By Michael Patrick Okeefe In the past several years, I have had many friends endure divorce, all as a result of infidelity. Fortunately, the children of these marriages were generally older, if not adults, within a few years of reaching the age of majority. As such, these kids should have been better prepared to deal with their emotional response to the break-up of their parents’ marriage. Surprisingly, though, I found that in many instances these “young adults” seemed nonchalant about their parents’ divorce, apparently viewing a marital split as a normal and expected pattern in human relationships. Additionally, they seem reluctant to acknowledge the ...
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By Michael Patrick Okeefe My wife and I moved to Taiwan in January 2008 so that she could take care of her elderly mother. [1] Unfortunately, Mrs. Yeng passed away quite sooner than expected, leaving us to ponder the difficult question of whether to stay in Taiwan or return to the U.S. On the positive side, the cost of living in Taiwan is much lower than in the U.S., and both my tai-tai and I could find work as English teachers, although at modest pay. Additionally, Taiwan has really good, inexpensive, universal health care. On the other hand, the heat, humidity, and insects were ...
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By Michael Patrick Okeefe On April 27, 1961, JFK gave a speech to the American Newspaper Publishers Association. In the speech, he made the following comments about the dangers of secret societies, which "we the sheeple" seem to have forgotten. In part, JFK said: "For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material ...
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By Michael Patrick Okeefe In my previous life, I was a lawyer. [1] Approximately six months ago, I decided to switch gears and enter the real estate “bidness”, just in time for the financial shit storm of the century. As a result, I found myself back in the law business, because bad times are usually a lot better for lawyers than for real estate agents. [2] I started getting some legal work, and realized I needed a legal assistant. In an effort to save money, I decided to retain my sweet, wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, and efficient tai-tai as my employee. Once I decided to ...
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By Michael Patrick Okeefe My sweet wife, who is Taiwanese, is very fond of saying "it goes without saying". For example, she might say -- "We will always take care of each other -- it goes without saying." Now understand, English is her second language, yet she is remarkably articulate, with a sly, dry, wit. So, when my wife says "it goes without saying", one cannot simply attribute the statement to repetitive Chinglish filler. Thus, the question, if it goes without saying -- why say it? To add emphasis? To cast doubt? To elicit a response? To question? To bemuse? To see if I ...
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