七月 4, 2010

what is the best cats food?

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss, 身在心在 caring for the self — aahsun @ 9:00 上午


after many researches and the difficulties i’ve encountered, i’d like to share info with others.
bit by bit as there are a lot to share.

first, it’s food.

what does a cat need to eat for health and enough nutrition?

many dry food has high CI (salt), very high carbohydrates %, gluten/wheat/rice/corn which cause allergies and other problems in kidney/pancreas when they approach old age.

dry food is something NOT suitable for cats. it is just for convenience of people and $ for big companies.

cats do NOT need carbohydrate. they only need quality proteins and minerals and taurine which is not in most dry food. and of course clean water.

most cat food, even canned food, don’t have detailed analysis on the label but just a guaranteed analysis, like this one (a food vet recommend and i realize it doesn’t situable for diabetic cats at all. lucky i ask people in US forums):
http://www.addictionfoods.com/usa/prod_cat_venison.php
or this one (food siujim is taking)
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/product-details.aspx?pet=cat&pid=16#guaranteed-analysis

and in such kind of analysis, we don’t know the carbohydrate content.

the adv stating a “balanced diet” with rice/wheat, vegetables and meat is something for humans (buyers) as this is human diet. NOT FOR CATS.
balanced diet for cats are pure meat, with vit b12 + vit e and some minerals like mag and taruine. it is real balance for cats.

here is a table converting carbo content of your canned food to a rough % (not exactly but around)

if you try it on your canned food, then you may be fucking surprised how high the carbo content % is. best for cats is under 6%; and diabetic cats under 4%. again, cats don’t need carbohydrates.

here is a table with the “real content” of most common canned food (very useful list)

again, low carb, mid phos is best (phos is difficult for weaker kidney, common i old age cats)

also, regarding, calories %, you can check out as well because if the canned food has high calories, you can feed her less food, and if carbo/phos level matter for your cats’ sickness, it means it can reduce the level as you feed her less (yet with enough nutrients/energy for the daily intake).

in other words, if the canned food is relatively high calories, mid-low phos, and low carbohydrates, it most probably is quite healthy food.

welless grain-free canned food is still one of the best choices.

moreover, better take NO veterinarian dry food, they are not really good, check out what’s your cats really need.

best if you can change the diet of your cat from dry to canned. of course not those wiska/friska but — wellness, evo, or ziwipeak etc.

you may find it difficult now to change the diet now. but it will save you a lot of $ and time when your cats approach old age.

though we all know we have our own fate and duration of life. yet, cats live on what we feed her. if we feed her wrongly, they suffer, we suffer.

join my palms,
anson 晨

if you are not sure where to order food, here are 2 companies which are quite good but expansive.
http://www.petdoghk.com/blog/
or this:
http://www.foreverpets.hk/

also, some friends and i buy from a small shop, friend’s friend’s shop if you don’t like to buy from big companies and support small shops. their stuff is cheaper too.
free deliver after $300.
sandy: 62786208

六月 4, 2010

在六月四日最應該問問哩…

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss — aahsun @ 6:07 上午


如果在某些(文化/政治)制度之下,人為著生活(物質的)不能做好人(in ethical and/or religious term),那,這個制度應該被推翻。

而香港,就越來越接近這些制度,例如:高官、警察、保安、醫管局的員工、老師,這些執行/教育公平和對錯(not about right/wrong but ethics)的,都身不由己的做錯事,甚至找自圓其說/自己騙自己的方法來justify自己的工作…

香港不要這樣下去!自由是什麼?在六月四日最應該問問哩… 自由的實踐,是當制度要您做壞事的時候,您會拒絕,雖然可能您的生命/財產/工作受到威脅(就如高官「落區」時遇上的老師)… 或廿一年前站在軍車前的青年…

或… 選擇停了下來的軍人…

五月 28, 2010

強烈要求富士康停產整頓 倡議6月8日為「全球悼念富士康自殺工人日」 June 8th: Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss — aahsun @ 10:02 上午


pls sign the petition if you concern with these issues:
強烈要求富士康停產整頓 倡議6月8日為「全球悼念富士康自殺工人日」
June 8th: Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn

letter to steve jobs

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss — aahsun @ 10:01 上午


dear mr jobs,

i am a mac lover, in my early 40’s, an artist and a lecturer in arts school in hong kong.
since 1990-1, we started to use mac classic. the small black and white monitor is something i will never forget. we used them for very very slow graphic creations in school.

