The worst drought in 104 years continues—I saw these photos of Pocheon’s Sanjeong Lake on the front page of the Hankyoreh yesterday. Horrifying.
How bad has this drought been? This bad:
The KMA said Seoul had only 10.6 mm of rain from May 1 to June 18, a mere 6.2 percent of the 30-year average of 171 mm between 1982 and 2011 and the lowest in 105 years. Other areas including Suwon, Daejeon and Jeonju got 17-46 mm of rain over the same period, 11-28 percent of the average in previous years and a 45-year low. Average precipitation for the whole country was 58.8 mm, 36 percent of the 169.5 mm average in previous years.
I suppose it could be worse—we could be living a couple of miles up the road.
{ 121 comments… read them below or add one }
FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a classic lack of rain song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu2pVPWGYMQ
Droughts commonly are referred to as “dry” in the sense that not only does less precipitation fall, but also the air is drier than usual.
So, should humidity be lower this year? (45~75% – NOT 80~90% like usual)..
No biking this weekend — too busy entering semester grades and getting ready for teaching intensive writing, to start Monday!
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
Down here in Gyeongsangnamdo the fields look great and the soil moist. Perhaps it hasn’t been as wet as some previous years but I’d have no idea there was a shortage of water in the country.
LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2dCpFO1U8A
SK’s pretty amazing, have their infrastructure so well-built/maintained that this severe of a drought doesn’t create a disaster — in the megalopolis, our tap-water is still running fine!
In NK, however, opposite is true — and seems likely to lead to deeper disaster up there, as nobody (except maybe China?) is willing to help, for obvious and good reasons. If i were the boy-king, i’d be scramblin’ for a new direction to take things, ’bout now.
We have Netflix service in our home, and a couple of days ago I caught my 13-year-0ld son watching the Korean movie “Arahan” (阿羅漢 – 아라한) with English subtitles. Of course, I was upset and yelled and screamed at him, but he wouldn’t stop watching it. Then after it was over, he had the gall to tell me it was good. I don’t understand kids these days.
Sounds like the same old pattern of teenage rebellion against the strict parent, Gerry, so what’s to understand?
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
Jeffery,
Tonight I am going to have my son watch the Marco Rubio interview on Hannity in exchange for his not reading two chapters in the book he is now reading. I am very impressed with Rubio and hope the interview also inpresses my son.
Arahan (2004) combines humor, action and special effects a little bit in the tradition of Jackie Chan-films.
It’s good to hear your son enjoyed an old Korean martial arts movie Gerry. Perhaps as a treat after watching Marco Rubio, you might consider letting him watch ” PROJECT A”
I have a short walk from the bus station to my school each day and I always check out the crops. Last week I noticed the crops on one small field were in pretty bad shape even with sprinklers going the past couple of days. I think even the farmers have been caught a bit off guard and it is going to be a rough year.
Last year the price of cabbage was so low in Korea the farmers plowed a lot of it back into the earth. I bet we can expect to be paying dearly in a couple months for veggies.
I thought the price of cabbage was high in Korea in 2010 + 2011?
Were the farmers deliberately burying the cabbage to keep the price high?
Whoever is doing yeoman duty tonight removing certain cretin’s posts – thank you.
And at least the South has the money to feed its folks – there are going to be more starvation up North until the New Boy Wonder agrees to some things / threatens another nuke test ……I wonder which he’ll choose (I hope the former).
K-pop hitting up Bollywood next @ http://goo.gl/EL6N1
“btw, year of the dragon and creo69 can both die painful deaths.”
Love ya man. Just a tip. If you are going to try to make a career of being a troll you are going to need to work on your skills … “painful deaths” is maybe going to get you the recognition of a fly that needs to be be brushed away on this blog. Best of luck to you!
