处女的2010

處女：受奇特關係牽引，對抗低落自信過去兩年，受到土星這顆世俗之星的沉重考驗，處女們的肩頭無不背負重壓、性格受到磨練，壓力過大使身體越來越衰弱，感到力不從心。但是經過歷練的處女已經練就一身的本事，儼然成為領域裡的萬事通。2010年，處女需面對的重點課題是「合作與敵對的關係」，這個主題會深深影響處女日後的形象與走向。走對了，就是美好的開始；一個錯誤，就會陷入萬劫不復……

地狱咆哮的挽歌

起来饥寒交迫的奴隶 起来全部落受苦的人
满腔的热血已经沸腾 要为部落而斗争
德拉诺打个落花流水 奴隶们起来起来
不要说我们一无所求 我们要做战歌的主人

这是最後的斗争 团结起来到永远
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现
这是最後的斗争 团结起来到永远
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现

从来就没有什麽救世主 也不靠萨尔血蹄
要创造部落的幸福 全靠我们自己
我们要夺回寒冰之地 让自由照耀外域
快把那炉石彻底抛弃 要决一死战才能胜利

这是最後的斗争 团结起来到永远
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现
这是最後的斗争 团结起来到永远
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现

最可恨那些恶魔领主吃尽了我们的血肉
一旦把他们消灭乾净鲜红的太阳照遍部落

这是最後的斗争 团结起来到永远
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现
这是最後的斗争 团结起来到永远
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现
巫妖王的毁灭 就一定要实现

二三字

我要说我们中国人向来是区分姓和名的，这一点在台湾比较好地保留了下来。
在台湾，名和姓是严格区分开来的。如果你问一个台湾人叫什么名字，他们会回答，我叫杰伦。不要一脸迷茫又信誓旦旦地以为他姓杰，你得继续问，那你姓什么，他才会告诉你他姓周。

台湾的姓名几乎没有三个字以下的，而且都朗朗上口，很有韵味，比如许焕庭，邱诗澜，吴敬轩。绝对没有李勇，王强这样的傻逼名字。单名的坏处很多，比如，如果有人问曹操叫什么，他只能回答，操。
有人抬杠，说，陶喆怎么是两个字的？TMD你没文化，人家明明叫陶JJ，三个字的！最讨厌语文数学不好的人了。

虽然说，在古代，有很多人都用单名，如苏轼，周瑜，李白，嵇康，项羽，刘邦。首先，这些名字已经比李勇，王强强无数倍了。而且古代的人都有自己的字号，通常是两个字，所以称呼起来不至于太别扭，东坡，太白都是可以萌死人风骚到家的称呼。然而，现代人一般取了姓和名就完事了。如果你不幸用脚趾头一数，姓名加起来只有两个字，那么恭喜你，你要悲剧了。单名总是不容易叫得响亮的，我叫“宇春”和我叫“春”，你愿意选哪个自己看着办吧。
我很坏，我搞名字字数歧视。但比起某些搞地域歧视的人，还有看见丑小孩就要上去踹两脚甚至掐死的人，好多了。

PS: 纯粹恶搞，我知道这篇东西几乎没有逻辑。但我总想试图唤起一些什么。我确定我认识的各位朋友里面没有叫李勇，王强的。还有王帅这个名字还是很帅的！To 所有姓名是两个字的朋友，我不会嫌弃你们的！我还是很爱你们哒！你们当然可以在心里暗暗鄙视我，这是你们的权利，不要让我知道就好了。（当然让我知道也是你们的权利哦~）
今晚冒着巨大风险，看看大家的尺度。趁年轻再傻逼一次。虽然我的小心脏扑通扑通跳得紧张欢快活泼严肃，但爱逃避的我，准备上床睡觉了，看我不爽的人可以趁这个机会尽情鄙视我了。明天早上见。

二三事

哎，好怀念那个24k纯真的夏天。一个女孩信誓旦旦地说，不准小看我，心有多大，胸就有多大。
好无辜啊，眼泪汪汪，潸然泪下。
后来我才明白，不是我小看了你，是我把你看小了。
你真是用心良苦啊，自从戴了你送的新眼镜，看什么我都顺眼了。妈的，没搞清楚度数，送毛眼镜啊！
你说这幅眼镜，左眼50，右眼75，是你的度数。可惜，我们用同样的度数看世界，最后还是MLGB了。

律师那些事

看到海岸那边很有喜感的状态：“热烈庆祝第一个胜诉的诞生！“我的心情不知不觉好起来。毕业一年多了，第一个胜诉诞生，不容易！意义很重大。在这个胜诉之前，可想而知有多少败诉和失落的心情在里面。一毕业就去当律师，这条路会走得坎坷，所以我佩服那些毅然选择职业律师这条路而且一直坚持下来的兄弟们。法学院毕业清一色考公务员去了，还有很多人从事着和法律不相关的职业，说来真是法学教育的悲哀。所幸他们毕业于这样一所注重通识教育的综合性大学，路可以走得宽一些。但说实话，法学院的这帮人受了多少通识的熏陶，还是值得怀疑的。这几年中国高等教育被批判，教育部的处境不比中国足协好到哪里去。自然而然周济也不会比谢亚龙更受欢迎。中国网民对周济早就已经磨刀霍霍了。所以，周济刚刚被免职，很多高校都有人在教室里敲锣打鼓庆祝他的下课。本人刚刚还捡到了冷笑话一枚，在此奉上：

“钱学森已神志不清还念念不忘工作，嘴里念叨着：“洲际导弹”....，总理连连点头，回 到办公室立即撤掉捣蛋的教育部长周济。”

在中国这个官本位的社会，律师可以是最没地位的，但永远不会是最有地位的。特别是年轻律师，他们的生活状况很惨。因为没有经验，他们做的工作很基本，律所给的工资很低，最要命的是没有案源。所以产生恶性循环就是，在刚开始的几年，甚至连磨练技巧，获取经验的机会都很寥寥。当然这对磨练人的意志和培养吃苦耐劳的精神是有好处的。。。年轻人总是容易急躁，特别是二十出头，正当风华的我们。这时候，女生都在为自己的婚嫁发愁，男生同时也在尽力解决自己的单身问题。但是谈婚论嫁对刚毕业的男性同胞是很奢侈的一件事情，甚至是不现实的事情。到了社会上你会发现女人都很现实，一个年轻小伙如果没有家庭背景的良好支撑，是很难在这供需关系紧张的市场有立足之地的。一方面，接近二十五岁的女人们开始疯狂拼命地想嫁人，另一方面，同时代的男人却没有能力独立娶到老婆。为什么？因为在中国，丈母娘代表着商品房价格的刚性需求。而我们的律师们，大多数的律师们，不啃老是买不起房子滴。中国律师行业的平均收入低于出租车司机的收入。律师这行就是一根鸡肋，吃不饱，又饿不死。

