在全球經濟極度不穩定的狀況下 (In the precarious state of the global economy), 世界上最重要的經濟關係 -- 美中關係 -- 卻被經濟學者描繪成毒品販子與上癮者的關係. "The world's most importment economic relationship -- between the U.S. and China -- has been described by a leading economist as one of 'codependency,' akin (adj. 類似於, 後方用介詞 to), he has suggested, to that of a drug dealer and an addict (上癮者)."

中國製造的低價貨物讓美國上癮似地拼命消費, 中國又把賺來的錢買了美國國債. "China (the dealer) exports low-priced goods to America (the addict), which can't stop consuming them. To keep the cycle going, China uses the dollars it accrues (自然增加, 自然增殖) from its exports to buy billions of dollars in U.S. Treasurys." 

但是, 美國的過度消費就像用藥過度的結果一樣, "but then the U.S. overdosed (藥量過多) and suffered a breakdown (瓦解, 崩潰)", 連溫家寶也擔心起中國所擁有的美國資產. "We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S.," said China's premier, Wen Jiabao, earlier this year. "Of course, we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried." 

這樣的關係還能持續嗎? 作者 Zachary Karabell 就是闡述分析這剪不斷理還亂 (intertwined) 的關係.

"名校的迷思" 並非台灣所獨有, 美國的哈佛不知是多少人心中的 "台大", 可是, 2008 年底的金融風暴, 無疑地曝露出 "名實未必總是相符"!

The Boston Globe 的一篇專題報導 : Harvard flunks (當了, 考試不及格) in money management (Investments by a prestigious (聲望很高的) US university have gone badly wrong, writes Steven Syre.)

文章一開頭就開宗明義地表示 : How could so many smart people be so dumb (愚笨的, 啞的) with money? 這些已經在或未來可能在美國政經界舉足輕重的人物, 怎麼會蠢成這樣! 把哈佛現金帳戶管理到大賠美金十八億. "The latest twist (失常, 偏差, 彎曲) in Harvard's sad financial story : the university managed to lose about $US 1.8 billion in its cash accounts during the past financial year. Most people think of cash accounts as safe money kept on hand to pay bills and deal with routine problems (日常事務) as they come up (出現). You don't gamble with cash."

哈佛現金帳戶的管理人可不願大材小用, 只管付付每月帳單而已! "Harward, it turns out, had other crazy ideas. It kept the cash accounts invested much more aggressively (積極地, 侵略地), just like its endowment's (捐贈, 捐贈的基金或財產) long term (長期) portfolio (投資配置), and paid a huge price when financial markets swooned (漸漸衰弱, 昏暈)."

把各學院現金帳戶投入風險較高獲利較大的行徑其來有自, 只是越賭越大, 直到不可收拾. "The practice of investing the cash accounts of individual schools into Harvard's endowment isn't anything new. It's been going on for many years, and slowly evolved into (演變成, 進化成) a bigger and bigger gamble as the university's budget grew." 

二十七, 八年前, 結婚沒多久, 曾經參加過一次, 也是唯一一次的員工旅遊, 印象中遊覽車老舊, 導遊素質不佳, 行程雜亂無章, 完全無法與這次有趣的旅行相比!

遊覽車行進中, 導遊小姐一邊簡介一邊講著笑話, 內容聽起來緊湊有趣, 的確事先做過功課. 丈夫和我時兒聊天時而欣賞車外景緻, 一個多小時在不知不覺中過去. 第一站參觀羅東林業文化園區, 細雨如絲, 林木蒼鬱, 我們逛了一圈, 還有時間品嚐一碗林場肉羹, 買了幾包梅子蜜餞.

午餐後, 驅車前往金車威士忌酒莊, 參觀 Kavalan Whisky 的製造流程, 丈夫從商業角度來看待, 我則熱衷稍後的品酒, 雖然不能與蘇格蘭著名酒廠相比, 也算差強人意. 隨即, 走馬觀花逛了蘭園, 再驅車勝洋水草休閒中心.

連日的大雨, 到處水窪濕地, 讓我們更深刻體會到 : 這兒真是培植水草得好地方! 園中各色水生植物, 或依水而生, 或屹立水中, 或漂浮水面, 經由專人講說, 除了詩情畫意, 又憑添幾番了解. 大人小孩在導覽過後, 都可以重拾童趣, 親手製作生態瓶, 我認真地清洗瓶身, 裝進細沙和水草, 最後把小小的蝦子放入, 祈禱它們活得長久些!

熱鬧的晚餐後, 大夥入住蘭城晶英酒店, 濃濃的渡假設計風格, 寬敞氣派的內部裝潢, 果然是宜蘭目前最好的五星級旅館!

"Under the plan, UK primary schools will offer career-related learning, as well as opportunities to experience university life and the world of work, to children aged seven to eleven."

