3/29(Tue) Selina's marriage & USA presidential election

[tashi]

Hi All,
Next Tuesday we are going to discuss two different topics.

The first session let's gossip with Selina's marriage in English.

Wow I believe you may got more material than me right? So just take one post of Apple news for reference.
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily ... /37095606/

Questions for Session 1:

1. For the 6 reasons listed in the post, do you believe it?

2. Do you think they loved each other before or even till now like 鄭宜農 & 楊大正？

3. It seems many female singers or actresses don't have a good marriage. Why is it happened on this beautiful ladies? Or it's a wrong image?

===========================

About Session II, Nicole just came back from USA and will host for us. Please check the material and question list below:

The American presidential primary race has captured the world’s imagination. But, who are these candidates and what does their presence say about the American people? What has made this race so interesting is that the frontrunner candidates on the Democratic and Republican side, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are both receiving strong backlash from many American voters. Here is a video clip demonstrating the sentiments of many Americans regarding these two candidates:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/ ... lying.html

On the Democract side, the race is between the ultimate political insider, Hillary Clinton, and a fringe Democrat, Bernie Sanders, who gives impassioned speeches on the problems that exist in American politics today. Many democracts struggle to decide between the experience of Hillary Clinton and the hope that Bernie Sanders offers them. Here is an article of one person’s struggle to answer this question (spoiler alert: she picks Hillary):

Hillary Clinton for President: Jann S. Wenner March 23, 2016
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/ne ... t-20160323

While people have heard a lot about Donald Trump as the anti-establishment, many do not appreciate that his Republican opponent, Ted Cruz, is also a Washington outsider. Please listen (better than reading) the following American National Public Radio report:

Ted Cruz and the Senate: Now We’ve Got Bad Blood: Ailsa Chang March 10 2016
http://www.npr.org/2016/03/10/469972525 ... d-shoulder

The Republican worry of Donald Trump has many claiming that the ultimate choice for a Republican candidate will be a “brokered convention”. Here is an explanation of this process (this articles is very technical and only those who are very interested in the process need to read this article):

Contested conventions, explained: Andrew Prokop March 23 2016
http://www.vox.com/2016/3/23/11280032/b ... -explained

One way that we can think through this election process, is to look for parallels with the recent Taiwan election.
It seems that changing demographics, growing disparity of wealth and impatience with the established political elites have been a driving force in the presidential elections of both countries.

Question 1: There are many similarities between Hillary Clinton’s and Tsai Ing-Wen’s candidacies. Please compare and contrast these two politicians. How did they get where they are? How do they appeal to the voters? How are they different?

Question 2: The Republican Party is facing much difficulty in finding a frontrunner candidate. How does this compare to the way in which Eric Chu was determined to be the KMT presidential nominee? Given the lack of enthusiasm for Republican Party and KMT establishment candidates, do you think that the parties are willing to “re-brand” themselves?

Question 3: Why do you think that Donald Trump’s slogan: “Make America Great Again” appeals to voters? Who are these voters? Is there a similar sentiment in Taiwan that things used to be better than they are now?

Question 4: Donald Trump has targetted China as one of the chief villains in his campaign. In particular, he advocates protecting American workers from cheap Chinese imports. Do you think that this is good economic policy for America? Are you worried that American anti-China rhetoric will give Taiwan a bad image? Do you think that it is a good thing or a bad thing for Taiwan if the American president is anti-Chinese?

============================

Agenda:

6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:40pm Discussion Session (30 mins)
7:40 ~ 7:55pm Summarization (15 mins)
7:55~ 8:05pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:15 ~ 8:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
8:55 ~ 9:20pm Summarization (25 mins)
9:20 ~ 9:30pm Concluding Remarks/Announcement

********************

聚會日期：列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間：請準時 7:00 pm 到 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點：丹堤濟南店
地址、電話：台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站：板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法：出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後，沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘，到了濟南路口，左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
最低消費： 80 元


注意事項：
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌，但與會者請自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章，並仔細想過所有的問題，謝謝合作！

給新朋友的話：
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹；會議結束前可能會請你發表1~2分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題，並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行，參加者應具備中等英語會話能力，對任一討論問題，能夠以5到10句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前，可以先來觀摩三次，觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。

[Rock]

Cool! Gossiping about people from two very different worlds, Taiwanese TV celebrities and American political figures, seems quite challenging. It's another new thing we've never done before. Good job!!

