For thousands of years, presumably, the beginning of summer in Taiwan has seen the approach of the plum rains, a time when rainfall is at its heaviest -- excluding typhoons.

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If you're a boozy journalist it probably means you have street cred. If you're not, than watch out for your laptop
By Johnny Neihu
Let's get my obligations out of the way first. For the sake of the wizened little chap at the Taipei City Government who pores over the English-language media looking for infractions with a magnifying glass in one hand and a crumbling dictionary in the other, here is the mandatory warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.

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By Chang Yen-ming 張炎銘
Global warming is not only now causing glaciers to melt and oceans to rise, but will also create extreme weather in the future. This means that the intensity of torrential rains will increase and droughts will be prolonged.

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Forget the paranoia and the foreign aid. Increased immigration has advantages for everybody
By Philippe Legrain
It is time for Europe's politicians to admit to voters that governments cannot stop people moving across borders. Despite efforts to build a "Fortress Europe," over a million foreigners bypass its defenses every year; some enter covertly, but most just overstay their visas and work illicitly. Even if Europe became a police state, migrants could get through: Documents can be forged or stolen, visas overstayed, people smuggled, officials bribed. While draconian policies can curb migration somewhat, they mostly drive it underground.

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Putin's belligerence is the upshot of inept Western diplomacy. The policy of cold peace may prove an historic error
By Simon Jenkins
Will history tell us we were fools? We worried about the wrong war and made the wrong enemies. In the first decade of the 21st century the leaders of the US and the UK allowed themselves to be distracted by a few Islamist bombers and took easy refuge in the politics of fear. They concocted a "war on terror" and went off to fight little nations that offered quick wins.

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What do you do when a stranger in a strange land refuses to pay for goods and you're left in the red to the tune of thousands of dollars? You call Johnny Neihu, consultant and go-between for the dogs of justice.
The etiquette of business

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