And Satan invented cable television with remote control

Dr John Crippen's In the beginning... is an interesting read!

In the beginning, God covered the earth with broccoli, cabbage, red peppers and all kinds of vegetables, so Man would live long. Resenting God's Bountiful gifts, Satan created dairy ice creams and said "Do you want hot fudge with that?" and Man said "Yes" and Woman said "I'll have one too, please, with chocolate chips!"

信佛、吃素

八卦的我很喜歡吃飯時偷聽身旁不認識的人說話。星期五晚在美食廣場吃飯聽到對面一男一女在談佛學、殺生的問題。女的一句說話引起我的好奇心：「如果信佛為 甚麼不能吃素呢？一個月只兩天（指初一、十五）。」男的邊吃著他的韓式雞肉飯，邊回應說即使他不吃這飯，雞還是要死。女的看來有點語塞，只說兩者有關連， 吃肉的行動已種了因，如果找某某大師就能詳細解譯。

從經濟的方式看，買雞肉是增加雞肉的需求，所以也會令更多雞被殺。另一方面看也可以說幾個吃飯的人夾錢買兇殺雞。其實儀式上的素食有甚麼意義呢？初一十五吃素但其他日子大魚大肉，真能積德嗎？


後來兩人的話題轉到六道輪迴。女生說殺生是作惡，曱甴也有生命，如果你是它你也不想被人踩死。男生狡辨：「如果我是它，可能也想早點被殺可以早日投生做人！」他還說既然我要殺死曱甴也是註定，就沒有甚麼問題。兩人還提到很多問題，如大家都不吃肉就不會有戰爭等等。我也慢慢的吃，直到他們吃完。其間有幾次想插咀但努力壓止了找死的欲望。

以我的有限佛學知識，說眾生皆有佛性但六道中人最有條件成佛，可見佛教跟其他宗教一樣，也是以人為中心。老鼠曱甴沒有文字，無法得知有前世因果，當然也不會有早死能重新做人的想法。既然輪迴不是人所定明，也無法知道曱甴先生的刑期是否被殺五十八次就能重新做人，也不能說讓它早死是好事了。

佛家要大家各自修成正果，這種『出世』的態度又能如何阻止戰爭？以殺人的方式救人是否種善因？我就無法答了。


看日曆，星期五剛是十二月初八

如果你吃素…

你會吃經改造的雞造出來的藥嗎?

Engineered chickens make cancer drugs

A team at the institute that cloned Dolly the sheep have made a genetically engineered chicken that produces cancer drugs in its eggs. [...] Many human therapeutic proteins are produced in industrial bioreactors, but setting up such systems is both time-consuming and expensive. [...] Scientists have been trying to find good ways to turn animals into factories instead. [...] The researchers have now bred several hundred chickens that can produce the desired proteins.

今時今日，咁既服務態度

精警對白引客人一笑都不錯！咁既服務態度又如何？

有人會邊賣邊唱歌…

傳說某四仔店：(調寄Jingle Bells) DVD, DVD, DVDVD!
尖沙咀某茶餐廳：(調寄Old McDonald Had a Farm) 兩個都係涷奶茶，邊位飲～架？

間中也聽到不同溫度的笑話

尖沙咀某茶餐廳：(客人：唔該想要餐具) 咁你要中國兵器定西洋兵器呢？筷子就中國人發明既，刀叉呢啲野就西洋人發明既！
鰂魚涌某麵店：(幫客人落單後) 你今次既消費係十七蚊，加五蚊。(數分鐘後) 我有責任提醒你，你叫呢個餐加五蚊可以要冷熱飲品。 (另一個客人叫魚蛋麵) 我質疑你個麵係粗麵定麵！

"Do you support the President's stance on Kyrgyzstan?"

In fact, most Americans would even support a war against a country they've never heard of.

Murder. Deplorable. Investigation. Arrest. Murders.

Tuesday, 2nd January

Deplorable
"Frankly, to get this kind of recorded messages coming out is totally unacceptable and I think whoever is involved and responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves.", John Prescott, Deputy prime minister, said on BBC Radio regarding the mobile video.

Investigation
Iraq’s Shiite-led government said Tuesday that it had ordered an investigation into the abusive behavior at the execution of Saddam Hussein.

Wednesday, 3rd January

Arrest
The person believed to have recorded Saddam Hussein's raucous execution on a cell phone camera was arrested.
"Yes, we would have [done things differently]. But that's not our decision," said Major General William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman.

Thursday, 4th January

More Murders
Two of Saddam Hussein's comrades, Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, will be hanged later today.


Yelling "Go to hell" is acceptable. Spreading the footage of it is abusive and deplorable. It's like the French Revolution without a Guillotine. The Iraqi government scored 5 points taking Saddam's head. Who will win in this game?

* photo from German edition of Guillotine (Wizards of the Coast, 1998). Taken without permission.

"This whole execution is about justice"

Hiwa Osman, an adviser for the Iraqi president, told the BBC after a second mobile video was in wide circulation. Is it justice, or an abuse of justice?

You can read more about Saddam Hussein's last moments on BBC.