provide strong moral leadership

By Stephen Glover

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1081654/STEPHEN-GLOVER-How-man-high-morals-preside-BBCs-descent-gutter.html

Timid

Mr Thompson is not the only well-meaning and decent man running one of our major national institutions who is unable to provide strong moral leadership. When I look at the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, I see a similar tendency to avoid passing judgment.

The Church of England, like the BBC, has become a timid organisation that is often frightened to take a public stand against moral excesses which it knows in its heart are wrong.

Both the director-general of the BBC and the Archbishop of Canterbury would be utterly incomprehensible figures to their predecessors of 50 years ago, let alone a hundred.

Timid leaders are the curse of our national life. But the events of the past few days may indicate that the general public are not so timid, and they at least have strong standards.

BBC bosses were not able to see what was objectionable about Ross and Brand’s outpourings, but thousands of ordinary people, once alerted, could. It was the shocking realisation that many licence-payers had had enough – that they still defended standards of decency and proper behaviour – that finally jerked Mr Thompson out of his holiday reveries.

How could a man of such high morals preside over the BBC’s descent into the gutter

Last updated at 2:50 AM on 30th October 2008

The suspension of the foul-mouthed Jonathan Ross and the forced resignation of his equally disagreeable sidekick Russell Brand marked an extraordinary historic cultural victory. For the first time in living memory, the BBC has signalled that there are boundaries of decency it must not cross.

But, my goodness, didn’t this admission take a long time coming? No one at the BBC appeared to realise that the original show broadcast by Radio 2 on October 18 was so offensive.

Ross and Brand’s vulgar abuse of the actor Andrew Sachs was passed on the nod by a 25-year-old Radio 2 producer, even though Mr Sachs had refused his permission.

That young man evidently did not know any better. But nor did his bosses. It took several days of mounting Press coverage, and critical remarks by David Cameron, Gordon Brown and other politicians, before the BBC’s management finally responded.

Even then the person whose head was pushed above the parapet was that of Tim Davie, the ‘director of audio and music’, of whom none of us had ever heard.

Only yesterday did Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director-general, and the man ultimately responsible for the Corporation’s output, break his holiday and announce that he was suspending Ross and Brand.

His statement was certainly everything one might have wished for, referring as it did to ‘a gross lapse of taste that has angered licence payers’, but it had to be wrung out of him.

Mr Thompson is a deeply symbolic figure of our times. He is not a bad man. He is civilised and well-read, having taken a first in English at Oxford.

As a devout Roman Catholic, he adheres to moral values that are a million miles from those of Ross and Brand. And yet he has made no attempt to stem the tide of clod-hopping filth that pours out of their, and others’, mouths whenever they broadcast.

Why should this be? Perhaps Mr Thompson believes that Ross and Brand are popular figures who will attract a large audience. Although the BBC is protected from commercial realities, it increasingly conducts itself as though these are the only realities that matter.

Shielded from the market, the Corporation often strives to outdo the market in offering dumbed-down programming, and appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Vulgarity

But I fancy there is a deeper psychological explanation for Mr Thompson’s indulgence of so-called entertainers against whose vulgarity and ignorance he must privately recoil.

Whereas some on the Left embrace Brand for his nihilism and for what they regard as his welcome flouting of bourgeois values – he seems eager to copulate with anything that moves – Mr Thompson is a more elevated, as well as a more interesting, character.

Brand has now resigned from his Radio 2 show while Ross remains suspended

Like so many modern liberal-minded intellectuals, he has a horror of being judgmental. He knows that Jonathan Ross is a coarse figure, but he reasons that if there are people who enjoy his crudeness and lavatory humour and peppering of four-letter words, he is not going to prevent them from having what they desire.

There is a fissure in him that permits this moral relativism. For himself and his family he wants culture and standards of decency, but if there are others who prefer dross, he is not going to stand in their way.

Yet, more than any other organisation, the BBC should not be in the business of providing dross. It is protected from the market. It was founded on high and noble principles.

It does not have to follow the worst trends – far less take the lead – and lure us into the gutter. Mr Thompson might not be fitted by background or temperament to edit the Daily Smut, but he has all the attributes to guide the BBC towards higher ground. And yet he does not do so.

The French philosopher Julien Benda famously coined the phrase ‘La Trahison des Clercs’  -  the betrayal of the intellectuals. He was thinking of French and German 19th-century intellectuals who had become apologists for militarism and nationalism.

The modern trahison des clercs is that of liberal intellectuals like Mr Thompson who can recognise goodness and truth but, out of fear of appearing judgmental or proscriptive, will not help others to find them.

This moral dereliction amounts to a fatal arrogance. Mr Thompson knows why it is wrong to scatter four-letter words on television. He can see that the kind of humour purveyed by the likes of Ross and Brand does not raise people up but often pushes them down.

But, because he is terrified of being seen imposing his values – which are, in fact, almost indistinguishable from the old values of the BBC – he has so far said: let them have what they want. Then he returns to the books and music and culture of his pleasant house in Oxford.

The greatest victims of this negligence are the young, as Sir John Tusa, a former head of the BBC World Service (one of the diminishing number of bastions of excellence in the Corporation) rightly pointed out yesterday on Radio 4′s Today programme.

The young, more than any of us, deserve guidance, and need inspiration. Instead, they are offered the sex-obsessed ravings of a pathetic clown like Brand. Shouldn’t they have better from the publicly-funded BBC?

Timid

Mr Thompson is not the only well-meaning and decent man running one of our major national institutions who is unable to provide strong moral leadership. When I look at the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, I see a similar tendency to avoid passing judgment.

The Church of England, like the BBC, has become a timid organisation that is often frightened to take a public stand against moral excesses which it knows in its heart are wrong.

Both the director-general of the BBC and the Archbishop of Canterbury would be utterly incomprehensible figures to their predecessors of 50 years ago, let alone a hundred.

Timid leaders are the curse of our national life. But the events of the past few days may indicate that the general public are not so timid, and they at least have strong standards.

BBC bosses were not able to see what was objectionable about Ross and Brand’s outpourings, but thousands of ordinary people, once alerted, could. It was the shocking realisation that many licence-payers had had enough – that they still defended standards of decency and proper behaviour – that finally jerked Mr Thompson out of his holiday reveries.

Inexcusable

His inclination may well be to rehabilitate Ross – Brand, by resigning, would seem to have put himself beyond the pale – once the fuss has blown over. He would be making a great mistake if he did so.

He has commissioned a report, which he will deliver to the BBC today, but we don’t need such a document to tell us that both men behaved in an inexcusable way, and should not be employed by our public sector broadcasting organisation again.

Will this historic cultural victory stick? Yesterday’s Mail reported that, in April, a BBC1 comedy drama called Love Soup showed a woman being ‘raped’ by a dog.

The BBC still pumps out many programmes that offend against decency and taste, and are often particularly offensive to women. We should not imagine that the tap will be turned off in a trice.

But, maybe the affair of those unfunny and grossly overpaid vulgarians Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand will show Mr Thompson and his senior colleagues that the BBC has become dangerously out of step with many of the people who pay its bills.

If Mr Thompson does not have the courage to act on his moral convictions, he will be wise to listen to the outrage of those who do.

The service was reportedly held at St Bartholomew the Great Church

The Church of England’s two most senior figures have expressed concern after the “marriage” of two gay priests was held at a London church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, said an investigation was taking place into the service.

The couple – the Reverend Peter Cowell and the Reverend Dr David Lord – were already civil partners.

But the vicar who performed the ceremony insisted he had no regrets.

Writing for the New Statesman website, the Reverend Dr Martin Dudley said refusing to bless the pair “would have been a negation of everything I believe”.

Critics say the service, held in May at St Bartholomew the Great Church in the City of London, broke Church guidelines.

‘Amazing flowers’

In a statement, the Archbishops expressed “great concern” over reports of the service.

They said they could not comment on the specific circumstances of the case because a an investigation had been launched by the Bishop of London.

But they said “various reference points” to the Church of England’s teaching on sexuality were “well known” and remained in place.

Nothing felt even vaguely inappropriate Dr Martin Dudley

“Those clergy who disagree with the Church’s teaching are at liberty to seek to persuade others within the Church of the reasons why they believe, in the light of Scripture, tradition and reason that it should be changed,” they added.

“But they are not at liberty simply to disregard it.”

But Dr Dudley, who insisted he was “robustly heterosexual”, wrote that he had not carried out the ceremony to provoke traditionalists.

Dr Martin Dudley said the ceremony included “amazing flowers, fabulous music”

“It is not we who have whipped up the whirlwind, replacing words of love and inclusion with those of hatred and exclusion,” he added.

He described the service as “not a gay rally or demonstration, but a truly joyful celebration”.

“Amazing flowers, fabulous music, a ceremony both solemn and oddly homely, familiar words reordered and reconfigured, carrying new meanings.

“Nothing jarred, nothing felt even vaguely inappropriate. New and untried – but not wrong.”

Remain celibate

The couple are said to have exchanged vows and rings in front of hundreds of guests in the event, thought to be the first of its kind in the Anglican Church.

Anglicans worldwide are split over homosexuality and conservatives have condemned the service – which had no legal status – as blasphemous.

Critics say the wording of a traditional wedding expressly defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.

But liberals in the Church say the Bible should be reinterpreted in line with contemporary experience.

Under Church of England guidance, gay priests can enter civil partnerships as long as they remain celibate.

Guidance also says that gay couples who ask a priest to bless their partnership must be treated “pastorally and sensitively”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7459269.stm

By Tom Kelly, Paul Sims and Ben Clerkin
Last updated at 8:33 AM on 16th June 2008

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Reverend Martin Dudley sparked fury by blessing two gay priests in a service that used a traditional wedding liturgy

A rector faces the sack after becoming the first clergyman to conduct a gay ‘marriage’ in an Anglican church.

The Rev Martin Dudley flouted Church of England rules by blessing two homosexual priests in a service that used a traditional wedding liturgy in which the couple exchanged vows and rings.

Details of the ceremony provoked fury among many senior ministers and fuelled the row over gay clergy which already threatens to tear apart the worldwide Anglican church.

Last night the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, ordered an urgent inquiry into the ceremony, which was held last month in one of the capital’s oldest churches, St Bartholomew the Great.

He said: ‘Services of public blessings for civil partnerships are not authorised in the Church of England or the Diocese of London. I will be asking the Archdeacon of London to investigate what took place.’

If Mr Dudley is found to have broken church rules he faces potential disciplinary action ranging from a rebuke to dismissal.

Last night he insisted he had no regrets about the service, saying: ‘It seems to me
that Jesus would have been sitting in the congregation.’ But one of the two men he blessed has already quit as a Anglican minister following the furore surrounding the service.

The Rev Dr David Lord, a medic who was ordained in his native New Zealand last December, issued a joint statement with the Bishop of Waikato announcing he ‘felt it appropriate to lay down his clergy licence’.

The doctor met the Rev Peter Cowell, 50, after the former started working at St Bartholomew’s hospital in London five years ago. Cambridge-educated Mr Cowell is the hospital chaplain and a priest at Westminster Abbey, one of the Queen’s churches.

The couple had registered their civil partnership before the blessing on May 30.

Details of the service emerged days before a crucial summit of the Anglican Church’s conservative bishops and archbishops who threaten to split the church over the issue of gay clergy.

Union: Rev Dr David Lord (left) and Rev Peter Cowell exchanged vows and rings in at the blessing, which is now the subject of an urgent inquiry

Yesterday the Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev Henry Orombi, said the ceremony was ‘blasphemous’. 

He added: ‘The leadership tried to deny that this would happen, but now the truth is out. Our respect for the Church of England will erode unless we see a return to traditional teaching.’

Alison Rouff, a member of the General Synod, told BBC News last night: ‘These clergy, in my opinion, not only do they need to be disciplined by the Bishop of London but frankly if I had my way they would all be defrocked.’

However, Mr Dudley insisted he had not performed a wedding service and said the traditional marriage liturgy was significantly altered for the occasion, which he described as ‘glorious’.

St Bartholomew the Great is one of London’s oldest churches

He said: ‘I was asked by a friend and colleague to bless their civil partnership. I said “Of course I will”. 

‘Peter is a dear friend and I have gay friends and one respects them for who they are. It seemed perfectly reasonable. I certainly didn’t do it to defy my bishop or to make a statement, I did it as a matter of pastoral care for someone for whom I have a very high regard.’

‘I know about the bishops’ guidelines and I disagree with them. It just seems to me to be utter hypocrisy to deny the fact that there are significant numbers of gay men and women within the church and significant numbers of gay clergy.’ 

Anglicanism has been under pressure from traditionalists over the issue of gay clergy since the 2003 consecration of the first openly homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has banned formal blessings of same-sex partnerships. Under guidelines issued by the House of Bishops in 2005 clergy are allowed to enter into civil partnerships if they assure their bishop they are celibate. 

The Rev Benny Hazlehurst, of Accepting Evangelicals, an Anglican group supporting gay rights, said: ‘We’ve been making the argument for some time for the acceptance of same sex, loving relationships. Blessing of civil partnerships can only be a good thing in that context.’ 

A Church of England source described the case as ‘highly complicated’. He said Mr Cowell was employed by the NHS and suggested he could escape any sanctions.

Trumpets, vows… and two best men

Even with a history stretching back to the 12th century, St Bartholomew the Great had never seen anything quite like it.

With 300 relatives and friends squeezed into the pews, the Rev Peter Cowell and the Rev Dr David Lord made a dramatic entrance accompanied by a fanfare of trumpets, followed by the choir bursting into song in Latin.

With bridesmaids and two best men – one for each groom – following behind, the couple walked up the aisle to Mendelssohn’s march from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

As the smell of incense burning on the high altar wafted around, the Rev Martin Dudley started the traditional service, based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

He announced: ‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join these men in a holy covenant of love and fidelity. Such a covenant shows us the mystery of the union between God and God’s people and between Christ and the Church.’ 

Dr Lord was supported by relatives from his native New Zealand, who enthusiastically joined in the hymns which included Praise My Soul the King of Heaven and All My Hope On God Is Founded. Mr Cowell’s 84-year-old mother, Marie, read from the Book of 1 Corinthians.

The couple affectionately exchanged vows, pledging to each other to ‘hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part’.

As Mr Cowell placed a ring on the fourth finger of his partner’s hand, he continued: ‘With this ring I thee bind, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.’ 

They then recited poems from Shakespeare and Philip Sidney.

A reception was held at the Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where there was a ten-tier wedding cake. 

St Bartholomew the Great, founded by the Normans in 1123, has featured in a number of films including Shakespeare In Love and Four Weddings And A Funeral.

Nearly 15,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

More than 25,000 are still trapped in the rubble two days after the 7.9 quake struck, flattening homes, schools and entire villages and cutting roads.

Soldiers have begun to reach the isolated epicentre by helicopter and on foot, bringing much needed supplies.

The government has meanwhile downplayed fears about the stability of a dam.

State media had earlier reported that soldiers were working to plug cracks in the Zipingpu Dam near the hard-hit city of Dujiangyan, which they described as “extremely dangerous”.

But late on Wednesday, a manager of the Zipingpu Development Company said there was no risk of collapse, according to Xinhua state news agency.

No damage has been reported to the massive Three Gorges Dam, also in Sichuan province, but there were concerns about dozens of smaller dams closer to the epicentre.

Sichuan’s Vice-Governor Li Chengyun said incomplete figures suggested 14,463 people were dead, another 14,051 were missing, 25,788 were buried in the debris and 64,746 had been injured, Xinhua reports.

Officials reached the town of Yingxiu, in Wenchuan County, to find the devastation was worse than expected – out of the town’s population of 10,000, only 2,300 have been found alive.

The head of a police unit sent into the disaster zone said the losses had been severe.

“Some towns basically have no houses left,” Wang Yi, told Sichuan Online news site. “They have all been razed to the ground.”

The BBC’s Michael Bristow says there are collapsed buildings all along the road to the nearby city of Beichuan.

“We are all Chinese people – we’ve got to help” Du Yingbi

Stadiums have been put to use to house the displaced.

Meteorologists are forecasting a small break in the poor weather that has hampered aid efforts.

Helicopters have now been able to fly into the quake zone to take food, drinking water and medicine to Yingxiu – one of the towns in the mountainous area where the quake was centred.

But the weather remains cloudy and more rain is expected at the end of the week, said the National Meteorological Centre.

Slow effort

China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has flown to the epicentre to see relief work, having met survivors elsewhere.

RECENT CHINA QUAKES March, 2008: 7.2 quake in Xinjiang – damage limited February 2003: 6.8 quake in Xinjiang – at least 94 dead, 200 hurt January 1998: 6.2 quake in rural Hebei – at least 47 dead, 2,000 hurt April 1997: 6.6 quake hits Xinjiang – 9 dead, 60 hurt January 1997: 6.4 quake in Xinjiang – 50 dead, 40 hurt

The government has despatched tens of thousands of soldiers to the region to dig any remaining survivors out of the rubble and bring food, medicine and drinking water to the survivors.

Roads in the mountainous area have been badly damaged by the earthquake or have been covered by landslides.

Many soldiers and rescue workers have been making their way to cut off areas by foot. Others have parachuted in or have arrived by helicopter.

Workers are digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings with their bare hands.

Rescue workers now say hope is beginning to run out for more than 1,000 people thought to be trapped in a collapsed school building in Juyuan township, near Dujiangyan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7400252.stm

Last updated at 16:10pm on 3rd May 2008

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Boris Johnson was officially sworn in as London mayor at City Hall this afternoon.

He was elected last night, capping a catastrophic day for Labour in the local elections and leaving Gordon Brown facing a desperate fight for survival.

The Old Etonian handed David Cameron a stunning political triumph by ousting veteran mayor Ken Livingstone.

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The new mayor of London delivers his acceptance speech today at City Hall

Pledge: the new mayor has promised to build on Red Ken’s ‘outstanding’ achievements

Mr Johnson won with 1,168,738 first and second preference votes, compared with Mr Livingstone’s 1,028,966 on a record turnout.

As he arrived on stage the new mayor did not disappoint by stumbling in true Boris-gaffe style as he began his acceptance speech.

Mr Johnson today pledged to “lead the fightback” against violent crime in the capital as he signed the declaration of acceptance of his new role.

Mr Johnson, who defeated Labour’s Ken Livingstone by six points last night to become mayor, said that the number one issue facing London was the “tragically self-destructive” behaviour of some of its young children.

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Boris Johnson is sworn in as London mayor during a formal ceremony at City Hall today

He also pledged to make good on campaign promises to build affordable homes, protect gardens against development, improve bus services and crack down on minor crime on public transport.

The formal signing ceremony at City Hall came just hours after a 15-year-old boy was found stabbed to death in a stairwell in south London – the latest victim of a wave of knife-crime among young people in the capital.

Describing the boy’s death as “tragic”, Mr Johnson said: “I think this problem of kids growing up without boundaries and getting lost in tragic and self-destructive choices is the number one issue we face in this city.

“It is the job of me as Mayor to lead the fightback against it and that is what I want to do and I hope you will all join me in doing it.”

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Ready for action: Boris heads off to City Hall this morning

Without giving full details of his intentions, Mr Johnson said he would “reform and improve” the congestion charge on drivers entering central London, including by making it possible for motorists to pay their charge on account at the end of the month.

He said he would hold discussions shortly on how to clamp down on disorder on buses and trains, which he said was the single policy which most clearly resonated with the public during his election campaign.

“We are going to double the size of the safer transport teams to get people the sense of safety and security on the buses that they deserve,” he said.

“I think there is a vital necessity to drive out so-called minor crime and disorder as a way of driving out more serious crime.”

Mr Johnson was attacked during the mayoral campaign as a divisive figure who would be unable to represent London’s large ethnic minority population.

But he insisted that he wants to be a unifying figure, bringing representatives of all the city’s diverse communities into his administration.

He said: “I want, insofar as it is possible, to work with everybody from across all communities in London.

“It is vital for a Mayor of London to bring people together and to unite London and to serve every community in London impartially and to make sure we have in my administration representatives of all communities, which is what we will have.”

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Thumbs up: Boris celebrates his victory last night

The election of London’s first Conservative Mayor is expected to lead to a turnover of senior advisers at City Hall, and Mr Johnson said he would name some of his key aides over the next few days.

Saying that he wanted the Greater London Authority to concentrate on value for money, he left little doubt that he will slim down the staff he inherits from Mr Livingstone.

And he warned that he would have little patience with anyone who begrudged the change of power at City Hall: “If there are any dogs in the manger, I will have those dogs humanely euthanased.”

Repeating his praise for Mr Livingstone’s achievements, Mr Johnson made clear he did not intend to lead a partisan administration following his relatively narrow victory by a margin of 53 per cent to 47 per cent.

He said: “I want to build on the achievements of the last administration and I want us to put aside any personal rancour or ideological disputes.

“Let’s all put them aside and work together and build on the very considerable achievements of the last Mayor of London and make sure we create a London that is greater still.”

Mr Johnson does not formally receive the seals of office from Mr Livingstone until midnight tomorrow, and he joked that this would give the outgoing administration time to cover up anything it wanted to keep under wraps.

“Until that time, I imagine there are shredding machines quietly puffing and panting away in various parts of the building, and quite right too,” he quipped.

“Heaven knows what we shall uncover in the course of the next few days.”

True to his bumbling image, Mr Johnson was rarely far from a pratfall during his speech, several times raising laughter from his audience.

He had to ask what the date was before signing the acceptance document, muddled up the name of the architect responsible for City Hall’s distinctive design and momentarily avoided saying he wanted to give voters “more bang for their buck”, before changing his mind and saying it anyway.

After his speech, Mr Johnson went into private talks with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy.

Ron Dobson, the commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, was also at the private meeting which discussed the role of Police Community Support Officers in the city and the issue of bus passes for children.

Earlier Mr Johnson was received with a standing ovation as he arrived to sign the declaration of acceptance.

Around 400 supporters turned out to witness the formal signing ceremony at City Hall and see Mr Johnson deliver his first speech as mayor.

As he entered the room they cheered and chanted his name and then applauded him throughout his speech.

Before his arrival at City Hall crowds of supporters – and curious tourists – had gathered outside, some waiting all morning to catch a glimpse of the city’s new mayor.

Chris Jordan, 40, from Vauxhall, south London said she had waited many years to see Mr Johnson become mayor and had stayed up to see the results.

Ms Jordan said: “I’m delighted, I couldn’t be more pleased.”

Asked why she thought Mr Johnson would make a good mayor, she said: “He is very charismatic and highly intelligent as well as funny. I think there’s a lot more to Boris than people realise, but they will soon see.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will tomorrow subject himself to a grilling in a set of TV interviews in an effort to kickstart Labour’s fightback following its woeful performance in London and local elections.

The party’s 24 per cent projected share of the vote on Thursday thrust it into third place behind the Liberal Democrats and would cost as many as 200 seats if repeated at a general election.

Labour MPs have already given notice that Mr Brown must step up his performance, with one backbencher saying he had just six months to get a grip on events.

Mr Brown is thought to have decided against a swift Cabinet reshuffle in response to the bloodbath at the polls, but the pressure is on him to start turning the situation around before the May 22 by-election in Crewe & Nantwich, which would be vulnerable to the kind of swings seen over the past 24 hours.

Backbench critics today called on the PM to drop his plans for 42-day pre-charge detention for terror suspects, which they fear will cause another damaging row when it returns to the Commons in June.

David Winnick, who led a successful rebellion against Tony Blair’s plans for 90-day detention, said that the “divisive” proposals were “the last thing Labour needs” after its drubbing at the polls.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw insisted that Labour can still go on to win a historic fourth term in Government, but appeared to indicate that Mr Brown would now be forced to wait until the last minute in 2010 to go to the country.

“I am very clear that the situation in two years’ time will be different from where we are today,” Mr Straw told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.

“There are plenty of Governments that lost the degree of vote that we lost in London and then went on to win a General Election after that.

“When you come to a General Election what people are doing is applying themselves directly to who should form the next Government and I think the choices will be very different from what has unquestionably been partly a protest vote in the mid-term.”

Mr Straw said that voters had wanted to “punish” Mr Brown – before hurriedly correcting himself to say “punish us” – for the scrapping of the 10p tax rate.

“They wanted to punish him – or punish us – in respect of the 10p,” he said.

Mr Straw warned that the Government must make “fewer mistakes”, but at the same time he stressed that it should not allow itself to be blown off course.

“What we have to do is actually maintain the strategy that we have followed because it is a strategy that has produced much more effective management as a whole over the last 11 years,” he said.

Minister for London Tessa Jowell, who led Labour’s campaign in the capital, told Sky News: “The voters have delivered the strongest possible message to us.

“They have shown us a pretty tough yellow card, and it is our job now to respond to that.”

Overall, Labour lost more than 300 council seats in this week’s elections, while the Conservatives made gains across the country from Southampton in the South, through the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, to Bury in the North West.

Mr Johnson claimed that Mr Brown had now become a liability for Labour and that they would be better off with Foreign Secretary David Miliband as leader.

“The smart thing for Labour to do would be quietly to remove Gordon Brown and install Miliband, is my view, but I don’t think they’ll do it,” he told Today.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=563744&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Police said Josef F admitted sexually abusing his daughter repeatedly

A 73-year-old Austrian man has confessed to imprisoning his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children, police have said.

Police said Josef Fritzl also admitted burning the body of a baby that died at the house in Amstetten, Lower Austria.

Mr Fritzl has been taken to court while authorities are caring for the woman, now 42, and her six surviving children.

Photos of the man’s basement show a concealed network of tiny windowless chambers which were soundproofed.

Prosecutors say Mr Fritzl is expected to be taken into protective custody after appearing before a magistrate.

The woman, Elisabeth, disappeared aged 18 on 28 August 1984 when, according to her testimony to police, her father lured her into the cellar, drugging and handcuffing her before locking her up.

She is reported to have been made to write a letter which made it look as if she had run away.

The head of the criminal affairs bureau in Lower Austria, Franz Polzer, said Mr Fritzl had admitted sexually abusing his daughter repeatedly during the time he imprisoned her.

Mr Polzer said Mr Fritzl told investigators Elisabeth had given birth to seven children, including twins in 1996, but one died shortly after being born and that he had thrown the body into an incinerator in the building.

The surviving children are now aged between five and 19 years.

The cellar rooms, covering an area of approximately 60 sq m (650 sq ft), were equipped for sleeping and cooking, and with sanitary facilities.

A reinforced concrete door was built into the wall that separated the “dungeon” from the house and electronically locked – the code known only to the suspect, who provided his captives with food and necessities, police said.

KEY FACTS IN CASE Elisabeth reappeared at home after disappearing 24 years ago Six children she says are hers have been found and placed in care One of the children, aged 19, is seriously ill in hospital Elisabeth’s father Josef Fritzl, 73, has been arrested on suspicion of incest and abduction Police say Mr Fritzl confesses to imprisoning Elisabeth and fathering her seven children Profile: Josef Fritzl In pictures: Abuse scandal Q&A: Austrian abuse case

Three of the children were kept in the cellar with their mother and had never seen daylight, police told a news conference.

The other three children were adopted or fostered by the suspect, after he forced Elisabeth to write a letter saying she could not look after the baby, according to police.

His wife, Rosemarie, with whom he had seven of their own children, appears to have been unaware of the alleged crimes.

The security chief for Lower Austria, Franz Prucher, said he had been down into the cellar where it was easy to understand how the abuse was not discovered.

“The cellar is very deep,” he said. “There you can cry and nobody will hear, nobody. There you can cry as loud as you can, you can hear nothing.”

The alleged abuse and Mr Fritzl’s apparent double life came to light when the eldest of the children in the cellar, 19-year-old Kerstin, became seriously ill earlier this month and had to be taken to hospital.

A television appeal by medical staff for the patient’s mother was seen by Elisabeth on a TV set in the cellar and she urged her father to let her go to hospital.

Police arrested Mr Fritzl shortly afterwards and took all the children into care.

“If you look at him today, you would hardly believe he was capable of doing these things. This man led a double life for 24 years,” said Mr Polzer.

He said it was incredible that it had been kept secret for all that time.

Both the father and Elisabeth say no one else had access to the cellar, according to police, who are appealing to anyone with information about Mr Fritzl to contact them.

Asked why the captives had not tried to escape before, Mr Polzer said one had to consider the fact that the woman was small and weak and even the eldest boy, now 18, was “a small boy, a weak boy”.

“You have to put yourself into the situation of these people,” he said. “They led a completely different life to ours, they do not know what we know. These children were born into the jail, they knew nothing else.”

Illness

Kerstin is said to be in a coma in hospital.

The head of the intensive care unit at the Amstetten hospital, Albert Reiter, said the impact of her experiences would eventually become clearer.

Elisabeth had not been seen in public since August 1984

“The connection between the effects of 20 years without daylight, the incest and other illnesses, we will research in the coming hours and days,” he said.

The media were told the other children who had been kept in the cellar were in surprising physical health, but very pale.

The region’s district governor, Hans-Heinz Lenze, said he had spoken to the five-year-old boy.

“He even told me how happy he was and how fantastic it was to ride in a real car,” he said.

Help offer

Journalist Andreas Wetz, of the daily newspaper Die Presse, told the BBC the suspect’s neighbours in Amstetten, a small town about 130km (80 miles) west of Vienna, were in shock at the revelations.

“The man who is said to have done this, they said he was funny, he talked to neighbours, he might be a little introverted, but they had no idea that this person could do this,” he said.

The BBC’s Bethany Bell says the case is reminiscent of that of Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian teenager held captive in a cellar in a house in a Vienna suburb for eight years, who ran to freedom in 2006.

While police are not connecting the two cases, many Austrians are asking how such matters went undiscovered, she says.

Miss Kampusch, now 20, has offered to help the victims. She told Austria’s ORF radio: “I can imagine that it is very difficult both for the mother of the children as well as for the wife of the perpetrator to get through this.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7371043.stm

Google: religion is not
‘factual’ on abortion

http://www.christian.org.uk/issues/2008/rellib/google_10apr08.htm

The Christian Institute’s action against Google rumbled on today as the Internet giant attacked religious pro-life groups for not being ‘factual’ on abortion.

The Institute attempted to place an ad on the popular search engine to promote its anti-abortion articles. But Google refused saying it doesn’t allow ads for sites that mix religion and abortion.

Before now it has not been known why. But today Google UK’s media office told newspapers: “We only allow ads that have factual information about abortion.”

Report continues below…

Listen to a LBC radio debate:

• Listen now (Windows Media)
• Listen now (Real Media)
• Download (mp3)

The slur is likely to further alienate religious groups who are already highly critical of Google’s biased policy.

News of the Institute’s legal action has made global headlines, not least in the US where Google’s HQ is based.

