tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-176612802024-03-18T21:58:51.085-07:00Rob's WorldA Tennessean far from home ...Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.comBlogger430125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-6684680279983397552012-07-17T22:18:00.001-07:002012-07-17T22:25:08.482-07:00On Getting OlderI’m getting older.
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Did you see that? I got 2.5 seconds older just in the time it took to write that sentence. My life has not gotten 2.5-seconds-worth more enjoyable or easier since I began writing, but I did move 2.5 seconds close to my next medical checkup, as well as two and a half seconds further away from the days when medical checkups were just for guys who called me “young man” and told me to turn down that garbage I was partaking of aurally.
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That’s what I think people really unhappy about when they complain about getting older: That the aging process has taken place without life noticeably improving. Between the ages of 26 and 32, for example, I planned to become debt free, improve my time running a mile (to “bad” from “so bad you’d rather not say it aloud”) and become well-known by writing a book. What I got, instead of any of those accomplishments, was knowledge.
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There was, for example, the knowledge of the wide world of debts one can accrue through buying a place to live. There was the knowledge of four-syllable conditions that can afflict the knee joints of people who take up running too late in life (it turns out that the whole “consult your doctor before starting any exercise program” messages you see on treadmills isn’t a plot by doctors to increase their customer base, enacted by making exercise-machine makers put them there after a few too many drinks and some incriminating photographs).
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And, of course, there was the knowledge that the book-publishing world can make a guy well-known only if he’s willing to write about things large numbers of people want to read about, such as whether or not Charlie Sheen, as of today, still has a Twitter account.
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So I can’t say that I’ve lived up to the amount of progress I’d envisioned six years ago. And now I’ve got six fewer years to Make My Mark on the World. This is a concept written into the DNA of many of us who will grow to be Hollywood screenwriters, presidents, or possibly even a respectable profession. It’s the inclination we have to take whatever we do well and make sure a good number of people will have heard that we do it well, and maybe one day you will even be so well-known that people will complain to committees appoint by Jimmy Wales that an online encyclopedia entry about you lacks neutrality and reliable sources.
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Unfortunately, writing is what I do best, but not about Charlie Sheen’s social media activities. The kind of writing I like to do requires that people be interested in reading, and reading is not something that people in general enjoy doing, as it usually demands that they concentrate, and who wants to do that when Charlie Sheen-related news could be breaking at any second? It also often requires that they be willing to learn things they’d rather not know, such as that Ronald Reagan raised taxes and withdrew from Lebanon or that their recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day aren’t met through texting.
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So the odds of my Making My Mark on the World that way aren’t good. This means more and more 2.5-second periods of time are likely to go by without my feeling that I’ve used them in an exemplary fashion. Which means one day I’ll probably be just another bitter man regularly in need of medical checkups and regularly calling my son “young man” and telling him to turn down that garbage he’s partaking of aurally.
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But that brings me to a point I hadn’t been thinking of: Somewhere between the ages of 26 and 32 I did have a son. I suppose I did use the time (re)productively after all. And now I have the chance to accomplish something in the years ahead, even if it’s just passing my knowledge along. My son is currently at an age where his priorities typically consist of a) asking his mother and I to buy him new toy cars based on Pixar cartoons, b) ignoring the toy cars based on Pixar cartoons we’ve already bought for him because another child his age has a different toy car based on a Pixar cartoon and that’s the one he actually wanted all along, and c) convincing us to let him stay up one hour longer each night so he can watch more Pixar cartoons and get more ideas for toy cars to ask for.
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That doesn’t mean that one day he won’t appreciate knowledge regarding how to minimize debt accrued through real estate purchases, the best treatments for four-syllable knee joint conditions and which book publishers are looking for the most creative explorations of the Charlie Sheen-on-social-media genre.
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In that sense there’s still time for me to Make My Mark on the World, even if it’s just a small corner of the world cluttered with toy cars based on Pixar cartoons.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-55791581536364024152011-12-25T02:37:00.000-08:002011-12-26T00:30:49.642-08:00Slaying Christopher Hitchens' IdeasAn interest in ideas led me to Christopher Hitchens. <br /><br />His words could seemingly take any proposition, even the inherently grimy, and shine them until they glistened under harsh light. It was his knack for deconstructing the arguments of others that first grabbed my attention, though, particularly his <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2004/06/unfairenheit_911.html">assailing </a>of Michael Moore’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Fahrenheit 9/11</span> in 2004 and his leftist, secularist case for the invasion of Iraq. <br /><br />I was in my mid-20s, still unsure of what to make of the world three years after the day when 19 hijackers armed with box-cutters and no regard for self-preservation showed our overconfident country that it was not invulnerable. Invading Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with that attack had not seemed like the best course of action, but didn’t Saddam deserve his fate? Didn’t America need to do something in order to show that something like 9/11 wouldn’t be permitted again? <br /><br />These questions troubled me, and arguments against the Iraq invasions coming from sources like <span style="font-style:italic;">The Nation</span>, and arguments in favor of it in the pages of <span style="font-style:italic;">The National Review</span> were too predictable to answer them. Hitchens, a vocal foe of religion and proponent of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/the-revenge-of-karl-marx/7317/">Marx </a>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Orwell-Matters-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/0465030505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324802218&sr=8-1">Orwell</a>, suddenly became a compelling voice for the crusade of modernization against Islamic fundamentalists, an endeavor he was confident the invasion on Iraq could further. <br /><br />As the occupation grew two and then three years old, though, the eloquence of Hitchens’ words and the ideals of reason he espoused could not conceal the Iraq mission’s failure. Though thousands of miles removed from it, untouched by the bullets and mortar shells, as well as by the atmosphere of terror that they leave behind, one could see that we were not winning. Every day brought new reports of Americans killed (and, I found later, glossed over <a href="http://www.iraqbodycount.org/">dozens </a>of dead Iraqis for every fallen U.S. soldier). Questions about the future of our country if the effort failed became commonplace. <br /><br />The best America’s right-wing politicians and pundits could offer was a determination to stay the course, assuring us that to abandon the mission would bring worse consequences. The liberals countered by insisting either that a) the war was worth it, but had been badly managed, or b) the war had been a mistake, but would require more competent prosecution to preserve America’s “honor.” Start electing Democrats, they insisted, and you’ll see a change. <br /><br />America’s intellectuals had failed. <br /><br />Not only had Iraq been a disaster, but it was time to start comprehensively re-evaluating our foreign policy, to see just how benevolent a force our military had been around the world. A few American politicians and intellectuals would try to do so, but they were rare voices, ones not tolerated in “serious” discussions. <br /><br />Fortunately, though almost all of my news came from mainstream sources, my entertainment did not. <br /><br />The thrash metal veterans <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slayer">Slayer </a>share with Christopher Hitchens a confrontational approach, especially in their disregard for religious custom or supernatural belief. Those who know of my religious inclinations and reading habits are generally surprised by my appreciation for music of such raw aggression and distaste for subtlety; but I have no plans to stop listening to Slayer until they stop coming up with interesting lyrical <a href="http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/2558/">concepts </a>and memorable <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI4e4RDhUwo">riffs</a>. <br /><br />Since their early days, one of their strengths has been their ability to set a mood of horror, one especially appropriate when their songs deal with war. Guitars that sound like a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5L7GyZeazM">galloping infantry</a> or planes raining death from above, along with a “singer” with the bark of hell’s drill sergeant make a compelling case against war that even Bob Dylan and Barry McGuire could not match. <br /><br />And for all Dylan and McGuire’s accomplishments, Slayer are the only songwriters I can think of to have ever changed a viewpoint of mine completely. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Christ Illusion</span>, released in 2006, was a <a href="http://allmusic.com/album/christ-illusion-r849648">concept album</a> of sorts, detailing thoughts on religion and war. What Hitchens saw as a noble effort to curb religious influence on public affairs, with the Middle East as this conflict’s first theater, Slayer portrayed instead as a natural by-product of religious belief, particularly when two different orthodoxies conflict with one another. It’s not a thesis one need buy in its entirety (human greed is the main cause, in my opinion, and religion can be used for greedy or benevolent purposes) to find it compelling. <br /><br />Hitchens may be more literate and sophisticated, but Slayer’s lack of intellectual pretension resulted in clearer thinking in this instance, and allowed them to spell out the unfolding disaster’s numerous after-effects, from casualties on the ground, to increased fervor among Jihadists, to increasing paranoia at home. <br /><br />“Eyes of the Insane” is not the best-executed song on the album, but its concept is one of their most interesting: A soldier, having served time in combat, struggles with PTSD, never free of images of “mutilated faces” and the constant fear remaining from the battlefield. The best thing about the song, though, is that it resulted in this video. <br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sOMec-rYTbo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />This is hopefully the closest I’ll ever come to combat, to being gravely wounded, to having to take a life, and to seeing lives snuffed out in front of me. This video was enough, though, to make me realize that Iraq, even if its supporters had noble ideas, had resulted in an untold number of fatalities, wounds, and minds forever scarred. <br /><br />And Iraq was a choice. <br /><br />Hitchens, along with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwFaSpca_3Q">Thomas Friedman</a>, <a href="http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/n_8621/">Fareed Zakaria</a> and others embraced this war of choice, insisting that the threat of Islamic terrorists was one that had to be met with proactive uses of force. They’ll never see the deaths, never lose a drop of blood in combat, and never have to deal with the memories of the atrocities taking place in war zones. Neither will I, hopefully, but I will never favor sentencing anyone to that fate unless we’ve been attacked first and are sure we face attack again if we don’t act. <br /><br />In the months that followed the release of the “Eyes of the Insane” video, Ron Paul launched his 2008 presidential bid. His <a href="www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDND5tcUFoI">brave insistence</a> on a policy of non-interventionism in debates with a stage full of militarists eager to send other people’s children to war solidified my belief, and reading <a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/10/21/about_that_iraq_withdrawal/">Glenn Greenwald</a>, <a href="http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/12/22/gay-rights-and-american-foreign-policy/">Justin Raimondo</a> and <a href="www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090622_iran_had_a_democracy_before_we_took_it_away">Chris Hedges</a> since then has provided a literate foundation for this view, one at least as solid as Hitchens did for the interventionists. <br /><br />Hitchens clung to the view that the war in Iraq was worth fighting, that the war in Afghanistan had to be continued a decade past its launch, and that <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/10/ffrf_recap.php">more</a>, not less, aggression toward the Muslim world was required to defeat its fundamentalists. With the release of <span style="font-style:italic;">God is Not Great</span>, he shifted the tone of the argument, insisting that Iraq and the war on terror were battles for secularism against religion, and that anyone who disagreed was blinded by or to religion’s deceit. The number of those who saw Iraq and