許多學者專家詬病傳統中國思想 : 萬般皆下品, 唯有讀書高, 認為這造就了太多 "百無一用" 的讀書人! 澳洲, 英美等國則注重技藝和專長, 讓人更能適得其所.

我覺得兩者各有利弊, 但是, 基本的知識和選擇的權力是不可或缺的! 為了父母而讀書, 為了逃避工作而讀書, 或是為了學位而讀書, 都不是讀書的真諦! 讀書是為了讓我們有能力做出決定, 做出選擇, 當然, 這並不表示我們就一定會決定正確或選擇正確.

七歲就開始接觸到未來生涯規劃, 我個人認為太早了些! 不如給孩子積極的態度和正確的人生觀.

雪梨不久前經歷六十年來第一次的紅色沙塵暴, 女兒說我們來的前一天又有輕微的 "症狀", 看來雪梨也在全球暖化的 "暴風圈" 內, 但是, 多項數據顯示, 雪梨似乎已經脫離了金融風暴.

雪梨機場九月與去年同期相比, 旅客成長百分之五. "The latest monthly figures for Macquarie Airports' flagship asset, Sydney Airport, reveal a 5 per cent rise in total passenger traffic for September, compared with the same month last year." 其中又以國際航班成長較多. "Sydney's international traffic increased by more than 7 per cent while domestic passengers rose by 4 per cent." 除了美國旅客大幅成長外, "visitors from China, France, Canada and New Zealand also rose substantially."

諾貝爾獎得主出爐了! 近年來, 台灣的父母在子女教養方面, 注重實際, 不再理想化, 所以, 學正統音樂的人數減少了, 畢竟莫札特只有一個; 深入物理化學領域的人也不多, 楊正寧李政道不可多得! 諾貝爾得主在其領域中有著 "劃時代" 的成就, 但是在研究的過程裡, 往往卻是 "理想化" 而非想到將來能產生多少利潤, 以我個人經驗來說, 有點兒理想的人往往也更能有點兒成就.

三位醫學獎得主之一的 Carol Greider 女士, 當瑞典公共電台 SR 打電話告知其得獎消息時, 她正在洗衣服! 我參加時尚晚宴時, 常被問及退休後在家做些甚麼? 洗碗, 拖地板, 洗燙衣服, 寫字, 看書報等是我的答案; 但是, 多數人卻覺得應該是按摩, spa 和下午茶. 其實, 曲終人散, 退下華服, 生活還是生活才對.

*Carol Greider, Daniel Nathans professor and Director of Molecular Biology (分子生物學) and Genetics  (遺傳學) and Professor of Oncology (腫瘤學), John Hopkins University School of Medicine (U.S.)

三位物理獎得主之一的高錕 (Charles K. Kao), 出生上海書香門第, 幼讀四書五經, 十歲進入國際學校, 中西合併的文化對他引響深遠. 他被稱作 "光纖之父", 卻不後悔沒從申請專利而致富!

*Charles K. Kao won for "ground-breaking" achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication.

我曾經是個英文老師, 但是, 卻不贊成為了 "讓孩子贏在起跑點" (真後悔讓丈夫把這句廣告詞用在十幾年前的招生傳單上) --- 捨母語而只學英文, 中文之美非是以其為第二語言者可以深入理解的, 英文相對而言, 比較簡單易解呀!

去年九月中, 有一百五十八年歷史的雷曼兄弟倒閉, 一場華爾街的風暴變成了全球的恐慌! 雖然許多學者專家認為 : worst may be over, 但是真正的復甦還遙遙無期. "But many said that they have yet to see signs of a substantial (實質上的, 重大的), sustainable (有支撐性的, 持久的) upturn (情況好轉, 向上), and that there seems little hope of the economy returning to anything like its former strength soon."

雷曼前執行長 Mr. Fuld 的世界在這樁美國歷史上最大破產案的同時也崩解了, "Mr. Fuld's world collapsed on Sept. 15, 2008, when Lehman initiated (發起) the largest bankruptcy proceedings (訴訟程序, 處置) in U.S. history." 但是, 他仍然機巧盡出, 坐擁三棟豪宅, "The Fulds continue to live in their primary residence in Connecticut and maintain a ranch (大農場) house in Sun Valley, Idaho. They have also kept their 10,000-square-foot home in Jupiter Island, Fla., which they bought in 2004 for $13.75 million. On Nov. 10, Mr. Fuld signed the home over to his wife for $10."

那雷曼的員工呢? "Ever since, employees have wrestled (角力, 奮鬥) with life after Lehman." The Wall Street Jourmal 刊載了由 Mary Pilon 和 Annelena Lobb 所編纂的幾則故事, 我選了其中之一和各位分享.

Sally Saltzbart Minier, corporate dining manager, 在雷曼倒閉之後, 她不再有 27,000 張嘴等著吃飯, 決定一圓自己的夢想 --- 在紐約開間烘培坊 (bakery). 每天早上七點開始, 工作超過十六個小時, 為了節省開支, 廚房設在紐澤西, 接受網路訂購而非店面銷售.