then, my first personal owned apple was the LCII, then, performer and the mac notebk with external floppy disk drive (which i finished my master thesis), that pcs took sooooooo many more years to do it.
later on, i was so happy using my powermac, G4 powerbk (which i used it for 2 years when i lived in the US), G5 imac (which i finished my first feature film), and now i have a 17″ macbk pro, an intel chip imac. i had the iphone 2G, then iphone 3G and plans to buy an ipad…

it is like the growth and history of my art works… it is part of life in which mac is never merely a machine.
we, as cultural activists also love the environmental and humanized concern of your products.
this is essential why we buy apple products.

however… recent issues in foxconn really hurt.

reading sacom’s report, a ngo in hong kong spending years in researches of labor exploitation in china, really breaks my heart. we, in hk, as it is close to china, have academics/researchers doing studies on labor condition in factories in china for long. we knew a lot of sad stories. just didn’t expect it would happen to apple…

without choices, i have to stop buying new apple products before independent investigation (this is important, don’t leave it to foxconn, if you know china, then you know they can make up anything… read the ngo reports instead) are publicly released and conditions are improved.

just two days ago, news reports apple has become the largest computer/mobile devise company replacing microsoft.
however, if the success of this big name is possible because of others’ pain, harsh labor and injustice, $ or stock price is no longer meaningful.
and truth and wisdom will leave apple…

chant for the dead and the suffering, and hope you would pay great attention to the pertinent issues.

wish you good health as well,
anson

五月 7, 2010

請繼續你的關注 ﹣﹣ 菜園村

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss — aahsun @ 9:34 下午


菜園村村民於二月宣佈搬村計劃, 最近有報導指村民已拿了賠償、買地、建屋,彷彿已搬村搞掂。 現況如何,來聽聽村民的說法。 菜園紀事(10年4月) 製作:菜園村支援組、影行者 2010年4月24日 最新消息 請留意: 鐵怒沿線 http://ragingiron.wordpress.com/

菜園村搬村已搞掂?──重建家園計劃進度 from v-artivist on Vimeo.

五月 2, 2010

some insights lately

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss — aahsun @ 12:35 下午


not everyone needs to be an activist. yet, political awareness is the fundamental essence for a responsible citizen (& what education needs to do); and being political aware is not “radical” (though there is no problem to be radical if it is not misunderstood in mainstream discourse) but the rationale to act up for injustice and care for ourselves and also, for all. it can be about everyday-life, teh most trivial matter, needless to be big “issue”. in fact, all meaningful self-awareness starts within ourselves.

三月 22, 2010

silver award of IFVA

「我們的地圖 ﹣﹣官塘的文化與歷史」 A Map Of Our Own – Kwun Tong Culture and Histories has got the sliver award of IFVA

the prize doesn’t matter, we hope more people can join us and raise attention to issues of urban renewal plans in hk.

details of the project.

if you are interested in this project, pls contact us.

三月 3, 2010

嘉義聲音計畫 Chiayi Sound Project

文章分類: 聲音藝術 sound art — aahsun @ 10:46 下午


嘉義聲音計畫2008年開始,走訪田野採集嘉義縣地方之聲,主題含括口述歷史、自然環境、音樂與民俗藝術、產業、宗教、地方活動。如有任何想法或建議,歡迎來信討論。

Chiayi Sound Project initiated from 2008. It mainly focuses on field recording in southern Taiwan – Chiayi, the recording topics include oral history, nature environment, folk music, industry, religion and local events. Any idea or discussion is highly welcomed.

部落格中所有聲音、文字和影像由許雁婷與澎葉生撰寫、拍攝、錄音,內容採用創用CC條款授權(NC BY ND)。
All sounds, texts, and images on this blog by Yen-Ting Hsu and Yannick Dauby, published under Creative Commons License (NC BY ND).

二月 22, 2010

好文共享:超越世代 重溫歷史 ——回應「反高鐵運動」的初步檢討

文章分類: 腦筋急轉彎 critical mindsss — aahsun @ 1:34 下午


許寶強(嶺南大學 文化研究系副教授)﹕超越世代 重溫歷史 ——回應「反高鐵運動」的初步檢討
(明報)2010年2月22日 星期一

【明報專訊】反高鐵運動是近年香港少見的觸動人心的本土抗爭,其深遠的影響還有待進一步耕耘浮現。可以預見,在香港貧富日益懸殊、政治結構嚴重落後於市民期望的社會脈絡下,如果政府仍然抱著犬儒交差的「做好份工」心態,政制繼續維持著功能團體、假裝諮詢這類向特權傾斜的安排,類似反高鐵運動的社會抗爭,還將陸續有來。因此,認真地檢討反高鐵運動的性質和成效,並據此反思有關社會發展的願景和方法的論述,以迎接下一浪的社運以至社會轉型,是刻不容緩的工作。

