b.s. generalizations

A commenter in the Marmot's Hole whine cellar reminds me of this quote by B.R. Myers, who writes for the Wall Street Journal:

South Koreans may chuckle at the personality cult, but they generally agree with Pyongyang that Koreans are a pure-blooded race whose innate goodness has made them the perennial victims of rapacious foreigners. They share the same tendency to regard Koreans as innocent children on the world stage–and to ascribe evil to foreigners alone…

Oh, I know a lot of "foreigners" in Korea would love to believe this facile little stereotype, but alas, like so many things involving generalizations, it's only true where it isn't false.

I'm sure there are many Koreans who still subscribe to the "pure-blooded Koreans" myth, but a growing number — dare I say a vast majority — either don't think it is pure anymore and/or they don't care. This is a case of using the loudest voices of a generation ago to explain general beliefs today. 

As for Koreans being "perennial victims," well I'm not sure if most Koreans would put it that way. Certainly Korea has suffered at the hands of other countries over the past century, most notably the Japanese and, arguably, the Americans and Russians who divided the country and then the Chinese who aided the North; and a lot of Koreans are scratching their heads that after trying to do all the right things since the 1997-98 economic crisis, the economy is still tanking because of events beyond their control thousands of miles away. But I'm not so sure if that makes Koreans perennial victims to a majority of people.

And ascribing evil to foreigners alone? Certainly the idea that Koreans are good and pure is a laughable idea if you sit down and talk with almost any Korean about politics and economics. Koreans are the worse thing about Korea, many will tell you. Indeed, even if a lot of Koreans wouldn't describe it that way, it's easy to see that the worst critics of Korea are Koreans themselves. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again here: One of the biggest problems with blogs like Marmot's Hole and similar sites is that they give a highly selective — and therefore distorted — picture of what Koreans think about in general and how often. Tokto/Takeshima, for example, makes up a far greater portion of Marmot's Hole posts than it does stories in Korean news media. Marmot's attention to stories regarding foreign nationals (like the Canadian who is being investigated for allegedly molesting three first-grade girls) gives a skewed impression of gross persecution of foreign nationals. 

I'm not saying that it's streets paved with gold for international residents, but the impression from Marmot's and the reality are quite different, methinks. That is, unless you've fallen so deep into cognitive distortion that your negativity begins to shape your actual experience. 

strange fruit

Can you guess what this is? This is found in Seal Beach, California, a small community in westernmost Orange County, adjacent to Long Beach and Huntington Beach, with the sprawling Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach located within it. 

The Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge is actually within the NWS. (In June 2008, the Los Angeles Times ran an interesting article on a visit to this "reclusive" spot.)

Anyway, back to the photo. You can click on this link to see where it is, but I'm not sure that will tell you what it is. It's something I'd really like to know, so I'm open to answers, even those of a speculative nature. 

I hope I get more decisive answers than with this question (I still don't know what that is).

Hawaii doesn't have snow days but we do have high wind days

ADDENDUM TO POST:

A few people have come here by googling Hawaii and snow, but for some reason Google doesn't send them to this post. Anyway, yes, it really does snow in Hawaii, with some regularity, way up at the higher elevations of the Big Island (Hawaii) and Maui. And, yes, people really do snowboard up there. I've heard that the truly gutsy actually ski the snow covered rocks.

ORIGINAL POST:

The University of Hawaii has sent out messages to all students saying that classes have been canceled tomorrow as high winds and big waves are set to hit the islands on Friday, except the Big Island. They've started evacuating parts of the Leeward side of Oahu. I'm not too terribly concerned, though, since I'm pretty sure that this is not the leeward side.

Anyway, this is the warning from the university:

Based on high wind conditions in Kauai, Oahu and Maui Counties, all UH campuses on all islands other than the Big Island of hawaii will be closed Friday, January 16.  Only essential personnel should report to work on these campuses.

Please watch the Media and UH Web sites for additional emergency information.  Stay safe!

That's so nice and friendly of them. A different alert said winds would be up to 60 mph (100 kph). Just now it occurred to me that we might be in a bit of trouble up in the lanai-style, open-air kitchens, where there are no windows separating us from the elements.

