China Bistro乃媽媽水餃也 June 30, 2015
Posted by hslu in Chinese Food, Restaurants.Tags: China Bistro, Rockville MD, 媽媽水餃
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I can’t think of any connection between China Bistro and 媽媽水餃 but they are in fact one Chinese restaurant in located in Rockville, MD.
It is a small restaurant with about 15 tables and several appetizers on the menu are on display in a deli case.
Of course the specialty of the restaurant is 水餃, or dumplings. There are at least 10 varieties on the menu. They also have noodles and a good numbers of Chinese stir fried dishes. Lunch specials have about 20 items which are priced around $7.50 each.
We ordered a plate of 媽媽水餃 for about $10, a cold noodle and a bowl of fish and Chinese green veggie plus 2 appetizers: boiled peanuts and marinated dry bean curds.
Both are nicely done: peanuts are seasoned with Chinese spices such as 5 spices and anise. Dry bean curd is chewy.
Very spicy and somewhat numming. Goid sauce with some sweetnesd in the end.
12 to an order. Hand made. Great with soy sauce.
Pork, shrimp and Chinese cabbage.
Silky smooth and very tasty.
We will come back for sure.
官商勾結：Taiwan’s MO June 29, 2015
Posted by hslu in Economics, Taiwan.Tags: 台灣, 官商勾結
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This is an example of how it works in Tiwan:
1. The government wants to start a project around a location where it owns some land.
2. The project has been proved to build a maintenance facility for the future metro system of the city.
3. The government acquires parcels of land from land owners surrounding government’s property using eminent domain at current market price.
4. Once enough land is in government’s procession, the government changes the zoning of the entire property from argruculture or manufacturing to residential and commercial use. Since the land is near a future metro station or a new city center, the value of the land is increased by 10 times or higher seemingly overnight.
5. The small land owners whose properties were confiscated by the governmnet sue the government for more money but all cases are defeated in the court.
6. The government auctions out the entire property and grants its development right to someone with inside information and special connections. Kickbacks were asked by government officials in return for insider bidding information. Negociations arranged by a middle man and money delivered after promises are made.
7. The developer receives the land at favorite price because of ‘關係’ guanxi, special connections,’ and kickbacks to officials. It then negotiates with the government and retains the majority of the properties it builds. Government gets to keep very little which is a disgrace. Since there is little oversight or transparency, the deal is closed with few citizens noticing the irregularity. Government officials get rich from generous kickbacks. The developer gets rich because they received insider bidding information.
Use your imagination and apply the MO to other areas like the one below:
I remembered that this was the it worked before I left Taiwan 40 years ago. It is still the same now. The only difference is this: we used to hear dollar amount in the tens of thousands of dollars. Now, the dollar amount is in the hundreds of million of dollars.
There was some progress made over the past four decades in Taiwan after all.
台灣食：不安 June 29, 2015
Posted by hslu in Cooking, Food, Taiwan.Tags: 食安風暴, 台灣, 地溝油, 塑化劑
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Ever since the early 1990’s, dry goods, cans and packaged food items imported from China have filled the shelves at local Korean and Chinese supermarkets all over the United States. Things made in Taiwan disappeared from the shelves as soon as stuff made in China became available.
The ubiqitous of things that were ‘Made in China’ presented us with a dilemma.
Many times when we shopped we had to decide on the spot whether to buy the cheaper Chinese products or visually more appealing packages made in Taiwan.
Of course, we constantly worried about food safety and we took for granted that ‘Made in Taiwan’ stood for superior quality and safety when compared to stuff ‘Made in China’.
We are very comfortable eating stuff imported from Taiwan because in our minds we believed:
Taiwan is a ‘developed’ country,
Taiwan is a more advanced society,
Taiwan is cleaner,
Taiwan is happier place,
Taiwan is governed by law,
Taiwan is more ‘health concious,’
Taiwan is richer thus it can afford higher quality food, and
Taiwan is where we grew up.
