無意中發現, 過去很喜歡的一部棒球電影, 尤其是劇情後半苦盡甘來的高潮, 友情, 師生情誼,永不放棄的態度..... 藉著棒球, 這部電影告訴我們不止棒球許多人生體驗
[高画质播放]
『ROOKIES -卒業-』 002 [ショッピング]
- Jan 30 Sun 2011 06:28
『ROOKIES -卒業-』 002
- May 25 Tue 2010 18:53
The Lonely Society?
這個社會特性, 該用什麼樣的term去概括它? 200年來, 西方社會sociologists 絞盡腦汁coin了一堆term 去描繪他們所處的時代特性,such as industrial society, modern society, post-modern society, consumer society, risk society, network society, 還有什麼term 沒秀出來呢?
fancy terms總是掛著一些fancy theories, 私自的觀察是, 在當代, 因愈見不著所敬愛葉啟政老師所說的經世濟民情操,
這些東西, 慢慢也只成為一些人考試或寫文章時吊書袋的玩意兒; 不可否認的是, 後進國家,
也包括台灣, 很多人特愛拾人牙慧……No comment
早上聽新聞時,這個term- Lonely society 不知為何特別打動我, 也許它所指涉的現象, 因著長期異鄉人關係,
感受更深; 不久前跟許多人聊過相同的事, 有些覺得並不嚴重,
看來事實真相只有一個: 若非你們是相當幸福的一群! 不然那便是真相被掩蔽了,
hope not so ………..
Ps:研究結果出自Mental health foundation這份有趣的報告, 之前一些我的觀察, 在這都得到了經驗佐證, 當然樣本只限英國:
e.g. 英國平均每十個人裡面，就有一個感到寂寞，分 析原因，現代人工作忙碌、人際關係愈來愈疏離是主要原因。
網路儘管使人不出門，也可以和全世界聯繫，然而這樣的聯 繫，和面對面的互動，畢竟是不同…..
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=78999
Modern way of life leading to loneliness, says new report
- One in ten people feel lonely often
- Loneliness a common experience yet 'embarrassing to admit'
- Feeling alone linked to physical and mental ill health
According to a new report released today by the Mental Health Foundation, relationships that are vital to health and well-being are under threat by modern life, which can isolate people from one another and lead to loneliness. UK-wide research* carried out for The Lonely Society? shows that one in ten people often feel lonely (11%) and half think that people are getting lonelier in general (48%).
The report says the way in which people now live is impacting on their ability to connect with others. More people live alone: the percentage of households occupied by one person doubled from 6% in 1972 to 12% in 2008. The divorce rate has almost doubled in the past 50 years and the number of lone parent households is rising. People are living longer but many older people are doing so alone. Because of people pursuing careers and education opportunities, many now live further away from their families and the communities they grew up in. Figures show that one in three people would like to live closer to their family to see them more often (35%).
Old-style communities are in decline and the closure of local amenities such as post offices and working men's clubs have had an impact on people for whom they were a focal point, particularly those living on the margins of society and vulnerable to loneliness, such as the elderly, people out of work or those living with a disability.
Loneliness can affect people of all ages
Research in The Lonely Society? illustrates that feeling lonely is not only common among the elderly. A recent report from the NSPCC** found that children are reporting more experiences of loneliness than in previous years, and middle age is a time when people can find themselves isolated as a result of retirement, children leaving the family home, divorce and bereavement, according to the Mental Health Foundation.
The statistics reveal that women are more likely than men to feel lonely sometimes (38%, compared with 30%). A greater number of women (47%) than men (36%) have felt depressed because they felt alone, and have sought help for feeling lonely (13% women, compared to 10% men). This is consistent with existing research that women are generally more likely to seek professional help for health related problems.
Loneliness a common experience yet 'embarrassing to admit to'
Loneliness a common experience: the report reveals only 1 in 5 people never feel lonely (22%) and 1 in 3 people have a close friend or family member who they think is very lonely (37%) yet one in three people would be embarrassed to admit to feeling lonely (30%). This reluctance, according to the Mental Health Foundation, is because western societies take pride inself-reliance.
