Taiwan Irked at Google's Version of Earth

frank_adrian314159 writes "As reported in The Register, Taiwan wants Google Earth to stop calling it a province of China. Although Google has yet to comment on this issue, it will be interesting to see the brightest minds that money can buy trying to solve what decades of diplomats have unsuccessfully wrestled with - how to balance the nationalistic pride of the inhabitants of Taiwan against the nationalistic pride of the inhabitants of mainland China." From the article: "Foreign ministry spokesman, Michel Lu, explained: 'It is incorrect to call Taiwan a province of China because we are not. We have contacted Google to express our position and asked them to correct the description.' Google has maintained a stony silence on the matter, presumably while it tries to work out a solution which will please both the Taiwanese and the hosts of the (lucrative, burgeoning, inviting) Chinese internet search business opportunity market."

Comments

Re:Simple solution

[Philip K Dickhead]

Rev. Moon urges bridge linking Alaska, Asia
By Seattle Times staff

Challenging U.S. leaders to build a 51-mile "peace" bridge and tunnel from Alaska to Russia, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon rallied hundreds of Seattle supporters last night in an effort to bolster a religious movement best known for mass weddings.

Moon delivered a rambling, 45-minute sermon at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center that heavily criticized the United Nations and called for the end of war and the reconciliation of religious differences.

Moon offered no specifics on how a combination bridge and tunnel could be built or funded.

Korean-born Moon, 85, came to the United States in 1971 to establish the Unification Church after he claimed Jesus Christ appeared to him on a mountaintop. He has since created a multimillion-dollar empire that spreads across dozens of business sectors, from media holdings to manufacturing.

The Washington, D.C.-based church is now called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Church observers estimate fewer than 2,000 U.S. families are members, although Moon commands tens of thousands of followers in Japan and Korea.

About 250 Washington families are registered as members, according to church records.

Moon, who has a penchant for the dramatic, sparked congressional furor last year when he crowned himself the Messiah during an elaborate ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

Moon declared that his teachings helped Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin become reborn as new people.

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

Re:Simple solution

[Philip K Dickhead]

The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception
Lawmakers Say They Were Misled
By Charles Babington and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 23, 2004; Page A01

More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons."

At the March 23 ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) wore white gloves and carried a pillow holding an ornate crown that was placed on Moon's head. The Korean-born businessman and religious leader then delivered a long speech saying he was "sent to Earth . . . to save the world's six billion people. . . . Emperors, kings and presidents . . . have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."

Details of the ceremony -- first reported by Salon.com writer John Gorenfeld -- have prompted several lawmakers to say they were misled or duped by organizers. Their complaints prompted a Moon-affiliated Web site to remove a video of the "Crown of Peace" ceremony two days ago, but other Web sites have preserved details and photos.

Moon, 85, has been controversial for years. Renowned for officiating at mass weddings, he received an 18-month prison sentence in 1982 for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. In a 1997 sermon, he likened homosexuals to "dirty dung-eating dogs."

Among the more than 300 people who attended all or part of the March ceremony was Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.), who now says he simply was honoring a constituent receiving a peace award and did not know Moon would be there. "We fell victim to it; we were duped," Dayton spokeswoman Chris Lisi said yesterday.

Other lawmakers who attended or were listed as hosts felt the same, she said. "Everyone I talked to was furious," she said. With Minnesotans demanding to know whether Dayton is a follower of Moon, Lisi said, the senator persuaded the St. Paul Pioneer Press to write an article allowing him to reply.

The event's organizers flew in nearly 100 honorees from all 50 states to receive state and national peace awards. The only "international crown of peace awards" went to Moon and his wife.

Some Republicans who attended the event, including Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), said they did so mainly to salute the Washington Times, a conservative-leaning newspaper owned by Moon's organization. "I had no idea what would happen" regarding Moon's coronation and speech, Bartlett said yesterday.

