Unconventional arguments on why we should leave the EU (3)

Actually, for some personal reasons (see the other post) I'm not exactly in the mood of writing, moreover most common arguments have appeared everywhere. So this is perhaps my last post on this subject...

The pro-leave side usually resort to sentiment, while the pro-remain side usually relies on tangible advantages like cost to the economy etc. Which is all very well, we can decide ourselves which is more important. But those tangible advantages given - especially when you hear them from young people (who are a lot more pro-EU) - show that they have little concept of priority. We are talking about a once-in-a-lifetime decision, it's about World War III and some such (if you believe them), and these young people are saying, "I want to remain in EU because it is easier and cheaper to travel for holidays." What's wrong with you people?

Another main argument to support staying in the EU from those people seems to be that, the EU enforces a lot of things like CO2 emissions, workers' rights, etc that are "good", and they would otherwise not happen under a Tory government. Which may well be true, but why don't you try to achieve those things via national politics - vote for Labour, Greens, etc at local and national elections? And if you cannot succeed in getting them to power, through a democratic process, maybe the rest of the public don't actually share the same opinion as you? Their idea seems to be that, since those things are "morally right", they need to get it from whoever can offer them, whether it is the EU, or some dictator, or some green alien about to enslave humans. The concept of a "nation" to them worths less than getting through airports quicker or cheaper flights.

What I experienced throughout this fairytale season (2)

The first big hurdle

December comes the first tough fixture period: 14/12 CHE, 19/12 EVE, 26/12 LIV, 29/12 MNC, the first point where people expected us to crumble. I would have been more than happy had we got 3-4 points out of these 4 games. It turned out we got 7!

Before the Chelsea game I was so praying them not to sack Jose Mourinho before it. Fortunately they didn't, and our win proved to be Jose's last game at Chelsea.

We were then top of table, 2 points clear. It was also at this point that Gary Lineker made his infamous tweet. He didn't know that, but it seems HKGolden's 賭 J is very powerful indeed...

And after beating Everton, we are guaranteed top of the table at Christmas. A fan phoned-in to a radio programme and said:

"My son turned to me and looked me in the eye and said: 'Dad, dad, amazing, absolutely amazing.'

Then a series of lacklustre result follows, including a 0-2 defeat to Liverpool, clinging on to a 0-0 draw with Man City, yet another goalless draw with Bournemouth, and even a 1-1 draw with Villa (!). But this slump still left us in a position better than people had expected. In this period Vardy had a surgery, and I suspect the transfer window must also have caused some instability as well. But somehow we were still near or at the top of the table - still quietly.

The second big hurdle

We had three big matches in February: 2/2 LIV,  6/2 MNC, 14/2 ARS.

I was very pleased to see us lose out in the FA cup replay. Had we won that, we would have a 5th round FA cup match a few days before the LIV match. As it turned out, we had 10 days rest, while LIV played 4 matches in 10 days (or something like that). We then beat LIV 2-0, thanks to a wonder goal from Vardy.

At this point the neutral fans all begin to root for us. Like this one
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35497832

6/2 MCI 1-3 LEI
This was the day history will remember; the day when the rest of the world suddenly realises that it might actually happen. Not just because of the successive wins, but because of the manner in which we dispatch away these opponents so convincingly. There were articles pondering (still joking) what might happen if this miracle, just for once, did happen. Gary Lineker wrote a moving article, describing it as "quite possibly the most unlikely triumph in the history of team sport", and that he has never "wanted something to happen more in sport in my entire life."

But for us it was the start of the agony. It was the point where we started to fear, that this might turn from the greatest miracle in sporting history to the biggest flop in sporting history.

As it turned out, it was just like 2 seasons ago when we were promoted to the Premier League: flying under the radar for half of the season, and by the time the rest of the world realised, it was already too late to catch us.


Next time: the home straight...

Mid-life crisis

Well, the inevitable is, finally, about to descend onto me. After years of dragging on, this new "leadership team" is now acting extremely swiftly (you have to admire how they patiently set the whole thing up, with everything in place before delivering the final punch - more on that in the future if I have the chance to write about it.) I knew it will happen one day, but when it arrives it is so sudden.

It is something that has always been at the back of my mind, but I refuse to accept, and it is now too late for me: if you know you are in a wrong career, leave early. (I don't know how I survived the REF two years ago. But even then it was already too late.)

