A Political Post

I will start off with this quote by Albert Camus: “I speak for no one: I have enough difficulty speaking for myself. I am no one’s guide. I don’t know, or I know only dimly, where I am headed.”

It’s odd how when an economic system that is known to be inefficient, prone to irrational behavior, and tends to exploit all except those who have more than benefitted from it gets such a cult-like following. Everyone will agree that an economy dictated wholly in a top-down fashion is more than inefficient – they do not work. Also, states that have an overly powerful hold on the regulation of things ranging from institutions to social practices will evolve into totalitarian rule of law. But, as Tony Judt writes in his newest (and perhaps last) book Ill Fares the Land: “Are we doomed indefinitely to lurch between a dysfunctional ‘free market’ and the much-advertised horrors of ‘socialism’?”

Debates about what is and is not Socialism are raging as never before (at least in my life) in America right now. Topics ranging from health care reform to levying taxes on the banks that were “too big to fail” in order to have a private market solution to failures next time around have stirred passionate debates about how far America will go into enacting laws that could possibly make our economic and social system more secure from the excesses of unregulated capitalism.

But what is disturbing to people is how far will you let government in to keep uncertainty out?

What culminated in 2008 was not the making of some bad policy passed during George W. Bush’s presidency. It was not even the legislation passed in 1999 under Bill Clinton that put pressure on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to begin underwriting subprime mortgages. Nor was it solely the result of the rating agencies failing to live up to their standards and purpose in not rating debt infused with sub-prime mortgages correctly.

What could be blamed was the systematic reduction of regulations and oversight in the financial sector as a whole. With the trend since Reagan and Thatcher that government regulation and oversight is all bad and the private market is all good, what guidelines were in place for the banks not to make loans to people who couldn’t afford them? What about then the banks selling these loans in bundled packages to other banks and investment companies – or to insurance companies? What about the legislation passed by both parties that allowed for these things to happen?
If you are saying, “Well, the banks should have known better and been more responsible” you don’t get it. The banks were doing exactly what they were suppose to do – make money. Make profits. Make short-term profits for their shareholders. And if there is anything that the unregulated capitalism of the past 30-years in America has proven, is that it is unsustainable.

America’s real growth and industrial might was from the 1950’s – 1980’s. During that time, the American economy depended on protection for overseas competition, not to mention regulation of some markets while getting subsidies in others, price supports and government guarantees. All of these things in reality were part of the growth of American industry, and all of these things are considered “Socialist” in today’s terms.

Again, why is it that the people who are suffering the most from unregulated capitalism – and who have not much of any kind of safety net – the ones who are championing the idea of de-regulation and systematic free-markets? These are the same people who say unabashedly that Communism doesn’t work, why can’t they apply the same logic to unregulated capitalism? Just because Communist (and Fascists) had State regulation, it doesn’t disqualify the public sector from holding a place in free societies. Indeed, Western society (but in particular America) seem to have abandoned one 19th century belief – that of the economic necessity of Marxism – for another 19th century belief – that of belief that all affairs and policies, private and public must turn to the globalized economy and its never ending demands?

But moreover, is the “welfare state”, even on a small scale, an overt act of Socialism laid upon people? The idea of the “welfare state” was part of public life for Europeans to a degree before 1914. Included in this “welfare state” package were universal medical services, old age pensions, unemployment and sickness insurance, free education, and subsidized public transport. And ironically, these “welfare states” were actually the culmination of late-nineteenth century reformist liberalism - not the first stage of twentieth-century socialism.

After the failures of Democratic regimes (such as Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Spain and a high degree of unrest in France and Great Britain) caused due to economic and social disturbances (to say it kindly), high quality “welfare states” were created to prevent a return to the past (Fascism) and the threat at the present time (Communism).

Today, there are some similarities to this in America especially. With the housing crisis causing many middle-class homeowners to be in upside-down mortgages, forced to declare bankruptcy, or well behind payments due to the artificial cost of the houses due to the inflationary pressures put upon the market by cheap money and wild investment (supported by the banks and the government, without oversight), the rich are getting much richer while the middle-class and below are being completely wiped out.

