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60 Comments
First?
Thank god Roh is finally gone.
For that matter, all liberals.
UPDATE MAR. 4, 2008: Here was a comment I wrote, and later reconsidered. Robert Koehler has kindly consented to delete this comment and those that followed from it. For those of you whose gems were lost as a result, my apologies.
It is a beautiful Saturday and I took a nice walk.
I got back and noticed, buried inside this Times article about a case of Ricin poisoning, that this week in Las Vegas:
I thought this kind of crap only happened in China!!
I was disappointed that Lee back-slid on the reunification ministry decision. I hope it was an isolated misstep. But, yes, glad to have conservative leadership.
couldnt have said it better my brother!
great weekend indeed
cook out
beers
with the exercise kicking off it might even be worth it to hit a couple of bars tonight
#5 - I was surprised at the metal, reusable tongue depressor my doctor used a couple weeks ago. Is that standard here in Korea?
We might be seeing an open lesbian member of the National Assembly of Korea. Interesting…
Saw Beckham and the LA Galaxy play FC Seoul today. Before he obviously ran out of gas midway through the second period, the man made amazing pass after amazing pass. His performance was quite impressive; I wish I had seen him in his prime.
As a native Detroiter, I also appreciated his Gordie Howe spirit. During Howe’s heyday, someone on the opposing team was always tasked with trying to hurt Howe with some sort of flagrant foul early in the game in order to neutralize him. The young Eddie Shack of the Maple Leafs often got this job towards the end of Howe’s career with the RedWings.
FC Seoul tried the same gambit with Beckham. Not long after the start, one of the Korean players made a completely uncalled for and really vicious tackle on Beckham that left him on the turf for a bit.
Like Howe’s antagonists, though, who were usually found lying in a bit of their own blood somewhere away from the action in a later period, the Korean player later found himself completely upended and flattened by a completely legitimate(and effective) sweep executed by Beckham while driving on Galaxy’s goal.
Yeah, I am very glad Rho and his Commie friends are gone as well.
However, Lee’s rich capitalists have their own evils too. These guys basically work toward getting their friends and family get even richer. And, third-world country like Korea sometimes these actions are not only blatant but also severe. Sort of like Killing Field done in economic way.
The gap between the rich and the poor will widen. And, this may make most Koreans mad.
I hope Lee and his followers have good enough sense to care for the poor. And, do not use this opportunity to fatten themselves.
We will see.
That statement holds true for many first-world countries, too.
I am also glad Comrade Roh is gone. I am equally happy all liberals are bad, the war in Iraq is a victory and the boys will be home for Christmas.
Didn’t say what Christmas but 2009 looks very likely.
That said, the US Army is (usually) meeting its recruiting goals. Just don’t mention that they were dropped by 25% in 2005, as were entrance standards.
As for new Korean Conservative President Lee, I suggest the eliminate taxes on the ultra wealthy, lend money to people with bad credit and get into wars that he cannot win.
Yesterday, for the first time ever, I saw an American Bald Eagle.
Come to Vancouver in Soviet Canuckistan and you will see them all the time, even downtown.
@Sonagi, Baduk,
Korea is a 1st world country not 3rd world. Korea is modern, China is a 3rd world shit hole.
The East Pyongyang Grand Peoples Theatre looked quite impressive.” We are starving but, look at our monuments!”
New York has quietly lost its position as the financial capital of the world.
You are correct, Smackem, that Korea is modern.
#20
South Korea is a 1st world country. But North Korea is a 5th world.
Put them together, Korea is a 3rd world country.
Well, I wasn’t the only one who thought this winter was much colder than the last one after all. It actually has been. Stupid Chicken Little scientists and Al Gore and his fear mongers.
Temperature Monitors Report Widescale Global Cooling –
( http://www.dailytech.com/Tempe.....e10866.htm )
On another note, there was a fairly large fire in HaeUndae, Busan on Saturday. It was in a large park called Jangsan (?) Park, in Jangsan, HaeUndae New Town.
Seems a careless hiker tossed a smoke and it caught one of the mountains on fire. There were 4 helicopters buzzing all afternoon scooping up water from the manmade lake and dumping it on the smoke. There must have been 100 firemen there too. Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead! There were thousands of people watching from the edge of the park.
Also, there was an aircraft carrier in Busan this last weekend. Plenty of G.I.s around shopping and taking in the sights.
Have a great weekend!
#29. Amen! Junk science and Al Gore = DANGER!!!!!
John from Daejeon
I like that expression, “Global cooling”.
