The annual Formoz Festival, Spring Scream, and Gung-liao Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival are representative gatherings within Taiwan's indie scene. Of these, Formoz Festival is notable for its international draw.

Facing the threat of typhoon Phoenix, lots of people still decided to attend the Formoz Festival 2008. One of them was Stanley:

颱風來還是要去野台開唱啦!!這才叫熱血啊!!

Photo courtesy of Leiso.

People were eager to attend because there won't be Formoz Festival in the coming year. The Children's Recreation Center that has been chosen for holding Formoz Festival for several years will not be available next year, and it is not easy to find a proper location in a short time.

Issadamor appealed to friends for attending the event.

野台開唱終於要來了!今年官方也發表明年將暫停舉辦野台開唱，所以今年的野台開唱勢必不能錯過啦!!

Iron reminded that there was a stage devoted to human right.

太陽狠毒，但ngo同伴們都認真而可愛地擺起攤位…最動人的一刻是八點鐘，我們為中國異議維權人士胡佳慶生，並且由歐噴愛伴奏生日歌。

Photo courtesy of Leiso.

We will not see Formoz Festival next year. However, many of us are looking forward to see another Formoz Festival in the near future. One of the organizers, Carol, said,

照顧好自己，也替我照顧好野台，好嗎?再見。

April 26th, 2008 should be a usual day, no more.
However, this March, Wenwei mentioned about a 24-hr photo activity held in 1992, and Yangphoto decided to hold a 24-hr photo blogging relay on April 26th:

照片具有歷史意義
影像能表達生命力
相機掌握在你手上
按下生命感動的快門

In response to this call,

來自台灣各個角落的一百九十位攝影者在當天拿起相機，按下快門，接力記錄台灣的24小時。
這些照片與連結將在今天（5月5日）在網路部落格完整呈現….

00:00-07:00:People finishing yesterday's work, people preparing for a new day, and people supporting the the former two groups of people.
07:00-11:00:People eating breakfast, people starting working, and people taking a day off.
11:00-15:00:Young people and cats waking up and hanging around, people keeping working, and people attending activities.
15:00-17:00:People keeping working, people playing, and more people playing.
16:54-21:00:People with their family, people with their friends, people with themselves, and people with food.
21:00-24:00:People keeping working, people going home, and people trying to find their home.

Yangphoto said,

而從這些照片來看，參與這次活動有媒體的攝影記者、高度使用網路部落格的學生、為人師表的老師、一般的市井小民…等[…]容或影像水準不一，容或是負面的台灣，但他們真實呈現了所看到的台灣。

Wenwei said this kind of activity can

使在台灣的每一人有命運共同體的體認。

He also hopes that in the future we can have

台灣企業的２４小時、台灣勞工的２４小時、台灣婦女的２４小時.

There is also a video including some photos in this activity on youtube (uploaded by ohho0625):

Photo courtesy of Haomei.

The first story starts when a screen writer, an actor, and a director, Nien-Jen Wu left a message in Haomei's blog about the Sacred Heart Home for the challenged people. Fr. Franz Burkhardt founded the Sacred Heart Home in Chia-Yi, Taiwan, in 1980, and he planned to build a larger building to help more challenged people. Although the Reverend Franz Burkhardt, a recipient of presidential and papal honors for his services to Taiwan over almost half a century, died in 2002, his colleagues keep working on this project. Due to the funding shortage, Haomei started to blog about the Sacred Heart Home and helps raise money and invite people to visit the Sacred Heart Home.

An episode for these fund-raising activities is about baseballs.

Chensumi talked about how Tai-Yuan Kuo signed baseballs for a fund-raising auction:

我跟郭泰源總教練提到聖心募款的事情，他聽得很仔細，也很豪爽答應簽名[…]我在一旁小心打探，「多簽一些可以嗎？」[…]郭總說，「可以啊，愛心的事情，當然沒問題！」

This auction raised 182100 NTD for the Sacred Heart Home, and this success inspired some baseball lovers to contribute their baseball-related souvenirs to the second auction. The second auction raised 281861 NTD for the Sacred Heart Home. The result is not only satisfactory for the Sacred Heart Home but also for the baseball players and lovers–

以前只要提到金錢和棒球掛勾，大家都會想到簽賭，沒想到這次金錢跟棒球掛勾，居然成就這麼動人的好事。

The second story is about helping some baseball teams in the remote elementary schools. Chensumi reported:

堅果團購夢想計畫已經募到新台幣72000元。[…]我們也將委請藍文成教練幫忙遴選最需要幫助的球隊，在賽後這段期間，儘快將球具送達學校，給那些有夢想的棒球孩子，充滿溫暖的禮物。同時感謝球魂網站好友林言熹與楊榮健的協助，取得球具配備最划算合理的估價單。[…]預估我們所募得的金額，將有機會補助三支以上的偏遠部落少棒隊。

Chien-Kuo Group's plan is based on the love for the children and baseball:

我們也許讓未來有機會站上大聯盟投手丘與打擊區的小孩們，未來要扛下國家隊第四棒或職棒中心打線的小選手們，可以有新手套，可以不必擔心練習用球不見，同時 讓他們知道，這段辛苦的棒球路，不是那麼寂寞，因為我們相信，在棒球起步的階段，曾經受過幫助的人，會一輩子都懂得感恩，不會愧對棒球之神賦予他們的使命。」

Redyellow described what they saw when sending the equipments to one of the elementary schools:

這一天我回來後，心底帶著暖暖的滿足。意外變成先發登板的我，帶著大家的愛心來到汐止國小，看著天真活潑的小球員，心裏彷彿被純淨的水流洗淨一般。到底是我 幫助了他們，還是他們幫助了我，讓我找回心中久違的感動。[…]替這些勇敢追夢的孩子們吶 喊加油吧！因為這也是為我們自己加油啊！
終於我覺得自己是個棒球迷了。但是今天不當球迷。

这次奥运火炬全球传递基本上是被中国的海外愤青给搞砸了[…]。圣火传递开始阶段，在伦敦和巴黎藏独分子出来破坏，抢夺火炬，阻挠传递的进行。这个时候，理亏的是藏独分子。[…]如果我们能够保持冷静，采取克制[…]，继续按部就班地进行传递接力，把藏独破坏问题完全交给各国警察来处理，那么，[…]各国人民会说：“噢，看来，中国人确实是一心一意要办 好奥运会的，确实是把体育和政治分开的。”[…]但是，不知从哪里跳出来一大堆海外“爱国华人”，[…]反而给中国的形象带来了负面影响。

Wan-Er-Bu-Liou-Mang-Gan-Ga analyzed why there are so many angry “patriots”:

这段时间的一系列事件，为什么会激起中国那么多人的愤怒？固然，事件本身没办法不让我们愤怒。但我总觉得这里面有不少是盲目，是被煽动起来的，或者有些愤怒只是冲着事件的本身，而忽略了探析事件背后的一系列复杂的原因。简洁点说：因为我们以往的印象中国是和谐的，是他国的形象中是美好的，当这突如其来的一系列事件，让我们知道其实并不是完美的，形成了巨大的心理落差，愤怒的声音愈加得强烈。

On the other hand, Hua-Bin Jing argued if doing these anti-boycott activities is patriotic, not everyone can be this kind of patriotic:

有网友说‘既为奥运会捐款，还为海外势力抵制奥运会而大声疾呼；这样的人不爱国，难道是那些无动于衷的人爱国’。

如此说来，腐败分子的确比我们下岗人员爱国；因为我们下岗人既没有钱捐，也没有时间来参加活动。是啊！我们机关事业单位的人参加游行抗议，国家还给他们钱；而我们下岗人员参加游行抗议，却不知谁给我们工资。

腐败分子，是指那些贪污受贿、生活腐化、以权谋私、侵吞国家或集体财产等的人。

同样是祖国的儿女，也有亲疏贵贱之分；看我们的高管，[…]年薪6000多万。而老百姓[…]收入也不到他的六千分之一；也就是说 我们的高管一年，相当于老百姓的6000年。祖国这样爱他们，他们能不爱国吗；因为他们并不是公平竞争的结果，[…]你比他们能力强，祖国只爱他们而不爱你；你有什么办法呢。

这爱国是遗传的，下岗人员没有能力爱国；他们的子女同样也没有能力爱国。看我们的下岗人员的子女，不是因为没有钱上大学而过早地为生活奔波；就是因为贷款读书而背包袱。

Da-Da-De-You discussed how to define the target for patriotism,

如果国只是民族的、文化的概念，则腐败分子是不爱国的，它们只是卖国贼。如果“国”即政权，当然，它们就是最爱国的一群人，因为正是这样的国给了它们腐败的机会。

Feng-Yen-Feng-You said those “patriots” oversea are traitors:

那些闹得最欢的海外”爱国人士”，[…]他们真要爱国，就应该废掉他们洋国公民身份，撕碎绿卡，回国来。按他们爱国的标准，他们中有的人是双重的背叛：先是背叛了生养他的祖国，投奔了被他们所视为的”敌国”；然后又背叛了他们所属的洋国，声称爱他们所属的洋国的”敌国”。

Touch123456 also argued what a patriot should do,

反腐败才是真正的爱国, 因为他们这群混蛋正在从人民身上喝血。

You-Ren Li said the correct way to patriotism is to study the history and to find a way to build a new country.

作为一个爱国青年，要知道怎么爱国，首要的便是了解这个国家的历史。[…]知道历史的细节，便明了这个国家真正需要个体做的是什么。 […]“五四”的传统不是“破坏”，而是反省之后重建，反省历史，反省传统，创造一个经济、制度、文化、科技、人性上都崭新的国家。

Schumann explained the origin of the Olympic torch:

古代希臘人在奧運舉辦前,會按宗教儀式,在奧林匹亞宙斯神廟前的祭壇上點燃火種， […]火炬手高舉火炬,一邊奔跑,一邊呼喊：停止一切戰爭,參加運動會。
火炬傳到哪，哪的戰火就熄滅了。[…]人們忘記了仇恨,忘記了戰爭,都奔向奧林匹亞參加奧林匹克運動會。
久而久之，火炬這個本來用來傳遞信號的工具，便成了和平、光明與友誼的象征。

However, Schumann said,

原本具有神聖意義的奧運聖火,卻被中國搞得像過街老鼠,
中國, 污辱了聖火。

Many Taiwanese discuss if we should boycott the Olympic torch due to China government's records of repressing human right. AW talked what is the goal for China government to hold the Olympic Game：

舉辦奧運變成了中共向全世界展示其「合法性」[…]當奧運場上人們盡情歡呼的時候，在中共黑暗的監獄裡，可能良心犯們正在被折磨得痛苦的呻吟；當西方政要在開幕式上給予中共足夠面子用來貼金的時候，中共正下定決心一定要把共產黨獨裁專制永遠延續下去。

Door and window discussed who should take the responsibility for letting the Olympic torch be tarnished?