This post must have been a nice little rainmaker for Daegu. We got a good shower about an hour ago that drenched the corner of my living room through open windows.
http://www.rorynews.com/sub_read.html?uid=3391§ion=sc22
This news is more than a week old. A group of education activists are challenging the constitutionality of the “National Language Foundation Law” (國語基本法, 국어기본법), which was passed I believe a year or two ago, and petitioning the Korean Constitutional Court. Note that Hangul Exclusive Use (한글전용) policies were enacted and enforced during the dictatorial regime of Park Chung-Hee.
because of my age, i can still recall seeing the slow death of hanmun in everyday korean life. in the 70s, there was quite a bit of hanmun in use and they were frequently seen in newspapers. in the early eighties, outside of people’s names, hanmun seemed to have migrated to the headlines of magazines and the major dailies. by the 90s, hanmun was just about gone. when i started to notice that chinese characters had disappeared, i felt sad because in my opinion, they were a vital part of korea’s heritage and served as a bridge to korea’s neighbors.
however, in light of chinese nationalism and their thirst to inform the world that koreans are chinese, i’m leaning towards relief that korea got rid of hanmun. if koreans still used them, the chinese would take that as korea’s acknowledgement of chinese superiority and perhaps view it as an indication that koreans see themselves as a sinic people. koreans do not see themselves as a sinic people.
korea does not need chinese characters and they should remain relics of the past. no need to waste precious time trying to learn a cumbersome form of writing. hangul is just fine and perfect for the korean language and people.
in fact, i think koreans should get rid of chinese based names. i understand that would be difficult because of tradition but a new tradition should be started. get rid of chinese based names for korean based names. there’s a large enough body of words from shilla, koguryeo, and paekche to do just that. the names from that time period should be chosen as a way to strengthen korean awareness and just because they saund awesome! i mean, ‘hyokkose’ sounds great. 자운비 too!
But Pawi, I’d then no longer be married to “Sun-Ae,” my “Good Love” . . .
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
And I’d no longer be married to “Goum-Oak,” my “Golden Jade”…
I know it’s “reign” but for me this is the classic rain song.
I thought about linking Zeppelin’s Rain Song but I didn’t like the Youtube video. Lots of birds and geese. Good video, but… Although I think Yuna would have liked it.
Then I thought of linking Rain by the Beatles but again the video was a little bit too gay. Although, for the record, I’m all for gay marriage.
So here you have my little contribution to “the rain edition” and I hope you like it. To this day, the intro gives me chills and Roger’s vocals are just incredible. I hope it brings Korea some much needed rain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygOaNo3M_Hw
So, a rainstorm is being conjured up:
It began at sea. Three cross-currents concurrently
started turnin’ creatin’ the mother of all tempest to be. . .
And now comes a Storm Warning.
So Seoul won’t be flooded by the rains this year?
I guess Korea’s climate is not as stable as I thought.
I think Korea should build more reservoirs.
(In fact, I think all countries should build more reservoirs.)
The current climate change is making weather patterns more erratic and seasonal rains have become unreliable.
I think the only solution is to build more water reservoirs in order to prepare for possible droughts..
Lee Myung-Bak’s “4 Rivers Project” was a good idea.
I hear that it’s alleviating the effects of the drought to some degree.
‘But Pawi, I’d then no longer be married to “Sun-Ae,” my “Good Love” . . .’
‘And I’d no longer be married to “Goum-Oak,” my “Golden Jade”…’
some koreans names sound ok but most of them don’t sound very nice to foreign ears. i sometimes ask people if they think ‘unsook’ sounds nice. you know the answer. the names sound the way they do, in part, because they’re chinese derived. indigenous korean names would sound so much better and also serve to strengthen korean awareness.
# 19 + #20 + 28 (pawi)
whats wrong with you – old age settling in???
You forgot to add a racist and xenophobic comment at the end of your three (3) posts…
Finally, a Hot Android Phone
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-22/finally-a-hot-android-phone-galaxy-s-iii-is-hard-to-get
#21,
Isn’t that ‘Obedient Love’, oh Other JH? Not that you don’t like bad girls who are also wives, but that’s something else entirely.
And I wish again to be able to send water to Korea by Vulcan telekinesis – British Columbia is experiencing flooding in areas and the South Thompson River is near crest. It’s pouring as I write this, but no thunder this time.
Pawi,
How many characters did you know at one time – more than the required 1850? My best was maybe 300 (in Korean, less in Japanese, because you know the Nipponese characters usually have more than one sound). I was a poor student who should have had his knuckles rapped repeatedly.
Jeffery,
Thinking about it, I confused your ‘Soon’ with the Japanese ‘sunao’ which in turn is synonymous with ‘Nao’, which was the first character of my girlfriend’s name.
In other words, never mind, but I would guess you would, in your JHfantastic way.
