我现在用的是北京联通的宽带，访问博客速度非常慢（点击“发新随笔”到页面基本加载完通常需要等待40秒甚至更长的时间）。在短期内不大可能会改换别家的宽带，所以准备搬家了。
　　新博客的内容将以英语摘抄、语文摘抄和电脑知识（HTML、CSS、AppleScript、JavaScript、PHP Script、Photoshop、Illustrator等）为主。

如果有朋友感兴趣的话可以重新订阅：

http://feeds.feedburner.com/fj-blog

希望直接访问网页的朋友可以去：

http://www.freelancejoe.com/blog/

　　这个博客即日起停止更新。博客里现有的文章我不会删除，但是也不会转移到新址去。此外，你还可以通过以下方式联系到我：

我的电子邮箱：

zhao5578094@gmail.com

英文的小摘抄将继续在沪江碎碎念中发布，中文的碎则会发到新浪微博里去，下面是我在新浪微博的主页（基本上是听段子＋自言自语）：

http://t.sina.com.cn/josephweld/profile/

freelance Joe上所有的音频视频都将存放在土豆网上，下面是我的土豆主页：

http://www.tudou.com/home/josephweld/

　　其中，八哥会豆单是我喜爱的电影插曲大汇总，里面的歌都是我从电影文件里扒下来的。

freelance Joe相册里所有的图片我都会传一份到我的豆瓣相册里去，下面是链接：

http://www.douban.com/people/JosephWeld/photos/

_

以前置顶文章的索引  阅读全文

　　我现在用的是北京联通的宽带，访问博客速度非常慢（点击“发新随笔”到页面基本加载完通常需要等待40秒甚至更长的时间）。在短期内不大可能会改换别家的宽带，所以准备搬家了。
　　新博客的内容将以英语摘抄、语文摘抄和电脑知识（HTML、CSS、AppleScript、JavaScript、PHP Script、Photoshop、Illustrator等）为主。

如果有朋友感兴趣的话可以重新订阅：

http://feeds.feedburner.com/fj-blog

希望直接访问网页的朋友可以去：

http://www.freelancejoe.com/blog/

　　这个博客即日起停止更新。博客里现有的文章我不会删除，但是也不会转移到新址去。此外，你还可以通过以下方式联系到我：

我的电子邮箱：

zhao5578094@gmail.com

英文的小摘抄将继续在沪江碎碎念中发布，中文的碎则会发到新浪微博里去，下面是我在新浪微博的主页（基本上是听段子＋自言自语）：

http://t.sina.com.cn/josephweld/profile/

freelance Joe上所有的音频视频都将存放在土豆网上，下面是我的土豆主页：

http://www.tudou.com/home/josephweld/

　　其中，八哥会豆单是我喜爱的电影插曲大汇总，里面的歌都是我从电影文件里扒下来的。

freelance Joe相册里所有的图片我都会传一份到我的豆瓣相册里去，下面是链接：

http://www.douban.com/people/JosephWeld/photos/

_

　　iTunes通常能够记住上次退出时窗口的位置（至少在不关机的情况下是这样的，重启我就不知道了），但是我也遇到过点开iTunes后窗口不大不小的情况。今天刚看了一段关于AppleScript的文章，下面是解决办法。

窗口太大，注意看左侧的Dock




窗口太小




步骤：

１、打开Script Editor（Applications > AppleScript > Script Editor）;

２、手工把iTunes窗口的位置和大小设置好；

３、在Script Editor里运行下面这条命令（拷贝命令到第一个输入框里，并点击Run按钮，或者按Apple + R）：

tell application "iTunes" to get the bounds of the front window

４、第二个框里会显示一连串数字：{a, b, c, d}。分别把下面这条命令里的a、b、c、d依次用这四个数字代替，然后把这条命令复制到第一个输入框里并且删掉之前的那条命令，最后点击Run按钮，或者按Apple + R；

tell application "iTunes" to set the bounds of the front window to {a, b, c, d}

５、保存命令，File Format设成Application，记住保存到哪儿去了（一律保存到桌面Desktop也可以）；

６、用的时候只需要双击刚刚保存的这个文件就能自动调整iTunes窗口的位置和大小了。


结语：

"On the Macintosh computer everything is an object."

"Every scriptable application contains elements or objects that have properties. These properties have values that can be read or manipulated."

