Fathers – Strait Talk by Lee Longhwa

Taipei Times Uncensored

I wrote and posted at the Taipei Times for almost 20 years. When I wrote a comment in the Taipei Times criticizing China for lying about the Wuhan Virus, and then lying about lying about the virus, and when I criticized Tedros for being the lapdog of the Chinese Communist Party for his heaping of oodles of praise on China for its “handling” of the virus, and the WHO’s official policies which inevitably suppressed the initial dangers of the virus in order to mollify Communist China for fear it would cut off the WHO’s access to facts on the ground, I was kicked off Facebook, though my post was published on the Taipei Times website without any issue. Facebook has been censoring comments critical of Communist China and/or Tedros and/or the WHO. As a consequence, I am unable to post at the Taipei Times or comment on any of the articles published there. I wrote to the editor to ask that the Taipei Times provide other access to posting, but thus far no changes have been made. After almost 3 months of being banned, I have decided to post my comments on the Taipei Times here under the title “Taipei Times Uncensored” instead of at the Taipei Times website because in order to comment or post there, you must have a Facebook account, and only a Facebook account. This in effect allows Facebook, which has previously had a pro-Communist Party approach, to censor the posting and comments at the Taipei Times, one of the world’s only pro-Taiwan news organizations. That is a tragic turn of events.

In the Taipei Times on June 6th on Page 8, an editorial was published entitled “States Risk Public’s Violent Anger”, written by Nigel Li, a student at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The first major mistake in the premise of the article is somehow conflating what is happening in the United States with either the Hong Kong protests, or with action taken by any number of totalitarian states against violent protests. There can be no comparison between the democratic system of government and justice in the United States and those dictatorships, where democracy and justice are unknown. Because the United States has one of the most objective legal systems in the world, and a strong constitution protecting freedom and justice, especially under the First Amendment and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, there is no need for violence except to wreak havoc or cause chaos, which is the objective of anarchy and revolution, two features of the current socialist/communist wing of the Democratic Party, pushing the Democratic Party run districts so far to the left it has become frightening. Thus every opportunity to cause chaos has been fully supported and in fact instigated by the Democratic Party, including the current riots regarding the death of George Floyd in police custody, which have been taken over by the extreme left.

Anyone familiar with the political climate in the US should by now understand the fear of the Democratic Party that the Wuhan Virus will be mostly resolved in the next few months, that the economy may come roaring back, and that these juggernauts will make it impossible to defeat the incumbent president, Donald Trump. Thus, racial chaos and anarchy is helpful the Democrats believe, to their cause. However, the Democrats are completely tone deaf because they still do not understand the extraordinarily high percentage of Americans who support the protests and yet loathe the riots, and can understand the difference. The calls by the Democrats to “defund the police” is simply another leftist wet dream to leave the state undefended in the face of the anarchy and socialist/communist revolution currently being instigated. Left up to the Democrats, any conservative who doesn’t use the latest leftist approved language should be arrested, but those who loot, steal, sell drugs, commit assault, murder or commit other felonies should not even be arrested, hence “defund the police”. But there are very few in the US who want to go down that road, and the cacophony in the media, which is overwhelmingly in opposition to the President, makes it seem the country is united in opposition to the president and hostile to the police. The left made the same mistake in 2016 and were shocked they lost the election. They are in for another rude awakening.

Secondly, “journalists” (in quotes here because almost all of the liberal press have been reduced to propaganda writers for the Democratic Party, not journalists) should not conflate protests and violence in the United States with those things in totalitarian countries, like Communist China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and other dictatorships or with the life in Taiwan during the KMT rule, when it inevitably tried to deliver Taiwan into Communist China’s orbit permanently. There is a system of law and justice in the US which has been a model for the developed world for more than 200 years. Protests and even riots against the totalitarian rule of the KMT were justified. If anything, the socialist/communist wing of the Democratic Party is far more like China, the old Soviet Union, Cuba or Venezuela than like the US or Taiwan.

As for racial justice in the United States, the Democratic Party was the party I might remind you of slavery in the United States until Republic Party President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation and the success of the Civil War in America in the 1860’s. Moreover, the Democratic Party was hardly the party of justice for blacks in the US or for civil rights until the 1960s, and then the Democratic party embarked on a process to buy the votes of minorities in the US through welfare and other programs and to basically establish institutions of government that would spend the next 60 years keeping minorities dependent on welfare and similar programs in order to maintain their voting power. This prevails until today, and we are witnessing yet another step in the process of using race as a justification for anarchy.

