AES will bring crackdown to Vancouver

After suggestive pictures were posted online of half pipe snowboarding Olympic bronze medalist Scotty Lago being faux-llated™ by a young woman who may possibly be of Korean descent, Anti-English Spectrum founder and bad foreigner eradication crusader Yie Eun-woong announced he would take his fight on the road to Vancouver, Canada, site of the Winter Olympics that were stolen from Pyongchang. 

"We must do whatever we can to rid British Columbia of illegal, low-quality English teachers," said Mr Yie in a cell phone interview he conducted from his koshiwon. I will go to Canada and follow these prospective teachers to determine if they are in the country illegally and what brand of condoms they are throwing away."

Mr Lago's agent said the manhunt was ridiculous. "Mr Yie has no jurisdiction here and no business conducting a manhunt against Scott, because there's no way he would ever end up being an English teacher for anybody in Korea," he said. "Unless the Pepsi endorsement deal falls through."

For his part, Lago went home to New Hampshire as soon as the photos were revealed on TMZ.com. "I don't think Mr Yie can find me here," he said by phone. "Seabrook is very hard for Koreans to pronounce."

The identity of the bronze biter has not been established — early reports said it was Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, or possibly Connie Chung — but one reporter spotted the incognympho™ in the hallway in front of Mr Lago's hotel room about an hour later. With a disappointed look on her face, all she had to say was, "half a pipe is right."

... 

South Korea announces "Cash for Carpers"

That's right, you can now exchange gripes for gifts. If you've got something to kvetch about in your life as a foreign resident of the Republic of Korea, shoot of an email to the Prime Minister's office and see if they'll do something about it. They're actually asking for your complaints:

The Prime Minister's Office receives suggestions on how to improve regulations that are discriminatory or troublesome for foreign residents or overseas Koreans.

Rules that cause inconvenience in immigration, personal identification, status change, economic activities or daily lives of non-Koreans, foreign spouses of Koreans or overseas Koreans could be examples. Ideas on regulations or systems deemed as discriminatory against foreign nationals are also welcome.

Please e-mail your proposals to sangsan@pmo.go.kr or fax them to (02) 2100-2323 by the end of March. Outstanding ideas will be rewarded with gift certificates.

The Prime Minister's Office will also collect suggestions from foreign chambers of commerce in Korea as well as metropolitan and provincial governments, and formulate deregulation or revision plans in May after coordination with related government branches.

I've already sent mine:

Dear Mr President Prime Minister,

There are too many provinces nowadays. Please eliminate three.

I am not a crackpot.

I want that Shinsegae Department Store thingee, so don't steal my idea. Papa needs a new pair of shoes. Literally. I haven't left Hawaii because all I've got is these slippahs.

Daily Kor for February 22, 2010: Lee gets the gold, Ohno gets the press coverage

More Olympics news, and not much else. The North Koreans are waiting until Kim Yuna wins gold before they start lobbing missiles at the fish.

1. Lee Jungsu wins second gold medal, this time in men's 1000-meter, with more big race to go (Reuters, NYT, AP via WaPo, UPI, BBC, Yonhap, Joongang Daily)
• Lee Hosuk wins silver in men's 1000-meter (Yonhap)
• South Korea coming in at #4 in medals ranking (Korea Times)
2. South Korea to permanently lease royal Korean texts looted by France in the 19th century (Yonhap, Joongang Daily, Korea Times)
3. Posco will spend 50 billion won over next three years to hire ten Nobel Prize and Fields Medal laureates (Joongang Daily)
4. Seoul talks with USFK over redeployment of American troops stationed in South Korea to conclude this year (Yonhap, Joongang Daily, Korea Times)
5. About 150 activists in Seoul rally against Afghan troop deployment (Yonhap)
6. Forty-five-year-old man receives ten-year sentence for repeatedly raping daughter (Korea Times)
7. Daewoo receives $345 million order to build five ships for Angola (Yonhap, Joongang Daily)
8. 260,000 people take advantage of state-sponsored debt rescheduling in 2009 (Yonhap)
9. South Korea to expand tax breaks for aerospace R&D (Yonhap)
10. South Korean business failures decline in January (Yonhap)
11. World Cup-bound North Korea national soccer team defeats India, 3-0, in AFC Challenge Cup (Times of India)

12. In Sports Illustrated interview, ROK Olympic Committee chair explains South Korea's keen interest in short track and speedskating: "We heard it was about race, so we knew our country would be very good at it" (SI.com)

Loose change for February 22, 2009

 Economic news 

• LG's eco-friendly phone sees sales of 1 million units in 100 days.
• An LG think tank says that Korea should learn from Japan's mistakes by having a freer economy that takes better care of its citizens.
• KEDI (Korea Educational Development Institute, whose materials I used many times while in grad school in Korea) says that French is the worst major for getting a job in Korea. I, however, would like to say that French and biology are the two best majors for doing well on the GRE.