Afghanistan as logical efforts continued to dwindle, but in debates with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un1OXy_Bw3o">Hedges</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbjKVZr3nKI">Raimondo </a>and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifcom/2009/12/10/hitchens-greenwald-debate_n_387508.html">Greenwald</a>, Hitchens sought to overcome his position’s weakness with the ferocity of his attack. <br /><br />In the past two weeks, Hitchens died and the war in Iraq officially ended. My country launched that endeavor to prove that, despite the loss it suffered on 9/11, the rest of the world would still see it as strong. Today it is weaker for having wasted so much blood and treasure there. The lives of civilians lost in Iraq (and in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and Yemen, and Somalia) have scarred the minds of many in those countries who will not forget nor forgive the U.S. for its choices. <br /><br />A right-wing government proposed Iraq, but it took a broad coalition to make it happen. That alliance consisted of the far right, the moderate right, the center-left, and even a few on the far left who thought to blame 9/11 on radical Muslims rather than the principle of blowback. Had a Christopher Hitchens or a Thomas Friedman stood up then and said that, no matter what else they thought of the Islamic world, the war was not going to change things for the better, we might still have fought it. <br /><br />But the broad coalition in place made many afraid to speak out against it. One was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Hedges#Biography">taking </a>his <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jesse-ventura-claims-msnbc-bought-his-silence-for-opposing-iraq-war/">career </a>in his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Donahue#MSNBC_program">own hands</a> to say such things prior to the point at which George W. Bush’s approval ratings went down. By late 2005, when the consensus was that Bush had bungled Katrina and was bungling our wars, more than 2,000 Americans and an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War">untold number</a> Iraqis were dead. <br /><br />Hitchens response, when told 2,000 had died, was that it wasn’t an “<a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens#On_the_2003_invasion_of_Iraq">important milestone</a>.” <br /><br />But his death two weeks ago was viewed as <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2011/12/tributes_to_the_journalist_and_intellectual_from_julian_barnes_anne_applebaum_james_fenton_and_others_.html">significant</a>, because he was an outspoken atheist, a great writer, or just a great character we all enjoyed watching. For years we’ve heard atheists proclaim that religion is evil because it has caused wars. When an atheist, one who they continue to praise, champions one of the most unnecessary wars of modern times, what does that give us to look forward to when religion has been erased? <br /><br />If a person’s personality, or their way with words, can erase their complicity in war crimes, what grounds have we to criticize <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_of_Mao_Zedong">Chairman Mao</a> or <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/kim-jong-il">Kim Jong-il</a>? Like Hitchens, we have no evidence they ever killed anyone themselves. <br /><br />Christopher Hitchens’ career was built on ideas, and for a time their appeal was undeniable. To have ideas, though, is not the same as having veracity. It is not the same as having morality. <br /><br />Christopher Hitchens, as time would tell, had neither on his side. That he is being honored now shows that wasn’t alone in this.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-35185362885779561022010-10-08T01:13:00.000-07:002010-10-08T01:14:32.713-07:00New Buffalax<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEpEJJEtQWs?fs=1&hl=ko_KR"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kEpEJJEtQWs?fs=1&hl=ko_KR" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />It's just as good in Japanese.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-80834566611443906752010-09-15T04:08:00.001-07:002010-09-15T04:08:24.744-07:00South Koreans Face Death to Enhance Life<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bVX3-hHnttU?fs=1&hl=ko_KR"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bVX3-hHnttU?fs=1&hl=ko_KR" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-5811115640687246342010-08-28T03:33:00.001-07:002010-08-28T03:41:46.182-07:00Talking with James Blake at BR<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAnIpKdGrgcZRc2oMkyyc5rW6b6_QLNSRamperK6-vz9xgMgKXQTZ6_5kPOLVFzmFtaBZJjvkgTld8EypDwIELvkkBRO3BlKZrGYeawD6w7ZoK2J8TIRu2vwIZMglWlvomc65/s1600/TM103794_100-1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAnIpKdGrgcZRc2oMkyyc5rW6b6_QLNSRamperK6-vz9xgMgKXQTZ6_5kPOLVFzmFtaBZJjvkgTld8EypDwIELvkkBRO3BlKZrGYeawD6w7ZoK2J8TIRu2vwIZMglWlvomc65/s320/TM103794_100-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510407230822115218" /></a><br /><br />Earlier this month, Bleacher Report arranged for me to have a telephone interview with James Blake. Since the news had a lot to do with the US Open, I've held it until <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/445025-james-blake-struggling-but-still-excited-to-play">now</a>. On Monday the event will begin, and that night Blake will be honored for having overcome childhood illness and a series of harrowing events in 2004 to have become a top-ranked tennis player. <br /><br />All in all, it was a pretty exciting assignment to have taken part in, and I'm thankful for the chance.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-88579958975566397322010-08-09T07:31:00.000-07:002010-08-09T07:37:17.821-07:00In Adventist Today, Talking About MarriageMeeting my quarterly deadline at <span style="font-style:italic;">Adventist Today</span> is getting harder, but I somehow found the time to crank out <a href="http://atoday.com/when-marry-between-burning-passion-and-corner-roof">this one</a> over the weekend. I speak bluntly therein, much more so than I used to when writing columns for <span style="font-style:italic;">The PI</span> or <span style="font-style:italic;">The Chattanoogan</span>, but I figured with this topic there was no sense in holding back. <br /><br />Also, I was largely inspired by this Onion <a href="http://www.theonion.com/audio/desire-to-ejaculate-motivates-local-christian-to-w,13649/">clip</a>, whose sentiments I could once relate to. Deeply.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-30529712382790460592010-08-07T21:55:00.000-07:002010-08-07T21:56:26.063-07:00A Fine August Day In the Park<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4426f168b0&photo_id=4870975848"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4426f168b0&photo_id=4870975848" height="300" width="400"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-69894754101240103572010-08-05T02:55:00.001-07:002010-08-05T03:01:08.626-07:00Just Dropping InSo, yeah, I'm in class a lot these days, meaning there's no time for blogging. Probably won't be for awhile, either. But <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/jeaok">Jeoak</a> is still at it, and I can't really pass this up. <br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYq8MEplsEM&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FYq8MEplsEM&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />"Asian gonorrhea," we said!