The waves can be very vicious on the North Shore of the island, and even locals like to head out there on some weekends to watch the crushing waves. A friend of mine here, a student from Japan, had no idea of the danger and didn't notice the few warnings that were out there and ended up getting thrown to the sea bottom when she first arrived here two years ago. She busted her eardrum, something she couldn't get surgically fixed here in Hawaii because she lacked insurance when it happened. She will wait until she's back in Japan where the entire operation will cost about one-tenth what it would in the United States. 

Anyway, all I'm missing is a one-hour seminar, but I'm kinda disappointed. I'll have to see how bad the winds really are here. Will it be too strong to even jog, much less drive over to Costco or do the other errands I'd hoped to? I'm sure my regular viewers will be dying to find out.

[above: idiots.]

US Chamber of Commerce head says American credibility could be hurt by rejecting FTAs with South Korea and Colombia

In a follow-up to this story, the president of AmCham (short name of the United States Chamber of Commerce), Thomas Donohue, says that American credibility would be damaged if Congress rejects the free-trade deals that the Bush administration has negotiated with countries such as South Korea and Colombia. 

From the article:

"I think if we started putting up free trade agreements and voting them down we would lose a lot of our credibility in trying to open markets around the world," Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told reporters after a speech.

Donohue said he is convinced the landmark agreement with South Korea will pass —no such accord ever put up for a vote in Congress has failed — though may take time and will require some tweaking of issues in the sensitive auto sector.

I must say I like his optimism.

"This agreement is going to get done," Donohue said, referring to ratification, which is required by lawmakers in both countries for the pact to take effect.

Korea news links for Thursday, January 15, 2009

1. Former South Korean president Kim Daejung urges Obama to make North Korea a priority. Kushibo's take: As Kim suggests, direct dialogue with North Korea might be a good way to reduce tension between Washington and Pyongyang. This was the basis of Kim's so-called "Sunshine Policy" (which his predecessor completely botched). On the other hand, it also provides Kim Jong-il's regime a chance to squeeze more concessions out of Washington.
2. Kim Jong-il has picked his third (and youngest) son to be his heir. Kushibo's take: Let's see how long this lasts. North Korea should learn something from the drop in quality from Bush-41 to Bush-43. 
3. YTN reports that a Canadian teacher of English has been accused of molesting three first-grade girls in Seoul's Sŏng-dong neighborhood (Korea Times link). Kushibo's take: With its relatively lax rules and lingering lack of awareness of the signs of sexual molestation among the general public, South Korea is an easy place for English-speaking pedophiles to hide in plain sight; it wouldn't be the first time this has happened. However, like with any other issue, just because a "foreigner" is arrested for something doesn't mean he/she's automatically guilty; it wouldn't be the first time a foreign national has been railroaded by the police and the judicial system.
4. Moody's considers downgrading the ratings of several South Korean banks as they struggle to get dollars to pay off their debts. Kushibo's take: I'd give them dollars if I had any. 
5. Property values in Kangnam rise on optimism generated by deregulation and cheaper lending. Kushibo's take: Everyone keeps talking about a real estate bubble, but things just keep going up and up. No kidding, Kangnam seems to defy gravity and economic law. It's a lot like Honolulu, which is also holding on to its value despite the collapse of values elsewhere. 
6. Handbags are the most commonly lost item on the Seoul subway system. Kushibo's take: It's a really, really, really slow news day. 

Canadian geese attack US airliner

A US Airways passenger jet thankfully avoided any death toll when it petered into the chilly Hudson River just three minutes after takeoff. Passengers could be seen standing on the wings of the plane as boats came to the rescue. 

As it turns out, the plane was taken down by a flock of Canadian geese. There are two unmistakable conclusions that could be drawn from this. The first is that we should all go back paying attention to the flight attendants when they talk about what to do when a plane lands on water.

The second is that it's become very clear that we need to invade Canada. The list of grievances is long. Our "neighbors" to the north have tried to undermine our economy with their cheap pharmaceuticals, forcing seniors into lawless behavior as they fill up the Chrysler with cheap versions of Lipitor and Plavix that they'll sneak back across the border. They've failed to support our search for al Qaeda in Iraq. They've tried to suck us into a socialist trap by offering up their health-care scam scheme ad nauseum as a model for us self-reliant Americans to follow. 