世界各國的領袖…..才是讓聖火蒙塵的主因…..
平日以民主自傲的國家那去了???
以自由為榮的國家哪去了???
自稱世界警察的傢伙呢….是癱瘓了嗎???
也好….讓全世界看清楚….
道德的糖衣….在強權面前….全都瓦解殆盡….

doctor61 is surprised by how this Olympic torch is being relayed:

一個國家辦奧運，搞到要動員海外學生華人保護聖火，甚至由中國主動派安全人員出國保護，實在也是創舉了。

On the other hand, many people are surprised by how people supporting Tibet can evoke the boycott of the Olympic torch. forumvisitor commented,

圖博人在海外的人數應該沒台灣人數多，可是他們能爭取到的國際友人的聲援能量, 我自己覺得真的很驚人。我覺得我們要好好學習, 至少要盡量幫忙保護這個可能的盟友。

Door and window supported the boycott:

奧運聖火的繞境…幾天看下來…
真的有不少感慨…..
中國鎮壓西藏的當時….抵制聖火的言論根本聽不到…..
新加坡甚至….變相支持…挖勒…
但….幸好正義沒有完全消失….
支持人權的民眾站出來之後….
各國也紛紛表態不參加開幕式…..
唉…..人民若不以行動發聲…..就真的沒聲音了……

mobobeijing2008 thought Taiwan should join the boycott:

台灣長期遭受中國武力的威嚇[…]在2008北京奧運舉辦之前，大家應掌握這個關鍵時刻，共同參與跨國界的抵制行動[…]呼籲中國，不應「右手舉聖火、左手抓飛彈」[…]而應該公開承諾，放棄以武力解 決台灣問題。

When the boycott becomes a serious matter to China, China government asks people not to mix politics and athletics. However, this request does not sell.

johnnio said,

中國過去有幾年都因為政治問題不參加奧運，現在反而喊很大聲，要政治歸政治，體育歸體育。中國人的雙重標準果然博大精深 。

no justice argued,

政治歸政治？ 那台灣要加入世界衛生組織, 非政治機構, 他們在哭夭什麼？

Boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Game is not only a political issue. It is about what dream people all over the world want to share with each other.

Taiwan has a long history of diasporas and colonization. Even the so-called ‘aboriginal people’ in Taiwan drifted there several thousands years ago. About four hundreds years ago, many Han Chinese from China migrated to Taiwan and changed the aboriginal culture.

For example, Siraya, one group of the aboriginal people, has its own religion, A-Li-Tsu. The historied religious building is very simple. After sinicization, their religious buildings look more like the religious buildings for Groundskeeper God in Han’s culture.

Japan had colonized Taiwan from 1895 to the end of WWII. In 1949, the government of Republic of China lost its former territory following the Chinese civil war and moved to Taiwan. Therefore, it is not surprising that we can saw Japanese-style Buddha statue in a Han’s religious building (photo # 1), which was rebuilt after 1949.

Photo# 1 Japanese-style Buddha statue in a Han’s religious building (Photo courtesy of yueh-feng)

In the 17th century, the Spanish and Dutch ruled Taiwan shortly, and the exposure to the western culture seems to influence the decorations in traditional Han’s religious building–the sculpture in photo # 2 shows a western man wearing a suit in a Han's temple.

Photo# 2 A western-man decoration in a Han's temple (Photo courtesy of sunny)

The Spanish and Dutch also brought Christianity to Taiwan, and Christianity is one of the major religions in Taiwan. Photo # 3 shows a church with Torii, a traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entry of to a Shinto shrine.

Photo# 3 A torii in the property of a church (Photo courtesy of little fox)

There is another flavor added to the religious buildings in Taiwan: modern. Decades ago, some fishermen picked up several damaged god statues and set up a temple for them. However, where they set up this temple became a park and the government asked them to move the temple. Because they do not have other place to set up the temple, they can only move the temple when the policemen came. At the end, the government decided to let the temple stay, but due to the possibility of flooding, the temple is designed to be able to be raised up when needed (along the four pillars around the temple).

After reading this article, do you think multi-culturalism observed in Taiwan is a salad bowl or soups?

‘Free Tibet' (Photo courtesy of skydaughter.)

Many artists, writers, musicians, and social movement participants held ‘Bringing love to Tibet' to pray for Tibetans:

多年來，台灣年輕志工的身影，經常出現在全球各地需要協助的所在。如今，與台灣只隔著中國的西藏，受到暴力鎮壓，台灣年輕人感同身受，決心挺身聲援，用音樂、詩歌聲援西藏。

Compared to other countries, Tibetan independence movement has a very special meaning for Taiwan. Most of the discussions are based on empathy, because Taiwan and Tibet are both threatened and manipulated by China. Terry said,

我個人很畏懼這個國家（中國）過往的殘酷紀錄，我高中時爆發的天安門事件，根據現在許多的證據顯示，當年天安門事件的確出動了軍隊鎮壓，並且開槍殺死了許多人民，對於這樣一個雙手沾滿血腥的鄰居，我只用戒慎恐懼來形容。

我身邊有許多人說：我們有中文語言的優勢，我們不應該自絕跟這個鄰居做生意，讓自己經濟繁榮的機會。但如果這樣的經濟繁榮機會，最後卻讓自己陷入被鎮壓、同時無法擁有民主自由的現在，我會寧可選擇保守一點，日子苦一點無所謂，但我想要高興談論、自由呼吸自由存在。

Some people reflected Taiwan's history and compared its own oppressed past with Tibetan independence movement. Judie said, Tibetans are in their 228 Massacre.

圖博人正在經歷他們的二二八，與外來統治者展開艱難的鬥爭。[…]他們的行動被統治者誤解、汙衊，無辜者的血繼續流，傷痕正在加深…….

Many people criticized the mass media in Taiwan. Jas took blocking the news about Tibet for example and said, because the sources and gatekeepers are different, this independence movement is reported differently.

