Aug 31, 2008

Ma Ying-"dove" Moves Taiwan Towards Unilateral Disarmament

The stories below published this weekend show that the new President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-"dove", as I have dubbed him, of the KMT Party is apparently trying to one-up (or is it one-down) former US President Jimmy Carter in the "dove" and National Security categories. Ma "dove" sees China through rose/blue/red colored glasses, seemingly unconcerned about defending Taiwan against an attack from the mainland, which of course will never happen if he gives away Taiwan's sovereignty to the Communist Chinese. In Western parlance his move would be considered traitorous warranting impeachment. Is it any wonder that the Taiwanese have taken to the streets, many calling for Ma's resignation.


Taiwan military maintains vigilance against China
The Associated Press
Published: August 29, 2008

HSINCHU, Taiwan: Seven Mirage fighter jets roared down the runway at a sun-dappled Taiwanese air force base Friday, a stark reminder that even as the island improves its ties with rival China, it maintains readiness for a military showdown with its old foe.

The exercise was part of a two-day show of force by the Taiwan military that also included the deployment of a Lafayette frigate off the southern Taiwanese coast and a drill by combat engineers on the northern part of the island.


Since taking office almost 100 days ago, President Ma Ying-jeou has turned the corner on his predecessor's aggressive anti-China stance, beginning regular direct flights across the 100-mile (160 kilometer) -wide Taiwan Strait and opening Taiwan's doors to significantly increased numbers of mainland tourists.

Ma also has vowed to seek a formal peace treaty peace with Beijing — the two sides split amid civil war in 1949 — and work toward reconciling his desire to conduct independent foreign relations for the island of 23 million people with China's insistence that Taiwan remain an integral part of its territory....Read full story...


Taiwan to cut military spending amid warming China ties: report


TAIPEI (AFP) — Taiwan plans to scale back its military spending in 2009 amid warming ties with rival China, it was reported Saturday.

Military spending will be 315.2 billion Taiwan dollars (10 billion US), a decline of 10.4 billion Taiwan dollars on this year, the United Daily News said, citing a draft budget pending parliament's approval.

It will account for 17.2 percent of next year's government budget, the report said, but the move has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers....Read full story...


Report: Taiwan drops plan to develop missile that can hit China

Asia-Pacific News

Aug 31, 2008, 21:48 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan has dropped plans to develop cruise missiles that can reach China, seen as the country's ongoing efforts to seek peace with China, a newspaper reported Monday.

The United Daily News quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Taipei has dropped plans to develop cruise missiles that have a range of 1,000 kilometres.

Since Ma Ying-jeou from the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party took office on May 20, he has been promoting greater exchanges with China to ease cross-Strait tension...Read full story...

Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama

Some on the left and right are saying that Sarah Palin does not have the experience to be Vice-President, that McCain has left the reservation on this decision. Here is a comparison of the top of the Democratic ticket with the bottom of the Republican ticket. Leaving the two senior Senators out of the picture, because they could be considered to cancel each other out in terms of experience, ask yourself which ticket has the right experience for the job. Click above on the title to this post to view the comparison.

Aug 29, 2008

Followup: Gov. Sarah Palin for Veep

To read the original post, click here --> Freedom Ain't Free: Gov. Sarah Palin for Veep

I'm not adept at picking stocks and I don't gamble on sports, or anything for that matter. So I figure my political prognosticating might fare similarly.

So when, via this blog and a cross post to the Travis Monitor, I "advised" Senator McCain last week to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate I did not consider my pick as having much of a chance of being selected. Why, I couldn't even pronounce her name right, much less did I think McCain would "listen" to me or any member of his base.

It appears he has "listened" to his base, or at least The Maverick did our will unbeknown. This is perhaps the first time he has "listened" to us. Let's pray it won't be the last. Once he and Sarah win he will have many opportunities to "hear" from us.

Not withstanding Michael Savage's nay saying I think Gov. Palin brings a net positive to McCain's ticket, enough to energize the base and make McCain more than just the lessor or two evils, more than just an alternative to the Obamanation that would make a desolation of the America that so many have sacrificed so much to build.

