The boss made driving him around part of my friend's job description.
One day she got a fine, which she couldn't afford to pay, and she lost her licence.
Subsequently, she lost her job and the boss got another one of his employees to drive him around.
A one-hundred-dollar fine means poverty for one man and nothing to another...
It's a sad story and illustrates the unfairness of fines. Let's make every fine have two parts: 1. Community Service 2. A fine as a percentage of your previous year's income
Or How China became capitalist and America, communist...
Here's a crazy idea on how to solve the apparent economic crisis on Wall Street:
Instead of the US government diverting taxpayer's hard-earned dollars away from killing people overseas; they should look up all the C.E.O.'s who've received bonuses over $1,000,000 over the past two or three years, take their cash and pump it into the system. I'm sure they could easily make a start on $700 billion.
Here's where they could start:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein will take home nearly $68 million in restricted stock, options and cash, making it the largest bonus ever given to a Wall Street CEO.
Blankfein was awarded $26.8 million in cash and $41.1 million in restricted stock and stock options, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission issued Friday.
Lehman Brothers chairman and CEO Richard Fuld Jr. made $34 million in 2007.
Goldman Sachs paid Co-Chief Operating Officers Gary Cohn and Jon Winkereid made $72.5 million and $71 million.
American International Group’s chief executive Martin Sullivan, who was ousted in June, made $14 million.
Morgan Stanley Chief Financial Officer Colin Kelleher got $21 million.
Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was paid $17 million in salary, bonuses and stock options.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. chairman and CEO James Dimon earned $28 million in 2007. Chase bought Bear Stearns in a fire sale earlier this year with Washington promising to take on up to $30 billion in assets to get the deal done.
Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd made $11.6 million in 2007.
Freddie Mac, CEO Richard Syron, brought in $18 million.
Wachovia Corp. chairman and CEO G. Kennedy Thompson received $21 million in 2007. He was succeeded by Robert Steel as CEO in July. Steel is slated to get a $1 million salary with an opportunity for a $12 million bonus, according to CEO Watch.
Seattle-based Washington Mutual will pay its new CEO Alan Fishman a salary and incentive package worth more than $20 million through 2009 for taking the helm of the battered bank, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.
For the ladies: The decision is yours; make an informed one.
For men: If you don’t have internal genitals, this hasn't got much to do with you. All you can do is help your partner make an informed choice and support her. Women have choices, men have responsibilities. By chance of birth we were assigned either: responsibility or childbirth… we got off pretty light. Deal with it. Don’t want babies? Wear a condom. It’s not rocket science.
For the unborn child: You don’t have any rights until you can vote as far as I’m concerned.
Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with people. At the same time, everyone knows that it’s all about collecting data, which they then use to target marketing at your “demographic” or sell to third parties.
Agreed it’s a free service, but then again, I don’t feel that my personal information should be for sale.
Wow, I really need to say something about the Philippines. It was a great time but so long has passed since our holiday; I will have to try and construct something from my feeble notes:
Saturday June 28, 2008
Hang-over – pack – haircut – taxi – KMRT – storms – delayed flights – Manila – try to organise an earlier flight to Cebu – they want money – no way – overnight at the airport – Shakey’s Diner for pizza and beer – sleep in the airport
Sunday June 29
Check-in staff put us on an earlier flight for free – taxi to ferry – 8.00 am ferry to Tagbilaran – tricycle to Alona Beach – breakfast – touts – Oops Bar Cottages – game of pool on the beach – beers – beach
Notes on Tricycles:
I’ve ridden in some pretty unlikely vehicles in my time but this one has to be right up there. It’s a motorbike with a sort of covered side-car attached. You have to see it to appreciate it:
Monday June 30
Beach – rum - snorkelling
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Scuba – table football
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Beach – rum – great snorkelling, teeming with clown fish, hiding in their anemones, defending their turf
Trudy’s Place – sitting on the beach with the water lapping at my feet: endless marine and turquoise sea stretched out under a gray blanket of cloudy sky with flecks of blue peeking through.
Slightly hung-over
Last night we were in “Oops Bar” and met a German with bad English visiting the Philippines for the first time to meet his soon-to-be wife’s family.
“Philippine is paradise” were his last words to us.
Half an hour before he was chasing the girls around the bar as R refused to dance with him again.
It had been a busy day, our third on this tourist beach. We got up at nine to go diving at ten. American breakfast at the cheap ghetto restaurant with no toilet – at 85 pesos it was the cheapest we found. We checked our dive gear – the crappiest equipment I’ve ever seen and the cheapest diving on the beach.