<br /><br />He's a machine.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-81569046676176996122010-06-01T00:10:00.000-07:002010-06-01T19:29:45.282-07:00North Korea Watch: McPaper Weighs In<span style="font-style:italic;">USA Today</span>, that beacon of all that American journalism has <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Making-McPaper-Inside-Story-Today/dp/0836279395">become</a>, has <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-06-01-korea-tension_N.htm">weighed in</a> on the North Korea issue under the subtle headline of "Tension in Korea: A sunken ship, and talk of war."<br /><br />Now, if it were just any newspaper, I'd be worried about a paper that doesn't have all that much to say on this issue suddenly churning out a story in these tense times as written by a guy with distinctly non-Asian sounding name. I'd be concerned that maybe, just maybe, the guy would lack the proper context to know just what the heck he's talking about. Given the hard times newspapers are going through, I'd be tempted to think that <span style="font-style:italic;">USA Today</span> might just be covering the story now for the purpose of sensationalism, just to scare up readers. <br /><br />But given <span style="font-style:italic;">USA Today</span>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usa_today#Controversial_incidents">reputation</a>, I gave it a chance. And guess what! In this case, Calum MacLeod has actually taught me, an almost five-year-resident of this peninsula, some things I didn't know! For example: <br /><br /><blockquote>The March 26 sinking of the South Korea warship Cheonan by a suspected North Korean torpedo, killing all 46 sailors aboard, has grown into a crisis in which the world's two largest militaries — those of the United States and China— are lined up on opposite sides behind the South and North, respectively.</blockquote><br /><br />Silly me! I was under the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8589507.stm">impression</a> that there were 104 on board and that all but 46 had been rescued. Also, I had come to the conclusion that the Chinese were rather <a href="http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100531000678">neutral</a> in all this, what with all the <a href="http://article.wn.com/view/2010/05/29/SKorea_China_Japan_move_towards_free_trade_bloc_b/">economic ties</a> to South Korea, so thanks for clearing that up!<br /><br /><blockquote>For several years, South Korea has pursued a policy of aid and diplomacy to the repressive and closed Stalinist country on its northern border, as a way of keeping peace. </blockquote><br /><br />Interesting! Opinions on the Sunshine Policy differ, but I thought it was because the economic consequences of a sudden collapse of the North Korean regime would <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/when_will_north_korea_collapse.html">devastate </a>the South Korean economy, which they have worked so hard to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_the_Han_River">build up</a>, even under <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/120_12637.html">peaceful conditions</a>. <br /><br /><blockquote>Koreans have long lived with the nightmarish possibility of a devastating war, but the likelihood of conflict increases when all communications are cut off as they are now, says Daniel Pinkston, a regional analyst based in Seoul for the International Crisis Group, a think tank.<br /><br />If war does break out, "there could be casualties like we've never seen," Pinkston says, as the North will "get off a lot of artillery" before being stopped, and there is the potential that chemical and even nuclear weapons could be used.<br /><br />Yet for now, "people are going about their business and discount the possibilities," Pinkston says. "It may be denial, as the possibility is too horrible to imagine."</blockquote><br /><br />Or it could be that communications themselves are actually a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/world/asia/28korea.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">recent development</a> (2004, in fact), and that war didn't break out for all the decades before communications were established. In fact, it could be because the two sides have coexisted for decades without going to war despite the North's <a href="http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=JDzWb35vrH4yp9Kc235Q27knbH3lGJ0GdXnSPhF6162kRXdnhgL2!486960826?docId=97785073">statements</a>. <br /><br />But, hey, you've got all the answers. <br /><br /><blockquote><br />South Koreans show no stomach for a fight, complains Park, who runs the activist group Fighters for Free North Korea from a small office in Seoul.</blockquote><br /><br />Oh. I thought South Koreans had no stomach for seeing their capital city <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-the-day-how-north-korea-could-destroy-seoul-in-two-hours-2010-5">obliterated</a>, millions killed and their <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/322280/South-Korea/34963/Economy">way of life</a> reduced to third-world status all over again. But I could be wrong. <br /><br /><blockquote>Unlike in the isolated, impoverished North, there are many non-political diversions for South Koreans, one of Asia's most successful economies.<br /><br />"I pay more attention to soccer than North Korea," telephone salesman Park Sang Kil says.</blockquote><br /><br />And, of course, the hawkish types like Park above and the apolitical soccer-centric types like Park below are the <a href="http://www.globenews24.com/EN/news,south-korea-vows-caution-over-ship-north-sees-war1">only</a> two types of South Koreans that exist. Really, those are your only two choices. <br /><br /><blockquote>At the nearby Noryangjin fish market, stall owner Ko Yang Lin, 56, is fatalistic about the crisis.</blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote>"I don't care about war, I'm happy to die as I'm too tired to live!" says Ko, who works daily from 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ko says she is angry at the North but high taxes are more of a concern.</blockquote><br /><br />Ah, if only the South Koreans weren't such pessimistic losers they could stand up to the North. Show them the way, <span style="font-style:italic;">USA Today</span>! <br /><br /><blockquote>All South Koreans know "the danger of war is worse for us as (we) have a lot more to lose economically and socially," says Lee Shin Wha, a professor of political science at Korea University. Lee worries her fellow citizens suffer a "security inertia," she says.<br /><br />"After 9/11 in the USA, there were many diverse views, but when it comes to security, Americans are united."</blockquote><br /><br />Yeah, and look at all the <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBR119338.htm">great </a><a href="http://www.dailyyonder.com/iraq-death-toll-state-state">things</a> unity and a lack of "inertia" did for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/18/1000-american-deaths-afghanistan_n_580312.html">us</a>!