最近重庆打黑，顺便打掉了一个黑律师。虽然很多人说，这个律师是被政府陷害了，但被人陷害也总是自己行得不正，把柄落在了别人手里。这对本来就已经不景气的律师行业，又是一个打击。当然这打击不了处于金字塔尖的律师精英，却可以整死处于食物链底端的律师民工。

有的律师为正义说话，有的律师为坏人说话。但更多的律师只是为钱说话。有一句话特别经典，是描述美国法学院毕业生的：刚毕业的你，以为你会为正义而战，但若干年后，你发现自己只是为了钱而疲于奔命。中国的情况何尝不是如此呢？律师这个行业有自己的职业道德，不是老百姓那种“非黑即白”的简单思维可以理解的。律师是为客户服务的，律师是为了维护客户的利益而存在的，律师最大的道德就是使自己客户的利益最大化。问题在于客户的利益，经常会和社会普遍价值观冲突。一个人杀了人，难道就不应该享受辩护的权利吗？为黑社会辩护是老百姓所不能容忍的，陈兴良，赵长青为黑社会申辩而遭恶骂也不是不可以预料之事。有人说，这是普法的失败。是啊，看看媒体的法治新闻都在报道些什么吧，看看裤衩电视台的法治在线有多么傻逼吧，看看中国的年度法治人物，你真的不知道该哭还是该笑。这不仅仅是普法的失败那么简单而已，因为要使整个社会做到相当之宽容是极为不易的。“我不同意你的观点，但我尊重你说话的权利”这样西方自由主义的舶来品，确实很难在中国被广泛纳入人们行为的宗旨之中。而律师，则必须游走于各种道德观之中，并作出自己的选择。走钢索的律师，有人这么形容律师。律师往往手里拿着道德的罗盘却迷失在种种价值观的冲突之中。一个律师应该为一个杀人犯辩护吗？当然，这个问题问得不好，因为一个人是否被认定为杀人犯是必须经过正当程序的审判由法官决定的。那当一个律师认为或明知自己的客户杀人了的时候，他应该怎么办？是继续为当事人辩护，维护当事人的合法权利，还是放弃辩护，以求自己良心之安宁？律师也是人，也有自己的自由心证。我只知道有的律师，选择了掩盖事实伪造证据，有的律师选择了从此转行不当律师。

反观美国律师行业，我找到了一些让人感觉美好的东西。从学生迈入法学院的那天，整个行业都会提倡法律人参加pro bono工作，相当于做义工，不拿钱。每个律师每年都会做50小时以上的pro bono工作，无论这样是多么微不足道，无论这样的声音有多么微弱。

You may just want to do some good. A beautiful thing about becoming a lawyer is that you can fulfill your sense of right and wrong as well as earning satisfaction of helping those people in need of legal service. There are quite a lot of things you can help with even though people call you a fairly native young man. Do Pro Bono can also be fun! You don't have to participate in pro bono work right after graduating from law school. it requires skills. Taking part in legal clinics and earning experiences while at school is a good way to prepare for future pro bono work.

MPRE过了。

不小心把这个小考试就过掉了。我才看了两天，现在过了感觉心里不踏实。我还是unsure职业道德那些东西。如果以后在美国执业，这些都是很重要的，搞不好还会成为职业生涯的终结者。最近又发生了一些不愉快的事情，让我心里不踏实。带着不踏实的心情去考bar，我无法发挥到极致。
我现在好喜欢我的任天堂掌机。我想玩疯狂兔子回家。因为玩那个我觉得会很开心。我不由得想起了一句话：看你一贱，我就笑了。

我和1的缘分

我的眼睛很小，笑起来的样子就像“一一”。我的小学高中大学读的是一班。我的高中叫“第一中学”。小学同桌叫11，高中同桌叫一一，大学也有个同学叫一一。最喜欢的电影里有一部是《一一》，并从此喜欢上杨德昌导演的片子。光棍节发个11.11的帖子，1个小时之内就全站置顶第一帖。
一不是优秀。一是简单。一是最小的正整数。
一是纯，一是全，一是相同。一是一见如故，一是乐谱音符。

当痛苦变成思辨的力量，一个人就可以从纯真到怀疑最后变得睿智。这是人性的优点。

转一篇好文，《给上海昨日提问的青年》，Obama Town Hall @ Shanghai

from http://www.bullogger.com/blogs/shafa/archives/347719.aspx

看我twitter的朋友都知道昨夜在奥巴马回答问题的环节，我在twitter上急得跳脚，说了很多话，被很多人转引。觉得没有说透，所以再撰文一篇。

如果有的青年确实不知道自己该问什么，所以只会问那些蠢问题（我不相信这是真的），那我祝他们幸福安康。

如果有的青年知道自己该问什么并且得到了发问的机会，而因为种种众所周知的原因没有问，最后问了蠢问题，那我只能说这实在是个非常蠢的决定。和勇气无关，和大是大非无关，和诚实无关，就是蠢。

我平生最恨劝别人当烈士的人，但昨天的情况不同。假使有人站起来镇静地说：“总统先生，按规定我不能问没有被事先安排好的问题，所以问这个问题会给我带来很大麻烦，甚至牢狱之灾，但我仍然想知道。。。”不用“代表”任何人，不用唱任何高调，不用悲愤交加手舞足蹈，就能无比安全的成为英雄，何乐而不为？至于奥巴马怎么回答，谁在乎？

从twitter上发布的各类消息上看，几位“才俊”都是各高校中“团委书记”一级的人物，按说已经算是体制内的人了，应该懂得几分钻营之道。可这成本收益的计算能力实在差劲，成不了气候！

如果你这么问了，你便会在一夜之间成为全球媒体的宠儿，上各大媒体头条，比起“扔鞋”的宵小之为光明正大百倍，且一夜成名名气直逼姚明刘翔韩寒。试问，终你一生，你可有任何其他更好的机会如此风光？你的名字会被写入历史，和美国第一位黑人总统中美建交三十周年第一次访华史上第一次与中国青年对话这一系列事件放在一起，你会成为那个皇帝新装童话里的孩子。试问，终你一生，你可有其他机会被写入历史，以名垂青史的方式？你会成为20年后又一个tankman,而且不用面对他当年面对的风险。你会让CCTV和各种TV齐刷刷插播广告，战战兢兢心里爱恨交加，从此提起你的名字能止领导和媒体编辑夜啼。试问，终你一生，你可有其他机会被人说：“哥，你真是个传说”？

你会成为无数人心目中的英雄，这些人包括你的同学老师甚至可能还有父母。你要是男的，会有女生青睐；你要是女的，更会被无数人称颂。更重要的，你会让在座的所有其他你的同类们领导们表情便秘像偷看毛片儿被抓像完完全全的傻逼，作为年轻人，有什么能比让其他人看上去都像傻逼更过瘾的感觉么？

