S08.E27: Taiwan

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic: Taiwan

Quote

John Oliver discusses Taiwan's history of being governed by other countries, its fraught present-day relationship with China, and what its citizens would like their future to look like.

Also: Vaccine mandates for police officers; the Weather Channel's graphics department is still not fucking around; James Corden loves cinema

Original air date 2021.08.24

[Victor the Crab]

Heads up, everyone. LWTwJO starts at 11:20PM tonight!

[scarynikki12]

Choosing a guy like Catanzara to represent you really screams a lot of things you probably think are still unspoken. And that non-apology really did give us all the context we needed about the original statement. Whew what an asshole.

I love Ollie mocking the officers in that video for using the emergency exit.

The segment about The Weather Channel’s graphics department was hilarious.

WOW to Bo Yang being arrested and threatened with the death penalty over the translation of a Popeye comic. Glad they didn’t follow through.

I especially loved him throwing in a “where’s Shelly?” to David Miscavage.

[Annber03]

John echoed my sentiments exactly regarding the officers who are threatening to quit over mask mandates. If you can't handle doing something that helps keep others safe, you're not fit to be an officer in the first place. That video of that cop shoving away the guy with the mask was...yikes. I love John pointing out how apparently the whole "follow commands" thing apparently only ever has to apply to citizens and not to the cops themselves. 

And. Stop. Making. Holocaust. Comparisons. For. Fuck's. Sake. To the guy who did that and had to post that "apology" video, shut up and crack open some history books, you ignorant fool.

As for the story on Taiwan, if nothing else, it really highlights just how petty and ridiculous and goofy international policy really can be much of the time. Tsai Ing-wen definitely speaks like a true politician, walking that ever so fine line regarding how Taiwan is viewed. I also love that that lead singer ranting about China is actually part of the Taiwanese parliament. That's amazing. 

But again, my stance on this is pretty much John's - the Taiwanese people should be able to declare for themselves what they want to do going forward. I mean, hell, even our support of Taiwan back in the early 20th century wasn't for their sake, it was for ours, because we just wanted any protection from communism that was available. And if that protection came in the form of a dictatorship that abused and tortured and killed people? Eh, well, that's just standard operating procedure for our foreign policy over the decades, it seems, so...:/. 

Luckily, we're willing to keep that strategic ambiguity policy in place (though, yes, sending military support does tip our hand a bit), but I do wonder what will happen if and when we do get a president that wants to just abandon that policy completely. We've seen what happens when other presidents try to forgo protocol and "the way things have always been done", after all, so... Whatever our involvement in this whole situation going forward, that's a possibility we may need to keep in mind and address and plan for at some point. 

Loved the Weather Channel and Corden segments XD. Especially given Corden's script was the same every single time. 

[ahisma]

I feel like I’ve heard before what an ass Cataranza is. Previous coverage on police unions? But wow, what a piece of semi-sentient excrement. I can’t wait for the trash to take itself out with all these ignoramuses resigning. 

Always, always up for John badgering David Miscavige about Shelly’s whereabouts. 

I appreciate that the Taiwanese are thoroughly comfortable in their free society, but I worry that wishing doesn’t make it so when China is stepping up their encroachments. 🙁

[swanpride]

Having grown up when Germany was still the designated Battlefield in the cold war I can relate to not wanting to upset the status quo and being broadly fine with it. Still. The question is how long it will take until China decides to end the pussy-footing around the issue. Until then though, it might be better to not rock the boat, never mind how stupid that is. 

Speaking of being German: I am so f... tired of the Holocaust or Nazi analogies (in places where they don't fit, if someone is a f... Nazi, you would be able to call him that). Those people have no idea whatsoever what they are talking about and more often then not, it's a little bit the pot calling the white ceramic vase black...

Those weather reports really go all out...perhaps too much. 

Yeah, let those police officers quit. I am f... tired of police officers writing their own rules. 

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, swanpride said:

Yeah, let those police officers quit. I am f... tired of police officers writing their own rules. 

Yup. Go bye-bye. 