　　在上面的脚本里，最关键的就是对象bounds的属性。其他的对象名称可以在Script Editor的字典里找到（File > Open Dictionary）。了解更详细的入门知识可以点击这里。




_

　　之前CCTV-3播过电影State Fair的片断集锦，我特别喜欢里面的一首插曲。电影挂了一个月终于下下来了，所以歌曲也拷贝出来了。
　　这首歌的名字叫All I Owe Ioway，应该归为爱州歌曲。希望我们的爱国歌曲也能这样好听！


我清唱的一部分：


电影里的插曲：


　　我以后会把自己喜欢听的电影插曲和主题曲都给扒下来，放到八哥会豆单里去。

---

　　昨天用CSS给fj的“关于页”做了一个表单，把我受教育的经历都写进去了。表单还是弹出式的，我自己觉得还不错。
　　在FireFox下，重复给CSS赋值会导致效果的叠加。为了解决这个问题，我改了好久的代码，又长了点知识。
　　弹出窗口用的是Highslide java脚本，我完全是照搬的示例，不过最后的效果还是不错的。我一直觉得做网站、写博客的人都该给出自己详细的受教育经历，所以我做了这样的一张表。把它做成弹出窗口主要是考虑不想看这些内容的人可能会误入“关于页”。

页面我还没有传到服务器上去，下面是实际的截图： http://www.douban.com/photos/photo/363835801/


歌词是在网上搜的，我略有改动。

All I Owe Ioway


I can hear 'em callin' hogs in the clear Ioway air,
I can sniff the fragrant whiff of an Ioway rose!
You've got Ioway in your heart! I've got Ioway in my hair!
I've got Ioway in my ears and eyes and nose!

Oh, I know all I owe I owe Ioway,
I owe Ioway all I owe and I know why.
I am Ioway born and bred,
And on Ioway corn I'm fed,
Not to mention her barley, wheat, and rye!

I owe Ioway for her ham and her beef and her lamb,
And her strawberry jam, and her pie!
I owe Ioway more than I can never pay,
So I think I'll move to Californi-a!

What a shame!
What a shame!
What a shame!
You'll be good and gosh-darn sorry when you go.
Don't I know!

When you leave your native state,
You'll be feelin' far from great!
You'll be good and gosh-darn sorry when you go!

I'm a seed of Ioway grain.
You're a breeze that Ioway blew.
I'm a drop of Ioway rain!
You're a drip of Ioway dew!

Oh, I know all I owe I owe Ioway.
I owe Ioway all I owe and I know why.
I am Ioway born and bred,
And on Ioway corn I'm fed,
Not to mention her barley, wheat and rye!

I owe Ioway for her ham and her beef And her lamb,
and her Strawberry jam and her pie!
I owe Ioway more than anyone should owe,
So I think I'll start in owin' Idaho!

All together!
What a shame! What a shame!
You'll be cryin' like a baby when you go!
Don't I know!

When I leave my native heath,
With my lip between my teeth,
I'll be bawlin' like a booby when I go!

You're a seed of Ioway grain,
You're a breeze that Ioway blew.
I'm a drop of Ioway rain!
You're a drip of Ioway dew!

Oh, I know all I owe I owe Ioway,
I owe Ioway all I owe and I know why.
I am Ioway born and bred,
And on Ioway corn I'm fed,
Not to mention her barley, wheat, and rye!

I owe Ioway for her ham and her beef and her lamb,
And her strawberry jam, and her pie!
I owe Ioway more than anyone should owe,
So I think I'll start in owin' Idaho!

That a shame! That a shame!
You'll be good and gosh-darn sorry when you go.
Don't I know!

When you leave your native state,
You'll be feelin' far from great!
You'll be good and gosh-darn sorry when you go!

I owe Ioway for her ham and her beef and her lamb,
And her strawberry jam, and her pie!
I owe Ioway more than I can never pay,
So I think I'll move to Californi-a!

