Finding interesting people and things

I am pleased to have found a potential young male writer who can contribute occasionally to this group blog (so far this blog has been dominated by female writers).

And here is his personal blog if readers would like to get a glimpse.  He’s also crazy about snowboarding (not said in his profile) while I like downhill skiing. Hope he can contribute to this blog from time to time.

Accidentally I found a family friend, S. Buseas, in this extra edition of STATUS magazine, being nominated for competing in the manager’s category for the man of the year 2009 in Greece.  I never read this magazine, but it was inserted inside this past weekend’s newspaper.  Congratulations to him for being nominated!

I also found out that many schools are closed because apparently too many students are infected with the swine flu, and since there is no school for some children, my neighbor who is a teacher is vacationing with her kids in the Disneyland in Paris, a little nice November break I envy.  Hope everyone stays healthy and schools get back to normal.

Lastly, an important history from the 70's I found!  I found out one of the reasons why in general the Greeks are anti-American (government).  November 17th is a designated holiday and this post plus the comments left there explained why.  It is a well-written and very informative blog.

The traffic is terrible whenever there is a demonstration in Athens.  Read more on the student’s march every year on November 17th from Athens Polytechnic in downtown to the American embassy in remembrance of the students killed by military junta in 1973.

University education in Taiwan and related news from Europe

Higher education in Taiwan has been a topic of discussion recently by a popular Taiwan blogger who is also an English instructor in university, and by another blogger who is teaching Finance in university, and by a teammate blogger who also writes a personal blog called the Letters from Taiwan.

I think it will be helpful to flip some old news from Europe for policy makers and educators in Taiwan to think about where to go from here for the university education in Taiwan.

More foreigners earning PhDs in Sweden Published: 28 May 09

'Sweden doesn't need more universities': Leijonborg Published: 13 Mar 09

In my opinion, Taiwan’s universities should go for quality rather than quantity. And in order to become more competitive globally, universities in Taiwan will have to make some investment, offering competitive salaries to teaching staff, offering scholarships to top students. Also, merge some universities or transform some of them into colleges (like College of Engineering, College of Fine Arts, etc.) which concentrate on specific field of studies and constitute only branches under a national or a private university. Other universities may have to be closed unfortunately.

The Knossos ruin near Iraklio, Crete - a trip in the past

I have been to the island of Crete several times, the first time it was a sightseeing trip - driving through the whole island in about 3-4 days, another year I was accompanying a relative from abroad, followed by a one-week summer vacation for the family because of an invitation from another family who knows a hotel manager (connection is important here, great discount!) in Elounda, another time we had to attend a wedding near Agios Nikolaos; the Greek tradition calls for the wedding ceremony to be held at the bride’s hometown.

In each of those trips, I missed the most important cultural site, the Knossos ruin.  Finally, in November 2008, we took a weekend get-away trip to stay only in the city of Iraklio and visit its surrounding area, so it gave me a chance to study the Minoan culture.

Like some people, I didn’t care much about pre-visit preparations and despite having a good camera my battery went dead right on the spot.  Nevertheless, here are the picture collections taken from a mobile phone.

Knossos palace was estimated to be built around 1900 BC (scroll down the linked page to read the subtitle events to have a general idea of the cultural events between the middle and the late bronze age), but was destroyed the first time around 1700 BC, then rebuilt soon, destroyed again possibly by the eruption of volcano in Thera (aka Santorini), which occurred between 1627 BC  and 1600 BC.  This range of years of eruption is being disputed by scholars.  Another theory believes that the destruction of Knossos is due to tsunami, or an earlier earthquake separate from the eruption in Thera. For details of the newer theories, read the immediate preceding linked page under the subtitle Historical impact, Minoan civilization.

In any case, a fire must have accompanied the disaster because some stones are left with black marks.

For some images of the artifacts from the Minoan culture go to this link

http://ancient-greece.org/images/museums/heraklion-mus/index.htm

For a famous mythology and the origin of naming the Aegean Sea (愛琴海), read Theseus and the Minotaur or the wiki Theseus under the subtitle Minotaur.

   

For a better image of the king’s throne as I could only view and took a picture from a distance http://www.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=716

I invite you to decipher the Phaistos (another ancient site in Crete) disk with Hieroglyph signs, the actual disk size is about 10.5 cm to 10.8 cm, and here is a clear image.

I love how Cretans speak, it is slightly different from the Greek mainland people, I notice that they tend to pronounce some k sound like the ch sound, example: red wine (κόκκινο or ερυθρό κρασί), the Greek mainland sound is KO-ki-no, kra-SI, but many Cretans say KO-chi-no, kra-SI instead, very interesting!

