Friday, January 29, 2010
Formosa Betrayed -- Movie Schedule in the U.S.A., looking for distributor in Taiwan.
formosathemovie.com
2/26 - 2/28
New York Metro
Los Angeles
Orange County
Bay Area / East Bay and Peninsula
San Jose
Boston
3/5 – 3/7
Chicago
Philadelphia
Washington DC and Metro
San Diego
3/12 - 3/14
Houston
Dallas
Austin
Toronto
Vancouver
3/19 - 3/21
Seattle
Atlanta
Miami
St. Louis
Kansas City
3/26 - 3/28
Honolulu
Columbus, OH
Detroit/Ann Arbor
Raleigh/Durham
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Engage the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
We've come across a relatively new organization in the United States with whom Taiwan democracy supporters should begin to network: Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Currently, it looks like more of their focus is to work against terrorism, but the stated founding principles of the organization would naturally lead to an active support of Taiwan's democracy.
As many of you who have time should write the fondation to request an expansion of their further statement of purpose beyond what is currently written -- "to support the defense of democratic societies under assault by terrorism and militant Islamism."
Contact them and ask them if they are willing to add "to support the defense of democratic societies under assault by authoritarian and communist regimes..."
There is a link. Authoritarian regimes like China work to prop up rogue regimes like Iran. China does not care about terrorism if it is not directed specifically at their own country. In contrast, democratic nations in the Middle East do not tend to support terrorism. Authoritarian regimes like China tend to support anti-democratic regimes around the world.
Basically, in our defense of Taiwan, we cannot afford to leave any front uncontested. We must fight on every level -- the NGO, the news media, the government, the individual.
We can be creative and make the most of every opportunity.
"The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is the only nonpartisan policy institute dedicated exclusively to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values, and fighting the ideologies that threaten democracy."
As many of you who have time should write the fondation to request an expansion of their further statement of purpose beyond what is currently written -- "to support the defense of democratic societies under assault by terrorism and militant Islamism."
Contact them and ask them if they are willing to add "to support the defense of democratic societies under assault by authoritarian and communist regimes..."
There is a link. Authoritarian regimes like China work to prop up rogue regimes like Iran. China does not care about terrorism if it is not directed specifically at their own country. In contrast, democratic nations in the Middle East do not tend to support terrorism. Authoritarian regimes like China tend to support anti-democratic regimes around the world.
Basically, in our defense of Taiwan, we cannot afford to leave any front uncontested. We must fight on every level -- the NGO, the news media, the government, the individual.
We can be creative and make the most of every opportunity.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Don't open factories in China
If you move your companies or open up factories in China, be prepared for your entire business to be stolen, its intellectual property, everything. China is a communist dictatorship. To keep its hold on power, China's government has created an environment of extreme nationalism -- almost racism -- and, in a sense, might-makes-right fascism. Such an authoritarian system is arbitrary. The agenda is to steal intellectual capital and knowhow and transfer technology from foreign companies to local Chinese companies.
I've read about many of these cases over the years. One Taiwanese man built a huge orchid nursery, but all his know-how and intellectual capital -- the way to design everything, and even his entire factory was eventually stolen.
Basically -- there is no ethical or moral restraint -- whatever the Chinese authoritarian government perceives they can get away with on the world stage, they will do.
So also, you have extremely cheap labor -- and factories with terrible working conditions.
You have toxic chemicals in milk, in baby toys with lead paint, in children's jewelry with cadmium, it keeps going. You have crabs raised in lakes in China with toxic levels of heavy metals, etc. that were exported to Taiwan.
Truly, if at all possible, if it is made in China, avoid it.
- JL
• See article in investors.com.
• Share this in Mandarin with your Taiwanese friends.
• In the Washington Post
• In the Wall Street Journal
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Encouragement
Comments from Tim Maddog:
-----------------------
Note that BS-TV's numbers (Hey, that's my screenshot!) are -- with the exception of the Taitung numbers -- different from info I downloaded from the Central Election Commission web site [MS Word .doc file, percentage calculations mine]:
- - -
Taoyuan: DPP = 53,633 (58.05%) / KMT = 36,989 (40.01%)
Taichung: DPP = 63,335 (55.02%) / KMT = 51,776 (44.98%)
Taitung: DPP = 23,190 (49.46%) / KMT = 21,215 (45.25%)
- - -
That might be the result of invalid ballots being figured into the CEC's numbers -- I didn't check.
I'm looking forward to the February 27, 2010 by-election.
Tim Maddog
-----------------------
-----------------------
Some analysis from Vive Le Taiwan:
台中: DPP: 63,335 (up from 61,927 in 2008, 多 1,408 票)
KMT 51,776 (down from 75,563 in 2008, 跌: 23,787 票)
"中間選民"幾乎全部失蹤.
桃園: DPP: 53,633 (down from 58,577 in 2008, 跌 4,944 票)
KMT: 36,989 (down from 71,174 in 2008, 跌 34,185 票)
DPP 選票減少, "中間選民"幾乎全部失蹤.
