Holy freakin' crap!

Having lived in a neighborhood where one year the water rose to chest level throughout the entire area, which turned me into a displaced person for a few days (where's my KBS money?!), seeing pictures of flood damage always gets my heart rate going just a bit. 

Anyway, courtesy of Korea Beat, here's a post-flood scene in Pusan. 

My plan this afternoon is to write a children's story based on this picture, which I will call The Little Forklift That Could.

 

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Starbucks not Starbucks

Starbucks is changing the name of a store in Seattle so that it will not bear the Starbucks name. The erstwhile Starbucks will be called "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea," a move to reflect the neighborhood in which its located (Seattle Times story here). The de-named Starbucks will also serve wine and beer, which means Seattleites should be wary of wide-awake drunk people roaming the rain-soaked streets. If the idea is popular, they might try it elsewhere.

Frankly, I like this idea. I frequent Starbucks in Honolulu when I need to do a lot of work without wi-fi (they charge) and I frequent Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf when I have a lot of work and need to use the Internet (they offer it for free). The Starbucks and the CB closest to where I live both have a strong neighborhood feel to them, and it would be nicely reflected in a name like "Oahu Street Coffee & Tea" or some such. In some locations in Seoul or elsewhere in Korea — especially in neighborhoods that already have a sense of identity if not community — that could work, like Namsan Coffee & Tea, but not COEX Coffee & Tea. 

I think about these things too much. I should note that I am not a Starbucks shill. 

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Maybe I've been watching too much "My Name Is Earl"

In the back of my mind, I think I might believe in karma. I do believe in a general "what goes around comes around" philosophy, which is why the Christian golden rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is a good rule of thumb: By doing good you create an environment of good that works for you and for everyone else, but by doing bad, you create conditions that, even in the absence of a supernatural push, can bite you in the ass. 

The Greeks figured this out millennia ago, and in the process condemned high school seniors thousands of years in the future to boring videos of productions of Oedipus Rex that would go way over their heads. 

But I sometimes suspect that karma exists, and he/she/it/they is/are especially pissed off by pride, hubris, and arrogance. Back in the 1990s I used to know a particularly virulent Korea-basher, who literally could not get through the day unless he had spent the morning finding some Korea news in the paper to bitch about (and frankly, it wasn't that hard for him). When a train derailment occurred in a southern city, due to workers digging under the tracks and weakening the foundation on which the rails rested, he spent half an hour talking Mizar-like about how fu¢ked up the Koreans were, how this would always be a third-world country, and — this is where karma perked up his/her/its/their ears — "this kind of thing would never happen in the US." 

A few months later (and you can see where this is going), four dozen people were killed in Alabama when a tugboat piloted by a captain who was lost and too embarrassed to radio that fact in, smashed into a river bridge, which caused it to collapse when the next Amtrak train passed over. Many of the victims drowned in this terrible tragedy. Both tragedies sickened me, especially since they were utterly preventable. But in the back of my mind, it almost felt as if this person had nudged karma in that direction. Karma, if it exists, can be a bitch.

In 1994, a devastating 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit the Los Angeles region, with an epicenter at Northridge. It was the most costly earthquake in US history: Freeway sections collapsed and an apartment building's second and third floors pancaked onto the floor below. Dozens were killed. Southern California worked overtime to fix the damage and get back to normal, and it was during those days or weeks afterward that officials in Japan talked up the superiority of Japanese earthquake preparation and technology.

Again, you can see where I'm going with this. Exactly one year later, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the Kobe region of Honshu, Japan's main island, killing thousands of people and destroying some 100,000 buildings. 

In 1997, I heard over and over and over again how messed up Korea was to have gotten into the financial crisis it found itself. True, that, but I was reminded of the hubris that came along with that — "this is not how we do it in the West/US" — last year when the American finance system was in meltdown for much the same kind of thing. 

And I started thinking of that today when I saw news of this tragedy involving six people in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, including four foreigners, killed in a bomb blast. It was presented by cmm, who noted that twenty hours earlier, resident ranter wjk had described Indonesia as a place "where can you get bombed to pieces simply because you were of a foreign race in a local night club," in response to aaronm saying somewhere else how much better Indonesia was than Korea. aaronm held his ground, saying that Indonesia was given a passing grade in terms of risk and it was still better than Korea on other fronts.

I'm not sure how karma might play in that, but I'm always leery of saying how great something is among me and mine or where we are, lest we alert karma. Maybe it's the Korean in me (I'll be one of those parents talking about how ugly and stupid their offspring are). Maybe aaronm alerted karma, who may not like the use of fugly porn stars as avatars, and maybe wjk is himself about to evoke his/her/its/their wrath. And maybe I myself should just STFU. 

In fact, I'm not trying to make light of any of these tragedies, including the recent bombing in Jakarta. Loss of life is tragic, especially when it is preventable or the result of violence. It angers me that Islamists are trying to destroy the tourist economy in order to effect economic ruin so that desperate people will flock to their austere and strict version of Islam. 