We still had 15 minutes until we were due to head off, so I dashed back to the room for a shit. The facilities at the dive centre left a lot to be desired. I made it back with five minutes to spare but they were all on the boat. Apparently they boarded just after I left. There’s got to be one, I just don’t like being it.
It is a half hour ride out to Balicasag Island. Luckily the boat had shade, but little else. Just enough room for the crew of three plus two dive masters, four divers and two snorkelers.
The boats here, I’m looking at one now, have a single hull – maybe 10-12 meters with an in-board motor and two bamboo outrigger hulls on long bent struts. They have two masts with a tarp stretched between.
The diving was pretty awesome. Although my depth gauge didn’t work and my BCD air-out button was stuck for a while.
First dive – Diver’s Paradise, aptly named – beautiful coral, luminous fish and a turtle. It’s the first one I’ve seen while diving. When we came up, our crew had been replaced by island-folk selling souvenirs.
My first dive is always a bit panicky, trying to get neutral buoyancy and dealing the weird sensation of breathing under water.
By the second dive, I’m into it. Not doing anything, just drifting along with the current and watch it all float past: clown fish, angel fish, another turtle, a little shark; awesome.
Notes on the Philippines
750 ml Bottle of Rum - 100 pesos
375 ml can of Coke - 50 pesos
Largest number of foreigners in relationships with locals I’ve seen anywhere
All classes at school are taught in English except for Filipino class
Houses and boats all look Polynesian
Thursday July 3, 2008
Diary Extract:
Woke late and breakfasted large before deciding to get out and see the rest of the island:
Car?
Bike?
Bad weather - car’s expensive – rent a bike
Yellow four-speed click-shift with no wing mirrors and a floaty front-end
Helmet?
Sort of
Better than nothing but pretty close to nothing
*** the water is lapping at the tables outside the restaurant where I’m sitting***
So we headed off to Tagbilaran very slowly, 30 km/hr
We headed through the crazy traffic. I pulled over for a Coke and directions:
Corella?
Straight on
Thanks.
Corella has a Tarsier Sanctuary.
Tarsiers are the smallest primates with the biggest eye of any animal.
A few kilometres down the road, a fork. Neither sign said Corella. We ask:
That way?
Sweet
A few kms after that we lost the paving and were making 10-20 km/hr over rocks and gravel
The air was sweet and people friendly. Lush jungle on all sides- we stopped by a river for pictures – no rush
We continued and made it to a paved cross road, which led to Corella. We wandered around the quiet town till an old man gave us directions. It was about 2 kms up the road. We headed off and finally came to the giant sign advertising the sanctuary.
There was a boom gate across the road saying:
WE’RE CLOSED 9.00-4.00
It was 3.55 by my watch.
FUCK!
Well I’m going to have a look. R stayed with the bike. It was about a kilometre down a dirt road. At the end was a visitor’s centre, which let to a caged section of bush. No one was around.
We headed back to Corella and asked for directions to Tagbilaran:
This road goes all the way there
It might have been paved once, but not anymore. We averaged 15-20 km/hr. The road was lined with grinning school kids:
Hey man, Hey Joe
The old man was right; we reached the main road in under an hour. We headed into town and had a walk around.
Busy
Poor children begging
We stopped for a beer in a restaurant and had something to eat.
We headed back. Once on Panglao Island we turned the wrong way, despite the directions we were given and it took at least twice as long to get back.
Friday July 4
Beach – rum – Cebu – live band
The sun is out; the tide is high for our last day on Alona Beach.
More Notes on the Philippines
Language sounds like Spanish
Security guards everywhere with handguns
Bank guards with pump action shotguns
Never once saw a police officer
The Mexicans of Asia
Saturday July 5
Back to K-town
Cebu Domestic Airport 1030
Spent yesterday afternoon on the beach drinking rum then got a tricycle to the port:
ferry to Cebu - taxi to hotel - all full - forth time lucky – shower – walk – beggars - knock off DVDs - live music bar “Brews Point” - great bands - great food – cheap – hotel – TV – sleep
Welcome to a new year and a new editor here at Xpat Magazine. After three years of sterling work, Matt has passed the torch to me and I intend to keep it burning brightly. I’m up for the task with many years of writing experience and a deep love of xpat life.
As an xpat my first gig teaching English was in Surratthani, Thailand. If you’ve ever been to Kho Pang Nang or Kho Tao, Surratthani was the shit-box town where you caught the ferry. It was one of the best years of my life; great people, fine food and islands on my doorstep. I finished work every Friday afternoon in time to sip cocktails on the porch of my bungalow and watch the sun set. It was the life.