As a result, the sense of ‘belonging’ make buying ‘Made in Taiwan’ an easy decision.
Well, we were cheated by the ‘Made in Taiwan’ symbol because Taiwan isn’t that great as far as food safety is concern. Worse yet, the recent news reports discovered that this kind of misconducts by many greedy merchants had happened for a long time in many aspects of the food industry:
君不見今人有詩為證：
台灣人
食安風暴何時了？
毒素吃多少。
肉毒桿菌加塑化，
肝癌末期手術化療中。
味全統一都還在，
只是內容改。
問君怎能不發愁？
恰似地溝黑油向肚流。
在我離開台灣的四十年中，台灣真的進步了嗎？
Charter House, Alexandria, VA June 29, 2015
Posted by hslu in Restaurants, Travel.Tags: Alexandria VA, Chart House
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Don’t go unless you like bad food costing you an arm and a leg.
Came here with wife to see what this ‘High Class’ restaurant was about. We waled in on a sunny weekday afternoon about 2 and was told that we have to wait 20 minutes for an outside table. The young girl asked for my phone number and said I’d get a message when my table was ready. No more bulky blinking buzzer which keeps guests close by because it has a limited range.
Well, as promised we got an outside tabke in about 20 minutes.
Service was good. Most items on the menu were fish and the prices were all in the $30 range. Appetizers were around $10 and wines by the glass were $10 and higher. Basically it cost about $20% more than other restaurants charged.
The $34 fish was mediocre with no taste. Vegetables obviously came from a frozen bag with bland taste. Presentation was below average. Spreads for pita bread were tasteless.
Don't be fooled by the color of the veggies. It came from the frezxer.
The new casino is under contruction to the east of the National Harbor in the back.
All in all it was a waste of money and totally not worth the price we’d paid for. It was kind like what you got at 2 am in the morning from a 24-hour diner.
648億新臺幣 June 26, 2015
Posted by hslu in Politics, Taiwan, Taxes.Tags: 苗栗, 劉政鴻, 台灣
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這是台灣苗栗縣一個當了八年縣長下台後欠下來的債務。
他是誰呢？
國民黨的劉政鴻。
苗栗縣的入口有多少人呢？大概有56.6萬人。
648億新臺幣除以56.6萬人=每人負擔 $114,500新臺幣。
我以為只有美國的加州欠錢欠的凶，誰知道台灣也有無能的政府亂搞一通。
不知道這些錢誰來還？
不知道劉政鴻有沒有貪污？
不知道苗栗縣的人民有沒有什麼辦法懲罰這種無能的官吏？
台灣的民主跟美國的民主一樣：選出來的官吏只知道花人民的稅錢，而為的是自己的政治前途和下一次的選票。這些官員拿人民的血汗錢，給人民做這個，做那個，給人民這個好處，給那個好處。等他下了台，欠了一屁股的債，拍拍屁股下台一鞠躬。剩下來的爛攤子是別人的事。
