The People’s Republic of China is surging ahead on all fronts. Here are buildings under construction there.

兩年前到北京，很震撼；當時想，如果我是美國外交官，我會很害怕，因為北京氣勢太強。紐約與華盛頓加起來還是遜色多。

近日與內人逛掏寶網的服裝，看到苗族刺繡的現代設計，十分訝異。既傳統又創新，很大方、很感設計。臺灣服裝設計有這種氣魄嗎？我沒見過。

剛好朋友寄來這組大陸建築設計，他說：「杜拜算什麼？看看2015年後的中國，這才叫世界第一；台灣藍，綠再惡鬥下去，一切輸了了，最後脫光褲子……世界不會等你台湾！」

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今天是冬至後三天，慶祝很多神的生日，尤其有一位處女生兒子，用布把他包起來放在馬槽裏，牧羊人來讚揚；後來有十二位徒弟，受過洗的信徒禮拜日，即主日，要做禮拜，以羔羊、以獅子代表這位神；說十二月二十五出生的這位當然是西元前三千五百年前的印度波斯神密特拉。後來到來西元前一千五百年，密特拉的信仰傳到了中東，在希臘羅馬盛行。加上很多、很多神的生日都在冬至後三天，即十二月二十五日，所以到了中世紀，羅馬教宗為了拉攏各教派的人，也把耶穌的生日挪到這一天。所以啊，聖誕節快樂：至于是誰的聖誕，請自己選擇，可多著呢。

臺灣不是密特拉信仰的社會，拜基督的也不多，但是拜財神的人非常多，所以商家把聖誕節炒的很熱。今天朋友傳一則聖誕餅的故事，跟大家分享。『聖誕節那天起床太晚，走進早餐店時已經近十點了，點了一份燒餅油條。

老板：「我們只有聖誕餅。」

我好奇地問：「聖誕餅長什麼樣子？」

老板指著盤子說：「剩蛋餅！」』

Today, three days after the winter solstice, people celebrate the birth of god. Very nice, but which one? The god who as a baby, born of a virgin, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger, where shepherds came to adore him; when he grew up, he baptized his disciples and held worship on Sunday; he had twelve apostles, and was identified with the lamb and the lion; of course it goes without saying that I am describing Mithra, the Indo-Persian god who was born on December 25 in about 3,500 BC. His religion spread to the Near East in around 1500 BC, was prevalent in Greece and Rome, and was practiced from India to Scotland. Oh, you thought I was talking about his understudy Jesus of Nazareth? Of course early Christians commemorated the birth of Jesus in the spring, but since so many other gods had their birthdays on the third day after the winter solstice, in the Middle Ages the Pope decided that Jesus should have his birthday that day, too. Just like Horus, Dionysus, Attis, Baal, and a bunch of others.

But whatever, the more the merrier. Yesterday I read a story I would like to share with you. It seems that a husband and wife were out walking in St Petersburg Square when it started to rain or snow very lightly. It was both, neither one nor the other. As they went along, they discussed this, but couldn’t decide if it was rain or snow. He said rain, she said snow, an impasse. They saw the shopping mall security guard, a communist guy named Rudolf. They thought he would be a fair judge, so they asked him, “Rudolf, is this rain or snow?” Without a moment’s hesitation, Rudolf said, “It’s rain.”
The wife was crestfallen. Her husband was sure Rudolf was right, so he told his wife, “Rudolf the Red knows rain, dear.”

A wonderful Christmas story my old friend Bill sent me.

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee Elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure. 

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more. 

When he went to harness the Reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where. Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered. 

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the Elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor.  In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor.  He went to get the broom and found the Mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom. 

Just then the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little Angel with a great big Christmas tree.  

The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?' 

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree. 

Not a lot of people know this.

哪一種水果閒不下來？

答案在本部落本月十九日。

廿一日的謎底揭曉：

芒果。

石油漲價，物價立馬漲。石油跌價‧。‧還扗等…. When oil prices go up, the price of everything else immediately goes up. Okay, so oil prices have fallen. I’m waiting to see when other prices fall. Yeah, good luck. 

The Taliban have shown again how brave they are. After shooting a teenage girl, they are back on the scene again, shooting students and teachers. It takes a lot of bravery, I suppose, to go shoot up preschoolers, elementary students, and high school kids.

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The Taliban have shown again how smart they are. The school they attacked, the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, is in one of the very few nations that shows any sympathy for the Taliban, and a Muslim nation no less. Not only have they alienated their neighbors who have supported them, but by attacking an Army school and killing many soldiers’ children, they have alienated the Pakistan military. Good planning, no?

Even my dogs won’t attack children. For shame!

Amitabha. 

美國政府企圖偷偷地將印地安人聖地送給英澳財團開發礦場。How generous can you get? The US government is giving away Amerindian land to foreign corporations.

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I am a hardcore environmentalist, but I have never had patience with Greenpeace. They just don’t have sense.

Now they have trekked in to Nazca, the ancient drawings in Peru, to post signs protesting climate warming. Not only did they show utter disrespect for the site, but they also damaged it, maybe irremediably.

Peruvian Culture Minister Jaime Castillo said the act was “a slap in the face at everything Peruvians consider sacred.” Not only Peruvians, sir.

The culprits showed their contrition by removing themselves from Peru so they cannot be held responsible for their acts.

Greenpeace: The future is renewable; Nazca is not.

Sigh.

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光緒年間李伯元著「文明小史」，云：「趙翰林歎道：『我們中國人有一種本事，說到人家的錯處，就同鏡子一般，那眼皮上怎樣一個疤、臉上怎樣一個瘢，絲毫不得差，休想逃得過去；說到自己，便不肯把鏡子回過來照照。殊不知瘢兒疤兒多著哩！』」

像不像臺灣的輿論？

應該發起全民運動，大家熟讀韓愈「原毀」。也許這樣能帶動進步。

An interesting analysis of Pearl Harbor:

Sunday, December 7th, 1941 – Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him.

When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet.

Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked.

As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?"

Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America . Which do you think it was?"

Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?"

Nimitz explained.

“Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk – we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised.

One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America . And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top-of-the-ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply.
That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America.”

Now this is a pretty kettle of fish. It seems that the English royal family isn’t. Isn’t royal, that is. The news report says, “Analysis of DNA from Richard III has thrown up another surprise: evidence of infidelity in his family tree…. It could cast doubt on the Tudor claim to the English throne.”

Now what are they to do? Hand back the crown? Pay back rent for Buckingham Palace?

I can just hear Queen Elizabeth II now: “Well, it’s been a lovely sixty years, and I thank you all, but I believe I will leave this mess for my heirs to sort out.”

However, there is good news for the old bean: Dr Anna Whitelock of the University of London says, “The Queen’s right to reign is based on the 1701 Act of Settlement that restricted succession to Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover. A medieval false paternity does not challenge the current Queen’s right to reign.” That’s a relief. Once you get into the habit of reigning, it’s a hard habit to break.

Overheard in the jungle

子：媽，我去當兵，妳會哭嗎？

母：才四個月，有甚麼好哭的？

Son: Ma, when I go to do my military service, will you cry?

Ma: It’s only four months, what’s there to cry about?