I-O-W, I-O-W, I-O-W, I-O-W-A
Hooray, Ioway


_

下面摘一段梁实秋论作文的文章：

　　文章的好坏与写作的快慢无关。顷刻之间成数千言，未必斐然可诵，吟得一个字捻断几根须，亦未必字字珠 玑。我们欣赏的是成品，不是过程。袁虎倚马草露布，“手不辍笔，俄得七纸”，固然资为美谈，究非常人轨范。文不加点的人，也许是早有腹稿。我们为文还是应 该刻意求工，千锤百炼，虽不必“掷地作金石声”，总要尽力洗除一切肤泛猥杂的毛病。
　　文章的好坏与年龄无关。姜愈老愈辣，但“辣手作文章”的人并不一定即是耆耇。头脑的成熟，艺术的造诣，与年齿时常不成正比。

---

　　是不是人人都有黄思路那样的条件呢？很多人家里没有那么多钱送孩子去学琴，很多家长没有这样的意识，甚至有非常多的家长在学习上都帮不上孩子什么忙。把这样的一个人提出来做榜样是非常不恰当的，条件不够的话，即使你的孩子比她更努力都无法达到她那样的成就。

　　另外，我觉得我们欣赏的应该是天才而不是打过折的少年天才。既然以她的钢琴水平为宣传点，就该拿她的水平和职业的钢琴师比。韩寒在节目里说她钢琴弹得好，我若是他，我会说：“我没有专门学过钢琴，不是专业人士，所以不该由我来判断她的水平。”可惜我现在是18+6岁。

---

注意：
　１、“耆耇”的“耇”读“狗”；
　２、“年齿”的“齿”不是错别字。



_

　　焦点访谈又报道了域名注册。编导和记者显然不是深度的网络使用者。
　　他们言下之意是要搞实行实名制，但实名制的问题很明显，如下：

１、报道里主要谈论的是CNNIC负责的国内域名的注册，但是只对国内域名实行实名制又如何能遏制住成人信息（在国内非法，咱认了）的传播？那么接下来是不是要屏蔽所有未在中国政府备案的外国网站？否则不白治了。强制备案和域名实名制注册作用的原理是一样的，都留了境外申请这一道口子。强制备案现在实行了，效果如果不好的话，那么搞域名的实名制注册也是徒劳。

２、国际域名的注册信息在ICANN的whois页能够查到；ICANN又不归中国政府管。如果我采用了实名制，如何保证不泄露个人信息，不被人肉？

３、到底实名到怎样的程度？真实信息包括哪些内容？
只是真实的姓名的话，如何保证一部分不会花钱买别人的个人信息，除非以后注册搞成银行那样，必须本人带身份证亲自去。但既使是这样，有预谋的人一样能得逞，否则就不会有这么多利用银行卡诈骗的案子了。

如果还包括住址的话，那些经常搬家的人怎么办？政府又如何能验证其真实性？

　　这样的建议防君子不防小人。

---

P.S.
　　.cn的域名受政策的影响大，靠不住，很多人都知道。我之前觉得很不解：为什么焦点访谈选这么个说明不了问题的例子？刚看了一下中国互联网络信息中心的通知，从字面上理解这次的整治应该不涉及国际域名。焦点访谈的制作人员应该不是不懂，而是有针对性地报导。

万网的通知：http://www.net.cn/service/a/zytz/200912/4080.html

　　我是通过阳光互连注册的，之前还推荐过。他们只是代理，实际上也是通过万网注册的。其实他们的报价比万网也便宜不了几块钱。

　　整治不知会不会涉及到国际域名？

　　另外，我搞错了，whois里好像看不到地址。

　　花了三整天功夫功夫，重新设计了freelancejoe.com的主页（光写这篇介绍就用了一整天，那天共写了三个版本，这是其中之一）。这一版还没有上传到服务器，我想等内容陆续添加进去之后再更新。下面是效果图，点击能看到更大的（900*716）。



