听到一首哀伤的歌曲，后面的故事真的是令人悲痛欲绝：
In 1873, Horatio Spafford decided his family should take a holiday somewhere in Europe, and chose England knowing that his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. He was delayed because of business, so he sent his family ahead: his wife and their four children, daughters eleven-year-old Anna "Annie", nine-year-old Margaret Lee "Maggie", five-year-old Elizabeth "Bessie", and two-year-old Tanetta.
On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre, their ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel and 226 people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford's daughters. Anna Spafford survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Spafford beginning "Saved alone." Spafford then sailed to England, going over the location of his daughters' deaths. According to Bertha Spafford Vester, a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote "It Is Well with My Soul" on this journey.
推荐 Kristene DiMarco & Bethel Music 的现场版，歌名叫做《It Is Well》
Horatio Spafford 在失事海域写下了著名的基督教诵诗《It Is Well With My Soul》：
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)
My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pain shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
(Refrain)
And Lord haste the day, when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
看到一个新闻：美国51名外交官上周联合签署了一份内部外交电报，批评奥巴马的叙利亚政策。这种内部外交电报被称为“异议通道”。
The Dissent Channel
Recognizing that our members are thoughtful professionals who may find themselves in honest disagreement with a policy matter or may want to share an alternative point of view, AFSA encourages Foreign Service employees to utilize the Dissent Channel in expressing constructive dissent. As defined under 2 FAM 072, the Dissent Channel “is a serious policy channel reserved only for consideration of responsible dissenting and alternative views on substantive foreign policy issues that cannot be communicated in a full and timely manner through regular operating channels and procedures.” It may not be used for conveying disagreement with non-policy matters such as personnel issues. The Dissent Channel is available to all regular or re-employed annuitant employees of the Department of State and USAID. Contractors of these agencies are not entitled to use the Dissent Channel.
如同美国法院判决时候法官的 dissenting，是极其重要的异议表达形式。
参加过不少大活动，一般由下面三个词来定义，大致区分一下：
- Conference
- Convention
- Congress
Conference
A conference is a participatory meeting, which is generally designed for discussion, problem solving, fact-finding and consultation. Conferences are usually limited in duration and tend to have specific objectives, they refer to seminars or symposiums.
As the word suggests, this is a type of meeting where people ‘confer’ about a topic, and the speakers would generally be selected before the meeting takes place. There are many different types of conferences, they would all have the same concept but would be arranged to discuss topics in different situations. For example, an academic conference would be where researchers present results, hold workshops or do presentations. Other examples include business conferences, news conferences, settlement conferences, or sports conferences. Conferences are most commonly held in academic, news and information exchange situations, and generally, they have a formal programme with various speakers. These types of meetings would usually be organised by one person or representative.
Other examples include business conferences, news conferences, settlement conferences, or sports conferences. Conferences are most commonly held in academic, news and information exchange situations, and generally, they have a formal programme with various speakers. These types of meetings would usually be organised by one person or representative.
Convention
As opposed to a conference where only a select few people may be invited to talk, conventions are usually organised by a group, union or party, and encourage all attendees to participate and speak their mind. This type of meeting could be defined as a gathering of people, which is ‘convened’ to enable people to voice their opinions.
These are usually held by a large group of people who have a common interest, or an assembly of leaders such as a political convention organised by any particular party, a national convention organised by a country or nation.
Conventions are generally political meetings. They do not have reading sessions, and tend to encourage the participants to interact and discuss. These types of meetings would usually be organised by a society, organisation, or club, rather than an individual.
Congress
This type of meeting would be similar to a convention, but would refer to a regular coming together on a representational basis. The attendees would generally belong to a single professional, cultural, religious or political group. A congress is often convened to discuss specific matters, and generally, contributions would only come from members of the organising body.