I’d still be there today if things had worked out differently.
One of the many struggles of living in a rural Thai town was finding things to read. You could buy books on the islands but they were pricey. Newspapers arrived in the late afternoon at two stores in town, and would be read for days from the headlines to sports section. Magazines were a special treat. They would come from home in care packages and would be passed around until the covers fell off. They were mostly women’s magazines and pretty light on intellectual stimulation. You should be glad you have Xpat.
Then I met a girl. We were together for three glorious months. Unfortunately, she’d already bought a ticket to Istanbul to follow her dream of living in the only city in the world that spans two continents. My brother once told me, “never chase women or buses – another one will come along in ten minutes.” Well, I’ve never been big on following advice, so when my contract finished I took all my money and bought a ticket to Istanbul. I flew out of a tropical paradise and landed in a city of 20 million people with lightly falling snow.
We had an awesome year drinking tea, smoking nargile and playing tavla by the Bospherous in a city that had been the capital of five empires. The search for literature was easier there. Istanbul has been a home to xpats for over two thousand years.
I’d always dreamed of riding the Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow. So when our contracts in Istanbul ended we looked to Asia to fund the voyage. But where to go? Japan? Too cold and expensive. Korea? Cold and kimchi diet. Taiwan? Hmmm Taiwan. Taipei? No, too big. Kaohsiung? Hmmm…. Kaohsiung.
Since then, Kaohsiung has been our home. In Taiwan our quest for reading material has continued. We’re lucky here to have decent—albeit expensive, book stores. We’re even luckier to have Xpat Magazine. So, it’s with great reverence and respect that I take over as managing editor of this periodical and vow to bring to you more of the well-written stories, half-baked opinions and a deeper understanding of Taiwanese culture; a culture which, at first, is strange and alien.
In my years living as an xpat I’ve realised: the longer you stay in an alien environment the more you realise that those things which separate us as humans are much less important than those that bind us together. We all have the same origin and ultimately, the same destiny.
So enjoy the Spring ‘08 edition and feel free to get in touch with any questions, comments or submissions – remember that this flaming torch of a magazine is for us, and by us. Keep reading, keep supporting our sponsors and keep spreading cultural understanding wherever you go.
***WARNING: Some links in this post contain adult material.***
I might be showing how far behind the times I am here, but I came across a story recently, which might make you think about right and wrong online.
Some of you might know Craig's List. It's an internet bulletin board started in San Francisco and is now available all over the world.
In 2006, a couple of jokers in Seattle posted at ad posing as a submissive female looking for a dominant male to defile her. The aim was to see how many responses they could get in 24 hours.
They got 178 replies and 145 photos.
People sent email addresses from home and work, phone numbers as well as their real names in some cases.
Next they posted all the replies on a wiki-satire site called Encyclopaedia Dramatica, with the goal of getting people to identify the respondents in real life.
The ethical debate has been raging ever since. The story was picked up by various news outlets including the BBC.
Opinion:
This ain't cool.
The men who replied weren't doing anything illegal - the ad was posted by an apparently consenting adult seeking a consenting adult for an activity in their own home. If they were trying to out kiddy-fiddlers, I'd have a different opinion.
Even if this is what you are into, you don't need to have it broadcast to the world; possibly affecting all other aspects of their lives.
The issue here is within society as well. Why should your interest in any variety of legal sexual activity affect your professional or social life? Who are we to judge others by what they like with their privates?
Yet we still live in a world where hatred and intolerance are rife; where violence against those who are different still occurs.
An example: the British blogger who wrote "girl with a one track mind" anonymously. It describes here experience as a sexually active woman in London. The site became so popular that it was turned into a novel.
The day the book was released a bunch of flowers arrived at her door. The courier made her lean out the door to sign. What she didn't know, was that there was a photographer in her garden. The card on the flowers said: "Zoe (her pseudonym). Congratulations on the book."
The story broke the next day in the Sunday times. She was hounded by the press, received threatening letters and her family was even harassed. She lost her job working on the Harry Potter films on the grounds that they didn't want to be associated with her.
Yet at the same time, Danny Radcliffe can get his shlong out in the West-end with no worries at all.
This is an example of a double standard and how someone's personal life can ruin the other aspects of their life - for no good reason.
I've recently taken over as Managing Editor of a local indy magazine: Xpat. Four thousand copies are published quarterly and distributed around the south of Taiwan.
