obstreperously's Xanga

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:31:32 GMT

諸葛亮之〈誡子文〉見諸〈太平御覽〉

"夫君子之行靜以修身儉以養德
非詹泊無以明志非寧靜無以致遠
夫學需靜也才需學也
非學無以廣才非靜無以成學"

文中以其'儉'字尤為重要
乃品德修養之基礎亦是學有所成之起點
而此字非只指節省亦指過著簡樸的生活
能儉才能靜而靜非只指環境亦同指心境
簡樸與豐盛看似對立實是一致
於廉潔之上方能成學再而廣才達到明志致遠
實乃諸葛亮其人之處世態度
亦是他對吾等最由衷之告誡

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:05:05 GMT

"In my fantasy"

In my fantasy I see a just world,
Where everyone lives in peace and honesty.
I dream of souls that are always free
Like the clouds that float
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

In my fantasy I see a bright world
Where each night there is less darkness.
I dream of spirits that are always free,
Like the clouds that float

In my fantasy exists a warm wind,
That blows into the city, like a friend.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like the clouds that float
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

Translated from the original Italian version of Sarah Brightman's "Nella Fantasia"

Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo giusto,
Li tutti vivono in pace e in onestà.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima.
Nella fantasia io vedo un mondo chiaro,
Li anche la notte è meno oscura.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano.
Nella fantasia esiste un vento caldo,
Che soffia sulle città, come amico.
Io sogno d'anime che sono sempre libere,
Come le nuvole che volano,
Pien' d'umanità in fondo all'anima.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Thu, 22 May 2008 14:11:09 GMT

有一種旁觀，是自我選擇的態度和立場，為的是保持一點距離，是面對一些變遷的方法。

另有一種旁觀，卻不是自由意志的選擇，而是在那個情境，別無他法，甚麼也做不來，甚麼忙也幫不上，或者，還輪不到幫忙。於是只能旁觀，感到非常無力，卻看見人所局限的位置。

此時，有一種鬱結在瀰漫，他自覺是倖存者，都想做一點甚麼，去捐錢，去捐血，心舒坦一點，但過了不久，又開始鬱結起來，好像有一塊很重的石頭壓在心上，於是又去捐錢又去做點甚麼。

從此又一次了解生的局限，人的弱小。

Monday, May 05, 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:15:46 GMT

On Love

"Now try," she said, "to concentrate as hard as you can. Anyone who has been educated this far in the ways of love, viewing beautiful things in the right order and way, will now reach the goal of love's ways. He will suddenly catch sight of something amazingly beautiful in its nature; this, Socrates, is the ultimate objective of all the previous efforts. First, this beauty always is, and doesn't come into being or ceases; it doesn't increase or diminish. Second, it's not beautiful in one respect but ugly in another, or beautiful at one time but not at another, or beautiful in relation to this but ugly in relation to that; nor beautiful here and ugly there because it is beautiful for some people but ugly for others. Nor will beauty appear to him in the form of a face or hands or any part of the body; or a specific account or piece of knowledge; or as being anywhere in something else... It will appear in itself and by itself, always single in form; all other beautiful things share its character, but do so in such a way that, when other things come to be or cease, it is not increased or decreased in any way nor does it undergo any change."

- by Diotima of Mantinea in roughly 401-399BC

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:31:38 GMT

Persia. Splendid.

Behold the scenic views and many splendors, it is a land full of wonders that fill your senses.

The reflection of glistering water on the gulf banks, pristine mountains and warm sands, beautiful mosques and mesmerizing stones. One of nature's immortals, powerful enough to endure the passage of time. One of nature's stalwarts, such that even mere pebbles boast the vast strength of mountains.

Once again. The collective conscious. Alexander, Cyrus, Darius, Xerses... swallowed me momentarily.

Not that they come alive in me; it is me who lives in them.

And now I am going to disappear inside, again, as is only fitting.

Yes, history is like a girl.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:38:54 GMT

The annihilation has come a full circle churning all depths of my blackened window into a melted candle transformed in me the roses die yet reborn impressively in a cascade of ashes and will not leave me alone in my eyes the cold fire burns yet freezes the naked remains forevermore in my pulse when words yield nothing but all gentle taurus noble lips stabbed my heart it tears it bleeds to receive the truth of finality.

Farewell. The one who grew up with me and moulded me.

But it takes a blue pill or the click.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:14:44 GMT

We risk the firm's capital. We literally bet the firm, at least up to their limits. If we win then we get a share of the winnings. If we lose then the firm picks up the loss. We might lose the jobs but the fund at risk is not our own, it's all OPM - other people's money. What if the losses threaten the firm's survival? Most firms are too big to fail, and they can count on government support. Regulators are wary about systemic risk, and no government with an eye to their place in history wants the financial system to be flushed down the toilet on their watch. We can always play the systemic risk trump card. It is the ultimate in capitalism - the privatization of gains, the socialization of losses.

See. Today we have Paulson becoming a socialist in the midst of the subprime muddle. Split personality. Setting up the superfund, violating the most basic anti-trust law trying to fix the price of distressed securities which credit gamblers on the street have greedily messed up. Of course, Wall St loves it and I am supposed to as well. This is the trading floor. And we have covertly engineered the mother of all schemes to siphon off profits.

With private parties taking up the profits and the government taking up the losses. Nobody should wonder why people become socialists.

Take a seat on the platform and watch the tapping of transfers.

Multiply that by infinity, take that to the depths forever. You will barely have a glimpse of what Amartya Sen's talking about.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:09:12 GMT

Prices don't make rational sense. You buy on the foresight that you can sell it higher tomorrow. Caught in the endless spiral of higher and higher prices. Fear and greed rule markets. Afraid of missing out. Your greed is endless. Foreigners develop a peculiar hubris. Bulletproof. Fundamentals magically remains irrelevant. Pause. Eyes glazed over. Leaning back and smiled wryly in a well-practiced dramatic gesture.

Other seers dispensed more worldly investment wisdom. Bankers, dealers (yes, and traders) have been so enthusiastic cheerleaders for the regional boom. All keynesians. Holding the view that in a beauty contest it didn't matter who you thought should win, the only thing that mattered was who the judges thought should win. In finance this means you buy things that others will buy from you at a higher price than you paid. Foreign banker, dealer (and trader) folks around here were upbeat about the prospects for all things Asian. Fuelling the boom. Issuing this. Trading that. Picking up handy commissions.

The boom and bust saga had a new angle. Derivatives had been added to the usually deadly cocktail of debt and greed. Asians corps unfamiliar with the abacus entered into complex transactions that they rarely understood. Seduction. Now, some years later, it plunged and in matter of days things had halved in value. The lawyers and accountants were picking up the pieces of the inevitable disasters. Belatedly reviewed the value. And traders joked about the submerge.

Their trick is always to make sure you have a seat when the music in the game of musical chairs for high stakes stops.

Amused. Thought of Marx's Das Kapital.

They needed divine intervention to save themselves from their own folly.

But miracle is not forthcoming.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:12:12 GMT

Les hommes ils s'enfournent dans les rapides, mais ils ne savent lus e qu'ils cherchent. Alors ils s'agitent et tournent en rond... Les hommes dechez toi cultivent cinq mille roses dansun meme jardin... et ils n'y trouvent pas c qu'ils cherchent... Ils ne le trouvent pas. Et cependant ce qu'ils cherchent pourrait etre trouve dans une seule rose ou un peu d'eau. Mais les yeux sont avuegles. Il faut chercher avec le cceur...

J'ai soif de cette eau-la donne-moi a boire...

moi... unchanged.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 14:33:54 GMT

與情人齊眉白髮　問誰可保證