News Articles and Events

A Heartfelt Father's Day Story From the Daughter of a Holocaust Survivor

2013-06-17T06:31:00.004-07:00

By Sybil Erden

My father, Mark Erdfrucht was born on November 24th, 1910 in Lodz Poland. He was one of 6 children born to a working class Jewish family.

My dad’s first memories were of running from airplanes overhead which were shooting at the civilians during World War I. He was 4 or 5 years old.

His life was filled with fear. After WWI there were “pograms” aimed at the Polish Jewish population.

At age 10 his father, who he described as loving and educated, a man who spoke and read 6 languages, died of Typhoid fever. This unexpected disaster left his mother alone to raise the children, two boys and four girls, who ranged in age from 3 or 4 to their late teens.

My father loved school, dreaming of becoming a doctor, but was forced to leave school as the family could no longer afford tuition.

At age 10, my dad had to begin working. He apprenticed with a tailor. He would tell me how he turned all his meager wages over to his mother who would buy bread for the family.

By 18, he had traveled through Europe which was briefly at peace and recovering from both the war and the following pandemic. During his teens, he studied clothing design and tailoring in Paris. At some point he had the opportunity to travel to Argentina and Brazil for a year. He returned back to Poland with the shadow of Nazism hanging over Europe. Dad became engaged to his first wife in 1930. The couple began having a family within a few years. He continued working and supporting not only his young wife and two young boys, but his mother as well.

My father would tearfully describe how he was aware of the growing German danger. But with a young wife, two babies and an aging mother, as well as not having the funds to bribe their way across borders, there was nowhere he felt they could go.

While he had an aunt, the oldest sister of his mother in New York City, he wrote to relatives begging them to take his children. After the war it became obvious that the letters never got to America.

In 1939, on a trip to a nearby town to visit her family, my father’s wife was rounded up and murdered with the Jewish inhabitants of her family’s town. A survivor of that town’s massacre returned to Lodz and informed my father, who was now left to care for two babies, one barely old enough to walk, and his ailing mother. His youngest sister still lived with his mother, but the elder siblings were all married with children of their own. His older brother lived in Warsaw with his wife and children, while the rest lived in or near Lodz.

The Jewish inhabitants of Lodz were rounded up and forced to move into a ghetto…a small run down portion of the town, surrounded by barbed wire and electrified fencing as well as machine gun toting German guards. As the next few years passed, ghetto inhabitants were routinely rounded up and taken to their deaths at nearby concentration camps.

My father told me that there were no animals left in the ghetto. All were eaten--even the mice and rats.

Somehow Dad managed to hide the remaining family moving them from empty apartment and basement to another as the Nazis closed in. He was working when he could and bringing home a daily potato and chunk of sawdust filled bread.

On August 14th 1944, my oldest brother’s birthday, my father and his family were found. His mother, too ill to leave, was murdered in their apartment. His younger sister was separated from him and the two babies, now aged 3 and 7 were put on a cattle train to Auschwitz.

Dad was 34 years old and still strong enough to work. His children were pulled from him and sent to their deaths in the gas chambers. He had told me that he begged the Nazis to take him too--but he was kicked repeatedly and told,

“Zu arbeit du" meaning "to work you." This was said in the manner one would speak to a lesser being.

My father survived from August 1944 to January 1945 when the Soviets liberated Auschwitz. He weighed 80 pounds, he had tuberculosis and holes in his feet where he had cut the frostbite from his necrotized feet.

While his sister survived for a while after liberation, she, and many others, died within a few weeks. The well-meaning liberators gave the skeletal former inmates too much food for their decimated bodies to cope. In addition, due to the diseases caused by their incarceration the survivors could not digest their food and succumbed to diarrhea and dehydration. My father intuitively understood the danger and tried to save his sister, to whom he had recently reunited, but she would not listen and would eat too much anyway. My father paced himself eating slowly and carefully--and survived.

Sadly, my father, one of 6 children with a mother, a wife, his own two children, brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law, as well as, a large number of nieces and nephews was the only one of his immediate family to survive the Holocaust. The erasure of his family was almost complete.

After Auschwitz, my father along with hundreds of other survivors began walking across Europe. His first stop was back in Lodz where he had buried a tin can next to the family’s original home. He had told his mother and sister that whoever survived should come back and get the can. It contained the few photographs I have of my father’s family along with some gold jewelry and an engagement ring he gave his first wife--a ring I still have to this day. It also contained some worthless aluminum coins called "ghetto money" which was imprinted with an amount and a Jewish star (“Juden stern”) with a swastika. This was the only money Jews were allowed to have in the ghetto. Dad, however, had buried some pre-war German marks which still had value.

He also found the two identification cards in one of the ghetto apartments he had hidden in. They were thin pieces of cardboard with photos of my father and my brother wearing the ubiquitous yellow star which allowed he and his son, then 6 years old, to obtain food. The baby had to share its food, as did his ill mother.

My father took the only remnants of his pre-war life, in addition to his work ethic and his talent as a tailor, to Germany.

My father began sewing clothing for survivors. No one had money, but he was able to trade found valuables, such as, a bone and ivory chess set, a gold watch and such, for the clothing he made for people. His skill was such that even Germans and Americans asked for his services. He began to put together a life and a living.

Upon arriving in Germany he immediately found an organization, which was trying to find and bring together survivors with other surviving family members. It was there that he met my mother, a half Jewish woman who was raised Catholic by her unmarried mother and her mother’s wealthy Nazi family. She had been an Arian model during the Nazi regime--blonde, blue eyed, strong and healthy.

Her family’s wealth and Nazi connections (an uncle in the SS) had bought her falsified papers early on and this was how she managed to survive. While she converted to the religion of her father, who had fled to the US with his wife and son, she had the ingrained disdain for the less-educated eastern European Jews that all too many German Jews had live and died with.

My father finally was able to contact his mother’s sister in New York. She and her husband “sponsored” my father’s immigration to the US in late 1949. My parents, after arriving on a cargo vessel in Texas, took a train to New York City where jobs and an apartment awaited the newcomers. My father was the same age as his cousins--his aunt’s children; but they, as so many Jewish Americans who had limited connection with the Holocaust did not connect with their estranged cousin. My mom, the beautiful German, was ostracized. And I, the “sheiksa’s daughter,” also was never quite accepted into the now extended family.

I was a “dirty Jew” to the Irish Catholic school kids in my neighborhood, but was not quite “Jewish enough” for the family. It was an early introduction into the unfairness of in-group solidarity versus out-group hostility.
How and why they fell in love remains a mystery to me. While both of my parents were inherently good people, they were not good for one another. My father wanted to recreate his life through the stability of a large culturally Jewish family. My mother wanted to “change” him. Never having had a father or a real male figure to identify with in a positive way during her childhood made her marriage an unknown and difficult reality. They replayed the war over and over.

I never was told of my father’s past in any depth until I was 10 or 12 years old, when a psychologist my parents and I were seeing told me about my brothers. I knew about “The Camps” and met some of my father’s surviving friends and distant relatives, but I was sheltered from the facts.

All I knew as a child was I had very strange nightmares about trains and snow covered flat landscapes, and that I became panicked in kindergarten and early grade school when having to line up and walk through closed doors, such as, into a gym or auditorium.

In my 20’s, I read a book that described similar fears and experiences of children of survivors. It led to my theoretical belief that life-threatening experiences change the DNA of survivors, whether human or non-human (animals), passing on the survival skills in some manner to the next generations.

My father was a damaged man. He suffered from the then-unknown condition we now all recognize as PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There was no psychological counseling for the survivors of this long nightmare. My father had been beaten into submission and despair by the ravages of his life’s experiences. There were days where all he could do was scream and yell about the slightest problems we all encounter in daily life. He was paranoid, assuming people outside our immediate family were conspiring to cheat him, or do us harm. He feared that my beautiful and significantly younger mother was “cheating” on him.

Yet, in his own way, he was kind, generous, and loving. He fully accepted me, but the expectations he had for me were unattainable. These expectations were for me to be the best at everything in order to justify his survival when so many had died. My father’s expectations, his frustrations, and his loss created in me a type A personality. When I have encountered adversity, I have always thought, “if my father could survive that, I can overcome this.” When I am told I cannot possibly accomplish something, it causes something in me to show them that indeed I can.

In the mid-1990’s, I was an adjunct faculty member teaching marketing for artist through the Maricopa Community College system. I was married at that time to Jerry, who was a professor in communications at Arizona State University. One of his associates was teaching a graduate level course on the Holocaust and invited my father to speak to the class.

Watching my father talk about his history and discuss the issues of hatred and inequality with the graduate students was a shared high point in both our lives.

A few days later, Dad sat in while I taught my marketing class at Mesa Community College. Suddenly I was his daughter (“tochter”) the professor. He was unduly, in my opinion, proud, but his rare happiness was my own.

During that same general period of time, my father gave testimony of his life’s experiences through Steven Spielberg’s video documentation of the Holocausts survivors. When I was sent a copy of the video, I learned more about my father than I had been aware of before, and some of the events discussed in this document are in part based on that video. My father often found it too difficult to discuss his pain and loss with me.

Over the next few years, I would travel to Florida as often as I could to visit my father who was in rapid decline. Dad passed away in November 1998--never recovering from his war experiences.

If China and Japan Went to War

2013-06-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

By Nam Sang-so

“Japan will win,” so Japanese military operational staff officers, or “bakuryo,” confidently expressed their tactic evaluations in the recent issue of Sapio magazine.

They say that the People’s Liberation Military Forces of China currently maintain some 10 times the force of arms of the same for the Self Defense Forces (SDF) of Japan. And the overall military spending of China naturally exceeds Japan’s military budget.

Japanese are concerned with but not overwhelmed by China’s quantitative holdings as their analyses of the military comparison for the two antagonizing armed forces reveal that the skills, techniques and proficiencies of the Japanese warriors currently far exceed the Chinese soldiers’.

All volunteers of the highly-trained soldiers of the SDF are, the bakuryo say, the proud descendants of the world’s strongest combatants with a long history of bloody combat experiences, including with U.S. forces in the Pacific War. The Chinese soldiers, on the other hand, have no practical fighting experiences and most of them are spoiled “little emperors” who are byproducts of the decades old China’s one-child policy.