At least it was after the good moments. We won the Premier League, man! (I always worried that this good news would be spoiled by bad news like this one, or some far worse ones.) It is the best thing that could ever happen to this city, so there is nothing more to look forward to.

We'll know how bad it goes in a few months' time. Perhaps it won't be the worst possible outcome. Perhaps it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. In the meantime, I probably will stop blogging for quite a while after I finished the EU articles and the Leicester City articles... not that anyone cares.

Unconventional arguments on why we should leave the EU (2)

退聯邊個最開心!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36310540
Speaking in London, the prime minister said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of so-called Islamic State in Iraq, "might be happy" in the event of a Leave vote in June, remarks which Mr Johnson said were a "bit too much". 

I knew it! The Hong Kong left plastics' argument of 退聯邊個最開心 will find its way to the EU referendum debate!

Just to give you some background, the "left plastics" in HK often criticizes strong, violent protests against communist China because they "give excuses" for the Chinese government to further suppress political opposition, and the Chinese government would be "pleased" to see that happen. The same logic was applied to the separation of many higher education student unions from the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS). After the awakening to localism of most university students and student bodies, they want to separate from HKFS. Then they dished out this argument saying that the disbanding of HKFS will only make the Chinese government happy.

Various counterarguments have been put out. But put it back to the context of IS and EU referendum:

(1) You do or not do things because they are right or wrong, not because they would make someone else happy.

(2) How do you know IS would be happy? Do you think like them?

(3) Seriously, IS wouldn't care, they want to destroy all of you anyway.

What I experienced throughout this fairytale season (1)

The universe is big, it's vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles.

- The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens

Pre-season

Nigel Pearson was sacked. Just like everyone else, I thought it was a bad decision, and an unfortunate one ( I wrote last year: "... it would be sad to see him go particularly if it is for non-footballing reasons..." which proved more prophetic than I thought!) But, as pointed out in HIGNFY, if not for this sex scandal, none of the rest of the fairytale would have happened!

My reaction to Claudio Ranieri's appointment was just like everyone else's: uninspiring. But I was kind of not bothered because my feeling was that it didn't matter too much who that was, we would probably still struggle. I didn't see why bookie's are all so sure that we will go down though. Yes, we will be in a relegation battle (for some periods if not the whole of the season), but the end of last season showed that this team is not so bad. Under a new manager with a honeymoon period, picked up a few wins early on and we would have built some points base that may prove crucial at the end.

Week 1, LEI 4-2 SUN

Thanks to a rubbish Sunderland team, we were (due to goal difference and goal scored) top of the league after the first week of the season. At that time I wrote on my facebook:

We are top of the Premier League! For a day at least...

Little did I know where this would lead us to...

Week 2, WHU 1-2 LEI

We continue to be top of the league after another win. Schmeichel should have been sent off, instead it was their goalkeeper who was sent off. We could easily have lost 1-2 otherwise. This was also the first of many games where we got favourable refereeing decisions (and for WHU, one of the many decisions against them throughout the season.)

Never give up

What followed was a long string of coming from behind, either scoring minutes after the opponent scored, or minutes from the final whistle, to pull back from losing to get a draw or even a win. Examples include 0-2 against Villa (!) but winning 3-2, and 0-2 against Stoke and drawing 2-2, and the same against Southamption. It was as if we couldn't play until we were two goals down. Our inability to keep clean sheets became a talking point - the pizza.

We were growing confidence, perhaps too much, and in-between these games we lost 2-5 to Arsenal, the first loss in the league.

We were still finding the best lineup. I was particularly concerned about how the new players were to be integrated: you don't want to see what many managers do, namely, putting all the new players in the team just because they are big signings; at the same time I was worried that just sticking those new players on the bench, which seems to be what Ranieri was doing, would demoralise them.

It turned out that he was incorporating them very slowly. Fuchs, for example, slowly replaced Schlupp through a period of both playing (with Schlupp as left wing and Fuchs LB). I was somewhat sad to see Schlupp eventually replaced (even though that was because of injury), he played well last season - but it was probably a good idea as Fuchs were perhaps more defensive minded.

Other positions were similar. Kante, for example, was only a substitute (!), unthinkable these days.

We continued to win quietly, with attention turned to Vardy's 11-game goal streak. After week 13's win against Newcastle, we were again top of the table, but no one was alarmed.


to be continued...