Too bad I only entertain myself with Intrade rather than being a part of the plotted data.

Aug 28, 2008

09/16/08 CTRA Meeting Announcement


The Domain: A Deal You Can Refuse

A Presentation

to
The Central Texas Republican Assembly
(CTRA)

by
Brian Rodgers
Founder, Stop Domain Subsidies

http://www.stopdomainsubsidies.com/
on
Tuesday, Sept 16th @ 7 p.m.
at
TCRP Headquarters
10711 Burnet Road, Suite 315
Austin, TX 78758
(located in the Compass Bank Building,
just north of intersection of Braker and Burnet)

Refreshments provided
Event Charge: $5.00, at the door

RSVP by Friday, Sept 12th
to
Tim Bradberry
dadofping@peoplepc.com

Board of Directors meeting @ 6:00 p.m.
(open to CTRA members only)


SPEAKER BIO


Brian Rodgers is a real estate investor who has made it his mission to stop the city from rebating any of the sales and property tax money promised to Simon Property Group Inc., owner of the Domain and the nation's largest mall developer. He says the campaign is about fairness: for small businesses, for taxpayers.

The charter amendment he sponsored aims to prevent the city from giving tax incentives to projects that have retail components. It would also prohibit the city, in effect, from paying the owner of the Domain shopping center the sales and property tax rebates negotiated in a 2003 agreement.

The Stop Domain Subsidies group had to collect more than 18,000 signatures from the city’s registered voters — 5 percent of the qualified voters — to put the amendment on the ballot. The amendment will be put before voters in November.

Brian Rodgers has been in business in Austin for 25 years, and has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UT-Austin.

Aug 22, 2008

Gov. Sarah Palin for Veep

Now that Senator and "Borker-in-Chief" Joe Biden has been announced as Obama's Veep pick my advice to Senator McCain is to add a proven winner to his ticket, someone who can balance out the negatives that he has with the base of the Party, someone who will inject charisma into his otherwise dead pan political delivery.

That someone, I contend, is the most popular governor in the country, Alaska's Sarah Heath Palin. She will put an attractive, knowledgeable and strategic face on the "drill here, drill now, and pay less" imperative that the majority of Americans are demanding, and she is poised to duke it out with the AFI-CIO and Biden.

RealClearPolitics.com contributer Jack Kelly sums up Palin's upside thus:
At 44, Sarah Louise Heath Palin is both the youngest and the first female governor in Alaska's relatively brief history as a state. She's also the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating that has bounced around 90 percent.
...
...
Sarah Barracuda. Miss Congeniality. Fire and nice. A happily married mother of five who is still drop dead gorgeous. And smart to boot.

But it's mostly because she's been a crackerjack governor, a strong fiscal conservative and a ferocious fighter of corruption, especially in her own party.

Ms. Palin touches other conservative bases, some of which Sen. McCain has been accused of rounding. Track, her eldest son, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11. She's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who hunts, fishes and runs marathons. A regular churchgoer, she's staunchly pro-life.

Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal said Sen. McCain should run against a corrupt, do-nothing Congress, a la Harry Truman. If he should choose to do so, Gov. Palin would make an excellent partner "The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who have crossed Sarah," pollster Dave Dittman told the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes.

Sen. Barack Obama's support has plunged recently among white women. Many Hillary Clinton supporters accuse him -- I think unfairly -- of being sexist. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket could help Sen. McCain appeal to these disgruntled Democrats.

Click here to read the full Jack Kelly article.

There is a bit of downside to Palin that seems to me to have been conjured up recently by Democrats in Alaska and by national Union bosses who may just be attempting a little sabotage.

Having a reputation for extreme zealousness in cleaning up corruption, Palin has recently been accused of unethical behavior herself. This charge stems from her having a deadbeat ex-brother-in-law (her sister Molly's ex-husband, Mike Wooten) who, though apparently having significant ethical challenges of his own as a State Trooper and in his personal life, has retained his job way longer than seems reasonable.


