j09083的部落格

  耶穌生日囉!!!

        For today's Christian, the origin of Christmas is, and should be, the birth of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible. Nothing more and nothing less. However, most of what we witness on December 25th each year has absolutely nothing to do with that blessed day, which probably occurred in late summer or early fall about 2,000 years ago. In fact, most of the customs and traditions of Christmas actually pre-date the birth of Jesus, and many of them are downright deceptive in their meaning and origin. Here are a few examples: 

The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient "birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D. Mithra was related to the Semitic sun-god, Shamash, and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Rome was well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire. As such, Rome converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples. 

  Naturalism 

       Naturalism was a literary movement or tendency from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. It was a mainly unorganized Literary movement that sought to depict believableeveryday reality, as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment. Naturalism was an outgrowth of literary realism, a prominent literary movement in mid-19th-century France and elsewhere. Naturalistic writers were influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. They often believed that one's heredity and social environment largely determine one's character. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to determine "scientifically" the underlying forces (e.g., the environment or heredity) influencing the actions of its subjects. Naturalistic works often include uncouth or sordid subject matter; for example, Émile Zola's works had a frankness about sexuality along with a pervasive pessimism. Naturalistic works exposed the dark harshness of life, including poverty, racism, violence, prejudice, disease, corruption, prostitution, and filth. As a result, naturalistic writers were frequently criticized for focusing too much on human vice and misery.

  台大電機系副教授葉丙成，第一堂課開宗明義就告訴學生：「我上課不講課，所有的內容都要先上網看影片預習。」葉丙成把上課時間用來跟學生討論問題、進行作業習題。
           趨勢，全球教育大革命(天下雜誌) http://www.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=5054120

  美國因二次大戰興起，因韓戰、越戰、911而氣焰稍減

        7月11日時，盟軍領導人前往德國召開波茨坦會議。其中在《波茨坦協定》中除了確認有關先前簽署的德國戰後處理外，同時也重申日本必須接受無條件投降的要求。不過在這次會議之中由於英國進行國會大選，使得英國首相改由艾德禮接替邱吉爾的職位。但是由於日本遲遲沒有正面回應《波茨坦協定》的內容，美國政府決定對廣島市以及長崎市展開核子轟炸。與此同時蘇聯則依照雅爾達會議的內容入侵日本所統治的滿州，並且順利擊敗擁有日本最大規模兵力的關東軍，此外還佔領了庫頁島與千島群島等地。1945年8月15日日本宣布投降，並於9月2日在美國最後一艘戰艦密蘇里號甲板上簽署《降伏文書》，這也意味著第二次世界大戰正式宣結束。

  Ishmael 是庶長子的代表

       Ishmael (Hebrew: יִשְׁמָעֵאל, Modern Yishma'el Tiberian Yišmāʻēl ISO 259-3 Yišmaˁel; Greek: ΙσμαήλIsmaēl; Latin: Ismael; Arabic: إسماعيل‎ ʾIsmāʿīl) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first son according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar (Genesis 16:3). According to the Genesisaccount, he died at the age of 137 (Genesis 25:17).

  HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING

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  To host a party/ meeting

  The Philosophy of Composition

"The Philosophy of Composition" is an 1846 essay written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. He concludes that length, "unity of effect" and a logical method are important considerations for good writing. He also makes the assertion that "the death... of a beautiful woman" is "unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world". Poe uses the composition of his own poem "The Raven" as an example. The essay first appeared in the April 1846 issue of Graham's Magazine. It is uncertain if it is an authentic portrayal of Poe's own method.

  American dream

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

  Go Dutch! 是在嘲弄荷蘭人的民族性

  Hardvard University    http://www.harvard.edu

       Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature and soon thereafter named for John Harvard (its first benefactor), Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning, and the Harvard Corporation (formally, the President and Fellows of Harvard College) is its first chartered corporation. Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trainedCongregation­alist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, and by the 19th century Harvard had emerged as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites. Following the American Civil War, President Charles W. Eliot's long tenure (1869–1909) transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a modern research university; Harvard was a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression andWorld War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College. The University is organized into eleven separate academic units—ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study—with campuses throughout the Boston metropolitan area: its 209-acre (85 ha) main campus is centered on Harvard Yard in Cambridge, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Boston; the business school and athletics facilities, including Harvard Stadium, are located across the Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston and the medical, dental, andpublic health schools are in the Longwood Medical Area. Eight U.S. presidents have been graduates, and some 150 Nobel Laureates have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff. Harvard is also the alma mater of 62 living billionaires and 335 Rhodes Scholars, the most in the country.The Harvard University Library is also the largest academic library in the United States. Harvard has the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world, standing at $30 billion as of September 2012. Its history, influence and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

Pilgrim

A pilgrim (from the Latin peregrinus) is a traveller (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system. In the spiritual literature of budism, the concept of pilgrim and pilgrimage may refer to the experience of life in the world (considered as a period of exile) or to the inner path of the spiritual aspirant from a state of wretchedness to a state of beatitude.

  許多熟為人知的諺語皆來自富蘭克林 Franklin

      No pain, no gain.

  美國人通常不拿這些事情來閒話家常

       sexual orientation