Hong Kong Again

 

Demand is growing for Ottawa to support a Richmond man who was recently put on a wanted list by the Communist Chinese Hong Kong government.

The situation is one that observers have been predicting could happen since Hong Kong (China) implemented a new national security law in June 2020. 

Victor Ho, a former editor-in-chief of the Sing Tao Daily newspaper, was accused by the Hong Kong government’s security bureau earlier this month of subverting state power after he participated in a Toronto news conference proposing a Hong Kong parliament-in-exile that would oppose Beijing’s clampdown on political freedoms. Editorial coverage of Chinese Communist Party controlled Sing Tao has shifted noticeably since the takeover; 

Sing Tao now - 

• Avoids or limits coverage of politically sensitive topics such as 1989 military crackdown on Tiananmen Square protesters, Tibet and Taiwanese independence.
• Shifts critical opinions to back pages.
• Chooses 'politically correct' rhetoric.
• Directs investigative journalism to favor soft news or a simple accounting of emerging events.
  

Sing Tao is now a Communist Party media. Two Canadian MPs and a concerned citizens group recently called on Prime Minister Trudeau and federal foreign affairs minister to step up and take note of Ho’s case and publicly denounce the Hong Kong government.

We all knew it would happen that the Chinese Communists would never honour their agreement with Britain when they took over in 1997. 

We need to take Mr. Ho seriously.

Here is a remembrance of Hong Kong I posted here previously - 

In April 1975 I was in Hong Kong. It was British then and a fascinating city for a Canadian. Full of energy and human action. Today HongKongers feel they are a unique people who with their freedoms over a hundred years have built something special that needs no suppression of their dynamic spirit. 

 

We stayed in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon and had a nice hotel right on Nathan Road. The old Kai Tak airport was only a narrow strip of reclaimed land that jutted from the main waterfront into Victoria Harbour circled by high buildings. The pilot flies over the tops and there was no glide path, so he has to suddenly cut power and drop between those skyscrapers, but crank it on again about half way down to get going and avoid being a splat! Then you look out the window and the wings seem over the water because the tarmac is so narrow. You appreciate the skill of airline pilots. 

 

And you soon discover the bus drivers' skill too as they race their double-deckers on a tortuous route through the city, narrowly missing overhanging awnings and surging crowds. Hong Kong may be British but it's not London,

You visit Hong Kong Island via the Star Ferry. When you want to cross from Kowloon you just run aboard and toss your money into a huge funnel and are never sure if they actually count it. 

You might see a rare Chinese Junk passing with orange sails, or witness people in the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter who live their whole lives in little sampans. Or go to the magical Tiger Balm Gardens and buy a little vial for aches and pains. And it works! 

Although the riches of Hong Kong were evident in the fantastic array of modern high buildings and Rolls Royces, the poor were visible too. Living in grey tents or a lean-to on the hillside with only a piece of corrugated tin for shelter, sometimes whole families eked out a living by making plastic flowers or little toys and dolls. Cooking in tiny pots. Julia Child once said the Chinese were the best cooks because they could make their food taste the same wherever they were in the world!

 

While we were there Chiang Kai-Shek died. April 5, 1975. He was the Nationalist revolutionary and military leader of the Republic of China from 1928 to his death in Taipei, on Taiwan island, the last stand of the free Chinese against the Communist hordes that still rule today. What was called Mainland China then, and wants now to eliminate Taiwanese democracy from China. As Beijing has done with those brave HongKongers who resisted as long as they could. Taiwan may be the last hold of Free Chinese.

 

In 1975 you had to escape to Hong Kong from China. While we watched on the news of Chiang Kai-Shek's passing, the hillsides bloomed with the red and blue flags of the Republic lamenting the event. And it seemed that however poor those hardy people struggling on the slopes were, they loved their freedom more than bowing to the communist regime and needed to show it to the world.

 

Says a lot about their mettle, doesn't it?   

  

Note: In 1842 China ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain in perpetuity,  (Treaty of Nan King)  followed by the Kowloon peninsula (Convention of Peking) in 1860, also to the British in perpetuity. The lease was up only on the New Territories in 1997. Many China watchers feel the Brits betrayed the people of Hong Kong and considered business interests more important than the freedom of the people.

