Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Some rivers find the sea yet that is not their sweet reason
Thinking of Michel de Montaigne at 3am.It’s best to not get so caught up in what has been wrong or right over a span of time. Right and wrong changes just like flags in windy weather; this way and then that way. Life goes on within us, and as George Harrison duly noted, after a time without us, and him. Life is a river we are, yet cannot grasp, because we are all true to our nature; and no other can be imposed.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Kim Jong Un/ General
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea's ailing leader Kim Jong-il has named his youngest son as a military general, state media said early on Tuesday, marking the first stage of a dynastic succession.
It was the first time the 20-something Kim Jong-un had been mentioned by name in the North's media, and his appointment came just hours before the start of a rare ruling party meeting to elect its supreme leadership.
Kim Jong-il, 68, is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, but despite his declining health is not expected to go into retirement just yet, experts say. They say his son is too young and inexperienced to fully take the reins.
State news agency KCNA said Kim had issued a directive bestowing military rank on six people including Jong-un, the leader's sister Kyong-hui and Choe Ryong-hae, who is considered a loyal aide of Kim and his family.
Kim Jong-il "indicated in the directive that he ... confers the military titles to members of the Korean People's Army with the firm belief they will complete their honorable mission and duty on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea," the report said.
Intelligence officials say the youngest son of the "Dear Leader" was identified last year as next in line to take power in a country which for years has been punished by international sanctions for trying to develop nuclear weapons.
The son is believed to have been born in 1983 or 1984 but little is known about him, even by intensely secretive North Korean standards, beyond the sketchy information that he went to school in Switzerland and has been his father's favorite.
It was the first time the 20-something Kim Jong-un had been mentioned by name in the North's media, and his appointment came just hours before the start of a rare ruling party meeting to elect its supreme leadership.
Kim Jong-il, 68, is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, but despite his declining health is not expected to go into retirement just yet, experts say. They say his son is too young and inexperienced to fully take the reins.
State news agency KCNA said Kim had issued a directive bestowing military rank on six people including Jong-un, the leader's sister Kyong-hui and Choe Ryong-hae, who is considered a loyal aide of Kim and his family.
Kim Jong-il "indicated in the directive that he ... confers the military titles to members of the Korean People's Army with the firm belief they will complete their honorable mission and duty on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea," the report said.
Intelligence officials say the youngest son of the "Dear Leader" was identified last year as next in line to take power in a country which for years has been punished by international sanctions for trying to develop nuclear weapons.
The son is believed to have been born in 1983 or 1984 but little is known about him, even by intensely secretive North Korean standards, beyond the sketchy information that he went to school in Switzerland and has been his father's favorite.
From Xinhua: China Dialogue: World Civilisations
Voices from China's international dialogue on world civilizations
English.news.cn 2010-09-27
QUFU, Shandong, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Followings are some of the remarks scholars made at the First Nishan Forum on World Civilizations opened Sunday in Qufu City, the birthplace of China's great philosopher Confucius, in the eastern Shandong Province.
"In my recent research, I've been startled to learn that the fundamental principles of Confucius' teaching are the same as those that I have been preaching all my life!"
-- Robert H. Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, USA
"Old superstition is the worship to ghosts and spirits, while new superstition is the blind belief in science and technology, which can meet our secular needs and even offer more than needed, but it can't meet our soul's need and may even obsess our soul."
--Xu Jialu, president of the organizing committee of the First Nishan Forum on World Civilization
"With a view toward the future, it is likely that the spirit of East Asian modernity imbued with Confucian characteristics will serve as a reference for public intellectuals in North America and Western Europe as well as intellectuals elsewhere in the world."
--Du Weiming, Professor of Harvard University, USA
"At the dawn of the 21st century, we have ample ethical and cultural resources from the East and the West to forge together a more peaceful, prosperous, and harmonious world."
--Dwight N. Hopkins, Professor of Theology, University of Chicago, USA
"The significance is we are enjoying the dialogue between Confucianists and Christians. This kind of dialogue was already started some 400 years ago, but because of a lot of misunderstandings, it ended up in frustration of both sides."
--Wolfgang Kubin, sinologist and professor of the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of Bonn, Germany
"What is required for 'harmony in diversity' to be realized, I think, is that we exhibit the category of transcending love modeled by Jesus, and endeavor also to become junzi, as Confucius encourages us to do."
--David Lyle Jeffrey, former vice president of Baylor University, USA
"I don't think some kind of final answer will emerge at this conference. Most of the really important things that go on are not at the podium, rather at the lunch table. You know, when people talk to each other and develop relationships, they will have impact on the world. But China is rising, Chinese culture is rising, and in some way, this conference tells the world here comes Confucianism."
