My First Christmas in the U.S.A.

Tomorrow is Christmas and the occasion reminded me my very first Christmas in the U.S.A.

I was in, of all places, Toledo, Ohio, working on my master degree on civil and environmental engineering, and was invited by a Chinese Ph.D. candidate, and several other graduate students from China, to his home for the Christmas dinner, though none of us was a christian.

It was cold and the ground was covered by snow, as it should be in Christmas time. I cannot remember what we had for dinner - a combination affairs of Chinese and American staples, perhaps. I thing I do remember clearly was that the drink the hostess and her son fixed for us - grapefruit juice which had become my favorite ever since.

After the dinner, I left with a friend who had a car to give me a lift. He took a slight detour to show me the lights in a well-maintained neighborhood - in the brilliant darkness those lights were truly wonderful and as if they danced and sang.  At that moment, I understood Christmas, particularly for the people who live in dark and cold northern countries, when in the deepest darkness, these like bring hope and joy to people's hearts and glimmers of hope revealed.

My first Christmas in the U.S.A., actually, my first "observed" Christmas, was rather low key event but that evening was more endearing for its modesty and simplicity.

明天是聖誕節，这让我记起我在美國的第一個聖誕節。

我当时，于所有的地方，在俄亥俄州的托萊多，读我的土木及環境工程碩士學位。一个中國博士學位候選人邀請由我和其他幾個從中國的研究生到他家的吃聖誕餐，雖然沒有我們是基督徒。

那天很冷，地面上覆蓋著白雪，是聖誕節期間所應該的。我不記得我們吃的是什麼--一個中美組吧。我記得很清楚的是，女主人和她的兒子為我們准备的飲料的--柚子汁--這已成為我至今最喜歡的。

晚飯後，我的一位朋友开車送我一程。他稍微绕了一點以带我看良好居住区的燈盏- 在黑暗中,燈光輝煌精彩，好像在跳舞，唱歌。在那一刻，我明白了聖誕節，特別是对生活在黑暗和寒冷的北方國家的人，在最深的黑暗中，這些灯火像给人們的心靈帶來希望和快樂，和希望的曙光。

我的在美國的第一個聖誕節，其實，我的第一個 "庆祝的" 聖誕節，是相當低调，但那天晚上的謙小和簡朴却让它更温馨。


Winter Flowers © Matthew Felix Sun

Hardcover and Paperback - 精装本和平装本

Books published in the US are generally published in hardcover first and come out in paperback a year or so later.

This practice might have made sense in the past, but with the advance of digital books, the two-tiered marketing should change. In the past, if high prices of hardcovers made readers wait patiently for a cheaper version, now they might opt for digital books immediately ... which is likely to make publishers of paper books obsolete -- or will at least put them in the same perilous position as companies that publish music CDs.

The book market in China might serve as a better model. Books are generally published there only in paperback. Sometimes publishers simultaneously release a slightly more expensive versions of books with laminated covers. Or they only publish laminated versions. On very special occasions, publishers present hardcover or cloth-bound editions as collectibles.

This approach can reduce overall publishing costs and also eliminates an unnecessary wait for readers who don't want to pay hardcover prices. As for authors' compensation, I am confident that arrangements can be found to ensure the profitability for the publisher and fair payment to authors.

The very high expense of text books in the United States troubles me too. Text books are very printed cheaply in China and don't cost much to own. It's time for us to learn a thing or two from China.

在美国出版的书籍一般都是先发行精装版，一年多后，平装版才出来。

这种做法也许在过去是合适的，但随着数字图书的发展，这种两级图书市场现象应该改变。在过去，如果高价的精装书使读者耐心等待更便宜的版本，现在他们可能马上转向数字图书，这可能最后使纸书出版商被淘汰，或者至少处于和唱片公司同样的危险境地。

相反，中国图书市场可以作为一个典范。那里，书籍一般以平装本发行，有时，会有稍微贵一些塑料压膜版同时发行。或者只发行压膜版。在非常特殊的情况下，会有精装本的或布面版本作为收藏品出版。

这个方式可以降低总成本，减少不想付精装本高价的读者们许多不必要的等待。至于作者的报偿，我相信可以找到一个新的方式，可确保出版商的盈利和对作者的公平稿酬。

超贵的美国的教科书费用也一直困扰着我。在中国，教科书是用非常便宜纸张印刷的，不会花很多钱来买。现在是我们从中国学一、两样东西的时候。


Young Man, Book and Flowers / 青年，圖書和花卉 © Matthew Felix Sun

Discriminations - 歧视

This year's US mid-term election, particularly the gubernatorial election in California engaged my mother lives in China, who is not very interested in politics but not without her opinions.

After the election, when my mother, a highly accomplished retired doctor and professor, was relieved to hear that the "run-for-office rich" Meg Whitman lost her bid to become Californian governor.  Her reason was that "women should not govern."

In China, such blatant discrimination against a group people in workplace or otherwise is rampant and acceptable and even expected.  But hearing it from my mother speaking against a person for no reason other than her sex, it unnerved me.

In China, you can see often in hiring notices that they only want to hire people of certain age, height, sex, look, or ethnicity.  Discrimination based on sexual orientation has not been widely observed simply because homosexuals habitually hide their sexual identities in order to keep their jobs.

今年的美國中期選舉，特別是加利福尼亞的州長選舉吸引了我在中國母親的注意力。她不是很關心政治，但並非沒有自己的意見。

選舉結束後，當我妈妈，一個很有成就的退休醫生和教授，聽到“富得可以竞选公职”的Meg Whitman 失去了成為加州州長的机会，很感欣慰。她的理由是，“女人不應該掌权。”

在中國，這種在工作場所或其他場所公然歧視一类人群现象很猖獗和被接受，甚至是被期待的。但是從我母親口里聽到對一個人除了她的性別外毫無理由的拒绝，我还是很惊讶。

在中國，你經常可以看到在招聘告示，公开表示他们只希望僱用有一定年齡，身高，性別，外觀，或種族的人。基於性取向的歧視還沒有被廣泛注意到，只是同性戀者為習慣性地隱藏自己的性身份，以保住他們的工作。

Election - 选举

The mid-term election in the US was an earth-shaking, and despite the low turn out rate, it was still an exercise of voters' choices, however unsatisfactory, or not.

Ever since I gained my US citizenship, I voted for every election.

When I lived in China, I voted only once - still in School.  On the ballots, there were several names nominated for the local level representatives, who actually were mere electors at the lowest level and they would elect higher level electors, who they might be were only revealed later to those elected.  They would vote representatives to the municipal level who then would vote members of parliament representing the province.
Therefore, it was safe to say that the MPs had almost no connection to the regular voters.

Some of those people on the ballots were from my school and others not.  None were allowed to run a campaign.  They were chosen and nominated.  Five people were nominated for five slots.

There were a very brief biographies of those "candidates" and they all claimed to "Adhere to the Four Cardinal Principles" - must adhere to the socialist road; must uphold the the proletarian dictatorship; Third, must uphold the leadership of the Communist Party; Fourth, and must uphold Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought.

Beyond that, we knew nothing about their stands on any other issues.

I voted no to every single candidates in the only "election" I participated before I left China.


美國最近经历了翻天覆地的中期選舉中。儘管投票率低，不理想，選民仍然行使的他们的权利。

自從我獲得了美國國籍，我每次都投票選舉。

當我住在中國是，我只参与过一次選舉 - 我仍然在學校上学。在選票上，列有幾個提名為地方一級的代表的名字，他们其实是最低级的選舉人民，將由他們選出更高層次的選民，至于那些更高層次的選民可能是誰，当时我们无从知晓。他們會選舉市一級代表，市一級代表再决定誰將代表全省成为人民代表大会代表（國會議員）。

因此，人們可以說，國會議員幾乎和普通選民毫无联系。

在選票上的人有些是從我的學校来，其他人则不是。他们不可以搞競選活動。他們仅仅被選中和提名。五人被提名“竞争”五個位置。

每个“候选人”有一個非常簡短的傳記，他們都聲稱“堅持四項基本原則” - 必須堅持社會主義道路，必須堅持無產階級專政，必須堅持共產黨的領導，必須堅持馬克思列寧主義，毛澤東思想。

除此之外，我們对他们任何其他問題的立場一無所知。

我对每一個候選人都投了反对票。那是我在離開之前參加的唯一一次“选举”。

Fire in Shanghai - 上海大火

Immediately after the much hyped World Expo, Shanghai suffered a big fire which resulted in at least 58 deaths so far.

Almost as soon as the fire burned out, the authority declared that they had detailed culprits, un-licensed welders. But the general contractors and its subcontractors have not been held responsible by the authorities, yet.

This strategy has been played out whenever there was a disaster, especially relating to the powerful and the rich. But Shanghai is different. Its citizens are much more sophisticated and demand more of their own rights. Perhaps, this time, those victims would not be silenced easily.

大肆宣传的世博会刚结束，上海就遭受了大火灾，至今为止至少58人死亡。

大火刚刚烧完，有关当局宣布，他们已经监禁了嫌犯，无证焊工。但是，当局至今还没有追究总承包商和分包商的责任。

每当有灾难，尤其是涉及到有权和有钱的，这一战略就发挥出效应。但上海是不同的。它的公民更见多识广和更要求维护自己的权利。也许，这一次，这些受害者不会被轻易沉默。

David Disarmed - 被缴械的大卫

We often cheer the impossible feat of David's overcoming giant Goliath, particularly because it was impossible.

When a tiny consumer tries to address the wrongs he or she suffered in the hands of commercial conglomerates, the chance of their winning is just like that of David's. Banding small people together, is the only weapon they will have to overcome their opponents. Yet, in China and the US, these little Davids are to be disarmed.

Chinese kangaroo court just imposed a two and a half year term on Zhao Lianhai, who became an activist after his son experienced kidney problems linked to contaminated baby formula. He was convicted of inciting public disorder by setting up a web site to help other parents with sick children to share information and to seek compensation, and by organizing protests.

In the US, the Supreme Court just took up a case by Vincent and Liza Concepcion complaining that they were charged $30.32 for a phone that was supposed to be free and they had signed away their right to initiate a class-action suit against the company, AT&T.

People fear that the ultra-business-friendly court might side with big business once again, and render little Davids in the US armless as well.

The width of the Pacific Ocean is getter ever narrower.