（中國）過去稱六四天安門為一小撮人，稱台獨為一小撮人，如今又同樣以一小撮人來指涉被迫害的西藏人。

Tucci in Germany compared the news about Tibet in Taiwan and Germany, and said the news is obviously less in Taiwan than in Germany.

一個國家動用軍警武力殺害抗議的人民，是對人權最赤裸的摧殘與蔑視；[…]我想這件事的歷史重要性不會在六四天安門之下，但很遺憾的是，國內的主要媒體的新聞處理淡很多，跟德國所有全國性的媒體統統頭版處理差別實在很大。

Sindia in Beijing talked about the information blockage in China.

有人問我北京人對西藏事件的看法，在這種情形下，北京人連西藏發生了什麼事恐怕都不知道，知道的也就是一面倒的聲音，若干藏民暴徒挑起暴亂，傷害無辜漢族百姓，達賴在背後策動，目的是要搗亂奧運，爭取獨立。這就是所有來自中國媒體的新聞角度，在這種情形下，北京一般民眾，還能有什麼看法？

Although China government blocks the information, due to the advance of technology, some people in China tries to use instant messanger and twitter to see people's comment about the protest in Tibet, even though they are confused or unhappy. A message in zola may show some people's opinions:

西藏現在需要的，是健康的發展和對藏文化的保護，以及西藏問題的和平解決，罈子裡這些喊打喊殺的兄弟，如果你們有一個真正的藏族朋友，也許你們就不會說那些話了。

Annpo asked Chinese friends through twitter, and one of them who worked in Tibet said:

藏区的生活的确改善很大，起码比周边的国家都不错，这是应该看到的。但[…]生活好了，就会满足吗？[…]政府免费让他们读书，却用的是汉族课本。[…]藏族人对青藏铁路并不完全是支持的。而在拉萨日益繁华的时候，我那些老藏族的邻居却一个个都搬走了，这些难道还不够说明问题？

There are other people caring about Tibet. Reiw in Hong Kong made a detail analysis and zola shared the summary of the news. Chao-Chen Lin, a reporter interviewing Dalai Lama and many Tibetans before, explained the problem of Tibet is due to the failure of conversation between Dalai Lama and Chinese government, and the development brought by China government that destroys their culture.

Acknowledgment: Annpo wrote this article, and I-Fan edited and translated it into English.

From Newstory :

通訊及傳媒產業從八Ｏ年代產生三大面向的發展：媒體「匯流」、「全球化」及「解除管制」，而通訊傳播管理法就是NCC因時制宜下的產物。

On the other hand, NCCwatch, a civil group, is afraid that this trend encourages monopoly in the media industry. Since media is considered to be a carrier for culture, we must pay attention to its content. As a result, after the second hearing, NCCwatch claimed there are some serious problems in the second draft of the law:

一、反對NCC刪除徵收業者「特種基金」：[…]未來業者將不必負擔公共責任（將營業額百分之一成立基金）。[…]

二、反對NCC不當開放外資：[…]此舉不但對本地影視產業發展及勞工權益並無助益，未來本地文化及我國的文化主權也將受到嚴重戕害！ […]

三、反對NCC取消跨媒體經營的限制：[…]放任跨媒體所有權集中，未來台灣媒體壟斷將更為嚴重。[…]

四、反對NCC降低業者違法之罰鍰：[…]不僅對改善媒體亂象全然無益，消費者權益將會受到嚴重侵犯！[…]

五、反對NCC刪除本國自製節目比例明確規定 […]

Newstory also discussed some articles in the second draft of the new law that raised concerns, which can be summarized into three points:

(1) “條文「頻道事業提供之節目或廣告，不得有煽動族群仇恨或性別岐視情形」，[…]如果沒有認定標準，這項條文很難執行。”

(2) “現行規定廣告總時間不得超過每一節目播送總時間六分之一，[…]現改為每日廣告時間不得超過播送時間的六分之一 。”

(3) “草案新增除新聞與兒童節目外，允許置入性廣告，但必須要在畫面上呈現「廣告」或「贊助者」字樣。 “

yblog comments that：

這個網站實在是太歡樂，太搞笑了呀。 過去有照亮黑暗部落格的明燈，他只有一個人在評論，現在有了Blogblind，可說是集眾人之力，似乎可發揮效益更大的產物 。

透過不同的標籤tags，不同部落格在許多人心中的特點，慢慢浮現。

自己是認為，這樣的網站可以讓台灣的部落格有一番新話題，讓過去一些為人詬病的現象，在這個殿堂裡獲得公開討論，又不傷大雅的機會 。

However, how do the bloggers whose blogs were listed on the website and tagged with abusive language feel?

Dear John complains that:

因為是匿名發表評論，才過一天而已，在站上已經累積了為數不少的不堪的人身攻擊和沒有根據的謾罵。 完全沒有想過這些被罵的部落客心中有何感受？ 在此，呼籲此站應該立刻關站，並且張貼對所有被罵的部落格的道歉啟示。大家也不應該再用笑鬧的態度來看待此事。

Aug9 also criticizes such culture:

對於BBS上的鄉民來說，反正有文必推、有熱鬧必湊、有人打架我就在旁邊吶喊。但在這種鄉民現象中眾鄉民的「推」文 (抑或噓文？)，大家可否曾想過一件事情？這一股股的推(噓)浪潮中，帶有著多少部落客的惡意毀謗與攻訐？

Although many people consider the website been overplayed, some people hope it can be reopened later.

yblog suggests a possible solution:

在我看來，Blogblind只要克服2個問題，就可以有復站的機會。

首先就是機器人程式灌票的問題。

再來就是匿名張貼惡意tag的問題。

個人認為張貼tag，下標籤這個功能做成要登入網站才可以留，而且每個標籤都可以看到是那些人下的即可。未來如果司法要追究，也可以找到對應的帳號。

In addition to the technical issues, we need to learn some psychology: people usually less care about hurting others when we do not see the victims or when we think we are not the first one to stab at the victims. It is not easy to find a pertinent way to criticize others, especially on internet.