Al Gore should be warning us about upcoming oil shotages, food shortages and decrease of drinking water.
In stead, he decided to play the boogie man for “Global Fraud”.
I am glad that he lost the presidential election.
A few cold days and you think there is no global warming?
Why on earth would you rather have Bush than Gore?
You are a tool, baduk.
i had some british clients not too long ago who were very candid about their views on immigrants in britain. these folks were angry and felt that they country was being taken away from them. they were besides themsleve and wondered if they would be any british people left in britain in a hundred years or so.
it’s a valid concern. the british people have got to ask themslesves if people with names like mohammad and mayada should inherit buckingham palace. to me, it’s an absolute shame.
of course, the same thing is happening here. the state of california is becoming a defacto state of mexico. yet, ain’t nobody doing a damn thing. there’s an invasion going on and yet, the people of the united states just sit back and watch while their country is being taken by illegal immigrants and their children. what’s the use of being born and raised in this country when you can just hop the border and then march in the streets demanding your rights?
when will america wake up?
ps the border ain’t fixed because big business don’t want it fixed. we’ll see what happens when we start to tank as a nation.
California is being taken over by Mexicans? Who took what from whom?
Pawi, you are the last person who should be commenting on immigration.
‘California is being taken over by Mexicans? Who took what from whom?’
do you work for the chinese or are you chinese?
You’re not supposed to read my posts. I’m on double reverse probation from all bowl games, annexed from the church with strenuous and stern eyebrows.
En actualmente, yo era de Tijuana del Norte. Soy Mexicano. Yo estoy trabajando en el Paiz de su corazon, y trabajo por lo mismo.
Pretty crap Spanish for a native.
@29, etc:
It’s colder in some parts of the world this year because of La Nina (a single-year effect, which this year follows a year of El Nino, which produces the opposite warming effect), not because Global Climate Change is a farce.
El Nino and La Nina are blips on a larger trend. Global Warming is a poor moniker for increased radicalization of weather patterns and changes in local climate.
I certainly hope that the same (often conservative) people who scream that changes in the earth’s temperature in fractions of a degree are not worthy of attention are not the same (often conservative) people who marvel at how precisely this world was created to sustain life by an omniscient being; who marvel at how just a small change would not allow life to exist and use that as proof of creation. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
Police closes korean prostitution place and arrests 40 people in Sao Paulo
Feb 29, 2008
from “Folha Online”
Marcel Gugoni
Around 40 people were arrested this Thu night (28) in a building where a prostitution house worked, at Street Julio Conceicao, 737, in Sao Paulo.
Among the arrested people are korean women that were brought o work as prostitutes in the place.
According to the police, all korean women were arrested with no documents and none of them were able to speak Portuguese. Police will verify if there are underage women in the group.
Two men were identified as owners and the other men there were also arrested, and must clarify this Fri at the Federal Police their situation.
All arrested men are koreans or korean descendents.
Police informed that the owners can be charged for prostitution crimes, smuggling and international traffic of women.
According to the Police, an anonimous person informed about it, and there was an investigation for around a month. A combined activity between the MIlitar Police and Federal Investigators around 10:30PM cracked down the place.
links(Portuguese):
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/f.....7155.shtml
http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/S.....PAULO.html
@Chris (#9)
I was at a hospital this afternoon and no one had brought forks or chopsticks for the birthday cake so the nice nurse gave us wood tongue depressors.
So, I can assure you that at least some places have the wood ones.
@Zonath
Thanks for your answer.
Wow, it really must be true. The New York Times has weighed in…well, sort of, in their usual snide ways when dealing with corrections.
( http://news.aol.com/story/_a/c.....0000000001 )
And Gore over Bush? Both are tools far, far removed from the plight of the common man, same as those currently positioning themselves for the highest political seat in the land.
I doubt we’ll ever see a plumber, teacher, truck driver, dishwasher, doctor, nurse, or mechanic as president. No matter what you may believe, only the elite can raise the funds to become a senator, congressman (shouldn’t that be congressperson in today’s pc run-amok world?), or president.
Pity the little man, or woman, who tries running against the two political machines that rule the country. John and Jane Doe will never make it to Pennsylvania Ave. as anything other than disgruntled tourists at the promise this nation once stood for has been sold out to the highest bidding lobbyists.
“…I doubt we’ll ever see a plumber, teacher, truck driver, dishwasher, doctor, nurse, or mechanic as president….”
