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What are you talking about? High speed rail is wildly successful in every country that builds it. It always makes an operating profit within a few years after it opens (even Taiwan's), even our nation's own Acela Express makes "a profit of about $41 per passenger."

So on what basis do you claim that it "isn't working"?

Until your nuclear plant goes down for planned - or unplanned - maintenance and you have a megawatt-sized hole in your power grid. Sometimes for years at a time. Which is why nuclear plants are frequently backed up by pumped storage facilities - and if they're good enough for nuclear, they're good enough for renewables.

As is usually the case, the fears, uncertainties and doubts thrown at wind and solar are easily addressed by ideas that have long been used for coal and nuclear.

Samsung has a "kill Taiwan" strategy. There was bound to be backlash for a company that is government-backed.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aall/201303200043.aspx

I believe that the only profitable HSR line in the world is Paris-Lyon.

There are two HSR lines that have paid off all their construction costs, Paris-Lyon and Tokyo-Osaka.

Taiwan's is the only HSR line in the world right now that is falling behind on the loan payment, but it still covers all of its operating costs through fares. Every other HSR line in the world is making positive progress toward paying off the construction costs.

So what this all boils down to is, what is your definition of "profitable"? I've given three possible definitions from which you may choose.

This chart applies only to "prompt" doses. Most of the casualties from Chernobyl (4000 to 8000 fatalities and counting) were from Thyroid cancer caused by exposure of children to radioactive Iodine. This is not just a dose effect, as the same dosage from another material, or of adults rather than children, won't cause these cancers. So, this chart is not appropriate for these long-term dangers.

Radioactive iodine has been found in milk and spinach near Fukushima, ad it is very worrying that the Japanese government is only talking about "immediate effects" when the real danger is long term.

In protest, the Chinese Government has set up its own rival awards ceremony to the Nobel prize; the "Confucius peace prize".

I would wait a bit before that's confirmed. The only news in English I can find on it seems to indicate it doesn't exist or at least wasn't given to the recipient reported by the Associated Press. Those guys aren't often wrong but this sounds like a satire or problem in translation.

Furthermore, here's the point of view from the horse's mouth (angry version here and refusal to resolve here) and they are propping up external support (though I think it's selective in choosing Heffermehl's words).

So, yeah, censorship is bad in any form and I think the Chinese government is terrible in doing this but they do run things their own special way over there and censorship has always been the norm.

The whole story is bullshit too, as AsusTek has denied Microsoft asking for royalties.

Did asus ever fess up to the nvidia 86xx mobile card underfill problem? Don't get me wrong, I *love* asus, but I don't think they ever issued a recall, just extended a few warranties and replaced bad units with good ones when they failed. I may be wrong, but I think I'm right :P Anyways, Asian business practices are different as well - and AsusTek isn't pegatron ... which was previously the manufacturing arm of Asus ... which is now separate from AsusTek, iirc. Makes me wonder if the OP is right about demanding royalties and wrong about the target. I mean, both pegatron and asustek are Asus. At least, as far as the end-customer is concerned.

The whole story is bullshit too, as AsusTek has denied Microsoft asking for royalties.

Here.

Terribly summary, by the way.