Archive for May, 2010
The story goes that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "Today my best friend slapped me in the face."
They kept on walking until they found an oasis', where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire2 and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "Today my best friend saved my life."
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave3 it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
Learned to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but an entire life to forget them.
Judges themselves sometimes hold private talks with lawyers.
But just who defines that public interest? Since Sept. 11, the Jus-e Department has insisted again and again that its ability to catch undue~ terrorists demands that some courtroom and law-enforcement cedures usually accessible to the public-- be closed.'!
It wants to protect the public by preventing terrorists from obning information about government surveillance1 that might aid racists' plans. For that reason, the Justice Department has tried close deportation' hearings for immigrants judged to have a tourist connection.
But a federal appellate panel'' in Cincinnati recently rejected that rennet in a case involving a Muslim cleric' who founded a charity that's n charged with channeling money to terrorist groups.
The hearings caught the interest of Michigan newspapers ich sued" to have them opened. They decried11 the blanket10 se-:y thrown around the proceedings. The appellate judges corned" , saying, "Democracies die behind closed doors. " Even in this ruling, however, secrecy was not ruled out. These noted the terrorism emergency, and acknowledged there cision to close a hearing should be made before a judge, they and not by the Justice Department alone. »
This case? or one like it, will likely find its way'1 to the L Supreme Court. And the implications11 go beyond just provii more open justice for immigrants. Rulings could also break constitutional ground in making public such civil cases as depo tion hearings—and not just criminal cases- -public in almost all cumstances.
Regardless of how the high court eventually rules, the com is experiencing an important lesson in balancing openness in courts against national security needs in times of crisis.
If President Bush believes the U. S. is truly at war—a war American soil and so far officially undeclared "then the Justice i partment in some cases functions essentially as an arm of the rt tary. Then, Americans must ask: Where does crime-fightings and war-fighting begin?
While those two fights may need a few different rules, il judges who must decide on the degree of openness in judicial s tings. For now, the courts are still setting down1'' legal precede: on when judicial secrecy is in the public interest.
The Justice Department can do its part by leveling with16 I American people on why and when il wants to treat warmakers d ferently from normal lawbreakers.
Then it's up to judges to make the tough call1'.
it's 1997, and it's raining, and you'll have to walk to work again. The subways are crowded, and any given train breaks_down one morning out of five. The buses are gone, and on a day like today the bicycles slosh1 and slide. Besides, you have only a mile and a half to go. and you have boots, raincoat and rain hat. And it's not a very cold rain, so why not?2
Luckily you have a job in demolition. It's steady work. Slow and dirty, but steady. The fading structures of a decaying city are the great mineral mines and hardware shops of the nation. Break them down and re-use the parts. Coal is too difficult to dig up and transport to give us energy in the amounts we need; nuclear fission is judged to be too dangerous; the technical breakthrough toward nuclear fusion'' hoped for never took place, and solar batteries are too expensive to maintain on the earth's surface in sufficient quantity.
Anyone older than ten can remember automobiles. They dwindled. At first the price of gasoline climbed—way up. Finally only the drove, and that was too clear an indication that they were filthy rich4, so any automobile that dared show itself on a city street was overturned and burned. Rationing was introduced to "equalize sacrifice," but every three months the ration was reduced. The cars just vanished and became part of the metal resource.
There are many advantages, if you want to look for them. Our 1997 newspapers continually point them out. The air is cleaner and there seem to be fewer colds. Against most predictions, the crime rate has dropped. With the police car too expensive (and too easy a
target)', policemen are back on their beats. More important, the streets are full. Legs are king in the cities of 1997, and people walk everywhere far into the night. Even the parks are full, and there is mutual protection in crowds.
If the weather isn't too cold, people sit out front. If it is hot, the open air is the only air conditioning they get. And at least the street lights still burn. Indoors, electricity is scarce, and few people can afford to keep lights burning after supper.
The press release is usually typed on sheets of paper with letterhead, which typically comprises the name and address and telephone number of the news source. It is good practice to add the name and phone number of someone who can give further information should it be required.