在如此光环和镁光灯的包围之下，你的安全几乎不会成为任何问题。你的学校绝不敢开除你，但是你可以光明正大义正词严地开除你的学校，然后在接受媒体采访时做心怀委屈欲言又止状，然后校领导就会出来哭天喊地的叫比窦娥还冤，但是没有人会相信。这样你就会又一次让学校的领导们看起来像完完全全的傻逼。作为年轻人，有什么比让尸位素餐的领导们一次又一次地看上去像傻逼更过瘾的事么？

当然，威风是要有代价的，但这代价比起收益来小得可怜。这一夜的名气会带给你持续的回报，出国是小事一桩，美国有一帮人愿意为你争取绿卡。就算在国内混，你也已经赢得了很多人的尊重，善加利用，会是宝贵财富。可能以后出去集体腐败不能开团委的发票了，可团委那点可怜的预算，绝比不上上海滩想请你吃饭的人的长龙。当局都是得过且过的官僚作风，“秋后算账”这种事儿能省就省，况且还有全球媒体盯着。只要以后低调一点，行走江湖有那一夜的资本足够。

说句实话，看诸君发言时的谈吐和仪态，都不像是能成事的人，甚至都不像家里背景深厚的人。那你能放弃的是什么呢？一个一文不值的学位？做一名房奴的如棉前程？别提什么家人如何如何了，我国政府光明正大，不会拿你家人怎样的，顶多过年过节嘘寒问暖一下。



我实在无意批评这些青年，都是体制的受害者。只是当历史把机会放在他们面前的时候，没有人把握。这里表现出的素质、情怀、见识、乃至投机水平，非常可疑。

但是我不得不批评他们，因为他们是成年人，并且声称自己代表了我。

你们不仅应该感到后悔，后悔没有把握这机会实现这“惊险的一跳”让自己一夜名动天下。也应该感到羞耻，因为你们集体撒了谎；因为当GFW和TWITTER的问题是由美国人而不是你们提出的时候，你们相当于在世界面前被抽了一嘴巴，以很屈辱的方式；因为当你们口口声声“代表”中国青年的时候，你们“代表”我们丢了脸。以你们习惯的话语方式说，你们是“丧权辱国”，“权”是“人权”，“国”是“国民”，你们丧失了自己说话的基本权利，羞辱了你想“代表”的国民。

请记住，你们不是我们选出来的，不能“代表”我们。当你们非要用“代表”这个字眼的时候，你们是有责任的，不能“代表”我们撒谎。

请记住，你们的国家正在发展壮大，你们是国家的未来，所以在全世界都在看着你们的时候，请表现出一点点起码的个人尊严，不要撒谎。

请记住，无论你爱不爱国，爱不爱政府，爱不爱中国人和中国文化，在这样的外交场合，作为炎黄子孙，请体面一些，不要撒谎。

是的，当你们不是被选出来的却说要“代表”我们的时候，你们在撒谎；当你们明知有更重要的问题却只问事先设定好的毫无意义的问题时，你们在撒谎；当你们事后拒绝回答怎样被选出来甚至澄清所谓西方媒体的“污蔑”时，你们在撒谎。




“以服务人民为荣，以背离人民为耻；以诚实守信为荣，以见利忘义为耻。”愿与诸君共勉。

转一个关于press freedom的debate

from MITBBS http://www.mitbbs.com/article_t1/WorldNews/31425995_0_1.html

我一个已经毕业的德国同学发表了一句关于达赖的话，我发表了评论，说西方媒体在西
藏问题上不公
平造成他们的错误印象，然后他的一个朋友看了不爽，我们开始辩论。我觉得最终她说
不下去了，选
择放弃。如果各位能够忍着看完这段裹脚布，欢迎评论和指点。
以下是记录：


A(德国同学): wishes the Dalai Lama could return to Tibet and put an end to
the cultural genocide of his country.


我：i have to say you are entirely wrong on this. in short, dalai lama
was one of the worst human rights violators in recent history before
1950, which is not entirely his fault since he was born into a bad
system.
china's ethnic policies are not nearly perfect by any means, but this
dude has been full of lies for years. if you want a theocracy combined
with brutal slavery, dalai is for you. if you call better living
standards and everyone being given equal status and opportunities a
cultural genocide, then...
he is a tool of the china-hating west, and you are buying it. western
propaganda has done a very good job over the years. too bad, press
freedom oftentimes serve political agendas and don't convey the truth.


A：Lets agree to disagree!


B(与我辩论的美国女): It must feel nice to finally have freedom of speech.
If you're so frustrated with "western propaganda" then I highly suggest
considering that the very ideology that you seem comfortable railing
against, allows you to do so without restrictions placed by the
government on say, what internet site you visit, for example.

I'm a considerably liberal person and try to look at things objectively.
I don't agree with a lot of the United States dispositions and politics.
I enjoy Chinese culture and appreciate it's history, but I'm firmly
against people from any nationality, who seem to be ok with taking
advantage of the Western culture, educational system and use our
resources only to blame "western propoganda" for people's opinions. In a
system of informational freedom, intelligent people can develop their
own opinions.


我：you are absolutely right, freedom of speech is great, and i regret
that china does not have as much of it as the west, although it's
gradually making progress. and in what ways am i railing against freedom
of speech in my comments? i am all for free speech, and i take advantage
of it and express my mind.
i guess the word propaganda irks you because... Read More you think it
cannot possibly exist in a so-called free society? have you not not paid
attention to what happened in the last several years? my point is that
informational freedom does not guarantee unbiasedness and prevent
pushing political agendas.
going back to the tibet issue, i assume that you did not know dalai's
tie with the nazi's, which is conveniently never mentioned in any news
coverage, but if al quaeda were related to the nazi's. you think any
american would not be reminded of that time and again? look, press
freedom or not, every country speaks in its own interest, sometimes it
results in bias, and that's natural.


B: <the truth.>>
I interpret the above statement as you saying that FREE PRESS results in
untruths and political agenda. And it happens "often." That's an attack
on free speech (press = speech). You're implying that this idea of
"press freedom" is not in actuality free. Yes, I was a politically
conscious person, even during the Bush administration as you implied. I
didn't support him and didn't exactly trust a lot of what he/his
administration was saying. Why do you suppose that was? I think it was
because I was able to access (and contribute to) various news outlets. I
recommend that before alleging that ALL news outlets propagate some
Western agenda, you consider the various independent news outlets that
are affiliated with the United States and are not (eg BBC, Indian news
papers), also to which we have access.

