Here I am in Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong). I met a California ex-pat living on Kinmen (Jinmen) at the airport who just got back from Bali, Indonesia. We hit it off, and he invited me to visit him on Jinmen. My time in Taiwan is running short and I may skip Mazu island this trip and just head over to Jinmen this time.

The taxi driver had Chinese news coverage on the radio on the way to the hotel. The coverage was comprehensive and obviously independent from US news sources; some of the news was inaccurate and some was reported accurately as much as an hour ahead of CNN. Perhaps this is a reflection of Chinese news media being less disciplined in confirming information (The same complaint made about sources like the Drudge Report). I check Drudge every time I hit the net, and I would reccommend the site.

After checking in to my hotel I took my walk around the surrounding area to get my bearings, it was mid-afternoon and the streets were pretty quiet. Where ever there were TVs in the smalls shops and restaurants along the streets and alleys, they were tuned in to war coverage. I'm accustomed to stares, though usually people look away when I look at them. Though, at one noodle shop a group of old men watching TV and loudly discussing the war turned and stared at me silently in a disdainful way as I slowly walked by. I haven't been here long enough to gauge the general attitude about the war, though I have been getting a sense at most places I have been here in Kaohsiung that I was somehow a representative of a unjust war...I'll be curious to see how the European ex-pats behave tonight when I go out. I won't take any shit from any Frenchman. Speaking of the French, here is a link sent by my father to a new product, the French Army Knife. (funny stuff).

I can't help but make a couple points on the French/peacenik position:
1.) unilateralism-
n : the doctrine that nations should conduct their foreign affairs individualistically without the advice or involvement of other nations
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

***We have a coalition of 35 nations and the majority of European governments in this military action. New Europe supports us, Old Europe can go to hell...they have a short memory, if it were not for the US they would be united under the Nazi Third Reich; and without the Marshall Plan and the huge amount of money we put in to rebuilding Europe they would not have the standard of living that they enjoy today.

2.) "Military action without UN support"...

***Resolution 1441 promised "serious consequences" if Iraq did not cooperate fully to disarm immediately. There is no nation that is claiming that the Saddam regime has fully cooperated, but some members of the UN are unwilling to enforce their agreed upon resolutions.

Okay, I think I'll step off my soapbox for now. Opposing viewpoints are welcome in the comment section of this post. Don't be shy.


  ¶ 3/20/2003 03:40:00 AM