This would seem to be the setting for 19th century political-theory movements, but what leadership do we have now, in 2010? This is very dangerous, as it allows for demagogues such as Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin to make a very strong influence into some very angry people – and that is the recipe for violence. And what happened for us to get to this point: Unregulated capitalism and its excesses – exactly what these people are fighting to protect.

It’s almost like an alcoholic being upset at water for making him sick and hung-over.

I really do have a lot more to say on this topic, but I think I will leave it at that for tonight.

Hong Kong Bound

It's official: The tickets to Hong Kong are bought and I will be heading to HK May 5 - 11. Never been there before (obviously) but I have a friend there who said she would show me around one of the days I'm there - so I'm excited about that.

I'm also happy to say I will be going to a Frank Turner concert there on May 7 at a place called Rockschool. It's going to be a solo show (so no band mates) which means he'll be rocking out the good songs. I'm looking at hostels right now and am registering on couchsurfing.com to see if I can get some good places to stay for cheap when I'm there.

Things I will be looking for while I'm over there: Lasers, knock-offs, McDonalds, and T-shirts.

Also, trips that I will be looking to be doing between now and the end of July:

Japan, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia

Chances are I won't be able to do all of those, but I'll try my best. Let me know if you've been to these places and where I should go if I visit these places (and where not to go!)

Slowly Breaking Through the Daylight

In a place like Taipei city, it can sometimes be hard to remember that Taiwan as a whole is still a developing country. The center of the city, with its crown jewel of Taipei 101 surrounded by several convention halls (Taiwan's World Trade Centers), the high speed rail-line running north to south, an efficient and modern subway system, McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Starbucks surrounding every corner. Western movies and music, Taiwan has the commericalism, consumerism and capitalism of a modern State.

But sometimes you have to read a little deeper into the story to see that as a whole, even Taipei city is far from a modern State.


Every city has its own flavor. I realized that in February when I was up in the Northeast United States visiting DC, Philly and Boston. Some cities flavors are their sports teams (Redskins for DC, Phillies for Philly and the Red Sox for Bostonians). Other cities have a long history (think London, Charleston, Boston, Berlin...) while others have the flavor of a metropolitian-financial city, that incorporates many flavors (think New York city).

I have had a really tough time trying to place Taipei city into a category. It's almost like the city has no uniquely modern culture of its own (everything that is "culture" is imported from somewhere else it seems). The people who do follow sports here don't follow teams, they follow players (Chien-Ming Wang). Taiwanese sports - in particular baseball - doesn't have much of a following because of game-fixing scandals (and financial reasons have reduced the baseball league to just 4 teams). Ironically, there are several MLB Shops, a lot of people wearing Yankees hats, and a true sense of appreciation for baseball - just not THEIR baseball.

Leaving Taipei city and going to where I live, Shenkeng (which is only about 20 minutes away), you leave all that is (or isn't) modern Taiwanese culture and you see something more truely reflective of what Taiwan is: a developing state with still a long way to go.

One of the first things I noticed when I got here was the large amount of dogs that roam the streets. It kind of reminded me of the video game Call of Duty 2 (I think) where you play a mission in Russia but you got to avoid the dogs. A lot of these dogs are obviously owned by people, but some aren't. Some only have 3 legs, some haven't been washed...ever. Other's wear clothes (I'll get a picture of that soon!). Health laws for restraunts don't limit (or the restraunts don't seem to enforce here in Shenkeng) people bringing their dogs into the restraunts with them.

Another thing I noticed in Shenkeng is that people seem to keep their own gardens (or maybe it's where they live at too.) If you've ever seen a Vietnam-based movie, you've seen the dwellings made of sticks, and on the way up the hill to my apartment, I pass one of these places.

Luxuries in the area where I live are much fewer than in Taipei city. Most people just drive mopeds or have a small car. Even the people who clean the streets use a broom made of sticks and drag behind them a plastic crate, like those 2-liter bottles are warehoused in. Just 20 minutes out of Taipei city and it's almost like being in a different part of the world.

The GDP per capita (based on Purchasing Power Parity) fell signicantly last year. In 2009, the GDP per capita was $29,800 - down from $32,100 in 2008. 5% of the population still works in agriculture, while over 50% work in service related jobs. According to the CIA factbook, Taiwan's industries include electronics, communications and information technology products, petroleum refining, armaments, chemicals, textiles, iron and steel, machinery, cement, food processing, vehicles, consumer products, pharmaceuticals. No doubt, an export based economy trying its best to become a developed nation.

