Cartoon of The Week: 1992 Consensus

(From the Taipei Times)

Dr. Billy Taylor Passes On

Dr. Billy Taylor 1921-2010


From the Washington Post:

Jazz great Billy Taylor, pianist, educator & media personality, dies at 89
By Matt Schudel

Billy Taylor, one of the musical treasures of Washington and the world, died last night, Dec. 28, at a hospital in New York City. He was 89 and died of a heart attack.

Dr. Taylor, as he was known to one and all, was a first-rate jazz pianist who grew up in Washington and was a graduate of Dunbar High School. He moved to New York in the early 1940s and was present at the birth of bebop, the new vernacular of music that transformed jazz. He played alongside Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and became a protege of the greatest jazz pianist ever, Art Tatum.

In the 1950s, Dr. Taylor began to branch out into broadcasting with a television series, "The Subject Is Jazz," and with radio programs. He appeared on CBS over the years, particuarly on "CBS Sunday Morning," interviewing and performing many of the great artists in jazz.

Dr. Taylor -- who earned a doctorate in education, by the way -- had been the artistic adviser for jazz programming at the Kennedy Center and was a constant presence at concerts at the center. He often performed with his own trio and other groups and helped make the Kennedy Center one of the most important venues for jazz in America. He launched the annual Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center and was instrumental in developing other concert series.

For several years, he was the host of an NPR series, "Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center," and many people considered him the foremost jazz educator of his -- or any -- time.

Dr. Taylor received every award there is in jazz and the arts, including the National Medal of Arts in 1992, and was designated a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1988.

I knew Dr. Taylor somewhat, and I treasure the memory of visiting him once at the Watergate hotel, interrupting him as he was practicing on an electric piano in his room. We sat and talked for more than an hour for background for a story you can find here

We'll have a full obituary up soon, but in the meantime, here's a taste of Dr. Taylor doing what he did best -- talking about jazz and demonstrating at the keyboard why he was so important to the music and everyone who loves it.

See report here. Detailed report here. More information on Wikipedia page.

Hear Billy Taylor's Classic Anthem... "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free". I like the original vocals from Nina Simone, but must admit that i'm slightly partial to Marlena Shaw's rendition.

For All DREAM Act Supporters, A Question For You

I know that those who supported the DREAM Act are disappointed at its failure during the lame duck session. I watch programs like this:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

and read articles about how much the Latino community is putting The President's feet to the fire over this issue.

Commentary: Obama must reconnect with U.S. Hispanics

I don't want to spoil anyone's holiday mood, but as we approach President Barack Obama's second anniversary in office, it's time to say that he has not fulfilled some of his key promises to U.S. Hispanics and Latin America.

Consider:

• Immigration: Last week, the Obama administration failed to overcome Republican opposition in the Senate to the Dream Act, which would have given citizenship to tens of thousands of college students or soldiers in the U.S. military who were brought to the country as infants by undocumented immigrants.

It was the easiest immigration measure to pass, because it was the one that made most sense from a national security, economic and humanitarian stand.

REALLY?

It was the EASIEST?

Shrub Bush couldn't pass it and he shoved this country into TWO WARS without breaking a sweat, but it was supposed to be so easy for this President.

The author continues...

Granted, it was Republican senators who blocked it. But many Hispanic leaders wonder whether Obama spent enough time and effort to get it passed: On the same week, Obama managed to get enough Republican support in the Senate to repeal the military's ban on openly gay troops, and days later he mustered enough Republican Senators to pass the New START nuclear arms treaty.

On the broader issue of a comprehensive immigration reform that would seek to both secure the U.S. borders and provide a legal path to legalization to about 11 million undocumented immigrants, the president did not meet his campaign promise to make it a ``top priority'' of his first year in office, or of his second year.

It was REPUBLICAN Senators who blocked it, but that doesn't matter, because it's President Obama's fault.

Yes, because the President really didn't have anything on his plate the first two years in office, only two wars, the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and trying to find a way to get healthcare for 30 million uninsured AMERICAN CITIZENS...I don't know why that would be more important than dealing with people who a) are NOT citizens, and b) are here illegally. Silly me, I don't know what the President of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was thinking over these past 2 years.


In all my reading, and my tv viewing, maybe I missed it, but I'd like to know...

When Latinos talk about the GOP knowing the power of the Latino vote, as they continue to pass ' What about IF YOU AIN'T WHITE don't you understand' Laws....

As well as ALL Republican Senators from following states with sizeable Latino populations voted AGAINST the DREAM Act : Texas,Nevada, Florida, Illinois.
How come if the Latino is so ' obviously important', these Senators voted against it?

When I hear them talk about ' all they need are 6 more Senators'...

How come in all this ' the GOP will need to pass the DREAM act to get Latino votes', have I not seen one sentence written about how they've gotten SENATOR-ELECT MARCO RUBIO to be their champion in the new Senate?

what's up with that?




Why have I never heard RUBIO in the same sentence as the DREAM Act?

Being a Republican designated 'anchor baby' himself....why hasn't he taken up this cause?

And, if not, I wanna know why the Latino community isn't calling him on it?
Like I said, I might have missed it...maybe they are calling him on it.

Who better to harness GOP Votes, than their new Tea Party Golden Boy Rubio?

Don't front like the President can do all the heavy lifting himself, if folks in the Latino community that could help - are silent.

Help Raise Funds for a Fannie Lou Hamer Statue

hat tip-Ta-Nehisi Coates



Fanny Lou Hamer, a leader of the Freedom Democratic party, speaks before the credentials committee of the Democratic national convention in Atlantic City, August 22, 1964, in efforts to win accreditation for the group as Mississippi's delegation to the convention. The Freedom group, composed almost entirely of Negroes, is opposed by the regular all-white Mississippi delegation.
----AP Photo/stf

Do for Self
Dec 28 2010, 11:30 AM ET 11


There's an effort under way to raise $125,000 to put a statue of Fannie Lou Hamer in Ruleville, Mississippi. Please contribute. It is not sufficient to spend one's time complaining about how other people tell history, while making no efforts to tell history ourselves.

