Wow. I hope this is no April Fool’s joke

I read Norman's Spectator almost everyday. This morning, Mr. Spector seemed to suggest that I should look into the 3 disc sets - which I called "items" in my blog yesterday - I borrowed from SFU and perhaps treat them separately from the rest of the books.

--How can you be sure the second item you've just read is no April Fool's joke?

In effect, he appeared to suggest that those 6 items I had on loan before the switch on March 18 should be regarded 3 and 3, rather than 4 and 2 as I had thought.

For those of you who do not already know, the 6 items from SFU were:

1. The malaise of modernity by Charles Taylor [book]
2. The malaise of modernity by Charles Taylor [sound recording], disc set one
3. The malaise of modernity by Charles Taylor [sound recording], disc set two
4. The malaise of modernity by Charles Taylor [sound recording], disc set three
5. Art: a world history
6. On the enjoyment of modern art

To me, the above 6 items, if looked upon carefully, consisted of 4 and 2. Even if the first 4 items were not of the same title, I would have kept them separately from art books when I brought them home.

That's why, sensing potential ambiguity, I returned the above 6 items and borrowed another 6 art books later that day.

But why did Mr. Spector suggest 3? Was I being considered for the 3rd generation? To replace Mr. Jiang Zemin? That couldn't be. IF I was being considered as the 3rd generation, it could only be in the sense of next to Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. As is widely known, Mao's policies influenced China in the first 30 years and Deng's the next 30.

Wow.

I have to ask: Is this an April Fool's joke? Mr. Spector seemed to say no.

The only article or speech I could remember that contained three points was U.S. Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner's bank rescue plan released last Monday. He said that his program had "three essential design features".

Mr. Geithner's article rang a bell in my memory because the word "design" was one of the reasons I borrowed Jerry Z. Muller's book on Adam Smith last fall. This book was listed in my acknowledgment.

Also, when I wrote about China's democratic future, I was trying to envision what kind of society China should be. In a sense, there was an element of design in my overall efforts.

If my above reasoning is correct, the Obama administration must have thought of my series on China's democratization very positively. That could help to explain the almost 500 point climb in Dow Jones index that day. And it was also consistent with Mr. Obama's speech on March 12.

Wow. If the Obama administration regarded me as the 3rd generation, I probably overreacted to Mr. Obama's speech.

And is that why Mr. Harper said in London today that the G20 nation should "overreact" to the recession?


Quick Update:

I also found that Mr. Obama's speech before the joint session of the congress also contained three points. That speech was delivered on February 24, just fours days after I first borrowed the 3 disc sets.