I'm leaving for a research trip abroad -- a week and a half of dissertation research, so no blogging until I get back. I'm on campus right now trying to run last-minute errands, so here's a parting thought or two from the ivory tower...CICADA INVASIO

Here's the deal from the Taipei Times as Chen met with Congressman Steve Chabot: According to a press release issued by the Presidential Office, Chen expressed gratitude to the US for supporting Taiwan's World Health Organization (WHO) bid. Chen than

And it wasn't just any old hacker whom Taiwanese police nabbed. This guy supposedly admitted to writing Trojan code that was later used to steal and destroy information on government computers. So what's the big deal?The Taiwan arrest represents a b

I just had to laugh! Homer's epic poem The Iliad is now in "messenger speak"!LONDON (Reuters) - Homer's ancient Greek poem "The Iliad", the basis for Hollywood blockbuster "Troy", has been compressed for a new generation

Well, Chen's been well and inaugurated on May 20, so the news is now filling up with other items. As far as I'm concerned, Chen's the president and that's that. I'll bet a big plate of shu mai, though, that the pan-blues are still ticked off. Here's

"Marvin Zindler, Eyewitness News!!!"What Houstonian doesn't know those words? (For those of you unfortunate enough to not be from Houston, Marvin Zindler's a famous do-gooder journalist for ABC news, Channel 13, KTRK in Houston. He's also t

It's a rainy sort of day and I've a million things to do, so here's some bloggage on that trip to beautiful Hartford, Connecticut, home of the UConn Huskies!Day 1: Getting There!I'm not a big fan of Amtrak, because it seems like every time I ride it,

Happy Birthday to the Sibling!Today the esteemed Sibling is now the ripe old age of twentysomething!Since we all keep hearing about the Sibling, I thought that on this auspicious natal day for him, I'd slap together a little photo ode to the Sibling

Finally home after a very long weekend of graduation festivities in Connecticut and Massachuetts -- all jam-packed with pomp, circumstance, non-stop streams of English/Taiwanese/Mandarin, and all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets! A whole lot of other th

This is my last blog entry for the day -- I've a lot of errands to run and things to do! Tomorrow morning I'm headed off to a mini-family reunion in Hartford, Connecticut -- and the occasion is a cousin's college graduation. NOTE: With all the aunts

Apparently not EVERYBODY in Europe hates America! This lovely story was reported in, believe it or not, the New York Times:NETTUNO, Italy - There is a piece of land along the coast an hour south of Rome that is a shrine to America. It is a lovely pie

I meant to blog on this last night. but real life intruded. Ah well. I'm still disgusted, so I'm still going to say so anyway.I picked up a copy of the New York Times yesterday en route to school (The WSJ op-ed talks about this, and Blogs for Bush h

The semester has more or less rocketed to an end, leaving a thousand exhausted grad students in its wake!Funny thing is, though...Now that I technically don't "HAVE" to be on campus all the time, I find that I actually *like* being on campu

First off, let's talk about China, shall we? I'm not too jazzed to do it, but I guess I ought to, since it's been busying itself scowling and growling at both Taiwan and the US.(Digression: You know, in a way that's the rub about being Taiwanese-Ame

Serious bloggage later -- or more serious bloggage tomorrow. Too tired to devote the usual brain cells to thinking and typing. I just got back from a long day at Cloudcuckooland, a day full of books and books and more books and the squashed remains

I've had to explain this to a lot of people over the years, si it's nice to find a medical blurb about this phenomenon:Roughly half of all people of east-Asian descent (including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) lack an enzyme necessary for the efficie

And it does NOT advocate the total eradication of all religion from public places. (Sorry, ACLU.)Check out this interesting piece by student Adrian Ng, class of 2005. Read this fantabulous blurb, then go read the whole thing:I am not convinced that

Here's the latest! FYI: For more commentary (especially on the PRC business, check out my blog pal Durian Nation here and here.)Recount Almost Finished!Believe it nor not! But a good-sized chunk of the recount's done, and more on the way. Still, it w

This is all over the news...as it well should be.  Looks like chemical weapons to me. But what do  I know, right?A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. Two people were treat

Remember how a couple days ago I said that the Italians have a brand new breed of police car? Well, a picture's worth a thousand words!COOLEST. POLICE CAR. EVER.And, I guess, a fitting accessory for the best-dressed police force anywhere! London bobb

Part of this blog aims to keep an eye on what's afoot in the Ivy League, and sometimes things have been surprising. For one thing, the Ivy League isn't one huge monolithic bastion of radical left-wing anti-war thought. Oh, don't get me wrong, there a

William Shatner's back on network TV as eccentric lawyer Denny Crane! Actually, he's been on for a little while now, sparring with the cast of "The Practice," and his goofy lawyer character who's obsessed with his own name ("Denny Cran

So much for pan-blue calls for Chen to cancel his inauguration! Check out these festive new postage stamps:Kind of eye-catching, no? I think they're really cute, actually, and a lot more interesting than the blandly pretty Mary Cassatt stamps I just

Many congratulations to the Taiwanese delegation to the 2004 Pittsburgh International Invention and New Products Show -- they won BIG! Check out their loot: a total of 21 -- count 'em, 21! -- gold, three silver and four bronze medals. Wait, there's

Well, I wasn't SO optimistic that the inauguration or the lead-up to it would go off without a hitch. Come on, since March we've seen one incident of idiocy after another over on my beautiful island, a large number of which I think have something to