黑暗從眼睛
滑落心頭，
令人害怕的
失去光明的窒息，
圍繞四周。

燃燒。莫那能（排灣族詩人）作。

‘Burning‘ by Mo-Na-Neng (a Paiwan poet)].

Smangus's battle for the unfair trial about the wind-fall beech, based on Smangus & Smangus Action Alliance News, can be traced back to October, 2005:

Terry the typhoon caused the damage to the only road that connected the neighboring areas. Smangus people cleaned the road with their own effort and put the windfall beech on the sideway. One month later, the staff of the Forestry Bureau chopped the wood into pieces and took them away secretly. Three of the Smangus youth transported the remains on behalf of the Tribal Committee for the purpose of community design. Consequently they were reported of stealing national woods. The accused became the accuser!

The Smangus people considered the charge a stigmatization of aboriginal people and decided to fight back in the court.

(Feb 24, 2007) The judge of the first instance ignored the Article 15 of the Forestry Act and the Aboriginal Basic Law which protect the indigenous rights, but instead, he convicted them by Article 52 of the Forestry Act. The penalty was 6 month imprisonment, a fine of NT$160, 000 for each person, with a two years probation. Smangus people cried, “Why don’t you put all of us in jail?” Therefore, the whole village went on the journey to plea for Not Guilty.

The main issue in this battle is ‘whose land is it?' Smangus people consider the wind-fall beech is in their territory, but the Forestry Bureau doesn't agree. How do we decide who is the owner of the land?

In May 20-21, 2007, because Tayal people considered the wind-fall beech case a serious threats to the Tayal tribes, Pinhaban, a traditional cultural ceremony, was held to make alliance among the villages to protect their territories. In the conference (based on The statements and declaration, from the conference of Pinhaban Alliance, the chief of the village of Mrqwang said:

We indigenous peoples are knowledgeable of our own traditional territories. We can accurately describe the landscapes of the mountains and the rivers in them. We name those natural objects and connect our own lives so closely with the surroundings. The staff of the Forestry Bureau does not understand our lives. When we heard the staff say that the traditional territory of Smangus is only about 12 acres, we regarded the notion absurd. The territory is absolutely larger than this measure.

Munch commented on this issue:

誰的山林？一直存在爭議。
從日本人強收山林，國民政府承繼遵行，原住民的傳統領域，始終成為被擱置的話題，在不斷族群正名以示尊重的心態下，就像掛上好看門牌，家園卻永遠不屬於自己的，林務局是山林裡的大地主，原住民每個人都清楚

對原住民而言，司馬庫斯櫸木事件，不是刑罰輕重，而是對於原住民領域及文化的尊重，他們堅持的是無罪判決，沒有人可以否定他們對於山林家園的權力。

In September 28, 2007, ignoring the Smangus people's claim and the Forestry Act and the Aboriginal Basic Law, the judge in the High Court decided to keep the original conviction but alleviate the punishment.

In press release held by Smangus & Smangus Action Alliance News, Pinhaban Alliance, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and Wild at heart, Legal Defense Association, Wild at heart, Legal Defense Association said,

今天的判決是一個醜陋的妥協。因為，如果法院認定三人有罪，那麼根據《森林法》，結夥並使用搬運設備竊取林產物，應加重判刑，為何法官卻做出減輕刑責的判決？如果法官已體認到原住民族價值系統中人對自然的善待、和諧、永續與責任，為何沒有勇氣做出無罪判決？

(Photo courtesy of Mrs. Turtle. The words on the photo are: All right preserved. No co-authors. Toy turtle claims: I only go out with Mrs. Turtle.)

When more and more people share their thoughts, knowledge, and experience on their blogs, more and more blog pirates appear. These pirates not only take the original photos (some even with the authors' mark on them) or copy paste the original articles to their blogs but also submit some pieces for other publications or even blog awards. Here are some victims:

2007/3/18, cottom_vitas:

今天開網誌發現，有好心人告知我的文章被盜用了，連我的圖都被偷了，看了真是傻眼 …整篇文章連改都沒有改…只有把我的名字改成她的名字，而且還可以回應別人問她的問題…她不只偷我的文，很多人的文章也都被偷了，我不懂用別人的文章當成自己的生活經驗，不是很沒有意義嗎?

2007/3/19,cindyfeng:

看到內容，不知是要哭還是要笑，連我和Larry的對話也改成她和朋友的msn的對話了…我那篇文章是1/18登上的，她1/19就掛在自己的網站裡，手腳還真是快。

2007/6/15,Mr.&Ms. Days:

我們真的很不喜歡做這種糾察隊的事情。我們都已經這麼慷慨了，讓大家可以全文轉載了，而您所需要做的事情就是加記出處以及連結，我相信這種隨手的事情對大家不會是一種負擔吧。

2007/7/25,beats:

難道因為網上文字被抄襲時有所聞，並不罕見，所以我們就要啞忍，就要息事寧人嗎？
難道因為有人以為網上文章純屬嬉戲之作，我們就應該容許別人隨便抄襲，當作自己的文字來發表，甚至把你的文字，用別人的名字印在書上嗎？
我要強調的是：這並不是一件普通的網上抄襲事件，而是蓄意瞞騙。

2007/7/31,Patrick:

當你的生活全部變成了別人的生活…那是什麼感覺？
當你辛辛苦苦拍攝的照片，所寫下的文字，全部變成了別人的版權所有，還拿去出版賣錢，招搖撞騙，那又是什麼感覺？
當你明明不認識某個人，卻又要被那個人說跟她很熟，還三個人一起出去旅行（幾乎是每一次），那又是什麼感覺？
以前被剽竊的經驗真的不算什麼了，這一次我可以說，我真的真正見識到對岸的網路文化與盜版文化了。一個美好的夏日午后就這樣被搞砸了，也真正開始思考網站的去留，還是把好東西都留給真正的出版吧！

How can bloggers deal with blog pirates?

