Lifting my head, I gaze at the moon bright; looking down on my Facebook checking out pics/posts from love ones and home bros.
About the above cartoon:
September 30, 2012 is Lunar August 15 and the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a tradition which has been observed and celebrated for hundreds of years by Chinese in Taiwan, China and abroad.
Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's (701—762 AD) famous poem "Quiet Night" illustrated homesickness for many were intensified during this festival, in 20 Chinese characters, he wrote:
Before my bed there streams in the moonlight. It lies there on the ground, looking like frost.
Lifting my head, I gaze at the moon bright; looking down in homesickness and think of home.
(trans. Wang Yushu/Google)
I downloaded the above translation and edited through Google Translate, I am sure there are many ways they can be translated and written more eloquently. I am not a poet, writer or deep thinker and I only try to translate words, often with the helps of Google Translate so please be kind with me if you think I am being silly attempting to interpret Li Bai's poem, your feedback and advices are always welcome. In old days, being away from home were extremely hard for immigrants and travelers, especially during holidays such as Mid Autumn Festival when family members get together while the lonely travelers can only be with families in their memory. In recent years with easy access to telephones, trains, jets, etc., reuniting and keeping in touch with love ones have become easier although at times they can be complicated and costly. Now with rapid advancements in Internet and now Social Networking, people are able to meet others face to face in virtual world and in real time. Therefore, I think that the last sentence of Li Bai's poem should be modified in order to adapt the current theme:
looking down on my Facebook checking out pics/posts from love ones and home bros.
Lifting my head, I gaze at the moon bright; looking down on my Facebook checking out pics/posts from love ones and home bros.
About the above cartoon:
September 30, 2012 is Lunar August 15 and the start of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a tradition which has been observed and celebrated for hundreds of years by Chinese in Taiwan, China and abroad.
Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's (701—762 AD) famous poem "Quiet Night" illustrated homesickness for many were intensified during this festival, in 20 Chinese characters, he wrote:
Before my bed there streams in the moonlight. It lies there on the ground, looking like frost.
Lifting my head, I gaze at the moon bright; looking down in homesickness and think of home.
(trans. Wang Yushu/Google)
I downloaded the above translation and edited through Google Translate, I am sure there are many ways they can be translated and written more eloquently. I am not a poet, writer or deep thinker and I only try to translate words, often with the helps of Google Translate so please be kind with me if you think I am being silly attempting to interpret Li Bai's poem, your feedback and advices are always welcome. In old days, being away from home were extremely hard for immigrants and travelers, especially during holidays such as Mid Autumn Festival when family members get together while the lonely travelers can only be with families in their memory. In recent years with easy access to telephones, trains, jets, etc., reuniting and keeping in touch with love ones have become easier although at times they can be complicated and costly. Now with rapid advancements in Internet and now Social Networking, people are able to meet others face to face in virtual world and in real time. Therefore, I think that the last sentence of Li Bai's poem should be modified in order to adapt the current theme:
looking down on my Facebook checking out pics/posts from love ones and home bros.
I grew up in the era of Beatles, Woodstock and Spaghetti Western which Clint Eastwood played vital roles. In the seventies, he played Dirty Harry and the name have become synonyms to him since. I have seen most of his early films and the last one that I saw was Gran Torino in 2009. He was the surprise speaker for the Republican's National Convention 2012 in Tenpa, FL. on August 30. His speech stirred up wide discussion from all sides:
Now that Democrat has started its Convention, it is refreshing to see both sides do have something in common; they all invited big guns named Clint to speak at the convention:
Royal Treats or Royal Pains?
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, DUH? Yup, only his underwear stayed ------
Tensions have erupted over some barren rocks in the Pacific that you may never have heard of, but stay tuned – this is a boundary dispute that could get ugly and some day have far-reaching consequences for China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States.
The islands in question are called the Senkaku chain by Japan, the Diaoyu islands by China, and the Diaoyutai by Taiwan. All three claim the islands, which are really just five islets and three barren rocks northeast of Taiwan, 200 miles off the Chinese coast. The latest confrontation occurred when a Chinese fishing boat collided with two Japanese naval vessels trying to intercept it near the islands. The Japanese detained the Chinese captain for questioning and the two countries have been exchanging indignant protests.
The reason to worry is that nationalists in both China and Taiwan see the islands as unquestionably theirs and think that their government has been weak in asserting this authority. So far, wiser heads have generally prevailed on each side, but at some point a weakened Chinese leader might try to gain legitimacy with the public by pushing the issue and recovering the islands. It would be a dangerous game and would have a disastrous impact on China-Japan relations, but if successful it would raise the popularity of the Chinese government and would also be a way of putting pressure on Taiwan.