Fox News, one of Americas most-watched news channels, is carrying the story on its website. The Institute has given interviews to a number of overseas radio chat shows.

Today’s Daily Mail features a follow-up story showing the highly controversial ads that Google allows while banning religious pro-life ads.

Websites selling knuckle-dusters and ouija boards as well as dating sites designed for married people who want to have affairs are advertised on Google.

Mike Judge, Head of Communications at The Christian Institute, said: “For Google to feature ads like these when at the same time they ban our ad because we are ‘religious’ shows a warped set of values.

“To insinuate that religious groups are not factual on the issue of abortion is a huge insult to religious people across the globe.

“This is not a debate about the rights and wrongs of abortion. It is about free speech. You can be pro-abortion and still recognise that Google is acting unfairly.

“The real test of free speech is whether you allow those you disagree with to have their say. If you only allow your friends to promote their view, that is no free speech at all.”

View The Christian Institute’s ad as it would have looked

Google’s email to the Institute, refusing to accept the ad

The letter from the Institute’s solicitors to Google

http://www.christian.org.uk/issues/2008/rellib/google_10apr08.htm

The Christian Institute’s action against Google rumbled on today as the internet giant attacked religious pro-life groups for not being ‘factual’ on abortion.

The Institute attempted to place an ad on the popular search engine to promote its anti-abortion articles. But Google refused, saying it doesn’t allow ads for sites that mix religion and abortion.

Before now it has not been known why. But today Google UK’s media office told newspapers: “We only allow ads that have factual information about abortion.”

The slur is likely to further alienate religious groups who are already highly critical of Google’s  policy, which they say is biased.

News of the Institute’s legal action has made global headlines, not least in the US where Google’s HQ is based.

Fox News, one of Americas most-watched news channels, is carrying the story on its website. The Institute has given interviews to a number of overseas radio chat shows.

Today’s Daily Mail features a follow-up story showing the highly controversial ads that Google allows while banning religious pro-life ads.

Websites selling knuckle-dusters and ouija boards as well as dating sites designed for married people who want to have affairs are advertised on Google.

Mike Judge, Head of Communications at The Christian Institute, said: “For Google to feature ads like these when at the same time they ban our ad because we are ‘religious’ shows a warped set of values.

“To insinuate that religious groups are not factual on the issue of abortion is a huge insult to religious people across the globe.

“This is not a debate about the rights and wrongs of abortion. It is about free speech. You can be pro-abortion and still recognise that Google is acting unfairly.

“The real test of free speech is whether you allow those you disagree with to have their say. If you only allow your friends to promote their view, that is no free speech at all.” 

http://www.inspiremagazine.org.uk/news.aspx?action=view&id=2345

Angry Christians sue Google over internet ad

April 11, 2008 02:11am

SEARCH engine Google is facing a global backlash from internet users over its refusal to carry advertisements for a Christian group.

The Christian Institute is sueing Google on the grounds it is infringing the Equality Act 2006.

The group accused the popular search engine of having a “warped value system” after pointing out that it allows advertisements for “pornography and instruments of violence”.

Websites selling knuckle-dusters and ouija boards, as well as dating sites designed for married people who want to have affairs, are advertised on Google.

But the company turned down the non-denominational Christian charity that wanted to pay Google so that whenever the word “abortion” was typed in, its link would appear on the right hand side of the screen.

The link would have read: “UK abortion law news and views on abortion from the Christian Institute.”

Google said it had a policy of declining sites which mixed abortion with religious views.

It does, however, accept ads for abortion clinics, secular pro-abortion sites and secularist sites which attack religion.

Entering the word “abortion” into the search area immediately brings the user to adverts for Marie Stopes abortion clinics.

A search of other topics indicates that Google is happy to display ads to its millions of users for many other services.

Typing the words “having an affair” reveals a list of ads aimed at those looking to engage in extramarital relationships.

There are sites advertising advice on outdoor and group sex when words such as “swinging” and “dogging” are typed in.

Google also appears to have few qualms about sites advertising the sale of knuckle-dusters and ouija boards, as well as thousands of ads for pornographic material.

A spokesman for the US company said yesterday: “Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain abortion and religion-related content. We only allow ads that have factual information about abortion.

“We recognise that this is a very emotive subject and that people have strong views on both sides. Google takes no view on this issue one way or the other as a company.”

The spokesman added ads for most weapons were not allowed and those for pornography were strictly monitored. Anti-abortion ads with no religious content would be permitted.

Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, said the policy was anti-freedom of speech.

“It is insulting to say that a Christian perspective on the subject of abortion would not provide factual information. For Google to suggest that a religious belief means your views on abortion are not factual is outrageous and insulting to millions of religious people,” he said.

“The real test of freedom of speech is whether you allow the viewpoint of people you don’t agree with to be heard.

“By refusing to allow us to advertise, Google are taking away the opportunity to hear a religious point of view.

“That Google allows ads for all of these other products, including pornography and instruments of violence, shows how warped their value system is.” 

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23517828-2,00.html

BY JULIE MOULT – Last updated at 18:59pm on 30th March 2008A woman was killed and a man and a two-year-old child left fighting for life after a car being chased by police ploughed into them.

The three – believed to be a family – were travelling together in a car when they were hit head-on in the early hours of Sunday morning. They have yet to be identified.

Scroll down for more…

Police in an unmarked vehicle had been chasing two men in a black Mercedes people carrier seconds before the fatal smash

Police in an unmarked vehicle had been chasing two men in a black Mercedes people carrier seconds before the fatal smash in Bethnal Green, East London.

The scene resembled a bomb site with the smashed-up remains of half a dozen cars littering the street.

Clothes cut from the injured remained on the ground as police accident investigators began their probe.

The blue Vauxhall Corsa – from which the fatally-injured woman was cut out – was barely recognizable, lying about fifty yards away from the Mercedes which was rammed into the side of another car.

Locals gathered at the spot yesterday to see the horrific aftermath of the pile-up.

The crash comes almost a decade after newsreader Sheena McDonald was lucky to survive when she was hit by a speeding police van, travelling on the wrong side of the road.

Miss McDonald spent 72 hours in a coma after suffering massive head injuries. She later went on to sue the Metropolitan Police.

The accident prompted a review of standards of police driving. According to the Home Office, 126 people lost their lives in accidents involving police vehicles in England and Wales between 2000 and 2004.

Witnesses to this latest collision say both cars jumped a red light at a junction before the Mercedes careered into at least six others, including the Corsa.

Scroll down for more…

A woman was killed and a man and a two-year-old child were left fighting for life after after their Corsa was hit

Paramedics battled to save the woman in her thirties but she was pronounced dead at 4.30am, forty five minutes after the smash.

The man was last night in intensive care at the Royal London Hospital with severe head injuries. The little girl was taken to the same hospital as a precaution.

A 45-year-old woman, who was in one of the other cars, is in a stable condition in Homerton Hospital with serious leg injuries while a 47-year-old man was treated for minor back injuries.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said five ambulances, a duty officer and an air ambulance team in a car were sent to the scene.

The spokesman added: “Sadly an adult female was pronounced dead at the scene. An adult male was taken to the Royal London Hospital.”

His condition was described as “life-threatening”.

Scroll down for more…

The scene with the smashed-up remains of half a dozen cars

Two men who fled the scene – believed to be occupants of the Mercedes – were later arrested and are in police custody.

The owner of a nearby taxi firm said one of his drivers had chased the driver and wrestled with him in the street but he had shaken him off and sprinted away.

He said: “It was chaos. The police didn’t know whether to chase the man or tend to the injured. They chose to help the other passengers first because people were so badly injured.

“There was a person lying on the ground who may have been a pedestrian crossing the junction when it happened.

“Their clothes are still lying on the road where the paramedics cut them off.

“It was ten minutes until the emergency services got there and no-one knew what to do.

He went on: “We heard the huge noises one after another as the cars piled up.

“One of our taxis was the last to crash and it was a write-off, so you can imagine the impact on the cars at the front.

“The Corsa had two passengers and they had to be cut out of the wreckage. There was a child in the back.

“They were carried out away on stretchers. Everyone was shouting and screaming and it wasn’t clear who people were.

“Cars were on both sides of the road. One of the passengers in a cab got out and started arguing with someone from the people carrier. Police had to arrest him because they were about to start fighting.

“The driver of the people carrier jumped out and ran away from the scene. One of my drivers struggled with him and tried to keep hold of him but he broke free and ran away.

“He said the man was over 6ft and he couldn’t keep hold of him.”

Scroll down for more…

The blue Vauxhall Corsa – from which the fatally-injured woman was cut out

Resident Michelle Roberts, 52, was woken by the noise.

Miss Roberts, a personal assistant, said: “There was a loud bang – and then another and another, like a series of explosions.

“I thought a bomb had gone off at first. The next thing I heard was this awful screaming. It was a woman and a man screaming in desperation.

“I didn’t look out the window or go outside because I knew something awful had happened.

“Then there was the sirens blaring out which must have been the ambulances and the police arriving. It sounded like chaos out there.”

After the accident a section of Bethnal Green Road remained cordoned off as accident investigators picked through the debris and mangled vehicles which included two black cabs.

Scotland Yard’s Department of Professional Standards has launched an investigation as is routine when police cars are involved in accidents.

A police spokesman said. “At approx 03.45 an unmarked police car was made aware of a black Mercedes car on Bethnal Green Road.

“The unmarked police car put on blue lights to alert the Mercedes to stop. At this stage the Mercedes drove away at speed and was in collision with another vehicle – a blue Vauxhall Corsa.

“The occupants of the black Mercedes decamped from the scene.

“LAS attended and three people – one man, one woman and a female child – all travelling in the blue Vauxhall Corsa were treated at the scene. The woman – aged in her 30s – was pronounced dead at the scene at 04.30.

“All next of kin have yet to be been informed. Formal identification has yet to take place and a post mortem will be arranged in due course.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=549869&in_page_id=1770

09:55am 8th February 2008

Dr Rowan Williams likes to give the impression that he is a liberal-minded Archbishop of Canterbury.Who would have guessed that there lurks beneath that genial, bearded exterior a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary who wants to take Britain back to medieval times?

His amazing suggestion in a BBC interview yesterday that Sharia Law should be adopted in Britain marks a gigantic step backwards.

We have one law in this country. It may be based on Christian values, but it is a secular law upheld and interpreted by secular judges.

To have produced a single body of law, observed and respected by the great majority of people, is one of the triumphs of our civilisation.

Many centuries ago the Church had to accept that it should play no part in the administration of worldly justice. Its role is to appeal to our consciences – not to arbitrate in our everyday disputes, or to apportion guilt and pass sentences.

Yet it is exactly such powers that the mild-mannered and apparently rational Dr Williams envisages Sharia courts enjoying in this country.

Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in Sharia courts.

There would, he suggests, be a “right of appeal” to a secular court if those involved did not like Sharia justice.

Really? Would a young Muslim woman who had been refused a divorce in a Sharia court be able to seek a second opinion?

How can a reputedly highly-intelligent man and self-proclaimed liberal hold such antediluvian opinions?

Let us try to follow his batty logic. He starts from the position that we live in a “fragmented society”. That is sadly true, after four decades of multiculturalism.

In Dr Williams’s view, one of the reasons for this fragmentation is that some Muslims do not relate to the British legal system – or, to put it in Rowan-speak, which is like wading though cold porridge with a lead weight attached to one’s feet: “What we don’t want is a stand-off where the law squares up to people’s religious consciences.”

But there are lots of non-Muslims in this situation, and they are not encouraged to set up their own courts.

For example, many Roman Catholics regard abortion as a form of murder.

This belief entitles them to abjure abortion themselves, but not to treat women who have abortions as though they are murderers.

They are free to try to change the law if they wish, and some are doing so, but they are not at liberty to create courts in which Catholic doctrine replaces the law of the land.

Many of us in fact object very strongly to various laws – I certainly do – but we do not suggest we should set up courts that embrace and propagate alternative measures of right and wrong.

When Dr Williams says that the argument that “there’s one law for everybody … I think that’s a bit of a danger”, he is talking dangerous, reactionary nonsense.

One secular law for everyone, evenly applied and without discrimination, is the mark of a fair society.

And, of course, his prescriptions would have exactly the opposite effect to that which he says he wants.

Far from increasing social cohesion, separate Sharia courts would be resented by the non-Muslim majority, and they would encourage Muslims to entrench themselves further as a distinct social and cultural group, not only with their own religious values but also with their own legal means of enforcing those values.

Sharia law, in fact, would be liable to deepen the kind of “hostility” which Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, recently suggested Christians encounter in some Muslim areas.

It would almost certainly exacerbate divisions, not lessen them.

Dr Williams tried to suggest in characteristically convoluted language yesterday that he and the Bishop of Rochester are on the same side of the argument.

They are in diametric opposition. I accept that for many Muslims in this country Sharia offers a code for living, just as, for some Christians, “the Christian way” shows them how to conduct their lives.

But it is one thing to use Sharia – the teachings of the Koran and the practice of the prophet Mohammad – as a kind of personal guide, quite another to employ it as the basis of what would soon become an alternative legal system.

Dr Williams was good enough to say that he does not recommend Sharia law where it might lead to “intensifying oppression inside a community.”

He is not in favour of women being stoned to death for adultery, as happens in a few Muslim countries where Sharia law is applied in its most extreme form. I suppose we should be grateful for that.

But once Sharia courts were set up here, it would be difficult for the archbishop or anyone else to ensure that judgments were not handed out that were at odds with the concept of justice enshrined in our secular legal system.

We could write off Dr Williams as a silly old booby who, like some other supposedly clever men, is in the habit of digging a hole in the wrong place, and then of continuing to dig all the way to Australia.

But he is the Primate of the Church of England, and will be taken seriously in some quarters, even though politicians from Gordon Brown to the LibDem leader Nick Clegg have already taken exception to what he said.

Muslims of an extremist hue will draw comfort from his prediction that Sharia law in Britain is “unavoidable.”

Moderate Muslims who had not expected that there would ever be Sharia law in this country may think the idea practicable now that it has been endorsed by no less a figure than the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Raised as I was in an Anglican vicarage, it pains me to have to write about the senior cleric of my Church in such terms.

It pains me even more that the senior cleric of the Established Church should be advocating Sharia courts, which would deepen the already serious cultural divisions in our country, besides discriminating against women and undermining the authority of secular justice.

Can he really have intended to do this? Who are the idiots advising him? What has happened to him?

He is right to respect Muslims for their devotion and their high moral standards, and I can understand that he wants to defend the rights of religious people in an irreligious age.

No doubt he means well, but history teaches us that good and well-meaning men who misuse their power can do a great deal of damage.

The Church accepted hundreds of years ago that it is not the proper role of religious figures to administer worldly justice and uphold religious law in place of secular law.

Dr Rowan Williams may think of himself as a progressive, liberal figure, and he has often been criticised for being a parody of a trendy archbishop, but the measures he proposes would take us back to the Middle Ages.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=512981&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=244

22:36pm 10th February 2008

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is fighting for his professional life after saying that the application of Islamic Sharia law in this country was “unavoidable” and that it was not an “alien and rival system” to English law.The unprecedented outpouring of fury at his observations has caused people to question his fitness for office, with at least two members of the Synod already calling upon him to resign.

In his defence, his supporters claim the entire row has been got up by the “tabloid press”.

This old chestnut ignores the fact that people went ballistic straight after they heard Dr Williams say on the radio that the principle of one law for everybody was “a bit of a danger” – well before any newspapers even wrote their stories.

Welcoming Sharia law: Dr Rowan Williams

And now this lame self-justification has been blown out of the water by devastating criticism from his predecessor Lord Carey, who said Dr Williams had “overstated the case for accommodating Islamic legal codes” within British law, a move which would be “disastrous”.

This followed equally lethal criticism by the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who said sharia was “in tension” with fundamental principles of English law.

So much for the ludicrous claim that Sharia was not a “rival and alien system”.

What such critics understand only too well is the threat posed to this country by a brand of radicalised Islam, or Islamism, that wants to take it over.

As Lord Carey said, Dr Williams’s comments will embolden those Muslims in their attempt to turn Britain into a country ruled by Islamic law which contravenes human rights.

The only proper response to this threat is to say that not one inch of leeway will be given to it.

But, instead, the Archbishop has gone down on his knees to welcome it.

Astoundingly, he does not seem to understand that this country is being targeted by a pincer movement of terrorism and cultural takeover.

He does not seem to understand Sharia. And he does not seem to understand the role of his own religion in underpinning British laws, culture and society.

Certainly, the state should accommodate minority religious practices as long as they don’t contravene the law of the land – as this country does.

But that is entirely different from changing the law of the land to accommodate those practices or afford them equal status.

The former is the essence of a tolerant, pluralist society. The latter leads inexorably to the “multicultural” destruction of a society.

What’s more, it abandons those anti-Islamist British Muslims who, far from wanting-Sharia to be recognised, rely on English law to protect them from it – especially Muslim women whose second-class status under Islamic law subjects them to systematic injustice, violence and “honour killings”.

The reason why there has been such overwhelming outrage is that, despite the Prime Minister’s abrupt dismissal of the Archbishop’s views, British society is already being steadily Islamised with the Government’s tacit or even explicit approval.

Even though bigamy is a crime, the state is effectively endorsing polygamy by paying welfare benefits to the multiple wives of British Muslim men.

Gordon Brown has said he wants Britain to become the centre of global Islamic banking; Saudi Arabia and other Islamic states are buying up more and more British and Western companies, and we now have “Sharia-compliant” mortgages.

The imam of an Oxford mosque wants to broadcast an amplified call to prayer three times a day on the grounds that this is merely “the same as hearing church bells”.

In fact, the call to prayer is widely seen as a statement of the creed of Islam and as such is an attempt to Islamise Britain’s public space.

Sharia courts are dealing with Muslim criminals outside the criminal law; one reported case involved a gang of Somali youths who were allowed to go free after paying compensation to a teenager they had stabbed – with the police and courts apparently looking the other way.

And to cap it all, the Home Office is trying to censor the language by telling officials they must not use any derogatory words associated with Islam but refer instead merely to “violent extremism”.

Across the country, people are beside themselves about all this.

So when the Archbishop appeared to be endorsing sharia and calling for more, their anger not surprisingly erupted.

But Dr Williams doesn’t even seem to have the courage of his lack of convictions.

A statement on his website attempting to defend himself is disingenuous to the point of being downright misleading in trying to pretend he didn’t say what he actually had said.

It insists, for example, that he did not call for the introduction of Sharia as a parallel jurisdiction to the civil law.

But in his lecture, he said in terms that the state should recognise sharia as a “supplementary jurisdiction”, and that individuals should be able to choose which system they wanted.

That means two parallel systems with equal status.

Worse still, he actually advocated that English and Islamic law would thus “be forced to compete for the loyalty” of British Muslims – who were faced with the “stark alternatives” of allegiance to their culture or their country.

Alas, it is indeed the case that, according to Lord Carey, up to fully 60 per cent of British Muslims want to live under Sharia.

But is it not astonishing that the head of the Anglican church should effectively suggest as a remedy that, if such Muslims refuse to live under Britain’s own laws, Britain will have to become partly Muslim?

Furthermore, there are many British Muslims who are entirely loyal to Britain and who most certainly do not want the state to recognise Sharia.

Just where does the Archbishop’s suggestion leave them?

Puzzlingly, the Archbishop’s “clarification” on his website statement also compounds a significant error by him.

To bolster his claim that there was nothing novel about his proposals, Dr Williams said the state already delegated aspects of law to Jewish religious courts.

The statement repeated that there were “overlapping jurisdictions” between English and Jewish law and that British Jews could choose between two systems of justice.

But this is totally untrue. Jewish law has no legal authority in Britain, and British Jews have never asked for it.

Jewish religious courts can arbitrate in disputes only on a voluntary basis, and Jews must be married and divorced according to the same law of the land as everyone else.

The distinction is crucial. Does Dr Williams not understand this?

His supporters now say all he wanted to do was defend religion against the assault from secularism.

But why then has he chosen not to bolster his own church to fight off secularism but instead resorts to Islam – which will consume both of them?

Instead of defending his embattled Bishop of Rochester, who has received death threats for telling the truth about Islamic “no-go areas”, the Archbishop of Canterbury has run up the cultural and religious white flag.

Dr Williams is said to be profoundly shocked by the reaction to his remarks. Well, we are all profoundly shocked by him.

He should stand down and Dr Nazir-Ali, who is trying to defend the religion and culture of this country, should take his place.

If Britain really wants to defend itself and Western civilisation, what a powerful statement that would be.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=513503&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=256

The Archbishop of Canterbury says sharia courts could rule on family issues, but this is exactly where they can cause most harm

Sunday, 10 February 2008

False teacher – Archbishop of Canterbury

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Very Reverend Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark Cathedral, said the archbishop’s advisors were not up to the job.

“I have said to him on many occasions that his staff actually aren’t up to the job and he needs a bigger staff and more expert advice,” he said.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Col Edward Armitstead, a Synod member from the diocese of Bath and Wells, was among those calling for Dr Williams to step down, telling the Daily Telegraph: “I don’t think he is the man for the job.”

He said: “One wants to be charitable, but I sense that he would be far happier in a university where he can kick around these sorts of ideas.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alison Ruoff, a Synod member from London, said: “Many people, huge numbers of people, would be greatly relieved [if he resigned] because he sits on the fence over all sorts of things and we need strong, Christian, biblical leadership right now, as opposed to somebody who huffs and puffs around and vacillates from one thing to another.

“He’s a very able, a brilliant scholar as a man but in terms of being a leader of the Christian community I think he’s actually at the moment a disaster.”

 she said he was no longer “the right man for the job”. She said of his speech: “At best it was politically inept and at worst it was sheer foolishness. Christians, particularly in Islamic countries who are being severely persecuted, are really incredibly upset.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brig William Dobbie, a former Synod member, described the archbishop as “a disaster, a tragic mistake”.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His predecessor Lord George Carey accused Dr Williams of overstating the case for accommodating Islamic legal codes.

Writing in the News of the World, Lord Carey warned: “His acceptance of some Muslim laws within British law would be disastrous for the nation.”

But he said Dr Williams should not be forced to quit over his remarks, adding: “He is a great leader in the Anglican tradition and he has a very important role to play in the Church.”

新慾照曝光(挑戰尺度版)2008-02-06
 

當警方宣布偵破藝人床照案之際，網上再陸續流出新一批最少共六張疑似藝人床照，其中三張相中人看似為鍾欣桐（阿嬌）、張柏芝及陳文媛（BoBo），跟之前已曝光照片疑屬同一批，但淫褻程度變本加厲；餘下三相則涉及兩張「新面孔」。

「慾照女星」清單
事態發展至今已超過一星期，淫照風波愈演愈烈，坊間更傳流一張「疑似女星慾照」清單：
1.Maggie Q
2.鄧麗欣(Stephy)
3.顏穎思
4.張柏芝
5.Rosanne(2R)
6.蕭亞軒
7.謝凱珊
8.蔡依琳
9.鍾欣桐
10.陳文媛(BoBo)照片來源：「男主角」手提電話？
另有消息指，如資料屬實，目前曝光的只有3人，有說因警方高調打壓， 估計元兇「奇拿」因風聲太緊而暫時消失。據悉所有照片的來源，均出自疑似藝人男主角的手提電話，而該手機現時就在發布照片的人手中。而事件亦令內地論壇熱爆，有網民自言擁有300多張裸照，將在農曆新年後發放         

中央氣象台星期六（2月2日）早晨再次發佈大雪警報。持續的暴雪天氣對政府救災能力構成挑戰。

中央氣象台預測，周六白天到夜間，江西、安徽、江蘇、上海和浙江都會出現中到大雪，其中浙江北部局部地區將有暴雪。此外，貴州、湖南和江西等地局部地區也將有凍雨。

中央氣象台預計，中國大範圍雨雪天氣要到大除夕（6日）左右才會逐步減小或停止。

目前被中國民政部列入災區名單的省、市、自治區達18個。 官方數字說，全國受災人口超過1億﹔因災死亡人數60人﹔失蹤兩人﹔超過20萬傷病者得到緊急醫療人員的救治。全國農作物受損面積7270.8千公頃，因災直接經濟損失537.9億元人民幣。

不過，BBC中國事務編輯陳時榮說，因為很多偏遠地區交通、通訊受阻，實際的死亡人數和經濟損失會更高。

陳時榮也指出，中國當局正設法讓民眾相信情況受到控制。

政府出動了三十萬軍隊和武警以及一百萬民兵預備役人員抗災。但當局的救災能力受到質疑。

本台在廣州的記者發現，仍有二十多萬旅客滯留在廣州車站，政府搭建的臨時棚屋嚴重不足。

一名在車站外等候了三天的旅客說，他得了感冒，希望得到藥品。

而另一位在露天排隊購票的女士說，她站了一夜，但不敢去廁所，怕丟了隊伍中的位置。

隨著降雪北移，暴雪天氣已經波及上海，從星期五（1日）開始一直持續，影響全市一半地區，積雪最深處達15厘米。

點擊查看雪災災區地圖

不穩隱憂

中國國務院星期五晚召開會議通報雪災最新進展，華東的浙江、安徽和福建還有電力設施受災停運。

華中的湖南、江西，華南的貴州、廣東、廣西和雲南電網仍有不同程度的破壞。

鐵路、公路交通情況開始改善，但各地仍有數以百萬計旅客滯留。廣州火車站星期五晚再次湧現24萬旅客聚集。

總理溫家寶在會議上要求官員設法”確保經濟和社會穩定”，他隨後也重返重災區之一湖南省指揮救災。

但是，大雪已經使中國糧食蔬菜供應大亂，價格暴漲。官員們都擔心物價波動會引起社會動蕩，個別地區實施了限價措施。

電力供應不穩定，作為華東大都會的上海也從周五起停開總長140公里景觀線路的燈光。

春節臨近，全國假日辦也發出通知，要求各地防止遊客盲目進入受災地區。

]]> http://xzellent.wordpress.com/2008/02/02/%e4%b8%ad%e5%9c%8b%e7%9a%84%e6%9a%b4%e9%9b%aa%e5%a4%a9%e6%b0%a3/feed/ 0 xzellent http://xzellent.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/%e8%a3%b8%e7%85%a7%e5%a4%a7%e5%a0%b1%e5%be%a9/ http://xzellent.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/%e8%a3%b8%e7%85%a7%e5%a4%a7%e5%a0%b1%e5%be%a9/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:21:37 +0000 xzellent http://xzellent.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/%e8%a3%b8%e7%85%a7%e5%a4%a7%e5%a0%b1%e5%be%a9/ ]]> 裸照狂潮 警拘無業漢

(星島) 01月 20日 星期日 05:30AM

(星島日報    報道)執教鞭逾三十年的小學男教師，疑違背教師操守，利用學生對他的信任，與一名年僅十一歲的女學生到時鐘酒店「開房」，完事後被例行巡查的警員揭發，控方在庭上透露，女童向警方透露，被告曾經與她四度發生性行為，包括曾遭他非禮一次。

How track geometry & irregularities increase wheel-rail interface energy (T-Gamma) at curing?

Why rail corrugations mostly occur at the low rail of a curve?

How can reducing bogie primary yaw stiffness improve curving forces?

If you have any innovative answers for these questions please let all of us know…

李柱銘在《華爾街日報》的文章原文﹕

　【明報專訊】China’s Olympic Opportunity

By MARTIN LEE

October 17, 2007; Page A18

When President George W. Bush accepted President Hu Jintao’s invitation to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Mr. Bush’s press secretary said that he was going to the Games as “a sports fan, not to make any political statement.” I too am a great sports fan — especially of the Soccer World Cup — but I would encourage President Bush to take a broader vision of the possibilities for the Beijing Games. He should use the next 10 months to press for a significant improvement of basic human rights in my country, including press, assembly and religious freedoms.

This should be possible, since Chinese leaders have promised to make these improvements anyway. In their pledges to the International Olympic Committee while bidding for the Games and since, China’s leaders at all levels repeatedly assured the world that they would use the Games to go beyond improving the country’s physical infrastructure.

“By applying for the Olympics, we want to promote not just the city’s development, but the development of society, including democracy and human rights,” one of China’s key Olympic figures, Deputy Mayor Liu Jingmin, told the Washington Post in 2001. Then, Mr. Liu said, “If people have a target like the Olympics to strive for, it will help us establish a more just and harmonious society, a more democratic society, and help integrate China into the world.”

I couldn’t agree more. But instead of the hoped-for reforms, the Chinese government appears to be backsliding on its promises, including in Hong Kong where we have near total political paralysis, not the promised road to full democracy. That is no reason to give up on the prospects for reform in China. But it is reason to step up the direct engagement on these pressing issues.

In accepting the invitation to attend China’s Games, President Bush said this would be “a moment where China’s leaders can use the opportunity to show confidence by demonstrating a commitment to greater openness and tolerance.” Instead of a “moment” of change, China needs structural and long-term reforms: placing the Communist Party under the rule of law, unshackling the media and Internet, allowing religious adherents to freely practice their faiths, ceasing harassment of civil-society groups that work on AIDS and the environment, and addressing modest calls for accountability in the political system. Mr. Bush and other world leaders planning to attend the Olympics should not wait for the opening ceremony, but must start now with sustained efforts to achieve this agenda.

One reason for optimism about the possibilities for progress in China is recent Olympic history. When South Korea bid for the 1988 Games, the country was a military dictatorship. Due in good part to the prospects for embarrassment and international engagement, the Olympics helped kick off an overdue peaceful political transformation in South Korea just six months before the launch of the Seoul Games. Since then, South Korea has endured as one of Asia’s most stable and vital democracies. The parallels between South Korea and China are not exact, but the lesson is that the Olympics certainly present an opening to raise these issues in the context of the Chinese government’s own promises.

In the U.S. and elsewhere, there are campaigns to boycott the Beijing Games over the Chinese government’s trade with and support for regimes in Sudan and Burma. As a Chinese person, I would encourage backers of these efforts to consider the positive effects Olympic exposure could still have in China, including scrutiny by the world’s journalists. This is certainly the time for Chinese leaders to step up and constructively use their clout in Asia and Africa. In so doing, Beijing should open a new chapter of responsible foreign policy and convince the world it is not oblivious to these issues.

Chinese people around the world are proud that China will host the Games. China has the world’s fastest growing economy, and may indeed put on history’s most impressive Olympic Games next August. But how does it profit our nation if it wins gold medals but suffers from the continued absence of democracy, human rights and the rule of law?

It is my hope that the Games could have a catalytic effect on the domestic and foreign policies of the Chinese government, and that the Chinese people will remember the Games long after they are held — not merely for medals won, but also because they were a turning point for human rights and the rule of law in China. That would be something worth cheering.

