The Cost of Keeping Up With China

跟上中国的代价


An activist of The Communist Party of India grapples with police while taking part in a protest in New Delhi, January 8th 2007, against the death of villagers who were protesting against the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Nandigram in West Bengal.

2007年1月8日，印度共产党（马列）的一名支持者手举政治标语参加一个在新德里的示威活动，抗议一名反对特别经济区的农民的死亡，这个特别经济区建设在西Bengal的Nandigram.

Comparisons between India and China are probably inevitable. The Asian neighbors both boast more than a billion citizens, and both enjoy giddy economic growth rates. Both are also touted as future superpowers, although China is a lot closer to that status than India. But the two nations are also very different: one's an autocratic one-party state; the other a flawed but functioning democracy. Those differences have a huge impact on the way the two countries are growing. In simple terms, if China's rulers want to build a new highway they do. In India, well, it's more complicated.

One such complication is the focus of an internal report of the ruling Congress party leaked to the Indian press last week. The alleged report, whose very existence is denied by Congress officials, contends that the government's policy on Special Economic Zones — India's version of investment enclaves that offer tax incentives, good infrastructure and other benefits — may cost the party votes in future elections.

At first glance the promotion of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would seem unlikely to attract much controversy. Many developing countries have used such enclaves to encourage foreign investment and manufacturing growth. India was, in fact, the first country in Asia to demarcate a special economic enclave when it introduced an "export processing zone" in Gujarat in the mid 1960s. But in the past few years, the country has been playing catch-up with places such as China, which used SEZs to kick-start its own incredible economic expansion almost three decades ago. India attracts barely 10% of the foreign direct investment figure for China (although the two count investment in different ways), and wants to close the gap as rapidly as possible. Early last year, the Congress-led government passed a new SEZ law designed to speed up India's economy, in particular its manufacturing sector, by offering further incentives to prospective investors. Since then, hundreds of companies have applied to set up SEZs, with the government so far approving more than 200.

The problem is that many of the SEZs are on prime farming land. A few landowners are only too happy to sell up at a huge profit, but many poorer farmers and farm laborers are understandably opposed to having their livelihoods forcibly sold out from underneath them. Opposition to the SEZs is growing, and the consequences of that for the Congress, or any political party in India that hopes to win the rural vote — and given that a majority of Indians still live outside urban areas most parties do — could be particularly painful come polling day.

Although the Chinese authorities are mindful of the danger of a socially disruptive backlash by poor rural citizens, there are no national elections to worry about. "Voting is a much more immediate, more powerful threat," says Indian economic analyst Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. "And even when there's no election looming, Indians can put pressure on their representatives to have the bureaucrats transferred if they don't like them. In China you have a one-party state so that's a bit harder."

And it's not only farmers that India's politicians have to worry about. Opposition to the SEZs is coming even from free-market reformists. Most of India's newest investment zones are much smaller than China's and may not be economically viable in the long term. The tax breaks, which include a five-year holiday on profits tax and exemption from import and excise duty, are also much more generous than those in other countries. Critics of India's approach worry that its SEZs will not attract new investment but merely suck in investment already headed to India while hurting tax revenues. Also, India's Special Economic Zones have so far attracted mostly info-tech companies and not the employee-hungry manufacturers the country's unemployed had hoped for.

Perhaps stung by the mounting criticism, the Congress-led government this week decided to stop approving new SEZ applications until it can sort out some of the more contentious issues. There is talk that New Delhi will force any company operating in an SEZ to export at least half of its production. Whatever India's leaders do, you can be sure they will have one eye on public opinion, a handicap their Chinese counterparts rarely have to deal with.

Did Honest Abe Have Nerves of Glass?

Mutant gene that leads to the shattering of nerve cells in worms could shed light on a rare neurodegenerative disorder known to run in President Lincoln's family.

Some contemporaries of Abraham Lincoln described the 16th U.S. president as exhibiting awkward mannerisms and a clumsy gait. About a year ago, researchers at the University of Minnesota announced the discovery of a gene for a rare neurodegenerative disorder called spinocerebellar ataxia type 5 (SCA5)—which can strike between early childhood and old age, affecting speech, writing and/or movement—in a family descended from Lincoln. Scientists say the president himself had a one-in-four chance of suffering from the disease, which affects about 0.005 percent of people and stems from a gene mutation that produces a protein called beta spectrin.