The other problem is that, technically, the U.S. would be obliged to bail Japan out if there were a fight over the Senkakus. The U.S. doesn’t take a position on who owns the islands, but the Japan-U.S. security treaty specifies that the U.S. will help defend areas that Japan administers. And in 1972, when the U.S. handed Okinawa back to Japan, it agreed that Japan should administer the Senkakus. So we’re in the absurd position of being committed to help Japan fight a war over islands, even though we don’t agree that they are necessarily Japanese.
In reality, of course, there is zero chance that the U.S. will honor its treaty obligation over a few barren rocks. We’re not going to risk a nuclear confrontation with China over some islands that may well be China’s. But if we don’t help, our security relationship with Japan will be stretched to the breaking point.
We would like to invite you to sign the attached petition on the Diaoyu Islands to President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Members of the Congress and the American people.
At this critical moment, we want to see our signatures top 100,000 in one week and reach 500,000 before the U.S. General election on Nov. 6.
Please distribute this email as wide as possible to all your connections. Thank you.
The Diaoyu Islands Coalition - Chicago, Houston, Northern California, NY/NJ and Washington DC
____________________
Dear Mr. President, Madam Secretary, and Honorable Members of the U.S. Congress:
We, as people concerned about peace in the world, write to call your attention to growing tensions Japan has provoked in East Asia in its territorial disputes with neighboring countries, and urge your actions to exercise a U.S. role in deterring the continuation of such provocation.
As the world marks the 67th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender that concluded World War II, we are again haunted by the memories of Japan’s militarism and imperialistic expansionism that propelled its invasion of Asia and the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Japan has never formally repented for its atrocities against the world. Its leaders continue to worship the Yasukuni Shrine where war criminals’ tablets are kept. Its right-wing activists have repeatedly sought to rewrite textbooks to distort its war history. There are more signs that its extremists, in a heady romanticism with Japan’s prewar “glory” in which violence and aggression were exalted, have been stepping up their attempt to revive Japan’s militarist past.
A most recent example is the Japanese move to “nationalize” the Diaoyu (called Senkaku by Japan) Islands. The move is reopening the old wounds an imperialistic Japan inflicted upon the people of the region and fueling concerns about peace and stability in the area.
The Diaoyu Islands are unequivocally territories of China, which Japan failed to return to their rightful owner at the end of World War II.
The Cairo Declaration of 1943 asserted that “Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the First World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed.”
Numerous historical documents, some dating back to as early as 1403, recorded the Diaoyu Islands as part of China. Japan seized the islands and Taiwan after the Sino-Japanese war in 1894. In 1941, a court in Tokyo ruled that the Diaoyu Islands belonged to Taiwan, settling a dispute between Taiwan and Ryukyus (Okinawa) – both governed by Japan at the time – regarding the governance of the islands. Throughout history, fishermen from Taiwan have been fishing around the Diaoyu Islands.
With Japan’s return of Taiwan to China in 1945, the Diaoyu Islands should also have been returned as part of Taiwan. However, in the Okinawa Reversion Agreement signed in 1971, the U.S. ambiguously and inappropriately included the Diaoyu Islands as part of Ryukyus that it reverted to Japan the next year, thus planting the main cause for the current dispute.
The push by the Japanese right-wing faction to officially seize the Diaoyu Islands has been heating the confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese authorities. The Japanese militarism and imperialist expansionism that underlie its ongoing provocation is a threat to the peace of East Asia and the world. Therefore, we, the undersigned, urge our government to take the following actions:
1. Continue to take the neutral position and not side with Japan in the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. Clarify that the Diaoyu Islands are not covered by the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan so as to avoid the risk of being dragged into a military conflict between Japan and China and to avoid emboldening the militant faction in Japan to instigate aggression.
2. Recognize that supporting Japan to take over the Diaoyu Islands will aid the breeding of the Japanese militarism and imperialistic expansionism, which will be detrimental to the peace of East Asia and the world.
We look forward to your appropriate actions to address this volatile situation.
I grew up in the era of Beatles, Woodstock and Spaghetti Western which Clint Eastwood played vital roles. In the seventies, he played Dirty Harry and the name have become synonyms to him since. I have seen most of his early films and the last one that I saw was Gran Torino in 2009. He was the surprise speaker for the Republican's National Convention 2012 in Tenpa, FL. on August 30. His speech stirred up wide discussion from all sides:
Now that Democrat has started its Convention, it is refreshing to see both sides do have something in common; they all invited big guns named Clint to speak at the convention:
Royal Treats or Royal Pains?
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, DUH? Yup, only his underwear stayed ------
Tensions have erupted
over some barren rocks in the Pacific that you may never have heard of,
but stay tuned – this is a boundary dispute that could get ugly and
some day have far-reaching consequences for China, Japan, Taiwan and the
United States.