We have to go beyond correctives.

Some Teena Marie Favs

Put your headphones on :)

TEENA MARIE RICK JAMES LONG BEACH
Uploaded by oublierleracismeskyblog. - Explore more music videos.







Déjà Vu Live


Another Soul Train performance

On American Band Stand

Remembrance







Happy


I'm Just a Sucker For Your Love (instrumental)


Sunny Skies


Now That I Have You


Black Reign


My Dear Mr. Gaye


Out on a Limb


Casanova Brown


Pretty Man


Dear lover


It Must Be Magic


Square Biz


How Can You Resist It


Can’t Love Anymore


365


Miracles Need Wings To Fly


Interview

A Short Statement of Support For Taiwan

I produced this video to show my support for Taiwan. I hope others can make their own using the same text and post to their blogs / Facebook etc, in English, Mandarin, Hoklo, Hakka and Austronesian languages.

Text Here:

My name is ______________ and I love this country, Taiwan.  I recognise that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent democratic country.  I do not recognise the existence of the 1992 Consensus and I do not accept any interpretation of the 'One China Principle' that includes Taiwan. I will not be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China. I support any party that wishes Taiwanese to solely determine their own future free of any form of coercion.

我的名字是 ______________，我愛這個國家，台灣。我承認台灣是一個主權獨立的民主國家。我不承認九二共識的存在，我不接受任何包含台灣在內的'一個中國原則'解釋。我不會慶祝中華民國的第一百週年。我支持任何政黨--其同意台灣人民在不受任何形式的脅迫下獨立決定自己的未來。

Quote of the Week: Impractical

“The DPP can oppose the ‘1992 consensus,’ but it cannot deny its existence because it is impractical and removed from the facts”

President Ma Ying-jeou, December 28th 2010

What appears to be 'removed from the facts' is Ma's entire China policy, based as it is on the strict constitutional interpretation that the territory of PRC remains under the authority of the ROC.

What is disturbing is not only Ma's attempt to hoodwink the Taiwanese into believing something untrue to actually be true but more so his invocation of practicality when dealing with the PRC.

If it is 'impractical' to deny the existence of a fictional consensus that, backtracking from the obviously unsubstantiable claim the the US acknowledged it, only the CCP and KMT share, will it later also be impractical for Taiwanese to demand to maintain their political sovereignty and independence?

The logic is thus:  China wishes to annex Taiwan into itself.  China is willing to use massive overwhelming force to ensure that this eventually happens if Taiwanese themselves refuse to take this step.  In the context of this threat, it will become 'impractical' that Taiwan continues to 'isolate' itself and put itself in danger by refusing to voluntarily annex itself into the PRC as an SAR or whatever.

In short, Ma and his KMT (ROC) will eventually have to argue that it is impractical for Taiwanese to continue to believe that they can solely determine their own future and/or sovereignty.  In a way, Ma has already conceded this point by arguing that both sides of the strait should determine the direction of Taiwan's political development thus negating the sovereign right of Taiwanese to solely choose their own path / political system.

Ma and the KMT are deliberately and inexorably boxing Taiwan into a corner, where the Taiwanese will be handed a fait accompli before the next Presidential election and told that any option other than voting for Ma again and his drive towards annexing Taiwan into the PRC is impractical, infeasible, a return to the 'bad old days' (read 2000 to 2008), the destruction of Taiwan's (entirely China-dependent) economy and a provocation that will lead to war.

Ma is serving Taiwanese notice of his complicity with Beijing to blackmail the citizens of this country, writ large.  That his entire China policy is a farce and a chimera built upon a lie (and partly facilitated by the very country that is threatening to attack Taiwan) needs to be exposed as often as possible in the run up to the next election, lest Taiwanese be beguiled into voting again for this sycophantic, dishonest, stuck-in-the-past and utterly anti-democratic KMT administration.  Ma talks about moving forward whilst actually going full speed in reverse.  Taiwanese would be best served by taking everything he says, understanding the reverse to be true and voting this charlatan out of office.

Media Alert-2010 Kennedy Center Honors

The Kennedy Center Honors will be televised tonight at 9pm EST on CBS.


WASHINGTON, D.C. - DECEMBER 04: The 2010 Kennedy Center honorees pose for their formal class photo following the formal Artist's Dinner at the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C. on December 4, 2010. Top row, from left to right: Merle Haggard, Bill T. Jones, and Sir Paul McCartney. Bottom row, from left to right: Jerry Herman and Oprah Winfrey.
---- Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images


President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at a reception for the recipients of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors arrive in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010.
---AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

ECFA Watch

Dear ROC Presidential Office, MAC & SEF,

Only three more days left to file a full and accurate translation of the ECFA agreement in English with the WTO.

I fear that failure to do so will inexorably lead people to come to the very reasonable conclusion that ECFA is a 'domestic' and not international agreement, dispute resolution for which will be handled 'internally'.

What will that then say about your claim to protect the ROC's sovereignty and independence and put Taiwan's interests first in all discussions with the PRC?

Just a reminder.

Yours Sincerely
A Taiwan Environment Loyalist

Mascot Fail - There's Nothing Cute About the ROC (KMT)

(cROCk of sh*!t - the official mascot for the celebration of 38 years of corrupt and murderous governance in China followed by 62 years of murderous and corrupt occupation of Taiwan by the failed state of the R.O.C in exile)

Soul Legend Teena Marie (Mary Christine Brockhert) Passes Away

Mary Christine Brockhert (Teena Marie) The Ivory Queen of Soul1956-2010

One of the greatest Soul singers of all-time, certainly among women. She easily fits into the top 10 women of all-time in Soul. Although I didn't care much for her bend towards Rap/Hip Hop in recent years. A genius, talented beyond measure. Her impact may never be fully appreciated. "The Brockert Initiative" alone (the Federal law setting precedent for protecting artists from record companies- freeing artists from labels abusing their contracts) puts her in a unique place in history.