Next time: The first big hurdle CHE - EVE - LIV - MNC

台灣民眾暴打兇徒 vs 布魯塞爾恐襲民眾反應

大愛包膿 http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/supplement/columnist/%E9%99%B6%E5%82%91/art/20160330/19549152


陶傑這次大概又會抽水抽著火水了。然而我也剛好在想同一個問題。

台灣民眾暴打那個兇徒，是血性的體現。不錯，這是「不文明」，然而人是有情緒的，過於壓抑是違反人性。左膠重點之一，正是壓抑人性，對「仇恨」兩字極度抗拒，就是對方殺你全家你也不可有絲毫憤怒。布魯塞爾恐襲後，一如上次又立即有大批民眾在地上用粉筆寫寫畫畫，千篇一律都是反戰標誌、We are all human 云云，說要和平，不要仇恨，不然就正中對方下懷了。不是說你要隨街找個穆斯林毒打一頓，但總要有點憤怒，有同仇敵慨的意志。歐洲人中了左毒幾十年，這樣的本能都沒有了。物極必反，世界各地極右抬頭，是左膠做成的。左膠的好心有那一次不是最終做成壞事？

「寧為玉碎、不作瓦全」

(以下為 FB 貼文的真心版， FB 貼的是溫和版)

本人的政治立場，各位要是還未 block, unfollow, unfriend 的話，相信都心中有數。明知和這裏各位絕大多數政見不合，近年也懶得在這裏寫，要寫也往別處。但當此歷史時刻，不表態像沒事發生般實在說不過去。然而我還 是掙扎了好幾天，不敢寫這篇文，又想如何「巧妙」的寫得留有餘地，真是個懦夫。

對，我膽小懦弱，不願付出，更兼手無博雞之力，想付出也不行。但正因如此，現在有別人為同樣的目標奮鬥犧牲，就更不能在這危難關頭背棄他們，不能踩多一腳。我們永遠站在戰士的一方。

這是暴動，這是革命，這是戰爭。一場保衛家園、守護香港的戰爭。

反抗的槍聲終於打響了。我只能繼續做個小小的鍵盤兵，很卑微地一點一滴的寫。但不管強弱是多麼的懸殊，港豬是多麼的不接受，勝利是多麼的不可能，我一定會繼續於這場侵略戰爭中，在自己能承受的範圍內，盡可能抵抗和戰鬥下去，直至勝利，或者倒下。

2015 本土意識 遍地開花

(2014年尾寫的一篇,有幸給「2014 香港人醒覺」fb page share 了,看看今次又能不能呃 like)

意識形態之轉變

2015年，承雨傘革命之覺醒，本土意識在年輕人中勢不可擋。足球場上噓「國歌」以及 HK is not China 的標語,是最為清楚地告訴全世界，香港人不要「中港融合」，不要大陸化。

我也懐疑這憤青態度只存在於網絡上；然而連我老豆也會說，「仆你個街，去旺角好似返咗深圳」，阿媽也懂和大陸親戚爭辯殘體字之壞處。可見本土意識乃人性本能，即使是「藍絲」，只要抓對議題，也不一定完全不可能把他們拉過來。

勇武之成果

年中一連串光復行動，成功迫使中共取消一簽多行，是繼限奶令後反中共殖民最重要的勝利，也再一次證明了勇武抗爭比左膠的「抗爭」有效一萬倍。為了拯救香港，一眾義士無懼千夫所指，甚至捨身成仁，鋃鐺入獄。在此再一次向每一位義士致敬，並期望勇武行動陸續有來。

議會之抗爭

區議會選舉結果無疑是有點令人失望，主流泛民還是受惠於含淚票與黃絲港豬票。但整個政治光譜向右轉，你喜不喜歡也好，已是無可避免。連歐洲右翼也「受惠」於難民潮，西方左膠也要面對「理想與現實」下人民的反感。2016年立會，在比例代表制下，再沒理由含淚投票。本土派還是面對重重困難，各路人馬內鬥不斷。我常認為一些本土派支持者搞不清楚意識形態上的溫和/激進與抗爭手段的溫和/激進兩者是不同的，不過這遲些有機會再說。要是激進本土派能於立會搶得席位，那怕只是一個，也會是一個重大勝利。

知其不可而為之

中港融合支持者說，同化是不可避免，與其反抗不如學會享受強姦。按理「不可避免」是合理推斷，各本土論述也都依賴中國某日會爆煲。我對「支爆」可沒有這麼「樂觀」；大陸經濟雖有問題，但我不認為會是毀滅性的，而且中國已是 too big to fail，西方國家也不希望中國爆破。然而我們是否就放棄呢? 就像香港足球牌面上看，沒可能戰勝中國，然而港隊兩戰中國奇蹟不敗，又付碌又誤判，你吹咩，這就是天意注定。