Will it get there though? I have to visit other parts of Taiwan to grasp how the country as a whole is developing (think the Northeast United States against the mid-West or most of the Southeast: completely different economies). I do think that Taiwan is developing, but have doubts. Taiwan is still very young in its quest to liberalize its markets and society, and with the current fiasco Western capitialist societies are going through and the strong (current) showing of the Chinese economy, could it be just a matter of time before Taiwan elects to model their policies more after China than that of the US, UK and Western Europe?

The Bailout of 2008 that Started Socialism…or Did it?

Nearly everyone has an opinion about the bailout of 2008, officially known as Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Some say it was the rich being bailed out by the middle class. Others say it was Goldman Sac cronies in the government helping out Goldman Sac cronies on Wall Street. Others say it was the first huge step towards Socialism in America in over 75 years.

I'll be focusing on the last point: Was the TARP program an overstepping of government into private industry? How did the Federal Reserve get the authority to do what it did? And was this some new power that was given to the federal government during an emergency that has been abused since then?

I recently finished a book titled Too Big to Fail, and must encourage anyone who has an interest in the events leading up to the collapse of Lehman Brothers to the passing of TARP to read this book. It is very insightful and is a good foundation to gain just a basic understanding of what happened.

While reading the book, a certain sentence caught my attention, and is now leading to me writing this. "Federal Reserve Act, Section 13, point 3, a unique provision that permitted the Fed to lend to institutions other than banks under 'unusual and exigent' circumstances. (p. 394)"

The first thing I thought was, "What the heck is the Federal Reserve Act?" So, I did what most people of my generation do and I went to the library…Just kidding, I Googled "Federal Reserve Act, Section 13, point 3" and came across, to my astonishment, several articles describing it with words such as "loophole" to "powerful paragraph".

So in short, what does Federal Reserve Act, Section 13, point 3 say? It says, according to David Fettig, "'In unusual and exigent circumstances, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, by the affirmative vote of not less than five members, may …,' and then there's a lot of technical language which essentially means that the Federal Reserve can lend money to 'any individual, partnership, or corporation,' as long as certain requirements are met."

Pretty open-ended. So when was the Federal Reserve Act passed? 1932, under FDR (according to some revisionist historians post-2007, our first "Socialist" President. I guess it all depends if you sided with the 4 Horsemen or not…).

So what is some of the history behind Federal Reserve Act, Section 13? David Fettig does a good job in putting an easy to comprehend timeline to this Act and its modifications over the years:

1932: Emergency Relief and Construction Act: Added paragraph 3 to Section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act, opening the discount window to nonbanks "in unusual and exigent circumstances."

123 loans were made over four years by all 12 Federal Reserve banks, totaling about $1.5 million.

 

1933: Emergency Banking Act: Allowed 90-day advances to nonbanks on the security of direct obligations of the U.S. government, at interest rates fixed by the Reserve banks.

 

1934: Industrial Advances Act: Added Section 13(b) to the Federal Reserve Act, allowing Federal Reserve district banks to make advances of working capital to established businesses if these enterprises were unable to find such capital from usual sources. These loans were made either in partnership with a commercial bank or directly to a business, with maturities up to five years and no loan limits.

Nearly $280 million, or about 0.43 percent of gross national product, with each district apportioned a fraction, was made available for loans to businesses from Federal Reserve banks.

Through 1935, 1,993 loans totaling about $124.5 million met with Reserve bank approval. The following year, 287 loans were approved, and 126 in 1937.

Section 13(b) would reap its largest single-year total in 1942, when war production spurred over $128 million in loans.

1958: Small Business Investment Act: Repealed Section 13(b).

1970: The Nixon administration asked for discount window assistance in response to the financial problems of Penn Central Railroad. This request stalled in Congress, but the Federal Reserve worried that the company's default would spark a financial crisis, and it made clear that it would assist banks that needed help with businesses caught up in Penn Central paper.

1975: The financial difficulties faced by the city of New York raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve might serve as a source of emergency credit. Federal Reserve officials cautioned against such an idea and, in the end, the Federal Reserve served only as a fiscal agent for the government's eventual loans to the city. (The Federal Reserve also served as fiscal agent for loan guarantees made to Lockheed in 1971 and Chrysler in 1979.)