 North Korea news and stuff 

• A Korea National Unification Institute survey says that 84% of South Koreans support a "grand bargain" with North Korea in which a security guarantee and international aid are offered to the DPRK in exchange for complete and verifiable denuclearization.
• The Wall Street Journal shares with us what we can learn from the North Korean census. Their population has grown despite severe famine, and the society is graying.
• Kim Jong-il watched a presentation given by the newly organized Song and Dance Ensemble of the Ministry of People's Security. No, I'm not making that up.
• After being canceled en masse last year due to fears of swine flu outbreak, overseas field trips will resume at many schools.
• During my morningly news trawl, a picture of Obama responding to North Korea's nuclear test with the headline "North Korea reports nuclear test" has been popping up in the Los Angeles Times for the past few days, making it look as if it just happened. It keeps freaking me out.

 Other Korea-related stuff 

• Japanese skater Mao Asada is hoping a triple axel, a very difficult 3-1/2-revolution jump, will help her dethrone South Korean favorite Kim Yuna in Olympic figure skating. Reuters also has a report on Kim Yuna's "silent" arrival to Vancouver. The New York Times also has a report on the Kim-Asada rivalry. The Joongang Daily is also covering Ms Kim's arrival.

Book on Hiroshima is a "Toyota"

People are taking to task the author of a new book on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima that made some controversial claims. The New York Times article itself is interesting enough, but what prompted me to mention it is the neologism of sorts one historian on Hiroshima used to describe the book:

“This book is a Toyota,” said Robert S. Norris, the author of “Racing for the Bomb” and an atomic historian. “The publisher should recall it, issue an apology and fix the parts that endanger the historical record.”

Poor Toyota. I still love you, but it doesn't bode well that this meme is taking root like this.

There's mills' in them there gold!

The Los Angeles Times has a list of they best paid Olympic athletes. Only one South Korean — Kim Yuna — made the list, but she's at the top... even though she is yet to compete in the Olympics, much less win a medal. She took in a reported $8 million last year.

Apolo Ohno isn't exactly slumming it, either. With endorsement deals and what-not, the guy took in a cool $1.5 million last year alone. This is on top of millions more dollars from past years, as well as his Dancing With the Smarm Stars turn.

 Athlete (country), earnings 
1. Shaun White (USA), $8 million
1. Kim Yu-Na (South Korea), $8 million
3. Lindsey Vonn (USA), $3 million
4. Ted Ligety (USA), $2 million
5. Apolo Anton Ohno (USA), $1.5 million
6. Bode Miller (USA), $1.3 million
7. Gretcher Bleiler (USA), $1 million
7. Lindsey Jacobellis (USA), $1 million
7. Hannah Teter (USA), $1 million
7. Maria Riesch (Germany), $ 1 million

Loose change for February 21, 2009, Part 2

 Economic news 

• The New York Times talks about the nickel-and-diming of airline passengers — or should I say they're getting Jacksoned? — and how that has created a war between them and the airlines.

 North Korea news and stuff 

• Groups helping defectors in North Korea are saying that cell phones are being used as a way of getting information into and out of North Korea — but only in a narrow strip of the DPRK within reach of China-based cell towers.

 Other Korea-related stuff 

• The Chosun Ilbo has a piece on James Lee, the Korean-Canadian who designed the wood-planked Olympic podium in Vancouver.
• Brian in Chŏllanam-do got some of his nice pictures printed in a newly published Moon guide for expats living in South Korea. I hope he doesn't mind me snagging the one below, of Sunchon Bay (순천만, sun•ch'ŏn•man).