Sure, Fox News is propaganda. Rachel Maddow, arguably propaganda too,
although she actually fact checks... But there are stark differences
between the two news sources. How, then do you reconcile this and say
"informational freedom does not guarantee unbiasedness and prevent
pushing political agendas" when there isn't a uniform political agenda,
or more specifically, people are free to propagate whatever they want?
So to answer your question: no I don't think propaganda can exist in a
free society (it's not "so called."), because there is always room for
an opposing view or information to counter it and for the very reasons I
just presented.

Did you know that Coca Cola was affiliated with the Nazis? That doesn't
mean anything. I really hope you're not insinuating that the US is only
fighting Al Quaeda because of it's affiliation with the Nazis. I'm
personally, more pissed about mass genocide and people who deny that the
free press I receive from which I make informed opinions, is not
possible. That's just me. I donno. I digress.


我："Sure, Fox News is propaganda."
"no I don't think propaganda can exist in a free society."
those two sentences which appear in the same paragraph seem
contradictory to each other. unless my english is bad, or maybe foxnews
is in china?

free does not necessarily mean truthful. i blame those who lie under the
name of free speech, but that does not mean i hate free speech itself. i
can say that obama is a racist/communist because i want people to
believe he is a bad president, but i am also exercising my freedom at
the same time.
it's really not that hard. attacking people who abuse freedom of speech
does not equal attacking freedom of speech.
when i say there is propaganda, i refer mostly to the media's coverage
of the "perceived enemies" of the US, such as russia and china. i can
say this because i know there are blatant lies and selective reporting
all the time on china. just ask any individual from china you may know
what they think about western media's coverage of china, especially on
sensitive issues such as tibet. this may be news to you, but their
agendas on china is highly uniform to the point that they not only lie
but also make up the same lies.
why can't foxnews and msnbc be propaganda? they have different agendas
sure, but they can be pushing them nonetheless, one to the right and one
to the left:)
i do believe most coverage on american news is fair and balanced, or at
least factual. i read a lot of them and find them informative and
engaging. and i truly hope someday china could reach such a tolerance of
different opinions.
i am not suggesting anything bad about dalai because of his ties with
nazi. it could very well be that he received no bad influence from
them.and when did i suggest there is ties between al quaeda and nazi?
the tone was purely hypothetical. i am just using it as an example of
selective reporting of your media.
i am not denying freedom of speech, on the contrary, i treasure my
freedom and take it seriously.

and while i welcome more comments on the main issue, may i ask which
genocide you are referring to?


B：I'm not wasting my time reading what you wrote for these reasons:

1) You've completely missed the point I was trying to make about free
press, and just took quotes randomly out of context. They aren't even
successive. Is that something you learned from Chinese "journalism"?

2) You used emoticons in trying to make a point I'm supposed to take
seriously.

This isn't a concession, I'm just acknowledging how much you might be
indoctrinated with "Eastern propaganda," and frankly I have better
things to do. Enjoy your time in the US where your views will likely
piss off the wrong person. Don't worry, we "westerners" believe in fair
trials.


我：all i have been trying to do is reason. i just make my points, never
tried to prove you wrong or anything, and my tone has been by my
standard friendly.
no need to get personal. i thought freedom of speech works better with
civility. and cracking some fun here and there does not hurt, does it?
my impression of your arguing is: i am right and above you, and that is
the state of the world. if you question me or what i believe, that just
make you more wrong and no reason is needed, and i will attack you
personally. sorry but that sounds to me not like the spirit of free
speech, does it? i thought freedom of speech is about trying to embrace
those with different ideas, not taking them down. your words sounds like
how a north korean dictator would act.
and how am i indoctrinated? you just assumed that because i am chinese
and disagree with you? i did acknowledge that china does not have the
freedom of speech as US, you think china brainwashed me into thinking
that?
don't be afraid, the truth may be ugly, but it will set you free.

我估计她不会继续回复了。上次国庆时候说服一个希望中国是60年民主的美国人，因为
他还讲理，愿
意理论，这个女的不太行。

这个回帖也不错。

haha..good work! . but would like to see more facts/examples than conclusion
/statements. Or they won't be easily convinced.

when I elaborate such topics, on top of using examples, I like to:

1. establish western fears towards communism in general，fear is coming from
something unknown or unfamiliar.

2. what does fear generates? Hostility.

3. what does a national machine/news press typically/natually do when
touching a topic that they have hostility towards? negativity, bias.

4. on top of all that, west has feeling of being superior. that will only
fuel the negativity with arrogance.

是光棍就进来看看！！！

继续上次文化差异的话题。

今天我举的例子是每年的11月11号，也就是中国的光棍节。不知道从什么时候开始，这天就变成了光棍节，我尤其记得两年前在浙大卖得如火如荼（用的什么词啊...）的光棍衫。光棍节，光棍们都有什么活动呢？简言之，就是表达

“情侣去死”和“单身万岁”云云之思想。

在前一个意义上说，光棍节其实就是反情人节(Anti-Valentine's Day)。这类情绪通常在明骚分子身上反应比较明显，表达方式趋于激烈的破坏式反抗。例如，武汉大学生曾在11月11日集体上街高喊“情侣去死”的反革命口号。

从后一个意义上说，光棍节就是是单身觉醒日(Single Awareness Day)或是享受单身日(Single Appreciation Day)的意思。这类情绪通常积蓄于闷骚分子心中，因而表达方式也趋于委婉的自我肯定。例如，浙大光棍衫的热卖。同学们争相购买光棍衫，主要表达的是单身万岁，单身有理的情绪，但其实无法掩盖从内心深处透露出的惆怅心理。当然，会有恰好处于单身状态的“情场老手”跳出来说自己很enjoy单身自由的状态，曰，女人，黏者也。而且通常这些“老手”即使穿着光棍衫，也难以赢得其他真正的光棍的认同感，曰，情场老手者，非我族类，伪光棍也。但你否认也好，不认同也好，其实真伪光棍他们的情绪都是一样惆怅的，你看Single Awareness Day和Single Appreciation Day的缩写都是SAD，就是难过的意思。他们内心都是渴望脱离单身的，只不过是找一个老婆和找一个称心如意（千万不能和上次那个一样烦人）的老婆的区别。关于光棍衫，还有一个比较有意思的现象，就是买的人很多，但是穿的人很少。这就更说明了，这是一种闷骚的表达方式，闷到连穿都不敢穿出来。原因似乎很简单，光棍们天然的认为，穿出来会被人笑傻逼。所以通常是一个寝室四个单身汉一起穿出来，要傻逼就傻逼得彻底，四个一起傻逼。而且，这样很容易引起媒体的注目，像论坛狗仔队啊，心灵观光团啊。运气好就能火一把，即使运气不好被人说傻逼，大家一起傻逼嘛，也不亏。当然女生穿的话，就会是个例外。如果有一个穿着光棍衫的漂亮女生在校园晃悠，那么我可以负责任地说，此贴必火！