一月圍會 四種分析

「一月圍(立)會」落幕之後,民間組織與公共輿論對反高鐵運動的檢討,大概有四種觀點:

(一)反高鐵運動體現了世代之爭,強調運動之所以成功,實有賴運動參與者的創意和嶄新的抗爭方式;

(二)反高鐵運動所展示的社會深層次矛盾,並非世代之爭,而是日益嚴重的階級分化;

(三)有論者擔心,抗爭過激會帶來反效果,甚至破壞過去得來不易的民主果實;

(四)也有運動參與者批評,抗爭過程過於溫和,無法阻止高鐵撥款,宣稱勝利只是自欺。

這些總結,對持不同政治立場、價值觀念和分析框架的人來說,自然都蘊含一定的道理,但似乎仍有未能自圓其說之處,也忽略了一個十分重要的面向,就是參與街頭抗爭、專家小組和議會質詢的朋友,在運動的過程中,都或多或少向公眾展示了一種過去流於儀式化的示威遊行所少見的「認真」。

先談談這些評論未能自圓其說之處:

(一)年紀不同並不等於利益立場、思考方式和倫理價值必然有異,而就算存在差異,也不必是取而代之、我in你out的敵我矛盾。事實上,反高鐵運動儘管有不少年輕人積極參與,但也不乏中、老年人的身影;而年紀較長的專家議員,與年紀較輕的街頭抗爭者,展現的似乎也是合作而非鬥爭。所謂世代,指向的應是不同歷史時段的社會脈絡和文化氛圍,而非簡單的年齡差異、新舊之爭。5區苦行、議會內外呼應、嘉年華式集會等政治和文化行動自然清新可喜,但這些抗爭方式,並非史無前例,當中其實潛藏著不少「舊的元素」,或不同社群在各個領域不斷耕耘所打下的根基,例如2005年具豐富抗爭和組織經驗的韓農所帶來的啓示,又或一些專家議員過去在相關領域的默默耕耘,以至社運和文化論述一點一滴的累積。

(二)香港社會近年的兩極分化,自然是不爭的事實。說市民(不分年齡)對政府和不民主政制持續向特權階級傾斜的不滿,是反高鐵運動能聚沙成塔的背後力量,大概離事實不遠。畢竟,運動中爭持的兩個方案:西九vs.錦上路,彰顯的正是兩種不同階級的生活空間。然而,反高鐵運動所爭取的,也明顯並不僅是傳統的階級利益——物質回報的提升或政治地位的改善,而是包括保衛一些無形的價值,以至接近宗教精神的靈性追求。階級分析論倘要自圓其說,除非願意接受湯普森(E.P. Thompson)對階級矛盾的較為開放的定義——也就是兩種不同(階級)的生活方式的鬥爭。

(三)在「賽後檢討」中提醒參與者必須盡量避免任何社會運動都存在的「盲動」傾向,自然並非無關重要。因為,脫離社會大眾能承受的抗爭方式,不僅危險,也容易產生適得其反的效果,不經意地幫助敵人而打擊自身。不過,從大部分運動的參與者的克制,到不少立場溫和重視理性的公共輿論都傾向同情運動,可窺見反高鐵運動雖或危險,但整體上似乎並未過激。值得補充的是,更為危險的,似乎是政府和親政府力量的「盲動」,例如為打擊公社聯盟的「請辭公投」,政府不惜揚棄政治中立的面紗以至公民教育的基本倫理規範——在候選人名單還未出現前,已暗示公僕以至市民不應投票。此例一開,政府如何能在日後理直氣壯地要求市民學生積極投票以盡公民的責任?如何能維護民主選舉的基本倫理規範?

(四)說運動過於溫和,甚至基本失敗,建基的也許只是一種短期的視野,未能看到單一的社運事件與其置身其中的更廣闊的社會進程之間的關係。若從長時段的角度考察,我們或許能夠更清楚地看到單一的社運抗爭事件的歷史意義和社會成效,確認「反高鐵運動」是一次民間的勝利。例如,對比運動之前,政府不是願意(或被迫)較積極地回應菜園村民的要求嗎?在立法會 上,不是比以往願意公布更多的資料嗎?在日後推動基建時,能不更加謹慎嗎?反高鐵運動剛過去不久,目前還未有足夠的時間距離,以觀察消化其潛藏的歷史意義。不過,回顧其他地方相關的歷史經驗,或許能為我們提供一些有用的參照。

