Monday, December 16, 2013

Links n stuff


Todays factoid, from a discussion on Forumosa:
"I'm sure it is true of civil servants all over the world, but Taiwan may be a special case. A quick Google search shows that the US fires 0.55% of federal employees each year. Taiwan has about 320,000 civil servants (including employees of state enterprises). If it fired at the rate the US government does, you would expect to see 1,760 civil servants lose their job each year. Taking a quick look at the 2012 statistics from the "Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries", it appears that just 15 civil servants lost their job in 2012. At least half were police officers.

It is also important to note that the US president appoints thousands of officers to top governmental positions. These appointments extend down to the level of departmental heads in various agencies and they serve at the pleasure of the president. In contrast, Tawan's president (through the premier) appoints only the Ministers and one vice minister in each ministry. Everyone else is a civil servant with life tenure.

I'm not holding the US up as an exemplar. I just chose it as an example because it was easier to find the numbers. Still, I think that these numbers show that US civil servants are far more accountable and subject to democratic control than their counterparts in Taiwan are.

And no, I don't think the answer is more punishments. Taiwan's solution to every problem is to impose criminal penalties. It would be better served by a system where citizens could seek meaningful remedies themselves in the courts and make the polluters pay for the damage they cause."
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Forumosa? Does anyone still visit that site? The last I remember it was full of pompous big mouths and that thought they knew everything.

Anonymous said...

Here is an interesting link, the guy that many people erroneously think is the key person in the Matsu casino project just got kicked out of the Philippines.

Philippines casino removes management led by former Las Vegas Sands executives (sep 2013)

I guess that he may have been too busy with the Export-Import Bank of China owned Bahama project. This only heightens my suspicions that the commenter on your previous Matsu post was right about Weidner being a front man for a Beijing syndicate.

yankdownunder said...

Siemens to install offshore wind here in 2016? Wouldn't that be awesome.

Not for the birds.



http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/bird-strikes-at-wind-farms/4668750

The Altamont Pass wind farm in northern California was established in 1982 and has 5,400 wind turbines. Sadly, it was constructed in a major raptor migration corridor with the highest concentration of Golden Eagles in North America. Consequently, the turbines killed from 880 to 1,300 raptors each year, mainly Burrowing Owls and Red-tailed Hawks, but also up to 116 Golden Eagles. Some reports say that 4,700 birds were killed annually at Altamont Pass,

Too many people is the problem. Corn based fuels and wind mills will not work. Once the boat is overloaded it will sink no matter
what you try to do to stop it.

Michael Turton said...

Coal and oil power plants kill birds by the million, including raptors.

I agree re population, but getting the population to reduce itself will be a problem...