　　我还是觉得首页应该只是一屏。这一版主页在屏幕分辨率为1024*768的电脑上，如果用全屏模式浏览的话（Windows系统下按F11），还是可以做到不翻页的；在17寸或者以上的液晶显示器（最佳分辨率至少1280*1024）上就更没问题了。
　　我自己最喜欢RSS这块。之前的想法是一个打印机打出一张纸，然后纸从中线被裁成两条，分别代表网站的RSS feed和博客的RSS feed。做完之后的效果没有我想像中的好，所以简化成了现在的样子。
　　鼠标滑过导航栏时，对应的栏目文字会变黑，并且右侧会出现一个小箭头。
　　点击“禁止转载”会转到版权声明页。
　　点击大的Site RSS或者Blog RSS按钮会链接到RSS文件；而如果点击下面的小按钮会直接订阅到相应的阅读器。
　　鼠标移到日期上会出现一个小黄框，黄框里注明了文章的创建日期。
　　加了Google Custom Search的代码。
　　通用版的层次我也很喜欢。点击“通用版”三个字会链接到CSS样式比较简单的主页，专为不兼容的浏览器准备的。如果有人用Lynx之类的浏览器，那我也只能无语了。
　　文章中的那些按钮都是链接。
　　右侧以后会加一张图片进去。
　　以后图片集会使用highslide的代码。
　　Photoshop貌似很难模拟网页的文字效果，图里和实际用CSS实现完全不一样。
　　这一版里最难的是圆角的阴影，我是用超级笨的办法一点一点完成的。这也是我不愿意改背景颜色的原因。这个色和别的颜色混一起太突出了，但是也没有办法。
　　现在，主页里的链接都是空的。现有的“关于我”和“关于本站”我都会重写。以后网站里的音频也都将存放在土豆网上，页面将采用嵌入音频的形式。

　　有人知道如何给虚拟主机设置自己的404页吗？还有跳转要用到哪些代码？我没说明白的话，你可以到下面的这个网站去看看（把interface改成interfoce）。

　　设计这一版时我参照的是http://morris-photographics.com/photoshop/tips/tips-interface.html。你觉得痕迹明显吗？

　　我感觉自己在CSS上又进了一大步，写代码不再是摸着石头过河了。

---

　　普通的Mac用户，如果不准备打印的话，最好使用sRGB作为默认的色彩——打开文件后点击View>Proof Setup?>Monitor ?。这样的话，做出来的图片传到PC上看颜色也不会差得太离谱，否则浅黄过去能变成粉的。

　　另外，如果你像我一样把Dell 1708fp接在PowerBook G4 12" (MacOS 10.3.9)上使用的话，千万不要在这块外接屏上调色。否则，调出来的颜色在Mac、在PC、和在这块接在Mac上的PC显示器上会是三种不同的效果。如果我没说明白的话，我在简单地归纳一下：这里讨论的是PC显示器接在Mac上的问题，而不是说Dell 1708fp存在偏色（我没有专业仪器，不可能得出这样的结论。不过这款显示器那么便宜，也说不定）。

_

　　A Worthy Tradition这本书主要讲的是美国Supreme Court关于言论自由的判例。我原本是抱着自学英语的态度才开始看的，现在感觉有点读不下去，跟不上作者的分析。比较奇怪的是这本书没有被归到国图的法律阅览室（否则我也就不可能把它借出来了）。

---

　　Richard Goodwin的Remembering America和A Worthy Tradition一样厚，但却好读多了。Goodwin讲的是故事，更有趣。A Worthy Tradition里经常提到Justice Frankfurter，Goodwin当年曾是Justice Frankfurter的clerk，真是巧啊！最近总是频繁读到相同的人名和概念。Goodwin在书中谈了三段他从Frankfurter身上学到的，我最喜欢第35到第37页里关于association of freedom（前几天才看过A Worthy Tradition里关于这个的分析）和Supreme Court职责的讨论（Frankfurter反对judical activism）。
　　在书中Goodwin对于Twenty One的回忆并不多，只有pp. 43-65这么短短的22页。Goodwin也是电影Quiz Show（94年上映）的编剧之一，书（88年出版）中的内容与电影情节大同小异，不同的地方有：

１、在现实生活中，Van Doren被Congress subpoena的时候，Quiz Show已经停播2年了;
２、电影里Goodwin老婆说的一些话原来是Justice Frankfurter说的（如关于Van Doren并不是innocent victim之类的内容）；
３、Herb Stempel也并不poor。

　　另外，Stempel是犹太人；Goodwin也是犹太人（电影中没有体现）；Justice Frankfurt也是犹太人，还是从奥地利移民到美国的犹太人。Goodwin本科读的是Tufts University，Justice Frankfurt本科读的是City College of New York，他们最后的成功都是美国梦的体现。在电影里，Stempel读的也是City College，感觉并不是什么好大学。
　　同样是回忆，我更喜欢读Kahlenberg的Broken Contract，语言更亲切些。