Mr. Wednesday tried to develop a tool that can find similar documents on internet:

由於前一陣子MMDAYS發生了文章被抄襲的事件，因此Mr. Wednesday開發了一個工具來幫助了解這類情況，取名為《Parrot》，用於尋找網路上高相似度的文件。

YC:

昨晚到今天早上，已經寄出了三封電子郵件，分別是三個網站網管及法律顧問，以及我所委託的律師朋友，累死人了。
目前止看到兩個比較嚴重的網站裡，星空網已經關閉這個BLOG，Blogbus還是出現著網站更新中的圖案。
效果如何？還不確定，就等看看吧。
把這件事情放到中國相關網站的討論區？這也是個辦法，不過如果要讓網站管理人員針對這種事情進行道歉，這倒是不可能，也不切實際的作法。畢竟在各個網站的使用授權上，都有免責的條款，也就是並沒有對這些使用侵權的文章、圖片有負責任的行為。

cindyfeng:

看來我以後的照片都要寫上我的網站和名字好了。

If there is no way to prevent these persistent pirates from keeping pirating on different websites, what will the future blogs look like?

In Yun-Ru Shih's article, based on Miao-Ru Chien's research:

台灣流行音樂產業的崛起起始自七零年代的民歌運動，到了八零年代末、九零年代初迅速成長到五十億台幣，1996年破百億後，1997年更達到歷來最高的123億台幣，在全球唱片市場排名由第21位竄升至第13位，在亞洲排名第二（僅次於日本）。（簡妙如,2002）

Oldlady talked about the recent 18th Golden Melody Award (6/16/2007) and an unexpected interlude in the award ceremony:

客語歌手林生祥（參考生祥與樂團網站）連續拒領兩個獎項，他說：「金曲獎應該用音樂類型來分類，而不是用族群，我覺得金曲獎太不合時宜，我參加過很多國外音樂祭，都被歸類在世界音樂或民謠，我建議金曲獎放開心胸，大膽改變，廢除這個獎項，因為這個獎項，使得用客家母語的歌手失去了良善競爭的眾多對手，也使客家歌曲被邊緣化。」然後把兩獎共25萬的獎金，捐給包括美濃自發性種樹團體、月光山雜誌、青芽兒雜誌和白米炸彈客楊儒門４個團體及個人。

About the categories made based on language, Sabinasun talked about the history of this award：

1987年台灣才解嚴，1988年媒體界才開始有新聞自由和改革。「金曲獎」其實是為了提倡與擴張台灣地區的音樂市場而在1988年由新聞局設立的音樂獎項。早期獎項也以「國語歌曲」作為最高榮譽，是響應威權時代「國語政策」的文化策略。九十年代以來，台灣本土意識越來越強，音樂界又有「新台語搖滾」和後來的「台客搖滾」流行市場。遲到2003年，金曲獎才開始增設「台語」，「客語」和「原住民」等所謂「少數族群」的獎項，以反應新的多元文化社會的現實。

這個多元文化的立意本來是好的，但問題是金曲獎設立初期以族群語言來分類音樂和優越化「國語歌曲」，本身就是一個「操弄族群」的產物，如今不去質疑這個前提，而只是增加「其他的」語言獎項，仍然難以擺脫操弄的嫌疑。況且，企圖選出不同族群的「代言人」，對文化創作來說，是一個過於老舊的文化治理概念，尤其像是音樂這種相當容易「跨界」與「混種化」的文化生產。

Sheng-Hsiang Lin from Meinung is a Hakka social activist and a musician who was involved in anti-Meinung Dam movement. In southern Taiwan, Meinung is a Hakka community whose economy is mainly based on agriculture. After the anti-Meinung Dam movement, Sheng-Hsiang Lin continues to care about the farmers.

However, the message about the music categorization is submerged fast because of another topic raised and attracted most media's attention: President Shiu-Bian Chen said he would pardon Ju-Men Yang on 6/19/2007, three days after Sheng-Hsiang Lin's speech in the Golden Melody Award and donating part of the prize to Ju-Men Yang.

Ju-Men Yang was sentenced seven-and-a-half years in jail in 2005 because he planted 17 bombs in public areas in 2003 and 2004. Two of the bombs did explode without injuries. He is called ‘rice bomber' because some rice was mixed with the explosives. He turned himself in later and claimed that his work was intended to evoke public attention toward the farmers. Even in jail, he tried to use hunger strike to evoke public attention during the WTO meeting in 2005.