我们经常欢呼大卫几乎不可能的战胜巨人歌利亚，特别是因为它的不可能性。

当一个微小的消费者试图解决他或她在商业企业集团手中遭受的痛苦，他们的获胜的机会，就像大卫一样小。小人物们合伙诉讼，是他们克服的对手唯一的武器。然而，在中国和美国，他们正被缴械。

中国的袋鼠法庭判处了赵连海两年半徒刑. 赵连海在儿子因受污染的婴儿奶粉肾脏致病后,成为一个积极活动分子，设立一个网站，以帮助患病儿童与其他家长分享信息，并寻求赔偿和组织抗议。因此,他被判定犯有煽动扰乱公共秩序罪。

在美国，最高法院刚刚受理 Vincent 和 Liza Concepcion 对AT&T的诉讼,抱怨他们为一个"免费"的电话机付出三十点三二美元,并签字放弃他们集体诉讼的权利。

人们担心，对商业超级友好的最高法院又会边与大企业站在一起，使小大卫们手无寸铁。

太平洋的宽度在越变越窄。


Jingwei Filling Up the Sea / 精衛填海
© Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com

"名人"名言 - "Celebrity" Quotes

A slew of notorious quotes in China went viral, revealing the inequality of that society in a most astonishing way.

- A college student sped on campus and resulted in a death and a serious injury of two college students.  The culprit complained about the damage of his car and left the site to see his girlfriend, and shouted at the security and other students - I dare you to sue me.  My Dad is Li Gang.  Mr. Li Gang is a petty public safety official in a small town near Beijing.

- Another auto incident.  The drunk driver shouted his immortal quote: "My uncle is a bureau chief."

- A Vice Chairman of Writers' Association in Henan Province made such speech that ever since the new Party Chief arrived his province, the literary spring had arrived and they were excited everyday and they were able to wash faces with tears.

- The highest literary award in China, awarded another petty official the poetry awards.  Many readers in China ridiculed the choice, because the award-winning poetry were pedestrian and as poetic as the weather report.

- City of Shenzhen gave housing subsidies to a selected group of people, including CEO of Tengxun Ma Huateng , whose assets worth 29.3 Billion Yuan (about US $4.44 Billion). 

在中國一系列臭名昭著故事在网上迅速传播，揭示了驚人的社會不平等。

- 一名大學生在校園超速導致兩名大學生一死和一嚴重傷害。肇事者抱怨汽車的損害，在離開現場去看到他的女朋友前，向在场的安全人员和其他學生喊 - 有本事你去告我。我的爸爸是李刚。李刚是北京附近的一個小城市的一個公共安全小官員。

- 另一件汽車事故。一个醉漢司機喊他的不朽的名言：“我舅舅是局長。”

- 河南作家協會一副主席作出這樣的發言，自從新的省委書記上任，文學的春天已經來了河南，他們都很興奮，每天以淚洗面。

- 中國最高文學獎把詩歌獎頒發了另一小官员。許多讀者在嘲笑这一選擇，因為獲獎詩歌的詩意和天氣報告一样。

- 深圳市給選定的一群人住房補貼，其中包括騰訊公司的首席執行官馬化騰，其資產總值 29.3億元（約合 4.44 億美元）。


Mao © Matthew Felix Sun

Corn, Ethanol, Kimchi and Napa Cabbage - 玉米，乙醇，泡菜和大白菜

Kimchi, the ubiquitous fermented Korean dish, has experienced skyrocketing prices in recent months because of a weak harvest due to an unseasonably cold winter.  In order to satisfy their needs, South Korean rushed to China to purchase napa cabbages and contributed to their price rise in certain part of China as well.  Napa cabbages are essential for winter months in many parts of northern China.  The reliance on preserved napa cabbages has lessened somewhat comparing to 20 or 30 years ago.  When I grew up, in Manchurian China, families bought hundreds and even more than one thousand pound of napa cabbages to stock up for almost six month long winter.  Still, for many, napa cabbage is still the only vegetable they can afford in winter and any price increase, however small, will generate huge burden on them.

This reminded me the unhappy consequence when the US started to import corns from Mexico in order to produce cheap ethanol to add to gasoline, and drove up the corn prices in Mexico, where many people rely on corn as daily food.

Kimchi is important in Korea, but people won't go hungry without it.  Without cheap gasoline, Americans won't go hungry but high priced corns do make many Mexicans hungry.

Must one people's happiness built on the misery of another?

由於異常寒冷的冬天，因而疲軟的收穫，無處不在的發酵韓國菜，泡菜，近幾個月來價格暴漲。為了滿足需求，韓國人前往中國購買白菜，在一定的程度上引起白菜價格在部分中國上漲。白菜是中國北方的許多地方冬季必不可少的，尽管与20或30年前相比，对其依賴有所減弱。我小时，在中國東北，各个家庭購買數百甚至超過一千磅的白菜，以应付近六個月的漫長冬季。對於許多人來說，白菜仍是他們冬季唯一買得起的，因而任何提價，無論多小，都將在他們身上產生巨大的負擔。

這讓我想起美國開始從墨西哥進口玉米，以生產出廉價的乙醇添加到汽油的不愉快的後果時。這抬高了墨西哥的玉米價格，那里許多人依靠玉米作為日常食物。

泡菜在韓國是重要的，但沒有它人們不會挨餓。沒有廉價的汽油，美國人不會挨餓，但高價位玉米，使很多墨西哥人餓了。

必須一個人群的幸福建立在其他人群的痛苦上吗？



Vegetable Garden © Matthew Felix Sun

The Reaction on Liu Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize from a Chinese Newspaper - The Global Times and Business Times

The news that 2010 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Chinese Liu Xiaobo was not widely reported in China. I was only able to find two reports on online portal from mainland China, one was on 环球时报 (The Global Times) and the other 财经时报 (Business Times).  The former, according to Wikipedia, is a overseas version of China Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party and the latter is a newspaper or magazine which had been championing different policies and repeated earned the displeasure of the government.  It was remarkable that it was able to report the news.

The Chinese texts follows, then the Chinese translations:

2010年諾貝爾和平獎頒發給中國公民劉曉波的消息在中國沒有被廣泛報導。我只能找到兩個中國內地的網站報告，，一個是在環球時報，另一个是財經時報。前者，根據維基百科，是海外版本的中國日報，中国共产黨的官方報紙，後者是一份報紙或雜誌，一直倡導不同的政策，并反复贏得了政府的不滿。它能夠報告了這一消息已是很了不起。


中文文本如下，那麼，中國的翻譯：

诺贝尔和平奖又砸自己的牌子 2010-10-09 15:56

诺贝尔委员会8日将世人瞩目的诺贝尔和平奖给了正在中国监狱里服刑的刘晓波，这个奖项再次把自己摆在了中国人民以及中国改革开放事业的对立面。

诺贝尔奖总体上在中国是有威望的，但诺贝尔和平奖已成为借“诺贝尔”这个品牌强行塞给世界的西方意识形态的私货。上世纪的这个奖项多次颁给反对苏联的人，包括直接搞垮苏联的戈尔巴乔夫，这样的偏好并未随着冷战的结束而消融。

通过颁奖否定现代中国，成为诺贝尔和平奖新的偏执狂般的追求。中国迄今两人获奖，一人是达赖，一人就是刘晓波。前者是中国民族分离主义的代表人物，后者是鼓动把西方政治制度照搬到中国，并抵制中国现行法律的人。无论从外部看他们两人可以有多少个视角，但毫无疑问的是，两人都不是中国近年和平与发展的建设性力量，他们对中国社会的触动是通过示范对抗，他们没有在有着种种复杂问题的中国宣扬团结。把以“和平”命名的奖项颁给他们，是对大多数中国人的不尊重，是西方意识形态在中国人面前的一次傲慢展示。

由于热比娅、胡佳、魏京生等“异见人士”也都进入过诺贝尔和平奖的候选人名单，更加剧了中国人对这个奖项的反感。善良的中国人有理由怀疑，诺贝尔和平奖已经沦为服务于西方利益的政治工具，评定及操纵这个奖项的人，不愿意看到中国的和平、团结，很希望中国社会因政治分歧陷入无穷无尽的纷争，直至走向苏联式的分裂。他们现在能做的就是用和平奖给中国社会撕开个口子。

刘晓波去年被中国司法当局判处11年监禁，西方多国政府曾因此出面干预，诺贝尔委员会8日的行为是这种干预的继续。西方对刘晓波案的争议不是对司法本身的探讨，而是希望中国现在就推行政治多元化，让中国的发展“西方化”。

诺贝尔委员会选在刘晓波服刑时给他这个奖，与其说是对他个人的鼓励，不如说是对中国司法制度的蔑视和挑战。每一个中国人都能感觉到这种故作的恶意，西方的大多数公众也能一眼看出这是故意做给中国看的，中国社会与西方的感情隔阂将因此加剧。根据诺贝尔的遗嘱，和平奖应该颁给“为促进民族团结友好、取消或裁减常备军队以及为和平会议的组织和宣传尽到最大努力或作出最大贡献的人”，和平奖委员会昨天却做了相反的事。

诺贝尔和平奖的反复非难，再次提醒了中国在世界上的处境。中国的发展要获得西方的掌声几乎是不可能的，中国在选择发展道路时需要足够的坚强，西方骚扰我们判断的手段经常比我们可以预见的更多，更出其不意。

值得一提的是，诺贝尔委员会及他们代表的那些人，终将拗不过中国发展的大势。他们只是让中国生了一回气，却同时又砸了一次自己的牌子，但世界生生不息。那几个少数人终究不能评判世界，过于傲慢的西方也一次次误判中国人民的意志，以及中国的走向。实践是检验真理的唯一标准，诺贝尔奖也没有这个道理大。

Nobel Peace Prize Damaged Their Own Brand Again [Links to original Chinese texts] 2010-10-09 15:56

On September 8th, the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Lui Xiaobo, who is serving a sentence in China, thus once again, put itself in the opposition to the Chinese people and the China's undertaking of reform and opening up.

Nobel Prize in general is prestigious in China, but the Nobel Peace Prize has become Western ideological stuff forced upon the world in the brand of "Nobel". In last century, this award were given to the people who opposed the Soviet Union many times, including the culprit who was responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev; this preference does not melt with the end of the Cold War.

Through the award to negate modern China, has become the Nobel Peace Prize's new pursuit of paranoia. China has so far two winners, one is the Dalai Lama, the other is Liu Xiaobo. The former is a representative figure of ethnic separatism, while the latter agitate to duplicate the Western political system in China and rejected China's existing laws. Vied from the outside on however many perspectives, there is no doubt that they are the constructive forces for recent peace and development of China, and they touched on Chinese society through their demonstration of confrontation, and they did not promote unity in China, which is facing a variety of complex issues. To award the "peace" prize to them, is disrespectful to the majority of Chinese people and it was another arrogance display of Western ideology in front of Chinese people.