Also; Taiwan is not a parliament in exile, it is the home of FREE Chinese people who cherish liberty and is NOT part of the communist regime. And the large population of Chinese people who now reside in Western Canada are also here because they escaped the oppression of a Communist Government.

Tim Horton's coffee, a donut, and your info.

Repost update in regard to the controversial Tim Horton's App YOU downloaded to your own phone. Original was posted in 2017 and we all know 'they' have progressed since then..

 

Do you think you are being surveilled? You bet you are and it's all your own fault!

I just got a new Samsung phone, and here is what I found in the small print, certain things that you allow without being asked - - - This is just part of the Samsung legal. I have cut some of the lawyer language.

• Your Samsung may often download Updates automatically through Wi-Fi or other network connection ... Samsung will provide you with notice of the Update where practicable.  (Which could mean it may NOT and you won't know what exactly happened?)
• Internet Access - The Samsung Software will access the internet through your mobile network which may result in additional charges. (Whaaa?)
• Third-Party Materials - Certain Third-Party (TP) applications may be downloaded to your Samsung Mobile Device. Such applications may include content data, information or materials, or provide links to TP websites, you acknowledge and agree that Samsung is NOT responsible or liable for any content on said downloads. You agree that use of these TP materials (that you did NOT agree about) is at your sole risk. You agree not to harass, abuse, threaten or infringe on the right of the TP stuff, (that someone put on your phone which you did not ask for) TP materials are governed by the TP terms of use and which may include personal data you provide, even unknowingly are subject to that TP's privacy policy. (So you can see now that you have NO control over your own phone and what someone may put on it!) and Samsung in bold upper case, disclaims any responsibility for any disclosure from TP practices! (So an UNKNOWN entity puts stuff on YOUR phone without your knowledge and YOU are to blame for whatever results that makes! WOW!)
• Then they have another loud talk basically saying they are not responsible for anything at all!  lol

Samsung Privacy Policy Highlights

• We collect personal information that you provide ... from Third Party sources, social networks and analytics. We may share your personal information with affiliate or trusted partner companies, insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, etc. (THEY may trust them but I don't know if I do. They are not even telling me who their so-called trusted partners are!)
• We collect - Device info, hardware model, IMEI number, phone number, serial number, country code, network code, MAC  address, IP address, settings on your device, cookies, pixels, (Whoa! a word about pixels, like those used to make a picture of a nice cow in that field. It is made up of pixels, maybe a million or so - tracking pixels can be added to any picture and you think you'll see one? Nope. Remember microdots from WWII? Meanwhile these magic pixels are sending out data about YOU!) Log info, usage info such as time and duration of your use of certain services and any info stored in cookies that WE (your phone) have set on your devices! (Whew, how long did I stare at Miss String Bikini '75? That iron collar on my neck is getting tighter!  All to provide ME with a 'better' experience, it says here!) Sure.
• WE (your phone) will disclose your information to -  Affiliates. Business Partners, who work together, like a bank, research etc, These business partners control and manage your personal info. (Big list after that too.)
• Your use of our services will involve the transfer, storage, and processing of your personal info to other countries in particular the Republic of Korea, but also - the EEA, USA, China, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Canada, the Philippines and Japan. (Of course we have NO IDEA who some of those countries may share your data with once THEY have it, do we? And the tech industry is trying to scare us away from Huawei for spying?

Well, this is far too long to expect you to read and store the info, suffice to say that your phone IS intruding on your privacy. Spying on you, without you knowing they are doing it, or without you knowing WHO is getting YOUR info) Give me a break, go directly to the gullible line.

Lots more headings tucked into those innocent looking paragraphs. 

And now it has 'View Security certificates' - Scroll down this one if you have the afternoon off, there are hundreds of these on your phone, all there to help YOU.
Here are only a couple - AS Sertifitseerimiskeskus - Chungwa Telecom Co. Limited - QuoVadis Limited - (I don't even like Victor Mature) - Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik (just because I bought Turkish bread at the bakery?) - Secure Trust Corporation - (Secure Trust?) There are fifty more on my phone. Sorry, but I don't feel better about this. As Paul Newman would say to Butch, "Who ARE those guys?"