Well, only one person can be President of the US at a time — but we have had plumbers as key personnel in the White House!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Plumbers
Of course, I suppose you mean “regular” plumbers — the ones who work on our water and sewage sytems. Well, I imagine that the vast majority of the good ones — like most teachers, truck drivers, doctors, nurses, mechanics, and yes even dishwashers — prefer to continue to do well what they know best, rather than becoming just another average politician.
I try not to think of myself as just another “disgrunted tourist”. I think you should too.
It’s just that I’m already thinking about all the parties that will usher in a democratic president while the rest of the country struggles with high food, fuel, and engery bills, but at least Ted Kennedy’s million dollar Vineyard view is still unencumbered from wind turbines.
Vote for Obama and deliver a shock to the system.
baduk, voting for Noh Moo Hyun had roughly the same concept.
Don’t be a hypocrite.
To all Korean Americans.
Does Obama agree with your interests?
Will he approve free trade with South Korea?
Does he share your religion?
Do you honestly believe that you are in the benefiting bracket from govt programs or are you at the bracket that is taxed so others benefit?
I’m guessing most of you are the ones who were voting for Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
Affirmative Action. Who does it help?
Has it ever been you, in your ENTIRE life?
vote with your head.
“I doubt we’ll ever see a plumber, teacher, truck driver, dishwasher, doctor, nurse, or mechanic as president. No matter what you may believe, only the elite can raise the funds to become a senator, congressman (shouldn’t that be congressperson in today’s pc run-amok world?), or president.”
Harry Truman was a haberdasher.
Bill Clinton came from extremely humble origins. His hard work and intelligence may have brought him to the level of the elites, but he didn’t start out as one of them.
We wouldn’t elect a practicing plumber or truck driver because we would assume if they had the knowledge skills and intelligence to become president, they would no longer be in those professions. But there are doctors and teachers and housewives who became members of Congress.
Obama wants to re-negotiate NAFTA.
Wait, who the hell will sign a FTA with the US in the future, if they know the next administration is going to unilaterally betray it, to appease its labor unions?
if it’s manufacturing jobs he wants to save, he’s looking at the wrong direction.
the rise of Chinese manufacturing means bringing back US manufacturing jobs from Mexico and Canada won’t help his AFL-CIO “American Communist Union” members at all.
most unions only think about themselves at the expense of others.
KorAms, when was the last time you used an American Union registered painter, plumber, electrician?
That’s right. You use the South American, who doesn’t charge you $50 an hour.
Unions killed themselves by price fixing.
US illegal labor stream won’t stop. Consumers don’t want to pay union fees, contrary to popular, but misguided thoughts.
there was a NY city mayor candidate (D) who said,
” I think New Yorkers will pay an extra __% on sales taxes, if it means it pays for our policemen, firemen, teachers, etc.”
He lost to Bloomberg.
NAFTA has nothing to do with anything other than politics.
From an econonic standpoint, its all horse shit.
Perhaps my American friends are not aware who is your largest supplier of oil. It is not a Middle East country. Another NAFTA member is #2. Hmmmmm.
Federal Trade minister David Emmerson on Friday said that if NAFTA were to be renegotiated, the guaranteed access to energy provisions would be left out. You see, the Chinese are now paying for a nice little pipeline from Ft McMurray to Prince George.
So does Hilary, and it was her husband who was behind it. What’s your point?
they’re probably playing politics with NAFTA, especially Hillary.
what they don’t understand is,
you can’t re-negotiate NAFTA. That’s totally unfair. Nor does it make any economical sense to do it. And it sets a really really bad precedent. Hey, it was ratified and it was in practice for a decade. And most call it beneficial overall. It’s not like the Kyoto climate thing, which was never ratified.
other than to play for votes of the AFL-CIO.
from how I see it, Hillary’s losing this week, and she’ll announce she pulls out.
this Obama fellow, however, truly, truly believes in his head that
1/ NAFTA will indeed be re-negotiated. And that’s a good thing.
I’ll leave it at that.
Mind you, 2MB’s govt has said they will not re-negotiate for KORUSFTA.
what’s the point of signing a FTA, if it won’t be held up by the next administration?
I can’t argue with you there, wjk.
Who cares about FTA? I said a shock to the system. As Obama says, We need change. Change include FTA. National health care, immigration reform, energy policy, real estate, banks, insurance, education, union. The whole enchilada.
Besides, I do not want to break this girl’s heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU
Just look at her cheeks. This is not somebody you can easily mess with. Your brain cannot match her boobs. So bounce.