Now then let’s glance over an unclassified list of the military resources of the two nations; Total military power: China 2,240,000 soldiers, Japan 230,000 (Army: China 1,600,000 and Japan 140,000). Naval force: China 1,090 vessels, Japan 143, (Total tonnage: China 1,352,000, Japan 451,000) Warhead missile submarine: China 8, Japan 0, Diesel-powered submarine: China 50, Japan 16. Military aircrafts: China; 620, Japan 250. The 4th-generation fighter aircrafts: China 565 planes, Japan 298, etc.

The level of human training determines the degree of armaments especially of air power. Chinese pilots get less than 100 hours of flight training in the air in a year, which gives each pilot merely an average eight hours a month of practice while the Japanese counterparts fly over 200 hours a year.

By the way, North Korean pilots get less than 20 hours of actual flight training in a year, which would be just enough for sightseeing tour but not even enough for the tactical take-off and landing practices. They don’t have money to send the fighter planes up in the air, the bakuryo testify.

It’s roughly estimated that a fully armored F-15 fighter plane consumes $20,000 to stay in the air for one hour ― $16,000 for the fuel and $4,000 for the replacement cost of the worn out parts. As we’ve seen in Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” movie, fighter plane vibrates violently in their high speed acrobatics maneuvers so that the longer the flying time, the higher the parts replacement and maintenance costs.

The rate of operation or the working ratio determines the factor of the fighting power. If the working rate is at 50 percent at any time, which is the case in the Chinese Air Force, only a half of the planes on hand are ready to take off. Without citing the rate, Japan’s is the highest in the world, they say.

In addition, to the superior air power bakuryo evaluate that Japan maintains the upper hand in many areas over the China’s military power in the quality and strategy and are confident that they will win if the two nations went to war.

That is, believe it or not, the Japanese bakuryo of the SDF now generate a disturbingly similar view that the former Imperial Army had created against the U.S. in the tense atmosphere just before the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.

The writer is a retired architect/project analyst who was born and raised in Nagano prefecture, Japan. His email address is sangsonam@gmail.com.

OPD Redux

2013-05-13T05:40:00.000-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

The Oakland Police Department, once the bellwether of policing has now been reduced to an agency that is so hamstrung that it can't, with any consistency, carry out many of its designed duties or get out of its own way. When I hired on, the OPD (with the aid of Federal Funds) was a bastion of technological prowess that stood head and shoulders above most, if not all, California Police Agencies--and that includes the touted LAPD.

We were one of three agencies, and the only one in the state of California, that had in-vehicle Computers (Albany, N.Y. and Kansas City, MO., the other two) called Digicom—the forerunner of today's police computers. Argus, our helicopter before it was named that, was so valuable to the beat officer that fleeing suspects often surrendered to its spotlight. The long foot chase became a few fence hops followed by the surrender of a totally befuddled bad guy. We were always on the cutting edge of police technology. I remember sitting in a new tricked out, high-tech police car thinking I had just entered a NASA space capsule; from the overhead console with an array of alert buttons, to the Digital computer, to the newly installed electronic siren with yelp, and yes, finally our first rudimentary light bar.

Now, I hear stories of Highway Patrol and Sheriff's officers handling calls for service in Oakland. Unheard of during my tenure. The deepest a CHP officer would venture into Oakland was to get a bite to eat, and an ACSO officer, if he wasn't serving an eviction notice, he would be sitting at a desk in a courtroom or monitoring a prisoner in a Jail cell. The murder rate was just as high setting records then too. The strength of the department, as best I can remember, never exceeded 715 sworn members--if it ever got that high.

So, what went wrong? Are these the death throes of a dying department? I don't know where the blame lies, perhaps, with us all. The election of an accidental mayor (ranked-choice voting) has only aggravated the situation. Maybe, the previous years of questionable and some downright bad behavior might be catching up to the department. Whatever the reason, I am disheartened to see a once proud agency that “knew how,” now asking, “how to” and lamenting, “how come?”

This is China

2013-03-20T01:42:00.002-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

About 20 years ago, I was catching a train to leave Bordeaux, France. At that time smoking was quite pervasive in the country, so I specifically requested a nonsmoking car. Once I boarded the caboose (the designated no smoking car) and took my seat it was obvious that I wasn't alone in my desire for a, now packed to the rafters, no smoking car--or so I thought. Leaning back and adjusting my seat to a comfortable position, I waited for the train to depart the station. Slowly the locomotive lurched forward as each car's coupling took up the slack and like the little engine that could we began to move forward.

To my utter shock and dismay almost the moment when the train began to move 90% of the passengers LIT UP! Cigarette smoke billowed upwards throughout the interior of the rail car blurring the placards that read in both French and English--NO SMOKING. Now slack jawed and bemused, I became painfully aware that the no smoking car I had requested, by sheer volume of smokers, was now a de facto smoking car and there wasn't anything I could do about it. After my gasping, burning, itchy-eye trip came to a merciless end in Paris, I complained to a station official about the smoking “nonsmoking” car. His response with a slight shrug of the shoulders was, “this is France.”

March 2013, I was in Shenzhen, China eating at a Hotel restaurant located in “San Lian” village. I would rate the Hotel about 4 or 5 stars that catered mainly to the Chinese. During my week stay there I saw no other foreigner in the entire village. So, as I ate at the 4^th floor restaurant, which incidentally had excellent Chinese cuisine, I observed the ubiquitous No Smoking placards affixed to several structural pillars throughout. Approximately half way through my meal I could smell cigarette smoke. As I looked around for the culprit, I observed a table full of men smoking and eating. I looked at them inhaling and exhaling smoke, I looked at the plethora of No Smoking signs, and I then looked at the serving staff. I had a visibly annoyed look on my face as I asked my dining companion and a waiting staff member about the smoking “no smoking” restaurant. Is there or isn't there suppose to be no smoking in this restaurant? Both agreed that there should be no smoking in the restaurant. So, of course, I asked then why was smoking permitted. With a slight shrug of their collective shoulders their response was, “this is China.”

The Three Screams of the Mouse

三吱兒，三叫鼠，老鼠三叫

You've heard of the "Three Blind Mice" now learn about the "Three Screams of the Mouse." In the southern part of China, namely Guangdong (aka Canton), from which the first Chinese immigrated to the west coast of California, there exists a culinary reputation for the mysterious and exotic. I've been told (by the Chinese themselves) that the Chinese will eat anything that walks, crawls, swims, or flies.

I have seen the 狗商店 dog meat shops in the northern part of China, I have seen a nervous monkey chained atop a table outside a restaurant in the alleys of Beijing, and I have seen the snake aquariums, from which the blood is extracted and consumed (sanguivorous) for its purported virile affects on the male libido, front and center in restaurant display windows. The method and cruelty in which the monkey's brain is eaten is legendary illustrated by the liberal application of sauces and spices to the exposed noodle (excuse the pun) while the monkey is left dangling alive attached to the center of the dining table. Questions abound to the gastronomy and appetite of any carnivore for such a delicacy. However, not to be outdone, due to the proximity of Shenzhen and Guangdong, I was informed about a practice of eating live mice loosely called, "the three screams of the mouse."

The mice are usually newly born with no hair on the skin. The first scream is heard when the mouse is grabbed with the chopped stick's pincer action, the second scream is heard when the mouse is dipped in a sauce, and the third and final scream is heard when the mouse is placed in the mouth and chewed. Thus, “the three screams of the mouse.”

I have long since stopped being judgmental about the gastronomical peculiarities of a people. One man's meat is another man's poison. Slitting the throat of a chicken and hanging it upside down for the blood to drain or wringing its neck is, I guess, considered to be more humane. However, I must admit to a personal aversion of eating something while it is still alive and kicking. I'm just saying.....

Gregory K. Taylor is currently in Shenzhen, China

Django Unchained, Flight, and Skyfall—I've Seen Them All In Taiwan for Free!

2013-02-04T06:19:00.001-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

As I prepare to hibernate for the upcoming nine day Chinese Spring Festival, I am making my list of movies I will be watching to wile the time away. Virtually everything will be shut down from grocery stores, gyms, and food stands. Taipei, the bustling capitol of Taiwan, will be from the 9^th to the 18^th of February, 2013, a ghost town. The proverbial shoot a cannonball through the center of town without danger of hitting anyone. This can be a lonely time for a foreigner. I've experienced it before and there is just nothing to do during this time—sheer boredom. All the Chinese will, ritualistically, be celebrating the holidays at family gatherings leaving us foreigners to ourselves.

Ghost Town in northern China

First, I will be flying to Hong Kong on the 9th for my passport run—formerly Visa run. Since November of 2012, Americans no longer need a Visa to visit Taiwan. The reciprocal Visa Exemption Program allows for a 90 day stay on any one entry. If one wishes to stay longer than the 90 days they must leave the country and then come back—usually accomplished by a quick flight to Hong Kong.

Once I return, I will have to be self-sufficient for the next week plus two days and fight inactivity by reading, writing, hopefully exercising, and watching movies. And, not just any movies, but the most recently released movies. I'm not talking about third generation rip-offs either where the quality is hardly worth watching. I'm talking about High Definition first generation quality.

When I came to Taiwan I brought with me several DVDs to watch, so I could get a taste of home every now and then for the times when Chinese language TV starts to drive me a little crazy. My Chinese friend looked at my stack of DVDs and asked why I brought them because, according to him, no one watches DVDs anymore. What did he mean no one watches DVDs anymore? Why of course they do and that's why I brought mine! A day or two later he uploaded a program called “Funshion” from an internet site easily found through a Google search to my computer. I was told this was a site out of mainland China that provides Chinese, European, and American movies.

While America was debating the merits of Django Unchained , I typed in the title, waited for the green light (you will understand this once you use the site), and began to watch the movie. In fact, I've watched the movie a couple of times. I've also watched the Denzel Washington movie “Flight.” I have been able to watch many cable TV series, such as, Boardwalk, The Last Resort, The Walking Dead, and Hell on Wheels to name a few. And when I get a bit nostalgic, I spin up classics like, Ben Hur, Spartacus, and From Here to Eternity. Funshion's library appears to be limitless.

