US President Joe Biden called systemic racism a “stain on our nation’s soul” in a televised address to the nation last week after a white former police officer was convicted of murdering a black man during an arrest.
Biden spoke out after a jury in the Midwestern city of Minneapolis found Derek Chauvin guilty of intentionally suffocating handcuffed George Floyd as he lay defenseless, with the officer’s knee pressing on his neck for more than nine minutes.
The president called for “confronting head on systemic racism and the racial disparities that exist in policing and our criminal justice system” — but pleaded for protesters to steer clear of violence.
Photo: AFP 照片：法新社
A jury deliberated less than 11 hours before finding the 45-year-old Chauvin guilty of all three charges against him — second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. The unanimous verdict came after a racially charged three-week trial that was seen as a pivotal test of police accountability in the US.
Appearing alongside Biden, Kamala Harris, America’s first black vice president, spoke first to articulate the “relief” the nation was feeling over justice being served, but acknowledged that the result could not “take away the pain” of Floyd’s murder.
She vowed to work with Biden to urge the Senate to pass “long overdue” legislation on police accountability, saying black men had been treated as “less than humans” throughout US history. “Here is the truth about racial injustice: It is not just a Black America problem or a ‘people of color’ problem. It is a problem for every American,” she said.
(AFP)
一名白人警察被控在逮捕一名黑人男子時將之謀殺，上週被定罪，美國總統喬‧拜登隨後在電視上發表全國演說，將結構性的種族主義稱為「我們國家精神的污點」。
美國中西部城市明尼亞波里斯之陪審團裁定德瑞克‧蕭文有罪，因擔任警察之蕭文，以膝蓋壓制喬治‧弗洛伊德之頸部超過九分鐘，故意使其窒息，當時弗洛伊德已上手銬、無力抵抗。宣判後，拜登總統發表了演說。
拜登呼籲「正視結構性的種族主義，以及維安與刑事司法系統中，因種族而異的差別對待」，但他懇求抗議民眾避免訴諸暴力。
陪審團經過近十一小時之商議，才判定四十五歲的蕭文被控的三項罪名皆成立──分別為二級謀殺罪、三級謀殺罪，以及非預謀殺人罪。經過為期三週、種族意味濃厚的審理，陪審團做出了一致的裁決。該案之審判被視為對美國警察課責制的關鍵考驗。
美國第一位黑人副總統賀錦麗與拜登共同出席該演說，她先說道，全國上下對司法公正感到「鬆了一口氣」，但她承認此判決並不能夠消除弗洛伊德被謀殺所造成的傷痛。
她誓言與拜登共同敦促參議院通過「老早以前就該完成的」警察課責制之立法，並說在整個美國歷史上，黑人都「不被當人看待」。她說：「這是種族不公的真相：這不僅僅是黑人的問題，或『有色人種』的問題，這是每一個美國人的問題」。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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