The Caucasus (1) — A Brief Intro 高加索掠影（1）－文明摇篮的面貌

Azerbaijan 阿塞拜疆

A few months ago, I was still misspelling Caucasus as “Caucuses”. Now that I’ve visited Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia for 18 days, less travel time, I have learnt a few trivia about the Southern Caucasus, and formed some superficial impressions of my own.

老實說，幾個月前，我連高加索是哪個「索」字也搞不清。但花了18天時間參觀南高三國 －－ 阿塞拜疆，亞美尼亞，格魯吉亞 －－之後，除了知道了一點點他們的歷史文化和風土人情外，也對這歐亞要塞多了幾分模糊印象和片面看法。

Tsminda Sameba Church against Kazbegi 格魯吉亞著名的卡茲別吉風貌

The Caucasus (2) — Religion 高加索掠影（2）－宗教

Link to Previous Post: The Caucasus (1) — A Brief Intro

鏈接到上一篇：高加索掠影（1）－文明搖籃的面貌

We are supposed to be tolerant of religion no matter how absurd it is; but religions have not been very tolerant of others. Throughout the Caucasus, there’s nearly nothing left of its pre-Christian glories; they have been brutally destroyed or craftily painted over by organised religions long ago. All that’s left from five millennia of Caucasian civilisation are churches, cathedrals, monasteries, and memories of savage conflicts incited by gods. In less than three weeks, I saw a lifetime’s worth of crosses and churches and monasteries. I suspect there are more crucifixes and monasteries in Armenia and Georgia than in Heaven itself. 

無論多荒誕的宗教，現代文明人都不只要包容，還得尊重。這國際規矩是由宗教文化養大的人定的，不得破壞。但回顧歷史，宗教本身對異見通常不留情面，手起刀落。在有幾千年歷史的高加索，差不多所有古蹟都是四世紀歸奉了基督以後的遺物。在這之前的異教建設，祭祀聖殿之類，都被清洗乾淨，考古無從。幾千年老的文明搖籃，剩下的都是教堂和修道院。我看在亞美尼亞和格魯吉亞的十字架，可能比天堂的還要多。

Pilgrims at Geghard Cave Monastery, Armenia
亞美尼亞 Geghard 山洞修院的朝聖信徒

Movie Review: September 11, the New Pearl Harbour

「中文鏈接」

September 11, the New Pearl Harbor, a five-hour documentary by Massimo Mazzucco, surprises even a reasonably informed “Conspiracy Theorist” like myself. It's an eye-opening tour of the glaringly questionable tragedy. Mazzucco packs a prodigious amount of irrefutable information into three DVDs without sacrificing clarity, objectivity, or “entertainment values”. Issues are explained in lay terms before queries are raised. Prominent Debunkers — defenders of the official story — then answer or “debunk” these queries. The audience is left to make his own judgement.

We all like to bemoan mass ignorance, though wholesale stupidity isn’t necessarily bad from a selfish standpoint. It makes life easier in a hyper-competitive world.

There are exceptions though. Witnessing the mass gullibility surrounding 911 is unsettling and ominous, like being locked up with a roomful of blind and gung-ho idiots. 911 is a blatant atrocity of historic proportion and consequence, but ironically also the most clearly documented to those who care to look. Yet few would bother. Is it in fact collective connivance rather than mass ignorance of ming-boggling proportion then? Perhaps it’s simply too disturbing, even frightening, to look; so everyone turns his head the other way. Life goes on.

影評：911 － 重演珍珠港

[Link to English Review]

Massimo Mazzucco 的紀錄片 September 11, the New Pearl Harbor，收集了大量各方面的證據，足以錄滿三隻 DVD，連播五個小時而毫無冷場。片中把每一個技術論點都以淺易的方法清楚介紹後，才發出疑問。而每一個疑問之後，都播放了各 「官方代言人」 的駁斥，讓觀眾自己作出判斷。

雖然大家都喜歡埋冤 「大眾愚昧」， 但大眾的愚昧其實對個人來說並非壞事。能夠正確洞察到大眾愚昧，等於自己相對聰明，競爭能力相對提升，「搵食」也容易了。不勞而獲或者少勞多得的機會增加了，心底應該暗暗高興才是！不過凡事都有例外。大眾對十五年前 911事件的愚昧，再繼續下去的話，後果會越來越嚴重，不止搞出阿拉伯人命那麼簡單。