关于中国光棍节的来源，一直是搞不清楚的，就像你搞不清楚春哥和曾哥的粉丝都是哪里来的一样。但据私推测，其来源不外乎以下原因。首先，发明这个节日的人（或群体）必然是光棍，而且身边也不缺少和他有相同境遇的人。其次，在中文里，光棍有单身的意思在里面。这第二点其实是很重要的，因为连续的1111组合很容易就让人联想到条棍，光棍，进而才引申为单身的意思。而在下面我就要说到，同样是11月11号，在韩国不是单身节的意思，而是情人节的意思。（这部分有个不严谨的地方，就是我没有考证过，韩语里是否有类似于用光棍形容单身的表达。）因为在每年的11月11号这一天，韩国人会把一种叫做Pepero的巧克力棒送给自己最喜欢的人。（也许这就是韩国博大精深的棒子文化吧。）于是就促成了一对一对情侣的产生。这样，11月11号就成了韩国人的Couple's Day。这种东西我记得以前学校教超就有，是日本格里高公司出品的Pocky百琪饼干。

在韩国，Pepero节的由来，基本排除了韩语里有光棍代表单身的表达方式。

一来，在韩国，无论男女，都崇尚修长苗条，表白的对象自然也就得1111了。二来，1111刚好是巧克力棒的形状，所以送巧克力棒给自己的1111也顺理成章。到后来，送棒子的传统就以迅雷不及掩耳盗铃之势日渐风行如滔滔江水连绵不绝而一发不可收拾，演变成只要是朋友就送了。

当然，也不乏有阴谋论者指责格里高公司暗中操作，为了提高Pepero的销量，人造了这个韩国的情人节。格里高公司断然否认，说这只是纯情少女的刮起的旋风。日本也曾有过一股神秘力量，企图在日本搞出一个和Pepero节一样的节日，但最后没有搞起来。私认为，从棒子在韩国的成功可以看出，日本搞一个互送A片的情人节，肯定成功，而且直接生米煮成熟饭! 我认为杜蕾斯可以和AV工厂展开切实深入全面的合作和交流。都说，没有无缘无故的爱也没有无缘无故的恨，我并不是一个民族主义者，本不应该这么去调侃韩国和日本，因为我在一个自由包容的的国度长大。

此外，本文在网路发出之后，有网友认为，11.11用“成双成对”来注释再合适不过了，刚好是两对情侣被一小点隔开，
用英文就是double date。而至于1111没有成为成双成对节，而成为了光棍节的原因，会是一个很好的研究课题。我初
步认为，有以下几点原因。首先，在已经存在两个情人节，2.14和七夕的情况下，再搞出第三个情人节的意义不大。情
侣们都去享受自己的小甜蜜去了，哪有心情像作者这样坐在电脑前胡思乱想。其次，单身寂寞的待业男青年的愤怒是很
可怕的，特别在网络世界，单身的主题容易产生一呼百应的效果，使得单身一族迅速夺取了对1111的话语权。第三，恐
惧导致攻击。单身一族，生怕1111变成了第三个情人节，采取先发制人的手段，是为对情侣们每年又过Valentine’s 
Day又过七夕最强有力的绝地反击，抢占他们的第三个潜力节。

哈哈，到此为止，请大家跟我学习新词汇，1111。

1111　adj. (形容词)苗条的，修长的;单身的。

　 n.（名词）苗条修长的人;单身的人

例句：

A: 哇，这件衣服真好看，你穿了之后很1111!志玲不若君之美也，哪里买的？

B: 还好还好。（心里默念：你才1111呢，你全家都1111!）

这个笑话我笑了一个礼拜

小白兔遇到大灰狼
小白兔说大灰狼大灰狼 你快问我是不是小白兔
你快问啊快问啊！！！！
大灰狼说 你是不是小白兔啊？
小白兔很高兴 是的是的我是的！！！

然后
小白兔又说 大灰狼大灰狼 你快问我是不是长颈鹿
你快问啊快问啊！！！！
大灰狼很无奈 好吧。。。那。。。你是不是长颈鹿啊
小白兔朝他后脑勺一巴掌 你个笨蛋！

我都说了我是小白兔了！！！

星巴克外漫谈

其实像星巴克这样的地方存在的价值简直太大了，一个小小的咖啡屋拥挤着各色各样的人。比如法学院对面这家，过来复习功课的，过来促膝长谈的，have a break的。还有我这种打酱油的。让我感慨的是一个小小的店铺竟然也可以冲出万千种不同味道的咖啡。冷的。热的。苦的。甜的。像星巴克这样的咖啡店总会被贴上传奇的标签。每个法学院教授的hypo里总会有一个是关于星巴克的；据说J.K.　Rowling就是在家附近的一家星巴克写出了“哈哈哈哈哈哈哈”七步曲；星巴克的成功故事还被写成了畅销书。

但是星巴克的全球的蔓延并不是没有遇到阻力。相反星巴克还是反全球化的头号敌人，因为星巴克象征着美式文化的入侵。最好的例子就是两年前，央视主持人芮成钢炮轰故宫里九卿值房的星巴克咖啡厅。最后的结果不仅是星巴克，其周围的所有商店都搬离了故宫。我一直觉得芮这小子也只是个投机分子，只说大众爱听的话，只炮轰这种不痛不痒的东西。我并不完全排斥他这样的风格，并理解他做事的方式（注意：理解并不代表认可和赞同，）只是想说他并没有传说中那么高不可及罢了。

　

说到底故宫里到该不该建星巴克完全是一个伪命题，也完全没有必要拔高到文化入侵的高度。星巴克到底搬不搬出去对故宫的保护没有半点本质意义。星巴克在故宫呆了八年，然后就突然就被扫地出门。是不是我们的文化已经变得越来越不包容？还是某些人的神经越来越脆弱了？现在原来的星巴克已经变成了故宫拉面，30人民币一碗，还不打折，这是普通人半天的工资啊！这碗国学文化面的价格还真是与国际接轨得厉害。

其实说到文化这种东西，根植与不同的土壤，同样面对所谓的”文化入侵“，在不同的地方还是会开出不同的花朵。当年麦当劳开始风靡全球的时候，就有一个很有意思的现象。在北京王府井，大家都以为麦当劳是个美国来的高档餐厅，觉得在高档餐厅就餐，言行举止都应该有变化，所以在北京的麦当劳里，人们渐渐地开始有秩序地排队，吃完后还会自觉地把垃圾清理掉。但是在荷兰鹿特丹，却发生了截然相反地现象。荷兰人在自己的餐馆是很守秩序的，唯独在这家麦当劳，大家争先恐后地插队。原因竟然是，荷兰人认为自由奔放才是美国的文化，所以一到这美国的麦当劳，人们就开始不排队了。

My little Concern about Shanzhai Eink

Hi Jet,

Thank you for your reply. That’s what I think because my friend at Shenzhen also went to Dubai fair last week.