No, thanks! With this outright attack by Canadians on an American airliner, it's clear we have no choice but to invade the Great White North and put an end to the corrupt and criminal regime in Ottawa. 

I know that may sound harsh, and I won't bore you with the IR explanations of how this is not dangerous unilateralism or some ill-advised attempt at domination of the Western Hemisphere. I'll leave that to the academics, just as I leave the smoking guns to the CIA and the FBI. I have faith they'll find them. That this is the path we must take will be made clear in the last days of the current administration. 

After that, it's on to Mexico!

Democrats say they will go through with Bush's free-trade agreements

Democrats are saying that they will push for passage of FTAs (free-trade agreements) negotiated by the Bush Administration, but that they want some assurances or changes. 

Regarding the Colombia-US FTA, it's a matter of ensuring protection of labor leaders. As for the Korea-US FTA, of which I am a supporter, the big sticking point is cars. That's no surprise if you've listened to Obama's campaign speeches, where he counts American-made Hyundai and Kia vehicles as "Korean" cars, but also counts Korea-made GM vehicles as "Korean."

From the article:

In the case of South Korea, the main roadblock was the Bush administration's unwillingness to change auto provisions that many Democrats believe favor South Korea's automakers, Rangel said.

"If they fought as hard for cars, as they did for beef, we wouldn't have that problem," Rangel said, referring to the strong pressure the Bush administration has put on South Korea to open its market to U.S. beef.

Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton has answered Senate Foreign Relations Committee questions by stating that she sees a need to "renegotiate provisions of the pacts covering trade in autos and other manufactured goods." I can't help but wonder how much the expat peanut gallery would howl if it were the Korean side trying to renegotiate. 

Again, from the article:

"Because the FTA (free trade agreement) gives South Korean auto exports essentially untrammeled access to the U.S. market, ratification of the agreement in its present form would mean the United States would lose its remaining leverage to counteract" South Korea's non-tariff barriers that keep out U.S. automobiles, Clinton said.

I wonder which non-tariff barriers she means? Detroit's lobbyists seem to keep harping on things such as audits of people who buy foreign cars, something that the government threatened fifteen years ago but hasn't been an issue since the Clinton administration. Is that what they're referring to?

Obama and the Democratic congress should realize that Japanese and German automakers are doing much better. It is the Americans who are languishing, and that's because they are producing oversized cars that don't fit very well with a population that drives on narrow roads where gasoline is some $7/gallon. 

Maybe, just maybe, the problem lies with Detroit, not Seoul. Or is the public's unwillingness to buy Hummers an example of a non-tariff trade barrier. 

Korea news links for Wednesday, January 14, 2009

1. Bush aide warns incoming administration that North Korea will try to test President Obama. Kushibo's take: Pyongyang would surprise only if it didn't try to mess with a new administration in Washington.
2. South Korea's jobless rate jumps from 3.1 percent to 3.3 percent in December. Kushibo's take: It's still hella lower than in the United States, but there are a lot of people out there in the South Korean economy who would like a full-time regular 9-to-6 job but haven't been able to find one for years.
3. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton says she and the Obama administration will support the six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear program. Kushibo's take: Well, duh. At least Obama is providing some continuity, unlike the Bush administration in 2001 which stopped doing what Clinton was doing, took several months to decide what their North Korea policy would be, then after letting years of (meager) progress erode, went back to doing exactly what Clinton had been doing.
4. Eight people in Pusan are dead as a fire breaks out in a Korean karaoke (called a noraebang in Korean). Kushibo's take: Too many small businesses in Korean are too small. Too small to have proper fire exits. If you feel compelled to get drunk and belt out a few BoA tunes or oldies from the Eagles, get a room close to the front door. It's survival of the quickest.
5. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il urges the Obama administration to normalize ties with Pyongyang. Kushibo's take: North Korea may sound schizophrenic and/or bipolar, but you must understand there is news that's for popular domestic consumption, political domestic consumption, South Korean consumption, global consumption, Japanese consumption, and American consumption. Pyongyang wants normalized relations for two reasons: it makes any military attack by Washington less likely (though news for domestic consumption won't reflect that) and it opens up the doors to aid and trade. Aid and trade is what will save Pyongyang from imminent meltdown if they ever hope to get out from under Beijing's thumb. 
6. Baseballer Chanho Park quits South Korean team to focus on effort to join the Philadelphia Phillies. Kushibo's take: Is "baseballer" a real word?