But I'm just so sick of the hyperventilating umbrage so many people are expressing about taking the damn vaccine or wearing the damn mask. I know some people are not following thru with quitting their jobs when push comes to shove, so that's good news. But the divide in this country is so severe and angry that I really truly despair. I can't imagine it healing and getting better. Hey, we need a vaccine for that!

I appreciated John's summary of the history of Taiwan. Very interesting. That video of John Cena apologizing in Mandarin was unbelievable. Like John (Oliver), I was impressed by Cena's apparent fluency. It sure didn't seem like he had just learned a few phonetic sentences. But it's terrible that companies have to supplicate to China.

Edited October 25, 2021 by peeayebee

[swanpride]

Btw, I am usually completely pro-Union, but there is a difference between ensuring fair pay and proper working conditions and setting up an own law for your members...

[Annber03]

14 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

But I'm just so sick of the hyperventilating umbrage so many people are expressing about taking the damn vaccine or wearing the damn mask. I know some people are not following thru with quitting their jobs when push comes to shove, so that's good news. But the divide in this country is so severe and angry that I really truly despair. I can't imagine it healing and getting better. Hey, we need a vaccine for that!

The anti-vaccine mindset is especially maddening given how all last year, all I heard from people was, "How long until we get a vaccine? When is it going to get here?" Well, now it's here, and yet... 

And all the freaking out over wearing masks gets me because for the last few years there was all this "sensitive snowflake" nonsense being thrown around...and now so many of the people who used that phrase are the same ones having meltdowns and throwing hissy fits over the idea of being asked to put a piece of cloth over their faces for a few hours when they go out in public. Okay. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

John echoed my sentiments exactly regarding the officers who are threatening to quit over mask mandates. If you can't handle doing something that helps keep others safe, you're not fit to be an officer in the first place. 

Except . . . I can already hear the conspiracy theories about Biden defunding police in a covert way by mandating vaccines. This will play big in political theater. Also, apparently Ron DeSantis offers bonuses to anti-vax cops to come work in Florida.

I, too, appreciated the quick recap of Taiwanese history. 

I feel bad for James Corden, though. 

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Except . . . I can already hear the conspiracy theories about Biden defunding police in a covert way by mandating vaccines. This will play big in political theater. Also, apparently Ron DeSantis offers bonuses to anti-vax cops to come work in Florida.

Ugh, I didn't even consider that. Sigh.

DeSantis really is a piece of work, isn't he? Good lord. 

[DoctorAtomic]

5 hours ago, swanpride said:

Yeah, let those police officers quit.

 

19 hours ago, Annber03 said:

John echoed my sentiments exactly regarding the officers who are threatening to quit over mask mandates. If you can't handle doing something that helps keep others safe, you're not fit to be an officer in the first place. That video of that cop shoving away the guy with the mask was...yikes. I love John pointing out how apparently the whole "follow commands" thing apparently only ever has to apply to citizens and not to the cops themselves. 

 

I'm not buying. When push comes to shove, and a particular officer is brought in and told 'you get this now or you're fired,' they're going to fold. I assume most officers have families; even if not, they all have bills, and not that I know a lot, building up their service to a full pension. So, all their wives are 100% supportive of them quitting outright? No worries about paying for bassoon lessons, or new ballet slippers? Hockey skates? Not to mention health insurance or prescriptions. DeSantis isn't going to pay for them all to just up and relocate, and what if one of the officer's wives is a high school teacher with tenure? They're going to just quit and start over if maybe there's an opening somewhere else. 

None of that's going to happen. One dude is going to cave and the rest are going to get it. 

[JustHereForFood]

I second everyone's frustration with people complaining about the vaccine. And the fact that people who are supposed to protect others are refusing to do so is even more sad. Not just the police, there were also cases of hospital workers that refused to take the vaccine, which is almost absurd.

And all of you from the US don't need to be so sad, it's not just you, other countries have stupid people too. For example in Slovakia, I have noticed many times since the start of the pandemic that the attitude of those opposing all of the safety measures has been very similar to what I have seen in US media. First there was no pandemic, then it was a fault of the immigrants and masks and lockdowns were not necessary because some fake health experts said so, now vaccines are dangerous and the whole issue is politicized. There were even some Holocaust comparisons recently, which drives me crazy too, especially as @swanpride said, considering who uses those completely inaccurate comparisons.