Her music was part of the soundtrack to my childhood. A relative exposed me to her work back in the mid 80's. I didn't know until sometime later that she was white....and in the end, it didn't matter. She was a staple...both in our home and on those long 8, 12, 15+ hour road trips that my father seemed to love so much. She never quite got the level of recognition that matched her talent. She'll be in good company in that department.... Donny Hathaway, Chick Webb, Phyllis Hyman, Minnie Riperton, Grant Green & Curtis Mayfield immediately come to mind.

Looking Back on the Past Year

Just Because...

100% marriage material for me.... but I could never come close to affording Leona Lewis.

Would love to be White or Latino, and well-off. At least for a few days just to see what it's like. Just being honest, lol. Haven't started cursing God yet though. There are a few things to be thankful for even when you're at the bottom.

Hear Interview with Tom Friedman

I don't always agree with Tom Friedman (more like Tomfoolery at times - example #1 would be his position on the invasion of Iraq). But here he is talking about the decline of the U.S., the current political malaise, and how this Country will get its but kicked economically if it doesn't take steps to become more competitive. Once in a while he actually says something that makes sense. Listen Here.

An Interview with Robert Reich

Dr. Cornel West interviews Economist & former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. He discusses his latest work "Aftershock", and explains the current economic and political situation. Listen Here.

Selective Chinese Anger & Wanton Commercial Destruction of the Oceans

Remember when China reacted furiously to the detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain after he RAMMED a Japanese Coast Guard vessel?  The arrest of one fisherman led to a full on diplomatic spat that saw Rare Earth exports to Japan suspended by supposedly patriotic Chinese harbour workers.  The 'little Japanese' had added insult to all the injuries of the last 150 years in a most despicable manner that would not be lightly forgiven and never forgotten.

Fast forward a few months and then this happened a few weeks back (not got round to posting on it at the time - Foreigner in Formosa has a great post on this including video):

South Korean officials questioned three Chinese fishermen rescued from a boat that capsized during a maritime scuffle with the coast guard in which one fisherman died and another was missing, an official said yesterday.

About 50 Chinese fishing boats were illegally fishing in western South Korean waters off Gunsan, about 270km south of Seoul, on Saturday when a South Korean coast guard ship approached them to try to curb illegal fishing activities, according to the coast guard.

The boat that capsized had intentionally hit the larger coast guard ship, apparently to help its compatriots sail back to Chinese waters, coast guard official Roh Sang-gue said.

Five people from the capsized boat were rescued by Chinese fishing boats, while four others were plucked from the sea by the coast guard ship, Roh said. However, one of four sailors rescued by South Korea later died at a Gunsan hospital, Roh said.

“Questioning is under way for the three Chinese why their ship hit the coast guard vessel,” Roh said, without giving further details.

Coast guard officers fought with fishermen on other Chinese boats, who wielded steel pipes, shovels and clubs, and four of the officers suffered broken arms and other injuries, the coast guard said in a statement on Saturday. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

Not that this is new ....

More than 300 Chinese fishing boats are captured for fishing illegally in South Korean waters every year, according to South Korea’s coast guard. In 2008, one South Korean coast guard officer was killed and six others injured in a maritime scuffle with Chinese fishermen fishing in South Korean waters.

The reaction of netizens in China? ....

China’s Internet chatrooms were brimming with anger yesterday after a Chinese fishing boat captain died and another went missing following a collision with a South Korean coast guard ship on Saturday.

Beijing has so far refrained from official comment about the incident.

Using an obscenity to describe South Koreans, one micro-blogger named Qiu Yang from Hunan Province accused Seoul of “flaunting powerful friends to bully others”.

“We must help the North Koreans to destroy the US-South Korean alliance,” Qiu wrote on popular Web portal sina.com.

Another Web user identified as Cai Xia from the northeast wrote: “The little Japanese didn’t dare to kill any of us in the ship collision near the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台); how can the number two devil be so brash to do such a thing!”

“South Korea, the running dog of America, is seeking to provoke China — what are they thinking,” said another irate Internet user from Anhui Province.

“South Korea, again it is you bastards and this was not even in your fishing waters. You should mind your own ways. One day you will disappear from Asia,” a Chinese Web user from Sichuan Province said on sina.com.

Note that Beijing had no reaction whatsoever.  In the incident with Japan, no-one was hurt but China threw a massive hissy fit that had everyone wondering if China and Japan were moving towards a cold war. In this incident one Chinese sailor died, and no reaction.  But also note the vehemence of some of the Chinese bloggers that equals the hatred earlier expressed towards Japan, including threats to wipe them off the map, collude with the dictatorship to the north and arbitrary claims upon territory that doesn't belong to them.

Following both these incidents, China has threatened to send large and numerous ships to both areas to press its claim over seas in which it previously exercised no authority whatsoever.

My question is "Why the selective and disproportionate response?".  Answer?  The obvious conclusion is a combination geo-strategic manoeuvring and nationalism - China wants domain over all the waters within the first island chain to protect fuel supplies and its shipping.  It has after all been using fishing trawlers as proxy PLAN boats to literally test the waters and resolve of its neighbours. But then again, maybe its not entirely a political issue but rather because China also has rising demand coupled with a food shortage and needs more fish than ever before so it can do this:

(From China Daily Website)

Here's their description:
Live hairy crabs are displayed in a vending machine at a main subway station in Nanjing, Jiangsu province Dec 17, 2010. The crab dispenser was designed by Shi Tuanjie, Chairman of the Nanjing Shuanghu Crab Industrial Company, who came out with the idea of a crab dispenser 3 years ago. This is the first live crab vending machine in China, and was installed on October 1 this year. The crabs cost from 10 yuan ($1.50) to 50 yuan ($7.50), depending on size and gender, and customers are promised a compensation of 3 live crabs if their purchase is dead. The machine sells an average of 200 live crabs daily. Shi plans to popularize the machines on a larger scale to airports, residential areas and supermarkets, according to local media. [Photo/Agencies]

Doonesbury Nails It Again

Best American Comic Strip Ever:

"Brutal consequences beyond imagination."

