Taiwanese Census 2010: Vote on Facebook

Received this message from the "Taiwanese Census 2010" group on Facebook. See this post for more information: U.S. Census 2010: Taiwanese-Americans

Subject: Taiwanese Census Campaign, Volunteers, & Vote for TACL!

Hi everyone:
Thank you for joining this group for Census 2010. We've grown quickly in the few weeks the group has started. Please help to continue to invite friends to join, to spread the word so that people are both aware of the Census, and that "Taiwanese" or any other ethnicity can be written in. This is extremely important for our community as well as any other community to be accurately counted and recognized.

TACL (Taiwanese American Citizen's League) is one of the non-profit organizations behind this campaign, and has formed a taskforce creating promotional materials to pass out, such as postcards, flyers, T-shirts, pens, etc. We also are preparing a PSA, to be shown on TV, youtube, etc, and creating a youth contest.

Therefore, we still need the help of VOLUNTEERS! If interested in helping with the campaign, feel free to message me back directly.

Also, since all of the above things also cost money, especially TV airtime, we still need financial support, and are continuing to try to FUNDRAISE.

Therefore, TACL is trying to get a $25,000 grant through Chase's Community Giving Program on Facebook. However, we can only win this grant if you and your friends get on Facebook and VOTE FOR US!!!! The top 100 receive $25,000.

Please take a second to cast a VOTE!
As a nonprofit organization run completely by unpaid volunteers, TACL definitely needs the community's support! These funds could go a long way, not only towards Census outreach, which would mainly help to pay for promotional materials, and advertising, but would also go towards continuing our youth scholarships, internships, camps, and young professional leadership development adjunct (TAP), which all serve to help to preserve and promote Taiwanese American IDENTITY.

Click here:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/816777

You may think your vote doesn't count but if we can get all our
supporters and your friends to vote, it'll make a difference! All
you've got to do is vote and ask 10 other friends to do the same!
Help TACL in 4 easy steps:

1. Become a fan of Community Giving:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/
2. Search for "Taiwanese American Citizens League" where it reads "Enter your charity".
3. Vote for us! Afterwards, under "Help this charity by spreading the word" you can post it on:
* Twitter
* Your Facebook wall & newsfeed or
* Invite a friend to vote!
4. Here's the text you can copy and paste to post on the walls of your friends:
"I just cast my vote for TACL! Please help support my charity by voting to give them a chance to receive $25K! Voting ends December 11, so please vote now!

Click here:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/816777

To know more about what TACL does, and where the funds would also go towards, you can click here to see our Leadership Development programs:
http://www.facebook.com/l/a728f;tacl.org/programs/tacl-leadership-development/.

Thank you for your time and support!

Ben Ling
TACL National President
http://www.facebook.com/l/a728f;tacl.org
http://www.facebook.com/l/a728f;census2010.tacl.org

You can click the button right below this sentence as well to join and vote:

Editorial in WSJ on Obama & Taiwan

Saw this piece by Parris H. Chang, a former DPP legislator, whereby he proposes that Obama is "giving up" Taiwan. Not much "new" revelations in his editorial, but it provides a decent overview of what has been happening as far as the US-China-Taiwan relations, as well as Obama's recent visit to China. Here's a snippet, and probably the most important part of it:

Now is not the time to repeat Mr. Clinton's mistakes. It is morally and politically wrong for the U.S. to oppose the right of Taiwan, a democratic and open society of 23 million people, to determine its own future. President Obama may be leaning in that direction by not supporting an independent Taiwan and backing China's opposition to Taiwan independence. Beijing has long tried to isolate Taiwan in the international community, lock the island into the framework of a "one China" policy, pave the way for Taiwan's eventual unification with China, and most importantly, seek Washington's support for its maneuvers.

The author goes onto state how previous administrations did or didn't treat Taiwan well. President Bush Jr. comes up as a very pro-Taiwan president in this piece, and while the two facts he stated make it seem true- I will say that I believe that President Bush was a real letdown in how he handled Taiwan during his 8 years. While he did come out early on in his tenure and say the US will do "whatever it takes" to defend Taiwan, his actions thereafter spoke of a different tone- a much softer tone. Only during his last few months did he push through that arms package as an outgoing gesture, for whatever reason.

