Happy New Year!

2009

今日感慨：无

灵光一闪，网上啃到了袁岳的博客，于是乎，崇拜、敬仰、欢喜之情扑面而来...... 老袁可算是上海滩上的大忙人了，其博客却每日更新，阅之，可完全钦佩于作者知识面的广博，且多有创意。
鄙人遂决定坚持每日一博，权当练手。有这么一位伟大的偶像在前面，还不奋起直追吗！可是，坐在电脑前，搜藏刮肚竟无从下笔，拿来今日各大报刊，粗粗阅览，均不知该发表何种见解，原来自己脑袋空空，竟无一物呀！
Oh,my God! 这个问题真得非常严重，窃以为，这就是能人和俗人的区别了吧。谢谢老袁，让我及时看清楚了自己的真实面目。人活一世，一定要证明自己曾经存在过的价值，不是吗？！
决定：多读书，读好书，多总结，多思考！

其实，不难！重要的是--坚持！

一天天，一年年

每天，要精彩，要快乐，要知足！

很严肃地思考了一下，怎么才能做好自己，活好每一天，于是乎，很认真地记录了如下若干条：

1. 坚持运动。根据目前情况，继续每日超过1个小时的运动量。

2. 晚餐清淡。饮食以素菜，鱼虾为主。

3. English, English... 不变的追求

4. 不怕困难，经受历练！有经历的人生才是有血有肉地！对人，对事，皆适用！

5. 拓展朋友圈。不过，找到谈得来的还真不是一件容易的事情耶！

6. 最后，嘿嘿，promote my appearance。学会扮靓啦~~~

哦，不能忘了，还要多做善事......

Today

Presidential Class

by: Leo Hickman

Tony Blair, Britain

Tony Blair’s beloved RAF VC-10 has been phased out. But should he get a brand-new $80m jet, or, as the treasury would prefer, earn some air miles on scheduled flights instead? Leo Hickman looks at other world leaders to get some tips on how to arrive at that summit meeting in style.

You know how it is. You’re trying to impress the world leader to the right of you at some deadly dull world summit dinner, and before you know it you get on to the subject of what type of jet you each have at your disposal. While he lavishly details the plush leather trim of his executive desk, and bores on about how many settings his Jacuzzi has, you can only boast about being allowed to hold the controls during the tour of the cockpit.

In the new age of long-haul shuttle diplomacy, how a president or prime minister gets from A to B has never been so important. Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence recently decided that the traditional RAF VC-10 fleet wasn’t really what Tony Blair ought to be seen flying around in and announced that it was to decommission the planes at the end of the year. But the replacement has reportedly led to tensions between the prudent Gordon Brown and the jet-setting prime minister. Downing Street is keen for a new $80m aircraft that boasts the very latest in communications, and the MoD is keen on better security, whereas Brown is conscious of this week’s government spending review bids.

Nicknamed “Blair Force One” by Whitehall, Blair’s dream aircraft would mena an end to him having to travel on scheduled flights with British Airways and the RAF Hercules, in which he recently touched down in Kabul. But despite losing out on all those air miles (dubbed “Blair Miles” by the press), by getting his own plane, Blair would join an elite group – the world leaders who really know how to travel in style.

Vladimir Putin, Russia

Fed up with Moscow’s infamous traffic jams and tailbacks, last year the state Duma finally stood up to its limo-loving president and voted 262-1 to order him to abolish the archaic practice of blocking roads for the passage of official convoys of any level. Things had come to a head when reports surfaced that Putin was demanding local police block off roads in both directions, hours ahead of his entourage passing through. On one trip to St Petersburg to meet with his Austrian counterpart, dozens of motorists were left trapped for hours in their cars in freezing temperatures while police waited for Putin to pass.

Putin also raised eyebrows on a trip to London a few months after being elected in 2000. On his request, a 13-strong motorcade was flown in, including two armoured Russian Zil limousines and a Mercedes. In tow were 50 aides and up to 100 security men, all wearing none-too-subtle white macs.

George Bush, US

When George Bush jets into Japan on Saturday for the first leg of his Far East tour, he will do so aboard the best perch of them all – Air Force One. The “Flying white House” is a 30-year-old tradition started at the request of JFK. Today, the US president has two Air Force Ones, each one kitted out in luxury trim worthy of only the most powerful man on Earth. Standing five storeys high and weighing 400 tons, Air Force One can provide the president, his aides, security personnel and traveling press corps with up to 2,000 meals a trip, and more than 85 telephone lines (28 of them secure). Just in case Bush forgets who he is, the presidential seal is emblazoned on the seatbelt buckles, pillows, mugs, napkins and even his shaving kit. His father was so impressed by the plane that he would get to the airport the night before a trip, go to bed and wake up mid-flight. Jimmy Carter remarked that when he first traveled aboard Air Force One, he was so excited “we forgot my mother”.

Gloria Arroyo, Philippines

President Arroyo caused a bit of a scandal back home last November during a visit to Ground Zero in New York. With commercial air security particularly tight for those flying into New York, the story goes that Arroyo didn’t want the inconvenience of landing at one of the city’s three main airports, as would be the norm for her. So in she came with her entourage on a rented 20-seater private Lear jet. A Filipino TV crew was stopped from filming her arrival at a small, private airport in New Jersey, and the discontent grew louder when here finance secretary couldn’t confirm how the flight had been paid for.