---

　　喜欢看《三星智力快车》和《开心词典》的青少年真该去看看电影Quiz Show，看完一定会感觉很受启发的。作弊并不一定是赤裸裸地给你标准答案，还可以是事先测试你的知识点，然后根据你的知识点设计问题。
　　Quiz Show的原形Twenty One是50年代末发生的事情。

　　刚看了一个视频，视频里的板书让我想起了高中时的历史课。我以前就想过（上数学、物理、化学等别的课的时候我也想）如果学习各种概念的同时也学会其对应的英文该多好啊！我觉得这样就不觉得枯燥了。可惜当时我没有那个条件和环境，不过现在有了。他一开始讲洛克(Locke)保护私有财产的观点的时候，我想起了以前在YouTube上看过的一部资本主义的宣传片——视频里Dr. Clifton L. Ganus Jr.就提到了这一项。

链接：http://www.bukaopu.com/2009/11/29/1868/

　　东东枪的苏三说那篇文章的回复里好像有人提到在美国听不了来自土豆的音频；我发现Google的RSS订阅里看不到Youku的视频。真是两难啊！

---

　　今天去了趟国图，本来是要帮某豆友一个忙，结果却没有帮上。惭愧！
　　我们约好9点半在国图门口见面，可我到了9点50才到。这是我事先就预料到了的，南三环早高峰堵车，没办法！从我住的地方到国图大约30到40分钟车程。今天8点15起的床（平常习惯了2点睡，结果昨晚12点怎么也睡不着）；8点35出的门，结果刚出小区发现没带手机，一个来回相当于8点45出的门，于是便迟到了。
　　没帮上忙主要是因为我也是昨晚零点以后才知道台港阅览室只允许借两本书，并且也只能预约两本。另外，似乎进台港阅览室需要刷读者卡，她办了卡就能预约，所以我基本上没起到作用。
　　我原本打算去看看梁实秋早年的一本散文集，所以只给她预约了一本书。对她唯一帮助就是能多借出一本书，并且早借出一会儿。

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　　我准备看的书没有找到。这个比较郁闷，因为很可能梁〜在建国前的著作都会找不到。在国图，找不到是不用提供理由的，更不会知道以后能不能找到，何时能找到。
　　后来去法律阅览室待了一整天。一开始我还感觉不自在——别人都是来学法律的，可我是来学英语的。不过后来就好了——之前借过的一本书现在只能阅览了，我只是来把词汇笔记做完，否则我也不来了。不过以后还是会去的，开架阅览时常会有意外的发现。
　　看书的时候，有两个知识分子打扮的中年女读者特别令人讨厌。桌上的提示板建议每位读者最多只借三本书，她两人取的书合起来明显不只6本。最受不了的是她们总时不时地小声谈话，非常烦人！这个现象在别的阅览室更严重（因为人更多），我觉得以后去看书很有必要带副隔音耳塞。
　　法律阅览室没有窗帘，早上和晚上靠窗的位子都被阳光直射，不适合看书。另外插座也太少了，一楼才两个；隔桌也太远，苹果的两孔电源头就够不到。

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　　借了本Richard Goodwin的书，不知道怎样。不知Bork能有多conservative，Tribe又能有多liberal？过段时间再找来看看。去法律阅览室学英语，呵呵。


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　　刚查一本书，看到Amazon上有人在评论里写道：“Like some others, I bought the book after seeing the movie Quiz Show, to read more about the Van Doren scandal.”我也和他差不多。

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　　不必再看不感兴趣的内容，而喜欢的书想看多少都可以。

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The American Reader已经看完，书里面我喜欢的文章并不多，如下：

* Thomas Paine: Common Sense pp. 45-50
* Thomas Paine: The American Crisis pp. 51-54
* Emma Lazarus: The New Colossus p. 302
* Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken / Fire and Ice pp. 404-405
* Edna St. Vincent Millay: First Fig p. 440 (a few figs from thistles, Harp-Weaver and other poems)
E. B. White: Freedom pp. 480-485
Newton Minow: Address to the Broadcasting Industry pp. 556-560
Tom Hayden: The Port Huron Statement pp. 561-563
Rachel Carson: Silent Spring pp. 565-568
* Martin Luther King, Jr.: Letter from Birmingham City Jail pp. 569-576
* John F. Kennedy: Speech at the Berlin Wall pp. 576-578
* Dudley Randall: Ballad of Birmingham pp. 587-588
Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique pp. 589-591
* Lyndon B. Johnson: Howard University Address pp. 594-597
* Robert F. Kennedy: On the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr. pp. 598-599
* Ronald Reagan: Speech at Moscow State University pp. 605-610