NYT on conflicts of interest at the FDA

At some point I am going to have to split up my blog into several other blogs, maybe one on Korea, one on Hawaii and US issues, maybe an entire one on US politics, one on my lame photos, and especially one on medical sociology and public health. 

Until then, I'll just do short blurbs on things like this: two stories adding up to concern over how well the FDA is doing its job and protecting the public. 

The first is about a report from none other than the inspector general of  the Department of Health & Human Services warning that the FDA has been rather lax on the issue of oversight during its trials. From the article:

The Food and Drug Administration does almost nothing to police the financial conflicts of doctors who conduct clinical trials of drugs and medical devices in human subjects, government investigators are reporting.

Moreover, the investigators say, agency officials told them that trying to protect patients from such conflicts was not worth the effort.

In 42 percent of clinical trials, the agency did not receive forms disclosing doctors’ financial conflicts and did nothing about the problem...

Lovely, just lovely. The second story describes a rush to approve devices despite a lack of scientific consensus about their efficacy and appropriateness. From the article:

An official at the Food and Drug Administration overruled front-line agency scientists and approved the sale of an imaging device for breast cancer after receiving a phone call from a Connecticut congressman, according to internal agency documents.

The legislator’s call and its effect on what is supposed to be a science-based approval process is only one of many of accusations in a trove of documents regarding disputes within the agency’s office of device evaluation.

Nine agency scientists complained in May to Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the F.D.A. commissioner, and the agency began an internal review. Dissatisfied with the pace and results of that review, the scientists wrote a letter to Congress in October pleading for an investigation, and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced in November that it would begin one.

The FDA is supposed to be protecting the public, but a popular complaint among itchy-finger deregulationists is that the FDA takes too danged long to approve things they seem to know (before the FDA has done its work) should be approved. (I joked about that here.)

What those folks don't seem to understand (or just don't care about) is that the FDA is tasked with watching out for the health interests of the people, not the financial interests of the constituents of powerful people. Political influence should not play a role in whether or not something gets approved. (I still wonder sometimes if Donald Rumsfeld's connections with government led to an allegedly inappropriate approval of aspartame—that's NutraSweet for those of you in Rio Linda.)

I don't know if the FDA has become lax and overly business-friendly as a direct result of policies set up by the Bush administration or if this problem was a longer time in coming. The second story may indicate the former, but the first story is about HHS's own investigation; in other words, a Bush administration department checking up on another Bush administration agency. 

Finally, this story is not directly Korea-related, but I can't help imagining that if these same news items had been about the Republic of Korea instead of the United States, there would be oh-so-many in the Marmot's Hole whine cellar moaning how this was yet another sign of how backward and messed up Korea compared with, say, the rest of the first world. 

Spidey sense

While on the Mainland, I had a chance to see in person Peter the Prognosticator, a stroller-bound two-year-old who has the eerie ability to predict the future, many of them quite ominous.  

This toddler is credited with predicting the stock market crash and the credit crunch, gasoline reaching $4/gallon, Barack Obama's exact margin of victory, Illinois governor's senate-selling scandal and later impeachment, the Hyundai Grandeur winning "Car of the Year," Minnesota senator Norm Coleman losing his seat to former SNL writer and performer Al Franken "by about two hundwed votes," and the winner of the last two Superbowls. 

He was wrong, however, about how many Golden Globes Tina Fey would win for her role as Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. Apparently he got the show confused with Studio 60.

His famed ability attracts hundreds of cash-paying visitors each week from all over the globe, particularly East Asia. The woman in the photo came from Taiwan, seeking to learn the answers to the March 2009 administration of the TOEFL. Just as this photo was snapped by a writer from a local paper, the wee soothsayer was predicting that in forty-five seconds, a seagull would be run over by a Mazda at the other end of the parking lot. 

He was right. Cue spooky music. 

Oh, and I'm back. Happy New Year!

I just returned from an extended period of time on the Mainland, which included a heavy focus on academic and professional matters. No time for jogging, too little time to see friends and family, and way too much stress. I need a vacation from my vacation. 