<br /><br /><blockquote>Recent polls indicate people are thinking harder more about the North. A poll by Gallup Korea published in The Chosun Ilbo said 60% of respondents supported sanctions against the North. In Washington, analysts say that the current situation escalating into an all-out war is unlikely, but the situation remains tense and could become more dangerous.</blockquote><br /><br />Of course, if you put that quote near the top of the story as opposed to the end, it doesn't sell papers, because who is going to read "all-out war unlikely" when "talk of war" is available? If nothing else, <span style="font-style:italic;">USA Today</span> knows how to sell papers!<br /><br /><blockquote>South Korea has 680,000 servicemembers backed by 28,500 U.S. troops, but it is outnumbered by the North's troops and vast advantage in rocket launchers, tanks and artillery.</blockquote><br /><br />Of course, North Korea's troops are impoverished and <a href="http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2008/10/19/korean-height-gap/">stunted in growth</a>, plus their weaponry is outdated as demonstrated by the <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2255106/">lickings </a>they took in the naval skirmishes of 1999 and, hey, just last fall, but they must have had some reason not to include that context. <br /><br /><blockquote>"(China) may want this (issue) to stick around a while to keep their dog on a leash and keep the United States looking weak. It serves them politically."</blockquote><br /><br />Say what? What does China stand to gain from having North Korea <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124353389041863413.html">destabilize</a> the region and thus <a href="http://news.stv.tv/business/98637-asian-shares-feel-pressure-on-north-korea-tensions/">threatening</a> their growth? Why would China relish having Japan, the US, and pretty much the rest of the Western world line up behind South Korea, thus causing the Chinese to feel the <a href="http://www.globenews24.com/EN/news,china-faces-pressure-over-north-korea1">pressure</a> of having to act? <br /><br />I'm beginning to think that <span style="font-style:italic;">USA Today</span>'s sources aren't the best-informed on this subject. Oh well. At least this time their sources <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kelley">actually exist</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-76284893878716459212010-05-27T06:18:00.000-07:002010-05-27T07:13:28.575-07:00North Korea Watch: PreparationToday was a better day, not because all the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_ship_sinks">news</a> was good, but because there was less of it. There have been some positive developments, apparently on the <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/05/205_66610.html">China</a> front, and today there are more voices saying that we should, in effect, <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/05/116_66615.html">mellow out</a>. <br /><br />One must wonder how it got to this point, though. South Korea's gross domestic product is currently ranked <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)">15th</a> in the world, at $1.364 trillion, it far outweighs the North's <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kn.html#Econ">$40 billion</a>. What's more, though North Korea boasts a bigger military than South Korea's, <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2255106/">naval skirmishes</a> in the past decade have actually revealed its military to be poorly equipped compared to their neighbors. <br /><br />Malnourishment has left North Koreans in a state where they are, on average, considerably <a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/short-north-koreans-and-americans/">shorter</a> than their neighbors. The recent currency reform <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_won#2009_revaluation">backfired</a> when the people protested, suggesting that the public's devotion to the regime has its limits. They have the material to make nuclear weapons, but not much evidence exists that they can miniaturize it and load it to a weapon (for all the <a href="http://news.scotsman.com/world/North-Korea-issues-border-threat.6319931.jp">threats</a> the have made, a nuclear assault is not one of them). <br /><br />South Korea, though, would pay an enormous <a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/120_12637.html">price</a> economically if unification took place even under peaceful circumstances, leaving them in no hurry to complete the process. And even if they defeat the North, it has artillery capable of reaching and inflicting <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/map-of-the-day-how-north-korea-could-destroy-seoul-in-two-hours-2010-5">enormous damage</a> on Seoul, as would an initial forward push by a few million North Korean troops coming across the border. <br /><br />South Korea's economic growth over the past forty years has been justly described as a miracle, though in retrospect leaving the capital, with half the nation's population, most of its industry and its whole central government within North Korea's sights was clearly a miscalculation. South Korea has been unprepared to properly defend itself, but it seems doubtful that re-labeling the North its "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/world/asia/26korea.html?src=mv&ref=world">archenemy</a>" is going to do the trick, and restarting propaganda broadcasts probably can't do anything but anger the North more. <br /><br />Though war may not be imminent, it's a shame that this nation hasn't done more to insulate itself from these threats. <br /><br />Well, even if the South Korean government isn't prepared, there's no reason we can't <a href="http://chrisinsouthkorea.blogspot.com/2010/05/life-in-korea-emergency-evacuation.html">be</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-17887648892868502442010-05-26T04:14:00.000-07:002010-05-26T05:23:14.059-07:00North Korea Watch: What's Next?I haven't posted at all lately, largely because my new role as a guest on the Evening Show at <a href="http://tbsefm.seoul.kr/index.do?method=index&channel_code=CH_E">TBS eFM </a> keeps me even busier than usual. Another reason is that I don't really know what to say, particularly regarding North Korea. <br /><br />About a year ago I began trying to <a href="http://rjamesyork.blogspot.com/2009/07/north-korea-watch-beginning.html">explain</a> to people why they shouldn't worry about North Korea. I mostly did so for the benefit of friends and family at home, who only see news regarding this peninsula when the North is causing a diplomatic skirmish, and who have therefore been led to believe that war could break out at any moment. <br /><br />Whenever I wanted to reassure myself regarding the future of this country, I could always look to actual Koreans to see what they thought. Without fail, their <a href="http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2009/06/is-it-safe-to-be-in-korea-now.html">response</a> was that North Korea was something they had always lived with, and would for the foreseeable