1991: The Federal Reserve discount window was invoked to dispense $25 billion as a direct loan to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Bank Insurance Fund. Then-FDIC Chairman L. William Seidman requested the loan, through Congress, but Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan testified in opposition. Undeterred, the Treasury Department made another pitch to Congress for the $25 billion based, in part, on the initial Fed subscription imposed by Congress in 1933, but Congress said no.

1991: FDIC Improvement Act: Amended Section 13 paragraph 3 to allow the Fed to lend directly to nonbank firms during times of emergency.

2001: In the days following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, some observers suggested that—based on the 1991 amendment—the U.S. airline industry could receive emergency loans. "[T]his sector's key economic role and the unpredictable after-effects of September 11 justify putting discount-window loans on the table while discussing the carriers' current crisis," the Financial Markets Center said in a Sept. 18, 2001, statement. The Fed did not make such loans.

2008: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York agreed to lend $29 billion in connection with the acquisition of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase. The loan was granted under the authority of Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. The Federal Reserve Board authorized the New York Fed to enter into this loan and made the findings required by Section 13(3) on Sunday, March 16, 2008.

So under my calculations, if current logic is taken into consideration and anytime the government gets involved in "bailing out" a company, or uses its power – or even THREATENS to use its power – then it would be considered "socialist". That would mean the following Presidents could be labeled "Socialist":

Franklin Roosevelt (D), Richard Nixon(R), Gerald Ford (R), Jimmy Carter (D), George Bush Sr. (R), George Bush Jr. (R), Barack Obama (D) – the 2^nd installment of TARP in 2009.

So tallying up those totals, it seems its Democrats: 3 Republicans: 4

So does that mean that the Republicans are more of a "Socialist" party than the Democrats? Or that they are both secretly "Socialist"? Or is it that people are pissed off – and in my opinion rightfully so – that the government has used tax money to bailout banks and investment-banks and insurance companies that took huge gambles, paid their executives enormous salaries, incentives and bonuses and the only outlet for these people is to brand the government as bad for doing the only thing possible to prop up an entire financial – and dare I say economic and political – system?

So, since TARP (2008) and TARP Jr. (2009), has the government become more involved in the private sector – or more to the point, is America heading into Socialism at a breakneck speed (and let's just keep our focus on the point at hand – banks and the financial sector, not healthcare…that will come later…).

First, Citigroup: The Treasury Department has begun selling the stake it owns in Citigroup and it could result in a profit to the government of about $7.5 billion. Sounds like the government is downsizing its ownership role in the bank (and financial sector).

Second, Bank of America paid back its TARP investments at the end of 2009. Again, sounds like the government is getting out of the financial sector.

Third, Chrysler (which got a bailout) was sold to Fiat.

General Motors will fully repay the $6.7 billion loan portion of its U.S. government aid earlier than its previously promised payback date of June 2010. The company got $52 billion in government aid, with the $6.7 billion considered a loan. The rest would be repaid when the company sells stock to the public, which could happen as soon as the end of this year.

If these bailouts were "Socialism", wouldn't the government be holding onto these assets? That's what makes Socialism socialism, not "Socialism".

So in short, people were right to be pissed about what was perceived as the government bailing out the fat cats who risked everything at the peril of everyone else. But in the anger, some lost sight of the checks and balances we have in our Democratic form of government, the power of the polls, and of a watchful media (however biased and easily wooed). It may not be fair, and it may not be right, but it is not Socialism, however close it seemed to resemble it.

Gun Rights – Taiwan and the US

The blog posts are coming fast and furious these days. Maybe it’s the workings of a tired brain thinking during the bus rides back home, or maybe it’s the rainy weather forcing me back inside. But hopefully, if nothing else, you’ll learn something new.

In America, there seem to be only two sides: Either you are a “red-blooded American who values our fundamental freedoms laid out in the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the US and believe that it is a fundamental right to have the ability to own a firearm” or you are “a liberal who believes in the principle of protection by the State towards the individuals and that the privilege of owning firearms is a poisoned tree that causes more problems than it solves.”