The fact that Kadeer, Hu Jia, Wei Jingsheng and other "dissidents" have also entered into the list of candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, has aggravated the Chinese people's resentment towards this award. Friendly and trusting Chinese people have reasons to suspect that Nobel Peace Prize has been reduced to a political tool to serve the Western interests, and the people who evaluate and manipulate this award do not want to see peace and unity in China, and very much hope that the Chinese community falls into infinity endless strife because of political differences, until toward Soviet-style split. What they can do now is to use the Peace Prize to tear a hole in Chinese society.

Liu Xiaobo was last year sentenced by China's judicial authorities to 11 years in prison, and many Western governments had tried to intervene. The behavior of Nobel Committee on the 8th is a continuation of this interference. The West's dispute of Liu's case is not of the judiciary itself, but to wish to implement political pluralism in China, so that China's development would of the characteristics of "Westernization."

The Nobel Committee's choosing to give Liu Xiaobo this award when he is serving sentence is not just a personal encouragement to him, rather, it is contempt and challenge of Chinese judicial system. Every Chinese person can feel the malice in this mockery, and most of the Western public could tell this was a show intended for China to see, and it will increase the alienation of Chinese and Western society. According to Nobel's will, the peace prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses", Peace Prize Committee has done the opposite yesterday.

Nobel Peace Prize's repeated criticism, once again reminded China its situation in the world. It is impossible for China's development to get applause in the West, and China should be tough enough in choosing its road to the development, and the means the West employed to harass our judge are often more than we can foresee and more surprising.

It is worth mentioning that the Nobel Committee and those people they represent, will eventually fail to prevent the trend of China's development. They only anger Chinese once, while damaged their own brand, but the world grows continually. After all, those few people can not judge the world, and the too arrogant West has repeatedly misjudged the will of the Chinese people and China's direction. Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, even the Nobel Prize is no bigger than this truth.




2010-10-09 15:56 环球时报
The Global Times (simplified Chinese: 环球时报; traditional Chinese: 環球時報; pinyin: Huánqiú Shíbào) is a daily Chinese newspaper produced under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues. - Wikipedia


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刘晓波获得2010年诺贝尔和平奖 [Links to the original Chinese texts] 2010/10/08 @ 10:29pm 北京时间


挪威当地时间周五(2010年10月8日)下午5点，诺贝尔奖委员会将2010年的和平奖颁发给正在中国监狱服刑的民主活动人士刘晓波，中国政府随后立即对此决定进行抨击。

诺贝尔奖委员会在公开声明中表示，此奖是为表彰刘晓波为中国基本人权进行的长期和非暴力奋斗。该委员会一直认为，人权与和平有着密不可分的关系，正如阿尔弗雷德诺贝尔在遗嘱中所写的那样，人权是各国各民族之间友好共处的前提条件。

诺贝尔奖委员会指出，在过去的二十年，刘晓波一直为捍卫中国公民这些基本权利而大声疾呼。他参加了1989年的天安门抗议活动，并且参与了《零八宪章》的撰写和起草。2009年，刘晓波因为「颠覆国家安全」被判处11年徒刑，并剥夺政治权利两年。

诺贝尔奖委员会还表示，海内外许多中国人都参加到推动中国建立普世人权的运动中来。尽管刘晓波遭到了严厉惩罚，但是他已经成为许多中国人为基本人权而冲锋在前的奋斗象征。

刘晓波55岁，吉林长春人。1982年吉林大学毕业，进入北京师范大学攻读硕士和博士。1989年春夏之间在国外讲学，1989年天安门运动高潮回到中国，参加绝食。运动被镇压后被捕开除公职。1996年再度因言获罪，劳教3年。2008年主持起草《零八宪章》，12月被捕，2009年圣诞节，在北京以「煽动颠覆国家政权罪」判刑11年，目前在锦州监狱服刑。

中国外交部随后迅速抨击了诺贝尔奖委员会的决定。外交部发言人马朝旭在就刘晓波获奖回答记者提问时说：「诺贝尔和平奖应授予‘为促进民族和睦，增进各国友谊，推动裁军以及为召开和宣传和平会议而努力的人’，这是诺贝尔的遗愿。刘晓波是因触犯中国法律而被中国司法机关判处徒刑的罪犯，其所作所为与诺贝尔和平奖的宗旨背道而驰。诺委会把和平奖授予这样一个人，完全违背了该奖项的宗旨，也是对和平奖的亵渎。」

马朝旭在回答刘晓波获奖是否会影响中挪关系的提问时说，近年来，中挪关系一直保持良好发展，这有利于两国和两国人民的根本利益。诺委会授奖刘晓波与诺贝尔和平奖宗旨背道而驰，也会给中挪关系带来损害。

Liu received the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize [Link to original Chinese texts] 2010/10/08 @ 10:29 pm GMT

Norway on Friday (October 8, 2010) 17:00, Nobel Prize Committee awarded the 2010 Peace Prize to Chinese prisons are serving sentences of democracy activists Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese government immediately criticized this decision.

Nobel Committee said in a public statement, this award is in recognition of Liu Xiaobo's long-term and non-violent struggle to promote basic human rights in China. The Commission has always maintained that human rights and peace has a close relationship, just as Alfred Nobel wrote in his will that human rights are prerequisite for friendly coexistence amongst countries and peoples.

Nobel Committee noted that in the past twenty years, Liu has been speaking out to defend these basic rights for Chinese citizens. He participated in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and participated in the the writing and drafting of "08 Charter". In 2009, Liu was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and deprivation of political rights for two years because of "the subversion of national security".

Nobel Committee also said many Chinese people at home and abroad had participated in promoting the establishment of universal human rights in China. Although Liu was severely punished, he has become the symbol of many Chinese people's struggle for fundamental human rights.

55-year-old Liu Xiaobo was born in Changchun, Jilin Province. He graduated from Jilin University in 1982, and enrolled into the master's and Ph.D. Beijing Normal University. Between spring and summer of 1989 he gave lectures in foreign countries, and returned to China during the climax of 1989 Tiananmen Square movement to participate in hunger strike. After the movement was cracked down, he was arrested and was  fire public posts. In 1996, he was convicted again for speeches, and was sentenced to reeducation through labor for 3 years. In 2008, he presided over the drafting of "Lingba ('08) Charter", and was arrested in December 2009 and on Christmas in Beijing he was sentence to 11 years for "inciting subversion of state power", and is currently serving prison terms in Jinzhou.

Chinese Foreign Ministry quickly criticized the Nobel Committee's decision. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu answered a reporter's question, said: "Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded 'to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses', which was Nobel's wishes. Liu Xiaobo is in a criminal who broke Chinese laws and was sentenced to prison by the Chinese judicial system, and his behaviors were in contrary to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to such a person, was in completely contrary to the purposes of the prize, and it was also the desecration of the peace prize."

Answer the question that if Liu Xiaobo's award would affect the question of bilateral relations of China and Norway, Ma Zhaoxu answered that in recent years, Sino-Norwegian relations had maintained sound development, which was conducive to the two countries and two peoples interests. Nobel Committee's awarding Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo ran counter to its purpose, and it would bring damage to the Sino-Norwegian relations.

笑话与现实 - Joke and Reality

中国大陆曾经流传过一个很无奈的悲情笑话：一个农家为了下一季的农作，买了一批种子回来播种，还买了一堆肥料，结果种子是假的、肥料也是假的，耕作的辛苦 都白费了，根本种不出东西来。一家人生活陷入困境，想到不如自杀算了，买了农药回来喝光，偏偏农药也是假的，农民认为或许命不该绝，便买了几瓶酒回家冲喜 庆祝，没想到酒还是假的，最后是全家人都喝死了。

不幸的是，美國在追随中國，試圖擺脫盡可能多的法規和对消費者的保護。也許，茶葉黨員不喝從中國進口的茶？

China has had a widely-spread and very helplessly sad joke: A farmer for bought a batch seeds to plant, and a pile of fertilizer.  The seeds were defected seeds, also was the fertilizer.  His hard work were in vain and there was no crop and his whole family was in despair.  He wanted to kill myself and bought some pesticide and drank it all.  But the pesticides was fake therefore he believed that he should not die and bought a few bottles of liquor to celebrate.  Surprisingly, the liquor was fake and his entire family was poised and killed.

Unfortunately, US is following China's lead and trying to get rid of as many regulations and consumer protections as possible. Perhaps, the Tea Party members don't drink tea imported from China?


  
At Home © Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com

Islamic Issues - 伊斯蘭问题

San Francisco Chronicle reported that "Texas textbook board curtails mentions of Islam".

The Texas State Board of Education adopted a resolution Friday that seeks to curtail references to Islam in Texas textbooks.

The board approved the one-page nonbinding resolution, which urges textbook publishers to limit what they print about Islam in world history books, by a 7-5 vote.

The board in recent years has become a battleground for social conservatives and liberal watchdogs, each accusing the other of imposing ideological agendas on what about 4.8 million public school students learn in Texas classrooms.

This treatment of one of the main religions and important cultures in the world is very disturbing.  It is not only short-sighted and stupid, it is also the very mechanism of fostering religious fanaticism.

I remembered that a while ago, I mentioned the ill-treatment of Islam in China.  So soon, it's time to report that behavior in the US.


舊金山紀事報报道了“得克薩斯州教科書董事會限制提到伊斯蘭”。

德克薩斯州教育委員會週五通過一項決議，旨在減少在德克薩斯州的教科書中引用伊斯蘭教。

董事會7-5表決批准了1頁的不具約束力的決議，敦促教科書出版商，以限制他們在世界歷史的書籍印有有關伊斯蘭教的文字。

該委員會在最近幾年已成為一個社會保守派和自由派監督者的戰場，他们互相指責对方強加其意識形態議程于德州公立學校的約 480萬學生。

這種对待世界上的一個主要宗教和重要文化的方式是非常令人不安的。它不僅是短視和愚蠢的，也恰是促進宗教狂熱的機制。

我記得前一陣子，我提到在中國伊斯蘭教的遭遇。這麼快，已是時候向大家報告，类似的在美國的行為。

Explosion © Matthew Felix Sun

Media as Gatekeepers? - 媒體把關？

An acquaintance of mine in China told me that her friend was in a minor discomfort because he failed to detect a false advertisement in the newspaper he was asked to read, in order to stem out unacceptable contents.

This story amazed me. Protecting consumers is important but it is quite unfortunate that Chinese society and government lay the burden on the already jittery media's shoulders. Media should not shoulder this burden. It is as impractical as unfair. It is the entities who buy the advertisements should be held responsible, like what we have in the US.