It doesn't pay, but you do get very nice business cards.
Xpat Magazine seeks to maintain our position as Taiwan’s premier free arts and culture quarterly.
We are committed to exploring the issues that define the expatriate experience in Taiwan and uncover the true nature of Taiwanese culture.
Xpat Magazine puts an emphasis on fine writing and original thought from the expatriate community of Taiwan. We seek to provide readers with a unique perspective on politics, society, the environment, and culture.
The essays, fiction, and reporting in the magazine's pages come from promising new voices as well as distinguished names in the Taiwanese expatriate community.
Xpat Magazine promises never to compromise artistic integrity to commercial interests, at all costs.
The next issue is due out at the beginning of August and features articles on topics such as:
The Taiwanese government's association with organised crime
Shady Karaoke establishments
Perils of Scuba Diving
How to Learn to Scuba Dive
Taiwan Beer, and
Tibetan Tyranny
It's looking really good, so I'll upload it when it comes out.
On an application form regarding eligibility for entry to Canada:
10. In periods of either peace or war, have you ever been involved in the commission of a war crime or a crime against humanity, such as: wilful killing, torture, attacks upon, enslavement, starvation, or other inhumane acts committed against civilians or prisoners or war; or deportation of civilians.
>>sharon Fillion wrote: Can you help me find out more information about david fillion? Were you an acquantance? The david michael fillion I knew was living in Tiawan, teaching english, alcoholic, and played poker, ex navy. He dropped out of "life" about 10 years ago. I have just been informed that he is in a georgia jail after getting arrested for a DUI. I came across your blog on an internet search. I appreciate your help. S. Walker
Strange.
I wrote back today:
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for getting in touch. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but I have been asking around about David.
What's your relationship with him? Sister I'm guessing.
Like I said on the blog, we had a very limited relationship.
Wednesday was poker night and we played with him and his girlfriend a couple of times.
I asked around and no one has seen him in a long while. Maybe not for six months or more.
We had assumed that he went back to the States. It looks like you have the same chap though.
Sorry I could be more helpful. If you have any other questions feel free to get in touch.
All the best,
Al
The part that amazed me is that you can be involved in a web of contacts which can throw light on a close personal situation on the other side of the world.
I will keep you informed of any further developments.
"I would be more apathetic if I wasn't so lethargic." New Yorker Cartoon
"The only thing that is constant, is change"
"Boredom is always counter-revolutionary. Always. " Guy Debord
"People don't do what's important, they what's urgent" Dr. Karl
"We live our lives forwards, but understand them backwards"
"If you're not on the edge, you're taking up too much room." Fran
"None are so blind as those who will not see." Unkown
"You don't learn anything by speaking."
"Can't lives on Won't Street" From the film Flawless
"I'm not white, I'm Irish" Protester, Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra
"Relationships are like icebergs - you only see the top third sticking out of the water."
"In order to be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid." Gary
"It's not wrong because it's forbidden, It's forbidden because it's wrong"
"Ask no questions and be told no lies."
"I have never regretted what I did. I regret things I didn't do." Ingrid Bergman
"A pessimist is what an optimist calls a realist."
"Have no expectations and you won't be disappointed"
"Think quickly and speak slowly"
"Speak truth to power"
"He who asks a question, is a fool for five minutes. He who doesn't ask a question is a fool for life" - Chinese Proverb
"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for life" - Chinese Proverb
"The more haste the less speed"
"Trust is slowly earned and quickly lost" Mike W
Famous Quotes
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas A. Edison
"The play was a great success but the audience was a disaster." Oscar Wilde
"I don`t regret a thing I`ve done. I only regret the things I didn`t do." Ingrid Birgman
“We are what we repeatedly do.” - Aristotle
"If an ass goes travelling, he will not come back a horse" Thomas Fuller
"Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men." Edwin Louis Cole
"Good name in man or woman, dear my Lord is the immediate jewel of their souls: who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothings, 'twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed." William Shakespeare
"Fish and houseguests smell after three days." Benjamin Franklin
"I can resist anything but temptation" Oscar Wilde
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke
"Madam, I may be drunk, but you are ugly. At least in the morning I will be sober." Churchill
"I think it would be a good idea." Gandhi (when asked what he thought of western civilization)
"grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Reinhold Niebuhr
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon
"Don't hate the media, become the media." Jello Biafra
"These are my opinions, if you don't like them, I have others" Groucho Marx
"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious." Oscar Wilde
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." Hunter S Thomson
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