—North Korean threat over planned South Korean military exercise

"Not worth reacting."
—North Korean response following the exercise

The Insidious Effect of Eco-Propaganda

Back in the day (early 1980's), when I was a kid, one of the highlights of coming home from school was to turn on the tele and watch a delightful little animation that subliminally called my attention to the need to keep my shit clean and to recycle everything. It was the days when the BBC was filled with right-on politically correct gone mad commie pinko faggot soviet subversives* who brought us the delights of the Magic Roundabout, Jamie and His Magic Torch and Rainbow.  The progandista programme in question was THE WOMBLES, created by Elizabeth Beresford who sadly passed away today at the age of 84.   I still remember getting the board game and delighting in its shiny new colours and pathway through the commons.  Indeed, in the first chorus, I used to take great joy in adding a significant pause between the words 'The Wombles of Wimbledon' and 'common are we'  to the emphasis of the predicate.  Maybe that (and the literally towering influence of my Welsh chemistry teacher Mr. Allen who was the first person who introduced to me the concept that the earth's climate was changing as a result of anthropological intervention) is the reason why I am so concerned about AGW today.

Oh ... and the song was a classic too ... RIP Elizabeth and THANK YOU.



Underground, Overground, Wombling Free
The Wombles Of Wimbledon Common Are We
Making Good Use Of The Things That We Find
Things That The Everyday Folks Leave Behind

Uncle Bulgaria
He Can Remember The Days When He Wasn't Behind The Times
With His Map Of The World
Pick Up The Papers And Take 'Em To Tobermory

Wombles Are Organised, Work As A Team
Wombles Are Tidy And Wombles Are Clean
Underground, Overground, Wombling Free
The Wombles Of Wimbledon Common Are We

People Don't Notice Us, They Never See
Under Their Noses A Womble May Be
We Womble By Night And We Womble By Day
Looking For Litter To Trundle Away

We're So Incredibly Utterly Devious
Making The Most Of Everything
Even Bottles And Tins
Pick Up The Pieces And Make 'Em Into Something New
Is What We Do

Underground, Overground, Wombling Free
The Wombles Of Wimbledon Common Are We
Making Good Use Of The Things That We Find
Things That The Everyday Folks Leave Behind

* For our overly earnest North American cousins, I am utilising this description in sarcastic mockery of the right wingers who, back in those days of Thatcher Milk Snatcher / Union Smasher, pretty much labelled everyone slightly left of center in such a manner.  

Merry Christmas!

From all of us here at MOA, MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone.

Have a wonderful day, enjoying friends and family.

In case you're wondering what today is about, Linus can explain:

The New York Sun, 1897.


This should be republished every year, right?

Dear Editor,

I am 8 years old.

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon
115 W. 95th St.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except (what) they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Carville: The Gop Will Shut Down The Government

LINK

Bristol Palin Buys House In New Arizona Congressional District

Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol has managed to get together $172,000 and has bought her a home in what is expected to be part of Arizona's newly created 9th Congressional district:

Maricopa is a half-empty town south of Phoenix. Most of the homes are either in foreclosure or heading in that direction. That’s why she could buy a 5 bedroom house for $172,000.

But guess what? Arizona will get a new, 9th Congressional District thanks to the new census. Most observers think Maricopa will end up smack-dab in the middle of this new district.

H/T - Wonkette

Pat Robertson For Legalizing Marijuana

LINK

DPP is NOT part of ROC (WTF?)

(Taiwan Region Chief Executive Officer  ROC President Ma Ying-jeou demonstrating the size of his mendacity)

Despite every attempt to bluff and pretend that its not the end goal, political talks are coming as surely as rain in a British summer.  Taiwan Today carried a piece today with some insightful comments:

“There are a great many issues outside of the economic sphere that can be addressed,” Ma said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language United Daily Evening News. “These will keep Taiwan and mainland China occupied for many years to come.”

On the subject of political talks with Beijing, the president is open to the idea but said “there is no timetable for such discussions.”

This is not new.  Ma has consistently said there is no timetable for such talks but how long he can stall under pressure from the CCP and Hard Blues within his party is anyone's guess.  My suspicion is that they have tentatively already begun between cabals in the CCP and KMT in anticipation of his reelection in 2012, the electoral campaign for which will begin in about 6 months time.  Its just when they do come they won't be called political talks but rather dressed in the Emperor's clothes as a 'peace treaty'.  One positive ... Ma seems not interested in a cross-strait cultural pact yet:

The possibility of signing a cross-strait cultural pact as suggested by Cai Wu—mainland China’s top culture official—during a September visit to Taiwan, similarly elicited a low-key response from Ma.

“The ROC government has no stance on this issue,” he said. “If there is a need, we will look at it, but this would have to be demonstrated first.”

What such a pact would facilitate is beyond me.  Can anyone out there think of a similar pact between two countries and what purpose it served?

Ma said in contrast, areas Taiwan and mainland China need to make further progress on the economic cooperation committee and the proposed investment protection pact.

“Now that we are in the era of the cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (the non-reversible 'ECFA Era'), it is important for both sides to make headway on dispute resolution ('Internal' resolution and not through international arbitration bodies) and investment safeguards in the goods and services industry.”

The president also reaffirmed that the (imaginary) “1992 consensus” is the foundation for progress made in cross-strait relations since he took office in May 2008.

“Three out of the four sides involved in cross-strait relations, the ROC, mainland China and the U.S., have acknowledged this consensus, Ma said. “It plays an important role in maintaining the right direction.”

“But if the fourth side, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, does not accept the consensus, uncertainty may arise,” he said. “Without the consensus, peaceful development across the strait could be called into question.”

First, the US has never acknowledged the so-called '1992 Consensus'.  To my knowledge it has never made comment on it directly so here Ma is again being disingenuous and making stuff up on the fly.

Second, Ma interestingly posits the DPP as one of four sides of cross-strait relations, separate to the ROC.  Perhaps Ma would like to explain how the DPP is outside the ROC.  This comment seeks to alienate the DPP as not belonging to the same nation that will 'celebrate' its 100th anniversary.  It is an unbelievably cynical and divisive comment to make.  If the DPP is not a party of the ROC then what is it?  How is it possible that the DPP is an integral component of Taiwanese politics but is not included in the ROC framework under which those politics are played out?  True, many in the DPP would like to eventually replace the ROC with an indigenous Taiwanese national polity but the party itself has long acknowledged that it works within the existing ROC framework pending the completion of Taiwan's transition from ROC colonial outpost to full self-determining country under its own name.  Nevertheless, Ma's comment is both absurd and deliberatively provocative.