我的一個在中國的熟人告訴我，她的朋友有一個輕微不愉快。一份他應邀閱讀，以遏止不可接受的內容的報紙上，出現一個可能的虛假廣告，而他未能及時察覺。

這個故事令我驚訝。保護消費者很重要，但很不幸的是，中國社會和政府的把負擔壓在本已緊張的媒體的肩上。媒體不應該承擔這個責任--這既不切實際又不公平。應該是廣告購買者負責，像在美國這樣。


Division © Matthew Felix Sun

Development Is the Indisputable Truth / 發展才是硬道理

Late Chinese strongman Deng Xiaoping once claimed: "Development is the indisputable truth". This is the root of what had gone wrong since they abandoned Mao's ideological driven policies. Instead of striving to improve people's life on all front, economically, politically, environmental, etc., Deng's theory aimed at the wrong goal. Chinese leaders have been chasing this relentless growth in last thirty years but failed to make sure its citizens benefit the most from such development. The country now has overtaken Japan and became the second largest economy in the word but the country is at the brim of breakdown. The income inequality, the environmental disaster, the corruption, the political prosecution are still rampant. People's life has improved dramatically, particularly those city dwellers, comparing to that in Mao's era but it is not enough.

Their policy actually is not dissimilar to the trickle down policy the Republicans are champion.

Instead of trying to make the quality of life as the goal of national policies, they aim at economy growth itself. Without improving people's life, any economic growth is meaningless.

Their policy only serves stock market and Wall Street.


已故中國強人鄧小平曾稱：“發展才是硬道理。”這是自從他們放棄毛澤東的思想政策後，許多錯誤的根源。不從經濟，政治，環境等各方面努力改善人民生活，鄧小平的理論指向錯誤的目標。中國領導人在過去30年中一直在追逐經濟的增長，但其未能確保其大部分公民從中或益。中國現在已經超過日本，成為第二大經濟體，但他們處於破裂邊緣。收入不平等，環境災難，腐敗，政治控制仍然比比皆是。人民生活，特別是那些城市居民，與在毛時代比有顯著改善，但僅此是不夠的。

他們的政策其實是與共和黨提倡的涓滴政策相同。

不是試圖使提高人民生活質量為目標，他們的的國家政策追求目標是經濟增長本身。如果不改善人民生活，任何經濟增長是沒有意義的。

他們的政策只是對股市和華爾街有利。


Lake © Matthew Felix Sun
http://www.matthewfelixsun.com/

小学生的遗书 / Elementary School Student's Testament

There is a widely distributed "will" written by a Chinese elementary student facing a big storm. The authenticity of this will is hard to determine but even if it's a fiction, it still constitute a good read - hilarious and heart tagging.

Below is the Chinese text and the English translation follows:

有一個廣泛流传的一个面臨的一個大風暴的小學生的“遗书”。遗书的真實性很難確定，但即使它是小說，它仍是一個良好的讀物 - 很好笑也很让人心酸。

下面是中文原文，英文翻譯随后：

今天乌云压压狂风暴雨倾盆大雨，天上打着雷，一只小鸟都看不到，小树要也弯下了腰。河流变成了大河流，水都流到我 们家院子里了。爸爸的摩托车也被水淹没了~到处都是水，很多大人在外面排水。听大人们说，这次发大水，是100年才能遇到一次的，听说山峡大坝都放水了， 我很害怕，我不会游泳，我怕我会被大水冲走，爸爸妈妈我很舍不得你们，虽然以前我不听话，你们经常打我。

我的床上席子下有2张100块的钞票，上次去看望外婆的时候，她偷偷塞给我的，让我不要让妈妈知道，如果我被大水冲走了，就捐给我们学校手牵手希望小学的同学们吧。

上次数考试赵子刚最后那道选择题是我故意告诉他选D，其实我知道正确答案，我选的是A。就因为那次他的MP3有周杰伦的新歌，他不传给我。

我喜欢副班长，不知道算不算老师说的早熟，我喜欢让她帮我背英语单词。

如果我被大水冲跑了，我的QQ宠物要记得一定要喂饱，给它吃圈圈冰淇林就可以了，我的元宝不多了。我玩的蛮荒游戏马上满级了，让赵子刚帮我练满级 吧，希望他不要上次考试我将错误答案告诉他，因此恨我，还有不要上语音，游戏里的老婆不知道我是小学生。还有植物大战僵尸最后3关的通关秘籍在电脑的F盘 里。

张老师，上次期中考试的考卷家长签名是我找表哥签的，计算机教室讲台上那只鼠标也是我搞坏的，我不是故意的。

隔壁孙爷爷家的花盆里，丢满了我不喜欢吃的鸡蛋黄，每次我只吃蛋白，蛋黄全丢在孙爷的花盆里。仙人掌上的那个洞也是我做实验用笔捅的，孙爷我再也不这样了。如果大水没把我冲走，我给买个仙人球。

Today, dark clouds are heavy and it is very storm and the rain poured down. There are many thunders and no birds could be seen, even trees bend their waists. River turns into a large river, and the water flow into our courtyard. Dad's motorcycle is also under water ~ water everywhere, and many adults in the outside are trying to drain the water. According to the grown-ups, this kind of storm only occurs once in 100 years. I heard that even Three Gorge Dam was releasing waters to the downstream. I am afraid I might be swept away, since I could not swim. Dad and Mom, I am very reluctant to leave you, though in the past I did not heed you therefore you always beat me.

Under my bed mats there are two 100 Yuan bills, they were from grandma, when I last visited her she sneaked them to me, and told me not to let my mother know. If I were washed away, please donate it to our school's Hope School partner to help the kids there.

During last math test, I intentionally told Zhao Zigang that the answer to the last multiple-choice was D, in fact, I know the right answer, I chose A. Because he had Jay Chou's new song on his MP3 player but he wouldn't pass it to me.

I like deputy head of our class - I don't not know if that was what the teacher called precocity or not. I like it when she helped me with English vocabularies.

If I were swept away by the flood, remember to feed my pet on QQ - just ice-cream circle would be sufficient since my ingot is running out. I'll advance to a new level in the "Wild" game immediately, and let Zhao Zigang practice and help me to advance, hoping that he will not hate me for telling him the wrong answer in the last exam. In addition, don't go on "Voice" since my wife in that game didn't know that I was an elementary school student. The cheating secrete for the last three hurdles in the "Zombie and Plant Fighting Off" game is stored in F drive of the computer.

Teacher Zhang, after last midterm exam, my parent's signature was signed by my cousin and it was I who broke the mouse of the computer on the classroom podium but I did not mean to.

The flowers pots of Grandfather Sun next door are full of egg yolks I threw there, since I don't like them. I only eat egg white and I throw egg yolks into Grandfather Sun's flower pots. The hole on the cactus was my experimenting with a pen, and tell Grandpa Sun that I would not do it no more. If the flood did not wash me away, I'll buy him a cactus.

Dirge © Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com

Muslim Students in Ramadan

On UC Berkeley's website for new students, it stated that "Students requiring alternative move-in accommodations due to religious holiday conflict may contact the Housing Office."

It has been reported by various media, with clear bias against Chinese government, that in China, during Ramadan, schools in Muslim region forbid school children to fast, on the ground of health concern. Lunches are served and students are observed to ensure that they eat. Free lunches, tea and coffee are offered in government departments and companies.

加州大学伯克利校园的新生网站有此陈述：“由于宗教节日冲突, 学生需要的便更搬进住宿，可与此房屋署联络。”

据对中国政府不友好的一些媒体报道，在斋月期间，在中国的穆斯林地区的学校以健康的理由禁止学童禁食。学校供应午餐并观察学生，以确保他们吃午餐。政府部门和公司也提供免费午餐，茶水和咖啡。



Skyline © Matthew Felix Sun

Macho Men, Do Women Want Them or Not?

Recently I read two versions of report on a series of researches on values of masculinity in modern society.

The detailed analysis of the researches by Wall Street Journal Why Women Don't Want Macho Men (March 2010) is a fascinating read.

Sometime within the past year, nearly 4,800 women participated in an experiment at Faceresearch.org, the online psychology laboratory of the Face Research Laboratory at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. They were young women, mostly in their early- to mid-twenties, and all identified their ethnicity as white. Later, researchers at the lab would confirm from IP address data that the participants came from 30 countries including Argentina, Sweden, Russia, Australia and the United States. The women's country of origin was an important part of the experiment.

After crunching the data—including the women's facial preferences, their country of origin and that country's national health index—the Face Lab researchers proved something remarkable. They could predict how masculine a woman likes her men based on her nation's World Health Organization statistics for mortality rates, life expectancy and the impact of communicable disease.

To a person unfamiliar with the field of evolutionary psychology, this may sound a little far-fetched. How is it even possible to link a woman's masculinity preferences to the health of her nation? The answer begins with the theory of sexual selection. It goes that women are the choosier sex because they take on most of the risk and burden of reproduction and child rearing. While a man can sleep around with 100 women in a year's time and have 100 kids, a woman who sleeps with 100 men in a year will only have one baby (barring multiples). She has more at stake in each pregnancy. Therefore, it is in her best interest to at least choose a high-quality mate. And one of the hallmarks of a quality male is good health.

A woman might be attracted subconsciously to a high-testosterone man because he'll give her kids an edge health-wise. But if health comes at the expense of fidelity and good parenting, how much does masculinity really matter? The apparent answer is not so much—if you're a woman living in a country with a decent health-care system and few harmful pathogens.

Meanwhile, women with the strongest masculinity preferences tended to hail from the countries with higher disease and mortality rates and some of the poorest scores on the health-care index: Mexico, Brazil, Bulgaria and Argentina. (The researcher included only white subjects to control the experiment, and Asian and African nations were not included in the study.)

This is not to say that cultural factors other than health care don't play a role in women's mate preferences. The Face Lab researchers acknowledge that there are variables they did not take into consideration. For instance, women's equality and control of resources would likely influence preference for masculinity. The same goes for violent crime. In cultures where physical strength and dominance are a primary means of security and social mobility, a masculine mate seems like a valuable asset. Yet, generally speaking, the researchers found that a nation's health index explained more of the variation in women's masculinity preferences than did many culture-specific female norms identified in previous studies.

The big question that comes of the study is this: Is it possible that modern medicine—and by extension modern life—inadvertently devalues masculinity? Possibly. Is the Marlboro Man, that smoking-hot icon of American manhood, under threat of being extinguished? Given American women's apparently strong masculinity preferences, the answer is no. We are not ready to get rid of our macho men. (Then again, we also have yet to improve our health index ratings.) Yet there are some smoke signals that suggest change is just over the horizon.