There really is no room for middle ground. It’s a politicized issue that to both sides is a tautology – yet neither side agrees on the same tautology.

In Taiwan, the private ownership of firearms is illegal – mostly. There are 5000 legally owned firearms in Taiwan, with 4000 of those being registered by aboriginal people for hunting purposes. At the end of the 1940’s, as Chinese Communist were winning the war in mainland China, the KMT government and many of those fleeing to Taiwan brought with them firearms. In reaction to this, the government-in-exile in Taiwan passed The Statute for Management of Self-Defense Firearms, which states that the gun-owners are required to receive a regular inspection every two years as well as random inspections anytime by the police.

In addition to this, unless under extremely limited circumstances, the importing and purchasing of firearms was made illegal. The only exception to this rule is for guns or rifles over 60 years old. These antique weapons are allowed to be replaced with newer weapons without requiring any special permissions.

As recently as October of 2009, the issue of whether to liberalize the policy of gun ownership in Taiwan had up again in the government. The DPP was for a more liberalized policy that would mirror that of the current US structure. A major reason for this is that mob-related activities would be deterred by the private ownership of weapons. The KMT felt it unnecessary for gun ownership to become liberalized, as they felt it would cause, among other things, an uptick in violent crimes.

Some statistics based on Intentional homicide rates per 100,000 population from 2000 shows some interesting numbers. Now not all intentional homicides are gun-related, but keep in mind, nearly all gun-related murders would be classified as intentional homicides. America, which allows for private ownership of weapons, had a 4.5 per 100,000, but 65% of all homicides were done with a firearm. In respect to other countries, both those that do and do not allow for personal ownership of firearms, America is very low on the overall homicide rate per 100,000.

Information about this topic for Taiwan, to my knowledge, doesn’t exist – at least not in English! But I can assure you, gun-related violence is very low here. So low, it would be insignificant.

So going back to the point of this: Are there more than 2 views to take on this subject? Could someone who is a proponent of gun rights tell a mother who lost a child as a victim of gun violence that she is a liberal who can’t see that taking away the right of gun ownership would cause an overall loss of freedoms and that she should jump on board the gun-rights wagon? Can an academic tell a father who protected his family by using a firearm during a botched robbery that he should give up his weapons, because his ownership of a firearm is contributing to the gun-crime statistics?

As mentioned during a previous post, there was a time of authoritarian politics here in Taiwan (The White Terror). Would have allowing individuals to own firearms have prevented this from happening? Gun ownership did nothing in causing the liberalization of politics, economics and freedoms in the past 20-years in Taiwan. And the last time I checked, Western-Europe hasn’t relapsed or descended into some form of Fascist-Communist-Authoritarian geopolitical nightmare either.

So with the issue of Gun Rights always looming in the near-horizon in American politics, maybe a step back from a tautology-based solution, and more of a Constitutional, but also practical approach, should be taken in the regulation and ownership of firearms.

A Lazy Saturday

The weekends are the best. Nobody would question that. People are happier, nicer, more social. Life is usually pretty good on the weekends.

Today, all the teachers from the schools met. We went to a place called Wow Cafe, here in Shenkeng. Wow is a place that specializes in Western food. It was nice seeing and talking to (if only briefly) some of the friends I've met but haven't seen in awhile.

After lunch, I went with 3 other teachers to the Gondola. The Gondola here in Taiwan has just reopened, after closing down for nearly 2 years due to structural damages suffered from a typhoon. We rode it for the entire way - a full 30-plus minutes, and for a time, we were higher than Taipei 101.

The Gondola roundtrip is $NT 100, or about $3. Not bad at all, considering what it costs to ride the Metro in DC. The views were awesome (I'll try to post some pics later when others post their pictures.)

When we got to our destination, which was Maokong, we really didn't know what to expect. We had randomly decided to go on the Gondola, but hadn't really decided what to do - or even where it would take us.

We got off and followed the road to a local tea shop. The tea shop was on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a building, with the third floor being an open space with a roof - and being that we were all born to eat outside, we decided to sit there. The tea we got, Long Mountain High Tea, was a very bitter, bold and strong tasting tea. It definitly let you know you were drinking something. It was a little expensive too. For a small bag of tea, it cost $NT 400, or $13. On top of that, they added a $NT 100 service charge, or an extra $3.