I just wish karma would pay attention to them (or maybe he/she/it/they do/does). 

In conclusion, I'm not sure if karma exists, but sometimes I have strong suspicions that this is how God/nature/the powers that be operate, from time to time. Either that or wjk is al Qaeda.

And if that's true, karma is a bitch. A vengeful, hairy-upper lipped bitch with a moon face, who prolly needs to mow the lawn to boot. She hates you. (And she might be starting to notice those Hyundai Genesis 2009 Car of the Year ads.)

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California district elects US's first Chinese-American congresswoman

California voters in the San Gabriel Valley's 32nd Congressional District elected activist Judy Chu to the US House of Representatives in a special election. This makes her the Chinese-American woman ever elected to the US Congress, a milestone only about a century and a half in the making.

Asians and Latinos typically are underrepresented in the voter roles, but Asian-American voters account for 13% of the total in the Democrat's Los Angeles County district. She reached out to others, including the "almost half" of the electorate that is Latino. In the end, she won with a whopping 62% of the vote. 

[above: In addition to sequestering as many minority voters as possible into a single constituency, the gerrymandered district was also designed to resemble an Imperial Star Destroyer.]

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Birds versus the Bard

A subway commute can become gruelingly routine. Even more so if you're riding the drab Tube beneath the streets of London. 

Now don't get me wrong, I think London is a great place (to visit, at least), but I couldn't help but notice how dark the Underground's tunnels were, how labyrinthine the entrances and exits were (and typically without lifts or ramps for our luggage!), and how down the people looked. And on the occasions when someone tried to end their life on the tracks, the detours just made everything worse (this happened to us two or three times in our week-long stay). 

Well, authorities are trying to break the monotony at least by having subway employees read quotations from famous authors and poets. I guess that's a step up from what is (was?) done in some Seoul subway stations, piping in the sounds of chirping birds to give the illusion of nature and, well, being above ground instead of hanging out with the mole people.

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Former president Kim Daejung in ICU

The Korea Times is reporting that former president and Nobel laureate Kim Daejung has been admitted to the intensive care unit at Severance Hospital (though it doesn't say which branch), after being diagnosed with pneumonia. 

They are saying it's not that serious, mostly to prevent things from getting worse, but if something goes awry so soon after Roh Moohyun's purported suicide, expect a conspiracy theorist public (at least, a segment of the public) to be all over the Lee Myungbak administration. 

UPDATE: 

The KT is now reporting that Mr Kim is on life support, though they still say his illness "is not life-threatening." This is beginning to remind me of ailing Soviet leaders when I was a kid: A "cold" meant they were gravely ill, and "stable condition" meant they had died.

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Dimming the lights on "Korea, Sparkling"?

The Korea Times is reporting that the Presidential Council on Nation Branding is considering giving the oft-derided "Korea Sparkling" slogan the axe. 

Ever since its adoption in 2007, the slogan was met with ridicule by English-speaking community. To be honest, it does sound a bit goofy in English, but I don't think it was ever really designed with people from English-speaking countries in mind. To people throughout East Asia, for whom English is an important medium but one with less depth, it sounds just fine. At least, "sounds good" is what people from Vietnam, China, Japan, and Taiwan have told me. 

I wouldn't mind if they go back to the "Dynamic Korea" slogan that "Sparkling" replaced (I think). That summed up Korea quite well. Or just go with "Annyong!" (and do not spell it "Annyeong"). 

For the past few months I've been working on a proposal I was going to present to some people I know who work or worked in the KNTO, but it's not ready yet, so I hope "Korea Sparkling" can hold on for another semester or so. 

UPDATE:

Oh, I see this has already been tossed down the Hole. Go to the comments section to witness first-hand the disdain for Korea held by some people who have long left the country but still can't seem to let go of their demons. 

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Here's to you, Mr Robinson

There have been a couple of updates on Matt Robinson, the subject of this post (and the concomitant fundraising). Last week, the Korea Times said he had returned to Ohio to get treatment there (and, presumably, to be closer to his family). 

In Tuesday's paper (which I just saw today, while flying on an airplane), he is reportedly doing well after his latest round of follow-up surgeries:

He has been released from Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, after being admitted for another round of necessary follow-up procedures to treatment he received in a Korean hospital to repair damaged tissue in his lower body ― surgery that was ultimately life-saving.

His friend, Sara Moore, who visited him this week at the clinic, said, ``He was in excellent spirits and seemed well taken care of. He is looking forward to being able to leave the hospital soon, but he will still be in and out for more surgeries and follow ups."

Robinson hopes to return to Korea after he is fully recovered to thank those who contributed to the fund set up to help pay for his treatment.

