Febraury 28th is one of the saddest days in Taiwan history.
In 1947, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) incited violence during a peaceful protesters rally on the International Day of Peace, and massacred the tens of thousands of Taiwanese voices that defied their regime that night.
The citizens of Taiwan were under a haze of martial law. Then on February 28th 1980, exactly 30 years ago, the black gloves central to the KMT shortened the lives of the family of lawyer Lin Yi Shion (林義雄) while he and others defended the publishers of the indepedent, popular, and non-Party (there was only one political Party) "Beautiful Island Magazine" (美麗島雜誌).
Last Night's Memorial Rally
Sunday 28 February 2010
The Lantern Festival Lights Up
Today is the Lantern Festival!
It's a lot of merrymaking and fun, and fireworks have already been set off since the night before.
It is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month, which differs in its actual date each year, and it is the last day of the Lunar New Year festivities.
Fireworks, lanterns, and parades of elaborately shaped creations light up the entire night in asian cultures.
Children hold paper lanterns that are often shaped like the zodiac animal for the year, and families eat a [tang yuan] that is made a little differently than the kind from the Winter Solstice, mostly with regional adaptations.
Chilean Earthquake, Tsunami Warnings in the Pacific
Chile, Russia, Alaska and the US West Coast, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand were on tsunami alert after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake.
The previous day's quake in Okinawa (Japanese Island near Taiwan) generated alerts as well.
A tsunami is the rubberband effect from a seismic activity after the waves draw towards the epicenter of the earthquake, then push back, outward and forwards, towards the coasts in a rushing series of large waves.
As of now, only Russia, New Zealand, and Japan are officially on high alert.
The previous day's quake in Okinawa (Japanese Island near Taiwan) generated alerts as well.
A tsunami is the rubberband effect from a seismic activity after the waves draw towards the epicenter of the earthquake, then push back, outward and forwards, towards the coasts in a rushing series of large waves.
As of now, only Russia, New Zealand, and Japan are officially on high alert.
Saturday 27 February 2010
DPP Win 3 of 4 Legislative Seats
The DPP candidates for the four legislative seats.
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February 27th, voting 8am-4pm. |
Taoyuan County (桃園縣), 黃仁杼 (#3) 45,363 wins by 2,763 votes.
Chiayi County (嘉義縣), 陳明文 (also a #1) 57,451 wins by 30,313 votes.
Hualien County (花連縣), 蕭美琴 (#2) loss by 6000 votes, 33,249 to 39,379 王廷升, KMT.
Monday 8 February 2010
Lunar New Year
Happy Lunar New Year to everyone~
It does appear that 2010 will be a fierce year for Taiwan.
Strangely, the economy is reporting higher earnings, while the homelessness rate is tragically breaking the nation's records. It might be a mightily happy Lunar New Year for some, a time for shopping and carousing, and perhaps for a lot of government workers especially; but when will the Government spend to strengthen public health and welfare, to lessen the unemployment rate? Really, help the economy in a bigger way than reduced-prices on already OVER priced items, and help the citizens in a bigger way than the recently proposed bans on the sale of charcoal being used in suicide attempts around the northern cities.
God Bless.
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