Pressure to be 'productive' can lead to loneliness
The charity’s report suggests that a shift in attitudes is also contributing to loneliness. For some, investing time in social activities is seen as less important than work. Evidence in The Lonely Society? shows that people feel pressure to be 'productive' and busy, and as a consequence neglect vital relationships with friends and family. Individuals pursuing aspirations in a market-driven world may be doing so at their own expense, and neglecting the basic human need to connect with others, says the Mental Health Foundation.
Loneliness linked to health problems
While loneliness is a natural emotion that has played a part in human evolution, feeling lonely for a long time can lead to physical and mental health problems. Polling for the report reveals that four in ten people have felt depressed because they felt alone (42%). Persistent loneliness is also linked to stress, as well as poorer functioning of the immune and cardiovascular systems. Evidence shows that loneliness makes it harder to control the habits and behaviour that can lead to health problems. Lonely middle-aged adults drink more alcohol, have unhealthier diets and take less exercise than the socially contented.
Technology: friend or foe?
Polling for the report reveals that one in five people say they spend too much time communicating with family and friends online when they should see them in person (18%). The internet has changed the way people communicate but some experts argue that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter undermine social skills and the ability to read body language.
Evidence in The Lonely Society? also reveals that technology doesn't provide the physical contact that benefits well-being. Cognitive function improves when a relationship is physical, as well as intellectual, because of the chemical process that takes place during face-to-face communication. This type of interaction produces the hormone oxytocin, which is thought to underpin the link between social contact and healthy hearts.
Technology is no substitute for human interaction, but the Mental Health Foundation says that it can facilitate relationships, both virtual and real, and can be used to reduce social isolation especially for those who are experiencing chronic loneliness, whether the root is emotional or circumstantial.
Need to help people experiencing loneliness
The charity is raising awareness of loneliness and of the steps people and policy-makers can take to combat isolation. It believes that everyone needs to be aware of the potential health problems linked to loneliness. The Lonely Society? states that individuals at risk of isolation, such as elderly people, those out of work and people with disabilities, should be offered support at an early stage to reduce their vulnerability to chronic loneliness and it’s associated health problems.
Comment
Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "Changes to the way we live are putting an increasing number of people at risk of loneliness, which can lead to health problems if chronic. People who find themselves feeling lonely should not have to feel uncomfortable talking about it or asking for help. By raising awareness of the subject we hope to tackle the stigma attached to loneliness and help individuals who are feeling lonely to connect with others."
NSPCC head of child protection awareness, Christopher Cloke, said: "Last year ChildLine received nearly 10,000 calls from children saying they felt lonely – an increase of 60% from five years ago. Loneliness has always been a part of some children's lives but it is deeply worrying that more children are contacting us about this. In the worst cases children became so desperate that they self-harm or even contemplate suicide."
- May 12 Wed 2010 04:52
民主真諦...
Gordon Brown resigns
• Labour leader steps
down as prime minister and party head
• Queen to ask David Cameron
to form government
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 May 2010 20.09 BST
這段告別談話晚上聽了很多次, 感觸良多.....正如早上跟Max聊的, 在這最老牌democractic 國家, 聽他說是二戰以來最激烈的選舉,感受最深的是:electorate跟candidates對於過程與結果皆保持相當風度, 民主啊! 在意的不該是一時輸贏, 看重的是公民積極參與公共生活的意願, 在這, 民主是他們很自然的生活態度, 或者該說是人生哲學吧............
Gordon Brown has resigned as prime minister, clearing the way for David Cameron to form a new government with the Liberal DemocratsConservatives to power for the first time since 1997. that would return the
The Labour leader announced his immediate resignation as both prime minister and party leader in an emotional but dignified statement outside 10 Downing Street at 7.20pm, alongside his wife Sarah.
He said he had told the Queen's prvate secretary of his intention to tender his resignation.
"I wish the next prime minister well as he makes the important choices for the future," he said. "Only those who have held the office of prime minister can understand the full weight of its responsibilities as well as its great capacity for good.
"I love the job, not for its prestige titles and ceremony – that, I do not love at all – but for its potential to make this country more fair, more green, more democratic."
He gave special stress to thanking the armed forcing, saying: "Our troops represent all that is best in our country." He said he would never forget "all those who have died".