 Miscellany 

• There's a special circle of Hell (or at least Purgatory) for lobbyists and politicos who use their money to affect legislation or government operation in a way that endangers lives. 
• A study done at UT Austin suggests that social networking site profiles are actually a fairly accurate picture of the person making them and not a reflection of some idealized self.
• The Los Angeles Times has a nice feature on Hideki Matsui, who has signed on to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the Anaheim Angels.
• Why not make your house look like a lifeguard tower? And here's another odd house.
• How will California restaurant goers react to nutrition guideline displays at chain eateries, especially when they find out that salad has a thousand calories?
• Living in Orange County, I never saw a cockroach, but apparently there are restaurants in Orange County that get closed down for cockroach infestation, rodent infestation, sewage problems, etc. Fortunately for the consumer, the Orange County Register is good enough to list the locations.
• I'd like to give a shout-out to iheartblueballs over his help for wrongly convicted people. The Innocent Man, anyone? Wrongly convicted people are a major reason I'm against the death penalty. But I still wish he'd change his avatar so I can read The Marmot's Hole in a public venue.
• I like Ed Helms, he of "The Office" and Hangover. Adeel may like this picture.

Seventh Heaven: Ohno snags bronze to become most decorated American winter Olympian of all time

Lee Jung-su grabbed another gold, this time in the men's 1000-meter short-track speedskating, while Lee Hosuk may have redeemed himself by getting the silver. CNN has the story here.

I haven't seen the race yet, so I wonder if bronze medalist Apolo Ohno skated around with the American flag, whooping and hollering about his third-place showing that earned him the title of most-decorated American winter Olympian (he's only seventh winter Olympian overall). Maybe Celski was conducting an interview he could interrupt.

Anyway, regardless of where he placed, Ohno's record is nothing to scoff at. He may be a smug sombitch, but he's an impressive skater, and his recognition was hard-earned.

Only in Hawaii

Where else would you find Spam-flavored macadamia nuts?

Judge going to bat to prevent an immigrant and juvenile offender from being deported

From the New York Times is an interesting story about Qing Hong Wu, an immigrant who came to the US from China at the age of five and who got caught up in a gang of muggers when he was fifteen. Heeding the advice of the judge who sent him to rehabilitation for three to nine years, he turned his life around. When he applied for US citizenship years later, the judicial system "discovered" his teenage arrest and now he is being deported. That is, unless the same judge can stop it:

The teenager, a gifted student, was pleading guilty to a string of muggings committed at 15 with an eclectic crew in Manhattan’s Chinatown. The judge, who remembered the pitfalls of Little Italy in the 1950s, urged him to use his sentence — three to nine years in a reformatory — as a chance to turn his life around.

“If you do that, I am here to stand behind you,” the judge, Michael A. Corriero, promised. The youth, Qing Hong Wu, vowed to change.

Mr. Wu kept his word. He was a model inmate, earning release after three years. He became the main support of his immigrant mother, studying and working his way up from data entry clerk to vice president for Internet technology at a national company.

But almost 15 years after his crimes, by applying for citizenship, Mr. Wu, 29, came to the attention of immigration authorities in a parallel law enforcement system that makes no allowances for rehabilitation. He was abruptly locked up in November as a “criminal alien,” subject to mandatory deportation to China — the nation he left at 5, when his family immigrated legally to the United States.

Now Judge Corriero, 67, retired from the bench, is trying to keep his side of the bargain.

“Mr. Wu earned his second chance,” the judge wrote in a letter supporting a petition to Gov. David A. Paterson for a pardon that would erase Mr. Wu’s criminal record and stop the deportation proceedings. “He should have the opportunity to remain in this country.”

In today's mix of law-and-order and anti-immigrant sentiment (at least as far as perceptions of crime are concerned), his chances may not be that great. I'm not so sure a one-strike policy against legal immigrants is such a hot idea; at the very least there should be allowances made for such turnarounds.

This just in: President Obama was still born in Hawaii

Er... not stillborn. He was still born in Hawaii, as in, "that information still hasn't change."

The Honolulu Advertiser reports that the state government is still getting about one or two requests a day for President Barack Hussein Obama's birth certificate:

More than a year after his historic election, requests for President Obama's birth certificate continue to pour into the state's understaffed Health Department from people on the Mainland who refuse to believe he was born in Honolulu in 1961.

In an attempt to stem the flow of requests, the agency recently set up a special page on its Web site devoted to the issue of Obama's birth certificate and who is eligible to get the records.

But the requests for the president's birth certificate keeping coming at a rate of 40 to 50 a month, according to Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo, who has been handling the requests since Obama became a serious presidential candidate in 2008.

"They're spurred on by these 'birther' blogs who direct them to bombard the Health Department even though they have no legitimate right to the information," Okubo said.