電影《十年》中有這樣一句：「我有一個宗旨， 不要看行不行， 要看對不對。」展望2016，希望更多人能 stand up and fight，不管是網絡裏，街道上還是議會內，在能發揮自己長處的領域，各盡其力。謀事在人，成事就要在天了，就算失敗，也是無愧於心。

哲學敗類李天命

從前我也看李天命。不算是忠實讀者，只讀過一本起兩本止。但他對(廣義)基督教義(特別是部份基督徒的interpretation)、平機會與平等主義、偽專管理主義的批評，深得我心，看得十分過癮。然而這次的所作所為，絕對是使其人格破產。

李天命：

「馮敬恩，無句真。/ 大話精，說摘星。/ 人無信，不可信。/ 凡交往，必騙盡。」
「好好研判成立*馮*敬*恩*電話行騙有限公司唄。」

眾人大加鞭撻：

林夕

這一下，在港大念哲學的校友也跟我來個順口溜：李天命/真攞命！既然不動如空虛，怎麼動起手來，又輕佻惡毒如此，已屆知天命如虛空之人，怎麼會看上一個大學未畢業的「廢青」，還咬得那麼得戚？這把思辨之劍，又從不向權貴砍伐？校委那麼多荒唐語可以滿足駁人之樂，犯不着拿無權無勢一學生來墊高大師地位。不動如虛空，又幹嘛回應輕如蜉蝣的網軍？這什麼邏輯？
...
你不服氣，可以送李天命的《破惘》給天命大師看，裏面說過：「難以想像一個真正的大丈夫會欺負弱小……打劫老弱婦孺或手無寸鐵的人，我覺得那是弱者所為，有損自尊。」

曾志豪

他用「語理分析」的倚天劍，批評陳文敏和馮敬恩的話語毛病、邏輯不當，我一邊看一邊覺得悲涼。就像街邊有12惡霸欺侮1個四眼書生，另一個四眼黃毛小子挺身維護，2人被打得口腫面青；而李天命就像一位身負絕世武功的高手，他沒有指責12惡霸， 反而嘲笑四眼書生和黃毛小子反抗時姿勢不雅、招式不正確。

盧斯達

香港病入膏肓，膠人膠語日日都是新聞題材，李天命仍默不作聲。雖然我不認為一個「哲學家」有評論政治的義務，也許李天命不愛談政治。但陳文敏和馮敬恩的政治，李天命就突然出聲。客觀效果，是李天命和中共一齊打落水狗。

陳文敏馮敬恩並不是語言邏輯學家，他們的說話，總會有破綻，可供「分析」，可供批判。... 指出邏輯謬誤，沒甚麼問題，可是李天命長久以來對其他更加荒謬的事情沉默不語、在「關鍵時候」出手追殺戰敗的陳文敏，這是為了甚麼呢？

就算陳文敏馮敬恩千錯萬錯，李天命這些言論的客觀效果就是助紂為虐。難道梁振英李國章盧寵茂從來沒有說過一句不合邏輯的話？為什麼不見你去批評？還是你認為他們是站在正義的一方？我沒有看過他 forum 的每一個 post (那 forum 也實在「user-friendly」得很)，不肯定他有否月旦其他時事，但要是有，想來早就給人搬來引用了。

指出邏輯謬誤也還罷了，還要以其一貫的尖酸刻薄語氣挖苦一番，比王晶屈穎妍之流更不堪入目。你要是善意批評，難道就不可客氣一點？

大家也猜他的動機是什麼。看上去也不像是受威迫利誘。他不屑現今學術制度要求濫產論文，他自己大概也是「不事生產」的那類。哲學就更不用說有什麼 impact factor 了。對陳文敏的攻擊，除了「沒有博士學位」外，恐怕大多適用於他，按理他應該「物傷其類」才是。然而人的心理很奇怪，有時在這情況下反而會最勇猛的對受害人踩多幾腳，還會帶來快感，可能是潛意識想強調「我和他不是同類」吧。