--Roger Ames, professor of the University of Hawaii
English.news.cn 2010-09-27
QUFU, Shandong, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Followings are some of the remarks scholars made at the First Nishan Forum on World Civilizations opened Sunday in Qufu City, the birthplace of China's great philosopher Confucius, in the eastern Shandong Province.
"In my recent research, I've been startled to learn that the fundamental principles of Confucius' teaching are the same as those that I have been preaching all my life!"
-- Robert H. Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, USA
"Old superstition is the worship to ghosts and spirits, while new superstition is the blind belief in science and technology, which can meet our secular needs and even offer more than needed, but it can't meet our soul's need and may even obsess our soul."
--Xu Jialu, president of the organizing committee of the First Nishan Forum on World Civilization
"With a view toward the future, it is likely that the spirit of East Asian modernity imbued with Confucian characteristics will serve as a reference for public intellectuals in North America and Western Europe as well as intellectuals elsewhere in the world."
--Du Weiming, Professor of Harvard University, USA
"At the dawn of the 21st century, we have ample ethical and cultural resources from the East and the West to forge together a more peaceful, prosperous, and harmonious world."
--Dwight N. Hopkins, Professor of Theology, University of Chicago, USA
"The significance is we are enjoying the dialogue between Confucianists and Christians. This kind of dialogue was already started some 400 years ago, but because of a lot of misunderstandings, it ended up in frustration of both sides."
--Wolfgang Kubin, sinologist and professor of the Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of Bonn, Germany
"What is required for 'harmony in diversity' to be realized, I think, is that we exhibit the category of transcending love modeled by Jesus, and endeavor also to become junzi, as Confucius encourages us to do."
--David Lyle Jeffrey, former vice president of Baylor University, USA
"I don't think some kind of final answer will emerge at this conference. Most of the really important things that go on are not at the podium, rather at the lunch table. You know, when people talk to each other and develop relationships, they will have impact on the world. But China is rising, Chinese culture is rising, and in some way, this conference tells the world here comes Confucianism."
--Roger Ames, professor of the University of Hawaii
North Korea (DPRK) update from Xinhua
PYONGYANG, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Worker's Party of Korea (the WPK), the ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the DPRK), will hold a major conference on Tuesday.
The following are some key facts about the country.
The DPRK lies on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and has an area of 122,762 square km with a population of some 22 million.
It borders China to the north, Russia to the northeast, and the Republic of Korea to the south, with Pyongyang as its capital.
About 80 percent of its territory is mountainous or hilly, and the country boasts many beautiful landscapes.
The Korean people have endured misery and hardship in the past. In 1894, Japan invaded the Korean Peninsula and occupied it from 1910 to 1945. Korea was liberated from Japan's colonial rule after World War II.
On Sept. 9, 1948, the founding of the DPRK was proclaimed.
In 1950, the Korean War broke out. After the war ended in 1953, the DPRK's citizens started to rebuild their country under the leadership of the WPK.
Remarkable achievements have been made since then in various fields such as industry, agriculture, national defense, science and technology, culture and education.
In 1972, the 11-year compulsory education started to be implemented in the country. In the 1990s, despite its relatively low per-capita income in the world, the DPRK has caught up with and even surpassed many medium-developed countries in education and health care.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the DPRK government has called on its people to concentrate their efforts on developing the national economy.
In recent years, the WPK and the DPRK government have reiterated the state development goal of building a powerful and prosperous country, with a focus on developing light industry and agriculture.
The People's Republic of China and the DPRK established diplomatic relations on Oct. 6, 1949. From 1950 to 1953, the Chinese People's Volunteers fought side by side with the people of the DPRK against the U.S.-led aggression and finally won a victory.
The following are some key facts about the country.
The DPRK lies on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and has an area of 122,762 square km with a population of some 22 million.
It borders China to the north, Russia to the northeast, and the Republic of Korea to the south, with Pyongyang as its capital.
About 80 percent of its territory is mountainous or hilly, and the country boasts many beautiful landscapes.
The Korean people have endured misery and hardship in the past. In 1894, Japan invaded the Korean Peninsula and occupied it from 1910 to 1945. Korea was liberated from Japan's colonial rule after World War II.
On Sept. 9, 1948, the founding of the DPRK was proclaimed.
In 1950, the Korean War broke out. After the war ended in 1953, the DPRK's citizens started to rebuild their country under the leadership of the WPK.
Remarkable achievements have been made since then in various fields such as industry, agriculture, national defense, science and technology, culture and education.
In 1972, the 11-year compulsory education started to be implemented in the country. In the 1990s, despite its relatively low per-capita income in the world, the DPRK has caught up with and even surpassed many medium-developed countries in education and health care.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the DPRK government has called on its people to concentrate their efforts on developing the national economy.
In recent years, the WPK and the DPRK government have reiterated the state development goal of building a powerful and prosperous country, with a focus on developing light industry and agriculture.