Finally, I wonder if Ma could elaborate on 'the right direction' ... towards eventual annexation perchance as per his late father and mentor CCK's wishes?  Finally, he openly infers that if the DPP rejects the 1992 consensus it will eventually lead to war - this seems to be his opening salvo in his reelection campaign.  It is a non too cleverly veiled threat to Taiwanese.  Expect more of this over the next 12 months.

For those Taiwanese who regard themselves as Taiwanese and not 'ethnic Chinese', the next year of 'celebrations' are going to be a very painful reminder that the KMT has not changed its core goals of a) sinosizing Taiwan to be 'China' and b) eventually annexing the country and its faltering democracy and independence into a fictional Greater China.   Taiwan voted for this President in 2008 but little did they suspect they weren't voting for the future but actually a 'reboot' of the colonisation of Taiwan aka 1950's.

I wonder if they will wake up in time for the 2012 elections.

I wonder if they will be too cowed and / or bribed to stand up for their identity and independence.

I wonder if they will adopt the 'ostrich position' of heads in the fatalism / mei ban fa resignation.

I hope not, for the sake of their freedoms and their environment.

Crazy Basketball

LINK

Feliz Natal & Bom Ano

Name and Shame This Police Officer

This police officer broke the law yesterday.  Can someone out there name her?  Does anyone know the name of her superior officer who ordered her to muzzle a member of the public?

Chilling: Freedom Of Speech in Taiwan, The Reality

This image from the Taipei Times. Their caption:

A woman, identified by Taipei Times photojournalist Lu Chun-wei as a plainclothes police officer, covers the mouth of Northern Taiwan Society director Lin Kuan-miao, center, during a visit by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin to the National Palace Museum on Monday.

UPDATE: A police officer friend of mine has advised me that  Lin Kuan-miao (林冠妙) is entirely within her rights to sue the police officer above because she does not appear to be clearly displaying her identity badge as a police officer.  It thus constitutes breach of protocol and law.  Furthermore, he told me that it is illegal for a police officer to muzzle a member of the public in such a manner but that even if it does go to court, the senior officer that ordered her to do so will be exonerated by simply claiming that the woman officer above acted alone (The Rogue Officer Get Out Of Jail Card).  Finally, only a select number of very senior politicians are allowed by protocol to enjoy police protection that impedes public right of way - Chen Yunlin is not such a person so again the utter overkill on clearing all areas for Chen Yunlin to freely move whilst hampering the public's freedom of movement is against the law.

This picture tells a thousand words and puts paid to the lie that the Ma Government is concerned with protecting Taiwanese freedoms of speech as are supposed to be enshrined in the ROC Constitution:

Chapter 2: Rights and Duties of The People

Article 8. Personal freedoms shall be guaranteed to the people.  Except in case of flagrante delicto as provided by law, no person shall be arrested or detained otherwise than by a judicial or a police organ in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law.

Article 11. The people shall have freedom of speech, teaching, writing and publication.

Article 14. The people shall have freedom of assembly and association.

Article 22. All other freedoms and rights of the people that are not detrimental to social order * or public welfare shall be guaranteed under the Constitution.

Article 23. All the freedoms and rights enumerated in the preceding Article shall not be restricted by law except by such as may be necessary to prevent infringement upon the freedoms of other persons, to avert an imminent crisis, to maintain social order or to advance public welfare *.

Article 24. Any public functionary who, in violation of law, infringes upon the freedom or right of any person shall, in addition to be subject to disciplinary measures in accordance with the law, be held responsible under criminal and civil laws.  The injured person may, in accordance with law, claim compensation from the State for damage sustained.

* These caveats have been used and will be used again to excuse actions of officials and public servants that infringe the people's rights.  Want to hold a protest against a visiting Chinese official? Nope, sorry. Your banners and slogans are likely to cause a crisis or negatively impact social order.  In fact, just one banner in the wrong place could so severely threaten China-ROC relations that a war might break out so take your protest where it doesn't matter and will have zero impact.

Here is the report about the picture above:

Northern Taiwan Society director Lin Kuan-miao (林冠妙) said plainclothes police manhandled her during a scuffle outside the museum, adding that the organisation’s secretary-general, Lee Chuan-hsin (李川信), heard one admit to being a former gangster.

A large number of police officers wore civilian clothes to maintain a low profile, but several allegedly got involved in scuffles with protesters.

Lin said after entering the museum at about 4pm, she soon found herself surrounded by five or six plainclothes police. When Chen and his entourage emerged from the museum, Lin shouted at the Chinese envoy to go back to China. At that point, she said, one tall, burly police officer instructed others to silence her.

A policewoman covered Lin’s mouth to prevent her from continuing her protest, she said.

Lin said this same burly policeman used his weight to shove her, before calling on his colleagues to grab her. The group then manhandled her, dragging her 20m to 30m in the direction of the main gates, she said. They only released her when a volunteer working for the society, who recognised one of the police officers, approached them.

Lin said she had not been holding any banner or poster when the police accosted her, adding that their behaviour during the incident, including the physical force used and the attempt to silence her, amounted to restricting a member of the public’s right to express their opinion.

Here are some questions for the Police and Government:

1. Why is the Government increasingly using plainclothes police officers? Does this not infringe upon the people's right to be able to know the identity and occupation / rank of the person detaining / silencing them?  What if I am expressing my freedom of speech and someone tries to muzzle me and I push him / her away because I don't know he/she is a police officer.  Will I be prosecuted for assault on an officer?

2. As asked in the TT today, why are hecklers allowed to question the President to his face but are silenced in front of foreign visiting dignitaries from China?