But we all enjoyed both the tea and the view that we had. We were high up in the mountains, looking down onto Taipei City - with Taipei 101 in the center of our view. It reminded me of when I was in Los Angeles 3 years ago and we had found a ridge that overlooked one of the towns on the outskirts of the city. Very peaceful and relaxing.

We then headed back into town, riding the Gondola back to the Taipei Zoo (the 1st station). We then went on the MRT from the Taipei Zoo to the Liuzhangli MRT stop to go to a night market. The interesting thing about this night market is that the time I was lost in Taipei for 5 hours, I walked through the market several times. I had a better time this time because I actually knew where I was at - and finally know where I can go to find the market again, as it has some good places to buy things (including knock off's!)

Afterwards, we headed to Taipei 101 to enjoy the last hour of the night and now I am back at home, writing this, thinking back on a very good day. Sometimes, random trips with no purpose, plans or reasons are the best.

Until next time...

Taiwanese Politics

So you think you have it bad with the Republicans and the Democrats, eh? Well, politics are the same here in Taiwan…sort of.

There are 2 major parties here: The Kuomintang (or KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (or DPP). The KMT are the oldest of the two, tracing its roots back to the time when the Japanese had colonized Taiwan, with its founder being Sun Yat-sen.

The KMT is a nationalist party, with a goal of having Taiwan reunited with mainland China. KMT is the current political party in control of the government here in Taiwan, with legislative elections scheduled for 2010 and the presidential election and other legislative elections scheduled for 2012.

The President of Taiwan, a KMT politician, is Ma Ying-jeou. Similar to the US President, Ying-jeou came into power because of a disgruntled population from an unpopular DPP-led government. Similarly to the US, the DPP had held power from 2000-2008, but with scandals involving politicians – including the President of Taiwan in a money laundering scandal – and with a poll rating as low as 5.8%, the KMT won a landslide victory in 2008 in both the legislature and the Presidency.

The DPP is a newer political party in Taiwan. The official formation of the DPP was in September 1986, and in 2000 it won the Presidency for the first time, ending more than half a century of KMT-led government rule.

During the rule of KMT’s “President” (or dictator), Chiang Kai-shek, a time known in Taiwan as “The White Terror” (although it spanned into July 1987), very little in the way of Democratic elections were achieved. Other political parties were banned, people of conscience were arrested, detained and even executed. With the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975 and the gradual liberalization of policies and politics from then until the early 1990’s, Taiwan began fostering a more open, democratic system, with a dual party system.

The DPP’s current politics towards America and Americans are quite different. The DPP’s current talking points are that the American government rips Taiwan off when we sell them weapons, feels that the beef imported from the US should be banned because we send them beef tainted with mad-cow disease, and they believe that the US sold Taiwan out by transferring the official recognition of China from Taiwan to mainland China in 1979.

The KMT’s current politics are to open up economic and political relationships with China. In the past year and a half, direct flights from Taiwan to mainland China have begun for the first time. Direct investment in telecommunications from China have been allowed in Taiwan, and direct foreign investment from China have been allowed. All these developments are major steps towards reconciliation with China.

As of this writing, the KMT is not looking very good for the election this year, and the President is looking less and less popular each week. It seems like the DPP could be the Republicans and the KMT could be the Democrats…

Got to Love the Names

Well, the first day of the week is now done with. So far, the kids seem fairly managable. But I must say, this is the best batch of names to date. Some of my favorites are:

Miffy, Jiy, Kimi, Apple, Iris, Joker, and Wynn.

So today started off with the question I always hope they assume: "Do you understand Chineese", one of the kids asked right off. In this situation, where assumed knowledge can make or break discipline, I only had one answer: "Yep."

And it's true: if you just say the 20 or so Chinese words I know, then yeah.

Later this afternoon, some kid came up to me and was like "Hey Apple." Now, that in-and-of-itself is not funny. What IS funny is that the kid had a really heavy accent and it sounded like he was saying "Hey asshole". What we almost had there was failure to communicate.

But yes, today is in the books - beautiful weather today. But the rest of the week is forecasted to be a washout. So I got to get working on what I will be doing tomorrow since I can assume I won't be doing any outdoor activities.

