Have a bunch of stuff to share so am gonna break it into two parts. Next week will be personal and will limit this week to Taiwan in the news.
First up, Taiwan ranked #1 for expat quality of life. It is always placed high on these rankings but 2018 marked the first time at number one. Taiwan ranked in the top 3 for all metrics researched, which include accessibility to medical care and its quality, public transportation, housing affordability, the friendliness of the population both towards each other and to foreigners, and general safety. I will bash on this place from time to time but it is coming from a place of love in that I want them to be even better. If I were to simply dismiss them as a lost cause, what would that say? I could not agree more with the findings about these indices and they are lucky that deliciousness of food, weather in the summertime and assholishness of the drivers were not measured. We've seen a lot of places and while I would likely feel more comfortable amongst my own people and speaking in English, feel pretty damn lucky that we ended up in this little corner of the world.
In another piece of public transportation news, saw this article last month but filed it away incorrectly and just came across it...Rats on a train! Pretty straight forward...a rat got onto a subway car and people flipped. Once a few people started running for the next car, a lot more people thought it was a violent attacker like the dude who took an axe to fellow passengers a year or so ago and the stampede was on. I would have imagined seeing a lot more rats about town than I do, but saw way more in Seattle regularly. And if a rat got on the subway in NYC, he would have taken a seat, manspread and told his fellow commuters to fuck off. A bunch of minor injuries resulted from this incident and not that funny an article, especially when compared to the last installment today, but the aftermath photo is interesting, especially with the happy face over the face of the guy standing in the car.
A big election occurred here last weekend and the KMT took it to the DPP in a big way. Broadly described for non-Taiwanese readers, I equate the KMT to the GOP and DPP to the Dems...KMT has an older, rural and more conservative contingent while the DPP is younger and liberal. There were also 9 referendums on the ballot this year and the ones that were familiar to me and best frames the cultural divide here concerned the legalization of same sex marriage. That article breaks down the demographics of who voted for it and why it failed and you could overlay it with the way the States divides itself on this and similar issues. There are also reports that evangelical groups from the U.S. invested significant amounts of money here on the "No" campaign. Ick. The 9 referendums confused the Taiwan voters that I talked to and in reading this wikipedia recap can see why. I waver between whether these questions should be decided by the politicians, who are possibly being purchased, or the populace who are easily swayed and mostly ignorant. Think the politicians like them cause they don't have to stick their neck out on an issue and be voted out in the next wave.
I would not begin to say I understand any nuance to the positions on the economy or local issues but the one that stands out that I do get is that the KMT are less anxious to declare independence from China while many on the DPP side are clamoring for it. I disagree that the KMT wants to reunify today but that is how some would spin it. I'd love for Taiwan to go whole hog for independence just to stick it to the Chinese but realize that kicking the can down the road is probably the better strategy. China will never lay off the pressure but they apply less overtly when the KMT is in control. The concern would be that the KMT allows China more soft influence on the island that will be hard to extricate from, but 30 years down the road, there will be few that think that reunifying with China is anything short of suicide. And 30 years is a long time.
I don't get to vote but if I did, mine would be based solely on the banners of the candidates. Indicated a couple of times ago that I was take a mess of photos and do a comprehensive guide to the election but failed on that and all I did was walk to school one day and take a few.
We've been through several election cycles and the most popular pose in each was the candidate making a fist in an "I'll fight for you" pose. 'Taiwanese candidate' is the second best impression that I do after nerdy sexy librarian...ask for them next time I see you.
This lady put on the boxing gloves do demonstrate her tenacity.
In addition to the passive banners, the in your face stuff seemed to be more popular this year. In the two weeks leading up to election day, you could hear trucks and scooters driving around with megaphones blaring the bona fides of the candidates continuously, and I cannot understate continuously enough, from 9am to 9pm.
Finally, and most importantly, here is some breaking very local news that has to be shared. The writing in this article is just great...the headline is 'Taiwanese man tosses semen on Japanese woman in Taipei' with the tag line 'Taiwanese man in a load of trouble..." This incident occurred right around the corner from our place and across the street from the kids school.
Before continuing, have to say that I am not making fun of this crime. Men are sick...all of them to some degree. That means you, me, your dad/son/spouse and every dude you see. How do I rate on the scale of perviness? I cannot judge myself but like to think that I have done right by the ladies overall and like my chances on this test on judgment day. Will reflect a bit deeper on my perv scale next time as there are a couple of recent anecdotes to put under the examination light, but in the last couple of months have come across a couple of women that proudly declared they were not feminists. It was their position that the women coming out in the MeToo era were mostly liars that are out to get the men or in it for the money. In both cases the group of people that heard these ladies cast doubt on most women's stories of abuse mouths just hung open and no one was willing to engage. I suspect these ladies lean hard on the anti-PC scale and so dismiss it cause that is what their team is telling them, but know in their hearts it is mostly true. Are there some women that would falsely accuse a man? Of course, and they should be tried accordingly. But c'mon, guys shooting up their exes, slapping around their ladies, etc. etc. etc. etc. is in the news everyday everywhere. When I hear women not supporting other women like this, my heart sinks.
That said...I am going to now make some nasty and inappropriate comments about that article which deserves to be read in its entirety. Since I know some are understandably reluctant to click on links, will share the highlights. My comments in (brackets).
The man "injected his own semen into a small box" (injected or ejaculated?) snuck up behind her and tossed it "onto her left hand". When she got home, "she discovered that the substance had the odor of semen (it's hot that she immediately knew the smell) and her hand began to become inflamed and swell." (I don't know about you, but for me the inflaming and swelling usually happens before injection) "She angrily told her husband" (I assumed it would be angrily but wonder how else could she have told her husband? Matter of factly? Sexily? In a husky voice? Are letters to Penthouse magazine still a thing?) and they went to the cops who "initially blew off her claims (smelling a Pulitzer for that one) and did not file a report on the standard three sheet notebook." (Oh no, not the standard three sheet notebook...)
The victim persisted and as is the way things run here they reviewed the footage, there is always footage in Taiwan, and they tracked the perp down and made the arrest. He "confessed to his vile crime" and said that "he had been watching Japanese pornographic videos which depicted similar acts and he enjoyed watching the shocked reaction of women when he hurled his semen on them." (Please site the web address? Cannot think it is a coincidence that the Japanese and Germans are the most openly deviant in their porn and thought there has to be some study as to why. Here is a tip...do not look up 'Japanese/German deviant porn' on your work computer ) The man said that "when he felt a lot of pressure, he would release it by tossing semen on unsuspecting women as they walked by." (think they missed reporting a step between pressure and release) He claimed that "the liquid was not harmful as it was 'pure' semen and he did not add any other materials."
Tah dah.
No comments:
Post a Comment