Funny you should mention it. My wife does have a close friend named Eun Sook and the first time I heard the name I did think what a messed up name for a woman. But now, sincerely, I kind of like it. As I do all Korean names. At first my brain rejected them like some kind of foreign virus but now they have all grown on me like some kind of exotic foot fungus. Or is it brain fungus? Or is it brain fungi?
Anyways, I have found this to be true with many things Korean. Like the first time I went out to eat some sam gye tang ooohhhhh some fourteen years ago and they brought it to me and I was like “What the f***, Korean dude! What am I paying YOU for. Remove the damn bones!” But now I definitely prefer it served that way.
Or the first time I went out for gal bi and they brought the meat to the table raw and it dawned on me that I had to cook it and I was all like “Jesus bungee jumping Christ, Korean dudette! I’m f****n’ paying YOU to cook it, aren’t I?” But now I definitely prefer it that way as well.
In America, they always ask you how you want it cooked and you say you want it rare and they bring it to you medium. Or you tell them you want it well done and they bring it to you medium. It’s just the illusion of input and control. You don’t have any actual control over it. And you know what I’m saying, right, Michael Douglas/William Foster in Falling Down??? I thought the customer was always right!!!
But in Korea you do have actual control over the whole process. Except, of course, when your wife (not mine, of course) cuts off the little burnt pieces and won’t let me (I mean you, I mean you) eat them because she saw some program on TV that says burnt meat causes cancer. I think every ajumma in Korea has seen that program. You know the one I’m talking about. It must have been required viewing on TV or at ajumma.com.
what’s wrong w/ korean names based on chinese characters? i think they sound wonderful! right, You Bum Suk?
#35,
It’s Yu, as in ‘have’ not ‘You’, as in ‘you misspelling conservative’.
Pawi, have you actually seen “Chinese”-Chinese names? It’s fairly easy to tell apart Chinese names (especially from Mainland China) from “Hanja-derived” Korean names, just by looking at the first name.
I am so glad that they stop using the Chinese characters, in the combination of the Japanese way. Yes, it is so surprising to Koreans but their “Chinese” character combination is rarely understood by the real Chinese because Koreans use Japanese way of combining Chinese characters.
So f***king glad.
However, Koreans by itself sometimes create confusions and this is why old fogies insisted that Koreans should keep the Chinese characters. I have the solution: use English instead. When you write 배(ship),there is no confusion. And it is good for future generation to be good English users.
There had been time when the Chinese books were the internet (the window to the world) for Koreans. No longer is the case. Abandon the stupid Chinese invention which take whole life time to learn just write “food”.
About Korean names, my recent favorite is 박은지. She is the announcer for “나는 가수다”. If you don’t get the hidden meaning, you have to ask a Korean who is good at Korean slang.
Eventually got the wife to stop cutting all the burnt pieces off and just feed them to ME, ME – GIMME MORE! But getting the ajummas working in those restaurants to take me seriously when I say I wanna eat those bits EVERY FRIGGIN TIME gets really tiresome. I guess I should just choose one such galbi restaurant, train the staff and only eat there, but the quality of the meat in these places often fluctuates, and there are so many of them that any time one feeds me substandard meat I vow never to return.
CMH, some of the confusion results from sounding out “Sun” as “Soon.” But in my wife’s case, “Sun” is pronounced more like “sun,” that angry-looking fiery object looming over me — and I don’t mean my wife!
To clarify: “Sun-Ae” = “선애.”
And I now do mean my wife.
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
The new Romanization is but an unknown tongue to me, JH – I would have not guessed but only on the fourth or fifth time that that’s how it’s spelled in UriJa.
“I think every ajumma in Korea has seen that program. You know the one I’m talking about. It must have been required viewing on TV or at ajumma.com.”
Sooo truueee! Some Korean comedian should do a bit about it. That must be why restaurants are always changing out the grill. I was asking myself why they do that …just more grills to clean.
Now I wish that program would do a show on the dangers of perchloroethylene. There’s a dry cleaner across from me that blows their exhaust into my window almost 24/7. They built a yuchiwon right next to it – which would not happen in the States.
Threw in some middle-age white guy music just to see where posters fall?
Oh Lord that reminds me of one of my best experiences in Korea, one of the many times i managed to piss off and embarass to death my ex.