Mr. Lee is a democratically elected legislator and the founding chairman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party.

How track geometry & irregularities increase wheel-rail interface energy (T-Gamma) at curing?

Why rail corrugations mostly occur at the low rail of a curve?

How can reducing bogie primary yaw stiffness improve curving forces?

If you have any innovative answers for these questions please let all of us know…

香港特首就文革和民主的言論道歉

香港行政長官曾蔭權周六（13日）就其發表的文化大革命與民主的言論表示道歉。

香港行政長官辦公室發表的聲明說：”行政長官曾蔭權就昨日（10月12日）在電台訪問中有關文化大革命的言論，發表以下聲明：”

“昨日我在電台訪問中，有關文化大革命的言論是不恰當的。對此，我深感抱歉，並收回有關言論。”

“香港市民深知民主之可貴，期望盡早落實普選。我和大家有著共同的期望。”

“我重申我會信守施政報告中的承諾，在任期內，盡最大努力解決普選問題。”

文革喻民主

曾蔭權在星期五香港電台英文台的一個節目中說：”當人民走到極端，就會出現文化大革命……當人民掌握所有東西時，你就無法管治那地方。”

香港行政長官辦公室（特首辦）在事後解釋說，曾蔭權的意思是要制定一套適合香港的普選方案，並進一步提升官職質數和管治模式。

香港多份暢銷報紙星期六都以顯著篇幅報道了曾蔭權的言論以及各界回應。

雖然親北京的《大公報》和香港《文匯報》也有報道曾蔭權的文革言論，但沒有進一步作出評論

特首挨批

親民主派的《蘋果日報》在周六頭版以”煲呔壞腦”為標題，並配以曾蔭權打扮成紅衛兵的漫畫。

報道說，曾蔭權借用”十年浩劫”的文化大革命踐踏民主制度，指極端民主會帶來文革式的局面，破壞政府管治。

報道續稱，曾蔭權說完這句話後，節目主持更正指出文革不是極端民主的例子，反遭曾蔭權反駁，曾蔭權堅持說那就是極端民主的定義。

《蘋果日報》的報道引述了多位民主派議員對曾蔭權言論的批評，也指出親政府的自由黨和親北京的民建聯都跟曾蔭權的言論”劃清界線”。

財經報章《信報》報道說，親北京的左派人士普遍迴避評論，例如民建聯主席譚耀宗、中國全國政協常委陳永棋和政協委員劉蘅強都說沒有聽完或沒有聽過曾蔭權的言論。

“引喻失義”

文革是一個專制皇帝的號召下一場瘋狂的運動……證明曾蔭權對文革的瞭解還未到位。 李大同 《中國青年報》高級編輯

多家報章都引述了政界人士和學者批評曾蔭權”引喻失義”的回應，也回顧了”四人幫”倒台後北京對事件的定調。

同屬一個報系的《東方日報》和《太陽報》用上辛辣的標題作出報道。兩家的標題分別是”煲呔口臭文革當民主”和”辱港人智慧不配當特首”。

這兩份報刊的報道引述了中國著名文學家老舍的兒子舒乙說：”他（曾蔭權）沒有經歷過文革的風暴，完全不理解這件事情，這麼說是極其錯誤的判斷。”

此外，多家香港報章都引用了曾經當過紅衛兵的北京《中國青年報》高級編輯李大同的回應。

李大同說：”文革是一個專制皇帝的號召下一場瘋狂的運動……這證明曾蔭權對文革的瞭解還未到位。”

政治災難

《星島日報》引述中文大學政治學者蔡子強說，曾蔭權的言論跟香港前保安局局長葉劉淑儀當年宣傳國家安全立法時說”希特勒由民主選出來”一樣，具災難性效果。

今次事件再次說明瞭香港真的要認真辦好國民教育，並且應由特首開始。 香港《明報》社論

英文《南華早報》的社論認為，曾蔭權把文革等同於民主，教人們嚴重質疑他對普選和政制改革的認知。

《明報》的報道提及曾蔭權早些時候會見一批中學會考學生時，曾經披露當年自己應考時，世界歷史和中國文學兩科都是不合格。

《明報》的社評說：”我們擔心身為特區政府之首的曾蔭權對國家的認識與瞭解尚且如此無知，其他官員又會達到什麼水平呢？”

“今次事件再次說明瞭香港真的要認真辦好國民教育，並且應由特首開始。”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_7020000/newsid_7020400/7020471.stm

北京銀行上市 網民發現10歲股東

北京銀行出現年僅10歲小股東引起很大回響。

中國北京銀行剛在上海證交所上市不久，就有網民揭發銀行竟然有一位年僅10歲的股東，而且持股量驚人。

香港媒體星期天（9月30日）報道，剛在9月19日掛牌買賣的北京銀行股份有限公司的《招股意向書》裡面，出現了一個1997年出生小孩的名字。

這位名叫鄭宇軒的人，出現在《意向書》中“非員工自然人股東名冊”上，他的身份證號碼顯示，他是在1997年出生。

BBC中文網記者從上海證券交易所網站取得這份《意向書》，證實確有這項登記。

北行招股時以每股12.5元人民幣配售12億股，19日A股掛牌後股價一度飆升超過80%，上周五（9月28日）收盤時報22.03元。

根據《意向書》，鄭宇軒的持股量為134萬股，市值即高達2952萬多元，相比招股價溢利1277萬多元。

北京銀行的《意向書》沒有解釋出現10歲股東的原因，但是提及了銀行在10年前從多家信用社改組成北行的時候，部分原信用社股東要求退款。

銀行領導隨後帶頭，由全行員工還有部分非員工自然人股東自願認購，但員工認購有困難，銀行於是選擇一些“對本行的發展有信心的自然人”非員工認購原始股。

當時原始股的股價只是1.9元。

香港城市大學法學院副教授梁美芬指出，根據中國國內法律，年滿18歲才具備法律責任。因此這位10歲小股東無法行駛股東權力。

梁美芬告訴香港媒體說，除非是遺產繼承人，否則股東名冊應該顯示小孩的監護人例如父母的名字。

在最先揭發事件的網上討論區，回應這消息的帖子就有將近2000個，不少人質疑事件的真實性，但也有網民高呼要求證券監管部門徹查事件。

Cumbria rail crash report to question safety of 1960s track technology

· State of 700 sets of points called into question
· Network Rail braces for outburst of public concern

Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
Monday August 27, 2007
The Guardian

The safety of up to 700 sets of points used across the rail network will be called into question next month as a key report outlines the causes of last February’s fatal train crash in Cumbria.A study of the Grayrigg derailment, due to be published over the next fortnight, will provoke concern about decades-old railway technology that is still in widespread use.

The rail industry report is expected to state that Network Rail will examine the design of groundframe points after a faulty set derailed a Virgin train travelling at 95mph on February 23 2007 killing one person and injuring 22. If the equipment needs to be replaced the rail infrastructure firm would have to change up to 700 sets of points at a cost of millions.

Network Rail is braced for another outburst of public concern about the safety of the railways once the report is published. Confidence in the railways has recovered significantly since the Potters Bar crash which killed seven people in 2002, but industry sources have warned that the Grayrigg report will make alarming reading because of the incident’s similarities with Potters Bar, which was also caused by faulty points.A rail industry source said there are question marks over whether groundframe points, designed in the 1960s, are robust enough for modern rail travel: “The issue of whether they are the right type of points needs to be addressed.” The source added that a wholesale replacement programme might be needed because doubts over the points could force Network Rail to step up track inspections, which could in turn delay trains.

“If Network Rail ends up having to inspect these points every three days instead of every seven days it could interrupt services. So they could mitigate that by replacing these points altogether.”

A Network Rail spokesman said yesterday that the analysis of what caused the crash will be hard-hitting. He added that, despite the emphasis on problems within local management, the report would recommend changes at a national level.

“The report will be sobering reading for Network Rail,” he said. “It will be the first time that the rail industry has ever published anything as thorough as this. Right from the start we have held up our hands about the incident.”

The industry report, produced with most of the input coming from Network Rail and Virgin Trains, will be followed later this year by a further report from the Department for Transport’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch. That report is expected to raise concerns over the groundframe points in more detail. Roger Ford, technical editor of Modern Railways magazine, said groundframe points posed a threat only if they were inspected infrequently. “They need to be maintained regularly and properly. Quality and frequency of maintenance is the key,” he said.

Alongside concerns over the points, the study’s focus will be a breakdown in communications among Network Rail’s Cumbria workforce which contributed directly to the crash. It is expected to state that track inspections were not carried out as planned, that records of inspections were flawed and that safety certification used by some engineers had expired.

Industry sources also confirmed reports yesterday that two different inspection teams thought the other had inspected the points prior to the crash and therefore failed to inspect a crucial stretch of track at Grayrigg. As a result, a Virgin Pendolino train travelling from London to Glasgow on the night of February 23 was derailed by a broken set of points that should have been noticed earlier by track inspection teams.

British Transport police have arrested a 46-year-old Network Rail employee in connection with the crash. Network Rail executives were forced to freeze their own bonus payments in May. They performed the about-turn hours after saying they would pocket the payouts despite suspending bonuses for 119 fellow employees in the wake of the crash. Four current and former executive directors are due a total of £286,000 in bonuses. The 119 employees, who will be told whether they get their payouts once the investigation is completed, are mostly maintenance workers in the Grayrigg area.

The report is expected to put the executive bonuses under pressure, but Network Rail executives are adamant that the main causes of the crash were due to a failure of the local maintenance system and did not reflect problems at a national level.

香港人“保皇后”

香港高等法院會在這個星期決定已經圍了木板準備拆除的皇后碼頭的命運。

其實香港人心裡清楚，要原址留下碼頭非常困難，因為碼頭所在地是一個10年填海計劃的一部份，政府已經和建造商簽了合約，要交出土地。

香港人很重視合約精神，但在這件事情上似乎有些動搖。

一個只有50多年歷史，用水泥建成的碼頭，有什麼值得一些香港人苦苦要求”保衛皇后”呢？剛剛才慶祝完主權移交十周年，還要求保留一個英女王1975年訪問香港時候曾經使用過的碼頭乾啥呢？

本土意識

其實，難纏的地方並不是對殖民地時代的留戀，而是皇后碼頭已經和香港的本土意識扣了起來。

前中國政協主席李瑞環曾經說過，香港是一個紫砂茶壺，有茶垢，看似不乾淨，但千萬不要洗去。因為把茶漬擦走就不是那個茶壺了。

皇后碼頭這類建築物，正是這樣的茶垢，這裡除了有過去歷屆港督的腳印，還有不同年代社會運動的痕跡。

因為這次的爭議，一直支持發展是硬道理的香港人好像突然醒覺，香港的媒體每天都在報道文物保護的故事。

在政府快要收回皇后碼頭的過去幾個星期，香港很熱，但是很多香港人都一同擁到皇后碼頭，拍照、給孩子講皇后碼頭的故事、瀏覽那些”本土行動”印制的刊物。

有一位在外國居住多年的女士接受傳媒採訪的時候說，她帶著兒子回香港的時候，好像已經找不到什麼地標或建築物可以跟他說香港的故事了。

香港的故事緊扣著香港的歷史，說白了也就是香港人的本土故事和本土意識。這股力量對不太接受民族主義這一套的香港人來說，是震撼的。

就連要求保留皇后碼頭最積極的組織都叫做”本土行動”。

本土行動

這個”組織”其實並不嚴密，有的成員是念了不少書、懂得不少社會理論的學生和大學講師，有些是文化人，有些是剛考完試的中學生，還有一些本身是建築設計界的專業人士。

這些人沒有什麼政治背景和政治利益，所以政府要”對付”他們也不容易。

和政治團體不一樣，他們手上根本沒有籌碼，政府因此不能去和他們作政治交換。

要求原址保留碼頭的人多是出自一份捍衛本地意識的赤子之心，不論是政府還是傳媒都難以找地方去落墨抹黑他們。

要抹黑這次運動，說他們是出於對殖民地的戀棧也難以取得共鳴，因為不少大呼”保皇”的人在殖民堤時代還是毛頭娃娃。

結果這些”保皇”人士站穩了道德制高點。他們追求的是一種被譽為”後物質主義”的價值，嚴格來說，這也是一場維權活動，但跟私人土地被佔不一樣的是，這場運動是”政府佔了屬於香港人的土地”。

其實香港人都知道香港的社會運動，或是香港的本土意識，經過皇后碼頭和在去年12月拆除天星碼頭所惹起的引議，已經出現了質變。

香港的質變

香港人學會了什麼叫香港故事、什麼叫本土意識、什麼叫公共空間。

認識這些字眼的人不再是坐在空調房間內的學者，而是數百萬香港人，這數百萬雙眼睛一同看著電視新聞直播警方清場，即便一邊罵著這些留守碼頭的人不知所謂，但也不免會想想這些人為什麼要在攝氏35度的高溫中在碼頭曝晒、絕食數天、然後又要被警方又搬又抬地弄走。

這是質變的源頭。往日只是在大學裡著書立說的人走出來行動，往日只顧”瞻前”的香港現在開始”顧後”。

不論皇后碼頭最後的命運是拆除是原址重建，質變的過程已經開始演進，上周日香港官員林鄭月娥”走入群眾”和”本土行動”人士對話，雖然是各說各話，但她所負責的新成立的發展局，正是香港政府意識到這個質變後的產物。

“保育人士”

其實在今年3月民主派人士梁家傑參選行政墿官的時間，已經有不少專業人士走出來提出保留皇后碼頭的方案。

這些人士並非示威常客，但這些人恰恰擁有去跟政府說拆碼頭並無必要的專業知識。

這些本可以成為現存體制一部分的專業人士，現在都被冠以”保育人士”的稱號。

保育本是指照顧小孩子，但保育人士在香港，看顧的則是香港的土地、香港的文物，同樣要一份關愛之心。

因為天星碼頭和皇后碼頭，香港從此多了這麼一個叫”保育人士”的群體。

這個群體蕦著和本土意識相扣，成為了香港社會的新力量，香港政治因此將擺脫”親政府”與”泛民主”二元對立的局面，這個變化也將改變香港的政治光譜。

精明、實際的香港人知道，與其把精力放在跟”給你多少是多少”的中央政府拼何時普選，不如踏下心來，寫好自己的香港故事。

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation).

The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court.

Philosophy is the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live (ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge (epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning (logic).^[1]

The word itself is of Greek origin: φιλοσοφία (philosophía), a compound of φίλος (phílos: friend, or lover) and σοφία (sophía: wisdom).^[2][3]

Though no single definition of philosophy is uncontroversial, and the field has historically expanded and changed depending upon what kinds of questions were interesting or relevant in a given era, it is generally agreed that philosophy is a method, rather than a set of claims, propositions, or theories. Its investigations are based upon reason, striving to make no unexamined assumptions and no leaps based on faith or pure analogy. Different philosophers have had varied ideas about the nature of reason, and there is also disagreement about the subject matter of philosophy. Some think that philosophy examines the process of inquiry itself. Others, that there are essentially philosophical propositions which it is the task of philosophy to prove.^[4]

Although the word “philosophy” originates in the Western tradition, many figures in the history of other cultures have addressed similar topics in similar ways.^[5] The philosophers of the Far East are discussed in Eastern philosophy, while the philosophers of North Africa and the Near East, because of their strong interactions with Europe, are usually considered part of Western Philosophy.

//

[edit] Western philosophy

Main article: Western philosophy

Further information: History of Western philosophy

To give an exhaustive list of the main divisions of philosophy is difficult, because various topics have been studied by philosophers at various times. Ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and logic are usually included. Other topics include politics, aesthetics, and religion. In addition, most academic subjects have a philosophy, for example the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mathematics, and the philosophy of history.

Metaphysics was first studied systematically by Aristotle, though he did not use that term. He calls it “first philosophy” (or sometimes just “wisdom”), and says it is the subject that deals with “first causes and the principles of things”. ^[6] The modern meaning of the term is any inquiry dealing with the ultimate nature of what exists. Within metaphysics, ontology is the inquiry into the meaning of existence itself, sometimes seeking to specify what general types of things exist (though sometimes the term is taken to be equivalent to metaphysics). The philosophy of mind is a part of metaphysics.

Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism: the idea that all our beliefs and thoughts may be somehow illusory or mistaken.

Ethics, or ‘moral philosophy’, is concerned with questions of how agents ought to act. Plato’s early dialogues constitute a search for definitions of virtue. Metaethics is the study of whether ethical value judgments can be objective at all. Ethics can also be conducted within a religious context.

Logic has two broad divisions: mathematical logic (formal symbolic logic) and what is now called philosophical logic, the logic of language.

The history of Western philosophy is often divided into three periods: Ancient philosophy, Medieval philosophy, and Modern philosophy.

[edit] Greco-Roman philosophy

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Main article: Greek philosophy

Ancient Greek philosophy may be divided into the pre-Socratic period, the Socratic period, and the post-Aristotelian period. The pre-Socratic period was characterized by metaphysical speculation, often preserved in the form of grand, sweeping statements, such as “All is fire”, or “All changes”. Important pre-Socratic philosophers include Pythagoras, Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Democritus, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Empedocles. The Socratic period is named in honor of the most recognizable figure in Western philosophy, Socrates, who, along with his pupil Plato, revolutionized philosophy through the use of the Socratic method, which developed the very general philosophical methods of definition, analysis, and synthesis. While no writings of Socrates survive, his influence as a “skeptic” is transmitted through Plato’s works. Plato’s writings are often considered basic texts in philosophy as they defined the fundamental issues of philosophy for future generations. These issues and others were taken up by Aristotle, who studied at Plato’s school, the Academy, and who often disagreed with what Plato had written. The subsequent period ushered in such philosophers as Euclid, Epicurus, Chrysippus, Hipparchia the Cynic, Pyrrho, and Sextus Empiricus.

St. Thomas Aquinas

[edit] Medieval philosophy

Main article: Medieval philosophy

Further information: Early Islamic philosophy and Scholasticism

Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of Western Europe and the Middle East during what is now known as the medieval era or the Middle Ages, roughly extending from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance period. Medieval philosophy is defined partly by the process of rediscovering the ancient culture developed by Greeks and Romans in the classical period, and partly by the need to address theological problems and to integrate sacred doctrine (in Christianity and Judaism) and secular learning.

Some problems discussed throughout this period are the relation of faith to reason, the existence and unity of God, the object of theology and metaphysics, the problems of knowledge, of universals, and of individuation.

[edit] Early modern philosophy (c. 1600 – c. 1800)

Main article: Early modern philosophy

Modern philosophy is usually considered to begin with the revival of skepticism and the genesis of modern physical science. Canonical figures include Montaigne, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.^[7] Chronologically, this era spans the 17th and 18th centuries, and is generally considered to end with Kant’s systematic attempt to reconcile Newtonian mechanics with traditional metaphysical topics.^[8]

[edit] Later modern philosophy (c. 1800 – c. 1960)

Later modern philosophy is usually considered to begin after the philosophy of Immanuel Kant at the beginning of the 19th-century.^[9] German idealists, such as Hegel, expanded on the work of Kant by maintaining that the world is entirely rational and its nature is fundamentally knowable.^[10]

Rejecting idealism, other philosophers, many working from outside the university, initiated lines of thought that would occupy academic philosophy in the early and mid-20th century:

• Peirce and William James initiated the school of pragmatism
• Husserl initiated the school of phenomenology
• Kierkegaard and Nietzsche laid the groundwork for existentialism
• Frege’s work in logic provided the tools for early analytic philosophy

Mill’s utilitarianism and Marx & Engels’ Marxism dominated discussions in political philosophy until Rawls’ 1971 work A Theory of Justice.

[edit] Contemporary philosophy (c. 1960 – present)

In the last hundred years, philosophy has increasingly become an activity practised within the modern research university, and accordingly it has grown more specialized and more distinct from the natural sciences. Much philosophy in this period concerns itself with explaining the relation between the theories of the natural sciences and the ideas of the humanities or common sense.

It is arguable that later modern philosophy ended with contemporary philosophy’s shift of focus from 19th century philosophers to 20th century philosophers. Philosophers such as Heidegger, the later Wittgenstein, and Dewey, occupied philosophical discourses exemplified in thinkers such as Derrida, Quine, Kripke, and Rorty.

Political philosophy received new life with the works of John Rawls and Robert Nozick.

[edit] Philosophical doctrines

[edit] Realism and nominalism

Main article: Realism

See also: Nominalism

Realism sometimes means the position opposed to the 18th-century Idealism, namely that some things have real existence outside the mind. Classically, however, realism is the doctrine that abstract entities corresponding to universal terms like ‘man’ have a real existence. It is opposed to nominalism, the view that abstract or universal terms are words only, or denote mental states such as ideas, beliefs, or intentions. The latter position, famously held by William of Ockham, is called ‘conceptualism’.

[edit] Rationalism and empiricism

René Descartes

Main article: Rationalism

Main article: Empiricism

Rationalism is any view emphasizing the role or importance of human reason. Extreme rationalism tries to base all knowledge on reason alone. Rationalism typically starts from premises that cannot coherently be denied, then attempts by logical steps to deduce every possible object of knowledge.

The first rationalist, in this broad sense, is often held to be Parmenides (fl. 480 BCE), who argued that it is impossible to doubt that thinking actually occurs. But thinking must have an object, therefore something beyond thinking really exists. Parmenides deduced that what really exists must have certain properties – for example, that it cannot come into existence or cease to exist, that it is a coherent whole, that it remains the same eternally (in fact, exists altogether outside time). Zeno of Elea (born c. 489 BCE) was a disciple of Parmenides, and argued that motion is impossible, since the assertion that it exists implies a contradiction.

Plato (427–347 BCE) was also influenced by Parmenides, but combined rationalism with a form of realism. The philosopher’s work is to consider being, and the essence of things. But the characteristic of essences is that they are universal. The nature of a man, a triangle, a tree, applies to all men, all triangles, all trees. Plato argued that these essences are mind-independent ‘forms’, that humans (but particularly philosophers) can come to know by reason, and by ignoring the distractions of sense-perception.

Modern rationalism begins with Descartes. Reflection on the nature of perceptual experience, as well as scientific discoveries in physiology and optics, led Descartes (and also Locke) to the view that we are directly aware of ideas, rather than objects. This view gave rise to three questions:

1. Is an idea a true copy of the real thing that it represents? Sensation is not a direct interaction between bodily objects and our sense, but is a physiological process involving representation (for example, an image on the retina). Locke thought that a ‘secondary quality’ such as a sensation of green could in no way resemble the arrangement of particles in matter that go to produce this sensation, although he thought that ‘primary qualities’ such as shape, size, number, were really in objects.
2. How can physical objects such as chairs and tables, or even physiological processes in the brain, give rise to mental items such as ideas? This is part of what became known as the mind-body problem.
3. If all we are aware of are ideas, how can we know that anything else exists apart from ideas?

Descartes tried to address the last problem by reason. He began, echoing Parmenides, with a principle that he thought could not coherently be denied: I think, therefore I exist (often given in his original Latin: Cogito ergo sum). From this principle, Descartes went on to construct a complete system of knowledge (which involves proving the existence of God, using, among other means, a version of the ontological argument). His view attracted such philosophers as Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, and Christian Wolff. His philosophy also formed a general background from which, and against which, the other the British empiricists worked.

Rationalism is typically contrasted with empiricism: the view that bases our knowledge on input from the senses. John Locke, the first of the British empiricists, propounded the classic empiricist view in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1689, developing a form of naturalism and empiricism on roughly scientific (and Newtonian) principles.

During this era, religious ideas played a mixed role in the struggles that preoccupied secular philosophy. Bishop Berkeley’s famous idealist refutation of key tenets of Isaac Newton is a case of an Enlightenment philosopher who drew substantially from religious ideas. Other influential religious thinkers of the time include Blaise Pascal, Joseph Butler, and Jonathan Edwards. Other major writers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke, took a rather different path. The restricted interests of many of the philosophers of the time foreshadow the separation and specialization of different areas of philosophy that would occur in the 20th century.

[edit] Skepticism

Main article: Skepticism

Skepticism is a philosophical attitude that questions the possibility of obtaining any sort of knowledge. It was first articulated by Pyrrho, who believed that everything could be doubted except appearances. Sextus Empiricus (1st century CE) describes skepticism as an “ability to place in antithesis, in any manner whatever, appearances and judgments, and thus [...] to come first of all to a suspension of judgment and then to mental tranquility.”^[11] Skepticism so conceived is not merely the use of doubt, but is the use of doubt for a particular end: a calmness of the soul, or ataraxia. Skepticism poses itself as a challenge to dogmatism, whose adherents think they have found the truth.^[12]

Sextus noted that the reliability of perception may be questioned, because it is idiosyncratic to the perceiver. The appearance of individual things changes depending on whether they are in a group: for example, the shavings of a goat’s horn are white when taken alone, yet the intact horn is black. A pencil, when viewed lengthwise, looks like a stick; but when examined at the tip, it looks merely like a circle.

Skepticism was revived in the early modern period by Michel de Montaigne and Blaise Pascal. Its most extreme exponent, however, was David Hume. Hume argued that there are only two kinds of reasoning: what he called probable and demonstrative (cf Hume’s fork). Neither of these two forms of reasoning can lead us to a reasonable belief in the continued existence of an external world. Demonstrative reasoning cannot do this, because demonstration (that is, deductive reasoning from well-founded premises) alone cannot establish the uniformity of nature (as captured by scientific laws and principles, for example). Such reason alone cannot establish that the future will resemble the past. We have certain beliefs about the world (that the sun will rise tomorrow, for example), but these beliefs are the product of habit and custom, and do not depend on any sort of logical inferences from what is already given certain. But probable reasoning (inductive reasoning), which aims to take us from the observed to the unobserved, cannot do this either: it also depends on the uniformity of nature, and this supposed uniformity cannot be proved, without circularity, by any appeal to uniformity. The best that either sort of reasoning can accomplish is conditional truth: if certain assumptions are true, then certain conclusions follow. So nothing about the world can be established with certainty. Hume concludes that there is no solution to the skeptical argument – except, in effect, to ignore it.^[13]

Even if these matters were resolved in every case, we would have in turn to justify our standard of justification, leading to an infinite regress (hence the term regress skepticism).^[14][15]

Many philosophers have questioned the value of such skeptical arguments. The question of whether we can achieve knowledge of the external world is based on how high a standard we set for the justification of such knowledge. If our standard is absolute certainty, then we cannot progress beyond the existence of mental sensations. We cannot even deduce the existence of a coherent or continuing “I” that experiences these sensations, much less the existence of an external world. On the other hand, if our standard is too low, then we admit follies and illusions into our body of knowledge. This argument against absolute skepticism asserts that the practical philosopher must move beyond solipsism, and accept a standard for knowledge that is high but not absolute.

[edit] Idealism

Immanuel Kant

Main article: Idealism

Idealism is the epistemological doctrine that nothing can be directly known outside of the minds of thinking beings. Or in an alternative stronger form, it is the metaphysical doctrine that nothing exists apart from minds and the “contents” of minds. In modern Western philosophy, the epistemological doctrine begins as a core tenet of Descartes – that what is in the mind is known more reliably than what is known through the senses. The first prominent modern Western idealist in the metaphysical sense was George Berkeley. Berkeley argued^[16] that there is no deep distinction between mental states, such as feeling pain, and the ideas about so-called “external” things, that appear to us through the senses. There is no real distinction, in this view, between certain sensations of heat and light that we experience, which lead us to believe in the external existence of a fire, and the fire itself. Those sensations are all there is to fire. Berkeley expressed this with the Latin formula esse est percipi: to be is to be perceived. In this view the opinion, “strangely prevailing upon men”, that houses, mountains, and rivers have an existence independent of their perception by a thinking being is false.

Forms of idealism were prevalent in philosophy from the 18th century to the early 20th century. Transcendental idealism, advocated by Immanuel Kant, is the view that there are limits on what can be understood, since there is much that cannot be brought under the conditions of objective judgment. Kant wrote his Critique of Pure Reason (1781–1787) in an attempt to reconcile the conflicting approaches of rationalism and empiricism, and to establish a new groundwork for studying metaphysics. Kant’s intention with this work was to look at what we know and then consider what must be true about it, as a logical consequence of, the way we know it. One major theme was that there are fundamental features of reality that escape our direct knowledge because of the natural limits of the human faculties.^[17] Although Kant held that objective knowledge of the world required the mind to impose a conceptual or categorical framework on the stream of pure sensory data – a framework including space and time themselves – he maintained that things-in-themselves existed independently of our perceptions and judgments; he was therefore not an idealist in any simple sense. Indeed, Kant’s account of things-in-themselves is both controversial and highly complex. Continuing his work, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Schelling dispensed with belief in the independent existence of the world, and created a thoroughgoing idealist philosophy.

The most notable work of this German idealism was G.W.F. Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, of 1807. Hegel asserts that the twin aims of philosophy are to account for the contradictions apparent in human experience (which arise, for instance, out of the recognition of the self as both an active, subjective witness and a passive object in the world), and also simultaneously to resolve and preserve these contradictions by showing their compatibility at a higher level of examination. This program of acceptance and reconciliation of contradictions is known as the “Hegelian dialectic”. Philosophers in the Hegelian tradition include Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and the British idealists, notably T.H. Green, J.M.E. McTaggart, and F.H. Bradley.

Few 20th century philosophers have embraced idealism.

[edit] Pragmatism

William James

Main article: Pragmatism

Main article: Instrumentalism

Pragmatism holds that the truth of beliefs does not consist in their correspondence with reality, but in their usefulness and efficacy.^[18] The late 19th-century American philosophers Charles Peirce and William James were its co-founders, and it was later developed by John Dewey as instrumentalism. Since the usefulness of any belief at any time might be contingent on circumstance, Peirce and James conceptualised final truth as that which would be established only by the future, final settlement of all opinion.^[19] Critics have accused pragmatism of falling victim to a simple fallacy: because something that is true proves useful, that usefulness is the basis for its truth.^[20] Thinkers in the pragmatist tradition have included John Dewey, George Santayana, and C.I. Lewis. Pragmatism has more recently been taken in new directions by Richard Rorty and Hilary Putnam.