The Korea Herald has also had some articles, such as news of a fundraiser in mid-June, but they make it so darned hard to link anything that's not in their daily news roundup email. Bastards!

There are more surgeries ahead, so godspeed, Mr Robinson. And people — foreign or Korean — who donated money or time deserve something of a pat on the back for helping out someone who to most was a total stranger, despite the criticisms of some that Matt had brought this on himself by letting his insurance lapse or not purchasing traveler's insurance (as if that would have covered a pre-existing condition). That sense of community and cooperation from those who cared can be valuable in the future and perhaps should be fostered and developed. 

(And while I'm at it, I'd forgotten how different reading the newsprint edition of the KT or KH is from viewing the paper online.) 

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LAT on former North Korean resident Charles Robert Jenkins

The Los Angeles Times has published their most recent edition of "What's up with Charles Jenkins these days?", something of a regular feature in the established American media. 

Charles Jenkins's plight is a well-known story in Japan. After crossing the DMZ into North Korea in January 1965, he eventually grew to feel not so happy about his stay as a guest of the state, despite his handlers allowing him to marry one of the Japanese women abducted by North Korean operatives in order to have an army of teachers for North Korea's elite (and that is a true human rights abuse-experiencing language instructor story, kiddies!). 

When Japan's then-PM Junichiro Koizumi secured the release of Jenkins's wife, he stayed behind with their children. Eventually, though, perhaps after assurances he would not be treated too harshly for his desertion decades earlier, he agreed to leave, too.

His story has made him a celebrity in Japan, probably just a notch or two below Yonsama, and he is hounded by adoring fans wherever he goes. From the linked article:

With a weary smile, Jenkins poses for a frenzy of snapshots, awkwardly holding a box of specialty cookies. Everyone wants a piece of him, pressing in close to shake his hand and ask him to sign their souvenir snacks.

"One day I counted 300 pictures in the first hour alone," Jenkins recalls in the easy cadence of his native North Carolina. "Then I just gave up counting."

And so begins another day in the bizarre life of a man famous for "the stupidest decision of my life."

In 1965, Jenkins was a U.S. Army sergeant assigned to the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula, a skinny 24-year-old who was terrified of being sent to what he considered a sure death in Vietnam.

One night, after guzzling 10 beers for courage, he abandoned his sense of duty and freedom as he knew it to stumble across the border into North Korea, a desperate midnight maneuver that led to four lost decades in communist captivity.

Jenkins quickly became Pyongyang's most prized Cold War pawn. He starred in propaganda movies and memorized the inflated political tracts of "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung, enduring a life so dreary and deprived that "most days you wished you were dead."

[above: Handy tip for any elderly hakujin in Japan wishing to get free food and feel-ups from middle-aged Japanese women: Pretend you're Jenkins.] 

Anyway, some of my loyalest readers might wonder why I'm not being more misanthropic to Jenkins. Why am I not snarkily saying that this defector who helped make anti-American propaganda films deserves to spend the rest of his pathetic life in the Worker's Parahell? Why the double standard with Ling and Lee (and Koss, had he been caught)? 

Well, after about four decades, Jenkins had suffered enough. And his acts probably had little to do with creating more hazards for would-be defectors trying to escape North Korea. And to be fair, I don't think Lee and Ling should be "locked up" for too terribly long (and by "locked up," we mean right now that they're being set up in the Pyongyang Palazzo). Sagwa and kyul. 

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A first?

I think this may be the first ever post written and sent from an iPhone in Korea. At least on Blogger. I'm running with that until proven wrong.

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My misanthropic views on Laura Ling and Euna Lee (and Mitch Koss for good measure)

Kushibo no longer gives a rat's ass about people liking his views or agreeing with them. I stated my views of The Misadventures of Ling and Lee some months ago, but here's a recap: they probably knowingly and deliberately crossed the border — it's a fu¢king river, for criminy's sake! It doesn't just sneak up on you where you say, "Gee, are we in North Korea or in China?" In doing so they risked not only their own safety but the lives — the ability to keep breathing — of people who would rely on that part of the porous border to escape. Their inevitable conviction and detainment (if not imprisonment) would lead the US to make uncomfortable concessions to the Pyongyang regime, and finally, after they're released, they'll write a book or books and go on publicity tours and get sympathy and riches. 

Fu¢k them. Do not buy their book, and I've already stated why:

Idiots. Smug, self-satisfied idiots. It's a good chance that when these two are released they will pen one or two books on their ordeal, perhaps with a multi-million-dollar signing bonus. I want to be the first to say, "Don't buy this book." I personally will launch a boycott of said book, because I think it is wrong, wrong, wrong to let willful idiots capitalize on their stupidity that has put others at risk. Just what will the US have to do to gain their release? Given the nature of the Dear Leader's regime and the important role that the US has in aiding South Korea's (and Japan's) security, can this kind of concession possibly be a good thing? That's not even considering, as I mentioned earlier, how they have effectively plugged up an important escape route for North Korean refugees. Idiots.

