Why culture is important?

 20260411

Why culture is important?

Politics is the structure, but culture is the spirit.

If you have a good spirit, you can build a good structure. And nothing can be achieved without the inner strength of spirit.

If a country is strong,  it is strong from inside.

Culture is not easy to explain in simple words. Even though sometimes you can use a few lines or a few words to define the way you want to do.   But the hidden inner feeling can never be expressed simply.

Culture can be a song, a story or a book.   Culture is the soft size of human spirit.  Politics is more like an action taken.

A good culture can make politics easier to carry on. It needs less discipline and less regulations.   People will do things automatically through a good spirit.  And it is ideal.

If you can sing your hearts out,   you don't need to shout, and you don't need to shoot.

Culture is the long term planning of civilization.

Only the problem is people do not know how to do it.

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Why Hong Kong has got the highest fuel price?

 20260410  B

Why Hong Kong has got the highest fuel price in the whole world?

Question:   is it political or  artificially raised?

Based on the available data, here are the places with the highest gasoline prices in the world. The data consistently confirms Hong Kong as having the most expensive fuel globally .

🌍 Top 10 Most Expensive Places for Fuel

Rank Location Approximate Price (USD per liter) Key Context

1 Hong Kong (SAR of China) ~$3.97  World's most expensive; high taxes and land costs drive prices .

2 Malawi ~$2.86  Landlocked African nation with high transport costs.

3 Netherlands ~$2.42  High taxes and stringent environmental policies.

4 Denmark ~$2.36  High fuel taxes, even higher than Hong Kong as a % of price .

5 Norway ~$2.35 - $2.22  High taxes despite being a major oil producer .

6 Germany ~$2.20  Europe's largest economy with high excise duties.

7 Singapore ~$2.17  Regional financial hub with limited domestic market.

8 Finland ~$2.27  Nordic taxation model for environmental goals.

9 Belgium ~$2.23  High VAT and excise duties on petroleum products.

10 France ~$2.19  Significant taxes to fund public services and discourage car use.

Note: Prices fluctuate daily due to global oil prices and exchange rates. This ranking is based on data from late March to early April 2026 .

🧐 Why Is Fuel So Expensive in These Places?

The primary reason these locations top the list is high government taxation, which is often used to fund social services, discourage car use, and meet climate goals . For example, while Hong Kong has a fixed fuel tax, the percentage of taxes in the final price of fuel in European countries like Denmark or the Netherlands can be as high as 50% to 60%, which is significantly higher .

The high ranking of places like Hong Kong and Singapore is compounded by other unique factors, such as extremely high land costs for fuel stations and the fact that they are city-states or cities that must import all their refined fuel .

🏁 A Note on Price Comparisons

It is important to note that the final price at the pump can be very different from the price of crude oil. For example, while the US was experiencing a national average of around $4.00 per gallon (approx. $1.06 per liter) in early April 2026 due to global tensions , this is still far lower than the prices listed above because of much lower fuel taxes .

Why is the Hong Kong fuel price three times that of Shenzhen?

 20260410  

Why is the Hong Kong fuel price three times that of Shenzhen?

It has been lasting  for an extremely long time. Hong Kong transport  are suffering from high prices of fuel. It is directly influential to the Hong Kong economy.    There must be a reason behind it.  Actually the fuel in Hong Kong is from mainland China.  The five oil companies have been raising the price together to an unreasonable high.   Yet there is no control.

Some of the oil companies are from China,   but they are same with the other foreign companies.  They do not offer a lower price. (There might be more complicated reasons behind.)

It is strange,  but it has been lasting for a long time.