A final word for international tourists:

If you are not interested in archeology or museum studies, some tourists revealed that the Knossos ruin was quite boring, but for Minos Kalokairinos (the first excavator in 1878, his last name sounds like related to the Greek word summer) or for Arthur Evans it was not boring at all since he spent some money (your task to find out how much) to buy up the land solely for the purpose of studying the ancient culture.  And for me it was not boring because I am a life-long student.

Taiwan's legal status has its place inscribed on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 15

Update: An edited version is also available at the Taiwan Matters group blog.
Today’s letters to the editor’s section of the Taipei Times has this translated piece Taiwan’s history has no place in US courts, after reading it through I couldn’t quite agree with the way the author wanted his message heard.  Fortunately, I found the original Chinese language piece to read also, and I also read another related Chinese piece.  I don’t know if it was due to the lack of space on the newspaper or any other reasons, I just don’t know if it was such a good idea to cut-off some of the author’s words in a translated piece.


The following is the comparison of the original to the translation from a paragraph of the piece:

不過，中華民國政府流亡台灣雖然曾經得到美國的承認與協助，但是「台灣與澎湖的地位問題迄未確定（其實就是不屬中國的意思）」，為何每在關鍵時刻如一九五四年、一九七一年乃至最近的二○○四、二○○七年，美國官方都一再表述？必須從上述的背景才能理解。何況自從一九七九年台灣關係法生效以後，連中華民國「政府」也不被承認了。在國內，一九九九年民進黨「台灣前途決議文」對中華民國的暫時承認，實與九○年代李登輝的民主化台灣化密切相關，如今馬英九的路線顯然與李登輝時代背道而馳，如此下去確實有重新釐清、重新「決議」的必要。

The Taipei Times's translation:

While the US recognized and supported the ROC government in exile on Taiwan, at major times such as 1954, 1971, 2004 and 2007, US officials reiterated that the status of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu) was yet to be determined. (my note: in fact "undetermined" status means they (Taiwan and Penghu) do not belong to China, it was a crucial phrase here in the original piece but was either not translated out or being omitted by the editor)

Why would they have made these comments if Taiwan really was an unincorporated territory under USMG? (my note: This whole sentence was not in the original text, but was added to explain the meaning of “undetermined”, and I think by omitting the above phrase and by adding this sentence to explain the meaning of “undetermined” is not very fair to the author)

Also, why has the US not dared to refer to our government as the ROC “government” and simply addressing it as the ROC ever since the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) took effect in 1979? (my note: another missing phrase here is the "has not been recognized since 1979")

We have to understand the issue of Taiwan’s status in light of the abovementioned background. The Resolution on Taiwan’s Future ratified by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1999 posed new directions for Taiwan’s future and this was closely linked with democratization and localization actions taken by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in the 1990s. However, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) current line is in complete contradiction with Lee-era policies and there really is now a definite need for things to be clearly reviewed and new “resolutions” to be made.

I have some thoughts to share derived from reading this piece.


All we can see is that the US court does not want to give a ruling involving US foreign policy as it has no jurisdiction over a matter that is to be determined by the US executive branch, but the US (and all the other countries in the world except the KMT-ROC) had never recognized the transfer of sovereignty of Formosa from Japan to ROC.  They have an intention to settle the status of Formosa pending on the outcome of the Chinese Civil War.  But in the meantime, as Taiwanese opposed the KMT’s dictatorial rule and the Taiwanese nationalism evolved, local residents’ rights as guaranteed by the UDHR will have to be respected.


Unfortunately, this simple rejection of US Supreme Court to review the previous court ruling of lack of jurisdiction is being taken by the KMT-ROC as US recognizing ROC’s sovereignty over Formosa, and therefore in active pursuit of charging Lin and Chen with treason.  That is just too much!


The US must react to this latest judicial nonsense, otherwise, many people in Taiwan doing research towards Taiwan’s legal status will be easily charged with treason by the biased KMT-ROC kangaroo court as long as one does not recognize the ROC’s sovereignty over Taiwan.  The KMT-ROC is scared only of the US, I wonder why (a hidden boss?).  It is OK for the US officials to say that ROC is not a country or ROC has no sovereignty over Taiwan, but it is not OK for the Japanese representative to say so, the KMT legislators want the Ma administration to evict the current Japanese representative, and worse, the Taiwanese residents are definitely not allowed to say so, they will be charged with treason when ironically the people who deserve this in public opinion would have to be only people like Ma Ying-jeou and Lien Chan etc.


