Peace Memorial Day Taiwan

Some 2,000 protesters took to the streets in Taipei 28 years ago today. They marched past the U.S. consulate towards the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau peacefully, demanding resignation of its director and punishment for his armed agent whose stray bullet had killed an innocent onlooker. As they continued their march, two Monopoly Bureau agents were found molesting a vendor of untaxed cigarettes in a side street. Both were beaten to death, while another crowd began sacking a branch office of the Monopoly Bureau. Chinese employees were driven out and, if caught, were beaten mercilessly. The crowd then moved towards the Office of the Administer-General of Taiwan to present a petition for reform. When the protestors reached a wide intersection adjacent to the government grounds, machine guns mounted on the government building opened fire without warning. At least four protestors were killed. The shooting, which dispersed the crowd, was the signal for a citywide outburst of anger against the mainlander Chinese, regardless of rank or occupation. Many mainlanders unsecured loans were killed, their cars burned and houses sacked. The February 28 Incident started.

Untold thousands of innocent people were killed in the incident, which spawned the feud between the natives of Taiwan and the Chinese from the mainland. The mutual enmity had been almost disarmed by the time February 28 was proclaimed a national holiday in 1998. It was renewed, with a vengeance, after 2000, however. To allay the hostility, President Chen Shui-bian had to promise James Soong, Chinese-born chairman of the People First Party, four days before Peace Memorial Day that “any form of language or behavior which constitutes discrimination or aggression toward any ethnic group shall be subject to punishment according to law.”

As a matter of fact, no law has to be enacted to help end the communal feud, which was for a very brief period of time all but forgotten. With the support of President Lee Teng-hui, Soong was easily elected governor of Taiwan in 1994. In 1998, Lee called Chinese-born Ma Ying-jeou a new Taiwanese, helping him unseat the incumbent mayor of Taipei, Shen Shui-bian. Both outpolled their native-born opponents, because the electorate was not split along the mainlander-Taiwanese line. All President Chen has to do now to restore communal harmony is to stop resorting to “any form of language or behavior which constitutes discrimination or aggression” against the immigrants from China after 1945 and their Taiwanese-born offspring and make sure his followers follow suit. bad credit loans

The question is how sincere President Chen was when he made that promise. It was made at the Government Guest House, where the president had presented a gift to the opposition party leader before their talks. The irony is that that gift is a calligraphic work by a centenarian master who wrote “sincerity,” which both Chen and Soong seem to lack.

George, you saint you!

The story of a knight, a maiden, and a dragon has all the makings of a fairy tale, but of course the most famous dragon-slaying tale is the legend of St. George.

The story was popular in the Middle East and it was picked up by the Crusaders when they went out to that part of the world. Ever since St. George has been associated with Knights and chivalry. He is patron saint of England where his popularity has revived recently, but he is shared with many other countries and cities around the world. In England, St. George’s day is April 23rd. In Eastern Europe he is usually celebrated on May 6th.

We’ve adapted our version from the Lives of the Saints - but we’ve made a slight change to the ending. In the original, St. George (a Roman soldier) forces the town’s people to convert to Christianity before he kills the dragon. We thought that wasn’t quite the right message for the modern age – but just so that you know. He later went on to become a Bishop and a martyr. Various versions of the story are outlined here. The famous historian Edward Gibbon debunked him as a rouge-trader to the Roman army.

Read by Natasha. Duration 9 minutes. unsecured loans

St. George stands for courage, and chivalry. Chivalry is the code of honour which knights in armor used to follow. They had to swear to be brave, fair, true to their word, and to protect the weak and the poor. Of course not all knights kept the code – but St. George did.

He is the patron saint of England, and the red cross of St. George is on the national flag. In England, his day is the 23rd of April. He is also the patron saint of several other countries, including, Canada, China, Greece, Russia, Portugal, Palestine, Ethiopia, Serbia, and Montenegro. And one country is even named after him – and that’s the Georgia which is situated between Russia and Turkey.

He is often painted as a knight in armour from the Middle Ages, but in fact born long before those times, when the Romans still ruled much of the world.

One thousand seven and hundred years ago, in the time of the Roman Empire, there was – just outside the City of Cyrene in North Africa – a large stagnant, smelly pond. In this pond there lived a dragon. And whenever the dragon breathed on a person or an animal, they died on the spot. At first the dragon breathed on all the sheep that lived in the fields around the city. Then he started to attack the people, and threatened to kill them one and all.

The people of Cyrene had no choice but to come to terms with the dragon. They agreed to give him one person every month, so long as he left the others alone and unharmed for the rest of the time. But how were they to decide which person to sacrifice?

The king decreed that the names of every citizen should be scratched onto pieces of pottery, and kept in a great urn. Each month, one of the names would be drawn out of the urn, and that person would be given to the dragon. In this way men and women, both rich and poor, were chosen to be fed to the evil beast.

Then one day the name of the princess was shaken out of the urn. According to the King’s own law, his daughter must be sacrificed. He called the people together and offered them gold and treasure if only they would agree to spare her from the dragon. The judges who oversaw the lottery said that it must be completely fair, or else the people would no longer accept it. And so, much saddened, the king said to the princess: “My dear, I shall never see your wedding day.”