Now, University of Utah researchers studying mutant nematode worms, whose nerves literally break due to their inability to express beta spectrin, may explain the coordination deficits observed in Lincoln's progeny. The group reports its findings in the January 29 issue of The Journal of Cell Biology.

Researchers studied mutant nematodes as embryos, newborns and one-day-olds to see the effect of a beta spectrin deficiency on nerve cells. Using a jellyfish gene to illuminate the worms' neurons, the team found that there was little to no breakage in the nerve cells in embryonic nematodes. Nematodes that had just hatched, however, showed 26 percent breakage and day-olds had damage to 60 percent of their nerve cells.

Each of these breakages occurred at the neuron's axon, a thin fiber that the cell uses to send electrical impulses to neighboring cells. As a cell grows, the cell body sends out a long, wirelike extension called a growth cone, which drags the axon (and thus the cell body) behind it as it searches for a target junction, or synapse, where it can communicate with other cells. "It's kind of like one of those trucks that lays down cable that's connected back to the cell body," study co-author and biology postdoctoral student Marc Hammarlund says. The researchers observed branching of axons as well as errant new growth cones—indicating that the nerve cells had attempted to repair themselves. This suggested beta spectrin is not part of the development of healthy nerve cells, but plays a role in maintaining them.

In another strain of nematode, the authors deleted the beta spectrin gene—known as unc-70—as well as two genes that controlled muscle contraction. The latter deletions caused this family of worms to be paralyzed. Interestingly, the sedentary animals showed no damage to their axons, despite the fact that beta spectrin was nowhere to be found. Clearly, the authors concluded, the protein's role must be in preventing breakage of the axons during movement.

"These animals are constantly in motion—swimming around, eating," Hammarlund says. "Just like when you move or I move—every time you move your arm or your leg, your neurons have to stretch to keep up. And when these animals move, their neurons can't stretch, and they snap instead."

The researchers raise the point that a similar snapping of the nerves could be the cause behind SCA5—meaning this brittleness may have plagued Lincoln.

Laura Runum, a human geneticist at the University of Minnesota and the senior investigator on the study that found the SCA5 gene, says there is no evidence that the current finding relates to the neurodegenerative disorder. "In the worm model, they are missing beta spectrin, and in the human there are multiple types of beta spectrin—we're not missing any of the spectrin, but the sequence of the protein has changed," Runum says. "Any kind of link to Lincoln's frazzled nerves is really missing a whole bunch of steps from worms to humans, first of all, and then back on to the president."

Hammarlund agrees that the link between the mutation of spectrin in worms and SCA5 in humans is a possibility at best, but says it seems plausible given that SCA5 is characterized by a nervous system disorder in the arms and legs "That's just an idea," he insists. "That would have to be confirmed by future experiments."

Snake Bites the Toxic Toad That Feeds It--and Spreads Its Poison

It sounds like something straight out of a video game: A snake collects toxin by biting a poisonous toad and uses that venom as a defense against hawks and other predators. But that is exactly what researchers say the Asian snake Rhabdophis tigrinus does, based on studies of glandular fluid from hatchlings and adult snakes on two Japanese islands.

Some R. tigrinus snakes carry toxins called bufadienolides in their nuchal glands, sacks located under a ridge of skin along their upper necks. When threatened, they arch their necks, exposing the poisonous ridge to an antagonist. The clawing and biting of hawks and other predators most likely rips the skin and lets the poison ooze out, potentially blinding the snake's attackers, says herpetologist Deborah Hutchinson of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. "It might not kill the predator but it would be noxious enough to deter predation," she says.

A few years ago, based on the snakes' defensive habits on different islands, Japanese researchers proposed that R. tigrinus may acquire its toxin from toads. Acquiring poison secondhand is not unheard of. The monarch butterfly is famous for harvesting its defensive poison from milkweed insects, and certain brightly colored poisonous frogs collect their toxin from mites, but Hutchinson says such cases in vertebrates are rare.