Yet, a short article published by Epoch Times and on several Chinese language blog entries, the tables were turned. They all used the title as Research Showed That Women Prefer Muscular Men, and Dislike "Feminine" Men. The lead of the article said:

The latest survey shows that to women, "feminine" men are very despicable people, and they prefer to have masculine men.

However, at the end of the article, it concluded:
Previously the United Kingdom University of Aberdeen (University of Aberdeen) researchers in Europe, the United States, South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand 30 countries, 4,500 were aged 16 to 40 year-old female survey showed that better medical care countries, more women preferred the local flavor of male cosmetics. Scandinavian Sweden, 68% of women surveyed would prefer a more feminine looks of men. In contrast, the poorest quality of medical care in Brazil, 55% of respondents prefer muscular women.

Study: hi masculine men dislike women "feminine" men
The latest survey shows that of the women, "feminine" man is a very nasty people, they prefer to have a masculine man.

Previously the United Kingdom University of Aberdeen (University of Aberdeen) researchers in Europe, the United States, South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand 30 countries, 4,500 were aged 16 to 40 year-old female survey showed that better medical care countries, more women preferred the local flavor of male cosmetics. Scandinavian Sweden, 68% of women surveyed would prefer a more feminine looks of men. In contrast, the poorest quality of medical care in Brazil, 55% of respondents prefer muscular women.

Chinese Translation:

最近，我读到关于对现代社会男性的价值观一系列研究报告的两个版本。

华尔街日报的详细分析为什么女性不要阳刚男性 (Why Women Don't Want Macho Men)（2010年3月）是一个引人入胜的文章。

去年某时，近4800名妇女参加了苏格兰阿伯丁大学面部研究实验室的在线心理实验室Faceresearch.org的实验。她们是年轻妇女，大多在其20多岁的早期至中期，并均为白色种族。然后，在实验室的研究人员将来自IP地址的数据证实，参与者来自包括阿根廷，瑞典，俄罗斯，澳大利亚和美国的30个国家。这些妇女的原籍国是该实验的重要组成部分。

经过细致的数据，包括妇女的面部喜好，她们的原籍国和该国的国民健康指数，脸部实验室的研究人员证明了一些值得关注的现象。他们能根据世界卫生组织统计的她的国家的死亡率，预期寿命和传染病的影响，预测一个女人喜欢的男子。

一个对进化心理学领域不熟悉人的，可能觉得这些有点牵强。一个女人对阳刚之气的偏好如何与她的民族的健康连接？答案始于性选择理论。研究说明，妇女是更挑剔的性别，因为她们绝大部分繁殖和养育子女的风险和负担。一个男人可以在一年的时间与100名妇女做爱，有100个孩子，而一个女人在一年的时间与100人睡觉，只会有一个婴儿（多胞胎除外）。在每个怀孕期，她参与得更多。因此，是她的最佳利益，至少选择一个高品质的性对象。一个优秀男性的标志之一就是良好的健康。

一个女人可能会潜意识地被高睾丸酮的人吸引，因为在健康上，他会给她的孩子们優勢。但是，如果健康是以忠诚和好父亲换来的，有多阳刚真的重要吗？明显的答案是对一个在有良好卫生保健系统并少有有害病原体的国家居住的女人，它没有什么重要性。

同时，硬汉子偏好最强的妇女往往是住在疾病率及死亡率较高，健康保健指数得分最低的是一些国家：墨西哥，巴西，保加利亚和阿根廷。 （研究者只用白人对象以控制实验课题，所以及亚洲和非洲国家没有被包括在这项研究中。）

这并不是说，卫生保健外的文化因素对妇女的喜好不发挥作用。脸部实验室的研究人员承认，对一些变量他们没有考虑。例如，妇女和资源的的平等和控制可能会影响她们对阳刚的偏爱。暴力犯罪也是如此。在身体能力和優勢是安全和社会流动的主要手段的社会，阳刚似乎像一个宝贵的资产。然而，一般而言，研究人员发现，以前的研究表明一个国家的健康指数可以更好解释在很多特定文化妇女比阳刚男性偏好的变化。

该研究提出的最大的问题是：现代医疗，延伸及现代社会，有没有无意中贬低阳刚之气？有可能。万宝路人，美国成年吸烟热的偶像，有被消灭的威胁吗？鉴于 美国妇女对阳刚之气的显然喜好，答案是否定的。我们没有准备摆脱阳刚男子。（但是，我们也还没有改善我们的健康指数评分。）然而也有一些烟雾信号，建议变化已在地平线上露头。

然而，大纪元时报和几个中文博客发表关于此研究的表明短文，结论改变了。他们的标题为，女性更喜欢肌肉男人的，不喜欢“女性”男人。

文章的导语为：

最新的一项调查显示，对女性而言，“阴柔”男子是让人非常讨厌的，她们更喜欢拥有阳刚之气的男子。

然而，在文章的，它以次总结：

而此前英国阿伯丁大学(University of Aberdeen)研究人员对包括欧洲、美国、南美、加拿大、澳洲、新西兰等30个国家、4500名年龄在16岁到40岁女性进行调查显示，医疗照护愈好 的国家，当地的女性愈偏爱脂粉味的男性。例如北欧的瑞典，68%受访女性就偏爱长相较阴柔的男性。相对之下，医疗照护质量最差的巴西，55%的受访女性偏 好肌肉男。
　　
负责这项调查的心理学家狄布因博士(Dr LisaDeBruine)指出，研究结果显示，医疗质量愈佳的国家，身强力壮的男性就愈不吃香。

Adam & Eve © Matthew Felix Sun

美国少女, 中国女婴性早熟 American Girls and Chinese Baby Girls' Early Puberty

New York Times reported that "a new study finds that girls are more likely today than in the past to start developing breasts by age 7 or 8.

The research is just the latest in a flood of reports over the last decade that have led to concern and heated debate about whether girls are reaching puberty earlier, and why it might be happening."

While in China, it is reported that in Wuhan, several baby girls have showed signs of breasts development, female hormone exceeding adult level. They all have been fed by a Shengyuan brand powdered milk. The ages of these baby girls are 4 months, 9 months and 15 months, respectively. Health Ministry has demanded an investigation.

纽约时报报道，"一个新的研究发现，女孩与过去比更可能由7岁或8开始乳房发育。

这项研究是在过去的十年的一系列洪水般的报告最新的一份，引发关注和激烈争论关于女孩是否提前达到青春期，以及其原因。"

而在中国，据报道，在武汉，一些女婴有乳房发育迹象，并有超过成年女性的激素水平。她们都被喂了圣元品牌的奶粉。这些女婴的年龄分别为4个月，9个月至15个月。卫生部已要求调查。

Minority Languages in an Empire - 帝国里的少数民族语言

Recently, people in Cantonese speaking regions in China have staged protest against government's plan of broadcasting increasingly or exclusive in Mandarin.

The suppression of things of minority status there is breathtaking. I have never heard of any governors and party chiefs of the ethnic minority autonomous regions have bothered to learn the languages of the locals.

In view of that, the Hapsburg dynasty was positively enlighten, whose monarchs took it seriously to learn some, if not all of the native tongues of its many ethnic subjects, be it Czech, Hungarian or Serbian.

Almost one hundred years after the last Hapsburg monarch, couldn't people have done better?

最近，在粵語地區，人們紛紛抗議中國政府的計劃来推行越來越多的普通話廣播或只用普通話。

在那里对拥有少數地位的東西的壓制是驚人。我從來沒有聽說過任何少數民族自治區的省長和黨委书记，麻烦他们自己来學習本地人的語言。

和這一情況相比，哈布斯堡王朝是極为开明的，他們的君主们非常認真地學習一些(如果不是全部)多種族属民的母語，無論是捷克语，匈牙利语或和塞爾維亞语。

从最後哈布斯堡王朝的君主至今将近一百年过去了，人們是不是可以做得更好些？


Charcoal on Paper © Matthew Felix Sun

Parading "Criminals" and "Suspects" - 嫌疑犯游街

Chinese newspaper People Daily reported that in the city of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, police posted a series of photos, featuring young women accused of prostitution, walking bare-feet, held by thin strings.

These photos generated much debate in China. People no longer accept this humiliating practice as norm and demand more humane treatments to criminals and suspects, and denounce this indignity.

中国《人民日报》报道，近日，广东东莞警方开展了“创平安、迎亚运”的扫黄行动，其中一组卖淫女赤脚游街的照片 在网上引起热议。从相片所见，两名穿着时尚的涉嫌卖淫女，不但赤脚，且戴着手铐，背后还被幼绳牵着。

中国人现在不肯接受这种不人道，让人丧失尊严的行为。即使是罪犯和嫌疑犯，也应获得人道对待。

Oil Spills - 石油泄漏

Three months after BP's oil spill in Gulf of Mexico, "China is dealing with the worst oil spill in its history, according to Greenpeace, after two pipelines in the coastal city of Dalian exploded Friday, sending crude gushing into the Yellow Sea," reported AOL News.

"On July 16, At approximately 6:20 p.m. local time, an explosion in a pipeline near Dalian Xingang Harbor set off a secondary explosion in a smaller pipeline.

The oil slick was 10 centimeters thick in some places, the Chinese state television news network reported, according to BusinessWeek. Approximately 1,500 tons of oil gushed into the sea before the spill was contained, Chinese state-run radio reported.

Chinese officials say oil is now spread across 165 square miles of water. There is still no word on what caused the explosion."

At least in the US, we have a villain but there, as usual, after a major disaster, no one is to shoulder the blames. What is left to do, is heroic cleaning efforts and usual hands wringing.

墨西哥湾英国石油公司的石油泄漏3个月后，“中国正在处理其据绿色和平组织称历史上最严重的漏油事件。两条沿海城市大连管道的星期五爆炸，原油涌入黄海，”美国在线新闻报告。

"在7月16日当地时间大约下午六点20分，在大连新港港附近的一个管道爆炸引发了在一个较小的管道二次爆炸。

据商业周刊称，中国国家电视台新闻网报道说有些地方的浮油达标10厘米厚。中国国营电台报道，泄漏被抑制前，大约1,500吨原油涌入大海。

中国官员说，目前的原油在165 平方英里的水域传播。目前对爆炸引因还没有说法。"

至少在美国，这里有一个恶棍，但在那里，像往常一样，在大灾难之后，没有人承担的责任。剩下可做的，只是英勇的清洁工作，和一贯的捶胸顿足。


One Fine Day / 美好的一天 © Matthew Felix Sun

Ordering Food in Restaurant / 点菜

How to order food in restaurant is quite telling sometimes. In the US, even in Chinese restaurants, when dishes are tend to be shared, all the dinners have a menu and in general will contribute an idea to the table, while in China, it was less democratic. Over there, usually one menu is given to a table, even if there more a full dozen dinners. Usually one or two people put them heads together and decide the entire menu for the table. This sometimes creates some displeasure.