[Iris Wu]

Someone sent me the following on LINE: (just to make the serious topic less serious )

http://cdwong.blogspot.com/
I came upon this old funny piece I kept from a previous presidential campaign season and find it entertaining still. I spruce it up a little and add a few new ones of my own to bring it up to date:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Barack Obama:
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

John McCain:
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road!

Hillary Clinton:
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure -- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.......

Dr. Phil:
The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

Oprah:
Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

George W. Bush:
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

John Kerry:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

Nancy Grace:
That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

Ernest Hemingway:
To die in the rain. Alone.

Aristotle:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road. Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

Albert Einstein:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

Bill Clinton:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

Ted Cruz:
I opposed CCR (Chicken Crossing the Road) and have always opposed CCR.

Bernie Sanders:
It's a disgrace that 1 percent of the cells of the chicken's beautiful brain misled the rest of its body to get on this perilous, disastrous path of no return!

Donald Trump:
Why did the chicken cross the road? Let me tell you why: It is because there was no coop to hem it in! We are going to build a coop, a tall, strong, beautiful coop, and the people on the other side of the road are going to pay for it, and you bet the coop will be manufactured in the USA!!

[Luis Ko]

at first i couldn't really get it but now, after google it, i somewhat know what it's going on.. yeah, it's quite interesting haa

[Rock]

It's so hilarious!! Totally made my day. Thank you.

[Rock]

Hi, Queen Iris,

I find your idea that Yoyo discussion is also gossiping in a broader definition quite interesting. Yes, more than often, we talk about things which are far from our business with 2nd hand (or even more hands?) information, and cannot really change anything in reality. It IS gossiping!

So, why not Selina? My points in the meeting were so stupid.

[Iris Wu]

I find your idea that Yoyo discussion is also gossiping in a broader definition quite interesting.

I was probably taking things to extremes. At the end of the day, YoYo is an English club, practicing English is a main purpose. Topics/subjects are just vehicles; something for us to focus on through the recommended reading/listening materials. Almost none of the discussion is acctually "useful" in terms of changing the world or making a difference in reality; if we aim so high, we will be disappointed.

With all that said, I cannot help myself preferring some topics over the others, so I can totally relate to your feeling about the Selina topic. I got your points and actually agreed on that, yes, the fewer people interested in this sort of things, the less likely these "celebrities" gain the unnecessary/unwanted attention, which might be better and healthier for the society.
Your another point was well taken, too, and that is, some women got sympathy from the media/public in this kind of divorce cases, but it is hard to say who were the real "manipulators". I don't mean Selina was, but just don't want to speculate that. After all, it's their private life, gossiping what was going on won't make me a better person or make the world a better place to live. So, your points were not stupid at all.

[Rock]

After all, it's their private life, gossiping what was going on won't make me a better person or make the world a better place to live...

Yes. But maybe their audience take it as something like a reality show? On the other hand, I'd like to talk about how Superman fight Batman. But apparently nobody cares about it.

[wenhan1122]

After all, it's their private life...

Yes. But maybe their audience take it as something like a reality show? On the other hand, I'd like to talk about how Superman fight Batman. But apparently nobody cares about it.

Hi Rock,

Too bad that we were not on the same table last night. Actually I DO care. I just saw the movie last Sat., and it was fantastic!!!

I can't tell you enough how profoundly this move is gonna change the course of civilization, to a more righteous direction of course, and how gladly we should be to realize that it's the dawn of justice and we have the Wonder Woman having been guarding us for centuries. It's a must-see for us people, particularly for Taiwanese suffering from a horrible tragedy very recently.

[Luis Ko]

I'd like to talk about how Superman fight Batman too, but, i just want to say the movie is totally nonsense, to me. how come a human being is able to fight Superman, and for what reason? yeah, i always doubt. then again, i do like this pretty Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot haaa~

[Rock]

Hey, now we don't know who is joking and who is serious.

[Luis Ko]

haa~ so, maybe you can really use the movie as a topic for yoyo meeting la~

[Rock]

Wenhan the Ironman said he's gonna do it.

[Luis Ko]

good~

[tashi]

Atteendees:

Morris
Iris
Sophie
Annie
Rock
Andre's
Steve
Douglas
Jason
Jessica
Viola
Ken
Luis
Jeter
Wenhan
Stig
Becky Wong
Olof
Julian
Dan Balaban