But they're still in North Korea, aren't they? Well, good. As it turns out last month, the US has acknowledged that — despite numerous claims from North Korea watchers that they were kidnapped from the Chinese side — the two and their cameraman Mitch Koss had actually crossed into North Korea:

The US government has established that the two women did cross the North Korean border with additional crew, and that they were chased and captured by North Korean border guards. It is unclear whether the border guards entered Chinese territory to effect their capture. The entire episode occurred within “a few dozen meters” of the North Korea – China border.

There's still that backpedaling — maybe they had crossed back into China and the Norks chased them! — but nevertheless they got caught doing something very, very, very stupid. And what makes me so angry — and my apologies for repeating myself yet again — is that they have likely put would-be defectors into very grave danger. 

So let them rot. There are reports that Hillary Clinton's State Department is changing its tune from denial the three (including Koss) had done anything wrong to acknowledging what they'd done and asking for clemency. 

Screw that. These two are reportedly being held in a comfortable setting (a guest house!), waiting for a deal to be brokered that includes at least an official apology (as if the US government controls its citizens) and Lord knows what else. Let them stew long enough for the North Koreans to decide that it's time they were moved to a labor camp.

Let them get a teeny tiny taste of what likely happened to those who have been caught when that part of the porous border was plugged up. Let them get experience a little of what they condemned others to. I mean, geez, it's not like these three accidentally crossed the border: It was a deliberate act that any reasonable thinking person would know was putting others at risk. Others that they were ostensibly there to help by highlighting their plight. Except that's not really what it was all about for these three. Ultimately, I believe in my heart, true motivation was to get that scoop, do the thing all the other journalists had not done. 

Now I'm not entirely misanthropic, so I think eventually it will be necessary to do what has to be done to secure their release (thanks again, Lee, Ling, and Koss), but their suffering should go beyond the inconveniences one would expect from, say, a lengthy stay at an H1N1 quarantine facility in Seoul. 

Oh, and someone go and pull out a few of Koss's fingernails. That guy shouldn't be walking around scot-free. Nah, I don't mean that. Calling on others to commit acts of violence is wrong, too. Really. But I do wish on him daily ice cream headaches until the Dear Leader leaves his earthly coils. 

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Los Angeles Times on Hanawon center for resettling North Korean refugees

If you ever want to see Kushibo get really truly angry about something, start talking about how little South Korea(ns) do to help North Korean refugees, especially in light of what [insert other country here] does. If I'm in a good mood, all I'll do is yell something like this (or this) in your face:

Moreover, and I think this was my main reason for writing this, is that I think this meme is a dangerous one for it has — if it gains traction outside of South Korea — the potential to backfire. “Why,” someone might think, “should I care or do something about North Korean refugees (boycott Chinese goods, tell my Senator or Representative to vote on some bill that would spend money to resettle them, donate money to an NGO that helps ferry them out, pressure my government to take this issue up with Beijing, etc., etc.) when the South Koreans themselves do nothing?”

I’m not asking this from some hypothetical viewpoint either. The meme is an old one in the K-blogs, and it is spouted quite often by individuals who in fact do nothing about North Korean refugees except grouse about how little South Koreans care. The hypocrisy on that particular issue is one of the most galling forms of hypocrisy in the K-blogs.

Or this:

So just STFU with that bullßhit idea that South Koreans don’t care, when they are the only ones doing anything. That is one of the most disgusting memes to come out of the Korea-bashing blogosphere, this bullßhit idea turned on its head that the only ones actually doing anything are the ones who don’t care and are saying screw everyone else.

If you feel so strongly, The Shunned, write to your MP, Representative, Senator, or whatever the hell you have where you’re from and say, “Hey, what the fu¢k are we doing about the tens or hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees stuck in China?”

... if you really want to do something, if your outrage about the North Korean refugees comes from a true place and you’re not just using it as some bogus excuse to bash South Koreans because you hate your hagwon manager, go and volunteer to teach English the resettled or do something else to help them out. They always need volunteers.

And if I'm in a bad mood, you might need to duck to avoid getting hit by a projectile. Kushibo is usually a happy drunk (on the rare occasions when I drink), but this could make me turn dark very quickly. 

I've written about this many times, including this comment on Marmot's in December 2005 where I showed that the much maligned Kim Daejung and Roh Moohyun administrations were taking in more North Korean refugees than all other administrations combined (updated statistics are found here on Wikipedia). 

Sigh. There are political reasons why not all North Korean refugees in China have ended up in South Korea or elsewhere, but an economic and social factor is the limited space available at Hanawon, the facility created during the Kim Daejung administration to resettled North Korean "defectors" and to weed out would-be spies.