不管是利慾薰心，還是心理扭曲一時快感，這都是不可接受。李天命要是有點良知的話，就該速速道歉。所謂愛之深責之切，沒有人會期望李國章盧寵茂之流「道德覺醒」，我還是希望李天命會反省。不然就和李國章盧寵茂一樣，成為學術界的敗類，遺臭萬年。

最不幸的，還是那些之前被批倒的，如基督徒之類，忽然以為道理轉向自己那方，又大叫大嚷了。連說話者的人格與說話內容是否合理也不懂分辨，唉。

Hong Kong woman convicted of assaulting police officer with her breast

See e.g.

http://time.com/3962142/hong-kong-woman-police-breast-assault/

http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/7817154

And this is what happened to the woman, Ng Lai-Ying, on the day after her 'assault': (photo from apple daily)

左膠一說話，就使人發笑

貝加爾，別以民族性解釋一切
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20150615/19184731

民族性，是坊間經常用來安加在各國族刻板印象的玩笑，如德國人守時、法國人浪漫、俄國人勇武、日本人有禮等等，當中故然有幾分事實，用來說笑也無傷大雅。 然而一個國族，就必然享有共同性格嗎？德國人真的人人都準時，日本人又真的人人都有禮嗎？要是動一動腦筋想清楚，這類刻板印象根本經不起理性推敲。

So Chi, facebook comments in the same page:

「德國足球水準高於中國」係咪錯嘅？係咪一定要每一個德國人踢波都叻過中國人先可以話德國足球水準高於中國？

只要德國人 on average 守時過其他人，這樣的 claim 便站得住腳。還說甚麼理性推敲...

香港左膠和西方左膠一樣，痛恨 stereotype，凡是指出不同種族、性別之間有不同特點的，都是邪惡的。 在他們眼中，人人都是一樣，homogenous 的，沒有高下之分 ─ 如果你站在「弱勢」那邊。說女性比較細心甚麼的就可以，說某些工作比較適合男性就是罪大惡極。說黑人肌肉爆發力較好無人異議，要是你敢說黑人有甚麼缺點的話你就是法西斯。

文化藝術以至文明也是一樣，大媽廣場舞和芭蕾舞沒有優劣之分，伊斯蘭文明與耶教文明也沒有高下之別。

Leicester City season review

So, we somehow pulled off a minor miracle and stayed in the premier league. You are not going to believe it, but I have always been quietly confident that we can do it, even in (almost) the worst of times. The point that I started to lose belief was when we failed to beat 10-man Hull at home, when you thought you got to beat them, if you can't even do that how are you going to get points. But 2 matches later our winning streak began.

We always knew we have the easiest fixture towards the end of the season; most of the teams are either fellow strugglers or have little to nothing to play for. Nigel Pearson, outside of his bizarre moments (see below), is always a calm and measured person who knows what he is doing. Performance-wise we were never completely outplayed; we were never beaten by more than 2 goals all season, and often performance don't convert to points. These are all reasons that contribute to the confidence that eventually proved justified.

Throughout most of the season (i.e., the losing part), the comments were often that we performed as well as the opponent, just "unlucky". But you can't be that unlucky over 38 weeks; there must be some fundamental problems somewhere. My feeling is that we are just a little bit short but in every department, which together means we lose just a little bit every time. But clearly point-wise you would rather win or draw some games and lose heavily in others, than to lose by a bit every game. It also means we can't seem to do both attack and defence well at the same time. If we commit to attack we often fail to turn dominance into goals, and then we fail to defend; if we decide to sit back then we eventually concede and by then there was not enough time (and players' confidence) to chase the game. That was basically what happened from November to March.

Eventually we somehow stumbled upon the 3-centreback formation and more importantly, with Albrighton playing as right wing-back. Three centrebacks are only possible after the capture of Huth (the other centre backs are just not that good, really), and who would have thought Albrighton should play as right-back? This system gives a better balance and clearer separation between attack and defence.

(I have Albrighton in my fantasy team all season, just to warm the bench because he is cheap - though it would be better if I added him 32 weeks or so later. By the final week I thought I would give all my Leicester players  - Schlupp, Albrighton, Vardy - a run-out, just for fun, and they did not disappoint.)

Going back to Nigel Pearson. Unless he was doing those things deliberately, he maybe should seek professional help. Probably the pressure was getting on him and he was lucky to escape punishment for things like grabbing your opponent player's neck. It could have gone a lot worse. He looks like a respectable person and reasonably good at his job, and it would be sad to see him go particularly if it is for non-footballing reasons.

