Study session cancel tonight.

Dears,
I'm so sorry I totally forgot to prepare the topic for tonight until now. I've been through a crazy week. And I don't wanna rush having one without preparing well, so please allow me to cancel. I'm deeply sorry about this, please accept my sincere apology>

6/19 Harsh Light on Two Men, but Glare Falls on Women

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/us/19schwarzenegger.html?_r=1&ref=arnoldschwarzenegger

Only days after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, was accused of sexually assaulting a maid at a New York hotel, Arnold Schwarzengger, the former governor of California, admitted that he had fathered a child with a household employee and hid a the child from his wife for 10 years. The question on many women's minds in recent weeks was the same cry of outrage that hangs over every male sex scandal:" How could he be such a pig?" So, are men just born this way? What are you gonna do with cheating?

Questions:

1. From Tiger Woods to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and then Arnold Schwarzenegger, do you think men are more likely to have an affair when they are getting more power? Does power really turn regular guys into sexual predators?

2. Will you lose the faith on those celebrities having several affairs or accused of sexual harassment? Or do you think their profession has nothing to do with their private life? (e.g. You are a big fan of Tiger Woods, but you still love him after he said he has sex addiction. Because you think you just like to watch him play golf. It doesn’t matter how his behavior is like. )

3. When having an affair, women are accused of infidelity and disloyalty, but men are just being called “playboys” or “predators”. (It’s not necessarily so, but under most circumstances, especially in Chinese society.) Why’s that different treatment on different genders?

4. It seems like marriage doesn’t guarantee you a better relationship, and there are numerous cases describing the unhappy marriage. Do you still have faith on marriage? What does it mean for you to get married?

5. If your better half cheat on you and have an affair with the third person, how are you gonna do with this, and what about the children? Will you tell them the truth?

Taiwan welcomes individual Chinese tourists

After a long talk with China authorities, individual travelers from Mainland China are finally able to visit Taiwan by the end of this month. As reported in news, department stores, food vendors in night markets and gift shops are happy to see this finally happens and have well prepared to welcome these tourists from China. However, except positive effects on local economy, individual tourists also bring possible problems to us. So read the article below and share with us your views about self-organised individual trip policy （自由行） and views about Chinese people in general.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/06/09/2003505339

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2011/06/02/304670/Individual-China.htm

1. Do you support “self-organised individual trip policy” or are you against it? What are your points?

2. Tourists from other countries can travel around Taiwan or go to any places as they wish except tourists from Mainland China. Do you think it is a little bit unfair for them because they receive different treatment?

3. From my personal experiences, some of my friends quite dislike people from Mainland China (of course some really like them or perceive neutral thoughts). What are your attitudes towards people from Mainland China? Do you have any good and bad personal experiences to share?

4. After we have more close contacts with people from Mainland China, in your opinion, do you think this will change Taiwan’s relationship with China?

5. Since this policy will take effect at the end of this month, do you think this will help KMT win more ballots?

FOOD SAFETY

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/06/03/2003504838

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSx_fqtdjL0

The latest outbreak of food tainted by plasticizer focused our attention on food safety concerns again. Ironically, at this time, these contaminated ingredients were made in our hometown, Taiwan, famous for its good manufacture qualities, rather than infamous China. The most horrible part for me was that health authorities claimed that they had discovered this scandal by accident. It meant there were huge holes in Taiwan’s food safety examination, and this event could be just a tip of the iceberg. Who knows how long we have been eating these plastic things without any awareness and how these accumulated toxins in our body will impact our health?

Discussions

1. The Taiwanese are crazy about daily supplements (including my parents). Many famous daily supplements are involved in the scandal. Do you eat any daily supplements? Have you, your family or friends eaten any listed products? Will you keep eating daily supplements after this event?

2. Have you changed or considered changing your diet habits after this news has come out? How? Please share your experiences. Did this event defeat your trust in the food industry in Taiwan?

3. Since many tainted products were exported to other countries, it has become international news and has seriously damaged Taiwan’s image. What do you think we should do to reverse the bad image?

4. TV talk shows that discuss the current events are very popular in Taiwan. These shows create a whole new occupation, TV pundits (名嘴). However, those TV pundits often give alarmist or unproven opinions to boost broadcast popularity. In this event, all media and TV pundits emphasized that the plasticizer may damage our reproductive organ. It apparently resulted in public panic; thus, many clinics have been full of worried parents and their kids since the news broke out.

Do you love watching TV talk show? Do you tend to buy or not buy what the TV pundits told? Why? What impact does “TV pundits phenomenon” bring for the society? Do you think the government should regular the speaking of those TV pundits?