His voice faltering, he thanked his wife "for her unwavering support as well as her love", and thanked his young sons, Fraser and John.
Brown said: "As I leave the second most important job I could ever hold, I cherish the first even more: as a husband and a father."
He ended with a simple "Thank you and goodbye" before leaving with his family for Buckingham Palace.
Brown's statement followed the breakdown of last-ditch talks between senior Labour figures and the Liberal Democrats aimed at forming a "progressive coalition" to keep Cameron out of Downing Street.
It also brought down the curtain on 13 years of Labour rule and followed four days of intense political wrangling between the three main parties after last week's general election delivered a hung parliament.
Immediately after his statement, Brown travelled the short distance to the palace in a motorcade.
The Queen is now expected to call on Cameron to visit the palace during the evening, when constitutional protocol requires her to ask the Conservative leader to form the next government. If a deal is ratified with the Lib Dems at a meeting of the party's MPs later this evening, it would be the first coalition in British political history since 1945.
Brown's resignation ended a day that had begun with hope among Labour supporters that, despite having come second at the polls, they might be able to continue in power. Senior Labour figures opened formal talks with the Liberal Democrats after Brown announced he would be willing to stand aside as party leader. But the talks foundered quickly, and senior Liberal Democrats then spent most of the day at the Cabinet Office locked in talks with the Conservative negotiating team; Cameron also met Clegg in private for an hour.
The day had begun with a serious-faced Cameron telling reporters outside his west London home: "It is now, I believe, decision time – decision time for the Liberal Democrats. And I hope they make the right decision to give this country the strong, stable government that it badly needs and it badly needs quickly."
Shortly afterwards, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, emerged from his house looking tired after talks with Lib Dem colleagues continued into the small hours.
"We will act, as ever, responsibly," he said. "We will act to try to do our bit to create a stable, good government that the British people deserve."
It is understood that the Lib Dem negotiators, David Laws, Chris Huhne, Danny Alexander and Andrew Stunnell, sensed a negative attitude towards a deal from elements of their Labour counterparts, notably Ed Balls and Ed Miliband. This was even though Ed Miliband told the BBC at lunchtime there had been "a good atmosphere" in discussions. There was also a fear that although Labour negotiators said they were in favour of voting reform, they might not have had the political strength to deliver it.
Shortly after 1.30pm, the balance of power seemed to shift towards the Tories once more when William Hague, who was part of the Conservatives' four-man negotiating team, announced that the Tories were about to return to the Cabinet Office to resume negotiations with the Liberal Democrats.
By mid-afternoon, the Tory leader was seen entering Portcullis House, the MPs' office block, with a smile on his face.
During the afternoon, the Labour health secretary, Andy Burnham, said that he was not in favour of a Lib-Lab deal amid unconfirmed reports that his fellow cabinet ministers Jack Straw, Bob Ainsworth, Liam Byrne and Siddique Khan were also opposed.
The former home secretary David Blunkett said earlier that joining a "coalition of the defeated" would spell electoral disaster for Labour.
Another former home secretary, John Reid, said: "Don't forget we have just had the biggest loss of seats in Labour's history. If we are perceived to be responding to that by ignoring it and by trying to cobble something together that patently isn't in the national interest, then we will face the same thing in the future."
----------------------------------------------------------
整個南部都是保守黨的票倉, 希望他別辜負這些選民的期待.............
David Cameron is new prime minister
David Cameron has entered 10
Downing Street as prime minister, returning the Conservative party to
power after 13 years.
- Mar 22 Mon 2010 17:53
Barack Obama's healthcare bill passed by Congress
Barack Obama's healthcare bill passed by Congress
US president says 'this is what change looks like' about reform that ensures coverage for 95% of Americans
- Ewen MacAskill in Washington
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 22 March 2010 07.30 GMT
- Article history
Barack Obama last night forced his bitterly fought healthcare reform bill through Congress, bringing near-universal coverage to Americans and delivering the first major triumph of his presidency.
After days of manoeuvring by the Democratic party leadership to bring dissident party legislators on board and an impassioned plea on Saturday by Obama, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, confirmed that the votes were in the bag. She said she would not have decided to take the bill to a vote unless the necessary 216 Democrats had been secured to push the move through. As it was, the bill was passed by 219 votes to 212.
"Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics," Obama said during a late-night appearance at the White House.
"This legislation will not fix everything that ails our healthcare system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what change looks like."
House Democrats hugged and cheered as their vote count hit the magic number of 216, and chanted: "Yes we can."
Every Republican opposed the bill, and 34 Democrats joined them in voting against it.
Pelosi, summing up the debate, described the bill as "the great unfinished business of our society". The bill now goes to Obama to sign into law.
Despite not going as far as many liberals had hoped, the bill will take the US close to universal healthcare coverage and Obama will have achieved the goal that eluded US presidents dating back to Theodore Roosevelt a century ago.
The reform, which will cost an estimated $940bn (£627bn) over 10 years, amounts to a massive change in US healthcare provision, expanding care to 32 million more people, predominantly the poorest, and giving the country 95% coverage.
Obama, whose poll ratings slipped amid criticism that he was a "do-nothing" president, needed at least one major policy success after a series of setbacks in the last 15 months. He told Hispanic members of Congress early last week that the fate of his presidency and their own chances in the mid-term congressional elections in November rested on passage of the bill.
In his final rallying call on Saturday, Obama told his Democratic colleagues: "Every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes that you had about yourself, about this country. This is one of those moments.
"We have been debating healthcare for decades. It has now been debated for a year. It is in your hands."
Given the huge consequences of failure, Obama spent the day on the phone lobbying colleagues.
The vote provided the climax to a year of debate in which the bill at times seemed on the verge of passage and at others about to be scrapped. The issue has divided the country more than any other since the Vietnam war, and led to the rise of the anti-establishment movement the Tea Party.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside Congress at the weekend, shouting "kill the bill". Some directed racist and other derogatory remarks at African-American members of Congress, including John Lewis, one of the veterans of the 1960s civil rights movement. One congressman was spat on.
Another protester shouted "faggot" at Democratic congressman Barney Frank, who later told the Politico website: "It's like the Salem witch trials, and healthcare is the witches. There is mass hysteria."
The 178 Republicans unanimously opposed the bill, as did some Democrats. The balance was held by a bloc of about 10 anti-abortion Democrats, led by Bart Stupak, who were worried that public funds could be used for abortions.
After Obama promised to issue an executive order to prevent cash being used in this way, other than in cases of abortion after incest or rape, Stupak told a press conference that he would support the bill. "We're well past 216," he said.
A vote to set out the procedures for passing the legislation was later passed by 224 to 206. The Republican leader in the House, John Boehner, described the bill as armageddon and predicted the electorate would punish the Democrats for it in the mid-term elections in November.
The House of Representatives was voting on a version of the bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve. Obama, who cancelled a trip to Australia and Indonesia in order to be in Washington for the vote, is expected to sign the bill into law within hours.
The House, unhappy with parts of the Senate bill, is to pass a separate bill that contains revisions. The Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, promised the House Democrats that if they passed the Senate version of the bill, he would repay this by passing their revisions.
The bill with revisions is expected to go to the Senate this week, where procedural wrangling could last days or weeks. But the Democrats, who have a majority of 59 in the 100-member chamber, only need a simple majority to secure its passage.
When the Senate passed Obama's bill on Christmas Eve, success seemed at hand. But the Republican Scott Brown had a surprise win to take Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat in Massachusetts in January, partly because of opposition to the bill, and the Democrats panicked.
After internal debate in which a more modest bill was considered, they recovered their nerve and pushed ahead with comprehensive reform.
Obama's predecessors struggled with healthcare. President Lyndon Johnson made the biggest contribution by creating Medicare in 1965.
Senate passes historic health care bill
- Aug 31 Mon 2009 23:22
I Have A Dream
看著豪雨釀災;
政府救災考量時,地緣政治操作的機關算盡;
乃至一個在歐洲備受尊重的宗教長者, 正被刻意地虧待著....
傷感
這樣去羞辱一位慈祥長者的人們,
您們合理化的政治行動, 真是經得起理性詰辯, enlightened的行動嗎?
我們的political leaders,
相關的決策考量, 還保有那麼一丁點對人類普世價值 (freedom, liberty) 的信仰與堅持嗎?
