It is expected that under the DPP government that the indigenous people of the island will be represented in greater proportion than ever before.
The island, formerly called Formosa, has had various colonizers and conquerors since the 17th century. China(PRC) maintains that Taiwan is a renegade province of theirs. They have tried to woo the people by holding out the idea of close but privileged status within the whole, much like Hong Kong. That model is under close scrutiny right now as many of the privileges/rights that the HK citizens are supposed to have is being eroded. Street demonstrations protesting the creep of central power have been held. Even more chilling to the HK people is the recent disappearance of five HK book publishers. They specialized in ensuring that books banned by the PRC government were published and available in HK. Free speech is one of the guarantees that HK was granted. At least one publisher is known to be in the PRC. He phoned his wife to tell her to not make a fuss. His identification papers were still in HK and he could not have travelled to the mainland without them. That is, unless he was smuggled in. Definitely interesting times for the two Chinas. Sources: Brisbane Times CNN
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It is well known that dust particles can ignite into fireballs. Even some substances that are not normally thought of as dangerous can turn deadly when ground fine and exposed to a heat source. In the case of the Taiwan fireball, the stage lights are thought to be that heat source. Common triggers for dust explosions can be static discharge, friction, “shorts” in electrical equipment and open flames.
When particles are less than 500 micrometres in diameter they are considered dust. They may be even finer than that. Explosions in grain elevators, mines and saw mills are fairly common, especially if rigorous maintenance in not observed. Sources: Al Jazeera Reuters Wikipedia
Some factories are pumping ground water to compensate for the water restrictions. This has led to ground subsistence in areas where excessive pumping has occurred.
Increasing population and manufacturing will continue to put pressure on water sources. In the category of there’s always a crook ready to make a buck – scammers have been caught selling bottled water as distilled water or mineral water when it comes from dubious ground water sources. Taiwan is expecting a weather system to bring light rains to the northern part of the island, but that area is not as parched as the south. Little relief is expected there. Small changes in climate can translate to big changes in weather patterns. Sources: The China Post Taiwan Info Radio Taiwan International |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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