they didn’t give him one. This caused him such anguish that he is suing for $1.5m. Heck, just thinking about McDonald’s causes me anguish, how much can I sue for?

LINK

Commemorate Vivaldi’s birthday.