To find out if toads are indeed the source of the snake venom, Hutchinson and her colleagues raised R. tigrinus hatchlings on a diet of toads or fish. Most of the young snakes contained little or no poison in their nuchal glands at birth. They quickly accumulated toxin, however, after just days of feeding on poisonous Bufo quercicus toads, the researchers report in a paper published online January 29 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

The finding fits with the group's other principal observation: snakes living on the toad-free island of Kinkazan contain no bufadienolides in their nuchal glands, while those on the toad haven of Ishima are rich in poison.

Hutchinson says the snakes may have a hard time evolving a more sophisticated way of secreting their toxin. The nuchal glands come from a different embryonic layer than other vertebrate skin glands, which typically synthesize their own fluids and have ducts for emitting it, she says. The snakes, though, don't seem to be complaining about their peculiar glands. "They work pretty well for the snakes as they are," she says.

梦想照进现实

2006级的还没认全，2007级的就要来了！俗话说，“铁打的营盘流水的兵”，“一代新人换旧人”。看到行将进入法大的“90后”的学弟学妹们，我们这些已经开始“奔三”的师兄师姐们后背似乎感到有些发麻，子曾经曰过：岁月是无情的。曾几何时我们也被誉为“早上八九点钟的太阳”，这不没几年的光景，就快成了落日余辉了。

高中同学已有相夫教子的了，可是我们还在学校里装清纯，想想就觉得“怪”。记得有位师弟说过，他的一个小学时的同学现在在作搬运工，自己却一副书生装扮，差别实在太大。可不是吗？这人与人的差距，有的时候的确要比人与猿猴的差距大。不能比啊！

书归正传。看到07级的学弟学妹，就知道什么叫稚气，什么叫年轻了。已经过了“花季雨季”的年龄，无论如何都不可能这样“嫩”了，哪怕穿着童装也不会被人当作儿童了。前几年，邻家小孩儿管我叫“哥哥”，现如今都改叫“叔叔”了，这辈份也升得忒快了些吧！？虽然我还是面带微笑，点头回应，但是心里别提多难受，要知道在中国人观念中“一代人”的概念是相差15岁呢！我和那些管我叫“叔叔”的小盆友们可差不了那么多，每当向友人抱怨被这些“不懂规矩”的小孩儿时，他们总会说我是“老黄瓜刷绿漆——装嫩”。是吗？我是“老黄瓜”，咿~~~才不是，我......我....“不细看问题不大，主要是面部老化”，其实我的心理年龄也就是十三、四、五、六、七的样子啦~~~~呵呵！

玩笑归玩笑，看到江山代有人才出，我们作学长学姐的，还是很高兴的。至少我们的床铺后继有人，哪天我时来运转了，发了大（“大”字请重读）财，谁继承我的床位，我就资助谁上学，上北大、上牛津、上哈佛、上月球，圆我多年前想过但未曾实现过的梦想........盖“梦想”者，晚上做梦时所想也，看看表，不早了，还是洗洗睡吧......梦里继续想。ZZZZZ

Democrats: Middle class 'losing its place at the table'

民主党：中产阶级失去了他们在谈判桌上的地位


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congressional Democrats challenged President Bush on Tuesday night to take "the right kind of action" on the Iraq war and the economy, and promised to back him if he does.

民主党国会议员周二挑战布什总统在伊拉克战争和经济政策中采取一种正确的行动，并承诺如果他这样做就会支持他的。

"If he does not," Virginia Sen. Jim Webb said in the Democrats' official response to Bush's State of the Union address, "we will be showing him the way."

“如果他不这样做，”弗吉尼亚参议员Webb在民主党官方回应布什国情咨文时说，“我们会观听其言，观其行的。”

Webb's speech ignored other key issues Bush touched on - such as health care and energy - to focus on foreign policy and economic disparity.

Webb的演讲忽视了布什提到的其他关键问题——如医疗卫生和能源问题——而聚焦于外交政策和经济发展差异。

Webb cited the actions of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, who took on economic imbalances Webb compared to today's, and Dwight Eisenhower, who brought an end to the Korean War.

Webb 援引罗斯福总统的措施，他解决了经济不平衡，Webb对比了如今的情况。他还提到了艾森豪威尔结束了朝鲜战争。

"Those presidents took the right kind of action," Webb said, "for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world." Webb said the positive aspects of the American economy "are not being fairly shared."