[edit] Phenomenology

Edmund Husserl

Main article: Phenomenology

Phenomenology, founded by Edmund Husserl, promotes the idea that the natural world is largely shaped by the human mind. An important part of Husserl’s phenomenological project was to show that all conscious acts are directed at or about objective content, a feature that Husserl called intentionality.^[21]

Setting out to revise his views on the foundation of mathematics, and influenced by the philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano, under whom he had studied in Vienna, Husserl began to lay the foundations for an ambitious account not just of the kinds of experiences that underly and make possible mathematical judgments, but of the structure of conscious experience in general.^[22] In the first part of his two-volume work, the Logical Investigations (1901), he launched an extended attack on the psychologism of which he had been accused by Frege. In the second part, he began to develop the technique of descriptive phenomenology, with the aim of showing how objective judgments are indeed grounded in conscious experience – not, however, in the first-person experience of particular individuals, but in the properties essential to any experiences of the kind in question.^[23]

He also attempted to identify the essential properties of any act of meaning. He developed the method further in Ideas (1913) as transcendental phenomenology, proposing to ground actual experience, and thus all fields of human knowledge, in the structure of consciousness of an ideal, or transcendental, ego. Later, he attempted to reconcile his transcendental standpoint with an acknowledgement of the intersubjective life-world in which real individual subjects interact. Husserl published only a few works in his lifetime, which treat phenomenology mainly in abstract methodological terms; but he left an enormous quantity of unpublished concrete analyses.

Husserl’s work was immediately influential in Germany, with the foundation of phenomenological schools in Munich and Göttingen. Phenomenology later achieved international fame through the work of such philosophers as Martin Heidegger (formerly Husserl’s research assistant), Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Indeed, through the work of Heidegger and Sartre, Husserl’s focus on subjective experience influenced aspects of existentialism.

[edit] Existentialism

Main article: Existentialism

See also: Christian existentialism

Søren Kierkegaard

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that rejects any predetermined role for human beings. Unlike tools, which are designed in order to fill some preconceived role (for example, a knife’s preconceived role, or essence, is to cut), human beings are capable, to some extent at least, of deciding for themselves what constitutes their own essence.^[21] Although they didn’t use the term, the 19th-century philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are widely regarded as the fathers of existentialism. Their influence, however, has extended beyond existentialist thought.^[24][25][26]

Two of the targets of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche’s writings were the philosophical systems of Hegel and Schopenhauer respectively, which they had each admired in their youths. Kierkegaard thought Hegel ignored or excluded the inner subjective life of living human beings, while Nietzsche thought Schopenhauer’s pessimism led people to live an ascetic, or self-hating, life. Kierkegaard suggested that truth is subjectivity, arguing that what is most important to a living individual are questions dealing with one’s inner relationship to life.^[27][28] Nietzsche proposed perspectivism, which is the view that truth depends on individual perspectives.

Although Kierkegaard was among his influences, the extent to which the German philosopher Martin Heidegger should be considered an existentialist is debated. However, in Being and Time he presented a method of rooting philosophical explanations in human existence (Dasein) to be analysed in terms of existential categories (existentiale); and this has led many commentators to treat him as an important figure in the existentialist movement. In The Letter on Humanism, Heidegger explicitly rejected the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre.

Sartre, along with Albert Camus and Simone de Beauvoir, became perhaps the best-known proponent of existentialism, exploring it not only in theoretical works such as Being and Nothingness , but also in plays and novels. Sartre, Camus, and de Beauvoir all represented an avowedly atheistic branch of existentialism, which is now more closely associated with their ideas of nausea, contingency, bad faith, and the absurd than with Kierkegaard’s spiritual angst. Nevertheless, the focus on the individual human being, responsible before the universe for the authenticity of his or her existence, is common to all these thinkers.

[edit] The analytic tradition

Main article: Analytic philosophy

The term analytic philosophy roughly designates a group of philosophical methods that stress clarity of meaning above all other criteria. The philosophy developed as a critique of Hegel and his followers in particular, and of speculative philosophy in general. Some schools in the group include 20th-century realism, logical atomism, logical positivism, and ordinary language. The motivation is to have philosophical studies go beyond personal opinion and begin to have the cogency of mathematical proofs.

In 1921, Ludwig Wittgenstein published his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, which gave a rigidly “logical” account of linguistic and philosophical issues. At the time, he understood most of the problems of philosophy as mere puzzles of language, which could be solved by clear thought. Years later he would reverse a number of the positions he had set out in the Tractatus, in for example his second major work, Philosophical Investigations (1953). Investigations encouraged the development of “ordinary language philosophy”, which was promoted by Gilbert Ryle, J.L. Austin, and a few others. The “ordinary language philosophy” thinkers shared a common outlook with many older philosophers (Jeremy Bentham, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and John Stuart Mill), and it was this style of philosophical inquiry that characterized English-language philosophy for the second half of the 20th century.
See also Transcendentalism

[edit] Ethics and political philosophy in the West

[edit] Human nature and political legitimacy

Thomas Hobbes

From ancient times, and well beyond them, the roots of justification for political authority were inescapably tied to outlooks on human nature. In The Republic, Plato declared that the ideal society would be run by a council of philosopher-kings, since those best at philosophy are best able to realize the good. Even Plato, however, required philosophers to make their way in the world for many years before beginning their rule at the age of fifty. For Aristotle, humans are political animals (i.e. social animals), and governments are set up in order to pursue good for the community. Aristotle reasoned that, since the state (polis) was the highest form of community, it has the purpose of pursuing the highest good. Aristotle viewed political power as the result of natural inequalities in skill and virtue. Because of these differences, he favored an aristocracy of the able and virtuous. For Aristotle, the person cannot be complete unless he or she lives in a community. His The Nicomachean Ethics and The Politics are meant to be read in that order. The first book addresses virtues (or “excellences”) in the person as a citizen; the second addresses the proper form of government to ensure that citizens will be virtuous, and therefore complete. Both books deal with the essential role of justice in civic life.

Nicolas of Cusa rekindled Platonic thought in the early 15th century. He promoted democracy in Medieval Europe, both in his writings and in his organization of the Council of Florence. Unlike Aristotle and the Hobbesian tradition to follow, Cusa saw human beings as equal and divine (that is, made in God’s image), so democracy would be the only just form of government. Cusa’s views are credited by some as sparking the Italian Renaissance, which gave rise to the notion of “Nation-States”.

Later, Niccolò Machiavelli rejected the views of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas as unrealistic. The ideal sovereign is not the embodiment of the moral virtues; rather the sovereign does whatever is successful and necessary, rather than what is morally praiseworthy. Thomas Hobbes also contested many elements of Aristotle’s views. For Hobbes, human nature is essentially anti-social: people are essentially egoistic, and this egoism makes life difficult in the natural state of things. Moreover, Hobbes argued, though people may have natural inequalities, these are trivial, since no particular talents or virtues that people may have will make them safe from harm inflicted by others. For these reasons, Hobbes concluded that the state arises from a common agreement to raise the community out of the state of nature. This can only be done by the establishment of a sovereign, in which (or whom) is vested complete control over the community, and which is able to inspire awe and terror in its subjects.^[29]

Many in the Enlightenment were unsatisfied with existing doctrines in political philosophy, which seemed to marginalize or neglect the possibility of a democratic state. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was among those who attempted to overturn these doctrines: he responded to Hobbes by claiming that a human is by nature a kind of “noble savage”, and that society and social contracts corrupt this nature. Another critic was John Locke. In Second Treatise on Government he agreed with Hobbes that the nation-state was an efficient tool for raising humanity out of a deplorable state, but he argued that the sovereign might become an abominable institution compared to the relatively benign unmodulated state of nature.^[30]

Following the doctrine of the fact-value distinction, due in part to the influence of David Hume and his student Adam Smith, appeals to human nature for political justification were weakened. Nevertheless, many political philosophers, especially moral realists, still make use of some essential human nature as a basis for their arguments.

[edit] Consequentialism, deontology, and the aretaic turn

Jeremy Bentham

Main articles: Consequentialism, Deontological ethics, Deontology, and Virtue ethics

One debate that has commanded the attention of ethicists in the modern era has been between consequentialism (actions are to be morally evaluated solely by their consequences) and deontology (actions are to be morally evaluated solely by consideration of agents’ duties, the rights of those whom the action concerns, or both).

Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill are famous for propagating utilitarianism, which is the idea that the fundamental moral rule is to strive toward the “greatest happiness for the greatest number”. However, in promoting this idea they also necessarily promoted the broader doctrine of consequentialism.

Adopting a position opposed to consequentialism, Immanuel Kant argued that moral principles were simply products of reason. Kant believed that the incorporation of consequences into moral deliberation was a deep mistake, since it would deny the necessity of practical maxims in governing the working of the will. According to Kant, reason requires that we conform our actions to the categorical imperative, which is an absolute duty. An important 20th-century deontologist, W.D. Ross, has argued for weaker forms of duties called prima facie duties.

More recent works have emphasized the role of character in ethics, a movement known as the aretaic turn (that is, the turn towards virtues). One strain of this movement followed the work of Bernard Williams. Williams noted that rigid forms of both consequentialism and deontology demanded that people behave impartially. This, Williams argued, requires that people abandon their personal projects, and hence their personal integrity, in order to be considered moral.

G.E.M. Anscombe, in an influential paper, “Modern Moral Philosophy” (1958), revived virtue ethics as an alternative to what was seen as the entrenched positions of Kantianism and consequentialism. Aretaic perspectives have been inspired in part by research of ancient conceptions of virtue. For example, Aristotle’s ethics demands that people follow the Aristotelian mean, or balance between two vices; and Confucian ethics argues that virtue consists largely in striving for harmony with other people. Virtue ethics in general has since gained many adherents, and has been defended by such philosophers as Philippa Foot, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Rosalind Hursthouse.

[edit] Applied philosophy

Though often seen as a wholly abstract field, philosophy is not without practical applications. The most obvious applications are those in ethics – applied ethics in particular – and political philosophy. The political and economic philosophies of Confucius, Sun Zi, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Taimiyyah, Niccolò Machiavelli, Gottfried Leibniz, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Mahatma Gandhi, and others – all of these have been used to shape and justify governments and their actions.

A modern example is the political movement Neoconservatism, which began as a philosophical tradition at the University of Chicago centered around Leo Strauss and his unique interpretations of the work of Plato. This intellectual movement went on to shape major parts of the politics of the George W. Bush presidency, demonstrating that seemingly “ivory tower” movements can have a profound impact on real world events.

In the field of philosophy of education, progressive education as championed by John Dewey has had a profound impact on educational practices in the United States in the 20th century. Descendants of this movement include the current efforts in philosophy for children. Carl von Clausewitz’s political philosophy of war has had a profound effect on statecraft, international politics, and military strategy in the 20th century, especially in the years around World War II. Logic has become crucially important in mathematics, linguistics, psychology, computer science, and computer engineering.

Other important applications can be found in epistemology, which aid in understanding the requisites for knowledge, sound evidence, and justified belief (important in law, economics, decision theory, and a number of other disciplines). The philosophy of science discusses the underpinnings of the scientific method and has affected the nature of scientific investigation and argumentation. Deep ecology and animal rights examine the moral situation of humans as occupants of a world that has non-human occupants to consider also. Aesthetics can help to interpret discussions of music, literature, the plastic arts, and the whole artistic dimension of life.

In general, the various “philosophies of…” strive to provide workers in their respective fields with a deeper understanding of the theoretical or conceptual underpinnings of their fields.

Often philosophy is seen as an investigation into an area not sufficiently well understood to be its own branch of knowledge. What were once philosophical pursuits have evolved into the modern day fields such as psychology, sociology, linguistics, and economics, for example. But as such areas of intellectual endeavour proliferate and expand, so will the broader philosophical questions that they generate.

[edit] Eastern philosophy

Main article: Eastern philosophy

Many societies have considered philosophical questions and built philosophical traditions based upon each other’s works. Eastern and Middle Eastern philosophical traditions have influenced Western philosophers. Russian (which to many people still counts as Western), Jewish, Islamic, African, and recently Latin American philosophical traditions have contributed to, or been influenced by, Western philosophy: yet each has retained a distinctive identity.

The differences between traditions are often well captured by consideration of their favored historical philosophers, and varying stress on ideas, procedural styles, or written language. The subject matter and dialogues of each can be studied using methods derived from the others, and there are significant commonalities and exchanges between them.

Eastern philosophy refers to the broad traditions that originated or were popular in India, Persia, China, Japan, and to an extent, the Middle East (which overlaps with Western philosophy due to the spread of the Abrahamic religions and the continuing intellectual traffic between these societies and Europe.)

[edit] Indian philosophy

Adi Shankara (centre), 788 to 820, founder of Advaita Vedanta, one of the major schools of Hindu philosophy.

Main article: Indian philosophy

Further information: Hindu philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, and Jainism

In the history of the Indian subcontinent, following the establishment of an Aryan–Vedic culture, the development of philosophical and religious thought over a period of two millennia gave rise to what came to be called the six schools of astika, or orthodox, Indian or Hindu philosophy. These schools have come to be synonymous with the greater religion of Hinduism, which was a development of the early Vedic religion.

Hindu philosophy constitutes an integral part of the culture of Southern Asia, and is the first of the Dharmic philosophies which were influential throughout the Far East. The great diversity in thought and practice of Hinduism is nurtured by its liberal universalism.

[edit] Persian philosophy

Main article: Philosophy in Iran

Persian philosophy can be traced back as far as Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts, with their ancient Indo-Iranian roots. These were considerably influenced by Zarathustra’s teachings. Throughout Iranian history and due to remarkable political and social influences such as the Macedonian, the Arab, and the Mongol invasions of Persia, a wide spectrum of schools of thought arose. These espoused a variety of views on philosophical questions, extending from Old Iranian and mainly Zoroastrianism-influenced traditions to schools appearing in the late pre-Islamic era, such as Manicheism and Mazdakism, as well as various post-Islamic schools. Iranian philosophy after Arab invasion of Persia is characterized by different interactions with the Old Iranian philosophy, the Greek philosophy and with the development of Islamic philosophy. The Illumination School and the Transcendent Philosophy are regarded as two of the main philosophical traditions of that era in Persia.

Confucius, illustrated in Myths & Legends of China, 1922, by E.T.C. Werner.

[edit] Chinese philosophy

Main article: Chinese philosophy

Philosophy has had a tremendous effect on Chinese civilization, and East Asia as a whole. Many of the great philosophical schools were formulated during the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, and came to be known as the Hundred Schools of Thought. The four most influential of these were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. Later on, during the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism from India also became a prominent philosophical and religious discipline. (It should be noted that Eastern thought, unlike Western philosophy, did not express a clear distinction between philosophy and religion.) Like Western philosophy, Chinese philosophy covers a broad and complex range of thought, possessing a multitude of schools that address every branch and subject area of philosophy.

See also: Yin-Yang, Qi, Tao, Li, I Ching

Related Topics: Korean philosophy, Bushido, Zen, The Art of War, Asian Values

[edit] African philosophy

Main article: African philosophy

Other philosophical traditions, such as African philosophy, are rarely considered by foreign academia. Since emphasis is mainly placed on Western philosophy as a reference point, the study, preservation and dissemination of valuable, but lesser known, non-Western philosophical works face many obstacles. Key African philosophers include the Fulani Uthman Dan Fodio, founder of the Sokoto Caliphate of Northern Nigeria and Umar Tall of Senegal; both were prolific Islamic scholars.In the post-colonial period, different images of what could be argued as “African” Philosophy from the level of epistemology have risen. These could include the thoughts and enquiries of such individuals as Cheik Anta Diop, Francis Ohanyido, CL Momoh, and Chinweizu .

This short section requires expansion.

[edit] References

1. ^ Quinton, Anthony; ed. Ted Honderich (1996). “Philosophy”. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. 
2. ^ “But philosophy has been both the seeking of wisdom and the wisdom sought.” Dagobert D. Runes. Dictionary of Philosophy. Kessinger Publishing.  ISBN 1428613102
3. ^ The definition of philosophy is: “1.orig., love of, or the search for, wisdom or knowledge 2.theory or logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct, thought, knowledge, and the nature of the universe.” Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second College. 
4. ^ Blackburn, Simon (1994). “Philosophy”, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
5. ^ Cua, Anthony S.. “Emergence of the history of Chinese philosophy”, Comparative Approaches to Chinese Philosophy. 
6. ^ Metaphysics book alpha minor
7. ^ D. Rutherford (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge UP, 2006)
8. ^ S. Nadler (ed.), A Companion to Early Modern Philosophy, (Blackwell, 2002)
9. ^ Shand, John (ed.) Central Works of Philosophy, Vol.3 The Nineteenth Century (McGill-Queens, 2005)
10. ^ Beiser, Frederick C. The Cambridge Companion to Hegel, (Cambridge, 1993)
11. ^ Sextus Empiricus, PH (= Outlines of Pyrrhonism) I.8
12. ^ Sextus Empiricus, PH (= Outlines of Pyrrhonism) I.19-20
13. ^ “And though a Pyrrhonian [i.e. a skeptic] may throw himself or others into a momentary amazement and confusion by his profound reasonings; the first and most trivial event in life will put to flight all his doubts and scruples, and leave him the same, in every point of action and speculation, with the philosophers of every other sect, or with those who never concerned themselves in any philosophical researches. When he awakes from his dream, he will be the first to join in the laugh against himself, and to confess, that all his objections are mere amusement.” (An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1777, XII, Part 2, p. 128)
14. ^ Lewis Carroll (1895). What the Tortoise Said to Achilles. 
15. ^ Stephen Cade Hetherington (1996). Knowledge Puzzles. 
16. ^ First Dialogue
17. ^ Kant, Immanuel (1990). Critique of Pure Reason. Prometheus Books.  ISBN 0-87975-596-2
18. ^ Rorty, Richard (1982). The Consequences of Pragmatism. Minnesota: Minnesota University Press, p xvi. 
19. ^ Putnam, Hilary (1995). Pragmatism: An Open Question. Oxford: Blackwell, especially pp 8-12. 
20. ^ Pratt, J.B. (1909). What is Pragmatism?. New York: Macmillan, p. 89. 
21. ^ ^{a b} Dreyfus, Hubert (2006). A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism. Blackwell. 
22. ^ Woodruff Smith, David (2007). Husserl. Routledge. 
23. ^ Woodruff Smith, David (2007). Husserl. Routledge. 
24. ^ Matustik, Martin J. (1995). Kierkegaard in Post/Modernity. Indiana University Press.  ISBN 0-253-20967-6
25. ^ Solomon, Robert (2001). What Nietzsche Really Said.  ISBN 0805210946
26. ^ Religious thinkers were among those influenced by Kierkegaard. Christian existentialists include Gabriel Marcel, Nicholas Berdyaev, Miguel de Unamuno, and Karl Jaspers (although he preferred to speak of his “philosophical faith”). The Jewish philosophers Martin Buber and Lev Shestov have also been associated with existentialism.
27. ^ Kierkegaard, Søren (1986). Fear and Trembling. Penguin Classics.  ISBN 0-14-044449-1
28. ^ Kierkegaard, Søren (1992). Concluding Unscientific Postscript. Princeton University Press.  ISBN 0-691-02081-7
29. ^ Hobbes, Thomas (1985). Leviathan. Penguin Classics. 
30. ^ Sigmund, Paul E. (2005). The Selected Political Writings of John Locke. Norton.  ISBN 0-393-96451-5

DWNEWS.COM– 2007年8月1日7:26:45(京港臺時間) –多維新聞網

東方日報報導／廣播處處長朱培慶的桃色丑聞成為城中熱話﹐近日再爆出有首長級政府高官於歡場認識陪酒女郎後﹐背妻發展婚外情﹐當高官獲悉情婦意外懷孕後﹐ 又要求對方墮胎及提出分手﹐結果被情婦涉嫌勒索五十萬元「?煲費」。被捕陪酒女郎昨在區域法院否認一項勒索罪名﹐更特別聘用資深大狀戴啟思挑戰控方保密高 官身份之申請﹐惟法庭最後頒令不得將涉案高官等四名控方證人之身份曝光。

卅六歲女被告許榮﹐被控於今年二月廿三日至六月六日為使自己獲益而以恫嚇方式﹐不當地要求高官X先生交出港幣五十萬元。控方昨庭上表明屆時會傳召高官X先 生﹑X先生妻子X太太﹑L先生﹑Y小姐及一名警員共五人作供。控方在庭外對X先生的身份守口如瓶﹐拒絕透露任何資料﹐惟透露尚未有指示會否用屏風遮擋X先 生作供。
挑戰控方圖揭X先生身份

女法官源麗華昨午於內庭聆聽雙方陳詞後﹐裁決時坦言控方申請將案中的四名證人X先生及妻子﹑L先生及Y小姐的身份保密﹐法官參考上訴庭指引﹐認為若將勒索 案受害人之身份曝光﹐會令有關人士抗拒舉報﹐遂頒令將有關證人的身份保密﹐法官又指包括傳媒等人士若將上述證人的身份曝光﹐將會有被控藐視法庭罪名之虞﹐ 最後將案件押後至十一月二日作五天的審訊﹐准許被告繼續保釋外出。

X太揭夫外遇逼提出分手

女被告許榮涉嫌勒索政府高官五十萬元。（陳錦輝攝）

案情透露﹐被告早年於內地與在港任裝修工的丈夫結婚﹐當時丈夫已與前妻育有三名兒女﹐惟被告申請來港團聚後﹐卻因夫婦不和而分居﹐之後被告到登打士街一間 卡拉OK任陪酒女郎。直至去年十月﹐屬首長薪級第三級的政府高官X先生﹐前往該K場消遣邂逅被告﹐雙方一見如故﹐兩個月後更發展親密關系﹐期間被告疑懷有 X先生之骨肉﹐惟最終在X先生之要求下墮胎。

兩人發展婚外情時﹐已婚的X先生愛屋及烏﹐曾去信給被告遠在內地的姨甥﹐於信中自認「姨丈」之餘﹐又表明會帶他們到港旅游﹐亦曾主動將衣物及玩具送到內地給被告的親人。

惟到今年二月﹐X先生妻子終揭破X先生與被告之親密關系﹐妻子遂要求X先生致電被告提出分手﹐怎料事隔一個月﹐X先生仍相約被告在西餐廳見面﹐更作出愛的 宣言「唔會辜負你」。最後﹐由於X先生妻子的貿易廠在該段時間先後收到多張神秘傳真文件﹐內容有「Call你老公啦」等無厘頭字句﹐X先生妻子懷疑乃被告 所為﹐遂要求X先生報警。X先生向警方表明案發時遭被告勒索五十萬元﹐否則會向外揭發兩人的親密關系。

「謎女郎」住公屋有錢聘大狀

高官桃色丑聞案的女被告許榮﹐其廬山真貌昨在區院首度曝光﹐雖然她過往曾任陪酒女郎﹐惟外表斯文並顯得弱不禁風﹐其背景更恍如「謎女郎」﹐報住公屋的她﹐除了早前於高等法院能交付九萬五千元現金保釋外﹐昨日更私人聘請資深大律師戴啟思迎擊控方。

近十萬元現金擔保

女被告於六月在東區法院提堂時曾被收押監房看管﹐惟直至上月廿四日才成功在高院取得擔保﹐當中其丈夫以五萬元作人事擔保外﹐其餘九萬五千元為現金擔保。由 於控方上周去信要求法庭頒令將高官的身份保密﹐被告昨更特別聘請專打《基本法》及《人權法》的資深大狀戴啟思「挑戰」控方之申請﹐審訊時亦會改聘女大狀姚 姜敬淑代表抗辯。

現年卅六歲的女被告昨清早便抵達法庭﹐身穿簡單便服及略施脂粉﹐未見有任何親友陪同﹐她在犯人欄聽審時一直表現淡靜﹐惟上午離開法庭時情緒非常激動﹐更當場?淚﹐女被告雖然在庭外大方讓記者拍攝﹐惟面對提問卻一概不肯作答。

直至下午五時女被告離開中環的律師樓時發現有記者守候﹐遂在該區不停帶記者「游花園」﹐最後火速登上預約之的士﹐成功「撇甩」尾隨的採訪車。記者昨亦到訪女被告報住的大埔寓所﹐惟沒有人應門﹐其鄰居表明該單位有一男子及內地女子居住﹐而該男戶主更「有三個老婆」﹐令被告的身份更添神秘。

Billions pledged for rail upgrade

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6912930.stm

Overcrowding is still a problem for many passengers on the network

Billions of pounds are to be spent on creating a “bigger, stronger” railway, carrying twice as many passengers by 2030, the transport secretary has said. Ruth Kelly said £10bn would be invested by 2014 to increase services and lengthen trains.

Among pledges were an extra 1,300 train carriages and upgrades at 150 stations.

Consumers raised concerns about fare rises, while Lib Dems said the plan was a “missed opportunity”, and Tories said it was “reheated announcements”.

Map: Key locations for improvements

Other key proposals from the White Paper included:

• The aim is to carry at least 180m more passengers within seven years
• More than 150 stations are to be upgraded and refurbished at a cost of £150m – London Bridge and Blackfriars stations to be upgraded by 2015 and 2011 respectively
• £5.5bn Thameslink modernisation programme approved, trebling the number of stations on that cross-London network
• £425m for improvements at Reading Station
• £128m for improvements at Birmingham New Street station
• Punctuality target of 92.6% of trains by 2014, up from the current 88%
• No closures for rural rail lines
• Protection remains on regulated fare rises – which must be no more than 1% above the annual rate of inflation

The government believes its plans will allow trains to carry twice the number of passengers and freight by 2030, but acknowledges that estimate might be outstripped by demand.

If that is the case, “more radical options” may have to be considered, particularly on the London-Birmingham-Manchester corridor and on London’s busiest commuter routes.

HAVE YOUR SAY Proper investment in high speed rail links would minimise the need for internal flights Kay, Liverpool Send us your comments New look for ‘ugly’ station

It favours extra long trains of up to 16 carriages over double-decker trains, but says a high-speed magnetic rail link and dedicated freight lines were too expensive.

Ms Kelly told MPs that the government had drawn up “the most ambitious strategy for growth on the railways in over 50 years”.

She said the challenge was “to provide a railway that carries more passengers, on more and better trains and on more frequent, reliable, safe and affordable service.”

She added: “We can’t know precisely what our railway will look like in 30 years’ time but now we can be confident of making it bigger, stronger and more flexible.”

But fares will have to cover some of the cost as Ms Kelly said government subsidies had nearly doubled during the “difficult years” of Railtrack.

“It is right that we now seek to return it closer to historic levels,” she said.

She said most people used “regulated fares” which were capped so prices could not rise more than 1% above inflation.

But the transport union TSSA said passengers faced a 34% rise in fares.

‘False dawn’

Also in the White Paper, Ms Kelly said the government was committed to Crossrail, a proposed high-speed rail link from Berkshire to Essex via central London – and was currently trying to “pin down” private sector funding, to match government funding.

But Conservative Theresa Villiers said it was another “false dawn” for the £15bn scheme, saying it was “getting more distant by the day”.

She added that overcrowded trains were packed so tight “it would be a criminal offence to transport animals in the same conditions”.

And Lib Dem transport spokeswoman Susan Kramer said the White Paper was a “missed opportunity” to get people out of cars and planes and onto the railways and suggested most of the money outlined had been announced before.

She said it “seems extraordinary” that the government had not made more mention of Crossrail in the paper.

George Muir, director-general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, described the proposals as the “first plausible plan for expanding the railway” in recent years.

But passenger groups have been angered that some train companies have raised off-peak prices by up to 20%.

Those carriages aren’t going to be put into place until 2014 so that’s a long wait and passenger numbers keep going up Julia Thomas Transport 2000

Julia Thomas, of campaign group Transport 2000, told BBC Radio Five Live that the White Paper was a “major step in the right direction” but she had two main concerns.

“Firstly, those carriages aren’t going to be put into place until 2014 so that’s a long wait and passenger numbers keep going up,” she said.

“Secondly, although they are concentrating on bottle necks like Reading and Birmingham New Street where there are major delays, there are quick gains to be made through signal improvements, looking at time tabling that would help passengers now.”

TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: “Passengers will be forced to pay twice for improvements which are meant to benefit them, first as taxpayers and then as rail users.

“Ministers claim they want to encourage rail travel and then kick passengers in the teeth with huge regular hikes in fares. They are pricing people off rail and onto the roads.”