Funshion main page

I don't pretend to understand the intricacies of how the Chinese do it, but they have, in the past, been the masters at intellectual property theft. I've asked around about this website and it has been suggested that there might be some tacit agreement between Hollywood and China as it relates to copyright issues. That is to say, this must be another revenue source for Hollywood under the principle of if you can't root it out or control it, then get some revenue from it—something of something is better than nothing of something. Whatever the reasons are for this site, I must admit it really brings a piece of home to my doorstep over here. If one watches American movies plus cable TV programming distance becomes just a state of mind.

Not every movie "Funshion" lists is available for viewing. I've concluded once a movie has been given Chinese subtitles it then gets the green light for public consumption.

If Youtube has you blocked in America, I uploaded another version at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtANrMc1dzA&feature=share

www.funshion.com

The Curious Case of Policing in Taiwan

2013-01-27T01:53:00.000-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

Taiwan police have a unique way of catching criminals--by letting them know they are coming! While not actually tipping them off in the literal sense, they might as well, because the effect is the same.

To the foreign observer, the patrol procedures employed by the uniformed police can be a bit puzzling, if not confusing, considering the peculiar practice of patrolling with constantly activated emergency lights. It would seem that this practice of nonstop red and blue rotating lights emanating from the rooftop light bar doesn't lend itself to pulling over vehicle code violators or clearing traffic ahead--but merely assists the law breaker by providing a beacon in which to zero in on. Essentially, this negates any action to catch the bad guy in the commission of his crime. Were the perpetrator to pay only casual attention to his environment, he would have enough lead time to make good his escape.

Taiwan Police Officer in Dan Shui District

Notwithstanding, preventive patrol strategies whose purpose is to prevent crime before it occurs, decrease police response time, and interrupt in progress crimes, the general patrol method of choice is to make police presence known, but not exactly where. That is to say, the purpose is to scare off the bad guy before he commits the crime by inferring omnipresence, but not to tip him off once he has decided and is in the process of committing the crime. It would be considered ineffective police work in most jurisdictions to cruise through a neighborhood with red and blue lights flashing in a less than urgent situation. To do so takes an arrow out of one's enforcement quiver.

Taiwan also has a, well...unusually loose attitude towards law enforcement impersonators. An article written in the OZSOAPBOX Blog, titled, “Impersonating police isn’t illegal in Taiwan?” dated the 25^th of May, 2012, listed the following in its comment and response section:

This is a civilian car, not an actual police car

“I know a foreign guy down in Hualien who likes to impersonate a police officer from time to time and direct traffic. He’s been beaten up in the process at least once while 'in uniform.'”

“You certainly seem at first to be highly misinformed.
To my knowledge,
1) I am the only foreigner here in Hualien with a full Taiwanese police uniform. And, I teach at the police station.
2) I have only worn it once, and that was to a costume party on Halloween Night.
3) I have donned my “Volunteer Police” hat on a few occasions in order to direct traffic around an accident scene until the proper assistance arrived.
4) I have never been beaten up while wearing ANY uniform, nor while assisting during an emergency.
I must conclude you are either:
A) A complete idiot.
B) Anti-police, because you are a dope-smoking criminal at heart.
C) Referring to someone else.”

Another civilian car, not a real police car

If the above comments don't find you catatonically slack-jawed perhaps the accompanying photos of civilian cars decked out in full police regalia, minus the light bar, will.

This writer has never seen in all the years of coming to Taiwan the police conducting one car stop--only sobriety check point pullovers. If in the rare instance that a car stop drops in the police officer's lap the method for pulling the violator over is by using, yes, you've guessed it—the Public Address (PA) system, because the light bar has been rendered useless for any other purpose than to inform the citizenry that the police are on duty. Trying to make sense of this can give one a headache. However, it clearly works here in Taiwan and the fact that they have a low crime rate...how does one argue with that?

A Nasty Little Habit--Betel Nut

2013-01-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

Found in nature's holistic cabinet of pain relief are plant based medicines that are often abused for their satisfying endorphin rush. During the 1993 U.S. incursion known as “Operation Restore Hope” and the resultant Black Hawk Down calamity, America, if not the world, became aware of a plant called Khat being chewed by the local Somali militia. Decreed by segments of the western media to be a causative factor in the Somali's bravado to fight--this amphetamine-like stimulant induces euphoria and mild addiction.

Betel Nut Beauty

Similarly, the Areca nut, aka betel nut, which hails from parts of the equatorial Pacific, Asia, and slices of east Africa is chewed in much the same manner as Khat. In Vietnam, the Betel nut is so interwoven into society's social fabric that it has come to symbolize an integral part of love and marriage. Malaysian tradition offers areca nuts and betel leaves in the same manner one offers drinks to a house guest. The Areca nut is wrapped in Betel leaves with an edible lime spread (the secret sauce--if you will) and chewed mixing with the mouth's saliva forming a stimulating red chemical reaction. The red saliva is then expelled not swallowed.

Areca Nut wrapped in Betel Leaves

Streets discolored with spittle can tell as persuasive a story about a people as pictures of hieroglyphic etchings. Not immune to such practices, turn of the century America found snuff dipping and smokeless tobacco in vogue witnessed by its dotted-spattered streets. In Taiwan, so common is the ingestion of the Areca nut one can hardly walk a block without spotting a Bin Lang, 檳榔 (betel nut), outlet from the “Mom and Pop” stand to the competitive scantily clad “Betel Nut Beauty” beckoning her customers to buy from her with the lure of sexual innuendo.

Red-stained teeth

Countless scooter riders and automobiles pull to the side of the road at these outlets to make their purchases as convenient as drive-thru customers buy fast food. The Betel plant is commonly bought by the bag ranging from 20 to 40 or 50 to 80 nuts. Widely popular among taxi drivers, truck drivers, and fishermen whose long work hours require them to remain awake and alert--the abuser is easily spotted and tracked by their red-stained teeth and trail of red spittle leading to their doorstep.

Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25mpTLoxE0U

Gregory Taylor is currently in Taiwan

Vignettes of a Foreigner in a Foreign Land

2013-01-14T01:09:00.003-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

Hair fashions:

Student happily poses for photo while riding Taiwan's MRT

The swirl/swish hairstyle

The Beatles were the first to introduce to the “modern world” the revolutionary hairstyle known as the Mop Top. There have been several incarnations of this thematic coif by subsequent generations from the Gen X'ers' spiked mohawk to the Hip Hop'ers' fade. Often the hallmarks of the free-spirit found in most western cultures, these hairstyles make an independent and political statement of identity for the wearer . As for the more lockstep toe the line political systems, until recently, expressions of individuality were routinely discouraged when it came to one's outward appearance—but even that is changing. Dateline Taiwan: Hair expressions of the latest school-age generation. Beauty is truly in the eye of the current generation.

Baton wielding Taiwanese:

I think he intended to thump me with his baton !! This year, I have been driving for the first time in Taiwan which I always avoided in my previous visits. The reasons are many, but my main hesitation has been due to the ubiquitous motor scooters scooting in and out of traffic often passing on both sides of cars in a haphazard manner. So, with a degree of humility, I ventured into Taiwan's free-for-all traffic and as advertised I was immediately beset on all sides by these scooters like drones around a Queen bee. After a few days of this apprenticeship boot camp, I began to feel a level of satisfaction, if not smugness, with my ability to adapt in a chaotic environment.

Location of the baton wielding scooter driver

Then came the night I almost got brained by an irate scooter rider. Surrounded, as usual, by passing scooters I pulled over to the curb to wait for a friend who was exiting from the subway. Unbeknownst to me, I had cut a scooter off, who was in my blind spot, when I pulled over to the curb. Once over, the irate scooter rider passed by my driver's side window hurling Chinese obscenities. I exited my vehicle to let my friend know that I had arrived, and to my surprise the scooter rider pulled over ahead of me. With baton in hand he climbed off his scooter and walked back in my direction. Was he a policeman, I thought? There's not much distinction between a police scooter and civilian scooters. Blue and red lights to the front and rear are common to both scooters. As he continued to approach me with a contorted face, I was planning my defensive strategy for when he entered my "Def-Con 1" personal space.

Motor scooters passing to the right of cars

Once he approached close enough to see that I wasn't Chinese his demeanor began to change. The scowl now morphed to inquisitive bemusement. Not missing my Barack Obama opportunity to negotiate with my adversary, I threw him a gambit. In my best Chinese I told him that I was confused and didn't understand why he was approaching me in such a hostile manner. He was still steaming a bit, but he tried to explain that I didn't signal when I pulled to the curb. Now we were standing right in front of each other, in fact, side-by-side when he was pointing to my turn signal light. The danger pretty much negated by proximity, I apologized with a slight bow and told him I was embarrassed by my driving actions. This is the gracious thing to do when one almost kills someone in a traffic accident. We shook hands and with a slight smile he walked back to his scooter and drove away.

This was a great lesson for me about a few things, but the most important one I took away from this incident was that not all Chinese are docile, deferential, and willing to handle a situation in a non-violent manner. This guy had every intention of cracking me one, maybe two or three, on the head! I have noted this for future reference and now carry a blunt instrument of my own in the car for such violent encounters.

To get an idea of the difficulty involved in negotiating traffic with these motor scooters
see the attached video to the right ~~~>

Full Service Gas Stations?

Female service station attendant pumping gas

With gas in America teetering between the price of four and five dollars per gallon in any given month, it is refreshing to see Full Service being offered at gas stations in Taiwan. Long gone and never to return (anywhere in the world) are the good old days of the attendant checking your oil level, radiator coolant, wiper fluid, and tire pressure. The semi-service in Taiwan I'm told, jokingly, is more out of self-preservation from a clumsy customer who might cause the entire station to go up in flames. At the average price of $9.00 per gallon this full service should be required penance and then some. Practically, all the crude that is refined in Taiwan must be imported which explains the comparatively high price. So, the next time you top off your tank at $4.00 or $5.00 a gallon, that you must pump yourself, you might take solace in the fact that world prices are generally twice that amount.

