Out riding links

I'm riding in the rift valley, but I thought I'd drop off some links on  the way....
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Daily Links:

• The stupid, it buuurrrnnnnssss: Back in the day, The Taipei Times editorial page hosted great writers who really knew the score like Lawrence Eyton and Brian Kennedy and Bo Tedards. Now things have gone downhill so much that the page actually said Sean Lien, the son of the honorary chairman of the KMT, who is one of the richest, most powerful men on the island, is a political outsider. He's the ultimate insider, who is getting handed the candidacy as a birthright on his way to being groomed for the Presidency his father was never able to capture. What a horror.
• US may press the Ma Administration to live up to its pledge to raise the defense budget to 3% of GDP. Yet another broken promise.....
• Taiwan salaries continue to regress, now at 1998 levels.
• Taiwan looks for cruise line tourists.
• Cole in the Diplomat: The return of gangster politics in Taiwan

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