她說雷曼倒了當然難過, 但是也是她自行開業的催化劑. She says that although she's sorry to see Lehman go, the bankruptcy was a catalyst (觸媒, 催化劑) for her to start the business. "Before, I think I was afraid to pull the trigger (扣板機, 促使 -- 行為)," she says. "It was a tremendous opportunity." 誰說危機不是轉機呢?

歐洲人大多自負, 不大瞧得起淺薄的美式文化, 對於曾是他們殖民地的亞洲也是憐憫多過尊重. 微軟在歐洲被告過不只一次, 台灣廠商也曾在德國參展時, 因疑似仿冒而被帶進警局.

美國政府一項可能的決定在歐洲又掀波瀾 : "Groups representing European publishers, authors and other copyright holders (版權所有者) spoke out sharply against a proposed U.S. legal settlement (解決之道, 庭外和解) that would let Google sell digital versions (數位版本) of books over the Internet."

歐洲代表認為一旦定案, Google 權限大增, 包括獨家出售仍有版權歸屬的絕版作品. "--- the deal would give Google too much power, including exclusive rights to sell out-of-print works that remain under copyright ---."

這項決定即便只在美國實施, 歐陸出版商已經備感威脅. "The settlement covers only the United States, but European publishers have expressed fears that their books in U.S. libraries would be included in it, potentially (潛在地) violating (違反, 違犯) their copyrights."

Google 列出書目來盡力安撫 (mollify European opponents), 但是歐洲更深沉的恐懼可能不是版權的問題而已, 而是擔心數位世界的入口被 Google 壟斷. "There are widespread concerns that the settlement leads to monopolization (壟斷, 獨佔) in digital access to (數位管道) online access and sales of books in Europe and in other parts of the world as well as effects on ther markets, such as search and search advertising."

我個人覺得歐洲已經 "輸在起跑點", 不過, 他們仍想以時間換取空間. 正如一位德國出版商及書商的法律顧問 Jessica Sanger 所言 : "we are not opposed (反對) to digitalization (數位化) but that more time is needed to craft (精製, 製作) a solution that will be appropriate (合宜的, 適當的) for Europe, which has its own digitalization projects under way."

各大片商 (studios), 如 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal, Paramount Pictures 等對亞洲各國的行徑恨之入骨, 以政治及法律雙管齊下的策略來應對. 但是, 現在可能 "禍起蕭牆之內"!

1982 年, 有個星際大戰迷 (Star Wars buff), Mitch Lowe 想到用自動販賣機租影片的點子, 結果失敗了. 但是, Lowe 先生可沒放棄, 他現在是 Redbox 公司的總裁. "Mr. Lowe, 56, is now the president of Redbox, a fast-growing company in Illinois that rents movies for $1 a day via kiosks (本指土耳其涼亭, 公共電話亭, 報攤, 販賣機 )."

鮮紅色販賣機的熱潮, 還多虧了這次金融風暴. "The kiosk boom is fed by several consumer and business currents (潮流), all related to the U.S. recession (衰退). The dismal (黯淡的, 陰沉的) economy has made people think twice about buying DVDs."

今年年底前, 全美將有 22,000 台 Redbox 在各大賣場及速食店內. 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers 和 Universal 三大片商的對策是 : "refusing to sell DVDs to Redbox until at least 28 days after they arrive in stores."

Redbox 也不是省油的燈, 已經以反壟斷的理由提起訴訟, "Redbox is suing them on antitrust grounds." 更在新的網站 (Savelowcostdvds.com)上塑造出 "被欺凌" 的形象, "Mr. Lowe, meanwhile, is portraying (描繪) the studios as greedy giants schemeing (計畫, 圖謀) to trample (踐踏) the little guy." 網上的標題的確吸睛 : "Don't let a few movie studios prevent you from seeing the latest DVDs for an affordable prices."

雷曼兄弟倒閉也一年了, 即使 "被雷打到" 的朋友也稍為釋懷, 但是, 金融風暴的 "餘震" 似乎擴及各個層面. 有個八卦內容如下 : 女孩明年大學畢業, 在繼續升學或就業之間擺盪, 就在此一 "存亡之秋", 與她交往兩年多的男友劈腿, 心靈受創之餘, 決定重新找回自我 --- 利用暑假動了兩項整形手術, 更力行減肥策略.

身材勻稱的確是件好事, 但是像煞車故障的汽車 "停不下來", 問題就嚴重了! 幾經旁敲側擊, 才知道有個網站 thinspiration 鼓吹 "身輕如燕", 女孩受此 "感召", 幾乎厭食! 我忍不住上去瞧了一瞧.

Scott "Q" Marcus, thinspirational speaker 以自身經驗出書演講, 有一大票 fans 和信徒. 不過,  無論他的說詞是對或錯, 成熟的人都該 "知所進退", 不要太過呀!