Vote for Obama, the only candidate who can deliver big change to Washington!
This is why America is great. Once in a while a total outsider, like Carter, can come into Washington and revolutionize the den of iniquity.
Media and Washington bureaucrats hate him and paint black picture but the public got what they wanted. A house cleaning!
It is about time to send somebody like Obama in there to exterminate vermins (special interest groups).
America will be a much cleaner place after 4 years of Obama.
“Obama — clean AND articulate!”
“And he cleans houses too!”
Who says you can’t renegotiate NAFTA? Any treaty can be re-negotiated. To my knowledge, however, it is Congress which has the power to abrogate treaty rights — not the President.
Granted, it’s been nearly 15 years since law school for me, and treaty rights were last seriously visited in first-year Con Law and a second-year elective on Indian Law. Too bad we don’t have a Constitutional scholar here.
Whether or not abrogation and renegotiation of a given treaty is sensible or fair is another question. Personally, I think it’s harmful to American interests to do so in the case of NAFTA. (KORUS FTA and the “alliance” are a different story.) But Congress may disagree.
#77 #77 if you want another Carter vote for Huckabee, he is just as destructive. Oh I miss the Carter years 20% interest rates on mortgages, giving hand-jobs to our enemies. The good old days. That is the house cleaning you so desire? Cast your vote to flush our nation down the shitter. If you want health care, get a job. Fix the high costs with tort reform. There is a cost for all of the happy horseshit you mention. Move to Denmark if you want your ass powered and your wealth redistributed. Wake up.
“I’m guessing most of you are the ones who were voting for Hillary Clinton in the primaries.”
Hillary has really massaged the Korean American community of NY as a senator. As a result, they have donated ~ $4M to her campaigns (both senatorial and presidential primary). That’s not a small chunk of change considering the size of the KorAm community. She went to a fund raiser in L.A. Koreatown and netted $350k, not bad for a single night of campaigning (and she got a $5k hanbok out of it too).
Would most KorAms agree w/Hillary’s policies if they really knew what they were? Probably not, but hey, out of all the serious candidates, at least she is trying. The others are honestly leaving a lot of money on the table by not courting the KorAm community more.
About a week ago, an American ESL teacher in Seoul was caught in an apt. fire and badly burned. The situation can be summed up as:
“William, an English teacher of 14 months in northern Seoul, was left with third degree burns to nearly seventy percent of his body. He is now facing numerous surgeries and a lengthy recovery that could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Because of William’s contract in Korea he is now left without insurance. His parent’s financial situation is no more promising. They have left 4 children, an exchange student and a grandmother undergoing cancer treatment at home. They are unable to work while taking care of their son in S.Korea, and Will’s bills are already staggering.
Upon showing up at the hospital they were handed a bill for over $6,000 before they could even see their son. His first surgery alone cost $15,000. Our immediate concern is raising money for him to continue having the surgeries he requires. ”
The site: http://www.billkapoun.com/
The site contains the link to the Facebook site, with some truly heart-moving and tragic pictures. One look at them and any suspicions I had of a scam disappeared.
I’m not rich, but we all make some not-bad money here, and a lot of us sending $100 bucks might make a difference here. This could have been any one of us. Are we a community when it counts, when one of us desperately needs help? I’m transferring my $100 this morning.
Please consider it.
I emailed this link yesterday but I think Robert is on vacation. Could one of the other bloggers here do a write-up of this? The Marmot’s Hole attracts tons of visitors and sounds like this man could use all the help he can get.
His story was just in the KT: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/ww.....20066.html
Those in Korea can do a wire transfer:
KB Bank
794002 04 03 1635
Warren Franklin-William Fund
There’s other donation information on the page linked in the post above mine. There’s also a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8730028742
Everybody in Korea ought to help out a little bit. We all lead comfortable lives here and there’s sacrificing the cost of a night out (or more) or a nice dinner (or more) isn’t too much to ask.
*Bump* Hey, somebody please post this here.
this thread seems to have matured.
Wow, disappointed in baduk. At least wjk is holding the line.
Been absent from the blogosphere for a couple months, and I return to find it in sad shape. The Metropolitian, is he still in Korea? Because there’s not a damn thing about Korea on his blog, it’s all Obama all the time. That along with the unrelenting stream of paleo tripe from the Western Confucian and the usual racism from Occidentalism is really rendering the Marm’s blog aggregator useless. It’s a bad sign when Japundit articles are the most compelling thing up there. At least OnefreeKorea is still fighting the good fight.
In b4 make your own blog then.