"这些总统都采取了正确措施，"Webb说，“为了美国人民的福祉和为了全世界范围内的我们民族的健康。”他说这些美国经济积极的一面“现在没有被公平的分享。”

He noted that wages and salaries are low related to national wealth, college tuition rates are high and much of the country's manufacturing jobs are heading out of the country.

他指出，工资和薪金偏低，与之相关的国家财富和教育开支比例偏高，很多国家人力职位被转移出了这个国家。

"In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table," Webb said.He touted the House's recent passage of a bill to raise the minimum wage as an example of the way forward.

“简单说，我们这个国家的中产阶级，我们历史的脊梁和我们未来建设强大社会的最大希望，正在失去他们的地位，”Webb说。他探听到白宫最近通过的一项法律，旨在提高最低工资作为采取进一步举措的例子。

"We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines," he said. "We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons." On the foreign policy front, Webb directed his remarks to the president's current strategy in Iraq and his plan to increase U.S. forces there by more than 20,000 troops.

“我们已经建立其合作与一致的基调，突破了党派的界限，”他说。“我们为做正确的事情，为正确的人和正确的理由而工作。”在外国政策方面，Webb直接批评总统当前在伊拉克的策略和增兵至少20000的计划。

Displaying a photograph of his father as an Air Force captain more than 50 years ago, Webb said that the nation's elected officials owe American troops "sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for (their) welfare, (and) a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it."

在展示了其父在50多年前当美国空军上尉时的一张照片后，Webb说这个过的选举机构欠美国的军队公正的评价、清晰的思维，关注他们的福利以及安全保证，这个对我们国家的威胁与我们可能花在防卫上的金钱是等值。

Bush went to war 'recklessly' 布什卤莽地发动了战争

"The president took us into this war recklessly," he said, adding that Bush disregarded warnings from several current and former officials about the cost of the war in Iraq. "We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable -- and predicted -- disarray that has followed."

“总统卤莽地让我们卷进了战争，”他说，此外布什不理会来自一些现任和前任官员关于伊拉克战争成本的警告。“作为一个国家，我们现在被当作可预见的——已经预见到了的尽随其后的混乱局面的人质。”

The country has paid the price financially, in damage to the nation's reputation, in "the precious blood of our citizens" and in "lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism," said Webb, who was an early opponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and whose son is a Marine serving in Iraq's Anbar province.

这个国家已经花了很多钱在破坏这个国家的名誉上，“在我国公民宝贵的生命里，失去了打败国际恐怖势力的机会上，”Webb说，他是2003年入侵伊拉克的最早的反对者，他的儿子是驻扎在伊拉克ANBAR省的海军后勤人员。

Noting polls that show a majority of Americans opposing the war in Iraq, he said the country needs "a new direction."

中期选举的投票已经证明了大多数的美国人是反对伊拉克战争的，他说我们的国家需要一个新的“方向”。

"Not one step back from the war against international terrorism," he said. "Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong, regionally based diplomacy -- a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chose Webb to deliver the response in part because he's a Vietnam veteran and former Republican secretary of the Navy. His surprise victory over former Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, helped lock up Democratic control of the Senate.

众议院发言人南茜和参议院多数党领袖哈里选择Webb来发表回应部分原因是他是越战老兵和共和党的前海军部长。他突然战胜右佛吉尼亚的前参议院乔治，帮助民主党锁定在参议院的胜局。

Pelosi and Reid issued a joint statement after the president's speech. They promised a vote to measure confidence in Bush's Iraq strategy.

pelosi和Reid在总统演讲后发表联合声明，他希望投票将会调整总统在的伊拉克政策上的信心。

"While the president continues to ignore the will of the country, Congress will not ignore this president's failed policy," they said. "His plan will receive an up-or-down vote in both the House and the Senate, and we will continue to hold him accountable for changing course in Iraq."

“当布什总统继续忽略国家的意志，国会不会忽视总统失败的政策，”他们说。“他的计划将会收到在参众两院投票上升或降低的结果，我们会继续让他解释伊拉克正在改变的进程。”

A prominent critic of the president's Iraq policy, Rep. D-Pennsylvania, said he wanted specifics from Bush. "It's not enough to make broad proposals," Murtha said. "We need details of how we can get to where the president wants to take us."