Because of setting bombs, although he tried to help the farmers, people have different opinions toward his case. In an cosigning activity to support Yang, Pei-Hui Tsai said,

針對楊儒門放置十七次炸彈，所涉及對公共安全的影響，我們在同情楊儒門之餘，尊重司法機關的處置。

問題的關鍵在於，政府加入WTO的苦果正由窮苦農民默默承受，壓力已達臨界點，楊儒門不過是點燃引信的那個人。如果，楊儒門的所做所為，讓政府、讓農委會震驚，恐怕不是因為楊儒門製造問題，而是他恰如其份的點出了台灣基層農村的問題。

Both Sheng-Hsiang Lin and Ju-Men Yang are from agriculture communities. After many trading policies promoted by WTO, they saw the changes in the agriculture communities, and they hope the high-tech industry-oriented Taiwanese can also see the problems in our agriculture communities, and how these problems will become all Taiwanese' problems.

Unlike the big agribusiness corporations in United States, in Taiwan, most farmers only own small farms with some specific crops. Because the market prefers beautiful products, farmers are forced to spray pesticides by themselves. Hopemarket discuss the news that a farmer died when spraying pesticide:

其實這早已不是「新聞」了，我開始接觸這個部分以後，去產地拜訪，詢問農友為什麼會轉作有機或者是無農藥殘留的耕作方式，只要是本來務農的農人，有一半以 上，是因為農藥中毒，才驚覺農藥原來是這麼可怕的東西，不僅傷害農人自己本身，也傷害土地，更別說是作物殘留農藥吃了對人體的危害

When these farmers start to do the organic farming, they always have a very hard time. Hopemarket said,

有機農人不能使用殺菌劑或其他保花保果的資材，因此遇到狂風暴雨，只能讓果實自然掉落。 而蔬菜農友更慘，因為天氣炎熱，很多作物有溫度障礙，例如花椰菜與萵苣喜歡比較涼冷的生長氣候，夏天就會過熱而長不起來；番茄與苦瓜在夏季容易有疫病，一場大雨下來，農友的心血全部都泡在水裡，沒有東西收成。

In addition to the pesticides and organic farming, farmers are worried about the low price of their crops. The problem of price is not limited in Taiwan. The policies WTO tries to promote cause unfair trading and give the farmers an extremely hard time to live. About this problem, Iron said,

當西方國家不斷鼓吹自由貿易時，卻一方面鉅額補貼國內農業出口，使其能以低價大量傾銷到第三世界；另一方面，卻透過雙邊談判或國際經濟組織要求第三世界國 家取消關稅、減低對其他產業的政策補貼，及開放市場。這是不公平的貿易。數以百萬的發展中國家小農因為西方的 農業傾銷而被迫賤賣農產品，甚至被推離市場。

Nowadays WTO has gigantic impact on the agriculture system in numerous countries. To respond to the impact, Taiwan's government also have subsidies for ‘farmers that do not do farming.' However, this policy makes many farming areas be ignored, abandoned, damaged, and over-priced. Turtle said,

台灣的休耕政策只重「休耕補貼」，卻忽視更重要的環境管理，農村文化景觀就這樣逐漸凋零；歐洲國家的休耕政策則強調「環境補貼」，凡是有利於環境生態就可領取補助。如何呼應世界趨勢與進步觀念，已是當前檢討休耕政策重要方向。

On the other hand, when we think about agriculture, we can have another perspective in addition to trade and politics (voting power). laches said,

農業不只是商品貿易，而是一種土地和人之間的關係。

Talking about the relationship between the earth and human beings, how about singing the song ‘Planting trees' (lyrics by Yung-Feng Chung and music Sheng-Hsiang Lin):

種給離鄉的人

種給太寬的路面

種給歸不得的心情

種給留鄉的人

種給落難的童年

種給出不去的心情

海浪不斷翻開我的記憶，當我失去海洋給我的回憶時，就是我逐漸結束生命的日子。──夏曼‧藍波安《海浪的記憶》

(photo courtesy of casyc23. The red and black circle at the head of the boat is ‘mata-no-tarara' (eye) and sun. It can expel evil spirits and evoke good fortunes.)

In Tao's language, ‘Tao' means ‘human.' Although Lanyu (orchid island, where the Tao people live) belongs to Taiwan now, considering language and culture, the Tao people are closer to Ivatan people in Batanes islands in Philippine than other peoples in Taiwan.
As a branch of Austronesian people, the Tao people are good at building boat, and they use boats for fishing. Their wooden boat is not canoe. They combine different kinds of wood to build small wooden boat (tatara) for one or two people and large wooden boat (chinurikuran) for around ten people.

Keep rowing:

蘭嶼的大船文化，幾乎是整個達悟民族從生理生計到心理信仰與宇宙觀的集合體。

在現代經濟方式的衝擊，氏族漁團的青壯勞動力被台灣的資本市場吸納，老一輩長者無能為力負荷大船建造的一切所需， 只能看這舊船腐朽裂解，在每年呼喊飛魚的招魚儀典時，感嘆空盪的港灣而無大船的身影。

2001年時，我們與村裡的族人，帶著從島上森林伐取的樹材，一起到台中的自然科學博物館，建造了一艘脫離傳統氏族漁團組織的十人大船。

當年我們詢問父親：”可以到台灣造大船嗎？makanyou（禁忌）怎麼辦？”父親也細詢了為何要去台灣造大船的用意……？”給台灣的人看，也讓他們了解，大船不只是美麗而已，而是還有我們的智慧與能力！”我們回答。沈思後的父親給了我們一個說法：”台灣又沒有我們的鬼（anito），你 們想那麼多做什麼？”之後，那一年我們順利的完成了一艘向台灣展示的文化大船……。就在完工的當時，緊接而來的是：「做好了船，怎麼不划呢？」於是，五年 後的今天，我們想與台灣的朋友分享一件事：船，不只是被展示的，更是可以航行的，我們將拜訪台灣……。

Keep rowing:

船長1016 c m ，寬170 c m，高270 cm
我們的大船取名為： Ipanga na，1001跨越號。 （ipanga na是Tao語裡的名詞，有跨越、航行之意。）
ingana na表示移動，我們要到許多的地方去；而「1001」，只是因為我們的大船超過了10公尺長。

Keep rowing:

由紀錄片工作者林建享與蘭嶼達悟族友人夏曼‧夫阿原召集一半蘭嶼族人、一半台灣人共同建造、歷時四個月的蘭嶼達悟族的「 1001跨越號」，是近百年來蘭嶼達悟族所打造尺寸最大的拼板舟。

They plan to row from Lanyu to Taitung, then to Taipei, and finally return to Taitung. The total length of the voyage is about 1438.6 km. They plan to finish it in 35 days. In average, they need to row 50-60 km per day. There are 12 people rowing at one time, and there are two teams of people for rotation.

