Taiwanese, Hakka and the kowtow

Vancouver Sun: Taiwanese stars take the stage
I love this headline. Why? Because according to Beijing’s barbarians in business suits–the Chinese Communist Party–there is no such thing as a "Taiwanese." So the Sun has either purposefully or inadvertently committed a very political act in defense of democracy by using "Taiwanese." From Chapter 2 of Forbidden Nation: […]

Exclusive! Politician gives birth to alien baby

Chen Shui-bian
Photo credit: Kevin Steel

In the middle of his opening remarks at the International Conference on “After the Third Wave: Problems and Challenges for New Democracies”, hosted by the Taiwan Thinktank here in Taipei, Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian started grousing about the local media, calling them irresponsible and noting that something like only one percent […]

Taipei tourist

Greetings from Taipei. It’s 6 AM here on Monday morning and I’ve just about recovered from the 12 hour Canada to Taiwan jet lag. Yesterday was spent touring museums and the countryside, guided by a protocol officer from the Taiwanese government. In a few hours I along with a delegation of international journalists will be […]

Good morning, Kandahar

A fairly regimented media day here at the base in Kandahar, but not for general reporters; media pool stuff mostly, so I got a chance to wander around after the PM gave his speech this morning, do a bit of shopping. The local hats are really cheap. The traditional roll-up like this was only five […]

Hello from Kandahar

Stephen Harper in Kandahar
Photo credit: Kevin Steel

Here’s a pic of PM Harper getting off the plane in Kandahar. It’s not the best and I apologize for the quality. I was running about trying to get a good shot over the shoulders of the media pool cameras. There’ll be better ones coming in a few moments […]

The Pea (CO)

There is an intriguing piece in The Hill Times about the Arar inquiry Committee to probe what Zaccardelli told ministers. In particular, I find these two paragraphs interesting, on the nexus of the Privy Council Office (PCO);
A former CSIS agent, who asked not to be named, told The Hill Times that he would not at […]

Out of Africa

Please note that former Power Corp Proxy Prime Minister Paul Martin has been named to "co-chair of a high-profile panel that will advise the African Development Bank Group on its strategy." That’s great! More info please.
The independent advisory panel includes international development experts, business leaders, top economists and a Nobel laureate.
A Nobel laureate! Well, la-dee-dah. […]

Wiki-watching

It’s always fun to read encyclopedias, but I must confess I have never until this moment sought one out for breaking news. As has been reported just about everywhere, the suspect in the Dawson College shootings Kimveer Gill was pictured on a website holding a Beretta CX4 Storm. This morning I’ve been watching the Wikipedia […]

Park guilty

In the Southern District of New York, South Korean Tongsun Park was found guilty of conspiracy in a case related to the Oil-for-Food scandal at the United Nations. For further reading and background, see Claudia Rosett’s Notebook over at NRO.

A rolling Rock gathers no Mo

National Post: Canada takes UN fight to world media–Chief’s selection process. What’s Allan Rock doing? I don’t know really, but there seems to be an air of desperation about this stepping "outside diplomatic circles. . . appealing to the international media." The article doesn’t mention it, but the big hook comes out for Rock in […]