The People's Republic of China and the DPRK established diplomatic relations on Oct. 6, 1949. From 1950 to 1953, the Chinese People's Volunteers fought side by side with the people of the DPRK against the U.S.-led aggression and finally won a victory.
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Reading Yukio Mishima
Reading the words of Yukio Mishima, on the naked beach, slowly reading each sentence of Thirst for Love. He’s very good.
Quotes:
“Like an author who thinks himself a genius because his books don’t sell, he felt that his not being asked to lecture anywhere was evidence that the world was not ready for his message.”
“His was an ageing process that worked from the inside out - an ageing process like that which might attack a stuffed eagle, its insides hollowed by white ants.”
“It is not mutual benefit that makes allies of the ordinary nations of this world, it is jealousy.”
“What’s love? Nothing more than symbol falling for symbol. And when it comes to sex – that’s anonymity falling for anonymity. Chaos and chaos, the unisexual mating of depersonalization with depersonalization. Masculinity? Femininity? You can’t tell the difference.”
“No matter how you look at it, from below or above, status is a fine substitute for jealousy.”
“Rumour sometimes follows a more precise logic than fact; and fact, more than rumour, is apt to have a lie in it somewhere.”
“The highest point at which human life and art meet is in the ordinary. To look down on the ordinary is to despise what you cannot have.”
-“Oh yes, dear husband, you are correct; and your haiku show the ordinary at its highest point of development.”
Quotes:
“Like an author who thinks himself a genius because his books don’t sell, he felt that his not being asked to lecture anywhere was evidence that the world was not ready for his message.”
“His was an ageing process that worked from the inside out - an ageing process like that which might attack a stuffed eagle, its insides hollowed by white ants.”
“It is not mutual benefit that makes allies of the ordinary nations of this world, it is jealousy.”
“What’s love? Nothing more than symbol falling for symbol. And when it comes to sex – that’s anonymity falling for anonymity. Chaos and chaos, the unisexual mating of depersonalization with depersonalization. Masculinity? Femininity? You can’t tell the difference.”
“No matter how you look at it, from below or above, status is a fine substitute for jealousy.”
“Rumour sometimes follows a more precise logic than fact; and fact, more than rumour, is apt to have a lie in it somewhere.”
“The highest point at which human life and art meet is in the ordinary. To look down on the ordinary is to despise what you cannot have.”
-“Oh yes, dear husband, you are correct; and your haiku show the ordinary at its highest point of development.”
China & Thailand
People and things I miss so quickly.
China:
All the people dancing at sunrise in the parks, and dancing so well. Chinese dances, fox trots, waltz, the Pride of Erin , the music piped into megaphones. Millions dancing every day in the rising sun.
The people dancing in the city squares at night in the spring summer and autumn, old with young.
The people singing at home or in karaoke clubs, and so many with excellent voices. Maybe it’s the tonalities in the language that enable so many people to sing well.
The sarcasm and stark humour of the Han and Manchurian people, so sharp and fast.
The fact that everything matters except religion and tolerance.
The real human collective
That there is no God or King
Thailand:
That the King is God, the King of all Kings; the Avatar of the Almighty and of all that is good on earth.
The fact that nothing matters much except beauty, religion, sex, tolerance, and the King.
The beauty and youth of the 65 million people; you dont see so many people at all over 30 in the giant city of Bangkok.
The Physical Grace of men and women and the very real third sex.
The way the women say ‘kaaaaaaa’ so softly at the end of every sentence.
The living entity of Bangkok City, the Great Mandala made of people in love with their God who are tolerant of all who dont believe because it simply means there is more God just for them.
people
China:
All the people dancing at sunrise in the parks, and dancing so well. Chinese dances, fox trots, waltz, the Pride of Erin , the music piped into megaphones. Millions dancing every day in the rising sun.
The people dancing in the city squares at night in the spring summer and autumn, old with young.
The people singing at home or in karaoke clubs, and so many with excellent voices. Maybe it’s the tonalities in the language that enable so many people to sing well.
The sarcasm and stark humour of the Han and Manchurian people, so sharp and fast.
The fact that everything matters except religion and tolerance.
The real human collective
That there is no God or King
Thailand:
That the King is God, the King of all Kings; the Avatar of the Almighty and of all that is good on earth.
The fact that nothing matters much except beauty, religion, sex, tolerance, and the King.
The beauty and youth of the 65 million people; you dont see so many people at all over 30 in the giant city of Bangkok.
The Physical Grace of men and women and the very real third sex.
The way the women say ‘kaaaaaaa’ so softly at the end of every sentence.
The living entity of Bangkok City, the Great Mandala made of people in love with their God who are tolerant of all who dont believe because it simply means there is more God just for them.
people
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