When the Democratic Party lost to President Trump in 2016, it was shocked and dismayed, and has spent the past 4 years attempting a coup by a thousand cuts, beginning with a impeachment based on phantom charges of so-called Russian Collusion (failed coup), and then coming up with issue after issue as attempts to justify impeaching the President (all failed). The threshold for impeachment was lowered to ridiculous levels in the US by the desperate Democrats, and their willingness to try anything and everything to unseat the President has possibly damaged the US institution of government permanently.

When impeachment failed, the Democrats decided to use the pandemic as a new justification for criticism of the President and for renewed calls for impeachment, despite it being clear China and the World Health Organization at China’s behest misled the world on the origins of the Wuhan Virus. That failed as well. When the pandemic was turning the corner, cases and deaths dropped to far lower levels, and the economy was on the verge of reopening, the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer engaging in brutal force provided yet another opportunity for the Democratic party to interrupt the recovery by encouraging and supporting weeks of chaos and riots, including murder, violence and looting. The Democratic party, always the party that thrives on chaos, dead bodies and the promise of government money, is now calling for “defunding” the police (whatever the hell that is), and basically reducing the US to a nation without the ability to enforce its law. That is of course the end aim of a party wishing to foment a socialists/communist revolution. In order to do that, the police must be neutered.

On the issue of race in the US, I don’t know what “institutional racism” is. Prominent black leaders (including President Obama) and commentators have for years advised the black communities that single father households and persistent crime do far more to keep blacks from breaking out of ghettos and poverty than racism (“More than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children.”). There is no doubt racism exists, and there is no doubt blacks die at higher rates from gun violence. But the overwhelming number of deaths of blacks by gun violence are not at the hands of white police, or even white shooters, but at the hands of other young black men (over 80%, or more). These statistics are hard to dig out, as the prevailing statistical analysis (to support the Democratic Party narrative of institutional racism) is the number of black victims, not the number of black perpetrators. President Obama over his 8 years at President of the US did nothing to address this “black on black” crime, or the single father home in over 50% of black families, and the effect that has on sons and daughters. The welfare system designed by Democrats, that is paying money to families with a single mother with children and no partner, also encouraged these developments in single parent homes. Obama did speak of this problem a few times between 2008 and 2014, but his administration did nothing to address it. “In 1960, the year before Obama was born, 22 percent of black children lived with single parents. In 1968, the number rose to 31.4 percent. By 2006, the 1960 percentage had more than doubled to 56 percent.” [Politifact fact check].

What makes the US different from totalitarian nations like China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, N. Korea, Iran and many others is the US has a well-defined system of law and justice in effect and . The police involved in the George Floyd matter have been arrested and will be charged, and tried. They will be permitted to make a defense and a jury will decide their guilt or innocence when all of the facts are known. This does not take place in dictatorships.

The left at this moment does not wish for there to be a trial. They wish for there to be a lynching, and steps in that direction are censorship (e.g. if anyone questions BLM, they are censored), disbanding the police, controlling the populace to conform to the Democratic party’s ideology, changing history and destroying historical icons (e.g. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Andrew Jackson, and many many others), pulling down statues and monuments, desecrating the US national flag and National Anthem, imposing new language and banning common language (Drew Brees, a celebrated NFL Quarterback spoke about disagreeing with anyone desecrating the flag or the anthem, and he was pounced on by the MSM and the BLM movement, and forced to retract his statement – oddly, his statement is supported by a huge overwhelming majority of Americans). These things are happening now, and have happened before in every instance where socialist/communist revolutions occurred. Those revolutions were accompanied by millions and millions of deaths (in Cambodia over 1.5 million, in Communist China at the hands of Mao between 50-80 million), commonly of professionals, including lawyers, teachers, and others, and murder of capitalism, replaced by state control over every aspect of life. This is what the Democratic Party now seeks, as it is unhappy with a majority of American’s rejecting the Party’s extremist views on most aspects of American life, especially free speech.