See attached video to the right: ~~~>

MY FIRST TIME DRIVING IN TAIPEI

Gregory K. Taylor is obviously still in Taiwan

Ex-Police Officer for Gun Control!

2013-01-02T01:44:00.000-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

For the life of me, I just don't understand the gun craze in America. There is a national psychosis when it comes to gun ownership. As an ex-police officer in a city where gratuitous murders have become unspectacular, I lament the fascination with a weapon whose exclusive invention and design is to kill and maim. Had I the power of a King during my tenure, I would have disarmed the entire city in order to make my job that much safer. I am painfully aware, ad nauseam, of the 2^nd Amendment arguments for one's right to bear arms. I, however, personally make a distinction between a private citizen and a well regulated militia notwithstanding the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to the contrary; but I also recognize until the U.S. Congress amends the constitution we all have to, and do, live with the consequences of this national pandemic.

There really is an unhealthy obsession with this lethal instrument and it borders on mental illness. I can only surmise, for a great many Americans, the pleasure derived from gun ownership and its related usage stimulates a primal area of the brain that can't be satiated by more innocuous stimuli. This elemental state is too compelling and too gratifying to overcome, in all likelihood, due to the immediate and permanent effects when the gun is used as designed. I don't even understand the hunting of animals. I am at a loss to see the sportsmanship in stalking and killing a prey that is simply pursuing its life as nature intended. The bravado displayed by the hunter in all his/her regalia, the scouting, coaxing devices, flushing methods, and social chumminess, on the one hand, and then the sudden mood swing to stone cold killer--honestly, I just don't get it.

As a military reserve officer, during the Vietnam era, I've trained and familiarized myself with weapons, such as, the .50 Caliber and M60 machine guns, M79 and M203 grenade launchers, M61 hand grenade, M-16 and M-14 rifles on which I qualified as an “Expert,” I've handled C-4 plastic explosives, Bangalore torpedoes, and Claymore mines to name a few. As a police officer, my two main tools were the Colt Python .357 magnum and my12 gauge shotgun--but my best weapon, wasn't a weapon at all in this sense of the word--it was my radio. For those who might wish to assail my motives, I submit the above bona fides as a muzzle to silence knee-jerk critics as it relates to my knowledge and experience with firearms. In other words, I'll stack my weapons “know-how” and skills against most.

So, when America has another disgusting episode of mass shootings, this time of her BABIES, did you hear me, her babies--this ex-police officer, who would not have hesitated to defend those babies by putting a bullet in the head of the shooter, not only laments the tragedy of those murders, but the tragedy of America's inability to come to terms with its illness. No longer comical are the bumper stickers depicting old ladies aiming what seems to be a revolver the size of a Howitzer toward whomever is in her gun-sights as the caption reads, “Gun Control is Hitting Your Target,” or the ghoulish, now ironic, NRA slogan trumpeted by then Charlton Heston, “...[F]rom my cold dead hands.”

Too many, shall we say, undeserving people have access to a firearm. There are too many loop-holes which enable people to purchase firearms LEGALLY at gun shows. How about just too many guns are floating around in this country. For those of you who target and skeet shoot (which I have done plenty of in the past), I am not advocating the controlling of guns for that purpose. But, I will conclude by saying, paradoxically, when I was a police officer I not only carried a gun on-duty, but off-duty as well. Virtually, 24 hours a day I was armed to the teeth. When I left the police department one of the earliest things I did was to sell all my guns. I have no firearms! I haven't had any for years! What I had that most of the gun-lovers and would be psychopaths will never have is the sober temperament and on-going training to use those firearms correctly!

Gregory Taylor is currently in Taiwan

TAIWAN “Where 'Going to the Nightclub' means visiting the Graveyard”

2012-12-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

By Gregory k. Taylor

As you'll find on most islands of the world--land is a finite commodity. Allocation and land development are considerations that government officials can ill-afford to squander. Overriding land use is usually reserved for housing, farming, and industry. There is, however, an inevitable allotment of set-aside land for burying the dead.

Most western societies, particularly America, still prefer to bury their dead in coffins and inter them the proverbial six-feet deep. If the body is cremated the pulverized remains are placed into urns, boxes, or coffins and either inserted into a crypt, tomb, or mausoleum or disposed of in a manner the family members so choose. Eastern societies, such as, Taiwan do use coffin burials, however, most use cremation as the interment of choice often with sarcophagi, false or otherwise, miniature or majestic, dotting the grave-site landscape. The method of burial is often commensurate with the size and heft of one's wallet. The only limitation is the imagination and skill of the contracted artisan. What is conceived is often achieved for this crowning send off.

From a distance perched high on a hill these look like houses

Superstition prohibits the Taiwanese from using words like Graveyard and Cemetery, so they employ the euphemism of “Night Club” when referring to such places. Family members on their way to the cemetery to visit a deceased relative can be heard to say, “we are going to the Nightclub.” Whimsical as this might sound it falls into the same category of not giving a person a clock as a gift, which symbolizes death, as in, time running out; or listing the number four on elevators because the pronunciation of the number “4” in Mandarin is identical to the pronunciation of the word for death. These are considered to be situations of bad luck much like the listing of the 13^th floor on an elevator in America would be.

Ancestral worshiping while diminishing in irreverent China places like Taiwan still have a strong tradition. Wholly-owned teachings of Confucius as it relates to filial piety presumes even in death the hierarchical family relationship is inviolate. The living family members will continue to provide for the deceased family member. It is not uncommon to see food set aside at a table on certain occasions for the deceased family member. Traditional burning of money (apparently, this sacrifice goes only so far--reality dictates that fake money not real money be burned), clothing, and other offerings of valuables is a method of passing on to the deceased ancestor(s) the means for continued happiness and prosperity in the afterlife.


Beach Front Property

Author's Note: While traveling on a highway south of Taipei city, I observed what I believed to be homes dotting the hillsides. I thought this unusual because the homes appeared to be like the homes one would see in the hills of America—that is, single-dwellings with surrounding front and back yards. This was a sight I had not seen, heretofore, in all of Taiwan. I asked my companion if this was the secluded hill area where the well-to-do Taiwanese live. I was told that those weren't homes—they were graves.

I love Mugabe! I love him!

2012-12-17T05:47:00.001-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

While riding the bus through “Little Africa” Guangzhou, China, I happened on this Zimbabwean who adamantly expressed her love for the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. Known as Rhodesia under white rule, this writer was surprised to hear such admiration being expressed for a man who according to the English and American governments is a murdering-ruthless dictator, who has turned the country once known as the bread basket of Africa into the basket case of Africa.

The adage regarding two sides to every story is clearly evident here as we rode through a noisy section of "Little Africa." Mugabe is considered a pariah, persona non grata in the west, but from the perspective of this traveling businesswoman, who makes her wholesale purchases in China and then takes them back to sale in Zimbabwe, he is a great man who has been subverted at every opportunity by the English and their progenitors who now find themselves on the bottom rung of the Zimbabwean ladder.

She states that the redistribution of farm land from its illegal-colonial occupants to its rightful owners contributed to the huge flight of wealth from her country which now finds itself in a hyper-inflationary state. According to her, Mugabe, in spite of some mistakes, has been the only person in sub saharan Africa to stand up to the whites for what is right. She further stated, “If he decides to run again, I'll vote for him.”

Taiwan's Domestic Caretakers

2012-11-30T02:12:00.000-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

One of the ways to judge the wealth of a nation is by the number of foreigners recruited to enter that country to work. Domestic importation of workers, usually from poorer countries, is often done through recruitment agencies and brokers. The number of domestic workers can, and often does, run into the hundreds of thousands for any given country. As household income rises the housework responsibilities that used to fall on the shoulders of the housewife is now relegated to the live-in domestic. This new unskilled labor force, particularly the females, are consigned to a variety of household duties, such as, cooking, laundry, ironing, shopping, and caring for the children and elderly parents. In Taiwan, most domestics are “live-in” with room and board calculated as part of their salary.

The potential for abuse is high when the employee's work visa is strictly dependent on the largess, goodwill, and sometimes whim of the employer as it is in Taiwan. Working hours and days off, if at all, can be ad hoc and arbitrary at best without the benefit of overtime compensation while a less than hospitable environment can be par for the course. The laments of some Taiwanese, particularly the younger generation, regarding this unfavorable work environment only confirms the ill-treatment meted out by some employers. How effectual the government is in regulating such abuses is unknown, but the fact that these abusive practices exist belies the regulatory statutes on the books.

Protesting Filipinos for a minimum wage in Taiwan

Attempts to interview a cross-section of imported domestic workers both Filipina and Indonesian were met with a palpable concern, if not, fear of speaking with a foreigner about their working conditions. The following response was copied and pasted verbatim from an email sent to me in response to an interview request, “sorry Mr Greg everyday I'm very busy, must takecare grandfather&grandmother so I'm really no time to go outside meet you I'm so sorry”

Indonesians near the MRT station Taipei, Taiwan

This individual indicated that she gets no days off and is always at the beck and call of her live-in employer. If this is true this surely is an abusive employer/employee relationship by most standards in the developed world. This isn't to indict all domestic employers in Taiwan because many employees, if not most, get days off. Sunday mass at St. Christopher's Catholic Church in “Little Manila” and the countless Indonesians that congregate near the main MRT train station on any given Sunday bears witness to that fact.

Many employers have fair and friendly relationships with their domestic helpers, but as usual it only takes a few to taint the entire group. Below is a statistic regarding the immigrant work force in Taiwan.

Filipinos and Thais used to dominate Taiwan's foreign worker market, now Indonesians make up the majority of foreign workers in Taiwan - up to 40 per cent of the record number of 420,0931 people according to the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA)

Gregory Taylor is currently in Taiwan

Laundromats Come to Taiwan

2012-11-23T00:30:00.001-08:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

Laundromats have finally come to Taiwan, and with them the ability to dry clothes in a matter of minutes instead of waiting for the wind and sun to do the job. This is a triumph of convenience and comfort considering that most residents have been hanging their wet clothing on balconies or in sun drenched windows for decades. One finds the quality of drying in a humid environment ranging from almost dry but not quite, with mold and mildew possibilities, to rigor mortis dry. Space in a densely populated area is a premium and extended clothes lines, with the exception of a communal drying green, are not feasible.