It was one time they brought u the meat and the little gas stove and me, instead of dipping the meat in the pot, started munching on the meat RAW.
Now in my family area of origin we are known to appreciate cold cuts (on top of eating anything edible, cats included) so i tend to confuse everything with prosciutto.
You should have seen my ex wife face…the same face my first ex wife had back in the US of A when she saw me eating raw bacon.
I didn’t catch salmonella yet, lucky me
P.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK332QsfYRc
Traded in my iPhone yesterday for a Samsung Note.
Love the larger screen and find it’s much easier to use.
Now I have 2 batteries for the phone so I am looking forward now not to have recharge my phone every 4 hours like I use to have to with the iPhone.
Finally free from all the restrictions apple places on users of their products!!
Buy Amecan! Buy Apple!
My cousin, a Korean national, works there getting paid over 100 K per year.
Save his job. Buy American! It is Mom, Apple pie and Basball rolled into an Apple.
For futur generation, Remember Alamo, the rental car company that is not doing well.
I should have wrote “Remember The Alamo”
Did you know? During the Korean War, Mongolia supported the North with 7378 horses.
And that is my contribution of Mongolia related news to the MH.
‘Pawi, have you actually seen “Chinese”-Chinese names? It’s fairly easy to tell apart Chinese names (especially from Mainland China) from “Hanja-derived” Korean names, just by looking at the first name.’
yes, kuiwon, i know that chinese names are different from korean ones. to this day, i have never seen a chinese woman with a name like 銀淑. my point was that korean names are derived from sino-korean words and that maybe korea should get rid of this tradition for political and cultural reasons. the chinese love to say to koreans stuff like: ‘your high culture is chinese’ or ‘your names are chinese’. let’s see them say that to some korean guy named ‘hyokkose’.
%%%%
how many characters do i know? i would say about 600 though i’m getting really rusty.
&&&&
Paulw, that was hella funny. your story too, yangachi.
Went for a golf lesson today. The coach (white dude from New Mexico, former army guy) told me to straighten out my left leg a bit more in the follow-through. I told the coach that I was a little worried about doing that because I blew out my left knee from a skiing accident and it is now mildly arthritic. Then he asked me where I got it hurt, so I told him I grew up in Korea, and I blew out my knee when I was 10. He wanted to know how skiing was in Korea, and I told him that it was decent enough such that Korea is having the 2018 Winter Olympics. He then said: “Yeah, I keep hearing good things about Korea. What’s the weather like out there?” I told him fall is great, and our one-minute conversation about Korea ended like that.
That’s what it’s all about, really — winning the hearts and minds of those who did not know about Korea before. On that front, Korea is winning, despite the unrelenting racism and negativity in this circle-jerking space. Haters are gonna hate, forever warning about Korea being a laughingstock for some made-up shit or another. No matter — Korea is doing just fine now, and it will be just fine going forward.
Random Koreaness is something I too look forward to in my life, TK. It’s OK concentrated, too, but for that some soju is called for.
ENGLAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNDDDDD PHHOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEE HOOOOOOOOOOMMEEEEEEEE
and learn how to play figli di puttana bastardi, you were unwatchable
Agreed (about autumn weaher too, first time i was there it was late September and very balmy)
You guys will be fine…despite an impending real estate implosion but hey who doesn’t have one ?
How many unique visitors does this blog get per day? A couple thousand? Even my kindergarten student know of the existence of a country called China and older elementary kids have added Japan to their awareness of world geography. Not many have heard of Korea, though. When I brought my foreign currency collection to school last year and located on a map each country I had lived in or visited, one girl excitedly made a connection to Korea by telling the class that her older sister watched Korean dramas on her iPod. American kids are different compared to when I grew up seeing images of crude stereotyping such as the Chinese couple in the Calgon commercial or Long Duck Dong in 16 Candles. Asian now has a cool, not nerdy cultural connotation. Kids are very interested in seeing and handling any kind of Asian realia and ask lots of questions. Sharing my overseas experiences is a favorite part of my job.
“I told him fall is great”
A more euphamistic statement about Korean weather has never been made. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18507075
Last night was truly beautiful, however, as long as one ins’t an England supporter.
I had no idea. Thanks.