And better still, you can now use a fingerprint AND/OR face recognition to access your phone! So you press your finger into a box that records your print, and now you use that to make your phone work. Is that a problem that virtually anything going into your phone becomes digital info that is nothing more than a series of numbers! I have never activated a fingerprint reader, but somehow my phone already has a heading - Fingerprints with a - SHA-256 fingerprint heading, and an alphanumeric like this - 41:C9:23:86 etc and those number-letters go on and on! 256 finger prints are already there? Are these the prints of the spy guys who are going to be reading and listening and watching everything I do on my shiny new communication device? Are they pre-installed? 256 of them! How many do they need?

And what about face recognition? Go ahead. Now 'They' know who you are, on your phone, on the street, going into that concert, loitering near the bank. Hmm, all this is for you. Nothing controversial about that. Is there? Is there? In China those face masks are used even without smog! I know why. And those numbers when digitized and duplicated by simply inputting the string into any computer and viola; there, I just typed in your fingerprint! Or your photo, and there you are, grinning like a gerbil with a new wheel!

Well has the desired effect been achieved? What can I do except take the easy way out like the rest of you? 'I'm not doing anything wrong so I have nothing to worry about ' you say. As long as I continue to keep my job, watch baseball and whatever they want me to be normal about. Sure.

The problem is, what exactly is normal or wrong? Who defines wrong? I go to church. But what Church? We saw Jeffrey Epstein going to a church once. Was it a Shinto Temple? It's wrong to be a Copt in Egypt. You're not an agnostic are you? Will Christians become illegal? 

And where did you go when you conveniently 'forgot' your phone in the bar that night? You went back the next day to retrieve it, but what did you do in those nine hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds while it was out of your pulse range? Did you foment revolution? Who did you go home with? You drive an older car without the black box so they couldn't track you. You better buy a new car, they'll put ads on your phone to help you pick.
And that selfie at the game. Why did you include the man 2 rows back and one over? Do you know that guy? Why is he watching you? WE know him.
This could be endless and I am not a paranoiac! But I am afraid to play Words with Friends now because what about the words I use? Are they saying something subliminal about me that is revealing my hidden personality? The FBI is using software now that can identify a potential criminal! (and arrest you because you are likely to commit a crime)
OMG what have I said on facebook and Twitter? What videos did I like on YouTube? 

Paranoid? Nooo. Sorry Mom, but we can only talk now on benches in public parks with lots of truck traffic passing by.

 

And by the way, say Hi to Bixby, on your Samsung, he's their resident fink. He probably knows Siri, Alexa and all those other informers, snitchers and stool pigeons too! You don't know what HE looks like, but he knows what YOU look like. There might be an app on your phone right now sending all your calls, texts, photos, and more to who knows? You know of course, that your camera phone works without any tell-tale light now, don't you? It can be bypassed. And how do you know your microphone is on or off?

 

Give me a minute, I'm taking deep breaths.

 

So. Do I think I am being surveilled? You bet I do and it's all my own damned fault! I bought a new 'smart' cel phone, but don't you be a smart ass and think yours is different, because it ain't! Your Google or iPhone will be exactly he same, the brand makes little difference and you'd be a fool to think other wise. Get used to your virtual ankle bracelet and speak clearly when you whisper.

 

But I'm keeping my old car, it doesn't have a little black surveillance box with a location track record like every new car and knows where to go without On-Star.

 

Trust me.

 

The only question remaining is this:  If Tim Hortons had said to you before downloading the App, 'We will give you a coffee and a donut to record virtually ALL your personal information." Would you have agreed?

 

 

[Shhh!  Got this from an old Dick Tracy comic.  Invisible ink for writing secret notes - you use lemon juice with a nib pen and the message cannot be seen until you heat the paper .... I'm just trying to help.] 

 

 

 

 

Hollywood

Space Aliens

How many commentators have looked at UFOs, or as they're calling them now, UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenom) as closely as we should?