As far as the current situation, I find that Obama might be mistakenly taking the Nobel Peace Prize at face value, and focusing on this imaginary "peace" that China and Ma Ying-jeou have been touting, in the face of a majority of Taiwanese who oppose this sort of pseudo-peace that may lead to unification of the two sides.

Perhaps Obama should use his apparent world-respected image to give some face to Taiwan. Would it really hurt that much?

Been busy at home... sorry for infrequent thoughts! But sometimes, there just isn't much that catches my eyes these days. Just more of Ma giving up another piece of Taiwan, and China happily taking it in exchange for, well, really nothing at all.

Maybe If We Keep Throwing Money At The Problem... Then...

There's a common phrase among investors/traders and overall, in the general business sense- that is: "Don't Throw Good Money After Bad Money."

One of the main reasons I believe that we're in for more lows in the markets is due to the fear that it will create in the general public. Fear causes panic, and panic can lead to irrational decisions. I believe that's the exact play the Obama administration is aiming for. For those who still wonder about how our representatives passed the initial $700B bailout in the face of strong opposition by the majority of the public, the answer is simple: (1) they scared the majority of you into believing it was necessary in order to prevent a collapse of the financial system, and (2) they are being paid to do so. Don't be so naive into thinking that people who donate thousands/millions to political campaigns don't expect something in return. Yes, this goes for Obama as well, despite his false claim that he does not take money from lobbyists (perhaps not directly, but in directly, it comes his way). Is there really any other rational explanation for this?

Although I'm no business major, it seems pretty reasonable to not put more money into a company that is obviously failing to correct its mistakes. Sure, maybe give them one shot to make it right, but with companies (such as the automakers) that have continually failed to move their R&D in the right direction, they should not be given a lifeline. For all you people (mainly the left-side) who apparently despise the rich getting richer, these bailouts are in fact, lining the pockets of the rich. The wealth that was created by these few rich people, built upon a mountain of lies (Madoff and many others) and deception (falsifying financial statements), is remaining in their pockets. Why? Because our president and our congress is choosing to reward them for doing wrong. We are saying to these robber barons, "Cheat? Lie? Ok, because you guys are "too big to fail," we must save you, at the expense of everyone else."

The scare tactics by Obama, such as describing the financial bailouts as neccessary in order to "prevent a crisis from turning into a catastrophe," are a slap in the face to the average American. I know a lot of people that voted for Obama honestly believe every word he says, but take a step back off your partisan platform, and look objectively. Each time some sort of "stimulus" or "bailout" has been passed since late last summer, the markets have corrected downwards. The mess we are can be blamed on both Republicans and Democrats. During the first bailout, I specifically urged others to vote out incumbents who voted for the $700B bailout package, regardless of party. Those who still think this is a partisan battle are pitifully misinformed. The quicker that we as a nation agree that this is actually a battle between these robber baron elites, and the rest of Americans, we can begin to talk about the road towards recovery.

Until then, I look forward to profiting the most from the declines in the markets, and perhaps be a little better off in the future changed America.

A brief quote from Tim Knight, whose blog I frequent, and recommend to other traders for daily trading ideas and general commentary on the markets, describing the change from a capitalist America, towards the new socialist America:

The pendulum has just started to swing the other way, and I don't think it's a little bobble before we return to the above. I seriously think we are in for just as long as period - - and just as deep a change - - as the era above. We'll be stumbling our way back to where things were in the late 1970s..........malaise, weakness, and Billy Beer.

What would people think if, just six months ago, you speculated that Citigroup would be a nationalized institution? Would they laugh at you? Look at you as if you were insane? Cart you off to a rubber room?

That, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg. When Obama speaks of a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to change the government, he isn't talking about remodeling the oval office. The "opportunity" is the most dramatic expansion of the government and its intrusions than any of us have seen in our lifetimes.

I have no doubt that Obama, with an almost filibuster-proof Democratically controlled congress, will change the landscape of America in a way in which, as TK says, "we can scarcely imagine today." The change will come, but I'm not sure everyone who vouched for Obama realize that the change that comes will be much more than they bargained for.