Below is a list from an AI machine

目前三地的汽油价格差距悬殊，深圳的油价最低，大约是香港的三分之一，澳门则处于中间位置。

以下是具体价格对比（数据截至2026年3月底）：

· 深圳 (内地)：约 7.7 - 9.5 元 (人民币/升)。按当前汇率折算约 8.2 - 10.2 港币，是三地中最低的。

· 澳门：约 15.05 元 (澳门币/升)。按当前汇率折算约 14.6 港币，价格比内地高，但比香港便宜。

· 香港：21.29 - 23.79 港币/升。这通常是各油站优惠后的价格，挂牌价则在 31.79 港币 左右。

三地油价差异悬殊，核心原因未明。

1. 税负差异

(稅項不是香港油價高的原因。除稅後的計算，香港仍是最高。)

   · 香港：燃油税极高，每升汽油征收约 6.06港币 的消费税。

   · 澳门：燃油税相对较低，每升约 2.0-2.5澳门币，所以油价处于中间水平。

   · 深圳：油价虽含增值税、消费税等，但整体税负比港澳低。加上内地有价格调控（天花板价），避免油价过高。

2. 市场与成本

   · 香港：市场由少数公司主导（如壳牌、埃索），竞争较弱。同时土地、仓储、人工成本，可能进一步推高价格。

   · 深圳：内地炼油能力大，供应稳定。中石油、中石化等国企零售网络密集，区域竞争拉低了终端价格。

3. 定价机制

   · 香港、澳门：由油公司決定，价格随国际油价和成本自由浮动(?)

   · 深圳：实行政府指导价，每10个工作日调整一次，有“天花板价”和“地板价”限制，避免价格剧烈波动。

根据截至 2026年4月4日 的最新数据，香港五大油公司的门市折后价如下。

香港五大油公司汽油折后价对比 

油公司 汽油种类 门市折后价 (港币/升) 零售牌价 (港币/升)

Shell (蜆殼) 标准/特级无铅汽油 $21.89 $32.39

Caltex (加德士) 标准无铅汽油 $25.19 $32.X19

 特级无铅汽油 $25.39 $32.39

Esso (埃索) 标准/特级无铅汽油 $25.39 $32.39

中石化 标准/特级无铅汽油 $25.39 $32.39

中石油 标准/特级无铅汽油 $25.39 $32.39

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What is heartless?

 20260409

What is heartless?

Not all politics are heartless.   Politics can be  communications and not wars.

Heartless approach can be the behaviour of a special kind of brain function.   Some people can only use their left brain to calculate.   They can not use the right brain to know the total situation,   and they cannot use the emotion part of the brain to feel it.   When they can only calculate,  they will become ruthless.    They will not consider how people suffer,   they can only calculate incomes.

It's  heartless for some people.

Question is, do we need a heart  to handle international politics?

Politics will be more vividly clear in the views of a heart.   Politics cannot be only figures and numbers. It is too old fashioned.  Politics cannot neglect  feelings.

However, it is only a theory.  It is not a real situation.  

Modern science can spot and kill anyone by a remote control.  If you do not have similar device to avoid detection,  it would be extremely dangerous.

Can you hide yourself?

Smaller countries are vulnerable and easily be eaten alive.

It is a heartless situation.

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How to beat wolves?

 20260409

How to beat wolves?

I have experience in fighting dogs,  but never fighting wolves.

To fight a dog is easy.  Most of the time you won't have a weapon at hand.   The dogs would bark and follow you.   You tried to walk slowly away.   But the dogs will follow.  They were more dangerous in night time,  or in silent streets.   I was followed a few minutes,   The teeths were almost on my trouser. I suddenly turn around,   the dogs were scared and turned away.

However, wolves won't be scarced.

What if you were surrounded by wolves?

I read from an old story:   A man was surrounded by wolves,   his friend came with a horse to rescue him.  The horse was running fast and the man drew him on the horseback and speed away.

What if you have no friends to help?

And what if you are alone?

You need to have wisdom and bavery to survive.

And you need to be well prepared.

You can't wait until things happen.

note 

Here are short stories from Strange Tales from a Chinese old book (Liaozhai Zhiyi) about butchers and wolves.