future. And it made sense; the North is ruled by a family that has for years been teaching its people that American imperialists were waiting to conquer its people, and that the South was the tool of those Yanks. The North had to maintain that position or its people would know they were being lied to, but an actual war was not what anyone wanted; not the South, because it endangered their rapid economic growth, and not the North, because they faced long odds of victory. <br /><br />With that dynamic in place, the North's belligerence seemed the status quo. <br /><br />The sinking of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROKS_Cheonan_(PCC-772)">Cheonan</a> has changed that. Now, while I don't see people panicking in the street or issuing warnings to run to bomb shelters, this is the first time I've seen real <a href="http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/05/roks-cheonan-what-you-need-to-know-what.html">concern</a> about the North's actions. The Cheonan sank, and now South Korea has vowed to cut trade with the North and resume its propaganda broadcasts at the border. The North has responded by cutting all ties with the South and threatens to shoot the speakers that broadcast the South's propaganda. <br /><br />We're all waiting to see whether they follow through. War won't be the next step, but we don't know what the next step will be, or whether one side will back down. From a logical standpoint it would seem that one side would have to, but sinking the Cheonan had a logic that only Kim Jong-il and/or his defense council understands. One day the reason for this will be revealed; the only question is how much pain the country will have to endure to reach that answer.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-38610766126577594402010-05-25T19:04:00.000-07:002010-05-25T19:10:19.899-07:00Jeaok is Back<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5fu5OOAQnA0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5fu5OOAQnA0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I hadn't heard this song before <a href="http://rjamesyork.blogspot.com/2010/02/k-pop-gets-what-it-deserves.html">Jeaok </a>buffalaxed it, but that doesn't detract from its pleasures. His skills extend beyond Korean songs, by the way, and into Mongolian ones. <br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j80GsQF9KIo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j80GsQF9KIo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-50378050176238830142010-03-20T21:50:00.000-07:002010-03-20T21:51:41.720-07:00New K-Pop Video<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WMdiVyzI7eY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WMdiVyzI7eY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Jeaok is back. I will gladly do PR for him for as long as he'll keep it up.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-45288220159382043262010-03-15T04:40:00.000-07:002010-03-15T04:51:26.630-07:00North Korea Watch: Wine and Dine MeOnly a week after threatening to "<a href="http://rjamesyork.blogspot.com/2010/03/north-korea-watch-parsing-reuters.html">blow up</a>" South Korea for daring to conduct joint military drills with the U.S., North Korea is trying to <a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific_business/view/1043629/1/.html">lure </a>the capitalist pigs to the South back to make a deal. <br /><br /><blockquote>North Korea has revised an investment law to lure South Korean and other investors back to a free-trade zone on its northeast border with China and Russia, a news report said on Sunday.<br /><br />Yonhap news agency, quoting unnamed Seoul officials, said the January 27 revision of the law paved the way for "Korean compatriots living outside the DPRK (North Korea)" to invest in the Rason free-trade zone.<br /><br />In 1999 the North revised a law governing Rason to ban South Korean investors from the zone, Yonhap said.<br /><br />The latest revision seeks to lure them and other foreigners back in, by reducing taxes and simplifying regulations, it said. </blockquote><br /><br />Their state-controlled media will probably continue to say <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-06-09-north-korea-rhetoric_N.htm?csp=34">crazy things</a>, but there's not much incentive to annihilate those who are giving Kim Jong-il the funds it takes to keep his <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kim-jong-il-the-tyrant-with-a-passion-for-wine-women-and-the-bomb-421016.html">wine cellar</a> stocked.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-37837414291738839822010-03-11T01:13:00.000-08:002010-03-11T01:27:36.859-08:00North Korea Watch: Not So Great Divide<blockquote>SEOUL | North Korea has recently created an army division in charge of newly developed intermediate-range missiles capable of striking U.S. forces in Japan and Guam, a South Korean news agency said Tuesday.<br /><br />The report came as North Korea stepped up its war rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea after the allies started their annual drills aimed at improving their defense capabilities. </blockquote><br /><br />I'll spare you more of my thoughts on the "<a href="http://rjamesyork.blogspot.com/2010/03/north-korea-watch-parsing-reuters.html">stepped up war rhetoric</a>." Read on: <br /><br /><blockquote>"The missiles could pose a threat to U.S. forces in Japan, Guam and other Pacific areas where they would be redeployed in time of emergency on the Korean Peninsula, Yonhap said.<br /><br />The report, however, didn't provide further details such as how many missiles the new division possesses and where they are positioned."</blockquote><br /><br />Yes, they could theoretically pose a threat to U.S. forces, should the North suddenly become completely indifferent to the concept of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_armed_forces#Budget">"counterattack."</a> Interesting how the South Korean government could have such specific information about their presence, but no details or numbers. Almost like the North wanted them to know ...Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-80569799584184840532010-03-11T01:06:00.000-08:002010-03-11T01:13:12.872-08:00Adverse PossessionKorea's Ven. Beopjeong <a href="http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/12/201003120032.asp">passed away</a> following a bout with lung cancer today. <br /><br /><blockquote>"Beopjeong, whose most famous book is 'Without Possession,' maintained a frugal and secluded life while preaching the virtue of possessing nothing, a soothing message to Koreans tired of chasing their possessive desire in vain.<br /><br />"'When you do not own anything, you actually own everything in the world.' This one line in 'Without Possession,' a collection of 35 short essays, sums up the Venerable Beopjeong's lifelong philosophy."</blockquote> <br /><br />Apparently <span style="font-style:italic;">Without Possession</span> sold 3 million copies in the three decades following its publication. But let me ask those who purchased a copy of it this: Isn't buying a book called <span style="font-style:italic;">Without Possession</span> itself a repudiation of its core teaching? <br /><br />And if the Ven. Beopjeong wanted his teaching of the avoidance of possessions to spread, then how did he expect that to happen without people buying his books? <br /><br />OR DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?!Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-16940208046935956002010-03-10T23:22:00.003-08:002010-03-10T23:22:48.720-08:00Pyongyang Traffic Girls From the Sky<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O-hyVzTVDLg&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O-hyVzTVDLg&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Just watch. I have nothing to add.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-9377331389988183162010-03-10T01:48:00.000-08:002010-03-10T01:57:49.458-08:00North Korea Watch: Trading is LightFor the first time in more than a decade, trade is <a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/10/worldupdates/2010-03-10T122746Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-467913-1&sec=Worldupdates">down </a>in North Korea, apparently going from bad to ... more bad. <br /><br /><blockquote>The report by the state-run Korea Development Institute made available on Wednesday said the largest impact came from a sharp decline in trade with China, the North's biggest benefactor that its leader is expected to visit in coming weeks.<br /><br />Trade with South Korea and the European Union was also down, and the combined decline in trade with the three parties that account for nearly 90 percent of the North's trade points to an overall decline of at least 5 percent in the past year, KDI said in the report.</blockquote><br /><br />South Korea is not surprising, given the problems over <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7539368.stm">Mt. Geumgang</a>, and the EU isn't altogether surprising with the given North Korea's generally <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/04/north.korea.rocket/index.html">bad </a><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/25/north-korea-hiroshima-nuclear-test">behavior </a>culminating in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/north-korea-sanctions-una_n_214885.html">sanctions</a>. <br /><br />But China? I guess that's why they're working so hard to <a href="http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/09/201003090047.asp">rectify </a>the situation.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-57502373300872506552010-03-09T00:54:00.000-08:002010-03-09T01:55:31.755-08:00North Korea Watch: Parsing ReutersNorth Korea <span style="font-weight:bold;">(claims to be)</span> on combat alert as U.S., South hold drills <br /><br />SEOUL (<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100308/wl_nm/us_korea_north_drills_1">Reuters</a>) – North Korea said on Monday it had put its army on full combat alert, ready to "blow up" South Korea as joint drills between the South and the United States got underway <span style="font-weight:bold;">(which they traditionally <a href="http://rjamesyork.blogspot.com/2009/08/north-korea-watch-empty-threats.html">do</a>, though we will of course neglect to mention that they make this threat every friggin' time there are joint exercises between the two allies, at least until the attention-getting part of the story is past).</span><br /><br />The drills, seen by Pyongyang as nuclear war maneuvers <span style="font-weight:bold;">(at least according to their <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100307/wl_nm/us_korea_north">Central News Agency</a>, which has been making <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,528880,00.html">ridiculous claims</a> about its impending actions as long as any of us can remember)</span>, last for about two weeks and are aimed at testing the allies' defense readiness. They draw fiery rhetoric from the North each year <span style="font-weight:bold;">(which <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=alzJVEwVcDxY">every </a><a href="http://en.rian.ru/world/20100309/158132612.html">single</a> news source dutifully reports regardless of how incredible it is)</span> that fuels tensions on the Korean peninsula, though they have been held for decades without major incident.<br /><br />"The units of the three services of the KPA (Korean People's Army) should keep themselves fully ready to go into action in order to blow up the citadel <span style="font-weight:bold;">(whatever that means)</span> of aggressors once the order is issued," the North's KCNA news agency quoted its military command as saying <span style="font-weight:bold;">(though they probably never did)</span>.<br /><br />The comments were made after China, the North's main benefactor, said it wanted stalled nuclear disarmament talks resumed before July. It urged all parties to the six-country forum, including the United States and South Korea, to try harder <span style="font-weight:bold;">(although the talks will remain meaningless as long as <a href="http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/09/201003090047.asp">China, along with Russia</a>, is determined to reward North Korea's behavior with trade and economic aid. Still, we really should "try harder").</span><br /><br />The North has come under pressure to return to the disarmament <span style="font-weight:bold;">(which won't ever happen)</span> -for-aid nuclear talks because of <span style="font-weight:bold;">(pointless)</span> U.N. sanctions imposed after a May 2009 nuclear test.<br /><br />The North said at the weekend that any talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula would "naturally come to a standstill" because of the drills. North Korea conducted "live fire" exercises near sea borders with the South earlier this year.<br /><br />Sanctions have dealt a blow to its wobbly economy <span style="font-weight:bold;">(or so we like to <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2147058/fr/rss/">tell ourselves</a>)</span>, and a botched currency move late last year has sparked inflation and rare civil unrest.<br /><br />The two Koreas are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.<br /><br />The Resolve/Foal Eagle drills involve about 18,000 U.S. troops, U.S. Forces Korea said, with 8,000 coming from abroad and 10,000 already stationed in the South.<br /><br />The South's Defense Ministry said about 20,000 of its troops would participate.<br /><br />The United States, which fought on behalf of the South during the war, has about 28,000 troops in the country to support its 670,000 soldiers. The North's deploys most of its 1.2 million troops near the border with the South.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">(This is where the story ends, without context or any sense of history. But it sure does have an eye-catching lead that will surely land it at the top of more than a few search engines, guaranteed to make those in Middle America who know none of these things for themselves believe war is a distinct possibility. And to think, some people question our credibility.)