　　我准备把这些文章都做成PDF文档。谁想要的话发一封邮件到zhao5578094[at]gmail.com；记得把[at]换成@；我做完后会把文档作为附件发过去。用星号标记的文章都能轻易地在网上找到免费的全文，而书中的文章是节选，更精炼。在节选的过程中编者Diane Ravitch为了照顾上下文修改了部分词句。另外，书中演讲的分段也与网上的文本不太一样。


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　　无意中看到里根1988年在Moscow State University的一篇演讲，后面附了现场问答的笔录。感觉里根是美国价值观的坚定支持者，在场的苏联学生似乎也是个个政审合格。问题基本上是基于他们对美国的印象，也没有一个人具体地问总统对苏联所存在的问题的看法。

http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/053188b.htm


Mr. Logunov. Dear friends, Mr. President has kindly agreed to answer your questions. But since he doesn't have too much time, only 15 minutes — so, those who have questions, please ask them.


Q. . . . Do you think that it will be possible for you and the General Secretary to get a treaty on the limitation of strategic arms during the time that you are still President?

The President. Well, the arms treaty that is being negotiated now is the so-called START treaty, and it is based on taking the intercontinental ballistic missiles and reducing them by half, down to parity between our two countries. Now, this is a much more complicated treaty than the INF treaty, the intermediate-range treaty, which we have signed and which our two governments have ratified and is now in effect. So, there are many things still to be settled. You and we have had negotiators in Geneva for months working on various points of this treaty. Once we had hoped that maybe, like the INF treaty, we would have been able to sign it here at this summit meeting. It is not completed; there are still some points that are being debated. We are both hopeful that it can be finished before I leave office, which is in the coming January, but I assure you that if it isn't — I assure you that I will have impressed on my successor that we must carry on until it is signed. My dream has always been that once we've started down this road, we can look forward to a day — you can look forward to a day — when there will be no more nuclear weapons in the world at all.


Q. . . . The universities influence public opinion, and the student wonders how the youths have changed since the days when you were a student up until now?

The President. Well, wait a minute. How you have changed since the era of my own youth?

 
Q. How just students have changed, the youth have changed. You were a student. [Laughter] At your time there were one type. How they have changed?

The President. Well, I know there was a period in our country when there was a very great change for the worse. When I was Governor of California, I could start a riot just by going to a campus. But that has all changed, and I could be looking out at an American student body as well as I'm looking out here and would not be able to tell the difference between you.

I think that back in our day — I did happen to go to school, get my college education in a unique time; it was the time of the Great Depression, when, in a country like our own, there was 25-percent unemployment and the bottom seemed to have fallen out of everything. But we had — I think what maybe I should be telling you from my point here, because I graduated in 1932, that I should tell you that when you get to be my age, you're going to be surprised how much you recall the feelings you had in these days here and that — how easy it is to understand the young people because of your own having been young once. You know an awful lot more about being young than you do about being old. [Laughter]

And I think there is a seriousness, I think there is a sense of responsibility that young people have, and I think that there is an awareness on the part of most of you about what you want your adulthood to be and what the country you live in — you want it to be. And I have a great deal of faith. I said the other day to 76 students — they were half American and half Russian. They had held a conference here and in Finland and then in the United States, and I faced them just the other day, and I had to say — I couldn't tell the difference looking at them, which were which, but I said one line to them. I said I believe that if all the young people of the world today could get to know each other, there would never be another war. And I think that of you. I think that of the other students that I've addressed in other places.

And of course, I know also that you're young and, therefore, there are certain things that at times take precedence. I'll illustrate one myself. Twenty-five years after I graduated, my alma mater brought me back to the school and gave me an honorary degree. And I had to tell them they compounded a sense of guilt I had nursed for 25 years because I always felt the first degree they gave me was honorary. [Laughter] You're great! Carry on.


Q. Mr. President, you have just mentioned that you welcome the efforts — settlement of the Afghanistan question and the difference of other regional conflicts. What conflicts do you mean? Central America conflicts, Southeast Asian, or South African?