這個island,
終將是我們及未來子孫安身立命之地, 未來....還有沒有追夢的勇氣呢?
Lyrics to I Have A Dream :
Five score years ago a Great American sign and proclaimed you know
The Emancipation that brought a beacon light of hope to plenty of slaves who had been seared called Negroes
The flame of injustice and now a hundred years have passed and now today we must face the true tragic facts
The Negro is still not free and though impossible it seems…”I Have A Dream”
The Constitution reads and gives the promise that all men be guaranteed
pursuit of happiness, pride of life and liberty a check of independence cash and decree.
But it is obvious America’s at fault, default on its promises gave citizens of all
And now we must demand our right to be free ‘cause I have a dream.
I have dream. A dream that one day Black boys and black girls will join hands
White boys and girls and we’ll stand sisters and brothers.
Yes I have dream. A dream that one day, mountains and hills be made low
And all the world is told the crooked’s been made straight. Till His glory is seen…. “I have a dream.
To overlook the urgency, it would be fatal to deny equality.
The autumn of freedom the year of 1963, but a beginning of the end of will be.
But there is something I must say to my people .Who stand on the threshold into the palace where we go.
Let’s not be guilty of violence and wrong deeds. Cause I have a dream.
I have dream. A dream that one day
This nation will rise up and see the truth of this creed and equal all men will be.
I have a dream. A dream that one day,
With a new meaning we will sing, “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.”
Freedom will ring, will ring, cause I have a dream.
MLK: And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
I have dream. A dream that one day Black boys and black girls will join hands
White boys and girls and we’ll stand sisters and brothers.
Yes! I have dream. A dream, a dream that one day mountains and hills be made low
And all the world is told the crooked’s been made straight. Till His glory is seen…. I have a dream.
Freedom will ring, cause I have a dream. Though it impossible it seems. I have a dream.
MLK: “Sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream!
When all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" My four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
政府救災考量時,地緣政治操作的機關算盡;
乃至一個在歐洲備受尊重的宗教長者, 正被刻意地虧待著....
傷感
這樣去羞辱一位慈祥長者的人們,
您們合理化的政治行動, 真是經得起理性詰辯, enlightened的行動嗎?
我們的political leaders,
相關的決策考量, 還保有那麼一丁點對人類普世價值 (freedom, liberty) 的信仰與堅持嗎?
這個island,
終將是我們及未來子孫安身立命之地, 未來....還有沒有追夢的勇氣呢?
Lyrics to I Have A Dream :
Five score years ago a Great American sign and proclaimed you know
The Emancipation that brought a beacon light of hope to plenty of slaves who had been seared called Negroes
The flame of injustice and now a hundred years have passed and now today we must face the true tragic facts
The Negro is still not free and though impossible it seems…”I Have A Dream”
The Constitution reads and gives the promise that all men be guaranteed
pursuit of happiness, pride of life and liberty a check of independence cash and decree.
But it is obvious America’s at fault, default on its promises gave citizens of all
And now we must demand our right to be free ‘cause I have a dream.
I have dream. A dream that one day Black boys and black girls will join hands
White boys and girls and we’ll stand sisters and brothers.
Yes I have dream. A dream that one day, mountains and hills be made low
And all the world is told the crooked’s been made straight. Till His glory is seen…. “I have a dream.
To overlook the urgency, it would be fatal to deny equality.
The autumn of freedom the year of 1963, but a beginning of the end of will be.
But there is something I must say to my people .Who stand on the threshold into the palace where we go.
Let’s not be guilty of violence and wrong deeds. Cause I have a dream.
I have dream. A dream that one day
This nation will rise up and see the truth of this creed and equal all men will be.
I have a dream. A dream that one day,
With a new meaning we will sing, “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.”
Freedom will ring, will ring, cause I have a dream.
MLK: And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
I have dream. A dream that one day Black boys and black girls will join hands
White boys and girls and we’ll stand sisters and brothers.
Yes! I have dream. A dream, a dream that one day mountains and hills be made low
And all the world is told the crooked’s been made straight. Till His glory is seen…. I have a dream.
Freedom will ring, cause I have a dream. Though it impossible it seems. I have a dream.
MLK: “Sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream!
When all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" My four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!