</span>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-46565316088766545192010-03-08T18:06:00.000-08:002010-03-08T18:08:03.038-08:00New ColumnMy latest column on Adventist Today is up and available <a href="http://www.atoday.com/adventist-upbringing-sacrifice-sports-and-student-loans">here</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-65260436625362319182010-03-03T19:47:00.000-08:002010-03-03T19:51:26.596-08:00North Korea Watch: Exciting Foreign Investment Opportunity!Revaluing its currency <a href="http://rjamesyork.blogspot.com/2009/11/north-korea-watch-if-its-broke.html">didn't work</a> so well, so North Korea is <a href="http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/04/201003040041.asp">desperate </a> to attract FDI, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Herald</span> reports<br /><br /><blockquote>Regardless of its questionable charms as an investment spot, Pyongyang began laying out economic policies reminiscent of China's market opening and reform measures in the early 1990s.<br /><br />North Korea announced a 10-year plan to build infrastructure using foreign investment, and reportedly designated eight cities including Pyongyang as special economic zones.</blockquote>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-13361452879657472772010-03-02T20:46:00.000-08:002010-03-02T20:56:53.363-08:00Ebert on The ChaserOn Jan. 27 (while I was in America, and on a lengthy vacation from blogging) Roger Ebert gave a three and a half-star <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100127/REVIEWS/100129976">review </a>to <span style="font-style:italic;">The Chaser</span>, a sleeper hit in Korea in 2008 that has since arrived in America. <br /><br />While noting the film's brutal, unfiltered violence, Ebert was mostly positive: <br /><br /><blockquote>"The Chaser" is an expert serial-killer film from South Korea and a poster child for what a well-made thriller looked like in the classic days ...<br /><br />When I see a film like this, it reminds me of what we're missing. So many recent movies are all smoke and mirrors. A thriller is opening soon in which the star cannot be clearly seen to complete any physical act in an action sequence. We might as well be reading a comic strip, where our minds are expected to fill in the movement between the frames. You sit there and "The Chaser" unfolds, and the director knows what he wants and how to do it without insulting us. In addition to remaking this movie, Hollywood should study it.</blockquote><br /><br />My wife bought <span style="font-style:italic;">The Chaser</span> for me on DVD as a birthday gift in September 2008. Neither of us knew anything about it, really, as she doesn't study film with the interest that I do, while the language barrier prevents me from keeping fully up to date on Korean cinema. <br /><br />Many of the movies scenes were shocking in their content, especially one near the end involving a hammer. There was a time in my youth such a film would have made me afraid to leave my apartment for fear of serial killers that might lurk on other floors. Thankfully those days have passed, though I was somewhat hesitant to let my wife travel alone in the days that followed. <br /><br />My visceral reaction to the film's content does not mean that I can't recognize that it was well-shot and well-acted. It does a particularly good job of exposing the corruption and inefficacy of the Korean police. One day, keeping these salient points in mind, I may be able to watch it again. <br /><br />But not anytime soon.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-88030705288620231432010-03-02T20:30:00.000-08:002010-03-02T20:36:55.392-08:00North Korea Watch: China BoundKim Jong-il will be taking his first trip off of North Korean soil in four years to visit China, according to <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-02/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-il-to-visit-china-mainichi-says.html">BusinessWeek</a>.</span><br /><br /><blockquote>China, North Korea’s biggest political and economic ally, is the only country for Kim’s communist regime to reach out to for support as the U.S., Japan and South Korea increase pressure on the North to return to nuclear disarmament talks, said Park Joon Young, professor of international relations at Ewha Womans University. North Korea may also need more help from China to prop up an economy hurt by United Nations sanctions on cross- border financial transactions.<br /><br />“Kim Jong Il would have to show commitment to returning to international dialogue if he wants to get China’s support,” Park said in Seoul. “Kim’s China visit, which is highly likely, heightens the prospects of the disarmament talks resuming.”</blockquote><br /><br />Maybe while he's there he can get China to loan N.K. some more <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jLNdmLDWFbiWCQLZ00LQtpKnBU-gD9E6S5KG0">soldiers</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-83973828154683437512010-03-02T00:57:00.000-08:002010-03-02T01:03:34.775-08:00North Korea Watch: Just Say NoThe <a href="http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/02/201003020061.asp">good news</a> is that North Korea is no longer trafficking drugs. <br /><br />The bad news is that they are still counterfeiting brand cigarettes and laundering money. Well, actually the report says "counterfeiting," but if I say "laundering" then I have an excuse to play this clip, and shee-it, I've been waiting for one. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0ehWPCI3E_s&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0ehWPCI3E_s&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17661280.post-47492772461572957632010-02-28T00:18:00.000-08:002010-02-28T00:31:37.078-08:00K-Pop Gets What it DeservesI'm of the opinion that the best types of humor, whether it's Dilbert's office satire or <span style="font-style:italic;">The Onion</span>'s needling of the U.S. government is rooted in some sort of problem. These things wouldn't be so funny if they didn't talk about things that bothered us greatly. <br /><br />And now comes <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/jeaok">Jeaok</a>, a YouTube user who has found a niche mishearing songs from around the world and giving them hilariously rendered English translations. I, of course, take a special liking to his renditions of K-Pop songs. Most of these translations wouldn't be to my liking if I hadn't been subjected to listening to these songs at the gym - often played so loudly that I can't hear my own iPod clearly. <br /><br />So, if you've ever been exposed to the wonder that K-Pop, you're in for a treat. Be warned, though, that Jeaok seems to think that a lot of Korean words sound like English obscenities or, worse, racial slurs. Prepare yourself for that fact and you'll probably find this highly amusing. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xc5SwThrcdM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xc5SwThrcdM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dhlOKYcJqPc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dhlOKYcJqPc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /> <br />My favorite of all of his translations would have to be "Sorry Sorry" by Super Junior, probably because it's the most annoying song. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nz0KDapGbKI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nz0KDapGbKI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15854852077902620542noreply@blogger.com1