 

First, when we see lights in the sky, and we cannot explain them, we assume they must be space ships from some other Galaxy. So IF they were, and have arrived here from a thousand light-year journey from somewhere in Pegasus, why would they need lights? Do they need to look out the windows to see where they're going? Do they need windows?  Do they need eyes?

 

Can we accept that any space vehicle in our realm will not need lights? For lighting up their path or for being identified! 

Wouldn't they have way better stealth technology than us? If you're going into a new galaxy and know little about the folks who live there, wouldn't you want to approach with caution? Instead of brandishing that now familiar V formation so often the subject of speculation?

And why do we assume they'll be our relative size? Human sized. Yes maybe depending on where they are from. Jupitor has room for big people. But isn't the real reason the dinosaurs went extinct is because they were too big for our little planet? If we were on Pluto would we be 1 (one) foot tall? 

Maybe our space visitors are actually the size of lady bugs? Or smaller. Why can't their space vehicle be the size of a beach pebble! And why isn't that a full big craft to them. So what if they actually look like beach rocks, and they all crashed here and became sand fleas who are hopping mad at their captain! 

 

And we all saw that F15 supposedly chasing a UAP across the skies. Really? Maybe it was just a fruit fly stuck in the radar sensor? Or a pretense for the USA to start a 'Space Force'.

And why so often do they seem to land in rural communities. If they really wanted to communicate, wouldn't they land on the White House lawn? Or within the Kremlin walls? Or Forbidden City? No space creature in it's right mind would land in Kansas or Arkansas! 

"Travis, there's a seven legged critter out there with 18 eyes looking in." 

"I'll get the shotgun, Martha." 

Blam! No Martian gonna get a 'murican.

 

 

 

Or maybe the vehicle passed us by already. Oumuamua dropped by to have a look and the scouting report was that our lil' blue planet is full of parasites, let's get the f outa here! 

I'm itchin' already!

 

 

 

 

 

So is that all we are? Just bugs with no greater purpose in our universe. Move on, nothing to see here, folks. Jus' keep on going like the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

Come back in two or three light-years.

 

 

Aloha, Oumuamua, muhalo.

 

 

Psst! Maybe don't tell anyone we are here.

 

 

 

Tahiti or bust.

 

 

 (mixed up history)

 

 The last picture of the Titanic leaving Ireland.

 

From the rowboat - 'Fletcher Christian, I'll see you hang from the highest yardarm in the British Navy!'

From the big ship - 'Piss off, Bligh, I be captain of de Bounty now.' 

 

 

 

 

 

What If?

 

What if you died and went to Heaven and when you got there and were checked in you went into a room and all your former Earth friends were there, greeting you with handshakes, hugs and big smiles and you thought, 'Hey this is alright.' There were big windows to a sunlit pastoral countryside that made you feel all yellow and warm and welcome. 

And you found a really nice plush chair, and they served you fresh tea and fancy cakes and you started reminiscing about all the fun times you had with them over the years. 

 

And they kept bringing up old escapades and you all laughed and it was so warm and nice and you felt so good about seeing them again. Each one had a wonderful memory to chat about, and loved being in Heaven. And after a while you all got a little tired and went to sleep with a smile and pleasant visions to dream on.

And you woke up the next day and headed down the hallway into the room and there were all your friends again, smiling like before and making tea again, with those lovely cakes and that cozy chair. And one of your friends said, "Do you remember that time when you ..."  and as she spoke you thought, 'Hey that's what she said yesterday.' and then you realized that everyone else was also exactly the same, and going through the same talk and motions as yesterday. 

And you began to wonder and wanted to ask a question and ... then you got tired and went to bed again.

And then you woke up on your second day in Heaven and went to the same room and that chair and everything was the same again and your friends said what a nice visit that was yesterday and then talked about a memory that they talked about the day before while bringing you your tea and cakes. And telling you how much fun it is to recall things. 

 

 

 And you got tired again and went to bed.

 

 

 

And then woke up. And went to the room. And there they were. Waiting.

 

 

What if that was Heaven?