The world should be quite worried. If the Democratic party prevails, the US will withdraw as it did under Obama, Taiwan and Israel will be under assault, and Europe will be required to lead the world, and it has demonstrated over and over and over, even today, it does not have the backbone to stand up to Russia, China, Iran, and many other nations determined to resist freedom as a way of life and destroy the West, and lacks the morals or the will or the ability to protect Taiwan or Israel. The world needs the US to be the defender of human rights and freedom, because frankly there is no one else on Earth suited to it or capable of doing it.

A Father’s Day Tale For my father, the wizard of conundrums: The Conundrum

The man sat before the gate. He had been there a long, long time, waiting for it to open. He had knocked, he had banged, he had called out, he had waved (to no one, for no one was there, as far as he could see) and he had tried to climb over (impossible, alas, as the gate was so high, the top could not be seen). The man sat down on the ground near the gate and sighed, tired and frustrated. He cursed the gate, and threw his shoe at it. There was no sound, just the continuing wind, at times whistling through the gate.

Beyond the gate, he could see trees, and lakes, birds flying gracefully, frolicking in the water, lazy clouds drifting in a perfectly azure sky, and a huge sun floating in the sky like an orange balloon. The man looked around him. The ground was rocky, the grass coarse and brown, the trees burnt and gnarled. The sky was a continual ominous gray, thunder rumbling constantly, the wind chilly and penetrating. The man turned his collar up against the elements, and banged with his shoe against the gate once more, calling loudly. “Will someone open this damn gate?!!” No response just made his blood boil all the more. He sat again, and buried his face in his hands.

After some time, the man heard the rustling of rocks, and looking up, noticed a figure walking towards him from behind the gnarled trees, along the rocky path, picking his way carefully among the stones and harsh grass. He was obviously cold, his clothes fairly wet. As he approached the man at the gate, the stranger smiled.

“Hello. Didn’t expect to find anyone here,” the stranger said.

“Where’d you come from?” the man said.

“Over the hill. Seems like I’ve been walking for days, or months, don’t know really. Just found myself here. Nasty rain back there. I’m afraid we’re in for a real storm pretty soon. Damn cold. Goes right through you.”

“It’s not so bad over there,” the man said, pointing to the other side of the fence.

“So it is,” said the stranger, “so it is.” He walked toward the gate and peered through the shiny, golden bars towards the other side. “Seems like it’s a different world over there, really. Damn nice gate, this is too.”

“Damn annoying gate, if you ask me,” the man said. “Can’t get it open. Nothing will. We’re stuck here, that’s what.”

“Well, I can’t believe there isn’t a way over there. There must be. Have you looked around? Thought of anything?”

“Well, I’ve hung around this gate for it seems like eons already. Doesn’t budge, not one bit. No one around either.”

The stranger looked around. He could see the gate itself was quite high, so high he couldn’t see the top. He stood back and just looked straight up. “Fascinating isn’t it? Who could’ve built such a marvelous gate?”

“Marvelous? I wouldn’t call it that. So marvelous no one can get in. How marvelous is that?” The man made a rude noise at the gate.

“Well, I suppose that’s its purpose, of course – to keep people out. So, from that standpoint, it is marvelous, isn’t it? So high and mighty, no one could even dream about climbing over or breaking in through this gate.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re so interested in praising the thing that is standing between you and what looks like a very pleasant other side!”

“Yes, well, I’m just admiring someone’s handiwork. But, I suppose someone who had the talent to build this amazing obstacle, must have designed a way for people he’d want to get in to pass through.”

“Why would you say that? Maybe the purpose of this damn gate in the first place is to just keep everyone out, period!!”

“Well, certainly could be true. But, I still think there’s an answer here, if only we were to look for it.”

The man looked at the stranger. “Well, suit yourself. I’m not wasting my time trying to figure out how to get past that gate. I’ll just keep pounding on it with my shoe until someone answers the damn thing!”

The stranger looked at the man, and shook his head. “Well, I’m going to give it a try.” He turned and walked away, down along the fence that led away from the gate towards their right. The fence extended to the horizon, seemingly for endless miles, until it faded into the distance, merely a faint line. Soon, the stranger came to a part of the fence that appeared a little different. The fence there seemed to dip a little bit, and wasn’t as high, though it was too high to climb. But there was some artwork near the top, and some vines creeping down the fence at that point.