After an Alaska State Department of Public Safety internal investigation, which was carried out before Palin became Governor, Wooten suffered only a 10 day suspension for his documented unethical behavior, which included DUI, violating state hunting laws, assault, using his badge in an oppressive manner, etc. The union provided him with an "advocate," union representative John Cyr, during an internal investigation of his misconduct.

[Wooten was suspended] for 10 days. He also was punished for illegally shooting a moose and using a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson. The trooper admitted to using the Taser on his stepson in a "training capacity" and said he shot a moose on his wife's tag, but didn't think the act was illegal.

Cyr said the Public Safety Employees Association filed a grievance regarding the 10-day suspension and the punishment was later reduced to five days.

See Agency leader changed ruling in trooper case.

This union representative has been advocating for Wooten for over 3 years, currently as the executive director of the Public Safety Employees Association (interesting promotion - from State Trooper and PSEA Rep in 2005 to executive director of the PSEA in 2008 - wow!).

Recently Palin was accused by the PSEA of having a vendetta against her sister's ex-husband such that she used her influence as Governor
(they say) to pressure Wooton's commanders to fire him, and when the commanders refused to do so she retaliated (they say) by firing Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on July 11, 2008.
Legislators are seriously considering hiring an independent investigator to examine whether Gov. Sarah Palin, her aides or her husband pressured commanders to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, and whether she then fired the state's top cop when Wooten stayed on the job. Palin denies anything like that happened.

See Is Wooten a good trooper? (7/27/08).
Last month John Cyr, as "the spokesman" for the union, released a bunch of Wooten's information to the press, ostensibly to show his "client" was being railroaded, but more likely to attempt to trash Gov. Palin.
...a spokesman for the troopers' labor union, the Public Safety Employees Association, held a press conference saying Wooten has been unfairly targeted by the governor's family.

The spokesman, John Cyr, also released a several-inch-thick file of the troopers' own investigation into charges from Palin, her husband, Todd, and other members of her family that Wooten committed unethical and illegal acts, which they said included drunken driving and illegal hunting.

See Palin denies accusation over firing of Monegan (7/18/08).

My guess is that the Alaska union feels a bit threatened by a governor who wants to clean house and take them to the mat and perhaps the AFL-CIO has commanded the Alaska Public Safety Employees Association to do "whatever it takes" to poison Palin's chances of being picked by McCain as his VP and taking her "anti-union tactics" national.

That alone is proof positive that she is the right woman for the job of McCain's running mate and our Vice-President of the United States.


Russian Hackers That "Attacked" Georgia Were Mostly a Volunteer "Cyberarmy"

As Russian Tanks Rolled, Army of Internet Hackers Hit Georgia’s Web Sites

Hacker attacks that accompanied the Russian military offensive in Georgia were not the work of the Russian government as Georgia claimed, but of a loose network that had previously targeted pornography and gambling sites, Internet experts say.

The first attack started just after 2 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Aug. 8 - more than 12 hours after Russian tanks rolled through the Roki tunnel into Georgia - according to the Shadowserver Foundation, a volunteer group that monitors hacker activity.

At the Olympic Green in Beijing, a foreign journalist uses Internet services provided in the Main Press Center.

Within hours after fighting erupted, Russian hackers had established a site, StopGeorgia.ru, that showed a list of Georgian Web sites targeted and which sites had been brought down, and allowed visitors to download a simple program to enable their own computers to join the attack, said Kimberly Zenz, a Russia specialist with Internet threat intelligence outfit iDefense.

Click here to read the complete article.

Aug 20, 2008

Olympic Reporting with Chinese Characteristics

Here is an example of Olympic reporting with Chinese Characteristics.

The link below is the source from which story below has been copied in its entirety, for this blog's readers' convenience. Please patronize ESPN who owns all rights to this story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3542649&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

LIFE OF REILLY

by Rick Reilly

Getty Images



Aug 14, 2008

Beijing's 21 Olympic Edicts

THE 21 EDICTS FROM THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S PROPAGANDA UNIT
Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

During the official telecast, we can refer to Taiwan as "Chinese Taipei". In ordinary times, refer to Taiwanese athletes as "those from the precious island ...

Click here to see all Sydney Morning Herald stories on this topic.