Balcony Drying

As America grew and prospered (post WWII), housing developers raced to keep pace with these burgeoning families. A new demand for more efficient modes of transportation brought about the automobile in every garage, user-friendly lawn grooming introduced the power mower, a streamlined irrigation system established the in-ground sprinkler, and a means to dry one's clothing within 30 minutes of being washed ushered in the home dryer.

However, even today mostly in rural areas, where distance and poverty preclude the use of a public laundromat, one must string rope/cable through a pulley, anchored to a structure, tethered to another structure like a barn or garage. One can still find hill hoists, clotheshorses, and drying racks of different variations in urban and suburban America.

One wouldn't have seen this picture 4yrs. ago in Taiwan

2012, finds Asia and most of the developing world, still relying heavily on mother nature to dry its clothing. Relatively small housing space prevents the widespread installation of in-home dryer hookups. So, personal dryers are still sometime off for the foreseeable future even though many in both China and Taiwan have in-home washers.

LG Silver Washer And Dryer Combo

24hr.coin operated laundromat

Since this writer has been visiting China and Taiwan (1997), I have often wondered why no one has opened up a public laundromat. Surely, they are aware of this advancement in the remaining developed world? And, the money to be made only would have the sky as the limit. So, this year when I came back to Taiwan, I was pleasantly surprised that some business person(s) had decided to invest in and build a series of laundromats. Someone finally saw a need and filled it—not to mention filling/lining his pockets too. Now, if I can only convince someone to deodorize public bathrooms with a urinal deodorizer disinfectant block—they too can get rich without reinventing the wheel.

Gregory K. Taylor is currently Taiwan

Whose Islands are they anyway?

2012-10-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

The battle over the South China Sea Islands has erupted again. It seems this happens every few years in order for one country to put another contending country on notice that there is still an unresolved issue of ownership. This action is usually taken by the country that feels its sovereignty has been most recently impinged. Since April of 2012 there has been a rekindling of these antediluvian disputes as to who has ownership to several islands claimed by the surrounding countries of Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, China, and to a lesser degree Brunei and Malaysia.

The most recent flare up involves the countries of Japan, the Philippines, and China. Earlier this year, a group of Filipino fisherman decided to occupy an island in the Spratly archipelago that both China and the Philippines claim. This occupation was reputed to be for the exercise of commercial fishing rights, but everyone knew this was about sovereignty--and wars have been fought over less. The immediate stand off brought into question the strength of the alliance between the United States and the Philippines that date back to WWII.


Spratly Islands

The Philippines seemed to be gambling that the United States would come to its military aid if the Chinese pushed the issue forcefully. And the Chinese gamble would be that the United States was too preoccupied with its war on terror in two Middle Eastern countries to involve itself in a war with the likes and size of China.

Four months later, Japan staked its claim to another set of disputed Islands known as the Senkaku islands to the Japanese and the Daoyutai islands to the Chinese. This was accomplished by a dubious purchase from the Kurihara family who the Japanese refer to as the “private owners.” This outraged the Chinese government and with some perceptible irony the Taiwanese government as well. After all, the two Chinese governments proffer, for acceptance, identical claims to said islands. The question is would two wealthy economic powers risk a war over inconsequential islands whose mineral and oil capacity are speculative at best? Would they risk destabilizing the entire region over principle?


Senkaku Islands

History suggests it may well depend on who feels the most aggrieved. One only needs to look to the Falkland/Malvinas islands for an example. Claimed by the British from 1690 and the Argentines in the 1800s the islands lie 300 miles off the coast of Argentine and 8,000 miles from Britain. Possessing no intrinsic value with an inhospitable environment few believed these two contemporary societies would fight a war over a desolate piece of land. Surely, cooler heads would prevail and sort this interruption out diplomatically. Well, cooler heads did not prevail and the principle of sovereignty decided on war.

So, will Japan and China fight a battle over these islands? Will China and the Philippines go to war over principle. There is too much for everyone to lose. This isn't the 1982 Falkland/Malvinas crisis where most people saw no global or regional consequence for that war, but more of a curiosity and flexing of muscle. There is just too much money to lose for the world economy if Japan, China, and the Philippines choose war. Accordingly, public protestations and sabre-rattling for home consumption while real back-channel negotiations are taking place will, for the foreseeable future, put this issue to bed and the east will be as it was before.

Gregory K. Taylor is currently in Taiwan

Guns, Guns, and More Guns

2012-10-18T01:39:00.001-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

This looks like something out of the 2010 “Kick Ass” movie starring Nicholas Cage, or it could be the Bat Cave arsenal of Bruce Wayne better known as Batman. This scene is so common where the Super Hero flips a switch or presses a button and "Voila," the heretofore wall housing books of note has now in one revolution revealed a wall housing an armory of weapons. Where in America is this litany of guns on display for the public to buy? What city has the temerity to offer such an act of gratuitous firepower? Is this the reality of the NRA's vision of the Second Amendment--Guns, Guns, and more Guns for a country that can't get enough of a daily-body count in its major cities?

This looks like an FBI Armory

Before everyone gets up in arms (pun intended) and marches on city hall this is not a store in an American city, but a store in a suburb of Taipei, Taiwan called San Chong. San Chong has in the past had a slight reputation for gangsterism. This should be viewed in relative terms of Taiwan and not compared at all to the endless crime wave in America. Crime in Taiwan when it occurs, and it does, doesn't have the same social impact, repetitiveness, and fear as crime in America.

So, when a store with visible curbside viewing, that the Pakistani Taliban would envy, has a display of RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), Grenades, Mini-Guns, .50 Caliber Rifles, Bazookas, Semi-Automatic hand guns, Semi-Automatic and Automatic assault rifles of every vintage—people hardly bat an eye and no additional advertising is necessary. The grab here is if these weapons were real and actually not exquisite replicas they would also be illegal in Taiwan because there is nothing close to a right to bear arms Second Amendment. To own a gun here is to go straight to Jail and not pass Go. There are no exceptions for long-barreled rifles or handguns for home defense.

The Salesman referred to these as "Toys."

Imagine the carnage in the wake of these replicas on the streets of America. Why the police shootings of kids alone, and not too intelligent adults, would sky rocket. We've seen over the years a sad number of accidental-intentional police shootings of juveniles carrying toy guns whose quality wasn't even close to the craftsmanship that these replicas exhibit. It is the fakeness, if you will, of these weapons that make them dangerous. Myriad suggestions and implementation of laws to make these replicas more visibly fake have been instituted in America. Taiwan had laws for the orange markings of replicas, but the irony was not lost on the authorities that if you can't display these replicas in any way in public then it was actually unnecessary to mark the replicas.

So, again, why would anyone buy these replicas? If one is going to have, for all intents and purposes, what appears to be a deadly weapon, wouldn't one want it to be real?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYJ6Y_BrjY

Gregory K. Taylor is currently in Taiwan

One White Covers Three Uglies 一白遮三丑

2012-10-06T23:56:00.000-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

The above title represents, with some variations in wording, such as, “White skin covers up one hundred uglinesses” an aphorism taught to Chinese girls as a warning to avoid the sunlight and its dreadful consequence of dark skin. Historically, dark skin has been designated as a negative attribute bestowed on the impoverished lower-class by the wealthy upper-class, and conversely, ashen skin has been designated as a positive attribute conferred by the upper-class onto itself; and by dint of their worldwide dominance the closer one's skin color is to the ashen quality the more social, economic and psychological the privileges .

Color and class are often interchangeable until they come into conflict and then color always trumps class. Therein lies the true significance of color and its geo-political importance. A current illustration of these conflicting assumptions can be seen in this year's Presidential campaign. Why would anyone vote for Mitt Romney who is from Appalachia? This is the whitest, poorest, uneducated section of the country—and has been since time immemorial. If they were voting their class, thus, their interest, the obvious choice would be President Obama, but this hotbed of ignorance wouldn't think to vote for Obama. So, clearly in this example race trumps class. Tea-Party adherents can be lumped into this category with some notable crazy exceptions of Black members who think they are being accepted if they just hate themselves the loudest, thus, corroborating the above supposition.

The subconscious impact of this stratification is so pervasive, so ingrained, and sadly for the foreseeable future so immutable that the darker visage is consigned to the ash heap of unattractiveness, inferiority, and resides with the lower-classes never to be redeemed. The reasons for this are manifold, but the obvious one is to start a bidding war for entry into, if not, close proximity to the world's majority-ruling class—the white race.

Sun Visor

The world stage is full of performers convinced that hue-stratification is the answer to a prosperous future. Notwithstanding the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries that take ridiculous race designations, such as, Quadroon, Octoroon, Mulatto to an inexplicable level for social acceptability the Chinese seem to be the current trend-setters in the pursuit of the ultimate designation. White-skin adoration, in China and most of Asia with few exceptions, has been taken to a level one has to see to believe. Beach masks (known as "Face-Kinis), full-screen sunvisors, parasols the size of which would draw the envy of Mary Poppins, and skin-lightening creams have become the social mantra hummed by all. And TV commercials? Instead of a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage, white skin is the refrain peddled by Chinese Madison Avenue, reinforced with white mannequins, as the goal every little girl should attain. If a Chinese woman wants a respectable, educated, successful Chinese husband she had better get that skin as pale as possible. To that extent, the gymnastics involved in avoiding the sun's rays would rate a perfect 10 on any Olympic judges score card.

Parasols

Ironically, if this was just a health issue and the intent was to avoid skin melanoma the above hypothesis would be in error, but the Chinese readily admit the pursuit of white skin is purely a matter of perceived beauty and social-status.

