What's in the News

Courtesy Yahoo! Finance:

I'm still hoping to see a 6th series RMB come out, preferably including 500 and 1000 RMB notes.

After British man abused, Taiwan debates its hidden racism

Many people in Taiwan thought racism and prejudice didn't exist in their society - until a viral video of a British man and his Taiwanese girlfriend being verbally abused on the subway last week touched off a soul-searching debate that's continued to trend.

Last month, Christopher Raymond Hall and his girlfriend were taking the subway in Taipei when, Hall says, his girlfriend noticed a Taiwanese man staring and mouthing words at her. They moved to the next carriage, but the man followed and began insulting them.

The man, later identified as a Mr Liao, told the couple: "Just look at his ugly face. Just look at you, this kind of whore, with this piece of trash foreigner… The whole of Taiwan despises you."

Liao continued to insult Hall for several minutes, calling him a "loser" who came to Taiwan because he couldn't find a girlfriend back home. Hall tried to ask a series of questions and find out the man's name, without much luck, and when the train stopped, he and his girlfriend got off.

But the girlfriend had filmed the whole conversation. And since Hall, 34, posted the video to YouTube on 11 November, it's been reported on around the world and watched more than 2 million times. Within Taiwan, the debate has brought out deeply held views that aren't often aired....


Is it racism if it's ineffectual?

Yes, it's still racism if it were ineffectual.

Why would this instance be considered ineffectual?

Nice young white man gets mildly abused by a walking Asian stereotype, and it makes the newspapers. How effectual is this racism if it makes the supposed racists look like losers and the nice young white men look like talented internationalists?

Missed the part where the white guy is nice, but anyway;

The moved cars because of what was being said. The felt uncomfortable enough to video it. They felt it was worth posting it.

How did it effect the rest of the couple's day?
Does the guy feel a little more distrustful around Taiwanese people he doesn't know.... or even knows?
Does he start feel paranoid about the conversations going on around him?
Will they feel some apprehension the next time they take the metro. Does the girl decide that this is happening too much for her and she can't take it anymore, so leaves the guy? The straw that breaks the camels back kind of thing?
Is it added to the list of reasons, that the guy wants to go back to Britain, so he leaves a little earlier than he might have.
Does the guy think it's a big deal but the girl thinks it's nothing, so they argue... vice-versa?
Does it remind him of the look the girl's father gives him every time he has dinner at her family home?
Maybe he hasn't met the family and is now thinking about it more.
Does he feel uncomfortable making friends so starts spending more and more time alone?

Other people think racism is wrong, so it is ineffectual? What the fuck are you talking about?

In the video he is interviewed after the fact. He is revealed to be a maintainer of a hipster chin beard, talks about his feelings, and he appears to be a competent mandarin speaker. Ergo, he is "nice". He is also young. He was disturbed by this incident. The potentially nice, probably young Taiwanese outcast he is shacked up with reports they don't often go out. They feel the pressure all the time, even before this incident.

But... are there any institutional effects? Is he more likely to be arrested while in taiwan hanging out with that girl? Is his salary lower than might reasonably be expected for his skill? If he's a student, do teachers grade him more harshly? Or, does he, at worst, have to pay higher prices for supermarket purchases?

Is there some chance he will be cornered in an alley and have his testicles cut off because he took one of "our" women?



There's a lot of power on the nice young man's side of the racism equation however actually racist the subway antagonist was being.

But... are there any institutional effects? Is he more likely to be arrested while in taiwan hanging out with that girl? Is his salary lower than might reasonably be expected for his skill? If he's a student, do teachers grade him more harshly? Or, does he, at worst, have to pay higher prices for supermarket purchases?

Is there some chance he will be cornered in an alley and have his testicles cut off because he took one of "our" women?

You think none of this is possible?

I think it's more likely they encountered a dude with mental health issues than it is this dude should accurately represent the people of Taiwan.

You think the man on the subway was mentally ill?

What percentage of people in Taiwan need to think the same way as him before it could be considered representative.

Are cops in the US racist, or most, or some, or a very small percentage? Does it make any difference to the people that are shot... their families... their friends... their peers?

If the culture is less prone to verbalise/take action on their racists thoughts, does that make any difference?

I think, the more power available to a person when they are in distress, the less need there is to identify their distressors as part of a bloc or a movement. The amount of time spent determining how racist Taiwanese people are against certain classes of people should by inversely proportional to how much privilege that class of person has and how much influence the individual can bring to bear when addressing the racist event. In general, the more the person can use their privilege to ameliorate their distress, the less value there is in noting that they were distressed in the first place.

Plus, since the issue is taiwanese people suddenly worrying that they might be racist because a nice white boy's abuse video went viral, we're talking about a positive process. Their society, at least at the edges, is gaining some ability to be less insular. Being "racist" ie irredeemably so, is something different.

Apparently I using a claim that racism is intractable. A racist can't see beyond race. Identifying a racist would suggest that person isn't merely reacting poorly or in bad faith. Then again, intractable racism offers normal people the tool of bad faith, so shrugging off some rant as "merely" bad behaviour is questionable.

I don't know. Why do you want that guy to be the racist?

I recall discussing streaming recently, and then finding a story...

Already bigger than Spotify, China’s search engine giant doubles down on streaming music

Spotify claims to be the biggest music service in the world with about 75 million active users and 20 million paying subscribers. But there is one that’s larger – albeit one confined to China. That’s the music portal run by search engine giant Baidu.

Baidu Music now has 150 million monthly active users, the company said yesterday. But there’s no word on how many paying users it has for the “VIP” streaming, which costs a meager RMB 10 (US$1.56) per month. Spotify, which is available in dozens of countries, none of which are China, costs about US$10 per month.

The Baidu Music subscription includes higher quality streaming and downloads, a sound equalizer, and no ads....

he jumped on a table, dropped his trousers and popped his penis out. Then he cut it off. I couldn't believe it."

Snausages dog snack. Now introducing Polish flavor.

China’s Anti-Terrorism Law Could Mean Trouble For Apple Encryption, US Tech Companies

Technology companies in the United States might soon have no choice but to drastically rethink their business strategy in China or consider abandoning the world’s second-biggest market altogether. That’s thanks to a Chinese anti-terrorism law that will go into effect Jan. 1, when U.S. vendors will be required to provide the Chinese government with sensitive corporate and user data as part of broad criminal investigations.

The controversial law, passed Sunday, requires technology companies to help investigators access otherwise encrypted information and prevent the spread of terrorism-related messages, among other provisions. It was passed despite objections from U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.S. technology industry, which has asserted the law is a thinly veiled attempt to stifle free speech and curb foreign competition.

U.S. companies will need to wait to see how the law is enforced before making any major decisions, experts say, but the language in the measure appears to take direct aim at Apple and other vendors whose products, including smartphones and tablets, feature end-to-end encryption. Also affected will be American hardware makers like IBM, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, as well as networking gear specialists like Cisco....


Two sets of products, different services based on location, a free hand for local companies (who follow the law) to become large fish in a large pond. Pfft.