Recently, I heard a story happened to a distant relative of mine. He is in his eighties and doesn't dine out often, because he can only eat very soft food now. A few weeks ago, he invited his children and grandchildren to dine in a restaurant and he picked up the check. However, whoever studies the menu and placed the order didn't consult with him and didn't order any dish he could chew on. Considering he was to pay for the dishes and there was nothing for him to eat, he was furious.

It can be easily fixed perhaps, but that is not how Chinese people behave. They would rather see things go wrong and fret and complain about it then try to prevent it.

Perhaps, they should learn to practice democracy from dining table first.

如何在餐館點菜有时很说明问题。在美國，即使是在菜肴往往共享得中餐館，所有食客都会有一份菜單，和他人一起分享点菜的主意；而在中国大陸，点菜就不那麼民主。在那裡，通常一张桌一個菜單，即使有一整打人吃饭。往往一個人或兩個人決定整個菜單。這有時會造成一些不欢。

最近，我聽到一個發生在我的一個遠房親戚的故事。他年過八旬，只能吃很軟的食物了，所以极少在餐馆吃飯。幾個星期前，他邀請他的子女和孫輩在餐館吃飯，由他付账。然而，点菜的人沒有與他商量，沒有点任何他可以嚼得动的菜。考慮到是他付账，却沒有吃到什麼，他非常生氣。

这个问题其实可以很容易地解决，但這不是中國人行事方法。他們寧願等事情變壞，然后抱怨，也不設法阻止不快发生。

也許，他們應該從餐桌上开始學習如何實行民主。


Birds and Men / 鳥與人 / Vögel und Menschen by Matthew Felix Sun

61 星美国国旗 - 61 Stars American Flags

It has been reported that The Dollar Tree in Texas sold plastic American flags with 61 stars, thanks to the generosity of its manufacturer China.

The Dollar Tree assistant store manager wouldn't comment on camera, but said the flag is sold as a "patriotic banner" — not as an American flag.

Indeed.


據報導，在德克薩斯州樹美元出售塑料美國國旗有61顆星，由於中國的製造商的慷慨。

美元樹商店 (Dollar Tree) 的經理助理不肯在鏡頭前發表評論，但表示該旗织是一個“愛國”的标记, 而不是美國國旗。

果真如此!

Tai Chi - 太极

It struck me that most people who practices Tai Chi in the US are much more serious than those who do it in China.

Tai Chi practitioners in China most treat it as a form of exercise, no much different than our jogging, bicycling and swimming. Of course, there are right postures and wrong ones, but the attitude towards orthodox and correctness is rather cavalier.

While in the US, it is a serious business and people are mostly dedicated to the forms and trying hard not to err.

I see this as a cultural difference. Chinese people tend to be utilitarians and as long as their arms and legs got stretched, they are satisfied, and would not care much about the tradition and inner meanings of the form. Always serious American practitioners on the other hands are much more respectful to the ancient forms.

在我看来，大多数在美国练习太极的人都是远比那些在中国的人认真。

在中国练习太极的人大多把它当作锻炼，比我们的跑步，骑自行车和游泳没有不同。当然，太极有正确的和错误的姿势，但他们对太极地正统性相对来讲很不在乎。

在美国练习太极是一个严肃的事情，人们对太极地形式很专注，努力不犯错误。

我认为这是文化差异所致。中国人民往往是功利主义者，只要他们的手臂和腿活动够了，他们就满意，而并不在乎传统和各种姿态的内在含义。另一方面，很认真的美国人则更为看重的古老形式，对太极充满敬意。

Why Needs Map

When I visited my family in China earlier this year, I demonstrated to them the wonder of Google Map with its street views. They enjoyed the views and the convenience but that was it. They don't bother to look at the images from all over the world again, or use any online map to help them to navigate in unfamiliar places.

今年早些時候，我去中國探亲时, 我向他們展示了谷歌地圖, 包括街道图像。他們很喜欢这个便利，但僅此而 已。他們懶得通过谷歌地圖看來自世界各地的圖像，或使用任何在線地圖導航，幫助他們在不熟悉的地方照路。



Many people there do use maps, particularly when they travel, but most don't. They rely on the experiences to find a new place, and landmarks to locate. If they are to meet someone, the usual place to meet is the place at least one of them knew. Instead of "going straight ahead and turn right on A Street, then turn left on C Street. The number is 2652.", you'll hear "going straight till you see a big yellow building, turn right, then turn left when you see a hospital. The place is the third entrance of the pink building, second floor, the middle door."

那里的許多人实际上使用地圖，特別是當他們旅行时; 但大多數不用地图。他們依靠的經驗以及易认的标记，来找到一個新的地方。如果他們要和他人碰头，通常他们去至少是其中一個知道的地方。你听不到 "一直走，右轉上A街， 然後左轉上C街。號碼是2652。" 你會聽到 "一直走，直到你看到一個大黃楼，右轉，然後看到一個醫院時左轉。這個地方是粉紅楼的第三個入口，二樓，中間門。"

Chinese characters are based on pictogram and people still rely on mostly images to navigate. To design a GPS system for Chinese marketing, better utilize pictures as well.

漢字是建立在象形的基礎上，人們仍然大量依靠圖片定位。為中国設計全球定位系統，应更好地利用圖像。

Labor Unions in China - 中国的工会

A spate of labor disputes took place in China. Traditionally, labor unions would speak out for the labors and make demands on work condition or compensation improvement on the management.

It is therefore startling to see that at least one labor union in a Honda plant in China fought against the striking workers. The labor union team members are in yellow caps in the pictures below:

中國近来發生一系列勞資糾紛。傳統上，工會會代表工人，向管理层提出改善工作條件的或補償的要求。

因此，当人们看到一個本田在中國工廠的“工會”对罷工工人進行攻击，感到吃驚。下图中，工會成員戴着黃帽子：

Drinking Ages in China and the US - 美國和中國的飲酒年齡

America has very strict drinking ages, depending on the states, ranging from 18 to 21 years old, in order to combat with the drinking problem. Yet this puritanical draconian restriction has failed miserably. Time again, we heard unsupervised underage drinking or the binge drinking when young people hit the legal age to consume alcohol.

The place I grew up, China, though introduced a law in 2006 to ban selling alcohol to anyone younger than 18, it never established a legal drinking age.

I learned to assess the taste of alcohol - beer and wine - through my parents and learned to treat alcohol with a realistic approach - neither treating it as forbidden fruit nor treating it as panacea solving all troubles in life.

It's interesting to observe that drinking problem though does existing in China, has never been as lethal as that in the US.

It's high time to re-exam the policy here.

美國有很嚴格的飲酒年齡，按州而定， 18至21歲，以打擊酗酒的問題。然而，這種清教徒式的嚴厲限制已經失敗。一次又一次，我們聽到的無監督未成年人飲酒或刚愎自用及法定年齡飲酒的年 輕人酗酒故事。

我長大的地方，中國, 雖然于2006年推出了一項法律， 禁止向任何人出售酒精小於18歲，從未建立了法定飲酒年齡。

通過我的父母，我學會了饮啤酒和葡萄酒, 获得實事求是的態度对待酒精 - 既不把它作為禁果, 也不把它作為解決生活中一切煩惱的靈丹妙藥。

值得一提的是，中國雖然有喝酒問題，它從 來沒有象在美國这样致命。

现在是调整政策的時間了。

Bicycles - 自行车

Yesterday was the Bike to Work day in San Francisco Bay Area. This activity was designed to encourage people to bike, other than drive to work, in order to reduce green house effect, and also can benefit individual's health. Bicycles are becoming more popular in urban American.


Bicyclists, San Francisco Bay Area

Yet, in China, the once Kingdom of Bicycles, it is getting increasingly hard to find bicyclists. Sad!


Traffic in Shenyang, China


Traffic in Shenyang, China


Traffic in Shenyang, China


为了增强市民的环保意识，旧金山5月13日将举行“骑车上班日”活动。预计成千上万的市民将参加今年的骑自行车上班日活动。

星期四上午8点半，旧金山市府官员和骑自行车的人士还将在市政厅集会，呼吁在全市设立自行车道。

Living Was Worse Than Death, So I Confessed - 生不如死就招了

Following my previous blog on the killing of school children in China, I was sick to stomach to read more killings of such kind.

One of the reasons of such irrationality is that there is no channel to redress any wrongs done to Chinese citizens. Violence calls for violence.

Below is a deeply disturbing story. A certain Mr. ZHAO Zuohai in rural China was accused of killing another villager, who had quarreled and fought with him. The person thought to be killed actually fled, believing that he had killed Zhao. After a deeply decomposed body was found, Zhao was tortured and forced to confess being the killer. He was sentenced to die then commuted to long term. His wife divorced him and his children dispersed. Below is an interview published by People's Daily (the "Tongue and Throat" of Chinese Communist Party).

I have read many more similar stories but only choose to report this, because the bias of other sources. Since People's Daily is pro-Chinese government, I feel that I can believe all the accusations here.

繼續我以前的在中國殺害學童關於的博客，我很悲哀地聽到更多的這類殺人消息。

其中一個原因是這種非理性事件，是在中國向國公民沒有任何渠道糾正錯誤。暴力呼籲暴力。

下面是一個非常令人不安的故事。在中國農村, 一個趙作海先生被指控殺害與他爭吵和打鬥的一名村民。其實他以為他殺害了趙作海, 逃離家鄉，卻被認為是遭趙作海殺害。一個深度腐爛的屍體被發現，趙作海被拷打並被迫承認為殺手。他被判處死刑然後改判為長期徒刑。他的妻子離婚，他的孩子們驅散。下面是人民日報刊登的（中國共產黨的“喉舌”）採訪報導。

我看過很多類似的故事，但因為其他來源的偏見，只選擇報告此文章。由於人民日報是親中的政府，我覺得我可以相信這裡所有的指控。









Below is my translation and the original transcript follows.

下面是我的翻譯, 中文原文隨後。

May 11, Henan Province, Shangqiu City, Laowangji Xiang [a xingzheng term], Yumian Village, Zhao Zuohai resting in his sister-in-law's home. Pictures taken by reporter LI Qiang

"I was acquitted." Zhao Zuohai put the Release Certificate in front of his chest several times, pointing to it and said: "Look, look, the Supreme Court, acquitted."