There is also an accompanying social ineptness of innocent and not so innocent causes that the Chinese bring to this issue. The oneness or homogeneity of this society insulates itself from understanding the folly of its acts resulting in possible mob rule intimidation. So, when a half-Black/ half-Chinese girl, who is raised in China, and speaks only Chinese goes on a national television talent show and the responses are manifestations of disgust and hate (from far too many) followed by statements that she should never have been born reveals a corruptness in a society's reasoning and direction. To be sure, had she been half-White and half-Chinese nary a complaint would be heard.

Gregory K. Taylor is currently in China

7 Strategies You Might Use to Avoid Children on Flights

2012-07-12T15:53:00.003-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

We’ve all been there with the screaming kid either seated behind us or outflanking us in an adjacent seat. The mom feverishly shaking, rocking, bouncing the little darling on her knee, while sticking her little pinky in the child’s mouth simulating a pacifier, and finally in an act of total capitulation, gets up and walks the angel up and down the aisle until the echoing passenger area returns to relative silence.

It’s bad enough that the flying public has to guard against propelled microbes unleashed into the cabin by sneezing passengers, and the incredible-shrinking leg room with the new “slimline” seats in steerage (think Titanic) that can bring about ones demise from deep-vein thrombosis, but do we really have to be subjected to an additional assault on our psyche from screaming kids?

Flying, for the masses is a painful, inhospitable, depressing experience--particularly, on long hauls of ten hours or more; and that’s after you’ve been meticulously stripped of the dignity you arrived at the airport with by the TSA inspection team and sent on your shoeless, belt dangling, bedraggled way.

You know the nightmare has just begun when you observe the numerous baby strollers parked at the gate entrance for “gate checking” and the reverberating gangway with the high-pitched plaintive voices of those little people who are impatiently waiting for the jostling adults to finish shoving, cramming, and squeezing their carry-on luggage into the overhead bin.

Once seated--the horror begins! The doors are shut and the head Flight attendant (with microphone in hand) states in a low foreboding voice, “Cabin crew prepare for takeoff.” The screaming babies are matched only by the crescendo of the gigantic-roaring turbines which are spinning at maximum RPM as the plane hurtles down the runway. Once you are free of ground effect, then and only then, is the bedlam truly grasped on your flight to perdition. Pay no attention to the illuminating/audio signal Call buttons on the overhead console--these Red Alerts can’t save you from the kicking assault to your spinal chord you’re about to experience. The Lilitputians have seized control of the flight for the next ten hours, so hunker down for the inevitable and take solace in the fact that you’ll book passage in the bilge of a container ship before you fly on a plane with kids again.

If the above nightmare seems familiar there are things you can do to possibly avoid such a calamity. Here are 7 suggestions that just might work.

1.) Although Ticket Agents can’t give you manifest information, you can ask if there are children seated near you. Most agents will provide this information. Some foreign airlines with fewer restrictions on information will give more specific data about your surrounding passengers. To my surprise, I’ve been given the sex and age of the person that would be seated next to me. So, try a little delicate diplomacy and you’ll be surprised the information you can glean.

2.) Avoid bulk-head seating—the first row of each section. Families with kids try to book these areas for the additional leg room and bassinet mounts (for diaper changes) that are sometimes provided on the wall.

3.) For flights of 3 to 5 hours, try to book the Red-Eye. Odds are you won’t encounter too many kids on these off-hour flights, and if you do the little darlings should be fast asleep in short order.

4.) Try to avoid seats in the very back near the galley, toilets, and crew resting area. Parents like to book these seats for the convenience factor, but for reasons unknown crew members state that babies cry more when they (the crew members) are trying to rest.

5.) Do book seats next to emergency doors where only able body adults are allowed to sit. In the event of a disastrous emergency the individuals in these seats must be able to unlatch the emergency door which precludes, in this area, the seating of children.

6.) Avoid seats near all lavatories. Parents take their screaming babies there for cry-it-out sessions not to mention the constant traffic of people.

7.) Of course, if one can afford it fly business or first class. One doesn’t see the average family flying with kids in these sections of the plane. Any crying babies that might be in first or business class are often taken to the economy class until the noise subsides. However, coach passengers are not allowed to take their screaming babies into business or first class.

I realize in today’s rat race adults are exposed to kids more than in the past. I grew up when we the kids ate at home avoiding restaurants and rode in cars to avoid public conveyances. My kids rarely ate at restaurants or flew in airplanes. Not that we couldn’t afford to do so, but I was always cognizant of my surroundings, and didn’t force my kids behavior on other people. That kind of thoughtfulness, like many other things, has gone out the window. It’s all about my needs and to hell with how it affects someone else. So, for those of you who would rather fly (or eat) in a peaceful environment, perhaps, you’ll find these 7 strategies useful.

If you have more STRATEGIES that the flying public can benefit from please add them to the comment section.

China's Military--the real thing or a Potemkin Village

2012-07-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

As far back as 1279 AD, under the rule of Khubila Khan, the Chinese have been conquered and ruled by foreign powers. China’s early experience with foreign governments left a bad taste of economic colonialism in its mouth. Autonomous regions and concessions, which carved up China’s sovereignty, led to forced trade and an opium war. Territory was lost and the national treasury depleted to indemnify the victors for war reparations. China, historically, has been harried by foreign powers—exposing its industrial weakness and national vulnerability. Where self-importance once reigned, doubt and a national inferiority complex permeate the Chinese consciousness.

Today, while maintaining the largest standing army of approximately 2.3 million soldiers (contrast with America’s 1.4 million) and a comparatively credible nuclear arsenal, China has taken another “Great Leap Forward” in the modernization of its security forces to counteract this national psychosis.

There are two schools of thought as it concerns China’s regional and global intentions. The first suggests that China has no hegemonic interest—that she has never ventured, for conquest, outside her borders and any interest she might communicate in this arena are for regional stability and noninterference, and to impugn China in any other fashion or to paint China as a regional/global menace—is to make her a regional/global menace. “… [B]elligerent policies risk creating a self-fulfilling prophecy—treat China as an enemy and it will be one.” (Ross 33)

The second suggests that China has always had revenge in mind, for historic indignities, and an evil/godless resolve to eventually dominate the world. Every shift she makes in policy, strategic or economic, must be viewed with this intent in mind. “…[C]hina’s willingness, even eagerness, to improve the Sino-American mood represents a tactical gesture rather than a strategic one….Beijing has tempered its confrontational rhetoric and retreated from some of the actions that most annoyed Washington…. ‘For a relatively long time it will be absolutely necessary that we quietly nurse our sense of vengeance,’ General Mi Zhenyu, Vice Commander, Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing wrote. ‘We must conceal our abilities and bide our time.’” (Bernstein/Munro 20)

To further this objective, China has made every attempt to acquire technological advantages the United States might offer into its military portfolio. To this aim, accusations of espionage, dubious, if not illegal, Chinese campaign contributions, and a fifth column at the White House reverberate throughout the conservative political spectrum. Waving this bloody shirt of political corruption the opposition party has conjured images of a Manchurian Candidate with the inscrutable Chinese as the queen-of-diamond protagonist.

Against this backdrop the questions are manifold and the assessment difficult as to the military course China has plotted. Towards which two objectives has her ship of state’s compass been boxed? Is China’s military buildup warranted as a regional power or does she have global ambitions? Is China’s military capability commensurate with her strategic interests and does it represent a threat or legitimate growth? A definitive answer to these questions would require the deftness of Houdini and the clairvoyance of Kreskin; however, a culling of the two positions might ferret out suppositions that could lead to reasonable conclusions.

Position one hypothesizes that China, for centuries, has remained within its borders, and has never posed a threat to any of her neighbors. The Great Wall, built to prevent the Mongol hordes from entering China, exemplifies her defensive posture. Moreover, China has historically shunned contact with the outside world, neither desiring nor seeking trade or the capacity for exploration on the high seas. China’s egocentric thinking can be underscored by her name—the Middle Kingdom. Where all roads once led to Rome, China simply believed itself to be the center of the world with no need to venture out from its shores.

Ironically, because China enjoyed her isolationist position with no penchant for empire expansion, she unwittingly opened herself to foreign devils looking to expand their global tentacles. The opium war of the 1840s was such an example. The British, suffering from a trade imbalance due to their insatiable appetite for Chinese tea (through their East Indian holding company), sought to traffic in opium with the intent of creating such a demand by addicting enough people to a substance that could be easily manufactured for trade; thereby, reversing a disastrous trend of trade deficit to a trade surplus. When China interdicted this drug trafficking of British opium, her inferior junks were no match for the superior steam-propelled British frigates resulting in the defeat of China's fledgling fleet. As punishment, the Chinese were compelled to indemnify the British, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, and transfer possession and control of Hong Kong to England.

In 1860, further humiliating land losses were forced upon China with the loss of the Kowloon peninsula (to the British) and the territories north of the Amur River and east of the Ussuri (to the Russians). China’s weakness to defend her territory was further exposed by the Japanese in 1895 when the two countries clashed on the Korean peninsula. The resulting defeat shrunk China’s territory even more—from the loss of Taiwan, the Pescadore islands, and the New Territories. All this territory was lost on the imploding Qing Dynasty watch of 1644 to 1911.

Smarting from these historic indignities, China has sought to match the military strength of her would be conquerors. Position one promotes China’s military buildup/modernization program as defensive and reasonable while presenting no regional/global threat—especially in the context of past humiliations. This is borne out by China’s inferior weaponry both quantitatively and qualitatively.