3. Why is it acceptable that a Taiwanese Minister of the Semi-official Government body be addressed by her first name or as 'you' by Chinese visiting dignitaries?  And ... feel sorry but that's ok because Chen has his own considerations?  Would President Ma accept the Japanese PM addressing him as 'you'?

Chen referred to Lai as “you” during their meeting on Tuesday, Lai said yesterday, but she added it was clear that she had met Chen in her capacity as the head of the council.

“I called him Chairman Chen, but the ARATS is not an official government agency,” she said. “He sometimes addressed me as ‘you’ or ‘Shin-yuan’ or both ... I personally feel very sorry that he could not call me by my official title, but he must have his own considerations.”

4. Why hasn't an English version of ECFA been submitted to the WTO and why did Taiwan agree that dispute arbitration on trade not be sent to international bodies but 'handled internally'?

5. Why is it ok to enter into negotiations and sign agreements with a Government that does not recognise our nation, has the annexation of our nation enshrined into its law, is maintaining a real military threat against our nation and whose officials cannot greet our officials using their formal titles or accept being taken to places where our official national flag is flown?  Do any other nations on Earth enter into negotiations and agreements with nations that both don't recognise it and seek to annex it?

The mind boggles.  Most transparent is not the talks or negotiations or the text of agreements made but the way this KMT government is constantly trying to pull a huge Jedi Mind Trick on the entire Taiwanese people about the identity of the nation and it's continued sovereignty:  "You don't feel threatened by China. You are Chinese. You live in China. The public all want this. You didn't see us forging towards unification.  You believe us when we say we will protect your sovereignty. Your sovereignty is Chinese not Taiwanese.  We never cheat at elections and we are not the party of gangsters and violence.  Chinese fishing boats are also our fishing boats. Your freedoms are not infringed. The police always act in accordance with the law.  It is impossible for us to have made a mistake.  Move along now. Nothing to see here."

... and finally, hows this for toadying and affecting an utterly false consciousness for political expediency:

"While denying having given Chen special treatment, Hau described him as a “national leader” who received the same VIP treatment as other foreign guests. The city government later issued a text message correcting Hau’s remarks, saying that “the mayor said Chairman Chen received the same treatment as other guests.”

Ooops .. Hau messed up and called Chen a 'foreign' guest.  Can't have that so lets all pretend he didn't say it.   After all he is Chinese and to the KMT Taiwan is China so people from China are not foreigners. But they are also not citizens of the ROC.  Go to the local NIA and see the separate and special counter for 'compatriots' from PRC, Hong Kong and Macau and you see this false consciousness in action - the maintenance of the illusion of Taiwan as the state of China at the expense of Taiwanese who in practice exercise actual independence from the real China but have yet to formalise that independence outside of the colonial and occupationist ROC polity on Taiwan.

There's the South....and then there's Mississippi (re-Haley Barbour)

There was the South....and then, there's Mississippi.

And, Haley Barbour can't run away from that.

We can't talk ENOUGH about this.

Gov. Haley "Boss Hogg" Barbour Praises the White Citizens Council (aka the Klan in Suits).

Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), a potential Republican presidential candidate, has an interesting perspective on the tumults of the civil rights era that swept through his Deep South state.

As Barbour recalls it in a new profile in The Weekly Standard, things weren't so bad in his hometown of Yazoo City, which took until 1970 to integrate its schools (though the final event itself is said to have gone on peacefully). For example, Barbour says that there was no problem of Ku Klux Klan activity in the town -- thanks to the Citizens Council movement, an organization that was founded on the basis of resistance to integration and the promotion of white supremacy.

"You heard of the Citizens Councils? Up north they think it was like the KKK," said Barbour. "Where I come from it was an organization of town leaders. In Yazoo City they passed a resolution that said anybody who started a chapter of the Klan would get their ass run out of town. If you had a job, you'd lose it. If you had a store, they'd see nobody shopped there. We didn't have a problem with the Klan in Yazoo City."

You know, this should just be under the heading..

THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE.

I know a whole lot about the state of Mississippi. From the time I was born until I was 18, I went to Mississippi 4 times a year. After that, twice a year until Mama died. I've been to the Delta. I've been to the Gulfcoast. I've been to the East. Been to the West. Been to Jackson, Vicksburg, Hattiesburg, Yazoo City, Oxford.

And, I'm here to tell you, IMO, when folks talk about the ' New South', they sure in hell aren't talking about Mississippi.

I posted a few months ago about how Boss Hogg Barbour was attempting to whitewash his past, first with some unbelievable remembrances of his time at Ole Miss. Of course, folks tracked down one of the lone Black students during that time period, and she told THE TRUTH OF THE HELL THAT SHE WENT THROUGH.

Let's not mince words here:

Haley Barbour is a RACIST. Plain and simple. No holds barred.

Oh, you can put him in a suit, but, I've been Black in America longer than 3 days.

He's had no ' come to Jesus' moment about growing up during American Apartheid and the evil that it was for the Black citizens of the South. Not one frigging moment of self-awareness.

None.

Instead, we have these repeated attempts by him to whitewash - LITERALLY - the hell that was the South during that time, and Mississippi in particular.



THIS is the Mississippi of Emmett Till.


THIS is the Mississippi of Fannie Lou Hamer.


THIS is the Mississippi of James Meredith integrating Ole Miss.


THIS is the Mississippi of Medgar Evers.

Myrlie Evers Comforting Son Darryl Kenyatta During Funeral of Husband Medgar Evers

THIS is the Mississippi of bombing the freedom riders.


THIS is the Mississippi of Schwerner, Cheney and Goodman.



There were a whole lot of White folks who resisted the Civil Rights Movement. A whole lot of folks who saw nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with Black folks being 3rd class citizens in THEIR OWN DAMN COUNTRY.

When they talk about ' taking their country back', they want it back to a time where, quite frankly,

' NIGGERS KNEW THEIR PLACE.'

Hell, Barbour's own BROTHER Bemoaned Blacks 'Not Listenin' To White People Like They Used To'

"Maybe five years ago," he said, "you could've appointed a colored man yourself. Now you simply can't get away with it. They're goin' to have to pick their own leaders. You could've gotten on radio five years ago using these very words, 'George Collins is this ni**er we've appointed,' and could've gotten away with it. I guess they're just goin' through a state of being rebellious and hard-nosed and not listenin' to white people like they used to."