I am a students at IU Law School and a coordinator at Center of Applied Cybersecurity Research. I was thrilled by the coming out of E900 because Kindle DX has been monopolizing the market for so long. I am not working for a company. Hopefully that would not disappoint you. But personally, I would like to market the product in our school if possible.

If E900 could have a perfect support of pdf format (we will see when it comes out), people at law school would love to give this product a shot cuz we read tons of cases, most of which are available as pdf files. Plus its wifi capability, E900 would be a huge hit in the market.

Market your product as an environmental friendly tool for immersive and enjoyable reading experiences. Environment concern is an important aspect of marketing in US. For example, many Universities in the US are trying to implement some environmental friendly projects. Promoting the common use of Eink reader is a good way to achieve that goal.

Some rumors went out that you guys are just doing OEM work. But if you want to market your own brand, speed up the timeline cuz for the whole year, November and December is the most important period of time to occupy the market. More than 30% sales of the year would occur in these two months. You would want to get into the market before everyone gets a kindle DX.

People hate DX cuz it doesn’t perfectly support pdf, because it doesn’t have wifi, because it’s way too expensive...
BUT people have to love DX cuz it is the only 9.7 inch eink reader available in the market right now!

Thank you for your time. I support “made in China”. Guohuo rocks.

I am currently using a Kindle 2, But I have been always wanting to have a 9.7 inch PERFECT-PDF-SUPPROT reader. If possible, please let me know how much the retail price would be in US.

Alex Kong

Let Life Be Beautiful Like Autumn Leaves

The Painter of Bloomington

Sample Gate

Pink Nation Concert Stage

Dog Tail Grass -_-

Arts Museum

NewBee

Friday Liberties

JD/LLM Socctoberfest

I still have no idea why this soccer match is called Socctoberfest. I tried to look this word up in dictionary but ended up with nothing. Even got no more clues from Google. But anyway, it is just a name, isn't it? I played yellow defense and got to know my teammate Mario. Yes! Mario, presumably to be good judging solely from the name. SO, Do you guys serve MUSHROOM here? We Yellow are badly in need of a Super Mario to kick gay purple's ass.

Rolls

I also have no idea why these (see pic above) are called rolls. To me, rolls are things like wraps which are supposed to be folded and stuffed with meats and vegetables. But look at these little babies. They are technically balls. In appearance, they look finger-licking sweet. But don't judge too soon. They are virtually salty. That's just what biscuits taste like.

Red lobster tail and Kings Crab legs

These are the most mouthwatering foods tonight. No need to dwell on how yummy they are. The picture explains by itself.

没谱为风格，拧巴即境界。

9.24

在图书馆的冷笑话一枚。某人问：“你见到carol了吗？”我环顾四周：“我见到好多好多carrel...”

9.25

今天去了法学院的Official Naming Ceremony。听了8个非常boring的演讲。校长千不该万不该，把即将上台演说的法官名字读错了。这个法官真是我们的噩梦，超级会讲，运用了无数的排比，台下的观众都要睡着了。在台上我意外地发现了上学期合同法上的同桌，乍看是一个假小子，仔细看其实是个大美女，很有灵气的那种，她如今变成了这笔巨大捐赠的trustee，坐在上面巨帅。演说大家都听得身心俱疲，终于到了reception的时间，我顺手抄起一杯white wine咣咣咣立马就干净了，扑哧着我那大红脸借着酒兴跑去找Micheal Maurer寒暄，居然给我搞到一张合影。在此感谢专业的业余摄影师HYF童鞋。

接下来是opera时间: 脑残的意大利歌剧，坐在第一排看字幕很累。听一句崩溃的意大利台词就得抬头看一眼英语翻译，唉，我仿佛都能听到脖子嘎吱嘎吱在抗议了！唱歌剧的人好多已经年纪大，一身中东宫廷装束，巨没有美感。倒是乐池里的乐手们清一色纯黑，优雅的身姿，简直雅死了。不禁联想到了微软雅黑。。。这个pappataci mustafa的故事应该算是经典了吧。。。可是怎么就这么脑残。看来现代人是越来越不能欣赏这些经典的东西了，没有相关的文化背景，没有经过专业的艺术训练和熏陶，歌剧这种东西一定是越来越小众。不过在美国，似乎传承得不错，通识教育的全面，专业音乐教育的发达，演出事业的兴盛，都起到很好的传承作用。不知道更有艺术情怀的欧洲会是如何一番景象。

9.26

今天好冷，早上jogging的时候其实已经能明显感受到天气的变化。但出门的时候，我还是失误地只穿中裤和短袖。。。教授一路上都在笑我，说全布鲁明顿的人都穿毛衣了，你居然穿短袖，中裤。虽然我ignore了他的戏谑，但是走到sample gate的时候我不禁被呼啸而过的冷风激起了一个寒颤。听说。。。很多人都感冒了。。。可是。。。H1N1的疫苗还是没有上市。看来还是到学校多喝几杯热水吧。据说这个是盛产螃蟹和龙虾的季节，中国超市只卖１块多钱一磅。可惜这个破地方只有一个中国超市，老板还无良到我们中国人都不想去买。这无疑又增添了我想去大城市混迹的念头。哎，lobster呀lobster，我突然想起Phoebe曾经对Rose说, "She (Rachel) is your lobster"。

几天后，我和教授去奥博看了一眼，4刀一磅，活的！看来还不赖呀。。。今天百威清蒸大闸蟹！

9.27

今天很高兴，because we will have a whole fish for dinner tonight. 可事实上，这条来自台湾的milk fish巨难吃。。。我知道是鱼本身的问题还是放在水槽解冻一天之后变质的问题，抑或是老太太只放pepper没有去腥的问题。。。更神奇的是她直接把蔬菜放到微波炉里微。。。什么料也不加。。。既没味道又把蔬菜清新的口感破坏殆尽，简直比生吃还难吃啊！OMG。看来做懒人是要付出代价的。

9.28

今天我去志愿当了足球队的队长，晚上帮助教授做drafts, picking team members to complete the roster.2号要去踢球鸟，希望不要选到purple，那是gay的颜色。不过在魔兽中，这是不死族的专用颜色，当初玩wow就期待自己有一匹紫色的骷髅战马，那是很拉风的。

9.30

Zhongyuan小妹妹不戴眼镜看不见人，却总非要不带。。。在公车上坐在我和教授前面硬是没认出我们来，６路车到IMU她就下了。。。然后下车就马上就找人问路。。。看得我笑死了。。。

