China is a sovereign country, the same as any other independent and the world must respect this. What is unique about China is their willingness to use any means to exert their influence far beyond Chinese jurisdiction. I see that here in Canada, but there are reports of the same tactics being used in Australia and New Zealand.
Tactics include: Funding education programs that have a pro-Chinese viewpoint
There is great concern here in Canada about their funding tactics. While it is great to encourage the study of Mandarin language, China is using this platform to teach a pro-Chinese viewpoint to very young kids. More than worrisome, this is meddling in the internal affairs of Canada. The Toronto District School Board had signed an agreement with this group, but the decision was reversed.
Truffettes de France brand truffles marketed on a Chinese web site as French truffle chocolate. Actually made in Canada
A friend has asked me which French chocolates are best: Defeisi 德菲斯松露 or Feiluolun songlu 费罗伦松露. It was clear that she was confused and needed help. In providing her help it was clear that much deception occurs with Chinese suppliers and fakes are everywhere. As it turned out, neither are from France, and they may not be truffles, and one is only available from Chinese web site. These Chinese web sites are pretty sketchy. Add to this that Google search is unavailable in China, so Chinese people are not able to cross-check products, and the low level of English in China, makes it pretty easy to cheat Chinese consumers.
This is the first snowfall of the winter season for Toronto, Canada, and a blustery -10C, a far cry from yesterday’s +6C, and also colder than the expected +6C next week.
Snowfall in Toronto, 2017 Nov 10. Photo by Don Tai
By mid-day the snow had melted from my driveway, but there was still icy patches in local parking lots. Since tonight will go down to -8C if there were more accumulation I would shovel. Tomorrow and the next 4 days are all above zero.
Yes, there is a fire extinguisher recall from Kidde and Garrison, but I found finding the list of affected models difficult to find. News agencies seem to relish reporting the news but do not provide the necessary links to look up your model.
Canadian government Recall notice for Kidde and Garrison fire extinguishers. Of course the health Canada site, referenced by most news agencies, has nothing about the recall, so this is a dead end.
Car bicycle crash in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada 2017 Oct 20 11:40am. The driver of the minivan did stop at the red light but did not look for pedestrians or cyclists, and hit an old Chinese lady on a bicycle.
Today was not a good day for the old lady cyclist in front of me. She trusted that the right-turning driver of the minivan would wait for her to cross, and he hit her, 2017 Oct 20, 11:40am, Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While it might have been unintentional, thankfully the crash was very low speed, the car driver stopped, and no one was hurt. While I believe the car driver was at fault, we all need to pay much more attention, especially when vehicles are concerned. That old lady could have been a mother and baby in stroller.
I am Canadian, so cannot help but be sympathetic to a Canadian viewpoint. This sympathy unconsciously biases my views and I do not apologize for this as it is normal. When I ask if a country has the right to kill its own citizens, I am specifically asking whether it is morally right for China or Russia to discipline and kill its own citizens.
In the Western context, which I am from, there have been recent cases where citizens have gone abroad to join foreign armies and have vowed to return home and kill their own citizens. In these cases the US and Britain have allowed their forces to kill their own citizens, citing self-defence and national security
Computer and Smartphone Security in Repressive Countries | 电脑和手机安全手册在压迫国家
Links and copies are AGAIN online. I’ll post when I receive an update. Vietnamese has been added 现在可以下载。要是文章要改变，我有最新版的时一会给你下载。 Updated 2018 June 17
These security documents for computers and smartphones are useful if: 这个关于电脑和手机安全手册是好用的要是：
your country can confiscate, investigate and interrogate your devices at will。
你国家可以随意没收，调查和询问您的电脑和手机
your country can force or coerce you to give up your passwords
你的国家可以强制或胁迫你放弃你的密码
These documents are not mine but belong to practicaldigitalprotection.com, a project of Safeguard Defeners. I am only safeguarding and promoting the documents for those who need them. Having read these documents I believe they are important enough to the world to keep a safe copy. I do not know the names of the owners of these documents, nor do I want to know, for their and my safety. If and when these documents are changed, I will replace them with their updated versions.
Yesterday here in Toronto, Canada, was the start of Autumn 2017. At this time of year the average temperatures range from a high of 19C to a low of 10C. The leaves begin to turn from green to red. For some unknown reason the weather in the last week has been very hot. yesterday was 31C. Today is 32C. The next two days will be 31C. Still, the leaves are on a strict time line, their life coming to its inevitable end.
Leaves are turning from green to red in Toronto, Canada, even though the temperature is 32C today. Photo 1 by Don Tai
As Trump is mysteriously quiet about Russia, Trudeau is silent on China. It is very curious why the two of North America’s leaders are so silent. Is there no leader with the balls to speak about the blatantness of China? China’s increasingly aggressive behaviour includes:
Forced technological transfer to Chinese companies, if you wish to sell product in China
Claiming the South China Sea and all islands as Chinese, with historical reasoning.
blatant human rights abuses against not only their own citizens, but also those of Taiwan and Hong Kong
Tolerance of an increasingly nuclear North Korea
At least the US has representatives, though not Trump, that somewhat says censures China’s aggressive attitude to internationalization.
“No relationship is more important to our government and to Canada than the one with Indigenous peoples.”
“This election will be the last under first-past-the-post.”
“The world needs more Canada.”
“The rich must pay their fair share.”
it is all well and good for sound bites, but there is no government policy nor substance behind any one of these. The world loves these little ditties, but there has been absolutely no government changes towards implementing these into policy. They are, completely hollow fabrications and nothing more. source