The President. Well, for example, in South Africa, where Namibia has been promised its independence as a nation — another new African nation. But it is impossible because of a civil war going on in another country there, and that civil war is being fought on one side by some 30,000 to 40,000 Cuban troops who have gone from the Americas over there and are fighting on one side with one kind of authoritative government. When that country was freed from being a colony and given its independence, one faction seized power and made itself the government of that nation. And leaders of another — seeming the majority of the people had wanted, simply, the people to have the right to choose the government that they wanted, and that is the civil war that is going on. But what we believe is that those foreign soldiers should get out and let them settle it, let the citizens of that nation settle their problems.

And the same is true in Nicaragua. Nicaragua has been — Nicaragua made a promise. They had a dictator. There was a revolution, there was an organization that — and was aided by others in the revolution, and they appealed to the Organization of American States for help in getting the dictator to step down and stop the killing. And he did. But the Organization of American States had asked, what are the goals of the revolution? And they were given in writing, and they were the goals of pluralistic society, of the right of unions and freedom of speech and press and so forth and free elections — a pluralistic society. And then the one group that was the best organized among the revolutionaries seized power, exiled many of the other leaders, and has its own government, which violated every one of the promises that had been made. And here again, we want — we're trying to encourage the getting back those — or making those promises come true and letting the people of that particular country decide their fate.


Q. Esteemed Mr. President, I'm very much anxious and concerned about the destiny of 310 Soviet soldiers being missing in Afghanistan. Are you willing to help in their search and their return to the motherland?

The President. Very much so. We would like nothing better than that.

 
Q. The reservation of the inalienable rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution faces certain problems; for example, the right of people to have arms, or for example, the problem appears, an evil appears whether spread of pornography or narcotics is compatible with these rights. Do you believe that these problems are just unavoidable problems connected with democracy, or they could be avoided?

The President. Well, if I understand you correctly, this is a question about the inalienable rights of the people — does that include the right to do criminal acts — for example, in the use of drugs and so forth? No. No, we have a set of laws. I think what is significant and different about our system is that every country has a constitution, and most constitutions or practically all of the constitutions in the world are documents in which the government tells the people what the people can do. Our Constitution is different, and the difference is in three words; it almost escapes everyone. The three words are, ``We the people.'' Our Constitution is a document in which we the people tell the Government what its powers are. And it can have no powers other than those listed in that document. But very carefully, at the same time, the people give the government the power with regard to those things which they think would be destructive to society, to the family, to the individual and so forth — infringements on their rights. And thus, the government can enforce the laws. But that has all been dictated by the people.


Q. Mr. President, from history I know that people who have been connected with great power, with big posts, say goodbye, leave these posts with great difficulty. Since your term of office is coming to an end, what sentiments do you experience and whether you feel like, if, hypothetically, you can just stay for another term? [Laughter]

The President. Well, I'll tell you something. I think it was a kind of revenge against Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected four times — the only President. There had kind of grown a tradition in our country about two terms. That tradition was started by Washington, our first President, only because there was great talk at the formation of our country that we might become a monarchy, and we had just freed ourselves from a monarchy. So, when the second term was over, George Washington stepped down and said he would do it — stepping down — so that there would not get to be the kind of idea of an inherited aristocracy. Well, succeeding Presidents — many of them didn't get a chance at a second term; they did one term and were gone. But that tradition kind of remained, but it was just a tradition. And then Roosevelt ran the four times — died very early in his fourth term. And suddenly, in the atmosphere at that time, they added an amendment to the Constitution that Presidents could only serve two terms.

When I get out of office — I can't do this while I'm in office, because it will look as I'm selfishly doing it for myself — when I get out of office, I'm going to travel around what I call the mashed-potato circuit — that is the after-dinner speaking and the speaking to luncheon groups and so forth — I'm going to travel around and try to convince the people of our country that they should wipe out that amendment to the Constitution because it was an interference with the democratic rights of the people. The people should be allowed to vote for who they wanted to vote for, for as many times as they want to vote for him; and that it is they who are being denied a right. But you see, I will no longer be President then, so I can do that and talk for that.

There are a few other things I'm going to try to convince the people to impress upon our Congress, the things that should be done. I've always described it that if — in Hollywood, when I was there, if you didn't sing or dance, you wound up as an after-dinner speaker. And I didn't sing or dance. [Laughter] So, I have a hunch that I will be out on the speaking circuit, telling about a few things that I didn't get done in government, but urging the people to tell the Congress they wanted them done.