這種民主實在不是人民的福氣。
台灣有什麼？ June 26, 2015
Posted by hslu in Global Affair, Taipei, Taiwan.Tags: 競爭力, 台灣, 世界第一
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台灣有什麼值得台灣人驕傲的產品？
台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲的品牌？
台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲的工業？
台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲的著作？
台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲的名人？
台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲的學者？
台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲的政策？
台灣有什麽東西在世界上是數一數二的？
台灣有許多工廠。可是這些工廠有幾個是世界級的呢？
台灣有許多國立大學。可是有幾個能在世界上出人頭地的？
台灣有許多國立研究所。可是有幾個能夠名列前茅呢？
台灣有許多百貨公司。可是大多數是日本和歐洲的品牌。好像沒有一個是台灣土生土長的。
台灣有許多老牌的醫院。可是台大醫院急診室的病人要等好幾個鐘頭甚至半天或一天才能進病房。急診室的通道變成暫時病房。許多病房裏的病人，沒什麽大病動不動就住上它十天或半個月把醫院當成療養院做月子中心。反正醫院管吃管住又有人照顧何樂不為呢。保險公司也拿他們沒辦法。
台灣的健保據說是世界上數一數二的。可是有些醫院的護士要照顧14個病人。一個醫生平均一天要看70個病人。這種制度把醫護人員搞得團團轉，精力透支苦不堪言。這怎麼能叫世界數一數二的醫療制度呢？
台灣有許多餐館，大大小小琳瑯滿布。一道吃飯的時候，許多餐館都擠滿了人。可是好像只有一兩個有能力在國外設分店，能在國外搞出一點知名度。
台灣一向以實行民主而自豪。四五十年前就有市議員的選舉了。可是臺灣的民主是真正的民主嗎？台灣的民主脫離了買票賣票的習慣了嗎？台灣的民主帶給台灣進步了嗎？
讓我來想一想台灣有什麽值得台灣人驕傲，有什麽東西能在世界上排名而又是數一數二的？
我知道：故宮博物院。
故宮博物院有許多珍藏的寶物。在別的國家看不到的。這些珍藏值得臺灣人驕傲。
還有呢？
嗯。。。。
台灣的長榮海運在1990年代初期曾經是全球排名第一的貨櫃集裝箱運輸公司，擁有165艘全貨櫃輪船服務遍及全球80多個國家，240餘處服務據點。長榮航空和其他子公司營業成績不錯。值得一提。可惜長榮海運的 Market Cap 也只有 $86 billion，每年的營業額只有$5billion。長榮航空還不錯。公司
擁有八十幾架飛機，每年的營業額也只有$30 billion左右。
還有呢？
嗯。。。。
台灣的代工工廠是數一數二的。可是每做一個iPhone，台灣能賺幾個錢？再說，這些代工的工廠不在台灣，在大陸。他們a顧的工人不是台灣人但是這些工廠的營業卻算是台灣的GDP。許多公司的股票大漲特漲可是賺到錢的是公司的大老闆和高級職員。台灣的老百姓只能替這些人有錢人和他們的小孩按摩；在台灣的茶館，酒樓和餐館爲這些人端盤子，送菜，洗碗；替這些人看門；幫他們找房子投資。
做手機的hTC以前還不錯。東西漂亮，性能好，價錢也非常合理，在網路上的評語也相當好。可是他們的股票從一千多塊掉到九二共識以下，被蘋果，三星，小米，中興打的屁滾尿流。
那幾個做電腦和筆電的公司也都再見了。智慧手機一出來，這些公司沒法翻身，沒法轉型，已經被股票市場徹底的遺棄了。
台灣做晶片的工廠還不錯。可是你有沒有看到大陸已經把晶片市場當成國防基業。他們已經瞭解這個工業是國家的基礎，不能再被Intel, Qualcomm,和臺積電這些公司牽著鼻子走路了。大陸已經積極的投資人力物力和資金從最基本的做起。臺積電要小心點，不然老本在兩三年之內就會被坐吃山空了。
嗯。。。
還有呢？夜市算不算？ 這是其他地方少有的。台灣的夜市是國際有名的。君不見台灣到處都有’觀光夜市’？大大的招牌高高的掛在那裏就怕你看不到。
還有呢？
101算不算？它可曾是世界第一高的大樓。頂天立地好不威風老遠就看得到。只可惜沒幾年就把世界第一高的名字拱手讓人了。
嗯。。。，好傷心。
我想不起來了。
Not Affordable Care Act June 25, 2015
Posted by hslu in Health Insurance, Obamacare.Tags: ObamaCare
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- Not Affordable Care Act
Obamacare is not affordable and the Supreme Court decision today is just too bad.