On a slightly related note, if you ever do find yourself in Mongolia and get a craving for Soviet-era monuments, check out the Zaisan Memorial:
http://atlasobscura.com/place/the-zaisan-memorial
@51 thekorean – Yeah, it’s not like golfers would’ve ever heard about Korea or Koreans otherwise….:P
Most Americans still think Korea is in African continent.
No they do not.
#59,
Your gravatar isn’t helping any.
And to think there are people out there who feel this place isn’t negative enough and I’m a paid agent of the Korean government.
Just something to wrap your head around.
^ Yeah just the other day I read someone labelling this a site for Koreaphiles and apologists. The simple facts are that negative matter is always more interesting than positive and arguing more fun than agreeing.
His nickname either
Thank the Maker my place is paid for and bought, ten years ago, at a price less than half the current notional “market” price. Our place to live is secure and we have zero chance of going “underwater”. That said, a lot of other Korean families will be going underwater on their homes, and I’m sure they’ll be angry about it.
The forecast calls for pain.
The complexity and high price of Korean real-estate never ceases to amaze me. Something tells me that if the market does crater, the Koreans will find a way to make lemonade. There is no question that Korea is winning. It is an excellent republic!
Yesterday while hiking I saw something in Korea that I’d always wanted to see, but never had: an actual deer. It didn’t hear me coming around the bend. It was also much smaller than American mule deer or white tail deer. I don’t know if that is because it was a fawn, or if the deer here are just smaller. And, I saw plenty of deer droppings on the trail too. So, that was pretty cool. Now, all we need are a few tigers and hiking could really become exciting…
Pawi wrote:
Koreans do not need Chinese characters unless they want to waste their time reading and appreciating their literature and history and understanding their culture. I mean as long as Koreans can understand the lyrics of the songs of Girls’ Generation and other popular music, they should be just fine.
Also, Koreans do not really need Chinese characters to communicate with their neighbors. I am sure the Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese will translate everything Korean businesspeople, politicians, diplomats, and those working in national security will need to understand in their respective countries.
Besides, if someone feels the need to learn Chinese characters, they can do it on their own. Afterall, by 6th grade, kids know what they will being doing in life and can choose appropriately.
And while we are on the subject, why should Koreans waste time learning English and and advanced Math? Many Korean entertainers have done just fine without being able to speak English or do advanced Math.
Yes, by not wasting time on Chinese characters, English, and advanced Math, Koreans can focus on the really important things in Life, such as working on new dance routines and deciding on where to have their plastic surgery done.
Wow… I actually agree with Gerry on something!
#67: I saw a small deer on the golf course the other day. That was a first.
How was it’s swing?
Kyopo lovers, do yourselves a favor and check out this new song and video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuWTWPPtLtM
“Fish” by Clara Chung.
I love her voice and her song.
koreans do not need chinese characters and they should remain relics of the past, gerry. korea went from 3d world to 1st world without their widespread use. there will always be specialists in korea who work to translate old korean documents into the standard language, gerry. you should know that since you know the sillok so well. chinese characters carry too much baggage and are a waste of time. hangul is better.
hello
goodbye
dog, that was funny!
The amazing image that follows is a composite photo made from a total of 48 photos of the recent solar eclipse, as seen from Horseshoe Bend in northern Arizona:
LINK
Obamacare Supreme Court ruling is tomorrow. While I am cautiously predicting 6-3 in favor of upholding the ACA, I do so with a sickly feeling.
How does one “understand” (giggles) Japanese cuisine? Well, if you are in Springfield, OH, you go to a Korean owned sushi restaurant:
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/lifestyle/how-to-understand-japanese-cuisine-1396896.html
TK,
You dream too much. I wonder if there are Vegas odds….
Uh oh. The Germans and Jews are at it again…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9360203/Jewish-and-Muslim-groups-condemn-German-circumcision-ruling.html
There are InTrade odds. I think it is around 60% in favor of a strikedown.
Given the strong (to say the least) views expressed on MH in the past regarding 2MB’s Four Rivers Project, I’m surprised no one has picked up on JK6411 @ 27′s comment above.
Recall that Four Rivers was billed not only to help deal with Korea’s perennial flooding problems, but also with its bouts of dry-spells.
So it’s time to come clean: Is Four Rivers helping Korea weather its current drought, or not?