The town has seventeen policeman in all, which struck me as a substantial force for a town of 14,000, and Mace is standard equipment; the policemen carry it on their belts. "You get a drunk," Jeppie says; "you either get him to come with you or you have to manhandle him. You give him Mace and he'll want to go anywhere with you. It keeps that ni**er's head in good shape."

Discipline has likewise been a problem with "the little ni**ers around town. One seven-year-old stole a pistol, but the chief has his own homemade juvenile delinquency kit. He has a belt that's bigger than a Sam Browne belt, and he calls the parents and gets them to come down and take the kid into the basement and use the belt."

Martin Luther King was the most hated man because he showed them for what they were to the ENTIRE WORLD, and when that mirror was put up to them, it showed them in all their ugliness. How dare this Negro say that American Apartheid was wrong and should end. White folks like Haley Barbour and his ilk didn't think anything was wrong with life in Mississippi during that time.

The reason why Barbour and his media apologists must be pushed back against, and not allowed

UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES

to do his whitewash of American Apartheid.

Is because our ancestors who suffered under it, must NOT be forgotten.

The pain.
The degredation.
The humiliation.
The threat of physical violence that they lived under 24/7/365.
Not for one year. or two. or three.
But nearly 100 years post-the ending of Official Slavery in the United States.

The GENERATIONS that were made to live in literal hell.
See, there's a problem when you try to whitewash Mississippi during Jim Crow...

WAYYYYYY too many of us "Negroes" or is it "Coloreds" are still alive....oh, some of us weren't around during that time, but we have parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles, church elders who told us enough stories....and here's the bottom line...

And, no, we're not going to go along with you trying to make it sound better than the hell it was.

The Citizens Council was just the Klan in business suits.

Don't believe me?

Take a read at some of their literature.

The White Citizens Council at the forefront of integration according to Barbour.

REALLY?

The truth is The Citizens Councils were founded in Mississippi in 1954, in protest of the Brown v. Board of Education decision that declared public school segregation to be unconstitutional. The councils were dedicated to political activities opposing civil rights, notably boycotts of pro-civil rights individuals -- including a famous instance by the group in Barbour's town. It was distinguished from the Klan by the public self-identification of its members, and its image of suits and ties as opposed to white robes and nooses.

Like I said...the KLAN IN A SUIT.

Coates has written a couple of good posts on this.
From Coates

In part, I think, that's because with a mere click of the mouse you can discover what actual Confederates were saying:
The declaration of secession from Mississippi

Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.

That's the declaration of secession from Haley Barbour's home state. He still proudly displays the flag of that cause, the same flag that authored the death of more American soldiers than Vietnam, World War I and World War II combined, the death of Lincoln, and the deaths of countless freedmen and descendants of freedman. In short, Barbour embraces the flag of America's most prodigious white supremacists, and foremost home-grown terrorists. Of all the United States, Mississippi has the highest percentage of African-Americans. Haley Barbour, evidently, knows very little of their history. Indeed, there may not be a governor more ignorant of his constituents in all this great land.

The blogger Cynic's conclusion in one of them:

If Barbour wants to praise the good people of Yazoo City for their extraordinary restraint in not employing violence as they hounded from their community those black parents brave enough to demand a decent education for their children; to laud their public disavowal of the local Klan even as they turned a blind eye to its activities; or to extol their grudging cession of the inevitability of court-ordered integration after fifteen years of stalling, for its absence of lynchings or riots, that's his prerogative. For the rest of us, though, Yazoo City should serve as a poignant reminder that the civil rights struggle really was "that bad."

Yes, it was THAT BAD..

And Barbour and his media apologists don't get to run away from that.

EVER.

Rachel Maddow points out Boss Hogg and his attempted whitewash of the Citizens Council.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rev. Al wasn't having it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Barbour and his ilk want to be seen better than who they were AND ARE.

The answer to that is not only NO, but HELL NO.

Town has the answer for Barbour:

Somebody needs to have a voiceover of Barbour saying "It wasn't that bad" over images of hoses and dogs on people, COLOREDS ONLY signs, the John Lewis beatdown, Rosa Parks, National Guard at people's universities, etc.

Amen.

The Medicaid Hustle

hat tip -Prometheus6

from The New York Times.com

Full Wallets, but Using Health Program for Poor
By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS
Published: December 10, 2010

AFTER immigrating to New York City from China in the 1970s, Z. Y. Tung and his wife worked hard — he as a bank manager, she as a public school secretary — lived frugally and saved every penny they could for the next generation.

Until five years ago, when his wife, Wen Mei Hu, racked by bone-marrow cancer, had to be put in a nursing home, where the bills ran past $100,000 a year, threatening to quickly drain the couple’s life savings of $500,000. The nursing home told him not to worry: If he signed a document essentially refusing to support his wife of several decades, Medicaid, the federal insurance program for the indigent, would pick up the bill.

“What about me, because I am responsible?” Mr. Tung inquired. He was told that only millionaires had to pay such high costs, and reluctantly, seeing no other choice, he agreed.

Last year, more than 1,200 people in New York City officially turned their backs on their husbands and wives to qualify for Medicaid, triple the number of people five years ago. The practice, known as “spousal refusal,” is becoming more common as the population ages and the cost of nursing care rises — and it is coming under increasing attack by government officials looking to curb ballooning Medicaid expenses.

In a recent report, Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch warned that spousal refusal could be abused as “an entitlement for the less needy” and urged state officials to rethink it, noting that long-term care accounts for nearly half the state’s Medicaid spending.

I've been saying this for awhile now. Everytime you hear a Republican open their mouths about Medicaid, think about this.

They use Poor Black and Brown children to bash Medicaid, because, of course, poor people don't deserve healthcare, and of course Black and Brown people don't deserve healthcare paid for by those 'hardworking real Americans - WHITE Americans'. The soulless parasites known as the Republicans have used the raw meat of the 'undeserving' getting healthcare for many a year.