“Various experts estimate the Chinese are spending somewhere between $24 billion and $87 billion a year on their military (depending on the complicated ways this can be calculated). But, if we use one of the more plausible figures of $36 billion, that means China spends less on its military than does Japan—constitutionally a pacifist state, forbidden to maintain offensive armed forces.” (Burnstein and Keijzer 2) And whether China can pass the quality control giggle test is uncertain. Is China’s military cash outlay getting the most bang for its buck? “When China in 1996 conducted missile tests into the Taiwan Strait in a transparent effort to intimidate Taipei. The gravest danger was the munitions’ obsolescence. Robert Ross notes: ‘The missiles were so primitive that they could have veered off course and hit Taiwan.’ China’s most advanced domestically produced fighter, the F8-11, is the equivalent of a late-1960s U.S. warplane, Ross adds, and even this primitive plane has yet to enter fully into production. The Su-27 aircraft China has bartered from Russia are less advanced than what the U.S. sells to Taiwan, and far less advanced than what Japan co-produces with the United States for its defense. Two Kilo-class submarines China purchased from Russia in 1995 were laid up in the harbor two years later with serious problems stemming from poor maintenance….Some believe China is moving to develop an aircraft carrier, but developing and outfitting even a single 1970s vintage aircraft carrier is a decade-long undertaking.” (Burnstein and Keijzer 2)

2012, China's first Aircraft Carrier "Varyag"

The above quote suggests China to be far behind in sophisticated weaponry not only as it relates to Japan, Taiwan, and smaller regional nations in general, but also, as it relates to the United States, specifically. China's inability to match first world military know-how exposes her flank to strategic assaults. What is China's modern war experience? The twentieth century has presented her with border skirmishes, such as, India in 1962 and Vietnam in 1979, where she was for all intents and purposes able to prevail. What modern military strategies did she employ, other than her predictable antiquated human-wave assaults, in these theaters that would concern a first rate world power? And sea power, what credible navy does she have? "The Chinese navy would lose a battle in this region against Singapore, Malaysia, or Indonesia, all of which possess advanced American or Bristish aircraft." (Ross 37) In what naval battle has she demonstrated her prowess? "China lacks the ability to conduct sustained military operations more than 100 miles from the Chinese shoreline. China is a formidable land power, but in maritime Southeast Asia, where U.S. interests are most at stake, China is militarily inferior even to such countries as Singapore and Malaysia.

Chinese Long March Rocket

Fast forward to the 21st Century reveals that China has made vast technological strides in its so-called inferior military. She also has a burgeoning space program with the not so subtle name and message for its booster rockets--the Long March, which symbolizes an historical one year march by Mao Zedong and his army into the mountains fleeing Chiang Kai-shek and his army allowing a rag-tag defeated army time to regroup and prevail over a more modern equipped army. In a further demonstration of China's improved military prowess, for the first time in its history, China has outfitted an abandoned Soviet aircraft carrier enabling it to project its military might far from its tethered shores. China's gains, economically and militarily, have allowed it to modernize in all facets of its military. She appears, for the time being, to be content with improving its defenses, making money while simultaneously improving the quality of life for its people.

Works Cited (MLA)

Bernstein, Richard and Munro, Ross H, "China I: The coming conflict with America,"

Foreign Affairs, March/April 1997, V76, No. 2, pg. 18

Robert S. Ross, "China II: Beijing as a Conservative Power," Foreign Affairs,

March/April 1997, V76, No.2, pg 33.

Do these 5 things--If you want to be happy for the rest of your life

2012-06-30T19:23:00.001-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

This was a farcical 1963 refrain from a popular song of the same name involving a general truth about man’s continuous search for happiness.

Have you seen those signs deployed on the front counters of the receptionist’s area when entering a building that read, "Director of First Impressions?" Such a business understands the penalty of not getting a second chance to make a first impression. The same principle applies to individual encounters. It is difficult to alter a negative impression into a positive one. Those initial contacts are judged as severely as one’s attire, deportment, and diction. So (1), be NICE because it’s nice to be nice and much better to be remembered in that manner than the alternative.

The world has been around for billions of years and it most likely will be around for billions more. How long will you be around? How soon will you be a footnote search on Ancestry.com? The sun is estimated to implode in 5 billion years—do you worry about that? Do you worry about small inconsequential things that don’t affect your daily life? So, stop taking life and yourself so seriously—because your future is short! Get on with the business of living a happier-fulfilling life and avoid others getting on with the business of dying. Like a yawn, happiness can be contagious and so can worry. “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy,” Leo Buscaglia. So, surround yourself with like-minded people and enjoy today. Be forever mindful of the maxim about irreplaceable persons because the graveyard is, indeed, full of irreplaceable people. A day without laughter is like a day without sunshine and though others may deem you crazy (2) Laugh as loud and often as you can.

Recent studies have attributed longevity of centenarians to, among other things, good sleeping habits. That is to say, eight hours of sleep per night gives the body enough time to send out its repair teams to complete an all-night overhaul of its vital systems. A diagnostic, if you will, of every bodily function. Those who boast of needing only four or six hours of sleep are simply, over time, running on empty. Think back to the last time you woke up truly rested and happy to take on the day. Look to nature for most answers and one will find that every creature, large or small, needs a time-out period to allow for repairs. (3) So, Sleep at least eight hours per night and your mind/body will reward you for it.

If you don’t already have one, find a partner to love—requited love. The chemical reaction of released pheromones is believed to be the invisible attractor we subconsciously act upon. One need only look to the billion dollar fragrance industry to determine if pheromones play a role between male and female. If you find yourself in a relationship of unrequited love—get out of it! The damage done in such a relationship can negate the effectiveness of the initial three things to do. You’ll find yourself not being nice, seldom laughing, and losing sleep in this situation. There can be only two outcomes in this Bernoulli trial, “love” or “hate.” (4) Find a Mate! Not just any mate, but one you truly can love.

Lastly, you must find a reason to get up in the morning—to be alive! What’s the point of taking up space and breathing good air if you’re unproductive? Death by a swift blow rather than a thousand cuts would be more preferable—would it not? So, go out there and build bridges, roads, edifices to the benefit of society. Advance the art of music, dance, and acting. Travel and pursue romance, but don’t forget to seek the noncorporeal quest of the spirit through meditation (any form), prayer, and calmness. (5) Still yourself and listen to the world around you and join its rhythmic cadence. Filter out the noise and clutter of distraction which serves only to impede one’s communion with nature.

If you do these 5 things you just might be happy for the rest of your life.

1.) be Nice 2.) Laugh 3.) Sleep 4.) Find a Mate 5.) Still Yourself

Cracking a Chain Whip

2012-06-27T16:26:00.002-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

Chain whipping is the new Taijiquan better known as Tai Chi. Wikipedia states that Tai Chi is a type of internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits. It is also typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons, such as, hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, and longevity. As a result, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of Taijiquan training forms are especially known for being practiced at what most people categorize as slow movement.

The slow movement form seems to be favored more by the older generation for longevity purposes. It is a common sight in China either early morning or late night to see a group numbering anywhere from five to thirty or more practicing the slow movements of Tai Chi. It is an elegant exercise to watch as these movements are performed in a methodical dance of silence. It is, if you will, the national exercise of an entire nation.

There is, however, a more aggressive form of exercise being practiced in China with the use of the whip chain (just like a Bull whip except the rope or leather has been replaced with links of chain). The sounds are quite loud often mistaken by foreigners, particularly Americans, as either gunshots or powerful fireworks.

This practice of chain whipping usually done by more than one individual is a demonstration of technique more than physical prowess. The whipping action of one’s wrist sends an oscillating wave-like ripple down the chain ending at the snapping-bitter end. The popping sound of the snapping-bitter end can be likened to an aircraft exceeding the speed of sound pushing the slower air-mass causing a shock wave that results in a sonic boom or a very loud sound.

The accompanying video was taped impromptu when investigating what this writer thought to be gunshots from a busy firing range. My assumption was a bit improbable considering that a gun possessed by Chinese citizens is prohibited. Perhaps, I had stumbled onto a military or police firing range? In fact, I had arrived at a community Ping Pong center where the locals were practicing their chain whipping skills. The demonstrations were quite impressive, artistic, and free flowing.

1968 Olympic Icon Tommie Smith Holds his 9th Annual Track Meet

2012-06-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

By Carla Thomas

UC Berkeley’s Edwards Stadium was at the center of food, fun and some of the fastest kids in the Bay Area last Saturday. In beautiful 72 degree weather over 750 kids participated in the 9^th annual Tommie Smith Track Meet, sponsored by the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area.

Parents, siblings, classmates and supporters of these athletic children cheered and some even excitedly ran at the base of the bleachers along with the competitors as they cheered their loved one on.

At the shot of a gun every set of six athletes sprinted across the track as fast as they could to reach the finish line. Some appeared to break the souind barrier as others were just glad to have fun on the field.

The meet, open to children ages 4 - 18 was the sum of the youth's dedication to track clinics that took place each Saturday at McClymond's High School from January through May.

Tommie Smith Signs Jersey of participant

“This is our grassroots meet and it’s more than winning on the field, but winning in life,” said the proud Dr. Tommie Smith, Olympic medalist and activist of the 60’s, who is the only man in track-and-field history to hold 11 world records simultaneously. He is also the first man in Olympic Games history to win a gold medal in record-breaking time in the 200-meter--under 20 seconds.

As an educator and track and field coach for the past 40 years in collaboration with Dr. Mark Alexander (President of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area) the track meet has spread across the nation with tournaments in Washington, D.C., New Orleans, and Louisville, Kentucky. “We’re having the Louisville meet this weekend as well,” added his wife, Delois Jordan-Smith.

“We use track as a draw and as a nurturing tool for the children because they are running, jumping and I want to lend my name to something to give my community a head start,” said Dr. Smith, who credits his wife for keeping him on track with his many activities.

“She is my backbone to do what is necessary to stay focused and we accomplish a lot, but we are friends first,” added Dr. Smith who constantly writes and speaks.

Smith says it is important for young people to experience events like this because the disciplines of time, planning, preparation and performing in the race are all elements they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, “We are always looking for ways to improve the organization of what we do and expect it will have a great impact on the youth each year.”

Smith shares a light moment of encouragement

Dr. Smith’s wife and working partner graciously talk to the youths while Dr. Smith pauses and engages the children by signing autographs on the entry numbers of their t-shirts. “At the clinics we teach the children the advantages of healthy eating putting the right things in your body,” he said.

The track meet and clinics began at Laney College and then moved to Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The meet grew so large that the UC Berkeley administration began to host the event.

In 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos made history when they respectively won the gold and bronze Olympic medals in the 200 meter race in Mexico City. They brought attention to the racial injustice suffered by Blacks in America by raising their black-gloved fists during the medal-award ceremony. The iconic gesture forever changed the face of social activism and race relations in the United States.