Below the heading is placed the release date. Depending on the date on which the release is to be published, there may be several different forms of release date, for example, "For Immediate Release," "For Release Tuesday, June 14," "For Release at
Will," etc. Sometimes, the name and phone number of someone who can give additional information is given below the release date if such information has not been given earlier.
What follows is the headline. Usually, some blank space is left above the beginning of the story so that editors can revise the headline provided or write their own headline.
The first paragraph begins with the place and date of the announcement. The press release may consist of several paragraphs, but the first paragraph is usually the lead paragraph. It contains all the critical information of the news. The other paragraphs contain information arranged in order of descending importance.
Pace-based telecommunications system will change ot lives over the next two decades, providing rapid access to information of all types. Mass virtual-reality entertainment, videos on demand and expanded telehealth and teleducation services are just some of the developments we can expect to arrive with this torrent of data along with mounting information overload and the 1 68-hour work week.
In five years' time there will very likely he 1 ,000 commercis communications satellites in service, up from about 220 today Many of these switching stations in the sky will zoom" in low eart. orbit (LEO) only a few hundred kilometers overhead. But satellites in the more traditional geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) which turn with the earth 36,000 kilometers up, will remain very much in use.
The proximity of LEO satellites offers some important advantages over today's orbiters. Signals will zip hack and forth to love orbits in hundredths of a second, a decisive advantage over the quarter of a second that data take to travel lo and from GEO. The faster performance will make interactive global access to network; and video teleconferencing practical and appealing.
Satellites will soon not be the only type of space-based tele-communications system. By the year 2010 we could see High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) platforms hovering over cities anc beaming down thousands of data-rich signals. These innovative pi¬lot less, electronically powered craft will fly or float for days in space at an altitude: of more than 20,000 meters, safely a-DOve commercial air traffic.
By far the most significant change in the coming decades is that space-based systems will increasingly deliver information directly to the consumer, rather than to a commercial data hub. This shift means that aerospace corporations will, early in the next entry, find themselves competing directly with AT&T, British Telecom (BT) and other carriers.
Only a few years ago cumbersome dish antennas were needed to obtain a satellite connection faster than simple telephone service. More-3ver. such links were in short supply, and service at sea cost as much as $10 per minute. I hose limitations arc disappearing. The coming torrent ol high- speed data from space should be a great blessing for individuals and corporations around the world. It will be especially important in developing countries such as Brazil. India find China, which do not have extensive fiber optic networks.
I he key innovation for handling the growing demand is the phasecl-array'1 antenna. This sophisticated electronic device, used until now mainly for military communications, consists of multiple transmitting elements arranged in a fixed geometric array. Arrays can be programmed to send a grid of electronically formed radio beams to track moving targets or, alternatively, to receive signals from only certain directions.
Mounted on satellites, phased arrays can steer beams as little as half a degree across toward their intended recipients. Moreover, they are fully "adaptive": under the control of onboard supercomputers the si/.e of a shoebox that are now being built, they will be continually re-programmed. This flexibility began a decade ago with modified parabolic1 antennas, and the trend will continue.
Satellites of the 21st century will thus be able to "reuse" the same slice of spectrum many times over.
The old saying goes like this: Facts speak louder than words. It denotes whatever you do and say, you cannot alter facts. Facts are facts.
I will give you the definition of facts. Facts are things that are known to have happened or to be true or to exist. Obviously, it tells us that we cannot alter what have happened and we are unable to alter truth. Whatever we do, we must keep the following truth in mind: call a spade a spade. It was put forward by Chairman Mao and practiced to be true. One good example shows that facts are stubborn things. For instance, an old lonely lady keeps a pet dog. The old lady lived with the pet dog for a long time. They are like mother and son, they are sincere friends. But one day the dog left the old lady forever. Although the old lady wishes it would be with her all the time, facts are facts and the dog will never come back. Facts cannot alter with your wishes, inclinations and passions.