Biomagine and David LaChapelle

It's amazing how busy you can get. Usually when you have time off for a vacation, you travel around. You know, go to the beach, camp in the mountains, travel to another city.

For some of you who are my faithful readers, you know that last June me and my friend Jon started Biomagine. It started off with a torrent of work; detailing our business concept, writing a business plan, creating screenshots, budgets, plans...it was a lot of work. Then after getting into the USC Business Incubator, things slowed down a little. We needed to futher refine the idea, raise some money, and get someone to do the programming.

Fast forward to about late January/early February of this year. Things had slowed to a crawl, but still moving. Right about the time I left for Taiwan, we got some money into the business account and were looking for a programmer (we had one lined up but, maybe as luck will have it, we didn't hire him).

I then left for Taiwan.

You know, sometimes it's only when you least expect things to happen that they do.

The last 3 or 4 weeks seem to have been a torrent of doors opening for Biomagine. Jon had the good luck of running into a guy who happens to run a Columbia-based, invite-only, business club. He was also able to meet with one of the local business grant institutions top people at the business club. We were able to fill the programming position with a top-notch group - and these guys seem to be some talented folks. Now we are revising our original business plan (which is obvious to us now that it was both very poorly written - my fault), looking at ways to raise money, and putting together some serious timelines and goals.

In short, we could have our product ready to be in the market by January 2011, which is both very exciting and very scary. Obviously things come, do, and will come up between now and then: both good and bad, but we are both enjoying the recent rush.

What strikes me as amazing is how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to be traveling the world while also putting together some pretty hefty business strategies. Not only that, but how far technology has come that I can hold a video-conference in real time. This would not have been possible even 5 years ago.

But back to Taiwan...

Today I went to see the David LaChapelle exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art here in Taipei. A lot of his exhibits were - interesting (ha!) - but there were definitly a few that I thought were awesome.

No doubt, something worth seeing if you like to see a lot of celebrities in, uh, well...just Google it haha.

I head on back to work tomorrow - wish me luck. It's been fun having the last 2 weeks off, and as luck would have it great timing to have the last 2 weeks off. Now hopefully both momentum and luck will continue working in my favor!

Until next time...

Updates and Tidbits

I figured that once I said something about the weather being nice, it would change. And it did. Since my earlier post, you know the one of me bragging on how nice the weather was and all, its been nothing but cold and wet. And I just checked the weather report and it's calling for rain through the end of the week. Beautiful....

It's not all bad though. I have managed to buy some good books over here in Taiwan, and so rainy days are ace for reading.

And I think I've had McDonalds for 9 days in a row now. Just imagine if they had Taco Bell over here. Then I wouldn't have a reason to go home...

But I still manage to find fun things to do. This morning, I woke up at 8 am and met some friends at a place called Brass Monkey to watch the NCAA Championship Game. They were from Indiana, so they were going for Butler. I have to say, that the game was one of the best I've ever seen. And the experience of waking up early to watch it was pretty cool too. It's really hard to explain, but living in the future by half a day can really make sports fun to watch. In fact, it's possible to watch a team play 2 games during the same day here. I catch a night cap game when I wake up and I catch the day game before I fall asleep (which I guess isn't the same DAY, but same waking period).

Also, a few people have emailed me since I've been here saying they couldn't leave comments on the blog. I think you have to sign up with google in order to leave comments, you can't just post annonomous comments (I think!).

Yeah, so I am going to buy a new camera sometime soon. Since I broke mine about 2 weeks ago I have decided that I need to get a small pocket sized camera. I think I'll get one in the next 2 weeks or so. And I have found a lot of cool places that I've visited that I really want to take pictures of, so when I get a new camera, be ready for some AWESOME photos. And if you have any recommendations of good camera models, feel free to let me know.

In other news, Biomagine (remember that from last year) has finally gotten a developer company contracted to make our prototype and a lot of other cool things have been strangely, yet coincidentally, falling into place. It's weird how momentum works, but when you've got it, you have to run with it.

And I'll be back in the States in August (well, kind of. When I get back I'll be going with the family up to the northeast and Canada for a few weeks) but there are a lot of positive developments going on so I'm excited to be coming back! So plan accordingly!