The artwork was too high up to see, but he could faintly make out words – some kind of inscription. He looked at the vines, and put his foot on one to test whether it would support his weight. It did, easily. He began to climb towards the top of the fence so he could see the writing there. As he climbed, he noticed that as high as he climbed, he came no nearer to the top. It seemed to loom high above him as far away as when he was on the ground. The vines did not go all the way up, and he saw as he went up that he could not climb over the fence here. Still, the stranger wanted to know what the writing said. As he rose high above the ground, the stranger felt close enough to the artwork to now see it more clearly. Towards the top of the fence, which bore pointed spears sharp enough to thread a needle, there was a white marble sign, carved in intricate script, the letters virtually etched into a floral design of incredible beauty. Two exquisite white unicorns held the sign aloft on either side. He stopped climbing and read it.

“To All Who May Come This Way – Curiosity and the Quest for Knowledge May Be Your Guide. While Others May Not See What Hidden Value Lies Within A Conundrum’s Supple Walls, You Need Only Inquire, and an Answer May Appear”.

The man thought to himself, what a curious message to carve into artwork truly too high up to see from the ground below. He looked down, and realized he was quite high up. He looked around to see if there was any other writing, and finding none, he quickly descended to the ground. He thought about the message, and searched his mind for what the clues hidden there might mean. Something about the sign seemed familiar to him. He turned back to the way he had come, and retraced his steps to the massive gate. When he arrived there, he found the man asleep near a pillar of the gate.

The stranger stood back and looked at the gate again, trying to see if there was any message engraved in it. The gate bore only the shiny golden finish, and some very beautiful etched carvings. He searched each bar, each cross strut, and the ground around the gate. No solution suggested itself. He began to think of other possibilities. He stood back and looked at the fence, and then at the pillars themselves, massive stone columns.

It was then he noticed for the first time that the pillars had shape to them. He stepped back a bit more, and saw that each was the massive leg of an even more massive unicorn, partly etched, partly in bas-relief across the gate, and along the fence. The stranger walked slowly towards the gate, glancing at the pillars, up and down, bringing his face close to first one, then the other. He stood considering them. Then, abruptly, his face twisted, his eye twitching into a wink, as he had a sudden realization.

He laughed to himself, and then walked to the left column, and ran his hand along the smooth surface feeling the minute indentations. His fingers traced along an intricate design, and came to rest just at the juncture of what appeared to be the etching of two small unicorns. First he stroked the etching, and when nothing happened, he pushed it.

A voice cascaded from the direction of the gate, though no one was there.

“May I help you?” the voice intoned.

“May I come through?” the stranger asked.

“Certainly,” the voice replied, and the gate swung open. The stranger strode through the gate, and it closed behind him. He smelled the freshness of the air, and felt the sunlight on his skin, which was already losing its chill. He followed a marble path towards a hillside, and found himself standing in the center of a great hallway. A tall man with a white robe stood against a unicorn statue.

“Any questions?” the tall man asked.

“Many,” the stranger replied, “and none,” he finished. The tall man smiled.

“Your favorites were Sunday Times?” the tall man asked.

“Definitely, but the London Sunday Times were the hardest” he replied, not sure why he understood so clearly. “This one was particularly interesting.”

“It is the inquiring mind which brought you through” the tall man said. “You were trained to think creatively, look for solutions, not pine about obstacles. This was just another great puzzle for you.”

The stranger paused, thinking. “Why hasn’t that poor man outside come through?” the stranger said.

“Oh, him. He’s been there for ages. Just keeps banging that damn shoe on the gate.”

The stranger shuddered. It was so simple, and yet so powerful. He looked at the azure sky, and the perfect, blue sea. Behind him, back through the gate, crawled the mist and fog, the thunder and storms. He glanced at the man curled against the column, huddled and shivering, and turned back to the birds and butterflies frolicking along the green arbor, and walked on.

The man sat before the gate. He had been there a long, long time, waiting for it to open. He had knocked, he had banged, he had called out, he had waved and he had tried to climb over. The man sat down on the ground near the gate and sighed, tired and frustrated. He cursed the gate, and threw his shoe at it. There was no sound, just the continuing wind, at times whistling through the gate.