Hanawon is the subject of occasional articles that highlight the difficulties faced by North Korean refugees even in South Korea, a land populated by North Koreans' purported "brothers" (but also their former enemies, which complicates things tremendously). This past week John Glionna of the Los Angeles Times offered his take on Hanawon:

For the first time, officials on Wednesday allowed outsiders into the Hanawon resettlement center where North Korean defectors are debriefed. The open-house came at a time of increased tensions with North Korea, which in recent months has detonated a nuclear device, launched numerous missiles and amplified the rhetoric directed toward Seoul. Any event having to do with the North becomes an instant news media free-for-all.

The celebration of the center's 10th anniversary was equal parts propaganda ploy, talent show and sob fest. Proud of their efforts to repatriate these lost cousins, South Korea officials produced several North Koreans to show just how fulfilled they were once free of the clutches of leader Kim Jong Il.

These defectors sang! They played piano! They showed off paintings and poetry!

But several later expressed disappointment that South Korea was not the nirvana they had thought. The life they have carved out here is at best bittersweet. While enjoying freedom and creature comforts, many find themselves second-class citizens. They pine for their families and simpler pleasures of home.

"I have memories of the mountains and the rivers of North Korea," said Kim Chu-woong, a 35-year-old concert pianist. "The cigarettes and the alcohol taste different here. Often I get together with friends and we sing the old songs and our eyes get teary."

The wake-up call for this new reality often comes at Hanawon.

About 60% of the defectors are women. Each year, hundreds of refugees spend several months at this leafy center 30 miles south of Seoul. Nearly 90% of the 16,000 defectors in South Korea are Hanawon graduates -- most of whom made their way to South Korea after slipping across the border into China.

They get a crash course in modernity and capitalism, learning how to use a computer and an ATM. But they're also being grilled by intelligence agents trying to weed out spies.

Read the whole article. And read this, too. It's a sort of step-by-step description of the plight of the refugees, and it mentions another organization, Durihana ("two are one"), which tentatively I will say sounds like it deserves some positive attention as well.

Ansŏng [안성시; Anseong], where Hanawon is located, is not that far from most Anglophones living in South Korea. If you can take time out of your busy schedule, consider contacting them and volunteering or helping out in some other way.

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Disturbing reports on North Korea

The recent network "attacks" on various servers has led to a chorus of finger-pointing in Pyongyang's direction. North Korea is showing they can do some damage, we are told. 

I'm not going to write a whole treatise on the subject, but I want to go on the record as saying I find this trend in "see what North Korea is doing to us" reporting to be rather off-putting. More, perhaps, than North Korea's bad behavior itself. 

We have been told quite a lot lately that North Korea's missiles can reach Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, and even California, and we have beefed up missile defenses in Hawaii. Even though these capabilities are not exactly new. 

The latest missile launches, the media tells us, are even more egregious because they are happening on the Fourth of July, as if that somehow makes them more dangerous and more of an affront to the United States. 

And now there are these attacks which, though they could be from anywhere, we are told are almost certainly most definitely far more than likely clearly inevitably coming from North Korea. 

Really, what is up with this pile-on? I'm getting a little nervous: my apartment is not insured for damage caused by military conflict, and I would hate for the seven p'yŏng of the Republic of Korea that I own to be contaminated and rendered useless. 

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Obama finds a quarter on the sidewalk*

That's right. He was most definitely not checking out any part of that sixteen-year-old Brazilian walking past.

I used to be engaged to someone who appreciated the fact that I could walk down the street and not turn my head at all when someone she herself noticed would walk by. Knowing how jealous and insecure she was sometimes, I made it second nature when walking anywhere with her — particularly in Myŏngdong, where she liked to have me take her — to lock my neck in the upright position and not turn my head at all. 

Not one iota. I looked at no face, no butt, no chest, no midriff of anyone butt my beloved... er, but my beloved (and she did have a cute hiney and a nice, firm tummy... but I digress). 

She might have guessed I was secretly developing mad peripheral vision skills, but ultimately, I think she appreciated the effort. 

* Alternate snark-ridden title for this post: Barack considers getting a Brazilian (or, more snarkily, considers getting a Brazilian waxed)

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Hyundai Elantra hybrid goes a little too far into the future

The public so heavily associates hybrid vehicles with Toyota and its Prius (and a bit with its Camry and Corolla) that it's easy to forget that other companies like Honda, Ford, and others have also come out with hybrids. 

Hyundai and Kia have been criticized for being a bit late to the game, but the number-one Korea automaker has made up for its tardiness by showing up with a project worthy of an A+. And that would be the Hyundai Elantra LPI. 

Here's the problem, though: the LP in LPI stands for "liquefied petroleum." LPG (for LP gas) is a commonly used fuel in South Korea, where it is cheap and considered an environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline and diesel. If you ride in taxi in Korea, it is almost certainly an LPG-powered vehicle, and there is considerable demand for an LPG-powered hybrid. Hyundai's and Kia's LPI vehicles are being touted as the first in the world. 