DLB
^oh, I have so, so much to say about the Four Rivers bullshit. In fact, I could fill this blog with endless coverage of the many failures of the LMB administration. But in an attempt to remain balanced, I am limiting my posts to the “greatest hits.” Given the suppression of the media, civilian surveillance and staggering corruption, the Four Rivers thing is getting pushed out the scope.
TK,
There is no doubt (in my mind at least…the pros might differ) that 4R was something of a boondoggle, but just on the narrow issue of whether it has had any effect on helping Korea weather the current drought, I don’t see a lot of commentary by either its supporters or detractors.
Given that MH can be counted on to offer opinions on everything ELSE under the Korean sun, that silence is astounding.
Cheers,
DLB
Not sure if it is or not, but as much as I hated it, I confess in the long run, people will probably come to like it.
I respectfully disagree. I think MH’s posts (except for mine) are good and have a good range of coverage. But MH’s commenters (more relevant because we are noting a lack of action in an Open Thread) can only be counted on to offer opinions on the most trivial and irrelevant issues regarding Korea. Even the posts that discuss current topic are guaranteed to be derailed into the commentariat’s hobby horses. Post about the latest progressive presidential candidate? Commentariat response: “Roh Moo-Hyun bad!” Post about attempts to suppress the media? Commentariat response: “PD Notebook bad!”
If I didn’t so enjoy acting like an idiot from time to time, I would have been sick of it long ago.
I think the bottom line is that Korea has a lot more fresh water at its disposal than it would have had without 4R.
Yes, farmers are still having a hell of a time. But at least if they turn on the faucet to irrigate the crops water does come out.
Critics say that the 4R didn’t build enough waterways to distribute water to farmlands. But I guess they could build more of those in the future.
TK,
Personally, I get a huge kick out of the unhinged nature of the MH commentariat’s almost-but-not-quite predictable flow of collective entertainment, er, wisdom.
Not unlike the entertainment offered by that crazy guy talking to himself at the end of the last car on the Q line while making one’s way home from some club on Canal Street back to one’s crib in Astoria at the end of a swingin’ Saturday night.
It also helps to enjoy MH if one remembers the cardinal rule of life: never argue with children, dullards, or libertarians. These categories often overlap.
Besides, it’s free!
DLB
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/27/world/asia/korea-iran-oil/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
#89- I actually don’t come here for the content. Just for the comments. Entertaining as hell.
@@87, 89:
“All the world old is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer.”
Polite modesty noted — your posts, while narrow in interest, are of course of excellent quality.
However, I disagree that all guest posters are good. Some do not rise far above the level of the average comment.
Thank you, sir.
Oh I’m queerer than most, Dogbertt, queerer than most…
p.s. You look Slavic.
Russian specifically. For whatever reason, dogbertt has picked a high school picture of Vladimir Putin as his gravatar.
http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/leaders/vladimir-putin/
@87 – I never found the crazy guy talking to himself on the subway very entertaining but then again didn’t ride the Q, mostly 4,5,6 and F.
@97: There was enough crazy for me on the 4/5/6, probably not enough on the N/R/W, and too much on the A/C/E.
@96:”For some reason”?? Vlad is one of the great leaders of this century.
I prefer Medvedev, but I heard he’s a hobbit at only 5-4.
Back to the OP, things are starting to get dryer here in the south after a week without rain. It must be getting really parched further north.
The WSJ Market Watch reported (June 27, 2012) “Tepco detects record radiation levels at Fukushima”:
OBAMACARE LIVES!!
Nice call, TK!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!
DLB
It’s 5-4 with Roberts voting with liberals, Kennedy voting with conservatives. My head just exploded.
Yeah, The ever-predictable NRO is already calling Roberts the biggest mistake W ever made.
Is Roberts the new Souter? Can wingnut cries of “No more Roberts” be far behind?
If only!
DLB
Au contraire — it is Roberts who is the most hardcore Republican of them all. He could spot a tax when he sees one, no matter how it is characterized!
Also like this one from Above the Law: “Republicans disappointed with Roberts are plain stupid. The man LIMITED the Commerce Clause for you w/o looking like a partisan hack.”
My underemployed, uninsured brother is battling testicular cancer, which has a 95% 5-year survival rare IF treated early. Owing to a delay in starting treatment after our saintly family physician removed the primary tumor free of charge, his cancer has progressed from stage I to II, forcing him into more costly chemo with side effects instead of the radiation he was initially promised. I thought this sort of thing happened only in countries with socialized medicine. An uninsured American who’s not pregnant has the worst of both worlds , having to pay out-of-pocket for inadequate care. A national health care safety net is long overdue.