After the war, the Allied did send the KMT-ROC to administer Formosa, but as early as 1947, there were signs of discontent (actually the discontent was building-up long before Feb. 28, 1947) by Formosan residents on the KMT administrator’s corruption and its discrimination against local residents, but the problem was not addressed immediately.  The US supported the Chiang Kai-shek and ignored the discontent simply because he was an ally who fought communism.


It’s too late to reverse the history, and too late to comfort those families who lost their loved ones from executions by dictator Chiang during Taiwan’s White Terror, but it is never too late to speak-up for one’s conscience now and to support the rights of Taiwanese as guaranteed by the UDHR.  Taiwanese has rights to a nationality of their choice, and since there is no longer a Chinese Civil War, those mainlanders who prefer to go back to embrace their original motherland are free to go, and the other mainlanders who wish to become Taiwanese citizens are free to stay, but forcing all Taiwanese to become Chinese citizens ( either no-longer recognized ROC citizens, or CCP-PRC citizens) is totally unacceptable.


Contrary to its founding principle, the US government has ignored human rights of others while putting priority on its US national and international interests.  As democracy and human rights developed in Taiwan and are in conflict with the US foreign interests, the human rights of Taiwanese have been ignored again and again.  There is a consistent trail of betrayal of principle.


Not to repeat myself on the Taiwanese rights to a nationality of their choice, it is inevitable that a referendum must be held by Taiwan’s residence to resolve the future status of Taiwan.  It is not like what the US says that as long as it is resolved peacefully between the people on two sides of the Strait, adding one condition that the US’s China policy does not support Taiwan independence to give a tilted favor obviously towards the evil human rights abuser, CCP-PRC.


I simply hope that countries especially those European ones listed here (15 out of 20 tops are in Europe) can soon vision that if the CCP-PRC government can threaten Taiwan with missiles now, and can even extend its influence onto Australian and German soil now, the CCP-PRC can be further encouraged to bully around the world soon.


So, Europeans, speak-up and support Taiwanese rights to a nationality of their choice through a referendum, no one should be removed off his rights guaranteed by the UDHR.  No country should have its status stay undetermined for as long as more than half a century because it suits some other country’s strategic plan.


Cross-posted at the Talk Taiwan Blog.

Some simple questions for the local government on Blog Action Day post

It’s blog action day on climate change. I only have simple questions to ask the local government as all of them are related to our topic of climate change.

First, the Acropolis used to have its lights off at around 3AM; but lately, I see the lights stay on all night long, I wonder why it has to consume unnecessarily our electric energy resource, which in turns may have come from burning fossil fuels?

Second, most of the cars travelling on the Katehaki have only one person in the car, I have blogged about the inefficiency of the public transit system here in Athens, and again I have to wonder why there is no express bus service on Katehaki? Many people are driving everyday because they have no alternative way to go about the city’s south east to the city’s north east.

Imaging if there is a more efficient public transit system, the number of private cars in the city will be reduced and so will be the overall consumption of gasoline and air pollution.

Third, if we will have a more efficient public transit system in the near future, the number of private cars will be reduced, therefore, the daily congestion on Katehaki will be eased.  By improving our public transit system, is there still a need to build tunnels through the Ymittos mountain (pronounced as i-mi-TOS, stress at the last syllable ) in order to construct the southbound extention to the existing Ymittos Ring highway?  What if in 30 years, the world has energy shortage, what are we going to do with so many highways and no fuels?  Alternative energy resources must have their limitations.

Isn't it better to look further ahead and seek ways to improve our existing public transportation system instead of blindly engaging in construction projects that destroy our natural environment?

Oct. 10 is the World Day Against Death Penalty and Oct. 15 is the Blog Action Day on Climate Change

A message from the Norway's Mission to the EU on this topic.

On the occasion of the fourth World Day against the Death Penalty, the European Union reiterates its longstanding position against the death penalty. No one should be subject to capital punishment. In particular the EU expresses its compassion with individuals who have wrongly been sentenced to death and with their relatives and other indirect victims of death penalty. The European Union considers the death penalty as a cruel and inhuman punishment and a violation to the right to life. Any miscarriage of justice would be irreversible.

The European Union - therefore - opposes the death penalty in all cases and in all circumstances. The European Union remains particularly concerned about the standards of justice, which are used in the application of capital punishment.

Henrik Bystrom, the head of the Swedish Trade Council in Taipei has his opinion, For the sake of dignity, end capital punishment, published at the Taipei Times.

And Amnesty International has its global appeal.

October 15th is the Blog Action Day 2009, this year's topic is Climate Change. 

Below is a different plea that is for Taiwanese Europeans to alert their friends and relatives back home.