 (The Greedy Wolf)

A butcher carrying leftover meat in a hook came across a wolf following him. Fearing for his life, he hung the meat on a tree branch and showed the wolf his empty basket. The wolf left. The next morning, the butcher returned to find the wolf dead—it had leaped for the meat, got caught on the hook, and was hanging from the branch.

 (The Farmer’s Trick)

A butcher hid in a small shed when wolves tried to attack. A wolf reached a claw through a gap. The butcher grabbed it, cut a small slit in the skin, and blew air into it like he would a pig’s carcass. The wolf swelled up like an ox and couldn’t escape.

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What is completely destroyed overnight in the US- Iran war?

 20260408

What is completely destroyed overnight in the US- Iran war?

Is it the Fame of a President?

or,  is it the  Civilization of Iran?

No.

It is the Winds changed......

The Winds are blowing      51           72 5

The Minds are changing    53           24 5

The Views are all there      55           35 2

They Knew it all                   2 1 2      3

They Knew it all                   2 1 7       1

                           THE WINDS ARE

How to write the name 鄭麗文 in Simplified Chinese?

20260408

鄭麗文的簡化字應怎樣寫？(詢問AI)

How to write the name 鄭麗文 in  Simplified Chinese?

AI answer:

鄭麗文的簡化字寫作 郑丽文。

· 郑：對應繁體「鄭」，簡化時將左側的「奠」簡化為「关」。

· 丽：對應繁體「麗」，簡化為「丽」。

· 文：字形保持不變。

note

There is a different feeling  in the two.

This difference could be a main issue in future politics.

 .

How to beat a giant?

 20260407   B

How to beat a giant?

Some people would like to collect ideas.

Too many ideas would block one single blood vessel.

It needs to have an absolutely strong blood current not to be blocked.

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Diarrhoea in Guizhou

 20260407

The writer is having diarrhoea

in Guizhou.

‘

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What price you are prepared to pay?

 20260406

What price you are prepared to pay?

There is a price for everything.    You need to pay a price for your award,  or your punishment if you are not awared.

Price is never an easy thing.

Sometimes the price is so big, it is more than your life.

But still you need to pay for it.   It is no exception.

But the worse part of the price is hesitation.

It is more or less the same as greed.

If you want too much, you need to pay.

If you refuse to pay too much, still you need to pay.

Isn't it wonderful?

People who refuse to pay will suffer more.

There is no free lunch.

note

About the Taiwan issue,   the question is raised

for both US and China:

What price you are prepared to pay?

Do you know how much money you have in your pocket?

It is affordable,

If you really know what you have in your pocket.....

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What is the future of the three kingdoms?

 20260405 

What is the future of the three kingdoms?

The absolute result is:    There will not be three kingdoms in the future.    There will only be one dominant power on this planet.   The three kingdoms balance will maintain only for a short time,   it will not be forever.

Imminent is the Taiwan issue.

Taiwan issue is US-China issue.

There will be only one result:  Either the East wins or the West wins.    There shall not be any illusion. And there shall not be any non-practical imagination.

The conflict will not be dissolved or disappeared.  Conflict will become stronger and stronger until one day,  there will be a war.

The war might be a soft war or a hard war.

The determined side will win.   The un-determined side will lose.

There will be no room for a happy ending.

Only one will be happy.

There will not be a free-lunch.   The United States will not give up Taiwan.   The conflict will not be settled by negotiation.   There will be no use for talking.

The United States needs to prepare for a bad result for themselves. If  serious  conflict really happen,  they need to prepare a lost inside the land of the United States.  There will not be any guarantee for the safety inside the soil of the US.  Same is China.  

If anyone side is weakened in their will, they must prepare for a bad losing.

Wars are determined first by the will,  any other consideration is secondary.

The so-called three kingdoms  will not be really a three-side situation.

There will be only one major conflict.

note:

China is in the defensive side, US is in the attacking side.

The defensive side is easy to have illusions.

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