作为最早批评总统伊拉克政策的人士，共和党的XXX说，他希望从布什哪里得到特效药，“但是制定一个宽泛的计划是不够的”，Murtha说。“我们需要的是，如何才能到达总统想带领我们前往的地方的细节。”

Earlier in the day, Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean said Bush "should have thought about the consequences of failure before he went into Iraq."

在当天早些时候，民主党主席DEAN说，布什应当在他发动伊拉克战争前就想到这个失败的结局。

"We need to end this misadventure in Iraq," Dean said on CNN's "The Situation Room."

我们需要结束这种在伊拉克的无为冒险，Dean在CNN的“局势分析室”节目中说。

"We need to do it carefully and thoughtfully -- we can't bring the troops all home at once -- but we need to go in the opposite direction from where the president wants to take the country," he said.

“我们需要认真地和深思熟虑地去做事，我们不能把全国的军队一次全部带回来，总统想要占领这个国家的愿望上，但我们需要采取与之相反的措施。”

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, who is seeking the 2008 Republican nomination for president, sharply criticized Bush's proposal for an immigrant "guest worker" program. "I am disappointed but not surprised that the president has once again chosen to trot out this same old pig -- albeit one with a slightly new shade of lipstick," Tancredo said. "If there is one thing this president seems intent on demonstrating to the American public again and again, it is that he is utterly tone deaf.

来自北卡罗莱纳主准备角逐共和党2008年总统候选人提名的Tom Tancredo，强烈的批评布什总统一个有关移民的“客居工作者”计划的建议。“我们很遗憾但是并不吃惊，总统再一次选择了涉及这个老问题——既然已经有了一个带有些许新的口红印记，”Tancredo说。“如果总统看起来再三试图管制美国公众，那就说明他完全是个音盲。”

"The president and his new Democratic allies in Congress seem hell-bent on cramming this mass amnesty down the throats of the American people whether they want it or not." Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is considering a run for the Democratic nomination, said, "I think it's important to respond in a constructive way."

“总统和他在国会的新的民主党联盟看上去决心在美国人民的喉咙塞满大量的赦免，不论他们是否想要。”伊利诺伊州参议员Barack说，他也正在考虑参选民主党总统提名的选举，“我认为重要的是对重建之路的回应。”

"But the last election proved that politics-by-slogan and poll-tested sound bites aren't going to cut it with the American people anymore, and that's why the real test of leadership is not what the president said to Congress tonight, but how he works with Congress to find real solutions to the problems we face."

“但是最近的选举表明政治口号和听起来尖锐的投票测试不再能用美国人民来取胜，这就是为什么真正检验领导能力的不是总统今天晚上对国会发表的演说，而是他将如何和国会合作寻求我们所面临问题的真正解决办法。”

感恩戴德热水情——记中国政法大学解决学生“喝水难”问题

在寒冷的冬季能及时喝上一杯热水取暖，在学习疲惫之时能冲上一杯热咖啡提神，是中国政法大学广大学生多少年来的夙愿。由于中国政法大学用电负荷的原因，学生寝室无法安装饮水机，为了保证有热水喝，每天按时到开水房打开水成大多数法大学生日常生活的一部分。而在这个有近10000名学生的学校里，总共只有一个开水房。于是在中国政法大学，人们常能见到去上教室学习的学生手中总是提着大大小小的暖瓶，由于教学楼不能为学生提供开水，而教师休息室的饮水机也只为老师服务，所以学生们要解决喝水问题只能自行带水去教室了。这对于很多同学来说，是十分不方便的。虽然此前学校在教学楼里安放了保温桶，但是毕竟水量有限且不能持久保证温度。

同学们在教学楼学习时喝水难的问题，深深触动了学校领导和后勤工作人员的心。虽然身在办公室能方便喝上纯净水，但是学校领导和老师们却一直在为同学们在生活和学习中遇到的不便而焦心万分，他们想同学们之所想，急同学们之所急。在学校财政经费紧张的情况下，中国政法大学毅然决然地采取措施，花巨资购买了一台先进的电热水炉，安置在教学楼中，免费供应开水。