不过今天最搞笑的当属刘畅的发型。我在facebook侧边栏highlights处发现刘畅小朋友的照片，意外发现其额头上的标准刘海。怎么那么熟悉？怎么那么熟悉？？？难道她从幼儿园到现在都没换过发型？我真的很能捕捉细节，从小就是个当侦探的料。记得以前有人说我这是敏感，可是我觉得这个词语不贴切，我这其实是明察秋毫。

copyright又要停课一周，我都疯了。。。Leaffer你真是个人才！下课的时候说起今晚的阅兵仪式，不想几步外的台湾同学好奇的问我，哪里有阅兵啊？她肯定是以为bloomington会有什么活动来着，我顿时觉得这是一个敏感话题，就说没什么。。。可是对方还是反应过来了。唉，记得Benson说，留美的台湾人基本上都泛绿。。。无奈啊无奈。

美国往事(三)

上了黄油小面包，不由得想起京城侃大山的出租车司机。
于是就和这个我们的临时马仔攀谈起来。(用词怎么这么怪呢...)
这个司机长得很有型，一脸银色的络腮胡，中间偶尔扎着几撮黑毛。
特别钩人的鹰鼻，俨然是一个卡尔马克思。如果是白毛那就是邓不利多（不知道邓不利多，总知道甘道夫吧。。。）

必须承认司机有司机的哲学，就象开哈雷摩托的有哈雷摩托的哲学。因为我后来发现，这里的司机都长得都一个型的，都是野兽派。这些人通常是fast food店的常客，肚子大到永远没办法看见自己的脚，一口能吞掉一个巨无霸的那种巨无霸。不过眼下的这个出租车司机也许是例外，他跟我眉飞色舞地描述屯里的中餐馆。说 lucky express的老板要是见了dragon express的老板会不好意思打招呼。lucky的soup简直不是人喝的。可是后来事实证明，lucky才是屯里最好吃最有味道的中餐馆，而且lucky哪有什么soup啊？纯粹胡扯。

说到lucky，必谈其老板。这两位主在屯里搞的这么个夫妻店，实在是有声有色。我和Evan都窃以为这是两位高人隐士，中隐隐于市的那种。略带神雕侠侣之遗风。女老板永远疏一头披肩秀发，可以看出年轻时起码是个美人胚子，透露着飒爽风姿。男老板永远竖着一头冲冠怒发，不化妆都感觉他像是唱花旦的，英气逼人。当然这和神雕侠侣的气质差远了，更像神拳无敌归心术夫妇。在这夫妻店点餐还着实有些费尽，若非有前辈指点，初来乍到者必然在老板的洋洋得意面前垂头丧气，同时也被夫妇做生意的态度所雷到。通常会是以下这样一段对话。

“老板，你这里有菜单吗？”期待老板热情回复。

“没有，你想吃什么，说。”老板不紧不慢。

“那你这儿有什么菜吗，我第一次来。。。”头一回，懵了。

“你说你想吃什么！”特别是后面几个字，字字铿锵啊。

“可是。。。“”心想，咦!怎么会这样。。。

“荤菜还是素菜！”声音提了八度。

“荤菜有什么。。。？”

“我们这里有鸡肉，猪肉，羊肉，牛肉。”潇洒自如。

“牛肉。。。”

“辣的不辣的？牛肉有砂锅牛肉，土豆牛肉，沙茶牛，湖南牛。”不带半点犹豫。

“湖南牛。。。？”

“要什么辣，微辣，中辣，很辣。”吐字巨流畅。

“嗯。。。”总觉得自己是不是走错了地方，什么鬼地方啊！

“快，微辣，中辣，还是很辣？快。”岂止流畅，简直机关枪啊！

“中辣吧。。。”

“大的还是小的”，见来的是新手，立马又接话道，“大的９块４，小的５块７。”一切是那么行云流水。

“行，来大的吧。。。”

就象三国里的超级猛将对战不知名武将，没几个回合老板就把吃客杀得败下阵去。被打败的人吃了老板的菜以后还纷纷拍手称妙，高！实在高！屯里的人都知道老板出招快，准，狠，（和田伯光的疯狂刀法是一路的），都来捧场，生意异常红火。跟国内的很多知名饭店老板不同，lucky这两位并不期待把生意更上一层楼，而是更专注于自己的生活，把两人的默契融入了饭店融融入了生活。整个饭店没有服务生，一切均自助，老板说不需要，现在的生意已经饱和了，再忙他们就要不乐意了。这里用的餐具都是一次性的，也就毋须他们自己清理。更要命的是，周日这饭店就关门了，而且很多时候是老板脑袋一拍就把门关了。。。多次让我们无功而返。

尽管如此，屯里的人还是很爱戴lucky和他的主人们。每次水足饭饱大家都会从小破门里洋洋得意地信步踱出，随着夕阳的余晖渐渐黯淡，在一片金色中回望这三街角落里的小木屋，心里默念，总有一餐我一定还会回来的。

吟诗一首

花开堪折直须折，待到无花空折枝。花落院深离人去，一枝红杏出墙来。。。。。。

法槌声声，现在开庭！THE COURT IS NOW IN SESSION!

今天是court date

一大早闹钟中睡醒，冲了澡，换上一身正装奔赴法院。教授说，不错，很合身，很有范儿。

教授一路上和我絮叨国外教授回国聘任的问题 富有激情地和我分享他对国外求学的想法。可是我有点心不在焉。说不上紧张。事情拖了这么久，我已经不在乎是什么结果了。我现在需要的只是一个结果。

提前半个小时到达法院。过安检时，security大哥用异样的眼神看着我，还以为我是代理律师。。。掩面0.0

我不紧不慢地找到指定的法庭，bench trial几个打字赫然引入我的眼帘。当时甚至有点小激动。 这可是长达2个小时的庭审啊。虽然没有陪审团，只有教授一人组成的亲友团，还是应该表现出自己应有的风范。这时我发现被告出现了，只见他圆滚的眼珠里透出迷茫的眼神，在庭外不知所措。我立刻决定我必须率先进入法庭。庭内，法官和书记员正襟危坐在庭上，而我的代理人stephen和他的supervisor attorney正在准备材料。我向他们介绍Professor xxx is a visiting scholar. He is also the director of legal clinic at xxx. supervisor显然感觉是遇到中国同行了，呵呵。