This is supposedly even more environmentally friendly than a gasoline hybrid, but the problem is that LP gas fueling stations are so few that it is inconvenient for most people in the US. If Hyundai wants to stay in the game in the US, it needs its gasoline hybrid to hit the market soon. But if you are in Korea, take a look at LPI offerings of both Hyundai and Kia, including the Forte, the Sorrento, and others. Having driven an LPG-powered company minivan (Kia Carnival, known in the US as the Kia Sedona) for nine years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy an LPI. 

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Kia as Walmart?

Kia has been in the US for some fifteen years, but you can see by the number of news stories and reviews how much more seriously it's being taken lately. 

While some are praising the different-from-expected quality and safety, others are trying to explain how the company whose name has long been the butt of jokes ("killed in action" being a warning that a driver risked death by getting behind the wheel) is now a serious player that makes darned good cars. 

This WaPo reviewer takes a look at the mid-sized 2010 Kia Forte, upon which he heaped considerable praise ...

Fit and finish on our Forte EX was excellent. Interior ergonomics -- ease of sight and ease of use of gauges and controls -- were better than those found in many rival cars. That's "better" as in "better" as opposed to "better for the money."

... before going on to suggest Kia is becoming a success because it does a good job of following the Walmart model:

To understand the future of the automobile industry, you must understand the success of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retail organization.

It is an achievement based on common sense. Wal-Mart consistently offers excellent quality at prices lower than those charged by the competition.

It is an attractive business model that draws consumers from all walks of life, especially in tough economic times. It matters not that Wal-Mart is a nonunion company with a blue-collar persona. Nor does it matter that you are a professional, or a worker holding a union card. If you want the best for less, you shop there.

So here's the deal: The car company that best follows the Wal-Mart example is the one that will own the future of the automobile industry.

Don't be surprised if that company comes from South Korea.

As much as I loathe some of Walmart's business practices (but will give them credit for their paradigm-shifting move toward $4 prescriptions), some of this is apt. And I'm not so sure if towns like West Point, Georgia, really mind that they're not union factories. I think at this point they're just happy to be getting jobs. Let's hope they remain good jobs. 

The other thing I found interesting from the review is that the reviewer, Warren Brown, reveals himself to be almost Korean in his driving habits as he describes what the hazards button is for on a car: to tell people behind you on the highway that something is going on up ahead and they'd better be prepared to stop. 

Anyone who drives on Korean highways knows how common it is for the flashing yellows to come on, signaling that your 120 kph speed is going to have you careening into them. This is so second nature to me from driving in Korea that I instinctively reach for the hazards button whenever I have to put on the brakes on a highway in Hawaii or California. But that seems a far less common behavior among most American drivers besides me and Mr Warren. But Mr Warren seems to hope that Kia will change that:

Also there's this: In a driving emergency, such as a sudden stoppage of traffic, the caution signal button, indicated by a small red triangle within a larger red triangle, becomes the most important button on the instrument panel. You want to quickly push that button to alert motorists behind you that you are slowing down or stopping because of trouble ahead.

Too many car companies seem to go out of their way to conceal the caution signal button. Their stylists render the button practically invisible and less useful by shrinking its size and blending it within overall instrument panel.

Kia has taken the opposite approach in its Forte line. The caution signal button is the largest single control; and it sits at the top of the instrument panel. It is hard to miss and easy to reach and use. Thus Kia gives the caution signal button the supreme importance it has always deserved.

Hear! Hear! I even like his tact of calling it a "caution" button instead. One problem with this is that many American-made cars have the hazards (that is, the turn signals) in red, just like the brake lights, making it harder to notice. Frankly, I've never understood why American cars continue with that convention. 

(BTW, here's his take on the Nissan Cube, which is part of the boxy car trend that includes a few Korean models as well, including the Kia Soul.)

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CIA: Central Intelligence Actuaries

According to the Korea Times, the CIA (which actually stands for Central Intelligence Agency, but you knew that), has informed the Korean version of the CIA (which used to be the KCIA, how original) that there is a 71% chance that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will die within five years.

CIA recently conducted a "thorough" analysis on the health status of Kim Jong-il and concluded that the chance for Kim, who has been battling the complications of stroke and diabetes, to die in five years is 71 percent, Chosun Ilbo reported Saturday, citing an unnamed government source. 

CIA analysis is based on Kim's age, medical history, physical state, the timing of his stroke and the following health deteriorations. The agency then compared them with medial data base in which it found cases of patients whose physical conditions were similar to those of Kim's, before proceeding comparison.

For the analysis, CIA also relied on a number of data on Kim, including the recent photos of conducting site inspections, his brain scan image handed by South Korean intelligence agency, as well as testimonies of "ranking informants," according to the newspaper.