After reading it again, he carefully folded the certificate. A man took it to photograph the certificate, and he cranked his neck, keeping unblinking eyes on the certificate, not letting it out of his sight for a moment.

Zhao Zuohai's back was slightly bent, and when he looked at people he betrayed a constant nervousness.

His cry was always sudden, coughing out from the throat. Less than a day, he cried seven or eight times. The most severe one, was when he talked about when his son visited him in prison without calling out Dad.

He was eager to mentioned his being beaten. When worked up, he stood up, hunched up his body and hands, to demonstrate how he was handcuffed to the bench, how he was beaten.

He did not want to mention seeking responsibility. He always said, "I do not understand it, since it belongs to the domain of the government, whatever the government says, whatever happens."

When the people from government came to console him, he would stand up in respect, hands on seams, and bowed to 90 degrees.

Beaten, Living Was Worse Than Death

New Capital Journal: Now does your body feel now?

Zhao Zuohai: At the beginning of my jail time, my head was always buzzing, so I couldn't sleep, all these were the problems I got from interrogate, being beaten.

New Capital Journal: You were at the police station two days, a month at the County Public Security Bureau. Where were you beaten up?

Zhao Zuohai: Both places. Interpol was the worst.

New Capital Journal: Do you remember how you were beaten?

Zhao Zuohai: Punched and kicked, from the day I was carried off. Look at the scar on my head, which was hit by the gun barrel, leaving this scar. They used a rolling pin like stick hit my head, knocking and knocking till I was dizzy. They also set off firecrackers over my head. I was handcuffed to the bench legs, fuzzy headed, and they put one after another firecracker on my head, lit, and set the explosion on my head.

New Capital Journal: Did it hurt?

Zhao Zuohai: Directly put on my head, why wouldn't it hurt? One explosion after another, so you couldn't sleep. They also mixed some drug with boiled water to let me drink, then I knew nothing. They stomped me and I couldn't move, even couldn't not stand up.

New Capital Journal: Could you sleep?

Zhao Zuohai: Handcuffed to the bench, more than 30 days they would not let you sleep.

New Capital Journal: Could you stand it?

Zhao Zuohai: What could you do if you couldn't stand it? He wanted you to die, you are damned. A person from Interpol team told me, that if you did not confess, we would put you on a van, and kick you out of the open door, then we are going to shoot you, claiming you tried to escape. I was beaten so much that to live was worse than to die. Whatever they told me to say, I said.

Beaten ruthlessly, really I couldn't stand it any more. Let me tell you, when you were beaten like that, you would confess too. Qin Xiang Lian [a legendary figure] was a good woman, why did she confess? Because of the ruthless beating. One or two days, three days, five days, she could not endure a long time. However tough she would have to confess.

Later on I said, do not beat me anymore, I would say whatever you want me to say.

New Capital Journal: Your statement was what they wanted you to say?

Zhao Zuohai: They taught me. He told me to say so and so, I then began to repeat, as soon as I repeated, he said, I those were my words. How I killed Zhao Zhentang, was fed by them. If I didn't say it to their liking, they'd beat me.

New Capital Journal: In your statement, regarding where the body was, there were two statements. One was that it was dumped into the river, and another that it was buried. Did they feed you that too?

Zhao Zuohai: I made them up, they were false. They asked me where to get the body, and I can not stand beating so I made up things randomly.

New Capital Journal: At that time, how many people beat you?

Zhao Zuohai: Four or five. I'd forgotten who they were. 12 years passed. A main one amongst them (then) was about 30 years old.

Wronged, I had a Mouth But Could Not Speak

New Capital Journal: So many years, when you thought of it, did you feel being wronged?

Zhao Zuohai: Could you not? How wronged I was. Around in my head I thought about this matter. I know that it was injustice, but what to do to this injustice? Falling wall was crooked from head to tail. You said that you did not kill, they said to you that if you did not kill, why you were in the Public Security Bureau? Nobody believed me, when they did not believe me and also hit me, insisted on that I killed. Everyone said that you killed somebody; no one believed me.

New Capital Journal: Did you say in court that you were wronged?

Zhao Zuohai: Did I dare say it? If I said that, what if they beat me again? Never mind that time; even just a few days ago, our prison cadre, came to ask me this matter, I do not dare to say it. I was afraid. Later, the cadre insisted, and he said that you need to tell the truth. Otherwise, did you still wish to go out? I finally told him everything. It was torture, forced confession.

New Capital Journal: You appealed once, then abandoned the effort?

Zhao Zuohai: Once I was in prison, the prison took care of me, I hoped for reduced terms then I could go out. I did not appeal. I also did not know how to write the appeal. I would thought that if I tried to appeal, what if they beat me again. I didn't dare to wish to overturn the verdict and had little hope.

New Capital Journal: Have you mentioned to friends and relatives of your innocence?

Zhao Zuohai: No. I didn't mention it to anyone. I am a mute who ate bitter pills could not tell it. I didn't dare to any one in my family.

New Capital Journal: You have never acknowledged your crime in the heart?

Zhao Zuohai: I have never acknowledged it in my heart. At that time, whatever was in the court's file was the acknowledgment. For example, say I stole vegetables. Others said I stole vegetables, but I did not steal. Others insisted on your stealing and it was acknowledged and accepted by all. But I have never accepted that verdict.

New Capital Journal: Over these years in prison, what did you think of most?

Zhao Zuohai: Mostly commutation, an early out. This time if I do not come back, I should have another commutation.

New Capital Journal: Ever thought of Zhao Zhentang's returning to the village?

Zhao Zuohai: I did not dare to think about it.

New Capital Journal: If Zhao Zhentang did not come back, when would you can out according to your calculation?

Zhao Zuohai: 70 years of age, 70 years old I could come out.

New Capital Journal: At that time, have you thought of your life once you were out?

Zhao Zuohai: I thought, I would scavenge and do a little trade; one has to live.

New Capital Journal: You perhaps did not expect to come out so soon?

Zhao Zuohai: I did not believe that I could live, did not expect this step.

New Capital Journal: Do you hope that those who beat you would apologize to you?

Zhao Zuohai: Apologize or not, does not matter. Beat first then apologize, has no meanings at all. You cannot peel of the original pain.

In Prison, Cry Underneath Quilt

New Capital Journal: What was your life in prison like?

Zhaozuo Hai: When I was in prison, I did mainly cleaning, and folding clothes in the clothing factory. I was old, and people did not expect me much, however much I could do was all right. Later, the prison took better care of me, and let me to become management staff, administering hundreds of people. Tire due to work, I could sit and and watch who did not work, and intervene. Prison staff really were taking care of me, allowing me to eat before other people, due to my old age. I was not beaten in prison and what I said counted, therefore I did not desire anything inside the prison.

New Capital Journal: Did you have monthly living allowances?

Zhao Zuohai: 6 Yuan [1 USD = 6.8 Yuan, or RMB], I couldn't use them all so I save up. I thought that I would need money once I went out, considering how expensive everything was.

New Capital Journal: Did you look forward to coming out when you were inside the prison?

Zhaozuo Hai: I was counting the days everyday, how many days inside already, how many days to go before I could go out, everyday.

New Capital Journal: Whom did you miss most in prison?

Zhao Zuohai: Sons and daughters, and family.

New Capital Journal: Did you ever dream of things took place before when you were in prison?

Zhao Zuohai: Always dreamed of children coming to see me. Whenever I had a dream, I dreamed of children's coming. I feel really painful. I was forced to confess, didn't you think I suffered gross injustice?

New Capital Journal: Did you cry when you thought of this?

Zhao Zuohai: I cried, I cried underneath the quilt, without making noise. I cried my quilt wet.

New Capital Journal: Did you children visit you?

Zhao Zuohai: My second son came last year. However, when he saw me, he did say anything. He didn't call me Dad. From his coming to leaving, he did not say once Dad. I felt extremely bad. He hated me. You say when my kids did not call me, wasn't I a useless person? The way he visited me was worse than his not to come at all. It made me feel even worse.

New Capital Journal: The child blame you?

Zhao Zuohai: I was in this trouble, my wife left, no one was at home, and my children couldn't continue their schooling, and begged everywhere. I was beaten, my children suffered a lot.

New Capital Journal: In prison, when you heard that Zhao Zhentang returned, how did you feel?

Zhao Zuohai: I cried, I longed to sit on the floor at once.

New Capital Journal: What did you think the most?

Zhao Zuohai: I thought that I was wronged so many years and I was angry and sad. I also know that I was going to be out soon.

Now, I Believe in the Laws

New Capital Journal: Do you know that your wife remarried?

Zhao Zuohai: I knew, I also understood. I was given a sentence, and could not even feed myself. Because this event, my wife left, my children dispersed, my family broken and family members dead. I have tears in my heart, and really it was in these words.

New Capital Journal: Does your son know that you are out?

Zhao Zuohai: He knows. He was working faraway and saw the newspaper. He told me that he wanted to come back to see me. Now, I don't even have a place to live, what's the use of his coming back. Moreover, when he comes back, his won't get paid.

New Capital Journal: What is the future plan of yours?

Zhao Zuohai: I still want to do a small business, selling vegetables, which was what I did before. House, I'll gradually get to it. This and that, to help my sons to form families.

New Capital Journal: I heard that your family grave was dug?

Zhaozuo Hai: At the time, the police said the body was hidden in it and when I was beaten so badly that I admitted that the body was in the grave. They dug up the tombs of my parents and my brother. I need to fix my parents' grave.

New Capital Journal: What is your idea regarding compensation?

Zhao Zuohai: I think it should not be less than 1.5 million Yuan [1 USD = 6.8 Yuan, or RMB]. I was in accordance with national standards, I would not calculate, other did it for me. Build a house, found wives for my sons, I also need money for old age.

New Capital Journal: Have you ever thought of holding the responsibility of the responsible person?

Zhao Zuohai: It was a matter of the government. State says he is not good, he is not good; it will not do if I say yes or no. I was even a criminal to be reformed through labor.

New Capital Journal: Do you find the change big once you are out?

Zhao Zuohai: Too big. Didn't dare to think. Stucco houses become concrete buildings, and I can not find my way.

New Capital Journal: Do you hate Zhao Chentang?

Zhao Zuohai: What is called hate, what is called not hate? I can not break the law, cursing him or beating him would not do.

New Capital Journal: Do you now believe in laws now?

Zhaozuo Hai: I am an ordinary person and did not know what laws were. Now after this, I believe in laws.

New Capital Journal: In the past people said that you were hot tempered. How about now?

