"I thought, Angel, that you loved me--me, my very self! If it is I you do love, O how can it be that you look and speak so? It frightens me! Having begun to love you, I love you for ever--in all changes, in all disgraces, because you are yourself. I ask no more. Then how can you, O my own husband, stop loving me?"
"I repeat, the woman I have been loving is not you."
"But who?"
"Another woman in your shape."
Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles -- Chapter 1, Phase 5
Today I joined International Students Orientation Programme, which starts from today and ends on Sunday. It's sort of boring but at least I can meet some more students.
The MI6 building near Waterloo Station was hit by a missile (or rocket) last night. Due to this terrorist attack, Euroster was out of action most of the day and my friend who is visiting Paris could not come back to attend the orientation programme. There are a lot of problems in UK, like Fuel Crisis last week and Millenium Dome (it may soon get closed down owing to financial problems).
School is yet to start and I'm doing nothing in particular: just bought some books and did the enrolment procedure and visited Camden Town yesterday.
Today I started to read a book on political philosophy. It was a fresh experience as I had not been reading any books on philosophy for a while. Now I feel I must get ready for the new classes.
I still can't use the telephone line in my room. The telephone company which deals exclusively with students living in student accommodations is very nice. Every time I call them, they say `Call us tomorrow, and you can use your phone straight away.' And tomorrow never comes.
Anyway school has started but this week we only have orientation programs. Classes start from next Monday really.
I gave up the idea of submitting a paper to Kanrin. That's mainly because I want to study in the new course first before writing about Jeremy Bentham on Natural Rights. I'm sure if I write it now I'd regret writing a rubbish afterwards.
Talk about Siamese Twins is still going on. This is an extremely interesting case and the courts' decision to let the doctors have the operation to separate the twins has been very controversial. Check BBC News if you are interested. In particular, this page. I don't know why this man is saying the parents should decide. It's not like whether they let their children go to private school or public school; it's a matter of life and death. Moreover, a lot of interests, not only the parents' and twins' but also the doctors', are involved and this is no way a personal choice. Check out people's say too.
Surprised to hear that the parents of that Siamese twins have decided not to pursue their appeals, which means there is going to be an operation to separate the twins.
Someone has told me that the court should not intervene the parents' decision any more than it should in the case of abortion. This sounds plausible, so long as we think babies have the same moral and legal status as foetuses. But some may argue babies and foetuses are different things, in that terminating the life of babies is considered as killing whereas terminating that of foetuses is not considered as such, at least in some of the developed countries (of course there are many people who think this distinction doesn't hold). So they would say this case is more like whether parents have the right to decide to kill their children, rather than whether they have the right to have abortion.
I suppose that there are a few things which parents shouldn't be allowed to decide by themselves for their children. But it's an extremely interesting and difficult question where to draw the line. I really don't know the answer.
Been to the British Library and learned a bit about English Literature.
An operator of the telephone company told me yesterday that I can use the telephone from next Monday -- HOW NICE!