Regarding Taiwan, I also appreciated the history recap, and I agree that it should be left to people living there to decide how to proceed, since they are the ones that would be affected if anything happened, not any of us who might like to make a statement after a brief history lesson, but without the larger context.

I laughed at the James Corden segment, but honestly, how many ways are there to ask about someone's new project? It's probably easier for him to say it like a script, since the focus is not supposed to be on him, but on the person promoting their new project.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

Regarding Taiwan, I also appreciated the history recap, and I agree that it should be left to people living there to decide how to proceed, since they are the ones that would be affected if anything happened, not any of us who might like to make a statement after a brief history lesson, but without the larger context.

All well and good to have a non-intervention policy... it worked out splendidly in the Ukraine. Taiwan can be renamed Pacific Crimea

[Victor the Crab]

What Ollie said in regards to police officers refusing to take the vaccine! The majority of them are probably racist thugs who enjoy harassing African Americans and other POCs and framing them for crimes they didn't commit. The less of them roaming the streets, the safer we'll be from them.

I'm quite surprised so many people are taking China's side over Taiwan, given the bullying nature of the mainland over the island nation. Apologizing to them for taking Taiwan's side is so infuriating. What if more people, more nations, more outfits just took Taiwan's side and told China to go fuck itself? I know what the answer to that will be, but I just don't like bullies succeeding!

Nice that people over at the Weather Channel are enjoying themselves with the graphics that show how climate change is making things problematic for everyone. And I really couldn't give a fuck about James Corden over pretty much anything!

[peeayebee]

6 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

I'm quite surprised so many people are taking China's side over Taiwan, given the bullying nature of the mainland over the island nation.

Isn't it because China is important economically? For instance, they're a big consumer of entertainment, hence the John Cena apology. 

[paigow]

29 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

Isn't it because China is important economically? For instance, they're a big consumer of entertainment, hence the John Cena apology. 

They also co-finance a lot of Hollywood movies...

[Lantern7]

Good episode. I don't follow pro wrestling, but I know John Cena's deal is "You Can't See Me!" And after watching that apology, he probably wanted to be invisible. Not exactly something you want to think about when you're anticipating his Peacemaker series on HBO Max.

I forget . . . has John ever taken on China's relationship with American movies?

The cops . . . .urrrrrrrgh. It gets to a point where you just start hoping the whole thing is being acted out, because the ramifications are that dire.

Weather Channel graphics for the win! Here's hoping LWT circles back to the stuff shown on Monday Night Football. I don't think Thanos snapping his fingers and Seahawks disintegrating can be topped, but I'd like to see for myself.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 10/25/2021 at 7:45 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

None of that's going to happen. One dude is going to cave and the rest are going to get it. 

I am not so sure. I mean I know it is kind of different because it is Canada, but here our school boards put in a get the vaccine and provide us with proof mandate, and yet at the school my wife works at the chief custodian walked way from a good full time job with benefits and a pension because he didn't want to get the shot. And if you refuse you go on unpaid leave and I believe you can't get employment insurance. So your kind of fucked.

On a side note I did find it funny that John called out that police guy making the stupid apology over not being centered in the camera shot, while at the same time John is not centered. And yes I know it is because of the graphic thing to his right, but it is still funny.

[Victor the Crab]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

Isn't it because China is important economically? For instance, they're a big consumer of entertainment, hence the John Cena apology. 

 

1 hour ago, paigow said:

They also co-finance a lot of Hollywood movies...

Yes, yes to both. Which is why China's actions still piss me off to no end!😠😡🤬

[JustHereForFood]

6 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I forget . . . has John ever taken on China's relationship with American movies?

That would be an interesting topic to cover, considering the recent development with their censorship.

[One Imaginary Girl]

I hope that Hank Stuever, the former TV critic for the Washington Post, caught the James Corden montage.  He was on the record as not being a fan, so I could imagine him thinking, "Told you he was a hack."

[xaxat]

Ugh, once again a police union shows why they are the worst. It's bad enough he invoked the Holocaust, he ordered officers to put their lives at risk in order to make a political point.