Given that analysis of his photos is being used by a foreign government to plot a post-demise future, is it any wonder that we've seen so many photoshopped renditions of the Dear Leader? 

[above: Dancing With the Star of Heaven. Kim Jong-il wins every time.]

Making the Dear Leader look vibrant despite damage from a stroke is not just a matter of pride; it may be a matter of national security. According to the Washington Times, some are giving him only a year to live:

New reports from U.S. and diplomatic sources say that the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il continues to decline and that he may have only one more year to live.

A U.S. official who is familiar with the Korea situation but spoke on condition that he not be named said there are signs that Mr. Kim is still not well nearly a year after he suffered a stroke.

"Kim Jong-il certainly hasn't been in good shape since his stroke last year, and, as time wears on, it's increasingly clear that he's not where he was before experiencing his health setback," the official said.

Me? I'm disinclined to believe the "one year" report (also mentioned in this Korea Herald report), though it is plausible, and anyone who follows developments in Korea should be skeptical of the "home by Christmas" line. 

As I've noted elsewhere, people are misconstruing the weak appearance of a stroke. A stroke is not like cancer, but more like being shot: If you survive that bullet wound, you may have long-lasting or permanent injury, but that blood clot can't do you more harm. But, of course, the next blood clot, like the next bullet, could do you in. 

It is his diabetes that may portend his end.

So what does all this mean? Well, things could get interestingly dicey at any time over the next five years. And, don't sell the Dear Leader a life insurance policy unless it comes with high premiums. 

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Hyundai advancing cash to get early jump on "Cash for Clunkers" program

Hyundai America is trying to make sure its dealers have plenty of the green stuff on hand as potential new buyers walk in to their showrooms to take advantage of the recently passed "Cash for Clunkers" program (also known as CARS) which gives a $3500 to $4500 voucher to new-car buyers who are trading in for a vehicle that gets better gas mileage than their existing car. 

An innovative marketing decision means Hyundai has started making sales based on the vouchers, even though the program doesn't officially begin until July 26:

Hyundai decided to offer its own CARS program during the interim period after a May study revealed 11 percent of buyers were holding back on a new vehicle purchase until a scrappage plan was put into place. “We appreciate what Washington has done getting the program completed, but it’s clear that the wait has left many potential car-buyers on the sidelines,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. “We thought it was imperative to get funding to our dealers so that they could implement the program right away and satisfy the demand they’ve been hearing from consumers.”

Reports are that clunker exchanges are accounting for seven percent of their new car sales. 

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LAT on resveratrol "hype"

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article on how resveratrol has been turned into a marketing frenzy that may be distorting the science and getting ahead of the game. 

Though I am one of those who takes a daily dose of the stuff, it was never marketing hype that attracted me. I'd been following this type of news for some time and looked into it: In other words, I found the product, the product didn't find me. 

Still, that distinction will matter very little if it turns out that a daily high dose causes you to grow a tail after twenty-five years. 

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Tamiflu-resistant "swine flu"?

I haven't been updating my UN reports on confirmed H1N1 infection because the numbers for Korea seem stuck at 202, which is not correct. On July 5, Yonhap reported 286, including two workers in the quarantine office at Incheon International Airport. The Korea Herald reports 367 as of July 10, with schools being closed (as happened in Japan) when a case is identified.

On the news front, it appears that Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 has developed, but authorities are not worried about that just yet:

In the last two weeks, health officials have identified three patients -- one each in Denmark, Japan and Hong Kong -- with a virus resistant to Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir.

The cases in Denmark and Japan occurred in patients who had been taking the drug prophylactically; the Hong Kong case involved a girl who had traveled from San Francisco and never been given oseltamivir, suggesting that she contracted a resistant virus.

Viruses from all three patients displayed the same mutation producing the resistance, and officials believe it is a spontaneous mutation, not a recombination with seasonal viruses, many of which are resistant to the drug.

All three viruses were susceptible to the antiviral drug Relenza, known generically as zanamivir.

The WHO is not particularly concerned about the mutations, Fukuda said, because there is no evidence that the resistant virus is spreading.

The same article says that the WHO is telling authorities in high-outbreak countries like the US or the UK to just assume H1N1-like symptoms are in fact H1N1 instead of burdening the already overburdened lab system that is checking each of these. 

And finally, Honolulu media is reporting on a group of students who had a great visit to Korea despite some of them being quarantined after some of them tested positive for H1N1.  

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"losing" versus "loosing"

I'm going to start coming off as a grammar nazi, but I don't care. One of those most common errors, it seems, is when people mix up losing and loosing. Typically, they mean losing but they write loosing for some reason:

That small Georgia town could turn into the type of ghost town that Detroit is now if Kia starts loosing money.

It's a bit odd, this inaccurate word choice. Lose and loose are pronounced differently and they share no meanings in common. 