The islands in question are called the Senkaku chain by Japan, the
Diaoyu islands by China, and the Diaoyutai by Taiwan. All three claim
the islands, which are really just five islets and three barren rocks
northeast of Taiwan, 200 miles off the Chinese coast. The latest
confrontation occurred when a Chinese fishing boat collided with two
Japanese naval vessels trying to intercept it near the islands. The
Japanese detained the Chinese captain for questioning and the two
countries have been exchanging indignant protests.
The reason to worry is that nationalists in both China and Taiwan see
the islands as unquestionably theirs and think that their government
has been weak in asserting this authority. So far, wiser heads have
generally prevailed on each side, but at some point a weakened Chinese
leader might try to gain legitimacy with the public by pushing the issue
and recovering the islands. It would be a dangerous game and would
have a disastrous impact on China-Japan relations, but if successful it
would raise the popularity of the Chinese government and would also be a
way of putting pressure on Taiwan.
The other problem is that, technically, the U.S. would be obliged to
bail Japan out if there were a fight over the Senkakus. The U.S. doesn’t
take a position on who owns the islands, but the Japan-U.S. security
treaty specifies that the U.S. will help defend areas that Japan
administers. And in 1972, when the U.S. handed Okinawa back to Japan, it
agreed that Japan should administer the Senkakus. So we’re in the
absurd position of being committed to help Japan fight a war over
islands, even though we don’t agree that they are necessarily Japanese.
In reality, of course, there is zero chance that the U.S. will honor
its treaty obligation over a few barren rocks. We’re not going to risk a
nuclear confrontation with China over some islands that may well be
China’s. But if we don’t help, our security relationship with Japan will
be stretched to the breaking point.
We would like to invite you to sign the attached petition on the Diaoyu Islands to President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Members of the Congress and the American people.
At this critical moment, we want to see our signatures top 100,000 in one week and reach 500,000 before the U.S. General election on Nov. 6.
Please distribute this email as wide as possible to all your connections. Thank you.
The Diaoyu Islands Coalition - Chicago, Houston, Northern California, NY/NJ and Washington DC
____________________
Dear Mr. President, Madam Secretary, and Honorable Members of the U.S. Congress:
We, as people concerned about peace in the world, write to call your attention to growing tensions Japan has provoked in East Asia in its territorial disputes with neighboring countries, and urge your actions to exercise a U.S. role in deterring the continuation of such provocation.
As the world marks the 67th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender that concluded World War II, we are again haunted by the memories of Japan’s militarism and imperialistic expansionism that propelled its invasion of Asia and the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Japan has never formally repented for its atrocities against the world. Its leaders continue to worship the Yasukuni Shrine where war criminals’ tablets are kept. Its right-wing activists have repeatedly sought to rewrite textbooks to distort its war history. There are more signs that its extremists, in a heady romanticism with Japan’s prewar “glory” in which violence and aggression were exalted, have been stepping up their attempt to revive Japan’s militarist past.
A most recent example is the Japanese move to “nationalize” the Diaoyu (called Senkaku by Japan) Islands. The move is reopening the old wounds an imperialistic Japan inflicted upon the people of the region and fueling concerns about peace and stability in the area.
The Diaoyu Islands are unequivocally territories of China, which Japan failed to return to their rightful owner at the end of World War II.
The Cairo Declaration of 1943 asserted that “Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the First World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed.”
Numerous historical documents, some dating back to as early as 1403, recorded the Diaoyu Islands as part of China. Japan seized the islands and Taiwan after the Sino-Japanese war in 1894. In 1941, a court in Tokyo ruled that the Diaoyu Islands belonged to Taiwan, settling a dispute between Taiwan and Ryukyus (Okinawa) – both governed by Japan at the time – regarding the governance of the islands. Throughout history, fishermen from Taiwan have been fishing around the Diaoyu Islands.
With Japan’s return of Taiwan to China in 1945, the Diaoyu Islands should also have been returned as part of Taiwan. However, in the Okinawa Reversion Agreement signed in 1971, the U.S. ambiguously and inappropriately included the Diaoyu Islands as part of Ryukyus that it reverted to Japan the next year, thus planting the main cause for the current dispute.
The push by the Japanese right-wing faction to officially seize the Diaoyu Islands has been heating the confrontation between the Chinese and Japanese authorities. The Japanese militarism and imperialist expansionism that underlie its ongoing provocation is a threat to the peace of East Asia and the world. Therefore, we, the undersigned, urge our government to take the following actions:
1. Continue to take the neutral position and not side with Japan in the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. Clarify that the Diaoyu Islands are not covered by the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan so as to avoid the risk of being dragged into a military conflict between Japan and China and to avoid emboldening the militant faction in Japan to instigate aggression.
2. Recognize that supporting Japan to take over the Diaoyu Islands will aid the breeding of the Japanese militarism and imperialistic expansionism, which will be detrimental to the peace of East Asia and the world.
We look forward to your appropriate actions to address this volatile situation.