You even had Governor ' Good Hair' Perry in Texas talk about 'opting out' of Medicaid about a couple of weeks ago. Yet, he dropped it like a hot potato - why?

The revelation of how many middle class folks were pimping the system to pay for Mom and Dad's nursing home bill. When they can't decouple it - i.e., throw the poor children to the wolves, but keep the middle class White pimpage of Medicaid, they drop it.

But, when they can clearly attack the poor, like Arizona's DEATH PANELS denying Medicaid patients transplants, they have no problem in doing so, calling life saving transplants ' Cadillac Medicine'.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And what was Brewer's response? She, of ' the evil overreach of the Federal Government', tells people to GET MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. She got money from the FEDS - it was called STIMULUS MONEY. She had 50 MILLION for Prisons -with whom she has been doing side deals, and is part of the underbelly of her 'WHAT ABOUT IF YOU AIN'T WHITE' profiling law is all about - filling jail with Brown people. But, she can't find the money to help save people's lives.

THIS is who they are. This is their Lord of the Flies Mentality on full display.

Then, in Florida, Jeb Bush turned over Medicaid to PRIVATE INSURERS, who, in turn, did their OWN DEATH PANELS. If Jeb ever runs for President, the DEATHS at the hands of the insurance companies need to be placed right at his feet, in political ad after ad.

The main way that the GOP can attack Healthcare Reform at the state level IS through Medicaid. But, the problems are....there are a whole lotta middle-class White folks that wrapped up in Medicaid and are pimping the system.

Keep your eyes on Medicaid in your state. See what tricks the GOP comes up with, because it's nothing good.

Because Animals Are Naturally Cold Blooded Atavists In A Dog Eat Dog World ...

... NOT.

(Thanks to everyone who voted for my blog.  I am honoured to have jointly won the 2010 Taiwanderful Best Taiwan Blog and Best Politics Blog.  Special thanks to David and Fili for running the awards.)

Christie Commutes Brian Aitken's Sentence

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has commuted the sentence of Brian Aitken who was prosecuted for having firearms in his trunk:

Aitken, 27, was arrested in New Jersey in 2009 after police found unloaded guns in the trunk of his car that had been purchased legally in Colorado. New Jersey law requires residents who want to transport firearms legally to request a permit from a local law enforcement office and produce a letter stating why it is necessary for them to carry a gun.

Aitken’s attorney argued that his client was innocent of any offense because the firearms were legally purchased (at a Bass Pro Shop), properly stored, and unloaded.

Nothing about Aitken’s past, however, indicated that he was a threat to the public, let alone himself. After separating from his wife in 2008, Aitken moved from Colorado to New Jersey to be closer to his son

Google Docs Making Power Point Obsolete?

WDI Holds Debate Training Sessions in Ljubljana in December

While staying in Ljubljana in preparation for heading down south to WUDC Botswana I was called on by those here in Slovenia to do some training. I was glad to do it as a representative of the World Debate Institute (http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/wdi/Welcome.html) because Slovenian debaters are very serious and very anxious to learn and I love to teach debating.

On Tuesday evening 14 December 2010 I met with the debate club at the Law Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. Urska Derganc (sorry, I lack the right characters) and Gregor Janzek lead the club, and invited me to do a presentation on "Build Better Arguments." There were about 30 people there, and some of them were not debaters, but who wanted to learn more so they will write better essays as well as write better legal arguments. I reviewed the problems most often found in inductive, deductive and causal arguments. Then I talked about how to build "thicker" arguments that are deeper and more substantive, using my new models for mechanical, organic and stakeholder arguments. Then, I talked about 12 different forms of support you can use for an argument. We ended by asking volunteers to give 3 minute speeches on an assigned motion to illustrate their use of these "thicker" techniques. 17 of the 32 or so volunteered and spoke. After that we adjourned to a nearby pub for discussion and the telling of tall tales.

On Thursday afternoon 16 December 2010 I went to Gymnasia Bezigrad to meet with high school debaters. EUDC ESL champion Maja Cimerman directs this club, and once again about 30 people showed up for a session on "How to Be a Dynamic Speaker." I did my usual talk about the three laws of dynamism and how to apply them to all facets of speech delivery, and then I added some new material I had developed for IDAS about what empirical research in persuasion shows are things to do and not to do while giving a speech. There was not time for an exercise, but the reception I received seemed warm and genuine. After that I had a farewell meeting with Maja and then trundled into a taxi.

On Saturday and Sunday December 18 and 19 December 2011 I met with the Slovenia world schools team that is preparing for a tournament in Istanbul as well as the upcoming World Schools Debating Championship that will be held in 2011 in Dundee, Scotland. On Saturday morning I did a "Principle" exercise with them where I would give each pair a motion and have them immediatekly tell me what the principle would be behind prop and opp. We did about 30 or more motions in a brief time. Then, we did a speaking exercise like the one at http://debatevideoblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/debate-exercise-speaking-drills-vermont.html where they get a motion and have to start talking immeditely while a panel of students evaluates their speaking on various features: language choices and crutch words, hands and body, voice and face and finally a general style rating and evaluation. This went really well and we decided to do it again the next day. Then we ended with a debate on "in some cases violence is justified to protect the environment." I was first opp speaker. It was a very spirited debate and afterwards Bojana delivered a long critique (in Slovenian). The next day we met again in the morning and I did a follow up series of speaking drills, this time capturing them on video. Each student would list the things they had done wrong the previous day, then I would give them a motion that they had to start speaking on immediately, and then a panel of students evaluiated them, all captured on video. Then we had a debate (in which I weas second opp speaker) on the motion, "China should adopt EU environmental standards." This was a difficult motion to debate, and they did a fine job. I was better than the day before. Again, Bojana delivered a long critique in Slovenian. This team is a very talented group but does have some rough spots. I know that with Bojana Skrt's relentless preparation they will make Slovenia proud.

Today, Monday, I prepare to leave for Botswana tomorrow. I hope they clear the snow in Frankfurt so flying south is possible!