比照省長補貼
高院的判決立下一個清楚的分水嶺；特別費之申報雙軌制不是歷史共業，也沒有制度缺漏，要單據部分必須清清楚楚，據實以報，觸犯了就是刑法貪污、瀆職及偽造 文書罪；另一半毋須單據部分，只要首長出示領據，錢怎麼領、怎麼花，首長自己面對社會公評或議會監督。馬英九特別費因此案標準判了無罪，未來翁、蘇、謝特 別費也應無罪；而陳水扁國務機要費，呂、游特別費都可能有罪。
北 市長特別費一月高達34萬，領據補貼的半數等於17萬，高於市長的本薪15萬。說起來馬英九若全數當成薪資補貼，其實並不合理。過去北高市長會遠高於其他 縣市首長8萬8的特別費，其實是為了體例上比照省長。省長選民高達近二千萬人，紅白喜帖、犒賞等數額不得了，因為直轄市與省同級，北高市長即比照相同特別 費。凍省後，北高市未回歸正軌，算是市府及議會編列預算上的陋習。要馬英九一人為此承擔罪名，不公平。

上訴快速罕見
不過馬英九節儉存款之餘，當議員問起他特別費的去向時，他沒有選擇第一時間說實話。高院因此判決中不採取「大水庫理論」，雖判馬英九清白無罪，但也意有所指，不同意馬特別費全用於公益之說；這是馬英九完美道德中，不得不承認的小小瑕疵。

But they fear that Taiwan, by breaking with Chiang's legacy, may also be breaking away from the Chinese mainland.

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

說到標題, The Economist 最會用半開玩笑的口氣, 三週前, 有一篇about "chinese consumption", 叫"會有奇蹟出現嗎"(Can pigs fly?),會不會有人看作是中國是豬?

Chinese consumption (http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RSQGPJP)

Can pigs fly?

Feb 22nd 2007 | HONG KONG
From The Economist print edition

China's households are not as tight-fisted as you think

經濟學人雜誌報導台灣打算拆除中正紀念堂圍牆的新聞，以「文化革命」為主標，副標題則是「獨裁者遺產的戰爭」，文意主要是介紹台灣推動正名的歷史糾葛與政治背景，絕非如統派媒體所言，「將這一連串措施與中共文化大革命相提並論」。（取自網站）

〔記 者王平宇／台北報導〕「經濟學人」雜誌以「文化革命」（Cultural revolution）為標題，報導有關台灣打算拆除中正紀念堂圍牆。此舉引發國人困惑，何以知名國際雜誌要反對拆牆之舉？其實，報導並無反對拆牆或正名 的意思，這全部是被立場偏頗媒體刻意誤導所致。

副標「獨裁者遺產的戰爭」

還原這篇報導，其副標題訂為「獨裁者遺產的戰爭」（The fight over a dictator's legacy）。文中多次將蔣介石與獨裁者作直接連結，並指二二八事件中高達二萬八千人因反抗國民黨統治遭殺害。

文章一開始提到，一九四九年蔣介石被毛澤東打敗後，卻在台灣擁有趨近神格的地位，但蔣死後三十年，「對老獨裁者的記憶被抹去」，包括各地中正路與機場更名。但此舉卻引發連串政治風暴，還掃到國防部長李傑，因他容許軍隊移除銅像，而被國民黨開除黨籍。

蔣遺世事物未被適當檢查

報導更提到，蔣介石留給後人的東西，「從未被適當的檢查過」，而且有關過去的爭論也延伸到未來國家走向，即台灣是中國的一部分（蔣介石觀點）？還是自外於中國有著台灣認同的獨立國家？

有趣的是，報導提到陳水扁與執政民進黨具有台獨傾向，卻任命國民黨籍的國防部長。而且陳水扁與其所屬政黨，趁著紀念二二八事件六十週年之際，正逐漸增強對蔣介石這位軍事強人的清算。

報導提到，為將屠殺責任歸咎蔣介石與國民黨「外來政權」，民進黨提議將「巨人般的」（giant）中正紀念堂，更名為台灣民主紀念堂，打算拆除這座聖殿（sanctuary）周圍的牆；並將中央政府與國營事業「中國」字眼逐步拿掉，甚至討論到去除錢幣上蔣介石肖像。

中國擔心打破兩岸關連

報導分析，民進黨或許基於選舉考量，但關鍵是民進黨將二二八事件塑造為台灣人與國民黨外來者間的衝突，同時引發北京的憂心，中國共產黨也許對這位軍事強人有不同看法，但中國也擔心，台灣打破了蔣介石的遺跡，同時也會打破與中國之間的關連。

未與文化大革命相提並論

經濟學人這篇報導堪稱中性不帶預設立場，主旨在向不了解台灣政局的國際讀者解釋，最近台灣一連串正名舉動及拆除中正紀念堂圍牆背後的歷史糾葛與政治背景。 如果讀者細讀原文，就會知道其中絕對不如立場偏頗媒體所報導的，「有將這一連串措施與中共文化大革命相提並論之意涵」。將這篇文章作此解讀，更是與文意明 顯不符。

Taiwan

Cultural revolution
Mar 15th 2007 | TAIPEI
From The Economist print edition

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8861553

The fight over a dictator's legacy

CHIANG KAI-SHEK may once have been revered as a near-god on Taiwan, where .............

This has provoked a political row, which this week engulfed Taiwan's defence minister, Lee Jye. He was expelled from the Kuomintang (KMT), Chiang's former ruling party, for allowing statues of the old nationalist to be removed from Taiwan's military bases.

Chiang's legacy has never been properly examined in Taiwan. Arguments about the past are also fights over what the island should be in the future: a part of China (the view of Chiang Kai-shek and his political heirs), or an independent nation with a distinct, non-Chinese Taiwanese identity.

The current government of President Chen Shui-bian, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leans towards independence (but which appointed a KMT man as defence minister), intensified its campaign against the generalissimo as the island marked the 60th anniversary of the "228 Incident"—the KMT's violent suppression of protests against its rule on February 28th 1947. An estimated 28,000 were killed.

Blaming the massacres on Chiang and the "outside" regime of the KMT, the DPP announced plans to rename the giant Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei as the "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall", and tear down the sanctuary's perimeter wall. The central government dropped "China" from the names of many state enterprises last month. There is talk of removing Chiang's portrait from Taiwanese coins.

DPP leaders may be politicking ahead of parliamentary elections in December, and presidential polls next March. But there is more at stake. By casting the 228 Incident as a clash between Taiwanese and KMT "outsiders", the DPP has not only opened old wounds in Taiwan but also created anxiety in Beijing. China's Communists may have been at odds with the generalissimo. But they fear that Taiwan, by breaking with Chiang's legacy, may also be breaking away from the Chinese mainland.

No longer mourned

For those who are fed up with the youth-obsession culture of Taiwan (eeh, it's a shame you are already TWENTY-FOUR !?),? this Comment article in the current issue of the New Yorker is nicely welcomed.
It's about a ringtone only teenagers can hear it.