To lose something means to be deprived of it, to be unable to find it, to not win it, to earn too little of it, etc. You lose money, lose a game, lose a girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse when you break up or divorce, you lose a loved one when they die, you lose your mind, or you lose an argument. 

To loose, on the other hand, means to set something free, to release it, relax it, etc. It is far less common than lose and in situations where it is used, it is often interchangeable with the much more frequently used loosen. You loose ropes, you loose your grip, you loose the dogs, or even you loose your bowels. 

And my apologies to 3gyupsal (whose comment is above), lest it seems I'm picking on him. The only reason I chose to address this pet peeve at this particular time is that his sentence, in relation to an article at Brian's about Kia operating in Georgia and giving Detroit a run for its (shrinking supply of) money, offered a great opportunity to distinguish the two:

Detroit has been losing money, which has prompted Washington to loose money.

That should make it crystal clear. 

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Illegal immigrants a net loss or gain?

That's something the Los Angeles Times explores in this article. 

It's a hotly debated issue, especially nowadays with the budget crises facing so many states, with cries that illegals are ruining hospital, police, and educational services. Others point out that illegals pay billions of dollars in sales tax and gasoline taxes that should be going to cover those things. And from the article, I did not realize that illegals are paying a net $12 billion per year to Social Security, largely through numbers co-opted for identity theft, apparently.

A fuzzier number to work into the picture, though, is how the existence of a cheap supply of labor helps to lubricate the economy (assuming it is a net benefit). Were all services to be paid by at least minimum wage, would they get done? How would this affect the economy? Of course, I'm not an economist, so I won't presume that my line of thinking is necessarily accurate, but it is something the numbers don't always work in. 

Then there is the issue of crime. While there certainly are illegals engaged in crime — much of it serious and violent — there are studies that show that illegals in California, like "other immigrants," have a significantly lower crime rate than California-born residents. 

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Cinemash does Oldboy

This whole Cinemash thing looks like it might be fun. I'm especially looking forward to Milo Ventimiglia (of NBC's "Heroes") in his rendition of Oldboy:

"Part of me was excited because I really did love 'Oldboy' -- it's an incredibly artistic, beautiful, terrifying revenge movie that will break your heart and uplift you -- but another part of me was interested in the challenge of what that fight actually entailed. Go on YouTube and type 'Oldboy epic fight' and that's what we basically shot. It's pretty incredible."

Ventimiglia estimates there were 78 moves to learn in about 45 minutes of rehearsal, all to be executed in one continuous take (shot three times) -- with the twist of venting populist anger on bankers profiting from the federal bailouts.

Cool. The Los Angeles Times in the upper link also mentions Charlyne Yi, a quarter-Korean comic who was in Knocked Up. She'll be part of a mock rendition of Dirty Dancing. 

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thoughts on charisma man video?

I see the creators picked up on the "(some) English teachers can't spell" meme I apparently created out of whole cloth.

Okay. It's meant to be humorous, but I think it's a fair question to ask: How does this depiction stack up to reality? Is it fair? Is it grossly inaccurate? Does it make things worse for English teachers? Does this meme attract individuals whom we'd rather not come to Korea? And how would this relate to women who come to Asia to teach? Is there a "charisma woman"? 

(HT to cmm, whom I'm never met, but if I did meet, I hope he says in a baritone voice reminiscent of James Earl Jones, "This... is cmm.") 

UPDATE:

Reading the comments section of this post is three and a half hours of my life I'll never get back. 

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To be fisked later

This was a couple weeks ago, but Human Rights Watch has taken Benjamin Wagner's human rights complaint — flaws and all — about HIV testing and sent it virtually unchallenged to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. 

I'll fisk it later. In addition to retelling what is likely inaccurate information about HIV testing among ROK nationals, it relies on a naïvely self-serving notion that prevention programs will be effective even while trying to take the most effective tool away: knowing who all is HIV-positive and training them and their partner in always having safe sex.

This is most un-PC of me, but keeping HIV as a privacy issue a this stage instead of a public health issue has killed people and will kill many more. 

If stigma exists for HIV-positive people, an HIV-positive person will experience it eventually. If the stigma is in getting an HIV test, then that shame could be dissipated if all are required to get the tests (and as I've stated, I believe most ROK nationals do, but I have to verify that). But instead, the ones claiming privacy would rather have a situation where we do not know a person is HIV-positive until they get around to voluntarily checking, meanwhile possibly infecting others. 

In other words, the rights of one group that is in need of care that will be provided by the state to not be embarrassed trumps the rights of a larger group not to get infected with a deadly but preventable disease. And that, to me, is messed up. 

Moreover (and this is no small matter, either), Korea's monitoring of the immunological status of HIV-positive people free of charge, and the Korean government "paying for 100% of the cost of highly active antiretroviral therapy medication" for people in Korea with HIV may be endangered by prohibitively mounting costs if Korea is forced to take in people who have contracted HIV in other countries. 

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