(綜合報道)
(星島日報報道)近日在內地大熱、有「學術超女」之稱的于丹，因在中央電視台節目大談《論語》及《莊子》而走紅，其著作《于丹〈莊子〉心得》更破紀錄大賣 二百二十五萬冊，牽起一片「于丹現象」。這位學術超女昨現身香港書展出席分享會，逾百名市民捧場。于丹更對當選為全國美女第三位作出回應，說笑指不理解評 審標準，可能將她與「孔子、莊子放在一起」比較。
「女人的前半生做甚麼，決定她下半生的漂亮。」束覑清爽短髮的于丹，道出女性美的癥結所在，「情懷柔軟、善解人意，不抱怨、不嘮叨的女人最漂亮。」她 認為女人有內涵、散發善良光彩、舉手投足都顯露溫柔，不論任何年齡都有味道。過百名市民昨慕名而來，聽覑思考敏捷的于丹滔滔不絕、將中國傳統百家學說融會 貫通，引經據典解說人生道理及應有態度，聽眾不時報以如雷掌聲。

有人問道老莊的「無為而治」，是否窒礙資本主義社會發展。于丹即舉例莊子曾說，發掘千里馬的伯樂是天下間最殘酷的人，因他令馬匹經歷痛苦受傷，說明 「無為」的中心思想實是尊重生命。而事物的功用亦不需被規限，木材可以作椅子「開party」、可建屋作棟梁、亦可給富貴人家做棺材；無為而無不為，全視 乎人們如何理解。

于丹於北京師範大學藝術與傳媒學院從視電視研究教授，於文革後期出生，小時候無機會上幼稚園，只跟奶奶學寫書法帖；父親經常帶她出席聚會，「三人行必有我師」，叔伯們的好及壞也可成為榜樣。故于丹強調，不用刻意要小朋友背誦經典，應讓他們以生活化方式學習。

于丹在央視節目《百家講壇》講述《論語》及《莊子》，深入淺出，令人覺得經典不再艱澀難懂，大受歡迎。由於並非研究古漢語出身，于丹亦遭不少人非議。 有十名來自清華大學、北京大學等的博士在網上聯署聲明，指斥她對經典有很多不正確的理解，極度無知，傳播錯誤思想。有人在她的著作找出多處謬誤，批評她曲 解《論語》。

不過，于丹依然故我，她認為任何思想學說誕生，皆與當時的文化及社會環境有極大關係，不可能將老家思想完全套到現代生活中；反而應抽取永遠良性、有價值的部分，輔助人們了解人生道理。

(綜合報道)
(星島日報報道)粉嶺嘉福鸷發生愛情大悲劇，一對拍拖十多年癡男怨女，疑因女方不滿裝修工男友曾吸毒「沒出息」，昨與他共赴巫山後，重提分手，雙方激烈爭 吵，有人將女友捏頸殺害，再刎頸和割腕自殺，但並未死去，在伴屍七小時後，喝了一瓶紅酒，復寫滿兩紙遺書：「深愛小鳳（女友）……希望世伯、伯母原諒。」 然後從二十一樓住所跳下喪生。
鴛鴦夢斷，曾吸毒躁漢疑因情變失控，昨在嘉福鸷寓所難死女友後跳樓自殺死亡，警方列兇殺及自殺案處理。消息稱，警方不排除躁漢殺人後，曾以½刀刎頸和割腕企圖自殺，弄至自己滿身鮮血，還緊抱女死者屍體。稍後，男女死者的家人亦被邀返警署，協助了解案情。

女死者潘小鳳，二十九歲，任職女文員，頸有瘀痕，被難 頸窒息致死。有現場消息稱年前曾墮胎的女死者，最近又懷孕，但警方表示需剖驗屍體，才知女死者屬實。案中男死者張伯煌，三十一歲，是地盤裝修散工，入息不固定，脾氣暴躁，曾吸毒需接受精神科治療和社署監管。

案發現場在粉嶺嘉福鸷福泰樓二十一樓一單位，屬男死者住所，其父為戶主。大埔警區署理警司（刑事）莊肇興稱，潘女與姓張男友拍拖十多年，經常到張家留宿，一對情侶儼如同居。

據悉，自○四年張被揭發吸毒，一直失業，潘女抱怨男友吸毒「沒出息」，兩人感情出現裂痕。家人稱，潘女欲與男友分手，惟張卻懷疑女友另結新歡，反而向女友逼婚，雙方多次發生爭執。

現場消息稱，潘女前晚下班到張家晚飯，後換上粉紅色睡袍在男友房間留宿，並發生性行為。至昨凌晨三時，兩人因感情問題再起爭執，張提議結婚，但潘女堅持分手；有人疑箍煲不遂，情緒失控，將潘女按倒脇上難頸圖逼她就範，結果女方慘被難死。

張伴屍一段時間亦萌死念，用½刀刎頸及割腕圖自殺，因而弄至滿身鮮血，其間他更抱覑女友屍體擬共赴黃泉，令潘女屍身亦染有血舻。

及至早上六時，張父母起脇晨運，曾拍門問兒子去不去飲茶，張隔門支吾答一聲「好」，其父母事後離家。約上午十時，張母先行返家料理家務，張父則往晨運，未幾，潘女舅母來電張家查問外甥下落，張母拍門問兒子，潘女在不在房內，兒子亦支吾答道不聽電話。

張伴屍七小時，至上午十時三十分，竟爬出窗外，從二十一樓躍下，伏屍街上，途人見狀報警。其時，張父返家途中，見街坊圍觀，走近察看，赫見兒子倒斃街頭，當場跪倒痛哭。

警方到場調查，張父帶同警員返家，發現潘女倒斃兒子房間脇上，頸有瘀痕，全身染血，初以為她被亂刀斬死，在脇邊發現兩樽藥丸和一支幾飲完的紅酒。

法醫官經到場驗屍，初步證實女死者是被難死，身上沒有刀傷。警方事後列作兇殺及自殺案處理，男女死者屍體至下午才舁送殮房，等候剖屍檢驗，以確定女死者出事前是曾被餵食藥物。

21 July 2007

【東方日報專訊】李國寶既是銀行世家，亦是行政會議成員及立法會議員，其中行政會議的議程及討論內容均需保密。港府消息指，若然今次美國證交會對李國寶的起訴成立， 確定了他曾對外透露新聞集團有意收購道瓊斯，就算他本身沒有收取利益，亦證明了他是口疏之人，他作為行政會議成員的身份勢必被褫奪，以防他將來會口疏洩漏 政府機密。

有港府中人分析，根據李國寶的反應，顯示他個人也認為很大機會被美國證交會起訴，該名港府中人說：「如果唔係點會即時聘請一隊龐大律師團？既然佢今次打硬官司，他必早已準備呢場官司將會歷時漫長，開支亦唔會少。」

官司料歷時漫長

港府內部相信，美國證交會除會翻查王勤競及梁家安夫婦與經紀之間的電話錄音，更會搜尋梁家安與父梁啟雄該段時期的通話紀錄，「若涉案任何一方為求自保，無論王勤競同梁家安夫婦、梁啟雄、李國寶，是但一方肯出來做污點證人，餘下有關人等必定『一身蟻』。」

李國寶稍後將獲頒授最高榮譽的大紫荊勳章，消息人士預料，今次事件相信不會影響他的大紫荊。消息人士稱，該勳章是表揚李國寶在金融服務界的貢獻，無論事件 有何發展，他確實對本港金融業有一定貢獻。不過行會成員是李國寶在最高權力機關的職銜，若因口疏被褫奪，對他來說不無遺憾。

21 July 2007

【東方日報專訊】香港政經名人李國寶可能面臨美國證券交易委員會（下稱美國證交會）民事起訴，受負面消息拖累，他擔任主席的東亞銀行股價昨日逆市繼續下跌，自本周三 起連跌三日市值蒸發十六點五億元，投資銀行花旗更調低東亞投資評級轉為沽售。捲入內幕交易醜聞的李國寶昨午乘機由吉隆坡返港，回應傳媒追訪時開腔稱有信心 成功抗辯，隨即前往上海式理髮店剃鬚及理髮，或許是急於想掃走一身衰運。

昨午從吉隆坡返港的李國寶，下午一時廿五分於機場貴賓通道步出，他對捲入內幕交易案不作評論，但稱有信心成功抗辯。也許是為了減壓，本報記者發現李國寶離開機場後，下午四時便前往光顧一家位於跑馬地的上海式理髮店。

甫下機即往跑馬地理髮店

當記者在店外衝前追問李國寶心情如何？他登時面有怒色說：「你唔好問我，我唔會答你問題。」當李國寶進入該理髮店後便除下外套，兩度向店內師傅咆哮：「點解記者會知我砜度？」然後才繼續剃鬚理髮。

廿分鐘後，李國寶從該理髮店行出來，他的神情較上樓前寬容，面上更罕有地掛上笑容，心情於剃鬚後似是「好番晒」，記者問他捲入內幕交易案有否影響心情，他斬釘截鐵說：「無影響心情。」然後便離去。

消息透露，李國寶廿年來每日都風雨不改前往該理髮店剃鬚及理髮，他的弟弟李國章、叔父李福善也是該店常客。據悉，李國寶每日光顧理髮店的時間不一，有時早至清晨七時，要勞煩師傅提前開店招待這名貴賓，不過，李國寶每次都會識趣打賞提早開工的師傅。

港股昨日氣勢如虹，但東亞股價卻連跌三日，由本周二收市價46.65元，跌至昨日的45.6元，按東亞發行股本約15.68億股計算，三日來市值蒸發約16.5億元。投資者每持有一手東亞股份，三日間便「縮水」210元。

市值蒸發16.5億　評級下調

投資銀行花旗就發表報告，調低東亞銀行的投資評級由「買入」轉為「沽售」，一年目標價下調11%至47元。報告指出，李國寶捲入內幕交易案令投資者對東亞投資情緒構成負面影響。

東亞則發表聲明，指董事會經過詳細考慮後，相信李國寶有能力繼續履行該行主席及行政總裁的職責，董事會強烈支持李氏履行其職責。

銀行公會主席蘇利民昨於例會後指，李國寶事件屬個別事件，不會影響香港國際金融中心的聲譽。他又指，李國寶對香港銀行業貢獻良多，備受尊重。財經事務及庫務局局長陳家強昨在立法會財經事務委員會上表示，現階段沒足夠資料去評論李國寶事件。

李國寶捲入是次道瓊斯內幕交易案，事緣萬眾電話前執行董事梁家安與丈夫於新聞集團收購道瓊斯的消息公布前率先購入道瓊斯股份，獲利近六千四百萬元，李國寶因與案中主角梁家安的父親梁啟雄熟稔，而捲入是次醜聞。

一九二二年十月。
□注释
⑴本篇最初发表于一九二二年十二月上海《妇女杂志》第八卷第十二号。
⑵爱罗先珂（1889—1952）：俄国诗人和童话作家。童年时因病双目失明。曾 先后到过日本、泰国、缅甸、印度。一九二一年在日本因参加“五一”游行被驱逐 出境，后辗转来到我国。一九二二年从上海到北京，曾在北京大学、北京世界语专 门学校任教。一九二三年回国。他用世界语和日语写作，鲁迅曾译过他的作品《桃 色的云》、《爱罗先珂童话集》等。
⑶“入芝兰之室，久而不闻其香”：语见《孔子家语·六本》。
⑷《小鸡的悲剧》：童话。鲁迅于一九二二年七月译出，发表于同年九月上海 《妇女杂志》第八卷第九号，后收入《爱罗先珂童话集》。
⑸“俄罗斯母亲”：俄罗斯人民对祖国的爱称。〔《呐喊》〕

一
今天晚上，很好的月光。
我不见他，已是三十多年；今天见了，精神分外爽快。才知道以前的三十多年， 全是发昏；然而须十分小心。不然，那赵家的狗，何以看我两眼呢？
我怕得有理。
二
今天全没月光，我知道不妙。早上小心出门，赵贵翁的眼色便怪：似乎怕我， 似乎想害我。还有七八个人，交头接耳的议论我，张着嘴，对我笑了一笑；我便从 头直冷到脚根，晓得他们布置，都已妥当了。
我可不怕，仍旧走我的路。前面一伙小孩子，也在那里议论我；眼色也同赵贵 翁一样，脸色也铁青。我想我同小孩子有什么仇，他也这样。忍不住大声说，“你 告诉我！”他们可就跑了。
我想：我同赵贵翁有什么仇，同路上的人又有什么仇；只有廿年以前，把古久 先生的陈年流水簿子⑶，踹了一脚，古久先生很不高兴。赵贵翁虽然不认识他，一 定也听到风声，代抱不平；约定路上的人，同我作冤对。但是小孩子呢？那时候， 他们还没有出世，何以今天也睁着怪眼睛，似乎怕我，似乎想害我。这真教我怕， 教我纳罕而且伤心。
我明白了。这是他们娘老子教的！
三
晚上总是睡不着。凡事须得研究，才会明白。
他们——也有给知县打枷过的，也有给绅士掌过嘴的，也有衙役占了他妻子的， 也有老子娘被债主逼死的；他们那时候的脸色，全没有昨天这么怕，也没有这么凶。
最奇怪的是昨天街上的那个女人，打他儿子，嘴里说道，“老子呀！我要咬你 几口才出气！”他眼睛却看着我。我出了一惊，遮掩不住；那青面獠牙的一伙人， 便都哄笑起来。陈老五赶上前，硬把我拖回家中了。
拖我回家，家里的人都装作不认识我；他们的脸色，也全同别人一样。进了书 房，便反扣上门，宛然是关了一只鸡鸭。这一件事，越教我猜不出底细。
前几天，狼子村的佃户来告荒，对我大哥说，他们村里的一个大恶人，给大家 打死了；几个人便挖出他的心肝来，用油煎炒了吃，可以壮壮胆子。我插了一句嘴， 佃户和大哥便都看我几眼。今天才晓得他们的眼光，全同外面的那伙人一模一样。
想起来，我从顶上直冷到脚跟。
他们会吃人，就未必不会吃我。
你看那女人“咬你几口”的话，和一伙青面獠牙人的笑，和前天佃户的话，明 明是暗号。我看出他话中全是毒，笑中全是刀。他们的牙齿，全是白厉厉的排着， 这就是吃人的家伙。
照我自己想，虽然不是恶人，自从踹了古家的簿子，可就难说了。他们似乎别 有心思，我全猜不出。况且他们一翻脸，便说人是恶人。我还记得大哥教我做论， 无论怎样好人，翻他几句，他便打上几个圈；原谅坏人几句，他便说“翻天妙手， 与众不同”。我那里猜得到他们的心思，究竟怎样；况且是要吃的时候。
凡事总须研究，才会明白。古来时常吃人，我也还记得，可是不甚清楚。我翻 开历史一查，这历史没有年代，歪歪斜斜的每叶上都写着“仁义道德”几个字。我 横竖睡不着，仔细看了半夜，才从字缝里看出字来，满本都写着两个字是“吃人”！
书上写着这许多字，佃户说了这许多话，却都笑吟吟的睁着怪眼看我。
我也是人，他们想要吃我了！
四
早上，我静坐了一会儿。陈老五送进饭来，一碗菜，一碗蒸鱼；这鱼的眼睛， 白而且硬，张着嘴，同那一伙想吃人的人一样。吃了几筷，滑溜溜的不知是鱼是人， 便把他兜肚连肠的吐出。
我说“老五，对大哥说，我闷得慌，想到园里走走。”老五不答应，走了；停 一会，可就来开了门。
我也不动，研究他们如何摆布我；知道他们一定不肯放松。果然！我大哥引了 一个老头子，慢慢走来；他满眼凶光，怕我看出，只是低头向着地，从眼镜横边暗 暗看我。大哥说，“今天你仿佛很好。”我说“是的。”大哥说，“今天请何先生 来，给你诊一诊。”我说“可以！”其实我岂不知道这老头子是刽子手扮的！无非 借了看脉这名目，揣一揣肥瘠：因这功劳，也分一片肉吃。我也不怕；虽然不吃人， 胆子却比他们还壮。伸出两个拳头，看他如何下手。老头子坐着，闭了眼睛，摸了 好一会，呆了好一会；便张开他鬼眼睛说，“不要乱想。静静的养几天，就好了。”
不要乱想，静静的养！养肥了，他们是自然可以多吃；我有什么好处，怎么会 “好了”？他们这群人，又想吃人，又是鬼鬼祟祟，想法子遮掩，不敢直截下手， 真要令我笑死。我忍不住，便放声大笑起来，十分快活。自己晓得这笑声里面，有 的是义勇和正气。老头子和大哥，都失了色，被我这勇气正气镇压住了。
但是我有勇气，他们便越想吃我，沾光一点这勇气。老头子跨出门，走不多远， 便低声对大哥说道，“赶紧吃罢！”大哥点点头。原来也有你！这一件大发见，虽 似意外，也在意中：合伙吃我的人，便是我的哥哥！
吃人的是我哥哥！
我是吃人的人的兄弟！
我自己被人吃了，可仍然是吃人的人的兄弟！
五
这几天是退一步想：假使那老头子不是刽子手扮的，真是医生，也仍然是吃人 的人。他们的祖师李时珍做的“本草什么”⑷上，明明写着人肉可以煎吃；他还能 说自己不吃人么？
至于我家大哥，也毫不冤枉他。他对我讲书的时候，亲口说过可以“易子而食” ⑸；又一回偶然议论起一个不好的人，他便说不但该杀，还当“食肉寝皮”⑹。我 那时年纪还小，心跳了好半天。前天狼子村佃户来说吃心肝的事，他也毫不奇怪， 不住的点头。可见心思是同从前一样狠。既然可以“易子而食”，便什么都易得， 什么人都吃得。我从前单听他讲道理，也胡涂过去；现在晓得他讲道理的时候，不 但唇边还抹着人油，而且心里满装着吃人的意思。
六
黑漆漆的，不知是日是夜。赵家的狗又叫起来了。
狮子似的凶心，兔子的怯弱，狐狸的狡猾，……
七
我晓得他们的方法，直捷杀了，是不肯的，而且也不敢，怕有祸祟。所以他们 大家连络，布满了罗网，逼我自戕。试看前几天街上男女的样子，和这几天我大哥 的作为，便足可悟出八九分了。最好是解下腰带，挂在梁上，自己紧紧勒死；他们 没有杀人的罪名，又偿了心愿，自然都欢天喜地的发出一种呜呜咽咽的笑声。否则 惊吓忧愁死了，虽则略瘦，也还可以首肯几下。
他们是只会吃死肉的！——记得什么书上说，有一种东西，叫“海乙那”⑺的， 眼光和样子都很难看；时常吃死肉，连极大的骨头，都细细嚼烂，咽下肚子去，想 起来也教人害怕。“海乙那”是狼的亲眷，狼是狗的本家。前天赵家的狗，看我几 眼，可见他也同谋，早已接洽。老头子眼看着地，岂能瞒得我过。
最可怜的是我的大哥，他也是人，何以毫不害怕；而且合伙吃我呢？还是历来 惯了，不以为非呢？还是丧了良心，明知故犯呢？
我诅咒吃人的人，先从他起头；要劝转吃人的人，也先从他下手。
八
其实这种道理，到了现在，他们也该早已懂得，……
忽然来了一个人；年纪不过二十左右，相貌是不很看得清楚，满面笑容，对了 我点头，他的笑也不像真笑。我便问他，“吃人的事，对么？”他仍然笑着说， “不是荒年，怎么会吃人。”我立刻就晓得，他也是一伙，喜欢吃人的；便自勇气 百倍，偏要问他。
“对么？”
“这等事问他什么。你真会……说笑话。……今天天气很好。”
天气是好，月色也很亮了。可是我要问你，“对么？”
他不以为然了。含含胡胡的答道，“不……”
“不对？他们何以竟吃？！”
“没有的事……”
“没有的事？狼子村现吃；还有书上都写着，通红斩新！”
他便变了脸，铁一般青。睁着眼说，“有许有的，这是从来如此……”
“从来如此，便对么？”
“我不同你讲这些道理；总之你不该说，你说便是你错！”
我直跳起来，张开眼，这人便不见了。全身出了一大片汗。他的年纪，比我大 哥小得远，居然也是一伙；这一定是他娘老子先教的。还怕已经教给他儿子了；所 以连小孩子，也都恶狠狠的看我。
九
自己想吃人，又怕被别人吃了，都用着疑心极深的眼光，面面相觑。……
去了这心思，放心做事走路吃饭睡觉，何等舒服。这只是一条门槛，一个关头。 他们可是父子兄弟夫妇朋友师生仇敌和各不相识的人，都结成一伙，互相劝勉，互 相牵掣，死也不肯跨过这一步。
十
大清早，去寻我大哥；他立在堂门外看天，我便走到他背后，拦住门，格外沉 静，格外和气的对他说，
“大哥，我有话告诉你。”
“你说就是，”他赶紧回过脸来，点点头。
“我只有几句话，可是说不出来。大哥，大约当初野蛮的人，都吃过一点人。 后来因为心思不同，有的不吃人了，一味要好，便变了人，变了真的人。有的却还 吃，——也同虫子一样，有的变了鱼鸟猴子，一直变到人。有的不要好，至今还是 虫子。这吃人的人比不吃人的人，何等惭愧。怕比虫子的惭愧猴子，还差得很远很 远。
“易牙⑻蒸了他儿子，给桀纣吃，还是一直从前的事。谁晓得从盘古开辟天地 以后，一直吃到易牙的儿子；从易牙的儿子，一直吃到徐锡林⑼；从徐锡林，又一 直吃到狼子村捉住的人。去年城里杀了犯人，还有一个生痨病的人，用馒头蘸血舐。
“他们要吃我，你一个人，原也无法可想；然而又何必去入伙。吃人的人，什 么事做不出；他们会吃我，也会吃你，一伙里面，也会自吃。但只要转一步，只要 立刻改了，也就是人人太平。虽然从来如此，我们今天也可以格外要好，说是不能！ 大哥，我相信你能说，前天佃户要减租，你说过不能。”
当初，他还只是冷笑，随后眼光便凶狠起来，一到说破他们的隐情，那就满脸 都变成青色了。大门外立着一伙人，赵贵翁和他的狗，也在里面，都探头探脑的挨 进来。有的是看不出面貌，似乎用布蒙着；有的是仍旧青面獠牙，抿着嘴笑。我认 识他们是一伙，都是吃人的人。可是也晓得他们心思很不一样，一种是以为从来如 此，应该吃的；一种是知道不该吃，可是仍然要吃，又怕别人说破他，所以听了我 的话，越发气愤不过，可是抿着嘴冷笑。
这时候，大哥也忽然显出凶相，高声喝道，
“都出去！疯子有什么好看！”
这时候，我又懂得一件他们的巧妙了。他们岂但不肯改，而且早已布置；预备 下一个疯子的名目罩上我。将来吃了，不但太平无事，怕还会有人见情。佃户说的 大家吃了一个恶人，正是这方法。这是他们的老谱！
陈老五也气愤愤的直走进来。如何按得住我的口，我偏要对这伙人说，
“你们可以改了，从真心改起！要晓得将来容不得吃人的人，活在世上。
“你们要不改，自己也会吃尽。即使生得多，也会给真的人除灭了，同猎人打 完狼子一样！——同虫子一样！”
那一伙人，都被陈老五赶走了。大哥也不知那里去了。陈老五劝我回屋子里去。 屋里面全是黑沉沉的。横梁和椽子都在头上发抖；抖了一会，就大起来，堆在我身 上。
万分沉重，动弹不得；他的意思是要我死。我晓得他的沉重是假的，便挣扎出 来，出了一身汗。可是偏要说，
“你们立刻改了，从真心改起！你们要晓得将来是容不得吃人的人，……”
十一
太阳也不出，门也不开，日日是两顿饭。
我捏起筷子，便想起我大哥；晓得妹子死掉的缘故，也全在他。那时我妹子才 五岁，可爱可怜的样子，还在眼前。母亲哭个不住，他却劝母亲不要哭；大约因为 自己吃了，哭起来不免有点过意不去。如果还能过意不去，……
妹子是被大哥吃了，母亲知道没有，我可不得而知。
母亲想也知道；不过哭的时候，却并没有说明，大约也以为应当的了。记得我 四五岁时，坐在堂前乘凉，大哥说爷娘生病，做儿子的须割下一片肉来，煮熟了请 他吃，⑽才算好人；母亲也没有说不行。一片吃得，整个的自然也吃得。但是那天 的哭法，现在想起来，实在还教人伤心，这真是奇极的事！
十二
不能想了。
四千年来时时吃人的地方，今天才明白，我也在其中混了多年；大哥正管着家 务，妹子恰恰死了，他未必不和在饭菜里，暗暗给我们吃。
我未必无意之中，不吃了我妹子的几片肉，现在也轮到我自己，……
有了四千年吃人履历的我，当初虽然不知道，现在明白，难见真的人！
十三
没有吃过人的孩子，或者还有？
救救孩子……
一九一八年四月。
注释
⑴本篇最初发表于一九一八年五月《新青年》第四卷第五号。作者首次采用了 “鲁迅”这一笔名。它是我国现代文学史上第一篇猛烈抨击“吃人”的封建礼教的 小说。作者除在本书（《呐喊》）《自序》中提及它产生的缘由外，又在《〈中国 新文学大系〉小说二集序》中指出它“意在暴露家族制度和礼教的弊害”，可以参 看。
⑵候补：清代官制，通过科举或捐纳等途径取得官衔，但还没有实际职务的中 下级官员，由吏部抽签分发到某部或某省，听候委用，称为候补。
⑶古久先生的陈年流水簿子：这里比喻我国封建主义统治的长久历史。
⑷“本草什么”：指《本草纲目》，明代医学家李时珍（1518—1593）的药物 学著作，共五十二卷。该书曾经提到唐代陈藏器《本草拾遗》中以人肉医治痨的记 载，并表示了异议。这里说李时珍的书“明明写着人肉可以煎吃”，当是“狂人” 的“记中语误”。
⑸“易子而食”：语见《左传》宣公十五年，是宋将华元对楚将子反叙说宋国 都城被楚军围困时的惨状：“敝邑易子而食，析骸而爨。”
⑹“食肉寝皮”：语出《左传》襄公二十一年，晋国州绰对齐庄公说：“然二 子者，譬于禽兽，臣食其肉而寝处其皮矣。”（按：“二子”指齐国的殖绰和郭最， 他们曾被州绰俘虏过。）
⑺“海乙那”：英语hyena的音译，即鬣狗（又名土狼），一种食肉兽，常跟在 狮虎等猛兽之后，以它们吃剩的兽类的残尸为食。
⑻易牙：春秋时齐国人，善于调味。据《管子·小称》：“夫易牙以调和事公 （按：指齐桓公），公曰‘惟蒸婴儿之未尝’，于是蒸其首子而献之公。”桀、纣 各为我国夏朝和商朝的最后一代君主，易牙和他们不是同时代人。这里说的“易牙 蒸了他儿子，给桀纣吃”，也是“狂人”“语颇错杂无伦次”的表现。
⑼徐锡林：隐指徐锡麟（1873—1907），字伯荪，浙江绍兴人，清末革命团体 光复会的重要成员。一九○七年与秋瑾准备在浙、皖两省同时起义。七月六日，他 以安徽巡警处会办兼巡警学堂监督身份为掩护，乘学堂举行毕业典礼之机刺死安徽 巡抚恩铭，率领学生攻占军械局，弹尽被捕，当日惨遭杀害，心肝被恩铭的卫队挖 出炒食。⑽指“割股疗亲”，即割取自己的股肉煎药，以医治父母的重病。这是封 建社会的一种愚孝行为。《宋史·选举志一》：“上以孝取人，则勇者割股，怯者 庐墓。”

一九二二年十二月三日，鲁迅记于北京。
注释：
①N指南京，K学堂指江南水师学堂。作者于1898年到南京江南水师学堂肄业， 第二年改入江南陆师学堂附设的矿务铁路学堂，1902年毕业后即由清政府派赴日本 留学，1904年进仙台的医学专门学校，1906年中止学医，回东京准备从事文艺运动。 参看《朝花夕拾》中《琐记》及《藤野先生》二文。
②作者对中医的看法，可参看《朝花夕拾》中《父亲的病》。
③S会馆指绍兴县馆，在北京宣武门外。从1912年5月到1919年11月，作者住在 这会馆里。
④鲁迅寓居绍兴县馆时，常于公余〔当时他在教育部工作〕荟集和研究中国古 代的造像及墓志等金石拓本，后来辑成《六朝造像目录》和《六朝墓志目录》两种 〔后者未完成〕。在寓居县馆期间，他还曾经从事中国文学古籍的纂辑和校勘工作， 成书的有谢承《后汉书》、《嵇康集》等。
⑤金心异指钱玄同，当时《新青年》的编辑委员之一。《新青年》提倡文化革 命后不久，林纾曾写过一篇笔记体小说《荆生》，痛骂文化革命的提倡者，其中有 一个人物叫“金心异”，即影射钱玄同。

(星島日報報道)二○○○年後入職的公立醫院醫生薪酬大躍進。醫管局調整二○○○年後入職的醫生薪酬，增幅由一成半至三成八，預計每年涉款三億五千多萬 元。醫生工會承認，雖然加薪後，與○○年前入職的醫生薪酬差距收窄，但仍存在「同工不同酬」問題，會再與局方磋商，免卻日後爭拗。
二○○○年四月後入職的公立醫院醫生，現時起薪點及頂薪點分別為二十七點及三十八點，較○○年前入職的低五點及約六點，不少醫生不滿「同工不同酬」。 醫管局建議的新方案，把起薪點由二十七點增至三十點，連同津貼等，即所有新入職醫生每月實際薪酬將由現時四萬六千零八十元，增至五萬二千八百九十一元，並 按年遞增，頂薪點追至與○○年前看齊的四十四B，加幅由一成五至三成八。

醫管局消息稱，除了為○○年後入職醫生額外加薪，所有公立醫院醫生亦與公務員一樣，八月將按年資增加底薪百分之四點六二或百分之四點九六。

○○年四月後入職的醫管局醫生共二千二百多名，佔總數約四成，若他們接納加薪方案，薪酬最快可於十二月生效。

前铫醫生聯盟指未能接受醫管局的加薪建議，指未解決「同工不同酬」的核心問題，聯盟副主席王翔昨表示，○○年四月前入職的醫生起薪點有三十二點，但現 追加的起薪點只是三十點，亦較缳生署的政府醫生起薪的三十二點為低，「雖然架構不同，但沒理由醫管局所做的工作較缳生署少。」

前铫醫生聯盟副主席謝耀昌亦指，新建議的薪酬體系雖拉近○○年四月前後入職的醫生薪酬，但問題仍存在。

他舉例指，○○年前入職的合資格專科醫生，實際薪酬已有約十一萬元，但減薪後考取專科資格的醫生，實際薪酬只有約八萬元，差距三成八；醫管局提議的新薪酬架構，建議專科醫生可得薪酬增至近九萬三千元，差距雖縮至約一成四，惟仍然存在。

王翔續指，前日接獲醫管局行政總裁蘇利民的公開信及薪酬建議，但認為方案未能解決同工不同酬問題，暫不會接受。

公共醫療醫生協會會長何鴻光亦指，歡迎醫管局為○○年後入職、士氣較低落的醫生追回薪酬，但認為與○○年前入職醫生相比仍有距離。兩醫生工會周一會再與醫管局磋商加薪條款，王翔強調醫生希望安心工作，望可「一次過」解決薪酬問題。

【東方日報專訊】李國寶今次捲入道瓊斯內幕交易風波，源於其好友萬眾電話創辦人梁啟雄的女兒梁家安，因為涉嫌預先知道新聞集團將收購道瓊斯的內幕消息，率先購入道瓊斯的股份再高價沽出，獲取厚利。由於李國寶一直是道瓊斯的董事，又知悉收購的消息，因此被懷疑洩密。

P:梁家安部分資金來自父親

傳媒大亨梅鐸擁有的新聞集團於今年五月一日公布，以三百九十億港元作價收購道瓊斯，收購消息公布後，道瓊斯股份隨即暴漲近六成，數日後梁家安及丈夫王勤競 悉數沽出道瓊斯的股份，獲利六千多萬港元，美國證交會懷疑兩人預先知道收購的內幕消息，因此入稟法院控告兩人，並申請即時凍結兩人的資產。

由於梁家安購買道瓊斯股份的資金部分來自其父梁啟雄，顯示梁啟雄知悉有關買賣，加上李國寶早於今年四月十三日的道瓊斯集團電話董事會中，已知悉梅鐸有意收購道瓊斯，當局因此懷疑李國寶不慎將收購消息向梁啟雄透露，間接促成梁家安的內幕交易。

李國寶事發後曾向傳媒強烈否認曾向任何人披露有關道瓊斯被收購的消息，強調就算是妻子亦不例外。自從內幕交易事件曝光後，李國寶已沒有與梁啟雄會面。

道瓊斯本周二已與梅鐸達成初步收購協議，正等候道瓊斯的大股東同意。

資料顯示，李國寶自九三年起已出任道瓊斯的董事會成員。並與萬眾電話創辦人梁啟雄相識近三十年，在公在私均十分友好。六十四歲的梁啟雄，畢業於港大，曾在 社署擔任感化官，其後棄官從商。靠製衣起家的他，在馬場認識李國寶堂叔李福和，其後經常與李家成員聚會，並與李國寶特別投緣。兩人早於八十年代初至今均有 生意合作，並同時出任社福機構如聖雅各福群會的主席及副主席。

至於現年三十三歲的梁家安，與李國寶兒子李民橋、李民斌同在英國劍橋大學畢業。梁曾任職香港花旗銀行風險經理及香港荷蘭銀行高級客戶經理，擁有特許財務分析師資格。

廣東惠州市一名少年自行用「雞眼膏」治療嘴角上的黑痣，結果黑痣潰爛，而少年體內病變成淋巴癌。

廣州《信息時報》報道，一名16歲湖南籍少年近日到惠州市中山二院求醫。經醫生檢查後，發現該少年的嘴角有黑色素瘤病變，並已開始向淋巴轉移。

該少年就讀於惠州一中學，平時頗貪靚。半年前，嘴角上長了一顆綠豆般大小的黑痣，於是在藥店買了雞眼膏貼在黑痣上，並時常用手擠壓。近日，他發現黑痣部位潰爛，下巴和頸上的淋巴結也腫大。

他前往求醫，醫生診斷為「色素痣病變伴頸淋巴結轉移」。昨天（19日），少年已切除腫瘤，正開始接受化療。醫生指出，雞眼膏內含有大量腐蝕劑，若這種化學製劑遇上已受損的黑痣，就很容易變成癌症。

Time Management Skills
Work smarter. Improve time utilization.