洪咬金 綠咬洪 國民黨也咬她 大家亂咬一通 June 24, 2015
Posted by hslu in Election, Taiwan.Tags: 2016大選, 王金平, 統一派, 電視名嘴, 馬英九, 本土派, 朱立倫, 洪秀柱
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台灣的政治是一個很容易被電視名嘴左右的政治。馬英九就是一個很好的例子。不管馬英九說什麽做什麽都被名嘴批評的一無是處。無能的馬英九被名嘴說個一百次，一千次，無知的選民不相信也相信了。
洪秀柱自告奮勇出來選總統。國民黨祭出民調30%的防磚門檻來擋她。誰知道她拿到很高的民調使得國民黨其他想要出來的候選人，例如王金平，目瞪口呆，不知道如何對付。王金平被洪秀柱半路殺出一個洪咬金。棄甲而逃。
不過洪秀柱並沒有蓋棺論定一定會當成國民黨的2016的候選人因為國民黨本土派一定有人不服氣絕對會找洪秀柱的渣子。批評洪秀柱的聲音絕對會像排山倒海一般的出來，說她資格不夠，說她條件差，說她沒有做總統候選人的資本，說她拿不到本省人的票，說她沒有國民黨黨員的支持，說她的民調被民進黨灌了水。
這下有好戲看了。
馬英九這個壁櫥裏的統一派要洪秀柱出來。可是馬英九不是黨主席。
朱立倫做黨主席，選總統候選人是他的責任。可是朱立倫做黨主席時間短，他的後台還不夠硬支持他的人還不夠多。如果朱立倫照章行事決定洪秀柱做2016國民黨的總統候選人，他會得罪國民黨的本土派和王金平，也會被電視名嘴批評成馬英九的哈巴狗。他以後做黨主席的日子就難過了。
他如果考慮他自己的利益和，國民黨黨內的政治因素和洪秀柱的競選條件而拋棄洪秀柱，國民黨的本土派會支持他，王金平會擁護他，本土派的立法委員會說他有骨氣，有獨立的思考能力，有超人的遠見。到頭來國民黨會換黨章改選舉規則拼死命的會把洪秀柱擠下來。
可是電視名嘴卻會站在洪秀柱這邊幫她說話，說她是一個合格的候選人，批評國民黨裏面反對洪秀柱的人，說國民黨出爾反爾沒有原則。因為對民進黨的空心菜來說，洪秀柱是一個跑龍套的腳色，不成氣候，比王金平要容易打敗。
那洪秀柱呢？她很可能一不做二不休乾脆離開國民黨做無黨無派的總統候選人搞到底。電視名嘴一定全體起立，鼓掌叫好，說她有骨氣，有原則，有膽量。到頭來，國民黨提名王金平，搞得國民黨四分五裂全盤皆輸。電視名嘴就更高興了。
可是台灣的人民得到什麼好處？臺灣的經濟有救了嗎？統一就更是遙遙無期了。
唉:|，台灣啊台灣，本土派，統一派和原狀派什麼時候才能面對現實全部變成務實派呢？
Obama the hyprocrit June 23, 2015
Posted by hslu in Obama.Tags: James Foley, Obama, SC Charleston shooting
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Obama said this a few days ago on Charleston Shooting:
‘I’ve Had to Make Statements Like This Too Many Times.’
But,
Once the photo op is over, what did Obama do afterwards?
Did he cancel his prior appointments, fly to SC and talk to family members?
Did he meet with anti gun people and Democrat leaders to push his gun control agenda since he was so adamant about the issue?
No.
He went to two fund raising events in the Bay Area the next day.
1. Hosted by a VC and 30 people.
Price tag: $33,400 each.
2. A very rich “green energy” guy and 50 people.
Price tag: $10,000 minimum.
Hmmm…., What do they want for their Money? And What are Obama selling?
You know that Obama has a habit of doing this kind of things: photo op followed by money, golf, basketball and vacation.
And all these are perfectly legal. This Is THE American Way.
Remember this about Obama?
Within minutes after a photo op of saying,
“We will be vigilant and we will be relentless”
about pursuing the ISIS terrorists who beheaded American journalist James Foley, Obama went golfing with his friends.
This really showed just how big a hyprocrit Obama really is.
xiaohua 