Serenity Ruined

       In these days every news channel air the disasters in Japan. The videos show the wave of destruction engulfed Sendei are ones of the most striking I had ever seen. Now the Northeast Japan was ruined and won't recover in a short period of time. It seems it is impossible for tourists to enter the remote land to see compelling attractions.

      Almost every year I transferred flight in Tokyo. I could easily enter the Japanese boarder and stay two or three days, but I chose not to do that. I'd like to visit culture-rich and low profile locations. Tokyo is obviously not on my list. Most of these cities are located in Northeast and Kansai areas. The journey to Kansai five years ago was so impressive that I can still remember the seren filling in the air in Kyoto and Nara. It is fortunate both old cities remain intact.

Wakayama Castle keep (和歌山城)

Japanese Cuisine

Gion (祇園)

Arashiyama Togetsukyo Bridge (嵐山渡月橋)

Tenryu-ji (天龍寺)

Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera (音羽山清水寺)

Todai-ji (東大寺)

Osaka Castle(大阪城)

I don't remember exactly where the street is. Maybe it's the road to Kiyomizu-dera.



Downtown Osaka

自由，民主與資本主義(一)

        自由與民主兩者經常以併稱的方式出現，甚至可能被視為一個名詞。原因即在於現存政治體制，兩者可說是同存的。故此處試圖論證兩者之位階，並演繹出兩個原則。

原則一. 自由為民主之基礎，即前者位階高於後者。即便在寬鬆的條件之下，此立論仍然成立。

推論:
        首先將民主定義為多數統治。試想有個虛擬社會，其中有n個公民。所有人都服從多數統治，但沒有自由權利。第一次投票選項有兩個，選項獲得過半數者獲採納。兩項選項內容為，只要本選項獲半數以上支持，支持本選項者即有在第二次投票日外出的權利。所以第一次投票結果，最多有n/2-1的人無法參與第二次投票。由於必須所有人都需遵守多數決，故第二次投票的人數必然減少。複製同樣的投票內容，最快在第二次投票，最慢在n/2+1(當n為偶數)或者n/2進位到下個整數時(當n為奇數時)，就有超過半數者無法參與下一次的投票。只有少於半數者能進行投票的狀態，恰與多數統治牴觸。如果更一般化，將兩個選項擴張到m個選項(m<n)，則少數統治出現的速度將更快。據此，扣除以下所述例外情況下的嚴格條件，可知未以自由為基礎的民主，將演變為非民主。

例外:
1.當n=2，不論是兩人選擇相同或不同，都不會對雙方有所影響。
2.或是當n為偶數，n/2的人分別對不同選項有特別偏好，則兩個選項永遠處與平手的狀態，則民主得以延續。
3.m>n，則體系不穩定，有可能發生多數統治的崩壞，也有可能不會發生。如為前者，則不可預測何時會發生。


原則二. 自由可獨自存在

     在前一段推論中，已經隱含這個原則。此處將自由定義為多數民主國家之憲法所保障的項(但不包含工作權，這在日後可能談到)，且不可分割。在有自由而無民主的社會，任何群體接無法用多數決壓迫少數或個人。(當然，前題是自由可被保障。日後再談此兩定理的實際應用，此處只談理論)即使在這個社會，由多數決選出一位領導者，其將無所做為。因為沒有任何政策或多數決是無損自由的。因此，領導者的決定是隨機抽出或投票選出並無差別。這種情況，猶如數戶人家散佈在一座深山上，彼此不相往來。

Orient

      Again I saw it, the black cat. I slowly got closer and observed it. This time it didn’t run but just walked away. Its blind left eye and blight short fur reminded me the one-eyed swordsman in novels. Maybe next time it will let me touch it.

The visually disabled black cat never loses its elegance

      Few minutes later it started raining. Bad luck! I was about to shoot the cheery blossoms in the brickyard. Cheery trees bloom only once every year but flowers are gone in a sudden. 5 years ago I failed to catch the blossom season in Kyoto because of cold weather. In previous two spring breaks I cancelled the short trips to Washington DC for some reasons. This year I saw flower pedals falling on the ground with rains. What will happen next year?

      Due to the spring break, the library and dining halls closed earlier. So I had to home earlier to cook. I made a pair of onigiri. Just brush some soy sauce on triangle rice balls and toast them. Finally wrap them up with roasted dried seaweed. Nothing is easier than this.

Life today is too oriental oriented, have a scoop of ice cream to rebalance myself.