This section discusses personal time management skills. These are essential skills for effective people.

People who use these techniques routinely are the highest achievers in all walks of life, from business to sport to public service. If you use these skills well, then you will be able to function effectively, even under intense pressure.

At the heart of time management is an important shift in focus:

Concentrate on results, not on being busy

Many people spend their days in a frenzy of activity, but achieve very little because they are not concentrating on the right things.

The 80:20 Rule

This is neatly summed up in the Pareto Principle, or the ’80:20 Rule’. This argues that typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently as to be the norm in many areas.

By applying the time management tips and skills in this section you can optimize your effort to ensure that you concentrate as much of your time and energy as possible on the high payoff tasks. This ensures that you achieve the greatest benefit possible with the limited amount of time available to you.

Time Management Tools

The tools we will discuss are:

• Manage time. Get things done – Beating Procrastination
• Finding out how you really spend your time – Activity Logs
• Small scale planning – Action Plans
• Tackling the right tasks first – Prioritized To Do Lists
• Deciding what your personal priorities should be – Personal Goal Setting
• Planning to make the best use of your time – Effective Scheduling

By the end of this section, you should have a much clearer understanding of how to use time to its greatest effect.

For more exciting information on this subject, go to this link:

Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm

日本大地震引起核泄漏恐慌

日本西北部新潟縣周一（7月16日）發生的6.8級地震使當地的一個核電站起火受損，電站官員說有放射物泄漏。

新潟核電站官員們說，少量含有放射物的水泄漏到了海中。新潟核電站發生火災，據報道核電站發生火災的是變電器材。

地震造成至少7人死亡，數百人受傷，很多房屋被毀。

地震發生在星期一（7月16日）上午10時13分，震中在新潟西南約60公里外據地表約一萬米的地下。

几小時後，在日本西部京都的外海又發生了6.6級的地震。

首相視察

東京電力公司說，泄漏到海中的少量放射物沒有構成環境危險。地震發生後核反應堆已經自動關閉。

日本氣象當局一度在日本海沿岸發佈海嘯預警，預計海嘯高度將達到50厘米，不過警報已經取消。

日本首相安倍中斷競選活動，飛抵災區。

新潟縣柏崎市受地震影響最嚴重，據報道當地很多木質房屋在地震中倒塌，至少7人死亡，數百人受傷，7000多人被疏散。

雖然地震震中距離東京約有256公里，但是東京也有明顯震感。地震後已經發生多次餘震，其中最嚴重的達到里氏4.2級。

地震發生後，日本新幹線鐵路暫停運行，部分高速公路關閉，部分地區出現停電。

而據共同社報道，新潟機場在地震後一度關閉，不過經發現沒有任何損壞後已經重新開放。

新潟在2004年10月也曾發生過6.8級地震，造成65人死亡，3000多人受傷。

那次地震是1995年神戶地震以來日本死亡人數最多的地震。神戶地震為里氏7.3級，共造成6400多人死亡。

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

林彪

中國軍博“尊重歷史”展出林彪照片

http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_6900000/newsid_6901700/6901786.stm

為紀念解放軍建軍80周年，中國軍事博物館周一（16日）在新展覽中展出1971年出逃而在蒙古墜機身亡的林彪的照片。

在這個取名《中國國防和軍隊建設成果展》在”十大開國元帥”櫥窗內展出了林彪的照片。

據官方新華社報道引述中國軍事博物館編研處處長姜廷玉說，”實事求是、全面客觀是本次展覽的最大特點，將十大元帥包括林彪的照片如實展出，是尊重歷史的做法，歷史就是這樣的，沒有必要迴避，我們的百科全書對於這部分都是如實紀錄的。”

在敘述林彪的經歷時，展覽使用”出色的作戰指揮才能”形容他早年對中共軍事的貢獻。

展覽解說形容林彪在抗日戰爭後，於平型關重創日軍華北方面軍第五師，”取得全國抗戰開始的第一個大勝利”。

報道還提到林彪指揮了遼沈戰役，與羅榮桓、聶榮臻一起指揮了平津戰役，而於1955年由毛澤東授予元帥軍銜。

台灣《中國時報》15日引述北京軍方人士稱，今後軍方有關影片或展覽，凡出現林彪圖文，只要符合歷史真相，一切尊重歷史，不會刻意把林彪”抹掉”。”談不上平反，但確實是要正確對待林彪的歷史功過，還原其真面目，也就是不再丑化林彪。”

軍方人士指出，今年既是解放軍建軍80周年，也是抗日戰爭70周年，在回顧歷史時，實在迴避不了林彪的功過。例如1937年的”平型關大捷”。當時，林彪指揮八路軍一一五師在平型關伏擊板垣徵四郎師團，獲得大勝，被稱之為”抗戰以來中國軍隊的第一次大捷”。

但直到目前，官方提到平型關大捷時，仍極力迴避林彪。據悉，軍界準備拍攝以林彪為主角的平型關戰役紀念影片，但尚待中央審批。

報道說，林彪於1971年9月8日下達”反革命武裝政變手令，企圖謀害毛澤東，另立中央”。事情敗露後，於9月13日乘飛機外逃，在外蒙古溫都爾汗地區機毀人亡。

儘管林彪在1981年被中國最高人民法院確認為反革命集團案主犯，但他作為10大元帥之一的歷史並沒有被抹殺。

在中國大陸高中歷史課本中有兩次”正面提及林彪”，一次是1955年元帥授銜時，林彪排在第三，另一次是提到八路軍115師師長時出現。

此外，由中國軍事科學出版社在1997年出版的”中國軍事大百科全書”，也客觀記述了林彪的功過。

發表於 2007-7-11 05:00 AM 資料 短消息

CoCo 爆 處 長 擲 萬 元 帶 出 街 (多圖)

CoCo 爆 處 長 擲 萬 元 帶 出 街

CoCo 萬 料 不 到 被 躲 在 身 後 的 朱 處 長 「 帶 挈 」 成 新 聞 人 物 。

(星島日報報道)廣播處長朱培慶涉桃色醜聞，宣告提早退休，事件中的艷女郎CoCo接受《東周刊》專訪時大爆驚天內情，指朱處長與大馬主朋友同到銅鑼 灣一家私人會所消遣，平時斯文淡定的朱培慶，既猜枚、高歌、又看桌上脫衣艷舞，及後更自掏腰包，共豪擲萬元帶CoCo出街，她形容：「朱先生都未算特別鹹 濕！」

艷女郎CoCo在今天出版的新一期《東周刊》中，大爆朱培慶與另一名男性友人到一間私人會所狂歡，而且光是處長一人的消費，就高達萬元，等於他兩天的人工，他自己付鈔，顯得相當豪氣，同時並非如先前報道，由他人代付四千元，這種消費模式，昨日在政經界惹起紛紛議論。

由於當晚在會所狂歡的情節，與處長通過港台向外發表的聲明「一大班人吃飯」有很大的出入，曾代讀聲明的港台機構傳訊總監陳敏娟，昨則回應：「當日是代處長發表聲明，現時無補充，亦無（就周刊的報道）作進一步查證。」

年僅二十歲的CoCo，姓劉，英文名原是與鄭希怡相同的Yumiko，由於外貌與女歌手李玟相似，索性取用她的英文名CoCo行走江湖。說得一口流利 廣東話的她，性感又健談，憶述上周四晚七時左右，接到媽媽生MiMi來電，應召去銅鑼灣伊利莎伯大廈六樓的MUSTKARA私人會所接客。

「我一入到房，見到兩男客已各自攬住兩女伴，聽講他們由下午五點已到來。朱先生一見到我就好開心，企起身拖我埋位坐，冷落原本左擁右抱的兩個女仔改同我玩。」

略帶酒意的朱培慶一把擁她入懷，二人以普通話夾廣東話聊天，CoCo指朱培慶的普通話當真普通，一張嘴只不斷讚她漂亮，雙手按住胸部不放，「不過朱先生都未算特別鹹濕啫，個個去玩女人的男人都係咁啦！」

她又說，朱只唱廣東歌，其中一首相信是《禪院鐘聲》，其間他們又猜枚，包括「大話骰」及「十五二十」，但朱的技巧比唱歌更不濟，輸多贏少，每輸一鋪總是大口飲威士忌烈酒，他又特准CoCo輸了只呷一小口，其後更搶着替她頂酒。

玩至九時許，擅搞氣氛兼想多賺一點的CoCo，對朱說如果有人願付三千元，她就立即表演全裸桌上舞，朱想也不想便答應。

據稱，一輪瘋狂熱舞後，朱向媽媽生問價，要求帶CoCo出街，由陪坐跳舞到肉金，單是要支付她就要一萬元，朱尚未為房間結帳，便將一萬元交予媽媽生代收，隨即與CoCo離開，準備到她附近的家。

殊不知當晚伊利莎伯大廈，歌星鍾鎮濤在一家酒吧內開迷你騷，大批記者樓下瞥見朱培慶挽着一名冶艷女郎，方揭發這宗轟動全城的「突發」新聞，亦賠了朱的仕途。

「當時我都不知道他們點解影我相，蒙查查，咪好似好鎮定咁，我其實不知道朱先生縮在我背後，之後睇報紙才發現他咁肉酸。」事後，朱仍致電給媽媽生，託 她向CoCo道歉。在她眼中的朱培慶是好人一個，「我叫他幫我好好保管住個假髮，估不到他被人追住影相時無放手，正一傻豬！直至入到餐廳，他才好有禮貌咁 還給我。」

CoCo爆K房荒淫 (on.cc)

11/07/2007

廣 播 處 處 長 朱 培 慶 涉 桃 色 醜 聞欲 申 請 提 早 退 休 全 身 而 退 的 如 意 算 盤 未 必 能 打 響 。 事 件 中 的 女 主 角 艷 舞 女 郎 CoCo向 雜 誌 大 爆 事 發 當 日 朱 培 慶 在 K 房 內 的 荒 淫 行 徑 ， 明 顯 並 非 紳 士 ， 亦 非 公 眾 期 望 的首 長 級 公 務 員 所 為 。 CoCo 不 諱 言 朱 培 慶 一 見 她 即 「 猴 擒 」 地 按 她 胸 部 不 放 ， 又 付 鈔 請 她 大 跳 全 裸 桌 上 舞 ， 之 後 更 向 媽 媽 生 問 價 帶 她出 街 尋 歡 。 有立 法 會 議 員 指 事 件 嚴 重 損 害 公 務 員 及 政 府 形 象 ， 促 公 務 員 事 務 局 徹 查 ， 若 一 切 屬 實， 更 應 革 職 處 理 。
儘 管 朱 培 慶 一 直 對 「 帶 女 出 街 」 一 事 三 緘 其 口 ， 避 重 就輕 ， 聲 稱 自 己 是 為 港 台 整 體 利 益 而 辭 職 ， 然 而 ， 如 此 冠 冕 堂 皇 的 藉 口 卻 被 女 主 角CoCo 大 踢 爆 ， 她 接 受 昨 日 出 版 的 《 東 周 刊 》 訪 問 時 ， 道 出 朱 培 慶 外 表 老 實 背 後 ，鮮 為 人 知 的 荒 淫 一 面 。

睇 艷 舞 出 街 共 付 萬 元

事 件 曝 光 後 首 度 開 腔 的 CoCo 指 ， 上 周 四 事 發 當 日 下 午 五 時 ， 朱 培 慶 與 一 名 馬 主 已 抵 達 灣 仔 MUSTKARA 會 所 ， 當 時 二 人 各 自 攬 兩 名 女 子 ， 而 她 自 己 則 於 七 時 抵 達 ， 已 有 酒 意 的 朱 一 見 她 即 主 動 「 企 起 身 拖 埋 位 坐 」 ， 並 一 手 擁 她 入 懷 ， 又 不 停 讚 她 漂 亮 ， 而 雙 手 則 按 其 巨 胸 ， 完 全 沒 有 放 手 意 圖 。 CoCo 說 ， 「 朱 生 未 算 特 別 鹹 濕 ， 個 個 去 玩 男 人 都 係 咁 啦 ！ 」

期間 ， 被 指 歌 喉 「 麻 麻 」 的 朱 唱 了 幾 首 K 歌 後 ， 又 與 CoCo 猜 枚 ， 但 輸 多 贏 少 ， 被 罰豪 飲 威 士 忌 ， 但 當 CoCo 猜 輸 ， 朱 則 代 為 「 頂 酒 」 。 至 晚 上 九 時 ， CoCo 為 搞 氣 氛 ，說 如 有 人 願 付 三 千 元 ， 會 表 演 全 裸 桌 上 舞 ， 朱 立 即 答 應 ， CoCo 遂 點 播 一 連 串 快 歌， 隨 節 奏 將 衣 服 脫 掉 ， 露 出 一 件 低 胸 露 臍 水 手 裝 ， 再 套 上 啡 色 假 髮 大 跳 艷 舞 ， 直 到全 裸 為 止 。

此 時 ， 慾 火 焚 身 的 朱 培 慶 終 按 捺 不 住 ， 向 媽 媽 生 MiMi 問 價 ，要 求 帶 CoCo 出 街 ， 報 稱 是 首 次 要 求 帶 女 出 街 ， CoCo 索 價 六 千 元 ， 朱 培 慶 亦 一 口 答應 ， 但 強 調 不 過 夜 ， 連 同 陪 坐 、 桌 上 舞 及 肉 金 ， 朱 合 共 支 付 一 萬 元 。

故 事的 結 局 不 用 多 說 ， 當 兩 人 翹 手 離 開 準 備 繼 續 「 下 半 場 」 時 ， 卻 被 採 訪 歌 手 鍾 鎮 濤 的記 者 撞 破 ， 朱 慌 忙 逃 走 ， 期 間 更 致 電 港 台 高 層 求 救 ， 而 最 難 得 是 朱 於 事 發 後 翌 日 透過 媽 媽 生 向 CoCo 道 歉 ， 而 CoCo 亦 大 讚 朱 培 慶 ， 「 我 叫 佢 幫 我 保 管 個 假 髮 ， 點 知 佢畀 人 追 住 影 相 都 無 放 手 ， 正 一 傻 豬 ， 直 至 入 到 餐 廳 ， 才 好 有 禮 貌 咁 還 畀 我 ！ 」

被 問 及 是 否 感 到 破 壞 朱 培 慶 的 家 庭 幸 福 ， CoCo 淡 然 謂 ， 「 咁 佢 （ 朱 太 ） 感 受 又 唔 關 我 事 啦 ， 係 朱 先 生 家 事 ， 如 果 個 個 客 個 老 婆 感 受 都 要 兼 顧 ， 仲 使 做 呢 行 ！ 」

議 員 促 政 府 主 動 調 查

對於 《 東 周 刊 》 報 道 朱 培 慶 的 「 荒 淫 實 錄 」 ， 立 法 會 議 員 王 國 興 表 示 ， 若 雜 誌 描 述 屬實 ， 朱 培 慶 的 行 為 已 令 政 府 相 當 尷 尬 ， 他 認 為 政 府 應 取 回 主 動 權 ， 不 應 讓 朱 培 慶 就此 辭 職 ， 而 是 向 朱 進 行 紀 律 調 查 ， 最 高 懲 罰 為 革 職 ； 倘 若 調 查 結 果 非 常 嚴 重 ， 政 府可 考 慮 取 消 其 八 百 九 十 多 萬 元 退 休 金 及 每 月 五 萬 九 千 多 元 長 俸 。 他 又 認 為 今 次 事 件後 ， 公 務 員 事 務 局 應 全 面 檢 討 公 務 員 規 例 ， 因 為 公 眾 對 高 官 有 要 求 ， 有 合 理 期 望 ，希 望 他 們 有 高 尚 道 德 品 質 ， 要 作 榜 樣 ， 但 未 必 要 寫 明 不 可 去 風 月 場 所 ， 因 為 除 風 月場 所 外 ， 尚 有 許 多 地 方 可 以 去 「 滾 」 。
立 法 會 議 員 蔡 素 玉 亦 認 為 ， 事 件 不但 有 損 港 台 形 象 ， 亦 嚴 重 損 害 公 務 員 形 象 ， 港 府 應 發 出 更 清 晰 的 指 引 ， 禁 止 高 官 涉足 有 傷 風 化 及 有 損 形 象 的 地 方 。
公 務 員 工 會 聯 合 會 主 席 梁 籌 庭 則 指 ， 朱 培 慶 最 終 要 下 台 ， 已 算 是 一 種 懲 罰 ， 香 港 是 自 由 社 會 ， 不 應 以 法 例 禁 止 公 務 員 的 私 人 活 動 。

CoCo 憑 驕 人 身 段 及 火 辣 桌 上 舞 ， 令 到 朱 培 慶 晚 節 不 保 。

K 房 內 大 跳 全 裸 艷 舞 ， 隨 時 牴 觸 香 港 法 例 。 （ 資 料 圖 片 ）

朱培庆惊见记者举机拍照时，慌张得四处躲避，状甚狼狈

朱培庆惊见记者举机拍照时，慌张得四处躲避，状甚狼狈

洞庭湖20億田鼠內遷引發人鼠大戰

湖南洞庭湖區在6月下旬以來因洪水造成湖區水位上漲，迫使棲息在湖洲荒灘上的約20億只田鼠向大堤遷移，引發了一場”人鼠大戰”。

官方的新華社報道，由於田鼠入侵的數量十分驚人，地方當局展開的群眾滅鼠活動效果有限，湖南省政府已為此撥出8百萬元人民幣專款，以解燃眉之急。

據悉，約20億只東方田鼠隨著湖區水位上升而內遷，沿途啃壞莊稼，四處打洞，對包括大通湖區在內的22個縣市區沿湖防洪大提和近800萬畝稻田造成嚴重威脅。

報道說，這次田鼠內遷僅在鹿角鎮一個地方就造成600多萬元的直接經濟損失。

湖南省政府表示，田鼠危害最嚴重的大通湖區在6月21日至24日的4天內捕殺了90多噸、約225萬隻田鼠，”鼠害勢頭已得到基本控制”。

湖南省農業廳廳長程海波說，”東方田鼠繁殖力強，一對害鼠一年繁殖2-4胎，每胎4-11隻，後代總量最高可達2千隻以上。”

他說，這些田鼠每當洞庭湖和湘江水位上漲，便大量內遷，”破壞防洪大堤，危害農作物”。

大通湖區地方當局現已加派人手，在湖區加固延堤防鼠牆，各村、鎮每天派70多人日夜巡視防鼠牆和防鼠溝，另有專人負責捕殺。

目前，除了圍堤堵鼠之外，當局還採取化學滅鼠和人工捕殺相結合的方法消滅田鼠。

Flood-hit areas prepare for rain

The streets of Bentley, near Doncaster, remain flooded

Flood-hit communities have experienced light rainfall during the start of the weekend, but are braced for heavier downpours overnight. The BBC Weather Centre said 30mm could hit Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands in the next 24 hours.

A national flood support centre has been set up in Worcester to respond to further outbreaks of severe weather.

Widespread flooding in England earlier this week killed four people and forced thousands from their homes.

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Martin Blunden from Hereford and Worcester Fire Service is helping to co-ordinate work at the flood support centre, which is gathering information from emergency services across the country to co-ordinate responses to reports of flooding.

Mr Blunden told BBC News 24 that an action plan was already being put into place, moving teams to Humberside to assist with flooding expected there later on Saturday.

HAVE YOUR SAY The Government needs to build a comprehensive flood protection system Nick, Oxford Send us your comments

He said: “Humberside is coping with floods and the water levels they’ve currently got.

“With the Met Office and the Environment Agency, we’re looking at what is likely to happen in the UK later on this afternoon, this evening and into tomorrow, and we’re making sure that appropriate resources are in place for when that actually happens.”

Further developments include:

• Electricity has been restored to more than 80,000 homes affected by rains and flooding in South Yorkshire, but 400 homes still have no power
• Rainfall of 15-25mm (0.6-1in) is predicted across many parts of England and Wales but there could be up to 40mm in some places
• Simon Hughes of the Environment Agency, said more flooding was expected: “With the land being just so saturated, more rain’s going to mean more flooding”
• West Yorkshire Police said four people were arrested for theft from flooded properties in Wakefield and that officers were patrolling the area
• People in high-risk areas of Lincolnshire were urged to call the floodline on 08459 881 188 before going to bed on Saturday, and listen to the radio for updates if the flood warning siren sounded
• More than 350 people were evacuated from their homes in north Doncaster after the river burst its banks, and firefighters are pumping water out of the area
• The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said so far 27,000 homes and 5,000 businesses had been affected across the country and that clean-up costs could reach £1bn

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency is calling on the government to find more cash to encourage farmers to manage their land in a way that would prevent flooding.

Catcliffe, South Yorkshire, was one of the worst affected areas

The agency’s head, Baroness Young, says money should be diverted from the basic farm subsidy and given to those farmers who are prepared to give up the intensive techniques experts say make flooding more likely.

She says farmers should be paid to plant more trees, allow land beside rivers to flood when necessary and to turn ploughed fields into meadows.

But correspondent Miriam O’Reilly, of BBC Radio 4′s Farming Today, said experts had acknowledged that the recent rainfall had been so heavy that no amount of money could have prevented rivers from bursting their banks.

This week’s floods were most severe in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands.

Two people died in Sheffield, including a teenage boy, a man died in Hull and a driver died in Worcestershire.

胡錦濤檢閱駐港解放軍

目前在香港訪問的中國國家主席胡錦濤，周六（6月30日）上午到昂船洲軍營檢閱駐港解放軍。

另一方面，國務委員唐家璇上出席在香港海洋公園舉行的大熊貓送贈儀式。北京向香港送出的第二對熊貓”樂樂”和”盈盈”正式與市民見面。

胡錦濤在29日抵港，進行三天訪問，並出席香港主權移交十周年的一系列活動。

這是胡錦濤在2003年出任國家主席以來首次訪問香港，也是他首次以中央軍委主席的身分，檢閱駐港解放軍部隊。

之前，他在下榻酒店，會見了全國政協副主席董建華，即香港前特首。

胡錦濤讚揚董建華在任行政長官的8年期間，為一國兩制在港成功實踐，又說，香港今天的良好局面，與董建華在任時打下的工作基礎分不開。

董建華表示，香港的良好局面來之不易，與中央支持香港經濟發展的措施分不開。他說，回歸十年來，香港所取得的成就感到自豪，亦為國家的發展進步而驕傲。

“樂樂”和”盈盈”正式與港市民見面 國務委員唐家璇也在周六早上出席在香港海洋公園舉行的大熊貓送贈儀式。

來自四川臥龍自然保護區的這一對熊貓”樂樂”和”盈盈”4月底，由專機運載到香港。

這是北京向香港送出的第二對熊貓。1999年北京贈送香港兩隻名為”安安”和”佳佳”的大熊貓，這對熊貓目前居住在香港海洋公園。

“樂樂”和”盈盈”也會在海洋公園生活。

唐家璇說，中央兩次向香港特區送贈大熊貓，表達中央對香港的特別關愛和祝福，體現內地人民與香港同胞血濃於水的親情。

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/kinema/cpv.html

【東方日報專訊】 威院一宗嚴重醫療失誤，令花樣年華的小琳危在旦夕，亦斷送了一段剛萌芽的大好姻緣。威爾斯親王醫院打錯化療針事件女主角小琳，出事前三天剛與同事 Eric燃起愛火，互相肯定對方是攜手走以後人生道路的伴侶；血癌阻不了兩人相戀，但天意總是弄人，一支毒針卻奪走兩小口子的幸福和未來。Eric令小琳 度過了患病後最愉快的一星期，天曉得今天的他，只能伴她走向生命中最絕望的一周？

小琳昨日情況仍危殆，除父母及兩個妹妹外，廿四小時陪伴在側的還有跟她同為二十一歲、正式拍拖才三天的男友Eric。去年六月Eric加入一個圍棋會當兼 職助臈，至今年三月認識身患血癌、但病情好轉而出院返回圍棋會任臈的小琳。雙眼滿布紅筋的Eric昨在醫院接受訪問時苦笑稱：「一直知佢有病，但佢所有痛 苦都一一撐過，從來唔會聽到佢講悲痛、灰心、難過，幾時都笑得咁開心，我就係咁而被佢感動。」

拍拖三日 毒針拆散愛侶

Eric與小琳相識不久已深深戀上她，到本月十二日星期二晚，他乘巴士送小琳回家時終表白心畺，讓小琳明瞭他有決心與她攜手面對惡疾和未知的未來，兩人當 晚首次牽手。Eric翌日因要上班，只能接送小琳回家；到星期四，二人終首次相約結伴遊九龍灣「行街、睇戲、打機」，俱料上周五小琳便出事。

「我諗清楚……決定同佢（小琳）一齊，畀佢明白佢有病我會陪住佢，以為就算離去都會係好耐之後砼事！只係開心畄三日！一支針就將我疉砼幸福全部癦走！」他直言對事件感突然及震驚：「佢同我拍拖碹時都仲要戴假髮，出事後佢唔畀我探佢，唔想畀我見佢辛苦。」

小琳入院後情況急轉直下，她上周日主動提出想見Eric，當日亦是Eric最後一次與神志清醒的小琳獨處，他極力抑壓尠悲傷和眼眶中滾動的淚水，以低沉聲音覆述那天對小琳說的最後一句話：「我同佢講『我愛你』，然後佢答，『我都係！』」

Eric說，小琳入院首數天仍能說話，後來只能郁動眼簾，過去兩天已不能再回應任何人任何說話，瞳孔亦不能再對光線反應，但他仍握尠她手鼓勵她。Eric自言「接受現實、盼望奇畺」：「就算佢要走，我都會一直留響佢身邊，直到佢生命終結砼一剎！」

男友陪走最絕望的一周

小琳母親坦言愛女已步入人生最後數天，但女兒陷入昏迷前曾向母親表示，與Eric開始拍拖前後一周，是她患病後最愉快一周。小琳父母昨引述醫生指，對小琳腦部注射生理鹽水的方法已是「終極治療」，要她好轉畺近絕望。現只望院方能盡力搶救，亦正考慮向院方追究法律責任。

○五年患上血癌的小琳，憑藉不屈意志幾乎可戰勝癌魔，本月十五日她到威院接受共兩針的化療注射，期間威院醫生卻將本應注射入靜脈的一針錯誤注射入脊髓，神經毒素就這樣隨脊髓上腦，頸梗、腰梗、發燒，翌日便被送進深切治療部。小琳只要再接受兩針注射便完成整個療程。

■記者盧怡安、林靄雲

【東方日報專訊】 中環雲咸街「長命斜」險重演十年前釀成十三人死傷的大車禍。一輛廿四噸垃圾車昨日清晨沿雲咸街落斜至皇后大道中，懷疑司機醉酒兼衝紅燈，先失控撞到 一輛的士，跟尠如舞龍般撞向四輛送報紙客貨車，其中一輛客貨車更被推上行人路，當時有不少報販正在該處疊報，客貨車將一名報販撞至重傷，猛撼一間金舖大閘 才停下，垃圾車司機其後涉嫌酒後駕駛被捕。

重傷報販封晃彬（四十九歲），頭、腰、右手及雙腳受傷，「尾龍骨」亦有兩截被壓至嚴重受傷。封在港島區經營報檔，且提供送報服務，每日清晨他與妻子親自到 雲咸街一帶取報紙返回報檔，事發時，封與兩名同行的三架客貨車停於皇后大道中周大福金行門前的路邊上落客區，封氏夫婦與另外兩名分別姓麥（廿六歲）及姓鍾 （六十一歲）司機俱已離開車廂，正忙於整理報紙。

衝燈連撞五車　報販重傷

昨清晨五時許，一輛廿四噸垃圾車沿雲咸街落斜擬左轉入皇后大道中，當時已轉紅燈，但垃圾車未有停車繼續俯衝，直至轉彎才煞掣，但車已失控，在交界位與一輛 沿皇后大道中西行的空載的士相撞，的士左邊車頭嚴重損毀，垃圾車餘勢未了，繼續前衝，司機不斷響號，掃毀八公尺長鐵欄，再撞向停在路邊的三輛客貨車，其中 封的客貨車被撞至衝前，碰到前邊姓鍾同行的客貨車車尾，繼而「打橫」再撞到一輛停於路中等候轉燈的客貨車車尾始停下，該車由姓黃（五十二歲）報販駕駛。

而被垃圾車撞得最嚴重姓麥的客貨車則被推上行人路，當時正在行人路上整理報紙的多名報販，嚇至雞飛狗走，但姓封的報販因背向馬路，不知「大禍臨頭」，慘被客貨車撞到飛彈數公尺，頭部流血，身體亦多處骨折，客貨車再撞到周大福金行鐵閘始停下。

警安慰傷者妻：佢仲識得郁

警方及消防員接報抵達，救護員立刻為封急救，在附近工作的封妻聞訊趕到現場，發現丈夫倒地重傷，登時情緒失控，哭如淚人，一度欲衝前撲向丈夫，惟因恐阻礙 救護員急救，遭警員阻止，由一名女警陪伴在側，女警不停好言安慰她稱：「佢都無事，佢仲識得郁硇。」封經送院治理後，情況穩定，現轉到骨科病房作進一步治 療。

據目擊者稱，肇事姓杜（四十七歲）垃圾車司機，出事後拿出一瓶一公升的清水不停飲用，惟他接受酒精測試後，證實酒精含量達卅三微克，超出標準被捕。由於他 亦稱不適，要送院治理，其後已無礙出院。杜在助查時，聲稱在落斜時腳掣失靈，致釀成意外，事後獲准以五千元保釋候查，下月廿日返警署報到。警方在現場量度 出有十五公尺長胎痕，事後將垃圾車拖返汽車扣留中心扣查，以檢驗垃圾車有否超速，以及機件性能是否出問題。

The second of Einstein’s 1905 papers proposed what is today called the special theory of relativity. At the time Einstein knew that, according to Hendrik Antoon Lorentz’s theory of electrons, the mass of an electron increased as the velocity of the electron approached the velocity of light. Einstein also knew that the electron theory, based on Maxwell’s equations, carried along with it the assumption of a luminiferous ether, but that attempts to detect the physical properties of the ether had not succeeded. Einstein realized that the equations describing the motion of an electron in fact could describe the nonaccelerated motion of any particle or any suitably defined rigid body. He based his new kinematics on a reinterpretation of the classical principle of relativity, that the laws of physics had to have the same form in any frame of reference. As a second fundamental hypothesis, Einstein assumed that the speed of light remained constant in all frames of reference, as required by classical Maxwellian theory. Einstein abandoned the hypothesis of the ether, for it played no role in his kinematics or in his reinterpretation of Lorentz’s theory of electrons. As a consequence of his theory Einstein recovered the phenomenon of time dilatation, wherein time, analogous to length and mass, is a function of the velocity of a frame of reference. Later in 1905, Einstein elaborated how, in a certain manner of speaking, mass and energy were equivalent. Einstein was not the first to propose all the elements that went into the special theory of relativity; his contribution lies in having unified important parts of classical mechanics and Maxwellian electrodynamics.