不要小看这仅有的一台热水炉，它的出现极大满足了同学们喝水的需求。在教学楼学习的同学可以方便地去那里打开水，泡茶和冲咖啡。喝水方便了，同学们学习的积极性被调动起来了。中国政法大学法学院梅贞华同学感慨地说，“以前喝光了上自习带去的水，只能去商店买水或渴着，一来花费不少，二来也影响了学习的效率，现在能及时打到开水，我很高兴，学习再无后顾之忧了。”而正是中国政法大学落实“以学生为中心，为教学服务”这一办学理念的具体体现。

小小热水炉蕴涵着多少的关怀，它给法大学子带去的不仅仅是一杯杯滚烫的热水，还有学校领导和老师们对他们真挚的关爱之情。中国政法大学民商经济法学院单片仁同学接受采访时动情地说，每当我在炉前排队打开水的时候，我都会想到那些为了能让我们能尽早喝上热水而辛勤工作的老师们，都会想到将学生冷暖时刻挂在心尖的校领导们，他们为了学校的发展日夜操劳，夙夜无寐，却还在操心我们喝水的事情，让我们十分感动。

而中国政法大学的领导和老师们却认为，“群众利益无小事”，孩子们的事再小也是大事。喝水难的问题，在某些人眼中可能并不算什么大事。但就是这台小小的电热水炉缓解了多少矛盾，又给多少人带去了温暖的甘泉，正如中国政法大学政治与公共管理学院的艾凤城同学所说的那样，喝下去的热水，温暖的不仅是同学们的身体，还有他们的心。

有关专家在谈到中国政法大学此项便民之举时说，为学生安装热水炉充分体现了中国政法大学以人为本的管理理念，致力于构建和谐校园的决心。中国政法大学际法学院的甄努力同学说，建设和谐社会是一项庞大的系统工程，实现这一宏伟目标需要平日里一砖一瓦，点点滴滴的工作，他们期待着学校今后能出台更多的便民举措，期待着法大的“和谐校园”的目标早日实现。

考试、回家、回忆及杂想

游击战似的自习模式对于在法大混了一千多天的我来说，简直轻车熟路。像侦察兵一般，窥探着在大教室都被用于考试的时候，哪里还有一席容身之地。不过还好，每次都能找到座位，在这里要感谢那些占座不来的朋友，没有你们，就没有我的座位。你们辛苦的劳动，使我有了学习的那一张小桌。

还有几天就可以回家，俺娘就已经开始为我回家做准备了，说是已经买好了牛肉，等我到家就能吃上牛肉干了，还说这次买的是牛脸部和后腿的肉。想到这里，就让我口水直流。真是知子莫如母啊。哈哈，俺爹就不怎么管我，每次通电话也只是说好好学习，没钱了就跟家里说。看似冷酷，其实还是能体会到父亲对儿子关爱的，只是他不善于像俺娘那样煽情。



三表哥去年底去日本工作了，临走前给我打电话，我没接着，只是发短信让他多保重。听姨妈说，表哥在日本也不宽裕，工资不高，和“嫂子”（还没结婚）两个人的钱加在一起是很紧的。希望他们多保重吧！想想今年过年，姨妈一定会很伤感的。

小时候以前玩的这些表亲戚家的孩子们，才转眼几年啊，就各奔东西了，结婚的结婚，出国的出国，在外工作的也很少能见面。即便是过年，也只是匆匆一晤。真怕感情会生疏。现在只有两个表妹在读书，一个念高四补习班，一个念小学二年级。今年过年回家还能和她俩多聊聊，其实这两年，过年回家，都是我带着上高中的表妹，领着最小的那个妹妹去吃KFC，而其他的兄弟姐妹都不能同时相见或一起出去吃东西，感觉挺遗憾的。现在有的时候，还能想起小时候和哥哥姐姐们一起玩的场景，挣抢玩具，偷吃东西，讲鬼故事，一起去看电影.........而他们中现在有的已经有下一代了.........

