Chen Shui Bian Finally Put On Trial

Taiwan's former President Chen Shui-bian has gone on trial accused of a series of corruption charges in a case that has gripped the island. Mr Chen, 58, along with his wife and 12 others, is accused of embezzlement, taking bribes and money laundering. He denies the charges and says he is a victim of a "government purge". Since leaving office in 2008, Mr Chen has been a vocal critic of the new government's support for China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.
Prosecutors allege Mr Chen and his wife Wu Shu-chen embezzled money from a special presidential fund and laundered it through Swiss banks during his eight years in office.
They also accuse the couple of receiving bribes from a Taiwanese company to help it sell a piece of land to the government. Altogether, the money involved in the case adds up to an estimated $11m (£7.5m). In February, Mrs Wu pleaded guilty to accepting a $2.2m (£1.5m) political donation in connection with a land purchase deal, but denied that it had been a bribe, as alleged by prosecutors. She admitted charges of forging documents in a separate case but denied using the money for personal gain. Nine other accused, including Mr Chen's son and daughter-in-law, have pleaded guilty to some charges related to the case.

Mr Chen was taken into the Taipei courtroom in handcuffs to face the start of the formal proceedings against him. "The case has nothing to do with me and this is causing me unbearable pain," he told the court, according to the AFP news agency. His trial will initially investigate the alleged land deal before moving on to other charges, and is expected to last for several months. Mr Chen says the charges against him are politically motivated, constructed by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) government to please Beijing. Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been improving since the KMT, under President Ma Ying-jeou, took office last year.
Mr Chen has also challenged the impartiality of the judging panel, saying the fact they had not allowed him out on bail in December was "punitive".

CHARGES AGAINST MR CHEN
Embezzling $3m from the presidential fund
Taking $9m in bribes over a land purchase deal
Laundering money in Swiss bank accounts

"In order to gain favour and protection from the Beijing authorities, the Nationalist government has launched an all-out purge and cleansing against the former... administration," Mr Chen's office said on Wednesday. The KMT party accused Mr Chen of failing to "set an example" as a national leader. The court date follows more than two months of pre-trial hearings. If found guilty, Mr Chen could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Pet Shop Boys 'Yes'

Renowned for their thrilling pizzazz and soaring intelligence which propelled them to stratospheric levels in the 1980s, The Pet Shop Boys are back with their 10th, and best, album in over a decade. Certainly their best since 1996’s Bilingual album and many songs are even on par with their best output from Very and Behavior. It seems slightly ironic that they had to enlist the help of producers, Xenomania, to make them sound like themselves again, however overall it’s a winning combination. Pitting Tchaikovsky against rave bleeps doesn’t appear a winning combination on paper, yet it is probably their finest effort on this album, All Over The World. The lead single Love etc. tingles with Lowe's electronic sheen and Kylie must be insane for snubbing this song! The album does has faults, namely, Legacy which rolls on an on until it crashes unceremoniously into the car wreck it creates! Also, when they crank up the tempo it is hard to take them as anything but a high camp disco outfit. Not that there is anything wrong with that, however, when it is shadowing highly intelligent lyrics it’s a real shame. Neil Tenant is probably one of the only middle aged men to still be able to tap into and pull the emotional heartstrings of the younger generations. “I will never be your stepping stone but I don’t want to live… alone”. It sums up the feelings of many, particularly gay guys. A great album, welcome back PSB’s!

My Birthday

Last weekend was my birthday, after a nice easy day at work on Friday, just 2 hours due to a kindergarten field trip, I picked up George from the station and we headed for dinner at Papa Giovanni’s. The food, albeit expensive, was fantastic, a lasagna and gnocchi later we headed for a movie at Vieshow. Due to lack of choices we, rather aptly, decided upon Friday 13th. It was truly awful in every way but who cares, I was with my baby and that's all that mattered.

On Saturday we headed to watch Slumdog Millionaire and then meet up with George's dad. Then it was off to Rock Oldies to celebrate my birthday with friends. Although the place had a cheek to call itself 'Rock' Oldies (I think country oldies would have suited more) it was nice to hang out and see everyone. Then it was off to Watershed for some drinks. No surprise that I got completely wasted and somehow ended up in a taxi without George heading to Fresh. As I was obvious way over the tipping point we headed back home when I finally met up with George again.

On Sunday we headed out for yet another movie, Watchmen, it was a lot better than I could ever have imagined and rather deep for a comic book adaptation. We then headed to the pasta place next-door for some more great food. It was a great birthday!