Topic of the day: any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God...

Article 6, section 8 of the North Carolina state constitution says: “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.”

Yes, it's the current constitution. Yes, separation of church and state is a myth.

Well, not many people are aware of this until H.K. Edgerton, a former Asheville NAACP president, pointed this out when Cecil Bothwell, an atheist, won a city council election.

Topic of the day: Obama's gift to Hu

As a Go enthusiast, I'm surprised that I didn't read about this earlier. During Obama's recent visit to China, he gave a Go set to Hu Jintao as a gift! According to American Go Association [emphasis mine]:

When U.S. President Barack Obama met with Chinese Hu Jintao this week, he presented Hu with a go set that included an American-made go board and a set of Chinese jade stones contained in glass bowls from the West Coast of the United States. Beyond the simple political symbolism of an ancient asian game seamlessly melding Chinese and American craftsmanship, the choice of a go set – rather than, say, a Chinese chess set – gently raises timely geopolitical issues. "Perhaps this gift expresses the president's respect for China's long history," suggests American Go Association President Allan Abramson. “And that the traditional Western competitive model has room for the cooperation and balance so prized in go and China.” Whatever the political, diplomatic and economic ramifications, the gift set the world go community abuzz as word spread this week. Invented in China over 2,500 years ago, go is the world’s oldest continually-played board game, played by nearly 30 million worldwide. Considered one of a handful of classic board games – along with chess and checkers – go was included in last year’s first-ever World Mind Sports Games in Beijing, and the high-profile presentation of a go set by an American President is seen as a watershed moment in the history of the game in the United States. The board was handmade of Hawaiin koa, selected and crafted by North Carolina master carpenter Frank Salantrie – a 3-dan go player and longtime member of the American Go Association -- and has the presidential seal engraved on the back, along with President Obama's signature. The jade weiqi stones included in the President's gift were donated by professional go player Feng Yun, the former a member of the China National Weiqi (go) Team, who is now a United States citizen. The stones were presented to her many years ago in recognition of her contributions to the team in China, and she said she was “honored to give them to the President to present to President Hu and the Chinese people as an expression of continuing friendship between the United States and China."

It is indeed an interesting choice. Some even think that Obama wanted to show off his knowledge of Chinese culture (I think it's just conspiracy theory)

大國崛起？

看完這個廣告，大家有甚麼感想？我想廣告的創作人多多少少受到朗朗的影響吧。「潮」鋼琴家的Stereotype已由白人變為亞洲人，時代的確不同了。