But a key organizer -- Archbishop George A. Stallings Jr., pastor of the Imani Temple, an independent African American Catholic congregation in Northeast Washington -- said Moon's prominent role should have surprised no one. He said a March 8 invitation faxed to all lawmakers stated that the "primary program sponsor" would be the "Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), founded by Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, who will also be recognized that evening for their lifelong work to promote interfaith cooperation and reconciliation." The invitation was signed by Davis and the Rev. Michael Jenkins, as co-chairmen of the IIFWP (USA).

The event's co-sponsors were the Washington Times Foundation, the United Press International Foundation, the American Family Coalition, the American Clergy Leadership Conference and the Women's Federation for World Peace, according to the invitation. Stallings, a former Roman Catholic priest who was married in Moon's church, said Moon's association with those organizations is well known.

"You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to not know that any event that is sponsored by the Washington Times . . . could involve the influence, or the potential presence, of the Reverend Moon," he said.

Use of the Dirksen building requires a senator's approval. Dayton said he gave no such permission, and S

Re:Simple solution

[Philip K Dickhead]

Warner Helped the Rev. Moon
Senator's Office Says He Arranged for Meeting Space in March
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 21, 2004; Page A02

Sen. John W. Warner's office acknowledged yesterday that the Virginia Republican arranged for religious activists to use a Senate office building last March for a ceremony in which the Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons."

The senator did not attend the coronation-like ceremony or realize it would involve Moon, a controversial figure who spent 18 months in prison in the 1980s for tax fraud, said Warner spokesman John Ullyot. "Our office felt misled" after news accounts described a long ceremony in which Moon and his wife were crowned as leaders of international peace, he said.

Many private groups use Senate office buildings for receptions and meetings, but they must obtain a senator's approval. The Senate Rules and Administration Committee has declined to reveal who approved the use of the Dirksen Senate Office Building for the March 23 ceremony, and a key organizer said last month the question was "shrouded in mystery." Warner's office acknowledged its role yesterday when asked for details by The Washington Post.

When news accounts last month described the ceremony, several of the approximately dozen lawmakers who attended said they were duped into going and had no idea the Moons would be the chief honorees. Some said they simply went to see a constituent receive an award and were unaware of Moon's long speech in which he said, "Emperors, kings and presidents . . . have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."

In a March 11 letter, Christian Voice of Alexandria asked Warner to reserve room G-11 in Dirksen "for a reception Christian Voice plans to host in honor of the 'Ambassadors for Peace' award recipients." The letter, which the senator's office provided to The Post yesterday, was addressed "Dear John" and signed by group president Gary L. Jarmin.

"Nothing in the letter suggests any participation by Rev. Moon or his organization," Ullyot said. "Senator Warner's staff approved the event, since Mr. Jarmin is a constituent known to the Virginia delegation." Jarmin first made the request by phone, Ullyot said, and was asked to put it in writing.

A March 8 invitation sent to many lawmakers and others said the "primary program sponsor" would be the "Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), founded by Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon." Several co-sponsors were listed, including the Washington Times Foundation, but Christian Voice was not mentioned.

The group, however, has been linked to Moon's far-flung religious and business empire in numerous articles over the years. An April article in Church & State magazine referred to "Christian Voice, a Religious Right group connected with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon." It said the group was "long associated with Moon operative Gary Jarmin."

A 1990 Los Angeles Times article said the Rev. Robert Grant -- listed on Jarmin's letter to Warner as chairman of Christian Voice -- founded the American Freedom Coalition, a group "dedicated to repairing Moon's tattered persona in the United States."

A 1989 Post article about Moon's empire also made several references to Jarmin and Grant. Grant responded to The Post with an op-ed column saying, in part, "the AFC has received support from business interests of the Unification Church," founded by Moon. "Since its founding in April 1987, the AFC has in fact received $ 5,252,473 from such business interests. This amounts to just 32.7 percent . . . of our total gross revenues."

In a phone interview yesterday, Jarmin said he requested the Dirksen room on behalf of Christian Voice because the ceremony involved hundreds of people and required an overflow room. A p