A Little of Murphy's Law and a Visit from a Friend

I like to start things off with a good vibe. So, I will start off with yesterday. My friend Laura from the States flew into Taiwan yesterday. She was telling me when I picked her up how she had slept for most of the flight and that I better have the energy to keep up with her. Ha! The words of the inexperienced :)

Here is a summary of what we did yesterday (and a BIG thank you to Michael for being kind enough to show us around all day):

(1) Taipei 101 & Went to the top: The bad thing is that it was raining yesterday so while we were at the top, we couldn't really see anything that was along the bottom. But it was still pretty cool because Taipei 101 does a good job of putting a lot of other really cool things on display at the top. Again, if you go to Taiwan (and even if it's raining), you should go to the top of 101
(2) Walked to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall: Just imagine a REALLY BIG temple designed to house a museum/shrine to one of the founding fathers of Taiwan (although he only visited Taiwan 3 times in his life). A really cool place to go, where they have a changing of the guard every hour, some kind of weekend market every weekend, and a place to see people flying kites really high. When I get a new camera, I'll take some pics of the place.
(3) Went to the National Palace Museum: We were kind of rushed for time, but we were able to see a lot of cool things here. From the painting and calligraphy galleries to famous pieces from the Qing dynasty palaces and even some religious sculptural arts, this is a place that you must visit if you come to Taipei.
(4) Hot springs in Xinbeitou: Now, I decided to sit this one out and chill out at the local McDonalds (don't judge) the rest of them went to one of the natural hot springs bath houses in Xinbeitou. A refreshing experience no doubt, I will soon be making a visit there to partake in the experience. From the others time there, it's a relaxing, refreshing and regenerating hour-and-a-half.
(5) Taipei Main Station for dinner: If you have never had a pizza rolled into a shape similar to an ice cream cone then you haven't lived. If you haven't had a hotpot filled with tofu, meats and noodles, boiling and flaming for 20 minutes after you get it, then you should ask for the manager. Even food-courts in MRT stations (like shopping mall food-courts) serve high quality foods at non-ripoff prices. And I'm pretty sure the restraunts are profitable.

So if you ever decide to come visit me, expect to be kept busy from the time you get off the plane to the time you finally get to sleep (which will be no less than 17 hours after you land).

Now time for some not-so-good but not horrible news. Since my contract actually runs only through the end of July (which is less than 6-months aggregate), I cannot receive an Alien Resident Card (ARC). This is not a monumental problem, but it poses some difficult issues. One, it causes some contractual issues with the orgainization I'm contracted to work with. The ARC is required to get the national health-insurance (which is a requirement of the contract on their side). Now, minus my cough I've had since I got here and a period of a few days I was sick with god-knows-what, my health is usually pretty good. But kudos so far for the company I'm working with to step up to the plate and their attempts to fix this temporary-breach of contract. Now let's see if they can get a deal in place to allow me to get the health insurance.

The other issue with not having an ARC is a more problematic situation for one of my main reasons for coming here. Without the ARC, I will need to apply for a visa-extension every 60 days. Now with already obataining a work permit, that shouldn't be much of a hassel. But where a problem comes in is this: I currently have a single-entry visa. IF they can only re-issue my visa as how it was originally issued, then if I leave Taiwan to travel to other countries (which I intend to do) then I would have to reapply for another visa (even if its before the current visa expires) because as a single-entry visa, it's only able to be used to enter the country (or stay in the country) one time.

Now, worst-case scenario, I would have to apply for a visa (which is an additional expense) when I return from another country. This is feasible, but it's not something I intend to be done. Hopefully, the issue will be resolved in the coming weeks. The people who are working for the school and deal with these issues are top-notch, hard working individuals whom I have full faith and confidence will do their very best in getting this resolved.

Anyhow...

I will forewarn my readers: I made a lie in my blog post from December 6, 2010 about how I "really couldn't give two shits about politics." Although in certain forms that is true, as a generality, it is not. As my forewarning, I've been able to do a bit of reading and thinking about certain things which I will be attempting to write about in the upcoming week or so. Although this will not be a theme in this blog, it is MY blog and I have a right to write about what is going on in my current thought, life and beliefs. So feel free to comment on them when they appear, or feel free to avoid reading them like the plague. But this is for sure, they may be a little bit...different...than those of prior years.

Until then...