离开庭还有25分钟，我沉着地摊开电脑，打开自己拟好的timeline，脑子里像放着幻灯片一样回顾案情。

法官明显和我的代理人比较来电，一听到他是JD 3L就抑制不住激动的心情。法官是当地人，因此，对当地law school毕业的学生特别有好感。她鼓励stephen有出色的表现。法官的丈夫是一家律所的合伙人，她很诧异，去年recruiting patent lawyer的时候居然没有收到一份来自我们law school的申请，最后律所招了两个northwestern的学生，她还说同等情况下肯定招我们law school的学生，nice至极。他们俩关于patent practice的话题显然没有完，一直持续到开庭前。此时法庭内还是只有法官，书记员，原告代理人，教授和我，没有见到被告极其代理人的一丝踪影。无论是对方代理人迟到，还是心虚不敢进来，我都使我的神经放松了很多。

事实证明，其实一切比我想像的简单。

时间到了，法官宣布正式开庭。双方代理人各做opening statement。我的代理人虽然不如对方律师老练，但是主旨洞明，陈词达练，把我想表达的意思用地道的美语表达出来。而法官明显不是很喜欢对方那根太老的油条，这些trick连我都一眼看出来了，诡辩之道是做法律所需要的，但是诡辩的东西很多时候又往往与法律无关，如果太过纠缠必然引起法官的反感。

接着是我上庭做 testimony. 我走到法官台前，举起右手，宣誓我在庭上所言均为真实可靠。我的代理人开始询问，我对答如流，但是没有注意自己的音量。supervisor提醒我提高讲话的声音，（以求给人更加真实可靠的感觉），但是法官很体贴地说，我的音量已经足够，说话也非常清晰。我的代理人果然是还未出茅房的毛孩，经常卡住和遗漏问题，我在上面有些都替他着急。不过终究还是基本过关。期间，对方律师object了好几次，说我方代理人诱导询问，并提呈hearsay证据。 法官驳回第一个请求。对于第二个objection，我代理人根据本州small claim证据规则主张证据的可采性。接着轮到对方律师cross examination我。对方真是老得流油啊！他的口音也很浑浊，就好像在咀嚼自己的舌头一样，那个绕啊。我摒弃平时和老外交流时不懂装懂的严肃作风，回敬了他好几个pardon? can you say it again?　

他问我，是不是因为多于１个owner就不买车了（转移问题性质！）。问我是不是学过contracts和sale。总之，我从容不迫地走下证人台，脸不红心不跳！

接着，是被告开始宣誓，幸好他没宣誓天打雷劈这样的毒誓，不然一会他做testimony的时候肯定一句一个闪电一句一个雷劈。法院给劈坏了他卖个２００辆保时捷他都赔不起！我很气愤啊！但是，没有办法，不能object。这是从evidence课上学的: there is no rule against false testimony. 我把质疑对方的每一点都记录了下来，准备再一次上庭。

本来我的representative说不用再上庭了，supervisor就提醒他说，you have to because your client is upset. 法官也同意我再次上庭反驳对方，还亲切地问我有没有其他证据需要提呈。这次testimony我发飙了，十分强硬，直接与对方律师对质，搞得他也没办法，最后法官说 Mr. Plaintiff, I have already got what you mean.　最后还问我，are you satisfied?晕，她会不会是怀疑我是为了过把律师瘾才起诉的呀？

最后法官问了我一个关于事实的问题：have you ever bought a car in US before? i said NO. 这是她唯一的问题，她没有问对方问题。我觉得今天的庭审，我们非常成功，法官几乎采纳了我方的事实，但是还需要做更多的case research确认我们的complaint在法律上站得住脚。

最后法官要求双方于一个星期内，拟一份legal issue summary。哈哈，这不是我上个学期HIGH PASS的legal writing吗？赶快回去查去。庭审结束后，法官非常nice地对我和我的代理人说: today, I have witnessed excellent performance of you, two great future lawyers. congrats!

临行前，Stephen对我说，他已经积累了不少对我们有利的判例，there would not be too much problem about this case. we have done a good job today!

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

(Source: Copied from my reading assignment, which is a plain text document.)

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace

John Perry Barlow

Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.

We have no elected government, nor are we likely to have one, so I address you with no greater authority than that with which liberty itself always speaks. I declare the global social space we are building to be naturally independent of the tyrannies you seek to impose on us. You have no moral right to rule us nor do you possess any methods of enforcement we have true reason to fear.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. You have neither solicited nor received ours. We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do you know our world. Cyberspace does not lie within your borders. Do not think that you can build it, as though it were a public construction project. You cannot. It is an act of nature and it grows itself through our collective actions.

You have not engaged in our great and gathering conversation, nor did you create the wealth of our marketplaces. You do not know our culture, our ethics, or the unwritten codes that already provide our society more order than could be obtained by any of your impositions.

You claim there are problems among us that you need to solve. You use this claim as an excuse to invade our precincts. Many of these problems don't exist. Where there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we will identify them and address them by our means. We are forming our own Social Contract . This governance will arise according to the conditions of our world, not yours. Our world is different.

Cyberspace consists of transactions, relationships, and thought itself, arrayed like a standing wave in the web of our communications. Ours is a world that is both everywhere and nowhere, but it is not where bodies live.

We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth.

We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity.

Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are all based on matter, and there is no matter here.

Our identities have no bodies, so, unlike you, we cannot obtain order by physical coercion. We believe that from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal, our governance will emerge . Our identities may be distributed across many of your jurisdictions. The only law that all our constituent cultures would generally recognize is the Golden Rule. We hope we will be able to build our particular solutions on that basis. But we cannot accept the solutions you are attempting to impose.

In the United States, you have today created a law, the Telecommunications Reform Act, which repudiates your own Constitution and insults the dreams of Jefferson, Washington, Mill, Madison, DeToqueville, and Brandeis. These dreams must now be born anew in us.

You are terrified of your own children, since they are natives in a world where you will always be immigrants. Because you fear them, you entrust your bureaucracies with the parental responsibilities you are too cowardly to confront yourselves. In our world, all the sentiments and expressions of humanity, from the debasing to the angelic, are parts of a seamless whole, the global conversation of bits. We cannot separate the air that chokes from the air upon which wings beat.

In China, Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, Italy and the United States, you are trying to ward off the virus of liberty by erecting guard posts at the frontiers of Cyberspace. These may keep out the contagion for a small time, but they will not work in a world that will soon be blanketed in bit-bearing media.

Your increasingly obsolete information industries would perpetuate themselves by proposing laws, in America and elsewhere, that claim to own speech itself throughout the world. These laws would declare ideas to be another industrial product, no more noble than pig iron. In our world, whatever the human mind may create can be reproduced and distributed infinitely at no cost. The global conveyance of thought no longer requires your factories to accomplish.

These increasingly hostile and colonial measures place us in the same position as those previous lovers of freedom and self-determination who had to reject the authorities of distant, uninformed powers. We must declare our virtual selves immune to your sovereignty, even as we continue to consent to your rule over our bodies. We will spread ourselves across the Planet so that no one can arrest our thoughts.

We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before.

Davos, Switzerland

February 8, 1996