Thabo Mbeki, South Africa

The government had it all planned: the president needed transport befitting the leader of one of Africa’s largest nations. It couldn’t suffer the embarrassment of having to borrow a jet from a Saudi Arabian prince again when Mbekis jet broke down the previous year, so it authorized $38m to be spent buying a business jet from either Boeing or Airbus. In the end the order was placed for a modified Boeing 737-700 and everything was going fine until someone realized that South Africa couldn’t boast a pilot with enough experience to fly the nation’s president.

Kim Jong II, North Korea

With a life-long fear of flying, how do you get to that important summit in Moscow if you live thousands of miles away in North Korea? Yes, you take a leaf out of Denis Bergkamp’s book and book a train – even if the journey does take 10 days. So off set Kim Jong II in a 21-carriage armoured train laden with his favourite foods – roast donkey (listed as “heavenly cow” by the restaurant car) and lobster. The entire length of the 6,200 mile track was peppered with security and every time the train stopped thousands of soldiers would surround it. Still, it’s the gesture that counts: it was only the third time he had ever left his homeland, the two previous jaunts being to China.

Jacques Chirac, France

Can you imagine the president of France traveling in anything other than a homegrown car? Chirac loves nothing more than arriving at functions as head of state in his Citroen CX Prestige. What’s more, his run-around is now over 20 years old. Even though production ceased in 1989, Chirac still refuses to trade it in for a more stately Merc or Jag. The model does have a tradition of loyal followers among leaders, but none that Chirac would probably want to be grouped with. Both East Germany’s Erich Honecker and Nicaragua’s Anastasio Somoza were fans.

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe

It comes as no surprise that last year Big Bad Bob ordered an Air Zimbabwe flight, en route from Gatwick to Harare, to divert to Spain to pick up him and his family. He had been receiving treatment there at an eye clinic. About 100 passengers were left stranded at Gatwick so that the pilots could nip over to collect him.

Later on in the same week 40 passengers were again left stranded in London when he ordered another Air Zimbabwe flight to divert and pick up more of his entourage. The airline was forced to pay $200 per passenger for a night’s complementary stay at a nearby hotel. The final bill came to $15,400.

Colonel Gadafy, Libya

Never one to be outdone, Col Gadafy flew into Zimbabwe for a summit last year with three planes and a 250-strong entourage. When his presidential convoy pulled out of the airport it stretched back fro more that a mile.

The year before he decided to travel across his country’s inhospitable deserts from Tripoli to another summit in Egypt – overland. He had, however, probably learned his lesson about transporting his beloved camels with him by air on a previous trip to Belgrade. Then he had turned up in Serbian capital with two horses and six camels aboard his private plane. Understandably perplexed, the local authorities allowed him to graze the camels in front of his hotel, where he had pitched his tent and was serving fresh camel milk to his aides. They failed to see the funny side, though, when he sought permission to ride one of his white chargers to a conference. Disheartened, he flew out of Belgrade leaving the camels behind as a “present” to the local zoo.

President Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan

When you win 78.3% of the vote in your country’s general election, and you are the only candidate, it seems you can choose whatever mode of transport you damn well wish. First, however, Kazakhstan’s President Nazarbayev decided to move the country’s capital, Almaty, 200 miles to the north, citing that the old one was too close to the Chinese border and too polluted.

The troubles began when he took charge of a brand new Lear jet and his aides failed to tell him that the airport at little known Akmola wasn’t really up to anything more than an old crop-duster landing on its dusty runway. It was immediately ordered that the runway be resurfaced, but how his aides must have sweated when his gleaming plane touched down with the asphalt still drying in the cool Kazakh wind.

7.22

The use of reading is to aid us in thinking.
--- Edward Gibbon

Reading, one of my favourite thing! Pretty like its smell, like the feeling of turning pages. It's just wonderful! Anyway, more important is books make me more intelligent and perceptive.

So far, my favourite book is "Priciples of Economics", by Mankiw! This book is an excellent introduction to fundamental basic economics. From this book, I've started to pay attention on economics and financial stuff. Actually, they are never far from us, they exist in our lives, day by day!

Currently, I am reading a historical novel: The other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory. I am awfully glad that I did! The author did a spendid job of envoking the complicated and turbulence of Henry VIII's court. With a few well words and phrases, Phillipa Gregory paints them as wildly ambitious, ruthless and pettily cruel individuals, willing to use each other in order to achieve a particular goal.

It's still raining... bloody damp summer! Anyway, I am still walking, still reading...

今天, 哈哈!

ha ha ha ha...

离回国的日子不远了, 真得很兴奋! 盼啊盼, 终于盼到了! 当然, 还有最最重要的一步要走! 要忍!!!

天公不做美, 已经连续下了好长时间的雨了, 刮刮风, 下下雨... 权当保湿啦~~~

最近, 过得也是稀里糊涂的, 不过, 有三件事情还要浓墨重彩的记录一下地:

1. 坚持跑步两个月了, 隔一天一次, 很有成就感! 为自己的毅力喝彩, 哈哈... 谁让天气太差, 只能在家原地跑, 那可是很不容易地...

2. 迷上了每天早上9点的, 谈话类talk show, my favorite! 有空还看看中午时间的.

3. 在看几本小说, 蛮喜欢.