This is an interesting fiction, a warning to the Taiwanese officials and businessmen who hug the idea of business without borders at any cost and totally ignore the fact that liberty and freedom are hard-earned and therefore priceless. His reminder to the Taiwanese people that democracy is to stay.

Photos of Sounio Φωτογραφίες του Σουνίου

Sounio (Σούνιο), it houses the ancient temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek mythology, and I have been there a few times now, first as a visitor like everybody else and then as a driver to some visitors.

Here is my friend’s trip to Sounio if you prefer to read it in Chinese, and my picture collections of the site. Enjoy it!

Kids having fun while learning at the ACS summer camp 2009

Some photos of the first week of the 2009 summer camp at America Community School (ACS) are out. This first batch of photos consisted of mostly the hi-light of group activities. Individual participant's photos will be uploaded soon and you may copy them only for NON-COMMERCIAL USE.

Featuring art, dance, and kung-fu teachers from Taiwan and co-sponsored by their government and the ACS, the one week camp was a popular choice for many kids who attended this summer's ACS camp, the rest of the other weeks the camp had regular programs such as sports, computers, English language etc. with locally hired teachers and counsellors.

Some Taiwanese volunteers (mostly mothers) worked as translators/camp assistants, their help was essential for the success of this year's Taiwan camp program, and we appreciate their efforts and time.

This Taiwan rice is tastier than the Uncle Ben’s

The Japanese held a contest on the best quality rice competition in which 2000 some entries were submitted from the USA, South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan, and 25 prizes were awarded. Of the near 50 entries from Taiwan’s farmers, 4 Taiwanese farmers had won some prizes, of which two were Taiwan’s Amis tribe indigenous farmers, and of these two, one won a GOLD medal, congratulations to Mr. Wang Guo-quan (王國權)!

The TITV (Taiwan Indigenous TV) had a video about these two award-winning rice growing farmers.

And I hope the government of Taiwan will not dump nuclear waste on a mostly indigenous inhabited village of Da-jen (達仁) in Tai-tung county, not only because the location was said by experts to be geologically unfit, but also because we should always think of ways to improve the lives of less privileged people by introducing some sustainable economic but environmental friendly activities that would help them pull out of poverty but still enable them to live at their place, activities such as farming, or aboriginal arts and handicrafts for tourists, etc.

Enticing them with some money to turn their place into a dump site is simply not an ethical solution!

Happy XXX day! and getting around Athens city by taxi

Happy Canada Day! across the Atlantic Ocean.

Happy No-Smoking-in-Public-Place Day starts today in Greece.

See my previous post about how Greeks disobey existing laws, and how the government does not enforce existing laws.

See you in court, European court if necessary:

In September, I am going to take to court any school bus drivers that smoke while on duty, so the school had better enforce its employer’s authority when signing contracts with the school bus drivers.

As a result of the new no smoking in public place law, some people hope that one factor of the possible causes for the forest fires in Greece is removed. Sometimes the fire starts from the un-extinguished cigarette end. But I hope (but doubt) it will help.

Getting around Athens by taxi

And some old but informative news from early May this year about the current taxi-fares in Athens

Taxi fare charges are now 48 cents (from 36 cents) per kilometer. The next increase will be in November, when the rate will rise to 60 cents, and the final hike is due in May 2010, when it will reach 72 cents. The minimum charge for a cab ride, 3.80 euros.

But don’t complain because Athens taxi is among the cheapest I have seen in many cities in the world. And when I do take a taxi in Athens, I always pay the taxi driver 1 Euro more than they ask (a small tips) because they are usually up from very early in the morning like 5 am, it’s a hard job for them and the city’s streets are among the most complicated in the world, the traffic and the air quality are all among the worst in the world. So, I don't want to be stingy.

Occasionally I have to go downtown to get things done, so I have to either take the public transit or take the taxi because if I drive, where am I going to park?

If you call taxi to come to your hotel or come to pick you up at a certain location, the charge is more expensive though. But sometimes you do need to call in advance and pay extra because if you wait until the time you are travelling to call for a taxi, you may find no taxi in your area, and they will tell you to call in the next 10 minutes to check again if there is any taxi available. You willl end up on the phone every 10 to 15 minutes trying to find a taxi, a waste of time and telephone charges!

You can read all about the taxi-related info (once you are on the site, choose topic on the left and click it) but the list of fares are not up to date.

Also nice to know is that a government initiative that also came into effect in May offers half-price tickets on the metro, bus, trolley bus and tram for under-18s and over-65s as well as foreign students visiting from abroad.So your passports should be able to prove your age.