WaPo on a Fairfax, Virginia Korean crime ring

The Washington Post has a story on how police in the capital-area community of Annandale broke up a crime ring run by Koreans. The group was heavily involved with counterfeit cigarette sales, among other things, and some of the people nabbed in the ATF-Fairfax operation were arrested for trying to hire someone to kill the head of the crime ring himself. The whole thing makes for an interesting read. 

The Fairfax police perpetuate that meme I mentioned in my CSI: Koreatown piece, about Koreans not trusting the police:

"We could not crack it because the Korean community was afraid of these individuals," Piper said of the crime ring. "And their culture back home is they don't trust police. We got lucky with one individual wanting to turn over some information."

Like I said, thanks for putting the targets on Korean immigrants' backs. I'm not even so sure it's really true. In South Korea, it's not so much that people distrust the police as think of them as ineffective. For a crime that's over with, what good does reporting it do?

Of course, I'm playing devil's advocate here, since I am a strong believer in informing the police of crimes so their crackerjack detectives can detect a pattern and put the puzzle pieces together. That is, assuming there are crackerjack detectives in your jurisdiction. Nowadays it seems you're just as likely to get a crackpot, or a racist cracker. 

Anyway, in Korea I think a lot of people just assume that telling the police of this break-in or that problem isn't going to result in any positive outcome, so why bother? Especially when someone's life is in danger by going to the police, as may have been the case in Annandale. But that's a very different thing from distrust. 

South Korean president and Japanese prime minister agree to disagree?

Actually, that title sounds a bit negative and off the mark. South Korea's Lee Myungbak and Japan's Aso Taro have agreed to cooperate on issues such as the reconstruction of Afghanistan and the denuclearization of North Korea, and to not let historical disagreements and "territorial rows" get in the way of that cooperation. 

Ah, where have we heard that before? Hopefully Lee and Aso can get their act together and behave like adults, unlike their respective predecessors, Roh Moohyun and Koizumi Junichiro. The Obuchi-Kim accords would be a good place to start.

In the face of a rising China that does not share their democratic interests, Japan and South Korea need each other, and they both need to cooperate a bit more with the United States to show that they are not just defense freeloaders, lest some piqued American politician(s) rashly decide to pick up all their marbles and go home in a huff, effectively putting an end to the Pax Americana that has probably saved so many lives and so much treasure (including those of America). Toward that end, helping out with the reconstruction of Afghanistan or even stepping up patrols where pirates threaten shipping might be a good idea (well, it is if South Korea does it). 

Anyway, the Japanese-born and conservative Lee may be the best person to repair relations with Tokyo, and it looks like this is an ongoing focus of his administration. Let's see how it pans out. 

Aso, Lee to cooperate, avoid rows
SEOUL (Kyodo) Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak agreed Monday to work closely to address the global financial turmoil, curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions and cooperate on the reconstruction of Afghanistan, leaving aside their historical and territorial rows.

To set the foundation for their shuttle diplomacy, the two leaders also agreed Lee would visit Japan this year "when the timing is right," Aso told a joint press conference after their summit held at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.


"The leaders of Japan and South Korea have never met so frequently and deepened cooperation on such a wide range of areas," Aso said.

On North Korea's nuclear threat, Aso and Lee confirmed their basic goal of Pyongyang dismantling the program and they will seek support from U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who takes office Jan. 20, in ending the standoff.

"We agreed to make mutual efforts with patience toward the denuclearization of North Korea," Lee told the press conference.

In what they touted as a "new era" in bilateral relations, Aso and Lee agreed to jointly contribute to the international community, specifically to help reconstruct war-torn Afghanistan.

On the economic front, Aso and Lee agreed on the need to counter the global financial crunch that has dealt a blow to their economies, reaffirming their agreement made at a trilateral summit in Fukuoka Prefecture along with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in mid-December.

The two leaders also agreed to hold a forum bringing together heads of small and midsize businesses from the two countries.

Lee also said a Japanese delegation of investors and buyers will visit South Korea in April as part of efforts to further strengthen business ties, but did not elaborate on specific purposes or schedules.

The summit, which falls under the shuttle diplomacy framework and follows Lee's visit to Tokyo last April, marks the first visit by a Japanese leader to South Korea since the two countries agreed last February to resume reciprocal visits.