Originally they planned to start on 6/12, but the plan was delayed because of the weather:

老人說，「六月蘭嶼的天氣啊，變幻莫測，好像很難捉摸；為什麼不選七月出發呢？七月的天氣，海面上像是倒了沙拉油那樣，選在那樣的日子裡出發不是比較安心嗎？」伴航船的船長周一宗帶著海圖和氣象圖來了。19日以前，天氣都不穩定。

They started off this June 20th, and now they arrived Taitung safely. Although they practiced several times before the voyage, it's still hard because they need to struggle with the Kuroshio current.

Keep rowing:

中間的時候，「真的很想拖呢（叫機動船幫忙拖行）」，不是因為洋流太強，是因為太陽太熱。 所有的人都沒有放棄。

Their next project, after the funds are raised, will be rowing to Batan islands to meet the Ivatan people.

(photo courtesy of judie)

Fifth Day Festival is another name for the Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival because it is May fifth in the lunar calendar (June 19th this year).

There are different ways to interpret the festival's cultural events we hold. The ‘traditional' interpretation is to commemorate a Chinese poet Qu Yuan. The other interpretation from some older traditions is to prevent diseases and drowning in summer.

Either way, people are more interested in seeing dragon boat competitions and eating zongzi.

There are several dragon boat competitions in Taiwan, but the oldest one is in Yi-Lan (for more than 170 years). In this competition, there are only two teams. No judge, no time constraints–people can keep racing until one team admits their failure. Another characteristic of their dragon boat competition is standing on the boat and rowing.

Although there are many dragon boat competitions (some people are from other countries), there is only one place where the craftsmen make dragon boats by hand. Most boats people use now are made of fiberglass.

In addition to rowing or watching people rowing the dragon boats, how about trying an egg-standing game? And then, zongzi are ready!

Although Taiwan is not big, we have different kinds of zongzi in different areas. In northern Taiwan, people fry the rice with meat first and then steam it. In southern Taiwan, people put rice and other food together and boil it. In the Hakka community, people have another kind of zongzi. They grind the rice first and make rice loaf. After adding other food, they steam it. All of them are salty. There is another dessert-like zongzi with sweet bean paste inside. While other kinds of zongzi are eaten when they are hot, this kind of zongzi is eaten when cold and with honey or sugar. Smart-apple has described different kinds of zongzi. Arkun also demonstrated how her aunt made a zongzi in 48 seconds and made dozens of them!

(photo courtesy of PipperL)

While enjoying the food, people also like to argue about which kind of zongzi is more delicious. In Yogurt's family:

大家伙各吃著喜愛的粽子，配著茶喝著可樂又是一番抬槓。媽媽說：「水煮粽子，肉和米的味道都跑到水裡，整顆粽子都失甜了。」嫂嫂說：「喔！才不會！把糯米炒的油膩膩，多不健康啊」這時候素來疼老婆的大哥忽然說：「不要比了！怎麼說人家她們南部粽才是正統！」大家狐疑的看著吃著滿口北粽，心滿意足在享受美味的大哥，不明白超有堅持的他怎麼會為美色放棄美食？沒想到他慢條斯理的說：「具歷史記載，屈原吃的就是南部粽。」「啊~~為什麼？」「道理很簡單啊！屈原吃的不就是拋入水裡粽子嗎？所以怎麼說人家南部粽放進水煮是歷史傳下來的，當然是正統囉！」他吞下他愛吃的粽子後說：「我們北部粽是放在岸上祭拜，還沒丟到水裡的粽子，屈原吃的才是端午節的王道。所以，王道歸她們，但是我跟屈原不一樣，不喜歡在水裡吃粽子，我還是喜歡吃這種還沒下水拜屈原的這種。」大家恍然大悟的哄堂大笑，又是一個有趣的端午節！

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Taiwan's officials said Taiwan wanted to participate as part of the ‘international' route. For example, Taiwan would like to join the Olympic torch relay if it is relayed from Pyongyang to Taipei, and to Ho Chi Minh City. If Taiwan relays Olympic torch to Hong Kong and Macau, as Jiang Xiaoyu, the executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said, Taipei might be referred to one of ‘the overseas Chinese cities' like Hong Kong and Macau.

tzuhuai objected the Taiwan's officials' rejection:

政府只不過是為了某種程度上的政治考量才去拒絕， 作秀程度大於真正的實質意義！……體育界的人士說的好：讓政治歸政治、體育歸體育！ 本來就不能混為一談。 越是這樣的逃避拒絕，對岸還沒矮化我們我們救自我矮化了， 我們應該要正面回擊才是！ 而不是一直用以前的手法、手段， 去逃避對岸的措施！ 對岸越是想矮化我們， 我們應該要讓國際知道台灣的聲音、地位以及特有性！ 而不是每每在國際舞台上自我退出， 喪失許多珍貴的機會！