台東: DPP: 23,190 (up from 21,080(無黨籍許志雄), 多 2,110 票)
KMT: 21,215 (down from 34,794 in 2008, 跌 13,579 票)
無: 2,482 (深藍)
Note: (KMT+無) = 23,697 > 23,190 (DPP) 藍仍然大於綠
"中間選民"幾乎全部失蹤.
In response to the Vive Le Taiwan someone shared:
"Compared with the 2008 elections, the voters were different as a result of, e.g., lower turnouts, emergence of new voters, and deaths of previous voters. So were the candidates. In local elections, relationships/affinities a candidate has with voters has a huge impact on the results. "
His point seems to be that this 2010 election is not completely comparable to the 2008 election. So to calculate number changes does not really give us a complete understanding of the voter makeup.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Keep Taiwan free in this new year - A.D. 2010
Happy New Year! May 2010 be a year of hope for a revival of democracy in Asia and around the world. From the most active political dissident to the busy working mom, from the retired great-grandparent to the great-grandchild, we want to encourage you to do what you can.
In Hong Kong on New Years day there was a pro-democracy march. Though now under the thumb of communist authoritarian China, these persevering citizens of Hong Kong continue to try to push for real democracy instead of the sham democracy that Beijing has set up. Please read the article here.
Notice the way sham democracy works:
"Hong Kong's current leader was chosen by an exclusive committee stacked with Beijing's allies, and only half of the territory's 60 legislators are elected, with the rest picked by special interest groups." - Foxnews.com
Src: AP
You can also read articles in Reuters and The Daily Telegraph
This is the way that Ma Ying-jeo and his Chinese Nationalist Party in Taiwan would alter Taiwan's democracy if they could get away with it -- make it a sham democracy just like it was in the old days under their authoritarian dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek and then his son Chiang Ching-kuo.
In this year A.D. 2010, there is a lot of work to do to keep the Ma Ying-jeou government and his fascist, pro-authoritarian China KMT party from turning Taiwan into a sham democracy. There is a lot of work to do, but the people of Taiwan have the power to prevent this atrocity from being perpetrated.
2010 is the year not to give up!
Sprint to the finish line -- keep Taiwan free and democratic into 2012. For those not familiar with recent history, 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the attempt to create a Republic of China in China. (Taiwan was not a part of it because Taiwan was a part of Japan in 1911.) A 100th anniversary has further significance as a DOUBLE-TEN. On this 100th anniversary, Ma and his corrupt brainwashed cronies who love a fictional ROC would love to effect an annexation of Taiwan by China with the KMT in power in perpetuity over Taiwan. Once that 2011 anniversary is passed however, all that mystical symbolism will be lost and so not achieving their goal by that date will possibly very much dispirit these ROC-myth believers.
The conclusion: We need to put all our energy into preserving democracy and defeating the KMT's agenda for the next two years. If we can hold on, we might be able to take the wind out of their black-gold sails.
Every citizen, every civilian in Taiwan is in a political trench war. You cannot avoid it or pretend it does not exist. What you can do is hold the line. And then inch forward step by step until you have permanently defeated the enemy of freedom and democracy.
In Hong Kong on New Years day there was a pro-democracy march. Though now under the thumb of communist authoritarian China, these persevering citizens of Hong Kong continue to try to push for real democracy instead of the sham democracy that Beijing has set up. Please read the article here.
Notice the way sham democracy works:
"Hong Kong's current leader was chosen by an exclusive committee stacked with Beijing's allies, and only half of the territory's 60 legislators are elected, with the rest picked by special interest groups." - Foxnews.com
You can also read articles in Reuters and The Daily Telegraph
This is the way that Ma Ying-jeo and his Chinese Nationalist Party in Taiwan would alter Taiwan's democracy if they could get away with it -- make it a sham democracy just like it was in the old days under their authoritarian dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek and then his son Chiang Ching-kuo.
In this year A.D. 2010, there is a lot of work to do to keep the Ma Ying-jeou government and his fascist, pro-authoritarian China KMT party from turning Taiwan into a sham democracy. There is a lot of work to do, but the people of Taiwan have the power to prevent this atrocity from being perpetrated.
2010 is the year not to give up!
Sprint to the finish line -- keep Taiwan free and democratic into 2012. For those not familiar with recent history, 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the attempt to create a Republic of China in China. (Taiwan was not a part of it because Taiwan was a part of Japan in 1911.) A 100th anniversary has further significance as a DOUBLE-TEN. On this 100th anniversary, Ma and his corrupt brainwashed cronies who love a fictional ROC would love to effect an annexation of Taiwan by China with the KMT in power in perpetuity over Taiwan. Once that 2011 anniversary is passed however, all that mystical symbolism will be lost and so not achieving their goal by that date will possibly very much dispirit these ROC-myth believers.
The conclusion: We need to put all our energy into preserving democracy and defeating the KMT's agenda for the next two years. If we can hold on, we might be able to take the wind out of their black-gold sails.
Every citizen, every civilian in Taiwan is in a political trench war. You cannot avoid it or pretend it does not exist. What you can do is hold the line. And then inch forward step by step until you have permanently defeated the enemy of freedom and democracy.
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