话题扯远了，当下要紧的是复习考试。可恶的考试，不过我觉得考试的确是巩固知识的一种途径，在复习的过程中，很多知识点得到强化。

身边不少同学都是平时不学习，临考试押重点狂看书了应付考试，他们的书都是崭新的， 甚至有的人都没有书。如果说他们平时把注意力放到看其他知识的学习上也还有情可原，而事实上，不乏有同学是在那台靠11110000111111000001111的电流变化运转的机器前度过了自己的大部分时光。很可惜啊！

要我说，有这时间要不看书，要不就花前月下，实在不应该围着台机器练习指尖的力量啊！

饿肚子

今天中午饿了肚子，只吃了两口米饭。学校食堂的饭菜实在让人难以下咽，看着就没有食欲。我想也许是心情决定胃口吧，最近总是郁郁寡欢的，想想看每个人都有自己的生活轨迹，相近但不能相遇，只是擦身而过。但如果注定是没有缘分的，有何必要让我们相识呢？徒增我的痛苦，对方的欢愉吗？

面朝食堂，按时开饭

食堂发慈悲，元旦饭菜都是半价的。这项惠民政策，可乐死了不少人呢，据说出现了排队买鸡腿的情况，广大人民群众被压抑已久的饭量被充分开发起来了。可喜可贺。本公子，依旧保持着往日的风度，没有加入买鸡腿、水果和饮料的排队长龙中去。还是二两米饭，一份小菜，一碗南瓜粥，简朴如免费汤一般。

在我独自享受晚饭之时，又两个女生坐到了我的身边。一个女生穿戴时尚，另一个女生甚是朴素。时尚的女生烫着眼下比较流行的发型，我不懂它的正式叫法，不过敝寝室的胖子管这种发型叫“烧焦烫”，因为头发的卷曲程度像是被烧焦了一般。另一个女生是齐肩发，不过似乎是有几天没有洗发了。这样说一个女孩子真是不好意思，但的确她秀发的末端已明显地分成了几缕，看来是油性发质呀。

梳着烧焦发型的时尚女孩点了三份菜，一素二荤。朴素女生只有一份菜，是素的。两人相对而坐。偶有交谈。时尚女孩说着元旦假期进城逛街的安排，打算买一双靴子。朴素女生埋头吃饭，静静地听着，然后轻轻地说了一声，路上注意安全，天寒路滑的。那口吻，就好像是得知朋友要外出见世面，自己却不能去，只能为对方祝福，带着些许的羡慕。

时尚女孩优雅地用勺子搅拌着碗中的米饭，似乎觉得眼前的饭菜品种虽多，但却也没什么可下口的，一次送往嘴中的也就是几粒米吧。朴素女生的饭菜很清淡，没有什么油水，但这丝毫不影响她大快朵颐。几口下去，朴素女生的饭就已经吃完了，居然比我这个大男生吃得还要快，而且吃得十分干净。时尚女孩还有一份菜没吃呢，于是朴素女生就在看着自己的朋友慢慢吃。时尚女孩抱怨着，菜太油腻了，朴素女生无言以对。这时，有人从一旁经过，说：“又没买到鸡腿。”朴素女孩似乎感觉有话要说了，她嗯了几下后笑道：我开学时就要吃鸡腿，现在还没吃上。呵呵….. 时尚女孩想必是知道些什么，报以微笑，并无他话，然后继续埋头挑菜。

其实也就挑了几下吧，时尚女孩不吃了，虽然那盆菜只是略微动了几下。时尚女孩把自己吃的四个饭盆垒在一起，然后推到了朴素女生那边，自顾自的收拾手提包和整理衣服，先行向门口走去。朴素女生习惯性地收拾了碗筷，背起自己的书包，跟在时尚女孩身后，将全部的饭盆送去了门口的碗筷台。

Happy new year 2007

新年第一天，外面阳光灿烂，我的心情也好了很多，昨晚的孤独和空虚终于过去了，感谢LB同学陪着我度过新年，否则我可能就睡觉了。繁华世界，芸芸众生，谓知己者谁？节日不节日的并不重要，重要的是要让自己开心，让一年来的所有不愉快都随着日历的最后一页一同被撕去。幸福的人是一样的，不幸福的人各有各的不幸福。昨天听了一档音乐节目，主持人说，人的幸福感和物质生活条件没有太大的关系，那是一种心境，欲望越低，就越容易感觉到幸福。所谓知足常乐嘛！不过，我想，当我们感觉不到幸福时，要努力在不幸中寻找幸福，一点一滴的，积少成多了，那也是一种幸福吧！