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Showing posts from December, 2009

Stuff I've learned/observed/experienced

I've been back in Korea for a little more than a week. Here's some random stuff. * * * If there's a line forming, then stand it. You won't regret it even if you don't want to be in the line. You never know when an entire elementary school of kids may show up. A colleague of mine who didn't take my advice dallied about for a few minutes. Suddenly, a million Korean kids showed up. He got back in line, but far enough that I needed binoculars to see him. Thankfully, the lines in Korea go quickly, so he ate about 15 minutes after I did. * * * My favorite sandwich shop opens at 10 a.m. I learned that a few days ago at 8:30 a.m., after walking 15 minutes out of the way to eat there. * * * I saw one of the directors at my job wearing a mask over his nose and mouth. Does he know something I don't know? * * * As a foreigner in Korea, I often must trust the Koreans around me. My colleagues helped me set up my bank account. I was standing there, with my documents out

Man of the Year (again)!

I noticed that Booker Rising's readers have named Thomas Sowell the site's Bookerista of the Year . Well-deserved, to be sure. I just held snap elections. I have been named Person of the Year of my blog. That has happened every year I've had this thing. Even when I forgot to hold elections I retroactively held elections and won. Reasons my award means more: 1) Sowell would never show up at a Booker Rising conference to accept the award. 2) Because I've blogged regularly from both Korea and America, that means I've been Person of the Year on two different continents. * * * Thomas Sowell's longtime partner in crime, Walter E. Williams, will be hosting the Rush Limbaugh Show December 31. CJL

Who can spit in the face of a country that is smiling?

Christmas eve, after arriving in South Korea the night before, I joined a group of Americans, Canadians, Brits and Koreans at a party in Seoul. During one of the stops, I disappeared for a few minutes to check my email at a PC room (PC방). They are very popular places customers can use a computer for about 70 cents an hour. The problem is that I barely got to do much on the computer the other night. One of the guys working at the place treated me like I was about to write him a one-million dollar check (that would not bounce). Most PC rooms provide customers with a drink, such as iced coffee. Not only did he bring me the customary iced coffee, but also a package of cookies. Then, as I tried to check my email, he peppered me with questions about where I'm from, how long I would be in Korea, etc. It was a mixture of Korean and English, as the customers nearby watched, clearly amused. Then, because it was Christmas Eve, I seemed to give him an early present. I asked him if I could tak

Breen's column that outraged Samsung

“What People Got for Christmas” Michael Breen The Korea Times December 25, 2009 At this time of year when Seoul’s bare winter trees are wrapped in beckoning lights ― blue and white are the in colors ― and Merry Xmas signs at hotels and department stores are really saying come-hither-gentle-reveler-and-empty-your-purse, and when expensive restaurants belch noisy year-end office party groups onto every street and the karaoke rooms are full, it is tempting to declare that Christmas has lost its soul. But that would be a mistake. Christmas is a time for giving, and, before they can be given, gifts have to be bought. Commerce is good. Here, as proof, is a round up of some of the gifts given and received today by people in the news. Samsung, the world’s largest conglomerate and the rock upon which the Korean economy rests, sent traditional year-end cards offering best wishes for 2010 to the country’s politicians, prosecutors and journalists, along with 50 million w

"One-man crime wave" crashes

A friend of mine called me a few days ago. He was sad when he heard about the death of Chris Henry, the football player who died a few days ago in a domestic dispute with the mother of his three children. People don't like to speak ill of the dead so I can understand his concern, as well as those of bloggers. Some people who are saying nice things about Henry never heard of him until they had heard he had died. The main point of the nice comments has been that Henry had been trying to turn his life around. Here's the part of the story that adds some context. It is from a 911 call by a woman who was following the truck Henry was on shortly before he expired: " It's got a black man on it with no shirt on, and he's got his arm in a cast and black pants on," she told a dispatcher. "He's beating on the back of this truck window. ... I don't know if he's trying to break in or something. It just looks crazy. It's a girl driving it ." If Hen

Baby, It's Climate Change outside

Back in the day when I was a student, I wondered why homeless people stayed in cold climates. If you're going to be homeless, why not be homeless somewhere warm? I guess it should have been self-evident...if you have made decisions that have landed you on the street then you probably won't make decisions putting yourself anywhere except on a better street corner nearby. I remember arguing to some people who called themselves homeless advocates that instead of sleeping overnight with homeless people to show they cared, that they'd help the homeless more by helping them move to the deep south for the winter. After trudging through the snow yesterday in D.C. and Virginia,, I'm sorry I didn't set up such a program so I could apply to be moved to Florida or Texas. I mean, if even a bird with a tiny brain knows to move deep south for the winter, then why am I still living in a cold weather climate? * * * I'm not following political issues that much these days, but...

Is Our Education Reporters Learning?

Yesterday I went to the Brookings Institution for a policy forum, No Reader Left Behind: Improving Media Coverage of Education , celebrating the release of the report, " Invisible: 1.4 Percent Coverage for Education is Not Enough ." The main point of the paper: The media doesn't write about education enough and when they do they tend to write about non-education topics. * * * A few random thoughts and comments: * The authors say that 1.4% is not enough. But what is a better or more palatable percentage? If they had announced that 3.3 or 5.2% of stories were about education then those numbers might also seem small. Whenever someone introduces a shocking or dire statistic without comparing it to another number, I'm reminded of the economist who was asked, "How's your wife," and he answered, "Compared to what?" So 1.4% is not enough...compared to what? * If 1.4% is too not enough, then could someone please explain why I have had to set up a folde

Case Closed on Tiger

A friend of mine read my comment about the prospect of me being chased out of the house at 2 a.m. by a woman armed with a baseball bat. His comment: "So, instead of Casey at the Bat, it would be Casey Fleeing the Bat?" * * * Tiger Woods has paid his fine for being a bad driver. He should stop releasing statements admitting to anything, even if videos or pix get released. Better to have reporters shouting questions at him rather than feeding the media frenzy. * * * Yesterday I heard Charles Barkley recommending that Woods "be a man" and address the media. That's the same Charles Barkley who told police he was speeding because he was in a hurry to get a blowjob . As he explained to police, the reason he had run a stop sign: "You want the truth? I was gonna drive around the corner and get a blow job." Barkley will say anything. It isn't surprising he would advise others to do the same. A media person on TV this morning suggested Woods should quickly a