小岛故事多

Johnny Damon is amazing! I am impressed by Yankees’ performance under such enormous pressure. Pedro Feliz got Joba Chamberlain and homered and tied the game at 4-4 at the bottom of the 8th inning. At the 9th inning, both Matsui and Derek Jeter were struck out, and Johnny Damon took two strikes from Brad Lidge—he was one pitch away from strike-out. Then he singled and stole two bases at this critical time! A-Rod saved the game for Yankees. Jorge Posada expanded the lead. Mariano Rivera sealed the win.

First things first, two stories I heard today

1)

Girls are like apples, and guys are like grapes. To pick good apples, you have to climb up the tree. Grapes are easy to pick, but you have to trample them to make good wine.

2)

A friend grew up in Hong Kong. He had to take a test to get into a kindergarten when he was 3. He prepped a lot for English and Math. On the test day, he was traumatized because the Principal showed him a book with pictures of a zebra and a giraffe, and asked him to identify the animals.

Then, the Pumpkin Carving Party!

欣然的南瓜

YaoZ的菠萝。YaoZ说：咱这菠萝皮肤糙了点，但咱有发型啊！

来个合影

我的Yoda

全家福

Introducing Vik Muniz

The poster version

The T-shirt version

今晚坐地铁回家。车上零落几个人，个个满脸倦意。半路上来个乞丐，穿着邋遢，一手抱着吉他，一手拖着一辆载着音箱的小车。他留着很朋克的头发——右半边是秃的，左半边近乎及肩。他慢慢地走到车厢中间，从兜里掏出把锁，将小车锁在立柱上。他继而从车里抻出根线，一端插到吉他上，另一端插到音箱上。试音。能听得出音箱的质量很差——一开便发出电磁干扰的噪音。他似乎不太满意，关了音箱，拔出导线，又从兜里掏出个黑匣子，将导线接入其中——他居然在调吉他。

一般来说，乞丐们乞讨都想在最短的时间内获得最大的利润。无论表演节目与否，他们都想在一个车厢只停留一站地的时间。停留时间过短，他们的话说不完，或者节目表演不完，会导致观众还不能充分了解他们，不能与他们互动，不能被他们说服。停留时间过长，不想给钱的乘客还是不给，这会白白浪费向其他车厢乘客乞讨赚钱的时间。而且，每站都会有乘客上下：要下车的乘客，由于乞丐话没说完或者节目没表演完，即使想给钱也不会给；上车的乘客，还不明就里，无论什么都只看到了个尾巴，估计也不会给。所以一站地的时间对乞丐们来说最划算——每到一站，他们便换车厢，能在有效的时间内接触到最多的乘客。

这个乞丐调好吉他后才开始向大家乞讨，然后演奏。他开始演奏时，车已经到了下一站，车厢里为数不多的人也离开了七八成，并且没有一个人上来。

我很少见这样“敬业”的乞丐。他似乎不是在乞讨，也似乎不在乎自己面对多少乘客，挣多少钱。他仅希望尽其所能使他演奏的音乐完美。整个过程完全是在显示他对音乐的挚爱与执着。在这个笑贫不笑娼的社会里，这也算贫贱不移的另一种吧。

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两件事要和大家广而告之一下。一个是Laluna同学的一篇分析美国医改的文章已被国内著名杂志《南方周末》接收，将于10月8日刊出。敬请大家关注！另一个是远在苦寒之地的薛远同学即将在10月9日答辩。望大家祝他好运。另，薛远同学计划答辩成功后赠导师瑞士军刀一把。

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上周五看了Michael Moore的Capitalism: A Love Story。一些内容在此摘录一下。

一个是罗斯福总统曾经提出过the Second Bill of Rights。

Excerpt from President Roosevelt's January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union:

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens.

第二个是三四年前花旗银行发表的两篇报告。大意是说我们的社会已经到了plutonomy。其中一些观点如下：

1) 我们现在的社会只有两种人：有钱的和没有钱的（不仅指穷人，而且包括中产）。有钱的很少，没钱的很多。

2) 经济的发展是有钱人推动的。没钱人不重要。

3) 有钱人将会更有钱。卖奢侈品的公司会更有前途。

Citigroup Oct 16, 2005 Plutonomy Report Part 1   Citigroup Mar 5 2006 Plutonomy Report Part 2