The third of Einstein’s seminal papers of 1905 concerned statistical mechanics, a field of study that had been elaborated by, among others, Ludwig Boltzmann and Josiah Willard Gibbs. Unaware of Gibbs’ contributions, Einstein extended Boltzmann’s work and calculated the average trajectory of a microscopic particle buffeted by random collisions with molecules in a fluid or in a gas. Einstein observed that his calculations could account for brownian motion, the apparently erratic movement of pollen in fluids, which had been noted by the British botanist Robert Brown. Einstein’s paper provided convincing evidence for the physical existence of atom-sized molecules, which had already received much theoretical discussion. His results were independently discovered by the Polish physicist Marian von Smoluchowski and later elaborated by the French physicist Jean Perrin.

lived from 1879 to 1955

Einstein contributed more than any other scientist to the modern vision of physical reality. His special and general theories of relativity are still regarded as the most satisfactory model of the large-scale universe that we have.

Albert Einstein

Physicist

Thanks to his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein became the most famous scientist of the 20th century. In 1905, while working in a Swiss patent office, Einstein published a paper proposing a “special theory of relativity,” a groundbreaking notion which laid the foundation for much of modern physics theory. (The theory included his famous equation e=mc².) Einstein’s work had a profound impact on everything from quantum theory to nuclear power and the atom bomb. He continued to develop and refine his early ideas, and in 1915 published what is known as his general theory of relativity. By 1920 Einstein was internationally renowned; he won the Nobel Prize in 1921, not for relativity but for his 1905 work on the photoelectric effect. In 1933 Einstein moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he worked at the Institute for Advanced Studies until the end of his life. Einstein’s genius is often compared with that of Sir Isaac Newton; in 2000 Time magazine named him the leading figure of the 20th century.Extra credit: Einstein was famously rumpled and frizzy-haired, and over time his image has become synonymous with absent-minded genius… He sent a famous letter to Franklin Roosevelt in 1939, warning that Germany was developing an atomic bomb and urging Allied research toward the same goal… Einstein married Mileva Maric in 1903. They had two sons: Hans Albert (b. 1904) and Eduard (b. 1910). They also had a daughter born before their marriage, Leiserl (b. 1902). She apparently was given for adoption or died in infancy. Mileva and Albert were divorced in 1914… He married his cousin Elsa Löwenthal in 1919, and they remained married until her death in 1936… The Institute for Advanced Studies has no formal link to Princeton University; however, according the IAS website, the two institutions “have many historic ties and ongoing relationships”… The Albert Einstein College of Medicine opened in New York City in 1955. It is part of Yeshiva University. Einstein did not create the school, but gave his permission to have his name used.

I don’t believe in mathematics.
Quoted in Carl Seelig. Albert Einstein.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
On Science.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
What I Believe.

The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one’s own efforts.
Out of My Later Years.

Gott würfelt nicht.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
Quoted in E T Bell Mathematics, Queen and Servant of the Sciences. 1952.

God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.
Quoted in L Infeld Quest, 1942.

How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought independent of experience, is so admirably adapted to the objects of reality?

(About Newton)
Nature to him was an open book, whose letters he could read without effort.
Quoted in G Simmons Calculus Gems (New York 1992).

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
Quoted in J R Newman, The World of Mathematics (New York 1956).

What is this frog and mouse battle among the mathematicians?
[i.e. Brouwer vs. Hilbert]
Quoted in H Eves Mathematical Circles Squared (Boston 1972).

Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott, aber boshaft ist er nicht.
God is subtle, but he is not malicious.
Inscribed in Fine Hall, Princeton University.

Nature hides her secrets because of her essential loftiness, but not by means of ruse.

The human mind has first to construct forms, independently, before we can find them in things.

Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore.
Quoted in P A Schilpp, Albert Einstein, Philosopher-Scientist (Evanston 1949).

Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you that mine are greater.

The truth of a theory is in your mind, not in your eyes.
Quoted in H Eves Mathematical Circles Squared (Boston 1972).

These thoughts did not come in any verbal formulation. I rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterward.
Quoted in H Eves Mathematical Circles Adieu (Boston 1977).

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the resta kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
Quoted in H Eves Mathematical Circles Adieu (Boston 1977).

The world needs heroes and it’s better they be harmless men like me than villains like Hitler.
Quoted in H Eves Return to Mathematical Circles (Boston 1988).

It is nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of inquiry.
Quoted in H Eves Return to Mathematical Circles (Boston 1988).

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.
Quoted in H Eves Return to Mathematical Circles (Boston 1988).

The search for truth is more precious than its possession.
The American Mathematical Monthly 100 (3).

If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.
Address at the Sorbonne, Paris.

We come now to the question: what is a priori certain or necessary, respectively in geometry (doctrine of space) or its foundations? Formerly we thought everything; nowadays we think nothing. Already the distance-concept is logically arbitrary; there need be no things that correspond to it, even approximately.
“Space-Time.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed.

Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.
The Evolution of Physics.

Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.
Reader’s Digest, Nov. 1973.

(To a student)
Dear Miss –
I have read about sixteen pages of your manuscript … I suffered exactly the same treatment at the hands of my teachers who disliked me for my independence and passed over me when they wanted assistants … keep your manuscript for your sons and daughters, in order that they may derive consolation from it and not give a damn for what their teachers tell them or think of them. … There is too much education altogether.
The World as I See It, (New York, 1949), 21-22.

(Written in old age)
I have never belonged wholeheartedly to a country, a state, nor to a circle of friends, nor even to my own family.
When I was still a rather precocious young man, I already realized most vividly the futility of the hopes and aspirations that most men pursue throughout their lives.
Well-being and happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim. I am even inclined to compare such moral aims to the ambitions of a pig.
Quoted in C P Snow, Variety of Men, (Harmondsworth 1969) 77.

The relativity principle in connection with the basic Maxwellian equations demands that the mass should be a direct measure of the energy contained in a body; light transfers mass. With radium there should be a noticeable diminution of mass. The idea is amusing and enticing; but whether the Almighty is laughing at it and is leading me up the garden path — that I cannot know.

When I am judging a theory, I ask myself whether, if I were God, I would have arranged the world in such a way.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

.. common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen.
Quoted in E T Bell, Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science

Thus the partial differential equation entered theoretical physics as a handmaid, but has gradually become mistress.
The World as I See It

But the creative principle resides in mathematics. In a certain sense, therefore, I hold true that pure thought can grasp reality, as the ancients dreamed.
Quoted in H R Pagels, The Cosmic Code

But there is another reason for the high repute of mathematics: it is mathematics that offers the exact natural sciences a certain measure of security which, withut mathematics, they could not attain.
Quoted in E T Bell Men of Mathematics

One reason why mathematics enjoys special esteem, above all other sciences, is that its laws are absolutely certain and indisputable, while those of other sciences are to some extent debatable and in constant danger of being overthrown by newly discovered facts.
Sidelights on Relativity

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
Sidelights on Relativity

How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things?
Sidelights on Relativity

Mathematics are well and good but nature keeps dragging us around by the nose.
Quoted in A P French, Einstein: a Centenary Volume

Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everything learned in school.
Ideas and opinions (New York, 1954).

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

Before God we are all equally wise – equally foolish.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

Each of us visits that Earth involuntarily and without an invitation. For me, it is enough to wonder at its secrets.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

It is my contention that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slightest details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

Reading after a certain time diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).
[EFR: For a modern view replace reading by watching television.]

Sometimes one pays most for things one gets for nothing.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

The most incomprehensible fact about the universe is that it is comprehensible.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Quoted in Des MacHale, Wisdom (London, 2002).

末代港督彭定康：望看到香港普選

2007年7月1日是香港主權移交中國十周年的日子。BBC中文部採訪了移交時期的關鍵人物之一─末代港督彭定康。

人們還都記得在97年6月30日午夜的接交儀式上，表情凝重的彭定康站在總督府前接回英國國旗，身邊站著幾個泣不成聲的女兒。

回到英國之後，彭定康先後擔任北愛警察事務獨立委員會主席和歐盟外交事務專員等職位。如今63歲的彭定康早已退出政壇， 現在擔任牛津大學榮譽校長等職務，並在撰寫他下一本書。

彭定康在他的寓所接受BBC中文部採訪的時候，這樣回憶起十年前那個大雨滂沱的夜晚：

離別之情

“我當時主要的感情是離別的痛苦，離開我喜愛的地方，喜愛的工作和很多朋友。另外一種感覺就是全世界都在看著香港，因為這是一項重大的歷史事件, 殖民時代將一去不復返。

“但是我並沒有對香港的前途感到擔憂。我認為香港是個成功的故事，香港具有非常強烈的公民意識，所以不會在97年之後被毀掉。事實證明香港不但沒有被毀掉，而且進展很好。”

根據中英聯合聲明和香港基本法，主權移交後在香港實行一國兩制的政策，也就是說，香港的社會制度、法律制度和生活方式五十年不變。

彭定康認為，在過去十年中，一國兩制的原則在香港基本兌現，但中國政府也進行了一些不明智的干預, 包括在二十三條“反顛覆法”立法問題上的態度。

基本兌現

“令人痛心的是， 北京領導人不能充分相信香港，按照中英聯合聲明和基本法的規定允許香港朝民主方向發展，這些都是錯誤的地方。我在私下裡交談時對一名中國高級官員說，‘你 們必須要更信任香港，因為香港是世界上最不會發生顛覆活動地方’。 我認為，數十萬香港民眾上街遊行，以和平的方式堅定地表達了他們的看法， 這是一種公民意識的體現，說明他們對民主、自由和人權的追求。”

作為一名職業政治家，彭定康同過去一直由外交官擔任的香港總督大相徑庭，他力求推行立法會選舉改革，擴大港民選舉權利，引 起中國政府的強烈不滿，一時間，彭定康成了他們眼中的“千古罪人”，“娼妓”和“毒蛇”。十年之後，談到當年的衝突，彭定康毫不後悔﹔他表示如再有機會, 他仍然會那樣做：

“我不會改變任何做法，相反，我會更快地推行政改方案。看一看我們的政績吧: 在那段完全有可能出現動蕩的時期，我們實現了政治穩定和五年的經濟持續增長。我當時堅持落實中英聯合聲明的精神，我認為那是正確的做法， 並不是犯了什麼錯誤。 而且香港民眾後來的表現也證明我當時的政策是正確的。

“回顧過去，我當然不指望中國政府說彭定康是正確的，他們是錯的， 但是他們從心底會感覺到我們說話算數，盡職盡責，圓滿完成了任務。”

‘北極凍土’

97年之後香港經歷了三次特首選舉，三次立法會選舉，但是仍然沒有普選時間表。對此，彭定康感到不滿。他認為香港政改速度緩慢完全是中央政府的意願。但是他認為在香港加強問責制，給人民選舉政府的權利，這不會引起政治動亂，只會保證政治穩定。

那麼香港會不會真要等到2047年才能實現普選呢？彭定康當然不希望等那樣久：

“那時我就103歲了，也許我早就不在了。 我當然希望在我有生之年能看到香港向民主方向發展。曾蔭權是很有經驗的領導人，他已經明確表示要力爭推出一個政改時間表，所以我想在這方面的進展大概要比北極凍土的融化要快一些。

“香港的經濟發展和政治發展越脫節，這兩者之間的距離越大，對香港的穩定就越不利。”

最念香港的清蒸魚！

彭定康1999年擔任歐盟外交事務專員後，經常要和中國政府打交道。在40分鐘的採訪中，彭定康談到對一些中國領導人的看法。他說，朱鎔基總理是給他留下印象最深的兩三名政治領導人之一。 而溫家寶總理處理棘手問題時顯示出非凡的技巧和風度。

彭定康認為世界面臨新的挑戰，需要中國發揮作用，而最有效的辦法不是向中國施加壓力，而是通過勸說。

訪談最後，彭定康談到他最懷念香港的地方：

“擔任亞洲一個偉大城市的‘市長’是非常令人激動的工作。我最懷念的是每天打網球，而每天打球就可以讓我享受香港的吃文化。香港的烹調大概是世界上最為高超的，香港有全球一流的中國餐館和一些非常好的亞洲餐館和歐洲餐館。而最讓我懷念的香港菜就是清蒸魚！”

1992 年的暑假熱浪逼人，彭定康跟我們開了兩次行政局會議，就暫停會議歇暑。雖然只是短短的兩次會，我已感到在很多方面的看法，跟他格格不入。

休 會不久，一份本地英文報章有一段頗長的報導，引述港府消息人士透露，彭督正積極考慮將兩局分家，換言之，行政局議員不能同時兼任立法局議員。當年該份英文 報章被廣泛視為是港府的御用報紙，政府不時用它來「放試探氣球」，測試民意。我看了這段報導，心中有數，將此事和行政局總辭放在一起看，事情已經很清楚， 彭定康已決定換行政局班子，如果這報導在社會上沒有什麼反應，他就可以放心組班了。

我家裡的兩個孩子正準備在 這暑假到多倫多去升學，我們兩夫妻會送他們去，然後趁機放放假，才返香港。我跟外子商量，不如趁彭定康在行政局換班時，我也辭去立法局議員之職。他很贊 成，他認為這九年來，我太辛苦了。現在越南船民問題已得到解決，教統會也作了很多建議，可算是對市民有所交代。既然覺得和彭定康在一些大事上的看法不同， 而他貴為港督，我雖是以前的港督所委任的其中一位行政局議員，但實際上只是一介平民，所謂「道不同不相為謀」，我既無所求，又何必自尋煩惱。尚德道出了我 心中所想，我太疲倦了，「急流勇退」是上上之策。

當晚，我草擬了一封辭去立局工作的信，放入抽屜裡，安心睡覺。

隨後兩個月，送孩子去學校寄宿，兩夫妻去渡假，一直到十月初才回港。

回來就收到通知，彭督要在 10 月 7 日上午十時許見我。

10 月 6 日晚上，我將原先草擬好的信拿出來，抄過一張字體較端正的，在傳真機上印了張副本留底。

7 日上午，車子到督憲府門口，只見大批記者帶?相機和攝影機，一擁而上，大家爭相問我來見港督有何事。我說是港督叫我來的，見完後出來同大家講。

彭督見到我，先寒暄幾句，然後轉入正題。他表示感謝我在行政局的貢獻，由於他決定了「兩局分家」，所以他希望我在立法局繼續服務。我也感謝他對我的褒獎，不過我覺得這是一個難得的機會，可以同時從立法局的崗位退下來，

一 邊說一邊將信交給他。他默默的看完了信，表示遺憾，但尊重我的意願。隨後他問我不做議員後有何打算，有沒有要他協助的地方。我說我有丈夫照顧，衣食無憂， 謝謝他的關心。我跟?向他告辭，並告訴他因為辭職即時生效，我不會在立法局會議廳內聽他第一份施政報告，而是會坐在家裡沙發上，手執茶杯，欣賞他的演講。 我們很有禮貌地握別。我心中在想：「古代君子割席，不出惡言。」不知道是否這種情景？

步出督憲府大門，回答記 者詢問。我告訴他們我已辭職，他們一時弄不清楚，以為我講的是行政局，我澄清辭去的是立法局議席，立時引來一陣驚訝聲。大概大家都沒有心理準備，於是問題 多且亂。除了其他的話，我還說了一句：「上法下效，我不適合這個環境。」這句話沒人報導，不過後來有位資深記者告訴我，她明白我在講什麼，但沒有寫，因為 不知道我是否這個意思。記者窮追不捨，督憲府門口的警察走過來說：「范太咁樣有危險，又阻塞交通，請你走吧！」可是記者們還要問，我就請他們到立法局的記 者室再繼續。

回到立法局，又問了約一小時。記者們最主要是想知道我對彭定康有何不滿，對此我沒有什麼好說，我 對彭督在當天下午提出的政改方案毫不知情，我只是個人感到疲倦，對一些政治「秀」、政治上的虛偽，也未能接受，又覺得自己在越來越政治化的立法局無甚作 為，所以引退；最後，對於彭定康，我說了一句：「聽其言，觀其行」。有的記者問我辭職後有何感覺，我告訴他們，我是放下重擔，自由自在，所以輕鬆無比。我 沒有告訴他們，在任何時候 ( 包括晚上的睡眠時間 ) 都要回答記者詢問，也是令我疲倦的理由之一。

就這樣，我的政治生涯暫告落幕。

隨著這篇稿子的刊出，我這個專欄亦需要暫時告一段落。在過去近兩個月來，以筆耕的形式與各位《東方日報》的讀者神交，感覺是既特別，又興奮，亦體會到作為 專欄作家須定時交稿的苦與樂，這種經驗實在非常難得。唯望日後再有機會跟大家「以文會友」，暢論平生！

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

1992 年 7 月 9 日彭定康抵港履新，成為英國殖民地香港的第二十八任總督。他的平民化作風、靈活政治手腕，在短短的幾天內，贏盡香港民心，各大傳媒都對他讚譽有加。末代港督看來一點都沒有窮途末路的味道，反而處處顯露出領導群雄、唯吾獨尊的氣勢。

我 是少數有機會在近距離觀察他、跟他打交道的人之一，看到他自以為是、不尊重他人意見的一面。每當他聽到不順耳的話，他口中雖不說話，可是身體語言會將他的 內心表露出來。例如他坐在椅上，他會低下頭、移動身子，漸漸以側面向講者，再抬起頭來，目光已向別處。這種身體語言的表達，不知是否有意，但很有效。跟他 做事的人，稍有觀察力，就很快明白他的心意，但又無法引用他說的話來批評他或保護自己。

彭定康來了之後，在政制發展方面，將以往衛奕信時代，在行政局層面已達共識的一套，一筆勾銷，自己另起爐灶。

可 是， 立法局內研究 選 舉 事宜 專 責 委 員會的報告，已於 7月8日公佈，並定於7月15日辯論該報告，報告傾向「多議席選區制」，但沒有排除「單議席選區制」。麥理覺議員 提 出 修訂，要求所有 選 區 應各設 一 個 單 議席， 每 名選 民可 投 一 票 ，即「單議席單票制」。此建議正中彭定康下懷，立局內一些親政府議員在備受壓力下轉而支持麥理覺，支持 「多議席單票制」的啟聯資源中心的議員唯有努力進行游說，試圖力挽狂瀾。

在立法局進行辯論前兩天，行政局內的 非官守議員舉行了一次午餐例會。事實上，行政局非官守議員在每個星期一中午，都會一起吃飯，討論翌日行政局會議議程內的事項，議員各抒己見、暢所欲言。飯 後，行政局首席議員會於當天下午二時三十分見港督，陳述各人意見。不過，7月13日的行政局非官守議員午餐例會，我沒有去，因為約了傳媒午飯，就啟聯成員 支持「多議席單票制」的立場，向記者們「吹風」。正談得熱鬧，有電話來告訴我，所有行政局非官守議員在午餐例會上同意，一起向彭定康辭職。這做法是按照英 國政壇慣例，新首相上台，內閣總辭，以便新首相可以選擇他自己的班底。我們是衛奕信委任的，總辭是尊重彭定康的行為。而首席議員鄧蓮如已在往督憲府途中， 如果我想加入，須立即聯絡她。

我立刻打電話給鄧蓮如，可是無法打通。擾攘一輪後，已是兩點半，想來她已經正在 和彭定康見面了，我於是放下電話，再回去和記者們談話。到了晚上，剛好彭定康在督憲府請客，鄧蓮如也在，我向她表示我跟大隊，一齊辭去行政局的職位。她說 她已代表大家，呈了辭職信給彭督，但因為不知道我的意願，沒有加我的名字入去，她叫我自己同彭督講。當晚客人很多，彭督不斷同其他人交談，我沒有機會向他 說。

翌日一早行政局開會，中間小休喝茶，我乘機向彭督表達參與總辭的意願，他沒有什麼表情，只說知道了。

雖 然我的理解是大家不公開此事，可是過不了一兩天，總辭的消息就傳開了。記者們追著我問，是否真有此事、為什麼要總辭、是不是鄧蓮如提出的、我本人有沒有請 辭等等，到了那個時候，我只好據實相告。唯一我無法作答的是誰人首先提出要總辭，因為當天我不在場，所以不知道。奇怪的是，有記者問我們是否利用總辭向彭 督施壓，給他一個下馬威；亦有記者提出我是否不想辭行政局，所以沒有寫辭職信；當時我很坦誠的告訴他們，兩者都不是。過後我回想整件事，確有些不明白的地 方。

據我所知，出席當日 午餐例會的行政局非官守議員，只是請鄧蓮如向彭督表達他們願意辭職的意願，是一種出於禮貌的做法。一向行事謹慎的鄧，為何在不知會大家的情況下，急急白紙 黑字寫辭函，立刻呈交彭督？我恰巧沒有出席午餐會，也沒有寫辭函，只是口頭表達了意願，此事知情者寥寥可數，但很快被傳為不想辭職，此傳聞從何處來？我找 出衛奕信委任我做行政局議員的信，原來是沒有提及任期何時屆滿。會不會有人擔心我說了不算，因此想盡辦法要我公開表態？至於懷疑行政局非官守議員以總辭向 彭督施下馬威，是否因為有人恐怕將來有評論者非議彭督將衛奕信的舊人，一掃而清，因此先主動放消息，暗示彭督是受害者，讓大家先入為主，杜絕對彭督不利的 說法。

雖有懷疑，我卻沒有放在心上，因為當時實在太忙，再者，做不做行政局議員沒有什麼大不了，我唯一想要的是睡個好覺，吃餐好飯。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

1992 年 4 月，下一任香港總督的人選已塵埃落定 。在英國國會選舉巴斯 (Baths) 選區中，慘遭滑鐵盧的保守黨主席彭定康，接受馬卓安的委任，會於 7 月間赴港，出任港督一職。

在大選前，保守黨選情不妙，工黨節節進迫。但結果出人意表，該黨贏得足夠議席，可繼續執政，馬卓安當然喜出望外。唯一遺憾是，有份籌劃整個競選策略的功臣，黨主席彭定康竟然落馬，被摒諸於下議院門外。

一失必有一得。馬卓安雖在內閣中失去一個得力的大臣，但卻得以派一個能幹的親信，來安排英國從香港有榮譽地撤退。

4 月份剛好外子范尚德要去倫敦公幹，我決定做「跟得夫人」。他去了開會，我就去拜訪一下未來港督彭定康。當年的行政局議員到了倫敦，如非行程匆匆，都會到外 交部與負責香港事務的官員見面，包括專責香港的外交部次長。這些官員很願意聽聽香港的近況，而他們也很了解香港的事，因此談起來並不悶。我到了那座古老建 築物，由專門為訪客帶路的女士，帶領著走上長長的磨石樓階，再經過迂迴曲折的走廊，來到一間佈置得有點古色古香的房間，沙發上坐?的就是彭定康。他很友善 的招呼我坐下，就談起來了。

他問我關於香港的現況，我就提了治安和通賬的問題，我希望他能特別關注這兩方 面，因為直接影響民生。他聽後沒有什麼表示，接?問我應該如何同中國打交道。我表示香港市民都冀望平穩過渡，因此港督和中方有良好的溝通很重要，不過這並 不表示一切都同意對方，而是一方面堅持原則，據理力爭，另一方面，也要有互諒互讓的精神。他又問我，如果認為是對的時候，是否應要?硬。我認為跟中方談問 題時，閉門會議可以很坦率，甚至針鋒相對，可是在公開場合，就需顧全對方的面子。他想了一下，繼續問有關中方的問題，我只好告訴他，我跟中方沒有什麼往 來，因此並不大了解他們。我想談多點民生問題，但他看來興趣不大，我就起身告辭。

回到旅店房中，范尚德問我會面如何，我說平平，我關心的事情他沒興趣，他有興趣的我卻認識不深。不過，我記住了彭定康的一句話：「我在私人場合講的話，和我在公開場合講的一樣。」對於公眾人物來說，我覺得是個非常好的做法。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

在 我的心目中，衛奕信是個不錯的港督。為了香港的福祉，他不惜得罪自己的「大老闆」、當時得令的英國首相。我所知道的有二次，我不知道的可能更多。第一次， 他向英揆戴卓爾夫人爭取將香港的越南船民強迫遣返，令戴卓爾夫人很不快。第二次，他為了香港的新機場核心計劃，迫英揆馬卓安赴北京去簽署協議書，馬卓安雖 然去了，可是他對衛督的不滿，在港督府的晚宴上表露無遺。這可能是後來發生的事情的伏筆。

在 1991 年的 12 月 ，馬卓安忽然宣佈衛奕信將離職，此事來得非常突然，更令人驚訝的是，馬卓安沒有同時宣佈繼任人是誰。此舉史無前例，同英國政府一向處事謹慎周密的做法，大異其趣。雖然也宣佈衛奕信將晉爵，但仍然引起很多港人的不滿，坊間也傳說紛紛。

有 英文報章報導說，衛督沒有好好的照顧英資在香港的利益，因而被調。也有人說是衛督在機場事件上，得失了馬卓安，所以馬卓安有意令他難堪。亦有人說，工黨不 同意衛奕信做港督，又無法和保守黨同意繼任的人選，才有此延誤。無論那個說法較可信，英政府 表 明，香港 總督繼任人選 的 問題 ， 將要等待 英國 大選塵埃落 定 後才能決 定 。面對香港議員和各方人士的不滿， 英方更重申其始 終獨擁最 高 權力來決 定 總督 的 人選。

當 然， 根據《英皇制 誥》及《 皇 室訓令》 ， 總督代表 英女皇 管治 香港， 因此 ， 從 憲制的角度而 言 ，港 人對此 事確實 無權 過 問。但法律歸法律，人情上來看，對於香港朝野的意見，英方總應有點考慮吧。可是英政府對香港的民意，頗有不屑一顧的味道。

香港市民對於這種情況，感到不安。為了反映港人對此事的不滿，也希望藉此表達對下任港督的期望，楊孝華議員於 1992 年 1 月 22 日在立法局提出了如下的動議：

「 鑑 於廣大市民對 下 任 香港 總督 的 委任問題表示廣泛關注 ， 本 局謹 請本 港

政 府將 公 眾對此 事 所持 的 意見 ， 轉 達英國政 府考慮。」

李柱銘和詹培忠兩位議員都提出修正案，由於兩者都被否決，不再多贅。這次的動議辯論當然沒有法律效力，但在當時來說，議題卻是一項創舉。

我對整個「換港督」的過程，有兩點感受。

一， 英國殖民者的主子面孔和對完整權力的堅持，表露無遺。什麼民選和委任的議員，都不過是呼之則來，揮之則去的小角色，跟可以影響他們大選的人或事來比較，實在微不足道。

二，在任的港督是否為香港人做事，或是否受港人愛載，亦不屬重要的考慮。該人是否忠誠地執行英廷的政策，或其治港做法是否對英國執政黨有利，才極可能是頭等重要的考慮因素。

第 一點感受，在上述英方對香港朝野的態度和回應已體會得到。至於第二點感受，則要細嚼報章所做的民意調查，才有所覺。例如，根據其中一項有關的調查結果顯 示， 衛督的受歡迎程度是 67% ，可見當時衛督是頗受香港市民愛戴。坦率的說，馬卓安在英國的受歡迎程度，甚至是不及衛奕信在香港的認受性高。

另外，對於總督首要的任務，有 59.8% （ 即接近 60% ）的 被訪 者 認為是改 善 民 生 、治 安 及住屋問題。認為順 利過 渡到 1997 年 及改 善 中 港 關係是重要 的，分 別佔被訪 者的 35.6% 及 23.4% ，而選擇加快民 主 步伐 的 有 30.2% 。可是後來獲委任的彭定康是一位政治掛帥的人物。由此來看，香港民意，也許真的是不值一晒啊！

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

(一) 大學四改三

(二) 直資學校

(三) 家校合作

(四 ) 教育玫瑰園

(五) 母語教學

(六) 投資教育

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

行 政立法兩局議員經歷了中英談判，在中英聯合聲明簽署後，深深感到與市民拉近距離的重要性。結果，一系列嶄新的公關措施便乘時推出，包括加強與區議會的聯 繫、舉辦增進記者們和議員雙方感情的 Fun Day 、以及接納香港電台的建議拍攝「議事論事」節目。這些措施大多經過兩局公共關係小組討論和拍板，現在回顧一下相信會很有意思。

在 中英談判期間，為了收集民意，兩局議員開始拜訪區議會，其後更就中英聯合聲明的草擬本，廣徵區議會的意見。我們發覺區議會議員對兩局議員的到訪，反應熱 烈，再加上這種到各區去實地互相交流意見的做法，令我們對地區上的情況更能掌握，於是決定將此項活動系統化。一方面兩局議員到訪地區，並參加區議會會議聽 取意見；另一方面也邀請區議會議員來開會及午宴。前者在立法會的民選議員比率逐步增加後，慢慢淡出，可是後者一直維持至今。

無 可否認，在中英談判過程中，香港市民中的確有不少人有信心危機，有見及此，一向被視為高高在上的兩局議員決定主動接觸基層，希望團結大眾，合力消除危機。 我經歷了 1983 至 1985 年 這段非常時期，感受到在困難的時候，必須團結力量，共渡時艱。如果只是互相批評，互相指責，結果只會是原地踏步，並無寸進。