For more information visit www.TommieSmith.com or read his autobiography Silent Gesture: The Autobiography of Tommie Smith.

San Francisco Bay--No Place Like Home

2012-06-21T17:24:00.002-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

How many of you have enjoyed the wonders of the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Notre Dame Cathedral, or the curiosity known as the leaning Tower of Pisa? How many of you, in contrast, have visited Alcatraz Island (Once America's Devil's Island), driven down Lombard Street (deemed the crookedest street in the world), looked skyward from the base of the Transamerica Tower (where the "Towering Inferno" was filmed), taken in the panoramic view from the Mount Davidson Cross (part of the ransom scene in the "Dirty Harry" movie), or just watched the elegance of a sailboat regatta on the Bay (the host of the 2013 America's Cup race)?

At the risk of sounding like a spokesperson for the San Francisco Bay Area tourist bureau, we all too often overlook the treasures of home for the treasures in far-off lands. This writer, for one, would gladly trade the smog of China, the perennial overcast of London, the rock beaches of Europe, and the mischief-making Kangaroos of Australia for the beauty and utility of the Bay Area.

The Bay provides some of the most natural wonders that nature offers (anywhere) from the cherished winds, to the delight of the wind surfer/sailor, to the even-tempered weather and breathable air.

In the Wizard of Oz, the "Emerald City" (the utopian seat of society) pales in comparison to Dorothy's native Kansas as she desperately clicks her ruby-slipper heels three times while repeating, "There's no place like home." Of course, where one was born and grows up can cloud one's opinion; but even the most jaded individual, after seeing the San Francisco Bay Area, would have to arrive at the same conclusion.

For the first time, this writer visited Fort Point's Crissy Field on a beautiful day and videoed the beach and water activity. The captured views of land marks, as in, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel and Alcatraz Island, and the skyline of downtown San Francisco as a backdrop to the myriad sailboats, is a reminder of the treasures at home and the reason so many world travelers make the San Francisco Bay a special place to visit.

Yes Dorothy, there is no place like HOME and if it's where the heart is--it is always left in San Francisco--Bay.

Worry More About Crossing the Street in China than the Burglars!

2012-06-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Gregory K. Taylor

In a Country of 1.3 Billion people, who just 13 years ago saw the majority riding bicycles, one would think the Pedestrian would be a protected class of commuter. To cross a street or walk on a sidewalk in China, to the contrary, can turn into a test of nerves, will, and courage normally observed on military battlefields.

The Pedestrian is never safe until he reaches his intended destination securely behind a protected barrier, such as, a wall or door. To the uninitiated, a prerequisite before traveling is a mandatory 40 hour course of instruction of twenty hour lectures and twenty hour hands on practical application in a simulation chamber at the controls of a "Frogger" video game.

One must develop the instinctive skills to leap frog, even while in a so-called safe cross-walk, across a street with the vigilance and skills of an NFL Football running back dodging one honking vehicle after another without the assistance of any blockers.

This vigilance must be maintained even while walking on the sidewalk because mopeds and even cars will drive precariously close to your rear-end until such time you sense imminent danger and move to an even safer spot on the sidewalk (usually closer to a building). When you are walking--cars will seem to appear out of thin air with an azimuth aimed in your direction. While attempting to cross a street be ever mindful of right turning cars in your direction because they will not STOP for you. The farther you walk into the crosswalk the more the cars will try to turn in front of and behind you effectively sandwiching you into a space that will require your gait to be greatly diminished.

You will only feel safe from this right turning traffic when you've crossed over into the opposite traffic which will actually be stopped for an opposing red light. However, the danger resumes once you are about 75% percent across the street because now the right turning traffic in front of you will continue to impede your progress until they've completed their turn and this can be any where from five to eight turning cars--it will seem like the cars will never end--but they will, HONEST!

Don't be too overwhelmed because you will quickly develop a sixth sense that will raise the tiny little hairs on the back of your now sweaty little neck, while dilating your pupils, with a concomitant rush of adrenaline that will speed up your heart, placing you in a survival state of fight or flight. You now can purchase a T-Shirt that reads, "I Survived Walking in China" to the bemusement of your friends.

After you've returned to America, where Pedestrians do have the right of way, you will cherish those cross-walks and waiting cars--not right away--but in a week or so when you've stood down from Def-Con 1 and returned all body functions back to normal.

Memorial Day and What's on the Chinese Military Channel?

2012-05-30T22:39:00.002-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

During the Vietnam War there was a cadre of television reporters and journalist who were attached to a Company, Platoon, or Squad. These reporters filmed, interviewed, and often endured the same hardships of life in the thick jungles of Vietnam as the soldiers they were filming.

By the mid-1960s over 90 percent of the homes in the United States had television sets and this became the medium through which America on a nightly basis viewed the realities of day-to-day war. This night by night steady diet of KIA (Killed in Action), MIA (Missing in Action), and wounded eventually turned the most conservative-war hawk into a protesting peacenik, and thus, brought an ultimate end to the war.

During the Iraqi conflict under President George W. Bush reporters were imbedded with military units, ostensibly, for their own safety; but in reality it was a not so surreptitious scheme to control the coverage and flow of news. There would be no repeat of the Vietnam nightly body count debacle.

The American public never saw bloodied or dead soldiers. The Bush Administration even forbade the filming of flag-covered metal coffins being unloaded at state-side Airbases. If a shot of an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) exploding near a soldier was captured on film the editing bay censored such an image to the extent that one never knew whether the soldier survived the blast or not. There would be no imagery of a Soldier with a Zippo Lighter setting fire to a hooch as was the case in Vietnam. This war was not going to be lost due to bad press.

There is a video montage that can be viewed on Youtube under the heading of “Sniper of Iraq.” I mention this video because while visiting China I tuned into CCTV’s (China Central TV sometimes known as Communist Chinese TV) Military Channel. Much like our Military Channel in America, they cover similar subjects dealing with military hardware, software, tactics, strategy, etc. This particular evening the subject dealt with Sniper tactics and weaponry as discussed by the two uniformed host.

The hosts used as a training aid sniper footage from the Iraqi perspective during its war with America. They would periodically stop the footage to discuss the weapons used, probable distances involved, and a now mystical figure known as “Juba” the reported best sniper in all of Iraq. The footage is raw and unedited. American soldiers could be seen patrolling an area on foot or in a fortified personnel carrier while the Iraqi sniper would take aim at his unsuspecting victim. The filming was sometimes done through the rifle scope, or by, as best as I could figure, another individual close by. The quality in China appeared to be much better than what I saw here on Youtube. Perhaps, the Chinese were better connected and had obtained first generation copies??

The shots were graphic and deadly often resulting in either a flying helmet or smoke emanating from the head of the now slumped-over body. I sat there slack-jawed as I viewed this litany of disturbing images--death by stealth. The American soldiers had no idea where the fire was coming from, nor did it appear that their body armor provided much protection. One scene showed the Iraqi sniper zeroing in on a patrol. He felled one soldier and as another soldier came to help he, too, was killed and then a third soldier was executed trying to duck for cover as he literally did a heartbreaking dance in an attempt to stay upright to no avail.

I had never seen such images before that left little to the imagination and I now know why. The American public would be so disturbed by these images that they would have brought that war to an earlier end—much like they did during the Vietnam era. And, what about the Afghanistan war that is now being waged? If America saw similar types of explicit killings from Afghanistan how much longer would that war be tolerated?

Perhaps, instead of an excuse to barbeque, drink, and celebrate Memorial day a more somber attitude should be struck to truly pay homage to these deceased soldiers. After all, it is Memorial Day.

The Racist Rants on Yahoo

2012-04-21T23:16:00.001-07:00

By Gregory K. Taylor

Have you been reading the racist rants on Yahoo lately? Geez, I’ve avoided writing about it because I attributed these screams to woefully ignorant, stupid, uneducated, tobacco chewing Neanderthals. However, like cockroaches that seem to multiply exponentially, they have become loud and annoying enough to be taken seriously at their every threatening word. It is alarming to believe these people are running loose in society.

Their ranks include the crazed-rocker Ted Nugent types and his ilk (I can’t believe he and Kurt Russell are buddies and how does Goldie Hawn square with this), who make love to their guns as if it were a woman. I mean just watch how they masturbate that breech-loading barrel on a rifle inserting those blue tablets of Viagra to take aim at a defenseless-shaking Elk or Deer. Kapow, kaboom, blam reports the sound of those ejaculating capsules of deadly ecstasy. I suppose, when size can’t matter the kick of a .30-06 (thirty ought six) will fill the deficit.

Their membership swells at the mention of that Community Organizing, Godless-Communist-American-hating-Kenyan born Muslim (have I missed anything?), while funding records go through the roof from the donations by these Mel Gibson loving, pack of Nig--r raping fearing, religious rednecks.

They say on Yahoo what they wouldn’t dare say to someone’s face. Their bravado goes as far as anonymous free-speech will allow. I’ve had it up to here with these benthic-half wits, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!

The Obama haters that malign his every effort, particularly when it benefits them, to improve the plight of the average guy have become a confused caricature of Dickens’ Oliver Twist, who found himself severely punished for asking for more porridge. These idiots don’t have the good sense God gave them to realize who’s on their side and who’s not. Blinded by their ability to look down on someone else they really don't care.

Yahoo affords them the place to voice their insanity. Curiously, not one of these fools owns a spell checker on their manual typewriter, I mean, computer. For heaven’s sake, no one expects you to be a spelling-bee champion, but, my God!, our hick-public schools must have taught more than chunking rocks, cement pond swimming, pea-shelling, and hog calling. Even in these denizens of in-breeding hate, the three “Rs,” other than [R]acism, must have been required learning.

Has no one that writes into Yahoo taken a pre/post-antebellum History class? Never mind, that would require one to have attended college. Still, nothing prevents one from checking out a History book from a free library. One should learn something before pulling a comment out of one's rear. Your next pearl of wisdom may sound cute and witty, but be factually wrong (as it often is)--which makes you look cute, witty, and stupid.

As long as Yahoo refuses to edit these racist-inane comments, God help us all and pass the ammunition.