A week went past, and the day arrived when she must meet her fate. The palace servants dressed her in her wedding gown and placed a crown of flowers on her head. They led her out of the city in a procession, and headed for the lake where they dragon lived.

As they were on their way, a Roman soldier came riding up to the city. His name was George and he was a Christian from Cappadocia in Turkey. George stopped and asked why such a beautiful young woman was looking so sad on her wedding day. A citizen replied:

“Because according to the law she must this day marry the dragon who lives in that lake, and her wedding gift shall be death.”

George immediately replied: “If that really be the case, then let me slay the dragon.”

The citizens warned him that nobody stood a fighting chance against such as ferocious, plague-breathing lizard, but George was determined to save he princess.

The people tied her to a tree by the lake, and left her to meet her fate. George saw the dragon emerge out of the swampy waters, and he charged up on his horse and flung his spear into its shoulder. The dragon let out a piercing shriek. It was wounded by not fatally. While it was writhing in pain, George managed to cut the princess free from her bonds. The dragon was enraged and rounded on his attacker. George retreated and called out to the princes to take off the belt from around her waste and to throw it at the dragon. This she did, and by a miracle, the belt wrapped itself round the dragons neck like a collar. Immediately the dragon became as peaceful as a lamb, and the princess was able to lead it by her belt back to the City.

When the people saw the princess and George leading the dragon back to their walls, they became angry and afraid, until St. George drew out his sword and slew the dragon, And then the people knew that from then on they could live safe and unharmed. bad credit loans

Lent. Top 10 things to throw out of the window

•  #1. Food

  People mentioned all sorts of food that they're giving up for Lent. Most popular was chocolate, followed by an array of candies, sweets, and suprisingly, biscuits. [ed. note: Jack has informed me that “biscuit” is limey for “cookie.”] At least one respondent claimed that they bad credit loans would be giving up food all together. May they rest in peace.

• #2. Lent

  Giving up Lent for Lent? At least 13% of the  unsecured loans top 100 results are just as clever as you.

• #3. Religion

  Another 13% of our sample said that they were giving up Christianity, Catholicism, Jesus, or Religion for Lent. Does it still count as irony if it was totally expected?

• #4. Your Favorite Website

  The top site to give up for Lent is Catholic Answers Forum, followed closely by Facebook and Youtube. This shouldn't be interpreted as though CAF is more addictive than either Facebook or Youtube; just that lent is more relevant to CAF. (yay Google!)

• #5. Alcohol

  Whether answering with “drinking,” “booze,” or “beer,” this is where the actual adherents to Lent seem to be. And that's fine. There'll be plenty of wine come Easter.

• #6. Swearing/Cursing

  But… but… What about all the parts of the book that deal with whores and damnation?

• #7. Porn, Sex, Masturbation

  People have so many colorful ways to talk about sex, whether it's with a partner or by themselves. Not included in this number were the three people who said they would be giving up abstinence or the other two giving up “consent.”

• #8. Charlie Sheen

  I think everything there is to say about Charlie Sheen has already been covered by now. Good call giving that up!

• #9. Numbers

  Either people don't like doing math, or they don't like looking at scales, or taxes, or being accountable for anything that can be counted. Sounds more like how to spend Mardi Gras.

• #10. Heroin

  You read that right. Not cocaine, not weed, not cigarettes, not even coffee ranked as high as heroin. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Day

All church members are invited to attend our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper in the Great Hall on Tuesday evening, February 21. This is a come and go meal from 5:30 until 7:00 p.m. with a Mardi Gras theme.  The Fellowship Ministry will be flipping pancakes for a pancake bar – all the pancakes will be plain pancakes, and you will be able to decorate your pancake with all sorts of delicious toppings.  Coffee, juice, and bacon will also be provided. Cost: $4/person with a $15/maximum per family. unsecured loans

Here is a little history about Shrovetide, Shrove Tuesday and pancakes.

                The last three days before the beginning of Lent is known as Shrovetide. The old names for these days were:

1. Quinquagesima Sunday – Shrove Sunday. The fiftieth day before Easter
2. Collop Monday – Shrove Monday. Named after the traditional dish of the day: collops of bacon served with eggs. In addition to providing little meat, the collops were also the source of the fat for the following day’s pancakes.
3. Pancake Day – Shrove Tuesday. The day on which all fats and cream had to be used up.

Shrovetide was celebrated with games, sports, dancing and other revelries. There were feasts to use up the food that could not be eaten during the Lenten fast.

        Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) is the last day before the period which Christians call Lent. This day is one of the moveable feasts in the church calendar and is directly related to the date on which Easter falls.  Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between February 3 and March 9.

Where does the word Shrove come from?

The name Shrove comes from the old word “shrive” which means to confess. On Shrove Tuesday, in the Middle Ages, people used to confess their sins so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began.

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, bad credit loans because it’s the last day before Lent. Lent historically is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge, and to use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.