"They've been misled to believe that the state of Hawai'i gives out birth information to anyone who requests it, but really our law protects birth information. We're entrusted with protecting people's vital records. To open them up would mean opening them up to identity theft and other types of concerns."

State law allows birth certificates to be issued to family members, legal guardians, representatives of a person's estate, or by court order or other legal purposes.

Okubo said those who have been requesting Obama's birth certificate don't meet the legal standards.

As I wrote before, please leave Dr Okubo alone!

Hawaii is suffering from some really terrible budget shortfalls. So bad, in fact, that schools are closing on Friday and a lot of services are being cut, as well as pay being frozen. The "birthers" are putting unnecessary pressure on an already strained Health Department:

The Health Department's vital records division deals with about 1,000 new birth, death and marriage records every week, even as staffers are required to take two mandatory unpaid furlough days off each month. Four people in the office also recently lost their jobs because of budget cuts.

So the task of responding to requests for Obama's birth certificate has fallen to Okubo, who until January had been spending 10-hour days primarily dealing with the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic.

"I'm getting 40 to 50 requests every month for President Obama's birth certificate, all of them from the Mainland — Arizona, South Carolina, Florida," Okubo said. "None are from Hawai'i."

Frickin' idiots.

Loose change for February 21, 2009

 Economic news 

• The Vietnamese government will no longer limit the number of people allowed to take Korean-language tests needed for those seeking work in South Korea.
• The New York Times talks about how South Korea is part of a shift in global exporting nations.

 North Korea news and stuff 

• The US is not prepared for life after Kim Jong-il. Neither is Kim Jong-il.

 Other Korea-related stuff 

• Korea may be closer to cloning human embryonic stem cells. Really this time!
• Did South Korea miss a chance to buoy Pyongchang's 2018 Winter Olympics bid by its medal-winning athletes not having "KOREA" emblazoned across their chests? Frankly, I think the letters might have created wind resistance, just enough to turn gold into silver.
• The Korea Times produces its 948th article talking about how South Korean education needs more creativity and less rote memorization. 
• Has the iconic ajumma been the engine for Korean social progress since the end of the Korean War? (I'm not so sure about engine, but many ajumma have been road kill over the past six decades) 
• South Korea has dropped from #2 in the medal standings at the beginning of the week to #6 as of this morning. If this trend continues, it will be the worst-placed country sometime around late 2011. 

 Miscellany 

• Apolo Ohno is trying to get a seventh medal to break the record for the most medal-winning winter Olympian in US history.
• Former US Secretary of State, former General Alexander Haig, the one who tried to take "control" of the US government when then-President Reagan was shot, has died at the age of eighty-five. The funny thing is, back in the 1980s I thought he was already eighty-five. Anyway, the guy fought in Korea during the Inchon Landing, so he has my gratitude. Bloomberg also has a good write-up, as does UPI.
• Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin thinks "The Family Guy" is not funny for making fun of her daughter with Down Syndrome.
• This fatal incident in which an elderly South Korean woman was killed by a school bus underscores the horribly dangerous conditions that exist for pedestrians in Honolulu. Loads of places where there are crosswalks at major streets but no traffic signal, with Honolulu drivers being notoriously bad about stopping for people walking in front of them. The "Aloha spirit" stops at the car door, apparently.
• The Wall Street Journal addresses the "myth" that the Internet can be a techno-utopoia that promotes democracy and freedom and hugging between former enemies. 
• The New York Times has a focus on airline travel meta-search sites such as kayak.com or fly.com that do your ticket searches for you. But their "frugal traveler" talks you through how he does it.

Daily Kor for February 21, 2010

It's a slow day.

1. US State Department says it has no immediate plans to meet with North Korean nuclear envoy (Yonhap)
2. Hyundai Sonata named "top safety pick of 2010" by US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (Korea Times)
3. Seoul to increase overseas aid by 20% to 420 billion won per year (Korea Herald)
4. Electric car buyers to be exempt from consumption, acquisition, and registration fees (Chosun Ilbo)
5. US President Barack Hussein Obama says the US cannot succeed if India and South Korea produce more scientists and engineers; says US should consider adopting longer school hours (Korea Times)
6. Seoul raises travel alert for Niger due to political unrest; 18 ROK citizens accounted for (Yonhap)
7. North Korea postpones acceptance of anti-flu sanitizer (Yonhap)
8. Bringing to the world the message of South Korea's lesser-known territorial dispute, the "Iŏdo Instigators" continue their march through Tucson, Arizona (Korea Times)