Q. Mr. President, I've heard that a group of American Indians have come here because they couldn't meet you in the United States of America. If you fail to meet them here, will you be able to correct it and to meet them back in the United States?

The President. I didn't know that they had asked to see me. If they've come here or whether to see them there — [laughter] — I'd be very happy to see them.

Let me tell you just a little something about the American Indian in our land. We have provided millions of acres of land for what are called preservations — or reservations, I should say. They, from the beginning, announced that they wanted to maintain their way of life, as they had always lived there in the desert and the plains and so forth. And we set up these reservations so they could, and have a Bureau of Indian Affairs to help take care of them. At the same time, we provide education for them — schools on the reservations. And they're free also to leave the reservations and be American citizens among the rest of us, and many do. Some still prefer, however, that way — that early way of life. And we've done everything we can to meet their demands as to how they want to live. Maybe we made a mistake. Maybe we should not have humored them in that wanting to stay in that kind of primitive lifestyle. Maybe we should have said, no, come join us; be citizens along with the rest of us. As I say, many have; many have been very successful.

And I'm very pleased to meet with them, talk with them at any time and see what their grievances are or what they feel they might be. And you'd be surprised: Some of them became very wealthy because some of those reservations were overlaying great pools of oil, and you can get very rich pumping oil. And so, I don't know what their complaint might be.


Q. Mr. President, I'm very much tantalized since yesterday evening by the question, why did you receive yesterday — did you receive and when you invite yesterday — refuseniks or dissidents? And for the second part of the question is, just what are your impressions from Soviet people? And among these dissidents, you have invited a former collaborator with a Fascist, who was a policeman serving for Fascist.

The President. Well, that's one I don't know about, or maybe the information hasn't been all given out on that. But you have to understand that Americans come from every corner of the world. I received a letter from a man that called something to my attention recently. He said, you can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman; you can go to live in Germany, you cannot become a German — or a Turk, or a Greek, or whatever. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in America and become an American.

You have to realize that we are a people that are made up of every strain, nationality, and race of the world. And the result is that when people in our country think someone is being mistreated or treated unjustly in another country, these are people who still feel that kinship to that country because that is their heritage. In America, whenever you meet someone new and become friends, one of the first things you tell each other is what your bloodline is. For example, when I'm asked, I have to say Irish, English, and Scotch — English and Scotch on my mother's side, Irish on my father's side. But all of them have that.

Well, when you take on to yourself a wife, you do not stop loving your mother. So, Americans all feel a kind of a kinship to that country that their parents or their grandparents or even some great-grandparents came from; you don't lose that contact. So, what I have come and what I have brought to the General Secretary — and I must say he has been very cooperative about it — I have brought lists of names that have been brought to me from people that are relatives or friends that know that — or that believe that this individual is being mistreated here in this country, and they want him to be allowed to emigrate to our country — some are separated families.

One that I met in this, the other day, was born the same time I was. He was born of Russian parents who had moved to America, oh, way back in the early 1900's, and he was born in 1911. And then sometime later, the family moved back to Russia. Now he's grown, has a son. He's an American citizen. But they wanted to go back to America and being denied on the grounds that, well, they can go back to America, but his son married a Russian young lady, and they want to keep her from going back. Well, the whole family said, no, we're not going to leave her alone here. She's a member of the family now. Well, that kind of a case is brought to me personally, so I bring it to the General Secretary. And as I say, I must say, he has been most helpful and most agreeable about correcting these things.

Now, I'm not blaming you; I'm blaming bureaucracy. We have the same type of thing happen in our own country. And every once in a while, somebody has to get the bureaucracy by the neck and shake it loose and say, Stop doing what you're doing! And this is the type of thing and the names that we have brought. And it is a list of names, all of which have been brought to me personally by either relatives or close friends and associates. [Applause]

Thank you very much. You're all very kind. I thank you very much. And I hope I answered the questions correctly. Nobody asked me what it was going to feel like to not be President anymore. I have some understanding, because after I'd been Governor for 8 years and then stepped down, I want to tell you what it's like. We'd only been home a few days, and someone invited us out to dinner. Nancy and I both went out, got in the back seat of the car, and waited for somebody to get in front and drive us. [Laughter]