On the other hand, wishes, inclinations and dictates of our passions are subjective desire. They can only influence or alter what will happen, but not what have happened i. e. facts. For example, one high school student hopes to enter a key college, and he will work hard to take it into reality. Whatever the result it is, it has not happened. At least, it is not fact at now. So wishes, inclinations and dictates of our passions can only influence what will happen, not facts.
The following is a letter to the editor of a local newspaper; "As a local merchant, I wish to support the development of a ski resort in the state park north of our township. Along with many other merchants who favor the proposal by Ski the Slopes, Incorporated, I would, of course, experience a growth in my business. But I also know how much more prosperous, not to mention lively and interesting, our community would be if tourism increased. Since the main opposition comes from a few environmentalists who do not even live in this community, I see no reason to give in to their views. The First National Bank has finally researched the project and agreed to fund it. As a result, I see no reason to delay the development of the resort.
The argument in this letter is not adequately reasoned and so is not convincing enough. To develop a ski re-sort one must take into account various factors, including both its positive and negative effects. In order to obtain approval and support one has to present convincing argument that the positive effects outweigh the negative ones.
In the first place, this letter only very generally states that tourism will make the community more prosperous and lively. But how exactly will the ski resort contribute to the prosperity? The letter offers no detailed explanation, the lack of which engenders others' doubt that the project has been carefully and thoroughly planned and examined. People cannot see clearly where the benefits are. The statement is too vague and not specific enough.
On the other hand, the argument is not inclusive. As a merchant, he may support the development because his business will experience a growth. However, the support from merchants and even the fund from the Bank cannot stand for the advocacy from the majority. Because both merchants and banks concern much more about the profits and interests than other consequences. Negative effects, such as pollution, for more tourists will pro-duce more waste, more automobile accidents, for the roads will become more crowded due the increase of people, and accommodation problems for tourist have to fine somewhere to live, and so on. These serious consequences if neglected may undermine the development of the whole community. Only when people are assured that the project will not bring these problems, or that efficient ways have been worked out if ever any problems are caused. However, the argument fails to assure people.
In addition, the opposition from the environmentalists is valid even though they do not live in the community. Because environmental protection is not somebody's business. All the people of the world live under the same sun and walk on the same earth and breathe in the same air. One cannot stop the polluted air from flowing one community to another. Environmental protection is everybody's business. The above reasoning ignores the objection only because the environmentalists do not live in that community is obviously groundless.
In short, the support from merchants and the bank dose not implicate the support from the whole community. The prosperity to be brought about by the ski resort is not substantiated. All this, together with the opposition from the environmentalists, makes the conclusion that there is no reason to delay the development of the resort less cogent and ill-reasoned.
It's not uncommon that we are bothered by the small black creatures coming to our tables on which we left some sugar. It's the same small creatures that we often see running back and forth on the ground. What are they? Right, they are ants. There are many kinds of ants in the world. They're the most hard-working creatures.
Have you ever observed the activities of ants? It is very interesting. The ant is a kind of tiny animal that lives on leaves, or other animals' bodies. Ants are the kind of creatures that have the spirit of co-operation. If one ant scouting in the grass finds the trail of an injured beetle, the news spreads in some mysterious way. Soon after there are two ants, then a few more. Then a dozen or more are running around the beetle. When the beetle is dead, the ants work together to carry it away to their nest although the beetle is many times as big as an ant.
Ants live in a big underground nest like a large family. The family's master is a queen. She lays eggs, and other ants all serve her whole-heartedly. The other ants are workers. They can be divided into four groups according to size, each of which performs a particular kind of jobs. The nursing of the young ants is done by the smallest workers. The larger ones are responsible for cleaning the nest. The second largest do the construction work and collect fresh leaves from the outside the nest. As for the largest ones, they are the soldier ants, responsible for defending the nest.
Ants work throughout their lives like industrious people. Most ants work from six o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock at night. The work is divided among the worker ants so that each one has a certain amount to do. We do not know how they decide what each one is to do, for they do not talk. Some people think ants follow each other by their sense of smell.