Toasted onigiri

Snack -Starbucks' coffee ice cream



The World of the Polar Bear

Title: The World of the Polar Bear
Author: Norbert Rosing
Publisher: Firefly Books

The World of the Polar Bear is more about the Arctic than it is aboutpolar bears. The author captured the most touching moments of the Arctic inhabitants' activities and breathtaking landscape by his technique and love to the Far North. Lots of reviews tried to introduce these photos in words, but they are far more magnificent than any word can describe. This book is a good example of the old saying: picture speaks a thousand words.The followings are selected photos.

The World of the Polar Bear (Hardcover)

Polar Bear Family (P.30)

Mother and kids. Where is the father? (P.31)

Harp seal pup (P.50)

An Arctic fox pup greets its father (P.93)

Picturques Hudson Bay-James Bay in the fall (P.125)

Sunset in Churchill (P.179)

An aurora glows in the sky (P.175)

The snugle bear loves this book, too



平淡的一週

Monday, February 14, 2011

傍晚下課後到Fountain Dining Hall用餐。見到入口處有玫瑰發送，才想起今天是某個節日。
因為氣候因素，玫瑰尚未完全綻開。但淡綠色的花苞又呈現另一種青澀美感。
兩邊用餐區各放了一座巧克力噴泉，還真符合Fountain Dining Hall這個名稱。
應景的巧克力蛋糕有點膩，不過配上新鮮薄荷葉滋味還算不錯，一時嘴饞吃了兩塊。
夜晚開車回家時，突然感覺車內有些空曠，明明這部是只有兩個座位的小車而已。
但駕駛座旁的座位的確是空了好一段時間，有隻貓也好啊。
不要想太多，在這個地方，撞鬼的機會可能還比較高。


Thursday, February 17, 2011

I enountered Robert Kane and Steve in the gym tonight.
They were about to leave, so I did not talk too much with them.
Every time when I see Robert, it seems he is fatter than he was.
I predict he weights over 220 pounds.
The world is always unequal even in terms of weight distribution.
Contrary to Robert's big stomach, my weight is bounded from above by 140 pounds.
Isn't wonderful if he could transfer 10 pounds to me?


Friday, February 18, 2011

有個技術性問題想去請教Pelletier，沒想到他卻大休半年，暑假過後才會回來。
和指導教授討論論文後，出研究室，在走廊遇到John Seater。
一身寬鬆大紅絲質襯衫，加上黑西裝褲，看似是下班後要直奔市區Pub。
走經director辦公室，大門緊閉，不是休假就是外出用餐未回，雖然現在是下午兩點了。
這些老師們之所以願意在大學月領四到五千美元，而不是業界的六千元起跳的薪水，
原因已經很清楚了。後者和前者之間的價差，就是沒有頂頭上司的價格。

Lunar New Year and Spring 2011

      Today Joe, Sean and I went to a long awaited new year party hosted by TSA. The joyful music performance and acceptable foods overwhelmed my anxiety for researches and the future for a while. Appreciate TSA’s effort.

35 Restaurant in Cary is (was) one of the best Chinese restaurants in Triangle Area

      The storms are sweeping half of states. The weather in Triangle is either cloudy or rainy in this week. Despite of the unusual climate, based on the lunar calendar, now is spring, a season of rebirth and renewal.

The snow of winter has gone,

the wind brings the odor of spring on and on.

A bear cub awakes from a long sleep,

seeking for a new field of his own.

Where is he going?

a plain with a lake far beyond.

暴風雨前夕

    演算了四個小時，用去四張白紙，還是沒有結果。這還只是一小題而已!到底是誰說這門課很輕鬆的!整個下午無所獲。

    晚上進行編程。模型越進階，編程方式越複雜冗長，反覆推敲，多次試行錯誤，仍是無解。思路幾乎進入淤塞狀態。

    十點走人，到體育館榨光今日僅存的體力。十一點回家，梳洗整理完畢已將近十二點。這時已經是昏昏欲睡。隔日又是類似的循環。接著還要搜尋論文資料，參加小型研討會...期初已經如此折騰，期中之後更難以想像。

　　開學前悲觀估計這學期日子不好過，實際情況似乎比預想更糟。兩年前負氣出走數學系，搞到自己系上一堆課沒修，現在可說是報應臨頭。

   但報應又如何?對於出走一事從沒後悔過。現在反要用在數學系所學以及耐心克服這學期。最慘也只是比照往例，再次閉關而已。成績已經不是重點，只是要對自己當初的決定負責。此外，要是我放棄了，有誰提供參考答案給眾同志。

願數學之神與我同在

7th floor West Wing, my colony in DH Hill Library