We have not been spending crazy amounts of money and next year we should do the same. I never like the idea of "going all-in" and either stay in the Premier league or go bust. Actually I don't even mind being a yo-yo club for a few years; I think that was the right way to establish yourself (though the competition at the Championship is extremely tough so there is never any guarantee you can go back up easily.) Spend sensibly and keep the stability and hopefully we will survive another year.

Political persecution drives Hong Kong primary school teacher to brink of committing suicide

稱校方頻召見　林慧思fb留言想死 
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20150517/19150607

We previously posted about the political persecution and harassment faced by primary school teacher Ms Lam Wai-Sze. Almost two years on and she is still facing constant harassment. On the morning of 16th May she posted a suicide note on facebook, which worried a lot of her supporters. She has since sought medical help and calmed down.

She was forced to take a half-year leave since the incident in 2013. During the past one and a half years since she returned to work, she faces constant harassment by pro-Beijing organisations, who keep making complaints to the school she works at (Pui Ling School of the Precious Blood). The school has summoned her over 20 times to explain herself. The most recent one concerns her facebook political posts and they want Ms Lam to ban under-18 from seeing the posts. Ms Lam reminded the school not to interfere her freedom of speech, but some colleagues scolded her for this.

She emphasized that she has never imposed her own political opinion upon her students. Netizens expressed support and encouraged her not to back down. Chin Wan, a prominent political figure, has suggested she could seek political asylum.

三跑之一百八十元建設費

「機管局建議向離境旅客開徵一百八十元的建設費... 而精打細算的旅客更可能改往澳門及內地機場轉機。」
http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20150318/19080660

共匪邊有咁好死，為你機場飽和問題着想？人地恨不得將香港從國際視線消失呢。要害之一正是趕客，等人人轉去其他機場，摧毀香港航空樞紐地位，到時先起好條三跑嚟擺，咁先玩得你夠過癮。

乜嘢用者自付，又唔見你起咩蓮塘口岸時開徵陸路離境稅？（另點解整平塊地，起一兩棟矮矮地嘅建築物，幾條馬路，咁又要幾百億？）

2014 奸邪當道 港人醒覺

2014年頭，有人搞了個 「2014 香港人醒覺」的 fb group，我心想你是不是太樂觀了點。Well, 一次雨傘革命，陰差陽錯下，醒覺的人多了，比我想像的多，但還是不夠。最初幾日民眾發揮本能，一時氣勢大盛，奈何不久左膠終於還是把革命退化為他們一貫的運動。其實在三十年的和理非思想下，有這樣的覺醒已算不錯。可是在殖民力度愈來愈大的情況下，這樣的醒覺速度終不足以抵禦赤化。這是起步太遲的問題了。

我一向不認為甚麼真普選、公民提名之類是最重要的事。當務之急，是中港區隔，制止中共殖民，否則香港被消滅了，你和我也不再是香港人，成了孤魂野鬼，民主有個屁用？民主回歸派搞了三十年，民主爭取不到，殖民卻愈演愈烈。猶記得一三年李旺陽事件後，有個顛佬叫人不要參加支聯會的六四集會，被人罵個狗血淋頭。幾個月後，帶領你悼念六四的支聯會那班人「成功爭取」新移民綜援，又幾個月後，又是同一班人到聯合國指控香港人歧視新移民。你說誰才是顛佬？可喜的是，蔡耀昌於元旦遊行被狙擊，從此民陣那班人不再高調浦頭，間接促成七一預演佔中等較激行動。 八三一人大落閘後，連他們自己也宣布民主回歸路線壽終正寢。是時候把香港交回給香港人了。本土派的方式不一定成功，但你們的已證實失敗。

這次運動雖然失敗，但至少它令主流泛民一鋪清袋、令更多人認識左膠的惡行，也使港人首次大規模體驗(同一個顛佬提出的)勇武抗爭。年輕人甚至學生妹也身體力行，上過前線，體驗過札竹棚、擋警棍，就會明白勇武抗爭和左膠假抗爭的分別，回不去的了。 從這方面來看，它有極其重要的意義。可是這仍然十分初步，港人未能衝破和理非思想伽鎖，停留在「老婆被警察拉走強姦而自己站著高呼警察可恥」的程度。希望來年大家能突破這心障。

我覺得以下這圖最能代表2014的香港。香港奸邪當道，願港人繼續發揮圖中的堅強意志，知其不可而為之。

(我那時多麼渴望旺角能撐到十二月中，讓我也來守一下...)