First of all, all the children would have waited in an orderly line. Everyone would have taken one turn and would have been expected to get off after one ride. If a child wanted another ride, he would have had to go to the end of the line again. Everyone would have understood that the procedure had to be fair to everyone and not be based on bullying.
As conditions in big cities become more crowded, traditional etiquette and rules of acceptable verbal and nonverbal communication behavior may face major challenges. The pushing and shoving on Japanese subways, as was pointed out earlier, do not fit the traditional value of personal distance and harmony. Japan is not the only country that must deal with a breakdown of traditional behaviors. In Mexico City, for example, the subways are overcrowded with commuters on weekdays during rush hour and with families on weekends. Traditionally, unrelated Mexican men and women do not mix in public. In particular, unmarried women are protected by their families to preserve their virtue. In this traditional environment, men are seen as protectors of women and women are expected to behave modestly and shy away from public places.
In modern Mexico many women, young and old, married and single, have jobs. They must get to and from work on their own without any chaperon or male protector. In the past young women moving about on their own were suspected of dishonorable behavior. Men knew that such women did not require the same courteous treatment they extended to their own sisters. Today the lines are blurred, and many men do not know how to behave. In this case the changing social environment has had a profound influence on nonverbal communication. During rush hour many female riders were being molested by men in overcrowded subway cars. The solution was to separate women and men on the subway during rush hour. Now men are not allowed into cars reserved for women, and women who go into the men's cars do so at their own risk. The crowded conditions encouraged nonverbal behavior that was not acceptable in normal circumstances. As the environment of a culture changes, society must reevaluate its standards of nonverbal communication and develop safeguards to protect those standards.
Behavior in public spaces is carried over into offices and business practices. One cannot separate general cultural behavior from business behavior. The two go together. The way we approach people and the way we deal with space and issues of privacy have deep cultural roots. We may not agree with or like what others do. That is not the issue; the point is that we must understand what the others are doing and why they are doing it.
First of all, all the children would have waited in an orderly line. Everyone would have taken one turn and would have been expected to get off after one ride. If a child wanted another ride, he would have had to go to the end of the line again. Everyone would have understood that the procedure had to be fair to everyone and not be based on bullying.
As conditions in big cities become more crowded, traditional etiquette and rules of acceptable verbal and nonverbal communication behavior may face major challenges. The pushing and shoving on Japanese subways, as was pointed out earlier, do not fit the traditional value of personal distance and harmony. Japan is not the only country that must deal with a breakdown of traditional behaviors. In Mexico City, for example, the subways are overcrowded with commuters on weekdays during rush hour and with families on weekends. Traditionally, unrelated Mexican men and women do not mix in public. In particular, unmarried women are protected by their families to preserve their virtue. In this traditional environment, men are seen as protectors of women and women are expected to behave modestly and shy away from public places.
In modern Mexico many women, young and old, married and single, have jobs. They must get to and from work on their own without any chaperon or male protector. In the past young women moving about on their own were suspected of dishonorable behavior. Men knew that such women did not require the same courteous treatment they extended to their own sisters. Today the lines are blurred, and many men do not know how to behave. In this case the changing social environment has had a profound influence on nonverbal communication. During rush hour many female riders were being molested by men in overcrowded subway cars. The solution was to separate women and men on the subway during rush hour. Now men are not allowed into cars reserved for women, and women who go into the men's cars do so at their own risk. The crowded conditions encouraged nonverbal behavior that was not acceptable in normal circumstances. As the environment of a culture changes, society must reevaluate its standards of nonverbal communication and develop safeguards to protect those standards.
Behavior in public spaces is carried over into offices and business practices. One cannot separate general cultural behavior from business behavior. The two go together. The way we approach people and the way we deal with space and issues of privacy have deep cultural roots. We may not agree with or like what others do. That is not the issue; the point is that we must understand what the others are doing and why they are doing it.
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