@ 108,
Yup. I know I definitely evolved on this issue…with my overriding nationalist sense of what American’s deserve trumping by conservative skepticism of another government program.
Plus, the ACA’s unhinged critics did nothing to help their cause. Death panels, anyone? Really?!
So I’ve just sent out a few emails for a little dinner party tonight to celebrate. On the menu: broccoli.
DLB
What I don’t like about the individual mandate is that it would seem to be too pro-Corporation. It forces uninsured Americans to pay a penalty tax (starting at 1% of income beginning 2014 and then increasing up to 2.5 by 2016, adjusted for inflation thereafter) for not signing up with an overpriced insurance company.
And in fact this is the stuff that makes the mandate the kind of thing Republicans would love. It was their idea, after all.
^ I said from Day 1 of this litigation — if Obamacare was structured as a single-payer public insurance program, complemented by private insurance companies like the majority of advanced nations (including Korea,) ALL this could have been avoided. There would have been no individual mandate, and no constitutionality issue since it would have been exactly like Social Security or Medicare. It would have had the additional advantage of keeping the insurance companies in check.
Sooner or later, the Teabaggers always seem to go after the Jews:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/06/28/impeach_kagan_the_rage_of_the_tea_party.html
Every once and a while, these misfits tip their hands.
DLB
Are you being facetious, DL?
It’s a vicious calumny to suggest that Tea Partiers are upset with Justice Kagan because she’s a Jew. The issue is the appearance of a conflict of interest for her to vote on the legality of a statute that she herself defended as Solicitor General; just as it would be improper for a former prosecutor to sit in judgment of the appeal of a convict she had prosecuted, Justice Kagan should have recused herself from the Obamacare ruling.
But I guess if your worldview includes the proposition that the only reason to be dissatisfied with President Obama is that he’s black, it could be accepted that anti-Semitism is the reason to be upset with Justice Kagan.
Clarence and Virginia Thomas?
June 28 – Fukushima radiation monitor spikes twice after M5.2 quake near plant:
http://enenews.com/fukushima-radiation-monitor-spikes-hours-after-m52-quake-plant-chart
200,000 Japanese citizens demonstrated in Japan TONIGHT. At first, I thought it was in Seoul: pictures
Oh dear. It would be far more refreshing to hear Tea Party apologists simply acknowledge that the uglier aspects of their movement need self-policing, rather than continue to argue that there’s nothing to see here so please move along.
Of course, for those of us actually on the ground here, the evidence is plain for all to see:
http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/11/06/1008998/njdcgop-must-condemn-tea-party-signs
Hell, even forever expats have no excuse to keep denying the ugly pathologies that inflict this odious little movement.
http://www.irehr.org/issue-areas/tea-party-nationalism/the-report/tea-parties-racism-anti-semitism-and-the-militia-impulse
What’s disturbing is that so many in the TB movement are more concerned about being ACCUSED of (at a minimum) ignoring the racism and antisemitism of their fellow travelers rather than the ACTUAL racism and antisemitism itself.
DLB
Elsewhere, if anyone is following Team Korea’s participation in the America’s Cup trials in the run-up to the America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013 (Yay!), here is a recent primer on new skipper Nathan Outteridge’s efforts to whip the team into shape:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g3_P2VNOyg&feature=g-all-u
BTW, Team Korea still does not have any Korean crew, and is apparently the most under-funded entrant in the competition. Nonetheless, I genuinely hope they do well.
Call it a sentimental thang!
DLB
Is this finally the death of Chōsen Sōren?
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120629005346.htm
I guess the pachinko business is not what it use to be?
I’m no Tea Party apologist, but I lean towards Brendon’s side of the debate. I was puzzled by your first links, DLB, because I could find no reference to Kagan’s Jewishness by Tea Partiers in either. The second pair of links didn’t tell me anything surprising by detailing the bigotry of some active Tea Partiers. Kagan’s Jewish background is probably known to Tea Party members, but nevertheless, their objection is logical and has nothing to do with her ethno-religious identity. Christian conservative John Roberts hasn’t exactly escaped criticism from the Tea Party now, has he?
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