Zhaozuo Hai: What temper can I have now? After this incident, any temper has been milled away.

New Capital Journal: Now, what is your happiest time?

Zhao Zuohai: My happiest time was the moment being told that I could come out, then that's great. This event was most tragic and most happy.

New Capital Journal: Why?

Zhao Zuohai: This thing is tragic. But now I am back, and knowing I was wronged, and this is the happiest time. Therefore, the most tragic, most happy. (Reported by Zhang Han from Shangqiu, Henang Province)



5月11日，河南省商丘市老王集乡余庙村，赵作海在其妹夫家中休息。记者 李强 摄


　　“我是无罪释放。”赵作海好几次把释放证摆到胸口，指着证说：“你们看，你们看，最高法院，无罪释放。”

　　看完了，他小心翼翼地把证叠起来。有人拿去拍照，他伸着脖子，眼睛不眨，一刻都不离开那张证。

　　赵作海背微驼，看人时眼神总有点紧张。

　　他的哭总是突如其来，哭声从喉咙里咳出来。不到一天，他哭了七八次。最厉害的一次，是说起儿子到监狱看他，没有叫一声爸。

　　他愿意提到自己曾经挨打，说到激动处，站起来缩着身子和手，演示着怎么被铐在凳子上、怎么被打。

　　他不愿意提追责。他总说，“我不懂，那是公家的事情，公家说怎样就怎样。”

　　公家的人来慰问他，他会恭恭敬敬地站起来，手贴着裤缝，鞠一个躬，90度。

　　被打，生不如死

　　新京报：现在感觉身体怎么样？

　　赵作海：一入狱开始，头总是嗡嗡地叫，叫的常睡不着觉，这都是当时审讯时候落下的毛病，打的。

　　新京报：你当时在派出所两天，在县公安局一个多月，在哪里挨打了？

　　赵作海：都挨打了。在刑警队挨打最厉害。

　　新京报：你还记得当时怎么打你吗？

　　赵作海：拳打脚踢，从抓走那天就开始打。你看我头上的伤，这是用枪头打的，留下了疤。他们用擀面杖一样的小棍敲我的脑袋，一直敲一直敲，敲的头发晕。他们还在我头上放鞭炮。我被铐在板凳腿上，头晕乎乎的时候，他们就把一个一个的鞭炮放在我头上，点着了，炸我的头。

　　新京报：疼吗？

　　赵作海：直接放头上咋不疼呢。炸一下炸一下的，让你没法睡觉。他们还用开水兑上啥药给我喝，一喝就不知道了。用脚跺我，我动不了，连站都站不起来。

　　新京报：能睡觉吗？

　　赵作海：铐在板凳上，那三十多天都不让你睡觉。

　　新京报：受得了吗？

　　赵作海：受不了咋办啊？他叫你死，你就该死。当时刑警队一个人跟我说，你不招，开个小车拉你出去，站在车门我一脚把你跺下去，然后给你一枪，我就说你逃跑了。当时打的我真是，活着不如死，叫我咋说我咋说。

　　真是搁不住（受不了）打得狠。我就跟你们说，这么打你们，你们也要承认。你说秦香莲可是个好人，那她为啥招供，还不是打得狠。一天两天，三天，五天，搁不住时间长。再硬也招不住。

　　我后来说，不要打了，你让我说啥我说啥。

　　新京报：你的口供都是他们让你说的？

　　赵作海：他们教我说的。他对我说啥样啥样，我就开始重复，我一重复，他就说是我说的了。怎么打死赵振裳，都是他们教我的。说得不对就打。

　　新京报：在你的口供里，尸体在哪里，有两次供述，一次说是扔到河里了，一次说埋了，这也是他们教的？

　　赵作海：我胡乱说的，都是假的。他们问我，尸体弄哪里去了，我打得受不了，就胡乱说。

　　新京报：当时打你的人都是谁，几个人？

　　赵作海：四五个人。是谁我都忘了，12年了，其中一个主要的（当时）30来岁。

　　冤枉，我是有口难言

　　新京报：这么多年，想起这件事，你觉得自己冤枉吗？

　　赵作海：能不想吗？我冤枉啊。我脑子里转圈想着这个事情。我知道冤，冤有什么办法？墙倒一路都歪。你说没杀人，他们说你没杀，咋进来公安局了？所有人都不相信我，不相信还打我，说是我杀的。都说是你杀的，没人相信。

　　新京报：你在法庭上说过冤枉吗？

　　赵作海：我敢说吗？我说了他们再打我怎么办。别说那时候，就是前几天，我们监狱里的干部，因为这个事情来重新问我，我都不敢说。我害怕。后来干部非问我，他说你说实话吧，不说实话，你还想不想出去了。我才一五一十地说了，那是刑讯逼供，屈打成招。

　　新京报：你提出过一次申诉，后来放弃了？

　　赵作海：我到了监狱里面，监狱里对我很照顾，我想减减刑，我就出去了。就没申诉。我也不会写申诉。我还想，如果申诉出去了，弄不好人家再打我咋办。不敢想翻案，没啥指望了。

　　新京报：和亲友提到过冤枉这回事吗？

　　赵作海：没有。谁也没提过。我是哑巴吃黄连，有口难言。家里谁我也不敢说。

　　新京报：你在心里从未承认过？

　　赵作海：我从来没有在心里承认。那时候，法院的档案上给我写的是认定。啥叫认定？比如，我偷了菜，别人说我偷了，我没偷。别人说就是你偷的，这是认定。但我心里从来没有服过。

　　新京报：这些年在监狱里想的最多的是什么？

　　赵作海：我就想着减减刑，早点出来。这次如果我不回来，我又该减刑了。

　　新京报：想过赵振裳回村里吗？

　　赵作海：我不敢想。

　　新京报：如果赵振裳没有回来，你算着自己什么时候能出来？

　　赵作海：70岁，70岁我就能出来了。

　　新京报：想过那时候出来的生活吗？

　　赵作海：我想着，我出来要捡捡破烂，做点小生意，还要生活。

　　新京报：没有想到能这么快出来吧？

　　赵作海：我都没想过我能活，没想到能混到这一步。

　　新京报：你希望那些打你的人给你道歉吗？

　　赵作海：道歉不道歉的无所谓了，打罢了再道歉，也没有啥意思，你原来的疼也不能揭下来。

　　狱中，蒙着被子哭

　　新京报：你在监狱里的生活是什么样的？

　　赵作海：我在监狱里主要就是打扫卫生，在服装厂叠个衣服。我年纪大了，人家也不指望我，能干多少就干多少。后来，监狱照顾我，还让我当管理人员，管几百个人。干活累了，往那一坐，看着谁不干活，就能管管。监狱人很照顾我，其他人还没吃饭，我就能去吃饭，年龄大了。不挨打，说了还能算，我在里面也就不想啥了。

　　新京报：每个月有生活费吗？

　　赵作海：有6块钱，我也花不着，我都攒起来，我想着出去还需要钱，现在物价这么贵。

　　新京报：在监狱里是不是盼着出来？

　　赵作海：我是数着日子过，进来多少天，还有多少天能出去，一天一天算。

　　新京报：在监狱里最想谁？

　　赵作海：想儿子女儿，想家。

　　新京报：在监狱里会做梦想起以前的事吗？

　　赵作海：做梦都是梦见孩子去了。一做梦，就梦见孩子来了。我心里难受。我屈打成招，我不是冤的狠吗？

　　新京报：想到这些会哭吗？

　　赵作海：我哭，都蒙在被子里哭，不出声，被子都被我哭湿了。

　　新京报：孩子去看过你吗？

　　赵作海：二儿子去年看过一次。可是，他见到我没言语一声，一句爸都没叫。从来到走，没说一句爸。我急得，我心里特别难受。他恨我。你说我的孩子都不叫我了，我不是个孬人吗？他这么来看我，还不如不来，来了我心里更难受。

　　新京报：孩子怨你？

　　赵作海：我出了这事，妻子走了，家里没人了，孩子连学都上不成，满处要饭。我挨打，孩子受了很多苦。

　　新京报：在监狱里听到赵振裳回来的消息，什么感受？

　　赵作海：我哭了，我恨不得能一下子坐在地上。

　　新京报：想的最多的是什么？

　　赵作海：想到我被冤枉这么多年，我生气，悲伤。我也知道自己快被放出来了。

　　现在，我相信法律了

　　新京报：你知道妻子改嫁了吗？

　　赵作海：我知道，我也理解。我判了刑，连自己也养活不了了。我因为这个事情，是妻离子散，家破人亡。我心里掉泪了，真是这八个字。

　　新京报：儿子知道你出来了吗？

　　赵作海：他知道了。他在外地打工，看报纸了。他跟我说要回来看我。现在，我连住的地方都没有，他回来也没用。再说，他打工回来，人家不给他工钱。

　　新京报：对以后有什么打算吗？

　　赵作海：还是想做个小生意，贩个青菜卖，我以前就干这个。房子啥的，要弄弄，给儿子们成个家。

　　新京报：听说家里的坟被挖了？

　　赵作海：公安当时让我说尸体藏在哪里，我实在被打的不行，就说在坟里。他们把我父母和兄弟的坟都挖了。我要给父母重新修个坟。

　　新京报：对赔偿金有什么想法？

　　赵作海：我觉得不能低于150万。我是按照国家的标准，我不会算，别人给我算的。盖房子，给儿子娶媳妇，我还要养老。

　　新京报：有没有想过追究相关负责人的责任？

　　赵作海：那是公家的事情。国家说他不行，他就不行，我说不行，也没用。我以前还是个劳改犯呢。

　　新京报：出来后觉得外面变化大吗？

　　赵作海：变化大，真是不敢想。土房也变成楼了，路我也找不着了。

　　新京报：你恨赵振裳吗？

　　赵作海：啥叫恨，啥叫不恨。我也不能知法犯法了，骂他打他都不行。

　　新京报：你现在相信法律吗？

　　赵作海：我是老百姓，以前不知道啥是法律。现在经过这次，我相信法律了。

　　新京报：以前大家说你脾气比较大，现在呢？

　　赵作海：我现在还有啥脾气，经过这个事，啥脾气也磨没了。

　　新京报：到现在，你最高兴的时候是什么时候？

　　赵作海：最高兴的就是说让我出来，那个时候最高兴。这个事情最悲惨，也最高兴。

　　新京报：为什么？

　　赵作海：这个事情是悲惨的。但是现在人回来了，知道我是被冤枉了，这也是最高兴的时候。所以说，最悲惨，最高兴。（记者 张寒 河南商丘报道）