此 外，為了改變兩局議員高高在上的形象，以及增進與採訪立法局新聞的記者的感情，兩局公關小組於 1987年底籌辦了一個運動會，非官守議員和官守議員（官員）都可以參加議員隊，和記者隊進行各種的比賽：球賽、遊戲、唱歌，有文有武、從陸上到水上、應 有盡有。結果大家玩得非常高興，市民也透過記者們的鏡頭和筆觸，看到議員們活潑的一面。這就是現時大家熟識的「立法會議員與記者同樂日」，亦即 LegCo Fun Day 的「始祖」。

還有值得一提的是香港電台的構思 — 拍攝立法局開會的情形，並由節目主持人加以旁述。張敏儀台長說服了立法局首席議員鄧蓮如後，找我談此建議。我雖是公關小組的召集人，但絕不敢自把自為，只 好逐個議員問意見，一部份議員贊成，認為有助市民了解立法局的工作，有一部份議員表示無所謂，也有少數議員不大贊成，認為做事不是「做 show 」。由於大部份議員對建議並無異議，結果港台就開始了「議事論事」，直至今天，成為港台長壽節目之一。

寫越南船民的事，本來已屬事過境遷，想不到心中還有不平之意，所以決定說點輕鬆往事，沖淡一下。

1984 年 11 月，已經草簽的中英聯合聲明，在香港獲得廣泛接受，兩局非官守議員委托獨立民意調查機構，收集民意，寫成立場書，然後派代表團赴倫敦，就聯合聲明向英國國 會議員表達意見。這次的任務比較輕鬆，因為我們要表達的立場正正是英國朝野所想聽的；比起同年 5 月那個兩局議員代表團所受到的待遇，估計友善得多。正因如此，資深的兩局非官守議員決定讓一些資歷淺的議員參加，見見世面。我有幸 叨 居末席。

一下飛機，就感到寒風， 自知失策，帶少了一件大衣。正在想如何過這幾天，發覺周梁淑怡也面對同樣的難題。我們兩人一商量，決定趁工作還未展開前，直奔百貨公司，購衣禦寒，雖然稍 嫌匆忙，總好過冷傷風。從酒店到公司，不過十來分鐘，衝入女裝部，分道揚鑣，各覓所好。英、美、法的牌子大衣，款式新穎，裁剪合身，可是價錢不菲。價廉物 美的都是「香港製造」，但覺得遠渡重洋來買件香港大衣，有點不服氣。看來看去，終於買了件價格相宜、「南韓製造」的乾溼褸。這件有點像軍服、深綠色的褸， 到現在還在我的衣柜裡，每年冬天都會派上用場。周梁淑怡買了件斗蓬，顏色很柔和，質地軟且暖，她披在身上，瀟洒自如，我非常欣賞，覺得配她是襯極了。我倆 購物成功，高高興興的趕回酒店，免得鍾士元發覺我們開小差。

這次訪英，香港傳媒很重視，派了不少記者隨團 採訪，也下榻在我們住的酒店。每天傍晚，他們都會等鍾 Sir 的新聞發佈，總結當日的成果。有一晚，我們一如既往，在小會議室商討向記者們匯報的內容。其中有一件事，阿 Sir 認為無需提，其他人認為應該講，大家爭持不下；終於阿 Sir 話要逐個表態，以多數人的意見為準；於是，圍桌而坐的議員各抒己見，原來所有人都贊成要對記者們講，最後輪到阿 Sir 總結，他說（大意約是）既然意見是一半一半，那麼他決定講。我們在座各人，不禁起哄，繼而大笑，原來我們這些人的意見，只是「一半」，而阿 Sir 的 個人意見，竟代表另「一半」，他是真正重量級的人物！當時他也笑了。自此之後，每當他堅持己見時，我們就會想起此事，以此來打趣他。

事 實上我們這批當時較為年輕年青的議員，非常欽佩鍾士元，覺得他為港人，出心出力，飽受壓力但不退半步，夠硬淨。我們很想買點紀念品送給他，聊表心意。趁著 星期日沒有官式活動，我們一行四人，李鵬飛、蘇國榮，周梁淑怡、和我齊齊去逛街，來到一個小攤子，專門在銅板上刻字，有飄逸的古典字體，也有一篇篇的詩詞 文章，任君選擇，我們覺得甚有意思。於是，李鵬飛選了字體，周梁淑怡選了篇很合乎大家對鍾 Sir 的觀感的文章，請那位工藝家趕工，在我們走之前做好，在我們回港後送給鍾 Sir 留念。

回想當年英國之 行，雖然行程緊密，但議員之間很團結，也很和諧，有不同的意見，都是直言無諱，從來不用擔心什麼「深喉」、「漏斗」，將一些莫名其妙的消息洩露出去。同 時，大家都很君子，很重視議員的操守。雖然只是小小殖民地內，由統治者委任的議會成員，但總算也能做到實話實說，向香港市民負責的標準。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

（一) 從「難民」到「船民」

（二）有秩序遣返

（三）轉機

（四）曙光

（五）餘波

在多方努力下，終於實現了「有秩序遣返」。香港政府的官員在談判過程中，想盡辦法，費盡唇舌。聯合國難民公署和一些慈善機構也通力合作。英國政府也全力支 持。越南及香港政府均保證所有返回越南的越南船民均不會受到迫害，並會得到國際援助，回國重過正常生活。為了令船民明白他們是必須回越南的，港府不得不實 施「有秩序」遣返，作為示範；希望其他船民會隨後參與自願遣返計劃。可是實施有秩序遣返，真是談何容易！期間曾發生不少衝突事件，又給了國際傳媒機會作對 香港不利的報導。

1991年首次實施強制遣返時，國際一些所謂的人權組織雲集香港，以顯示他們對船民權益的保護，同時也吸引了大量國際傳媒。香港政府包了飛機準備將他們遣 返越南。在此情況下，那些不願返回越南的船民，自然會籍人權組織和傳媒作最後抗爭。在電視鏡頭前，他們將老人和婦儒推在前面做「悲情演出」，哭喊著躺在地 上不走。香港政府的人員不得不一個個地將他們抬上飛機。一些傳媒便問我，對那種場面有何感想，做法是否過分？

我回答 說，港府處理遣返船民事件的手段，一如幾年前在西貢抬走香港居民。當年在西貢有一塊風景優美的土地，政府決定將這地方修建船民營，西貢部份居民堅決反對， 躺在土地上不走，不准工程開啟，揚言為保家園，不惜抗爭到底；政府派遣警察將他們一個個地拉走。港府對當年香港的百姓和今天的越南船民一樣，都是以最少的 武力去完成任務。可惜的是，外國傳播界只著重報導船民們的「悲情演出」，完全不提事實的另一面。本港的傳媒是兩面都報導，比較中肯。我深切體會到，片面的 報導比虛假的報導更難於糾正，因為一句「編輯自由」，就可以順理成章地誤導群眾。

越南船民抗拒遣返，一些強硬份子更採 取了抗爭手段，在船民營中製造事端。他們有的用竹枝、水喉鐵、等製造了傷人利器，威脅其他船民，霸佔營房，與管理人員（懲教署職員）對峙，又將婦孺用掩 護，令防暴隊投鼠忌器。有的船民在營房頂上展示反對遣返的標語，希望傳媒拍攝後，在世界各地播放，增加國際上對香港的壓力。對港府官員和香港市民來說，這 是艱難度日的時期。不過，在大家的努力下，情況逐慚改善。由於歐洲共同體和聯合國難民公署開始援助越南的基建，越南生活水準有進步，船民知道了，越來越多 人自願回家。能夠令歐洲各國參與其事，這是英庭和港府遊說的成績。

美國自始至終不肯公開支持強迫遣返，而且也不肯協助香港，連他們每年捐給聯合國難民公署的款項，也指明不可用來償還難民公署欠香港的錢。因此，到了今天，聯合國難民公署還是欠香港特區政府錢，看來這筆欠債要討還，是凍過水了。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

（一）香港人的惡夢

（二） 英國請客 香港付鈔

（三） 不平則鳴

(四） 明知山有虎，偏向虎山行

1988 年9月，美國耶魯大學邀請我參加一個有關越南難民問題的研討會。在參加會議前，我已預計到這將是一次「鴻門宴」。有朋友擔心我一人孤軍作戰，難以應付，勸 我考慮是不是不去。臨陣退縮非我本性，而且我當初接受委任出任立法局議員的初衷，就是要為香港市民服務，因此我不能放棄任何一個為港人在國際上討公道的機 會，即使自己受到圍攻、抹黑、甚至屈辱，也義不容辭。記得，臨行前，《東方日報》訪問了我，並以「明知山有虎，偏向虎山行」作題報道了我「赴宴」的消息。

會前我做了充分的準備，查閱了大量的資料，撰寫了發言稿。邀請信中清楚寫明，會給我20分鐘時間演講，還要事先交講稿，我都照辦。

會議當日，200多名與會人士當中，還包括了美國國務院的官員、人權組織代表，以及已在美國定居的一些越南人。座無虛席的會議廳內，我相信只有三個人是支持我的。一個是我的外子、一個是香港政府駐紐約的經貿代表麥奇連，另一個是來自香港的女學生，也是我一位朋友的女兒。

登上講台前幾分鐘，主持人告訴我，我的發言只有五分鐘。「好！就五分鐘」！我迅速地整理了自己的思路，將講稿收起。我想，就讓這寶貴的五分鐘發揮出最佳的效果。

我決定以美國反對香港遣返難民為焦點，揭露美國的霸權主義，背信棄義，及雙重標準。我強調，美國反對將船民遣返越南，要求「第一收容港」繼續收留越南船 民，其目標表面上是要確保所有尋求庇護的越南難民獲得安全及人道對待，憑此讓世人讚賞。但美國政府唱出這些高調的同時做了些什麼呢﹖他們對香港所面對的問 題置若罔聞，香港須無止境收留大量的難民，而這些人卻不符合美國政府對政治難民甄別的準則。美國人民有權知道其政府並未言行一致。美國政府如果言而有信， 真正眷顧那些船民的話，就應該如其所願，讓他們離開那個人煙稠密、環境擠迫的香港，來到他們夢寐以求的美國定居。

我又指出香港是「彈丸之地」；人口已有500多萬，平均每平方公里約有4,500人，而且都是市區和近郊。不像菲律賓、印尼、泰國那樣可以將難民安置在一 個荒蕪的島上，或遠離市區的鄉野之地去生活。我更提到，中國大陸也常有偷渡到香港的人，他們中不少是香港人的直系親屬，但香港政府對他們採取即捕即解的政 策，沒有任何非法入境香港的大陸人被允許留在香港。對待越南船民，港府卻慷慨地用香港納稅人的錢安置了他們。但「第一收容港」是中轉站，收容他們的應該是 美國，這個自譽為「民主人權捍衛者」的西方大國。香港的人口密度是美國的250倍，越南難民留在那裡對他們不公平，對香港市民也不公平。

此外，國際社會必須清楚明白，所謂越南難民的「政治」符號已經不存在了。不可以因為他們是從海上來的，就確定他們是政治難民。事實上恰恰相反，他們大多數 是從北越來的，而且經濟環境惡化已變成是越南人逃亡的重要原因。多年的越戰使越南的土地千瘡百孔，再加上美國的經濟制裁，弄得民不聊生，大批越南人才別井 離鄉，尋找生路。說到戰爭，美國更應該對他們負責。因此，真正的關心難民前途的國家，應考慮如何協助越南重建經濟，讓越南難民回鄉謀生，而不是假仁假義的 給予越南難民虛假的希望。

我坦率的告訴與會者，我所接觸的越南難民，都是熱切期望到美國來。

有一個代表人權組織的人士，聲稱到過香港的禁閉營內，看到越南難民要向香港的管理人員磕頭，他質問香港人為何如此對待越南難民。我覺得他們抹黑和中傷香港 已經到了完全不顧事實的地步。我按下怒火，微微笑著回應他說：「磕頭是在滿清時代的習慣，現代香港人不慣磕頭，也不會要求別人磕頭。你是否將東南亞人喜歡 說話的習慣，誤為磕頭？」

又有一個已定居美國的越南人對我說：「香港就要回到由共產黨統治的中國了。你們香港人可曾想到過自己的命運，也可能要投奔怒海。如果你們今天不好好的善待越南難民，日後也沒有人會善待你們！」

我盡量平靜地回應他：「我們已經盡力善待越南難民了，我們做了我們該做和能夠做的事。至於將來我們回歸中國，我們對前途充滿信心。我相信香港不會發生像越 南難民潮那樣的悲劇。即使香港發生任何問題，我們也不會指望美國政府為我們做任何事。今天美國政府對越南難民的態度，已經証明給我們看，所以不會對他們存 有任何幻想。」

儘管我成為眾矢之的，又被視為「反人權」，但我無悔，因為我畢竟將香港人的困境，以及我們的訴求，在美國的國土上，直接訴諸於美國社會。即使那些與會者暫時未表示認同我的說法，但他們不可能永遠漠視事實、泯滅良知。我相信他們最終總能分辨出真實與謊言。

會後，我感到有一點點自豪。一個香港的女人，來到一個陌生的地方，接受一批並不友善的人的質詢，我憑理據、說事實，沒有退縮，也沒讓對方得到半點便宜，總算是有交代了，沒有失香港人的面子。

麥奇連說我很出色，理路分明，可以說在劣勢中取勝。我的外子認為我的表現不錯，不過，他認為我在回答「香港人投奔怒海」那條問題時，可以更平靜就更好。我 的丈夫一向對我的弱點瞭如指掌，他是永遠說真話，也永遠不離不棄的默默支持我；我能挨過最艱難的時刻，再站起來，都是因為有他在我身旁 。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

坐飛機離開香港時，須付一百二十元港幣的飛機乘客離境稅。坐船到澳門去時，也須付港幣十九元的離境稅。不過，乘直通火車到廣州去，就不用付額外的費用。開車經落馬州到深圳去，也不用另外付費。

從北京坐飛機回香港，要付人民幣九十元的機場建設費。開私家車從深圳經皇崗口岸回香港，也要付人民幣十元。

2003 年，特區政府提交了「邊境建設稅條例草案」，財政司司長唐英年上任後，決定不繼續進行該草案餘下的立法程序。

這令我想起了在 1985-86 年的財政預算案辯論中，我發表的一些意見。。

自 從 1982 至 1983 財政年度開始到 1985 年的二月底，政府年年都有赤字。到了 1985 至 86 的財政預算案，財政司面對超過十億元的財赤，不得不想盡辦法加稅。他將機場的「離境稅」由一百元加到一百二十元，將赴澳門的「旅客登船費」從八元加至十五 元。後者要等到新的澳門碼頭啟用後才生效。不過，財政司卻不願意對經由陸路到內地的各管制站的人士徵費。

財政司認為紅磡、羅湖、文錦渡各管制站設施欠善，故不應收費。我指出當時澳門碼頭的設施也不見得好，但幾年前，已開始收每位八元的「旅客登船費」。

財政司在預備增加赴澳門的「旅客登船費」時表示，要香港的納稅人資助赴澳門的旅客，並不公平。我當時認同他的邏輯之餘，並以此作為應收赴內地人士「離境費」的理據。

我更提出羅湖最近裝了冷氣，各管制站因赴大陸的人次大增而延長開放時間，有的地方，如沙頭角，更是已作改善。這些改進，都令公共開支增加，因此，我建議政府考慮在以上各管制站徵收每位五元的收費，以彌補開支。這樣每年可為庫房增加七仟五百萬元的收入。

我 是本著就事論事的心態，直抒己見，全沒有考慮過政治因素。結果引起一些人士的不滿，在報上撰文，不點名地批評我，說我不明就裡，胡亂建議。我還記得批評有 兩個重點。一是到羅湖的火車票特別昂貴，實際上已包含了管制站的費用。二是老百姓回鄉探親，還要收費，是否另有用心，不希望港人回大陸，因此加設障礙。

我卻不識時務，在 1986 至 87 年財政預算案的辯論中，又再舊事重提。我認為政府在出入境方面，一貫的政策是收取部份或全部行政費用，旅客在使用機場和港澳碼頭時，分別繳付一百二十元和 十五元，因此沒有理由讓從文錦渡、沙頭角及羅湖離港的旅客享有特權。我要求政府研究上述管制站的出入境收費。

不過，當時政府的預算案已呈現盈餘，財政司也不再急於尋求新的稅源，我的建議已不具殺傷力，也引不起人們評論的興趣了。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

進了立法局一年多後，香港救世軍的負責人，透過我的丈夫，邀請我到九龍城寨一遊。

九龍城寨當時是一個「三不管」的地方，平常人不敢貿然進去。聽說有不少非法入境者，匿藏其中；又是三教九流、黑社會人物出沒之所。在城寨內的商店，不需要申請商業登記，也沒有衛生幫辦去查核衛生情況。總而言之，是一個與眾不同之處。

我出於好奇，決定走一回。救世軍的朋友告訴我，只要跟他們在一起，他們保証我的安全。由於他們在此地的服務，城寨裡的居民對他們有好感，會讓我看到很多外面人無法得見的情況。

那天，陽光遍照。我們從九龍城的小巷，兜兜轉轉地進入了黑暗世界。小徑地上是濕的，頂上用厚厚的膠布蔽著，在膠布蓬中不時透入一絲絲日光。主要的光線來自 燈泡，兩旁的商舖都用電燈照明，一束束電線從牆壁爬上屋頂，連上其他的電線，不知走到那裏去。陪著我的人說這些都是從外面偷來的電源。一路走來，蟑螂比比 皆是，大如小貓的老鼠，毫不怕人，四處奔走。

我看到一家打條的店，走進去問他們生意怎樣？回答說還不錯，他們的比外面的便宜，所以也有外面的飯店來幫襯，他們也會送貨。一路走來，看到很多牙醫、西醫、中醫的招牌，疑難雜症，甚麼都能醫。

路邊的水管，不知是那裡接過來的，不斷在滴水。救世軍的朋友還不斷的指給我看，那旁是臨時搭上去的，隨時有塌下來的危險。這旁的電線隨時漏電，如果著火燒起來，消防車也進不來，一定攪出人命。

整個過程給我的印象非常深刻，我想做點事，但是知道很難弄，因為城寨主權不明。當年滿清政府割讓九龍半島，城寨的居民誓死反抗，結果英國政府不了了之，清庭也無力管治，這問題就此遺留下來。

後來，我和局內的一位資深議員講起這件事，他也正為城寨的居住問題發愁，他決定在立法局上提質詢，我也預備就此提補充質詢。

港府收到消息後，十分緊張，立即了解情況，得知我對此事很關注。

當時港府的政治顧問布義德，請我到他的官邸吃午飯。席上另一位賓客，是香港新華社的李儲文副社長。寒暄一番後，步入正題。

布義德問我為何如此關心九龍城寨。我如實把我所見所聞說出來，並表示我很擔心城寨內的不良環境，可能引起人命傷亡。有這麼一個地方在香港區內，是香港的污點，而我覺得中英雙方都有責任。我希望別用政治的眼光去看此事，而是實事求是，為城寨的老百姓做件好事。

布義德表示理解，但這件事要慢慢來；因為要找一個妥善的辦法來處理，首先要獲得各方面的諒解和合作。他問我是否可以暫時不再追問此事。我一口答應。

李儲文副社長是位謙謙君子，他非常有儒者風度，說話溫文有序，但很有說服力。那天午餐很愉快，後來他知道我是來自上海，大家還用上海話談了幾句。

到了 1987 年 1 月 14 日，港府宣佈清拆九龍城寨。這塊地將改建為公園。當年住在城寨內的居民和在裡面做生意的商家，都獲得安置和賠償。當然，不是所有受影響的人士都滿意所得的賠償。

港府用了不少公帑和人力物力，在中國政府的全力支持下，將一個香港「黑點」，變成有歷史文物價值的「九龍寨城公園」。

幾年前，寨城公園的模型還在雲南昆明的世界花卉博覽會上展出。去年，我也和一群街坊，到九龍寨城花園遊覽。

布義德和李儲文兩位為這件事，出了多少力，我不得而知。但是明顯的是，中英雙方都誠心誠意，以辦實事的態度，去處理一個很棘手的問題，儘量非政治化，終於獲得了成果，讓香港市民和遊客共享。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

從中英聯合聲明確定了『一國兩制』下的香港特別行政區『港人治港，高度自治』後，我就感到治港人才難求，香港市民的公民教育也嫌不足。在 1984 年 10 月 25 日致謝港督的施政報告議案辯論中，我提出了我的看法。

「中英協議附件一第一節明確提出立法機關由香港人組成，行政機關必須對立法機關負責。換而言之，立法局在整個政府架構裡面的地位將日漸重要。在直接選舉的制度下，立法局的質素將決定於投票人選擇的能力及競選者本身的水準。在本港來說，這兩方面都應盡量去提高。」

「我 認為政府應該以實事求是的精神，極力推行公民教育，增進市民對於挑選議員的智識。我所講的並非單單學校裡的公民教育，而是每個市民都需要的公民教育。市民 對現行的主要制度的運作必須有大致上的了解，才能明辨競選人所提出的政綱是否可行，是否對整個香港有利。」「每個市民都需要理解到，如果香港繁榮安定受到 妨礙的時候，則他們現有的一切可能化為烏有。所以市民實不值得為了一些短線的好處而忽略了長遠的整體利益。這點我覺得非常重要，應該把它列為公民教育的主 題。」

我將當年的話，不嫌其煩的重覆一遍，是因為其中一部份，放在今天的環境，可能仍有一些參考價值吧。

不知是否因為我這番話，港英政府在 政務處轄下， 成立了「公民教育委員會」，還委任我出任第一任主席。在這委員會裡，我認識了不少朋友，包括了梁展文、陳永泰、程介南等；我非常欣賞他們的才幹。

我 們為了引起青少年的興趣，請了張國榮做「公民教育大使」。我因此有機會和 Leslie 合照。估不到他後來成了天皇巨星，然後，忽然走了。我們又請了關正傑，唱了一首名為「蚌」的歌，作為「公民教育」之歌。該曲旋律優美，歌詞發人深省，只可 惜比較難唱，好像沒有打進十大名曲之選。

「公民教育委員會」的工作，有助於提高市民對香港的歸屬感。不過，我也感到有不足之處。公民的權利和義務，是相輔相成的。但是無論我們如何宣傳，市民對權利的信息很快就收到，對義務的履行總是不太熱衷。我不知道這是人性使然，還是我們宣傳技巧未到家。

[中英談判香港前途過程中的幾段插曲 范徐麗泰網頁]

「羅保動議」

1984 年 3 月，正當中英雙方在談判桌上，爭持不下時，香港立法局的首席 非官守 議員羅保 （葡萄牙人） ，在 3 月 14 日的立法局會議上，作了以下的動議：

「本局認為任何有關香港前途之建議，在未達成最後協議前，

必須在本局辯論。」 （ 原文為英文 ）

此動議並無立法效力，但其通過已成為歷史，成為香港回歸史中的一個重要事件 — 「羅保動議」。

當年，就該項動議，我也表達了意見。在此，將其中一段和大家分享：

『 香港轉變政制，必須採取漸進的方式。即使是個良好的構思，也應以小規模去嘗試，如果成績顯著，才全面推廣。在香港目前的特殊環境之下，我們要緊記：單憑理 想及熱情，是未必能成功地推行任何一種政制的。因為推行不得其法亦可能會引起民心不安。我們需要進步，需要有條理的改革。香港的社會並非一個家有恆產的世 家，故此不應從事風險性太大的投資，即使估計它會獲利甚豐。我們受先天所限，祇能穩健前進，一方面珍惜及盡量利用資源，一方面重組內部，為將來作好準備。 所以我希望所有青年人及內心充滿理想的人士，切勿操之過急。理想要配合實際，才能令香港達到另一個新的起點。』

溫故知新，這段話在今天還合用嗎？我想，這個問題或許值得大家細心想一想吧！

『香港前途和社會制度』的休會辯論

在 中英談判的初期，英方提出「主權換治權」的建議，中方堅決不接受，令談判毫無進展。當時，很多香港人的國家觀念和歷史感較薄弱，雖然同意香港的主權應歸還 中國，但既然英政府管治香港成績不錯，大家對共產黨又有保留，何不讓英國人繼續治港？可是，到了 1984 年中，英政府知道該建議注定失敗，退而求其次，發動輿論功勢，務必保持英國在香港的影響力。

立法局在 1984 年 7 月 24 日進行了一場以『香港前途和社會制度』為題的休會辯論。一共八位議員各自就自己特別關心的問題發言。當時，我強調了學術自由的重要性，既要保存各辦學團體 辦學的宗旨，亦要保留各大專院校的自主權。想不到一個「人微言輕」的新進議員的看法，竟被吸納入《中英聯合聲明》內附件一《中華人民共和國政府對香港的基 本方針政策的具體說明》的第十章內。我當然明白到，這絕不是我個人的力量，而是因為我所講的，的確是香港社會的特色 – 一個值得保留的制度。

中英聯合聯絡小組

為 了保證 1997 年政權的順利交接，中英雙方同意成立“聯合聯絡小組”，磋商有關事宜。在尚未達成協議前，消息滿天飛。有報導說聯合聯絡小組將由 1985 年起，運作至 1997 年 6 月底為止。記者問我的看法，我認為 97 年後，應該還有需要雙方合作的事情，按理聯合聯絡小組應繼續運作。這講法受到一部份人士的批評，他們認為 97 年後中國恢復行使主機，政權巳順利交接，香港的事是國家內政，聯合聯絡小組實無必要繼續運作。可是另一部份人士卻認同我的看法。我在無意中涉及了一件中英 雙方尚未有共識的問題，而我的看法正中英方下懷。

當時的立法局議員對談判的內容和進展，是不知情的；比起一些消息靈通人士，望塵莫及。行政局議員倒是知道的，但是否知悉全部情況，我想也未必。

事後我反省自己講的話，不論是對或錯，稍嫌冒進。因為我實在未掌握情況，隨口一句，說出來了無法收回，將來也不能改變，要不然就得頂上「轉」之惡名。最重要的不是怕批評，而是我未能確定我的講法是否代表了大部份港人的意見。

後來，中英聯合聲明的附件二確定聯合聯絡小組在《聯合聲明》生效時成立，並繼續工作到 2000 年 1 月 1 日為止。不過，在香港回歸後，該小組的工作非常低調。

不聽話的議員

1984 年 9 月 26 日，中英聯合聲明的草案在北京、倫敦、香港三地同步公佈。港督尤德為此召開立法局特別會議，並在會議上就草案（白皮書）發言。

立法局在香港的議員，獲得事前特別安排，先睹聯合聲明草案的內容，但被指示不得在當天，發表對聯合聲明的個人意見。這指示給我出了個難題。我一早答允了工聯會，聯合聲明草案一公佈，即就該聲明向該會會員演講。如今是講還是不講？我是違反港督的指示，還是失信於工聯會？

我 接受工聯會的邀請在先，港督的指令在後；做人要有信用。我決定赴約，即使港督因此怪罪下來，我也沒辦法。那天晚上我對聯合聲明草案表示了由衷的支持。「一 國兩制」是個前所未有的大膽構思，也是一個政治上的實驗，要這個構思落實，實驗成功，須憑香港人的努力、信心、和勇氣。我也深信，只有堅毅的港人才能令這 偉大的理想實現。

翌日各報章詳細地報導了港督尤德在立法局上的發言，也報導了中英兩國的領袖對聯合聲明草案的讚賞，及其他各國重要人物的反應。我在工聯會的活動，只有一兩張報紙寫了一小段。謝天謝地，我最擔心別人誤會我想搶鏡頭，現在總算過關了。

維基百科，自由的百科全書

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本文講述的是1997年香港主權由大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯合王國移交至中華人民共和國。關於其他香港主權的移交，詳見「香港主權移交 (消歧義)」。

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香港成為英國殖民地過程

香港主權移交，常簡稱為香港回歸，指香港主權於1997年7月1日由大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯合王國移交至中華人民共和國，結束一百多年的殖民地歷史一事。

英國對香港的管治源於第一次鴉片戰爭，當時清朝戰敗後於1842年簽訂的《南京條約》，將香港島割讓給英國。1860年，清朝再於第二次鴉片戰爭被英法聯軍打敗，簽訂《北京條約》將九龍半島界限街以南部份割讓交由英國管治。1898年，清朝與英國簽訂《展拓香港界址專條》，租借新界99年，至1997年6月30日期滿。這三個條約均為不平等條約。該三條約決定了今日香港的範圍。1982年起，中華人民共和國和英國政府開始舉行談判香港前途問題，最後在1984年簽訂《中英聯合聲明》，決定1997年7月1日起，中華人民共和國將成立香港特別行政區，對香港島、界限街以南的九龍半島、新界等一切曾由英國管治的土地，恢復行使主權。

雖然《南京條約》和《北京條約》均將香港島和界限街以南的九龍永久割讓予英國，但這並沒有使得這兩片土地永久成為英國屬地，而是連同新界一併交回中國。香港島和九龍缺乏平地，食水、食物等物資都是由新界或中國大陸供應，不能自給自足；而香港也並沒有因三條條約的分別而妨礙她的整體發展。因此，英國難以不把整個香港交還；而英國政府在確定香港主權將移交中國後，也只有極力爭取維持在香港的利益。

大部份香港市民在中英兩國開始詳細談判之前，鮮有考慮香港主權的前途問題。其實自20世紀70年代初起，政府在籌劃地下鐵路、新機場等大型基建項目時，因為投資回報期需要接近30年而跨越1997年，當時在向國際籌集資金時已受香港政治前途不明的影響。

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[編輯] 背景

根據清朝政府與英國所簽訂的《南京條約》及《北京條約》，香港島及九龍是永久割讓予英國的，而1911年中華民國成立後，亦一直未能取消這些不平等條約。直至1941年12月第二次世界大戰期間香港被日軍佔領後才有轉機。1945年8月，日本宣佈無條件投降，引起了香港的歸屬問題，營造了香港主權移交回中華民國的可能性。當時輿論普遍認為，香港是殖民主義與帝國主義的象徵，加上中華民國在戰爭過程中已躋身大國之列，亦希望消除所有不平等條約和治外法權，所以應把香港交回蔣介石為首的國民政府。早於日本投降前數年，美國羅斯福總統亦曾認為英國政府應該放棄香港，並歸還給中國發展為國際自由港。國民政府亦希望能收回香港，但因國共內戰日漸激烈而無暇南顧。另一方面，英國則強烈希望戰後保持所有遠東殖民地，包括作為英國遠東海軍基地及商業中心的香港。在英國的強硬態度及戰勝國之間的利益關係下，香港的歸屬問題並沒有在戰後的國際會議上提出過。因此，戰後香港由英國繼續接管。