18世紀英國 的庶民起義

已故的英國歷史學者和社會運動家湯普森,在其晚年出版的文集Customs in Common(NY: The New Press, 1993;中譯《共有的習慣》,沈漢、王加豐譯,上海 人民出版社,2002)中,系統地回顧了18世紀英國的庶民抗爭歷史。他指出,當時大量的英國平民失去土地,農村變得貧窮,導致傳統的家長式管治出現危機,而在這樣的社會脈絡下(與今天的香港和內地是否也有點類同?),見證了各式各樣的庶民抗爭,包括著名的糧食「騷動」。

面對商人炒賣糧食、政府補貼出口,農村貧民生活日益困難,甚至三餐不保,於是激起了他們始起彼伏的反壟斷抗爭。湯普森指出,這些英國的貧苦大眾都知道,要獲得維生的糧食,保障基本的生活,只能被迫「挽起他們的手臂」。

然而,一個弔詭的問題是,儘管騷動往往未能直接達至其預期的效果(例如令貧農獲取足夠糧食),還要付出沉重的代價(包括受傷坐牢),但為何這些庶民的起義仍然會不斷湧現?湯普森的答案是:「如果不曾存在某種報償和某種行動空間,騷動就不會這樣普遍地出現。在這種空間中,直接行動成為一種保護方法,使窮人不被新近解放的農業利益集團的胃口所吞沒,是對投機者和奸商的一種警告,是要求當局使應急措施和賑濟行動投入運轉的警報信號」(中文版頁308)。

換句話說,由於「騷動是一種災難……當局出於憂慮……不情願的談判非常普遍」(頁240)。因此,庶民的起義長遠來說催生了濟貧慈善和保質禁假的法令改革等社會保護網,而「從兩個多世紀的長期觀點看,騷動與騷動的威脅可能曾避免了飢餓,有時實際上迫使價格降低,更通常地是迫使政府注意窮人的困境,並促進了教區的救濟工作和地方慈善事業」(頁315);因此,「騷亂是一種歷史動力的組成要素」(頁308)。

湯普森筆下的18世紀英國經驗,對我們重新閱讀本地的民間抗爭歷史,帶來了怎樣的啓示?

告別新潮 回到認真

另一方面,上述的有關「反高鐵運動」的初步檢討,似乎都遺漏了一個重要的面向,就是運動重新激活了在香港各界(包括社運)久違了的「認真」。也許,身處不同位置的參與者鍥而不捨地揚棄偽善的政治化妝、直面現實反對特權、尊重土地自然生態、樂意與底層百姓為伍、追求率性認真的生活,才是反高鐵運動魅力之所在。

認真的抗爭態度,也是18世紀英國庶民起義的特色。有不少婦女走在抗爭前線的糧食騷動,絕少是假正經的表演,也不是為了追求直接的個人利益,而是嘗試保衛生存的權利、維護公平和尊嚴的生活方式;他們參與的,並不是毫無組織、盲動激進的「騷亂」,而是嚴守紀律和遊行秩序的自制行動;他們頑強地維護合法的權利和傳統的倫理規範:消費者追求公平的交易、工匠捍衛技工身分、婦女守護著家人和自身。面對政權商人的「假戲」,庶民回敬的是「真情」,合演出「一場時而是諷刺時而是恐嚇的勇氣的較量」(頁61)。值得注意的是,儘管「當時男人和婦女幾近餓死,不過他們攻擊磨坊和穀倉時並沒有偷佔食物,而只是懲罰業主」,這些「『瘋狂的』和不正常的幽默舉動」(頁232),彰顯的正是老百姓世代嚴守的生活倫理準則。

因此,只把反高鐵運動的成功歸因於新世代的創意,或過於強調新穎的抗爭方式,又或只把焦點投放在短期而直接的成效,不僅容易忽略運動的長遠影響,也遺漏了「激活認真」這重要的運動面向,更可能在往後的論述重構過程中,變得容易為既有的框架吸納收編──求新厭舊畢竟正是當代資本主義的重要運作邏輯;庸俗的務實論,或港式的犬儒,也從來不忌憚借用任何原本帶抗爭意味的論述和行動方式;大眾傳媒亦樂於聚焦於剎那間的光輝,不惜埋葬過去豐富多面的歷史遺產。

也許,能真正克服過去例行公事式的政治操作、社運行動和公共論述,並非是充滿創意的新穎形式、光榮於一時的短期成效或超前二十年的時髦理論,而是頑強地直面現實、尊重歷史的認真。

二月 17, 2010

新一年…

文章分類: 身在心在 caring for the self — aahsun @ 10:33 上午


祝 身體健康,身心都平安。
siujim_newyr

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