Break away from FIFA!

World Cup: Former FA chief David Bernstein calls for boycott

The English Football Association has been urged to lobby Uefa for a European boycott of the next World Cup - unless Fifa implements meaningful reform.  
...
Similar views have been expressed by German Football League president Reinhard Rauball, who suggested Uefa could leave Fifa  if the findings of the two-year investigation into corruption claims are not published in full. 

I have been dreaming about this really, and however unrealistic it may sound, I am glad that someone at some senior position says something radical like this publicly. FIFA is so corrupt that it is impossible for it to correct and fix itself. Even if Sepp Blatter steps down (he won't), the corruption culture is so deeply embedded in the organization that the only way to change it is to take it apart and build a new one from scratch.

I have given some thoughts about this, actually. Obviously England cannot do it by itself. But if we can get the western Europe together, plus a few civilized countries like USA, Japan, etc, they should try to form a breakaway faction and run their own World Cup or whatever other tournaments at country or club level. There is no reason why FIFA should have monopoly in running world football. Let it face some competition. Essentially the world will then have two football governing bodies, a civilized one consisting of the above mentioned countries, and an uncivilized one containing, well, you know who those countries are. Let the uncivilized one have whatever bribery or corruption they like, as long as it is contained within themselves and don't affect the civilized world. Hopefully more countries will switch sides over time.

Of course there will be huge difficulties, for example FIFA will not allow "their" members' national players to play for Europe's clubs... but at the end of the day, it is about who has more financial bargaining power. Which of the following two is a bigger loss: the Premier League / Champions League losing some South American or African players, or FIFA / World Cup losing Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, France, England, and so on? (and don't worry, those South American or African players will find a way to change their nationality, as we all know already).

I know, it is just my dream, is it? Will someone have the courage to try to pull it off?


PS. And I forgot to mention, the civilized one can then do sensible things like using video replay technology and so on...

15/10/2014 警察暗角拳打腳踢示威者 Pro-democracy protester beaten by HK Police

Starting at 00:06, a protester, whose hands were already tied-up, were taken to a corner and beaten up by HK Police. This is real footage from TVB (a local TV channel)(brightened up for easier viewing).

人冇夢想同鹹魚有咩分別之 - Our Zoo

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29014122

From the first episode it seems it will be a pretty good TV programme, even though probably 90% of it is going to be completely made up. But at least the real part (as written in the article) gives people a feeling of hope in this dire world.

Doctor Who 8.1 Deep Breath: Some Unorganized Thoughts

• I think they are trying too hard to tell us "I know the new Doctor is old but you should still watch the show". A majority of the episode is pretty much lecturing us right in the face about this, especially Vastra's speech. I mean, if you don't have confidence about this then maybe you shouldn't cast Peter Capaldi in the first place.

• In fact, the audience numbers seem to be dropping consistently over the last few seasons which is of some concern. Somehow, Steven Moffat can make Sherlock 'event TV' but not this.

• The episode is quite philosophical, about change. The droid, just like the Doctor, has changed faces so many times, and there is the question of "is it still the same broom" not just about the droid but the Doctor. When the Doctor holds up a plate in front of the droid and suggests that he may not even remember where he got that face from, the camera is actually showing the Doctor's face on the reflection, which is a subtle nice way to express the point.

• As for the big debate, my opinion is that the droid jumped himself. (Not that it makes much difference - either the Doctor pushed him or talked him to death, which is pretty much the same, plus the Doctor clearly killed many people before - so I don't know what the fuss was about.) My take is that: the droid repeatedly asks "How would you kill me ", as if he has wanted to kill himself for a long time but unable to do so because of its basic programming; the Doctor then make him realize that he's changed so much that he's no longer bound by that. When the Doctor says one of them is lying about their basic programming and they know who that is, the droid's "Yes" was very emotional, signifying this.

• There are more than the usual number of Scottish independence jokes, from eyebrows "independently cross" and "set up their independent state of eyebrows" to  "still don't think you've got a vote".

高質旅遊 post 兩個

轉貼高質旅遊 post 兩個:

(1) 直布羅陀: 悼念一下已死的香港
http://forum6.hkgolden.com/view.aspx?&message=4888966
(see also http://www.vjmedia.com.hk/articles/2014/02/09/62663 在直布羅陀尋找「香港」)

南極:
http://forum6.hkgolden.com/view.aspx?message=4900817