text:
|(Banking Reform - Monetary Reform) - '..debt is our biggest security threat..' (no replies)
'Now that he is president, Trump likes to tout the fact heâs listening to Americaâs generals. Perhaps he needs to talk to General Mike Millen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Perhaps then he would see that the greatest threat America faces isnât from China, Russia, or North Korea â it is from the national debt. Until Trump reverses course on military spending, and gets tough on entitlements, his "America First" budget will only make the US worse off.'
'..a crippling national debt..'
'Under a Republican budget resolution, the national debt will explode by a third from an already staggering $19 billion to $29 trillion over the next ten years. Although counterintuitive, Democratic presidents, at least those after World War II, have reduced deficits as a portion of the value of the national economy (GDP) while Republican presidents have increased them â thus accumulating less public debt as a percentage of GDP. Yet neither political party has paid enough attention to this burgeoning national security problem.
'..World Debt Hits $152 Trillion.'
|'We have no experience in stopping a nuclear war.' - Sidney Drell (no replies)
| '..My greatest concern is the lack of public awareness about this existential threat, the absence of a vigorous public debate about the nuclear-war plans of Russia and the United States, the silent consent to the roughly fifteen thousand nuclear weapons in the world. These machines have been carefully and ingeniously designed to kill us. Complacency increases the odds that, some day, they will. The âTitanic Effectâ is a term used by software designers to explain how things can quietly go wrong in a complex technological system: the safer you assume the system to be, the more dangerous it is becoming.'
'The harsh rhetoric on both sides increases the danger of miscalculations and mistakes, as do other factors. Close encounters between the military aircraft of the United States and Russia have become routine, creating the potential for an unintended conflict. Many of the nuclear-weapon systems on both sides are aging and obsolete. The personnel who operate those systems often suffer from poor morale and poor training. None of their senior officers has firsthand experience making decisions during an actual nuclear crisis. And todayâs command-and-control systems must contend with threats that barely existed during the Cold War: malware, spyware, worms, bugs, viruses, corrupted firmware, logic bombs, Trojan horses, and all the other modern tools of cyber warfare. The greatest danger is posed not by any technological innovation but by a dilemma that has haunted nuclear strategy since the first detonation of an atomic bomb: How do you prevent a nuclear attack while preserving the ability to launch one?
The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
|'..Russia .. cyberpower proved the perfect weapon .. political sabotage..' (no replies)
| ' âWeâd have all these circular meetings,â one senior State Department official said, âin which everyone agreed you had to push back at the Russians and push back hard. But it didnât happen.â
Mr. Putin, a student of martial arts, had turned two institutions at the core of American democracy â political campaigns and independent media â to his own ends..
..The Russians clearly had a more sophisticated understanding of American politics, and they were masters of âkompromat,â their term for compromising information.
..the hackings of the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon..
What seems clear is that Russian hacking, given its success, is not going to stop. Two weeks ago, the German intelligence chief, Bruno Kahl, warned that Russia might target elections in Germany next year. âThe perpetrators have an interest to delegitimize the democratic process as such,â Mr. Kahl said. Now, he added, âEurope is in the focus of these attempts of disturbance, and Germany to a particularly great extent.â '
'..the White Houseâs reluctance to respond forcefully meant the Russians have not paid a heavy price for their actions, a decision that could prove critical in deterring future cyberattacks.
Context '[Russia] may become a threat to the world. That is the worst thing that could happen to Russia.' - Yegor Gaidar
'..Russian strategy of hybrid influence and destabilization .. German Council on Foreign Relations.'
|Pastor: Trump har rätt att oskadliggöra Kim Jong-un
|Alla medel är tillåtna mot en regim som Nordkorea. Det påstår inflytelserika pastorn Robert Jeffress, som säger att "Gud har gett Trump rätt avsätta Kim Jong-un"..
|Review: Missha Red Ginseng Sheet Mask
Remember in the previous I mentioned that I will be reviewing the skincare products I received in my Althea package. Well, here is the first one.
I will be reviewing Missha Red Ginseng Sheet Masm today. This is my first time seeing red ginseng being used as one of the ingredients in a skin products. I do know that people consume red ginseng for stamina, but I have never heard of red ginsnsg being applied on skin. I guess the koreans like their ginseng so much that they put it in almost everthing. On a serious note, I actually googled on the benefits of red ginseng on the skin. And I found out that it has a anti-aging properties and helps to rejuvenate the skin. Just what I need after a long day of work!
Haha the packaging reminds me of those extract that koreans like to consume for health reasons.
The back-side of the pack stated that mask is to firm and nourish the skin. And interestingly the mask only contains red ginseng extract!
So first look, I noticed that the facial mask is not a regular one but a 3D mask. Below is the photo of the mask after I dried it for a few days. I folded into half to show that unlike ordinary mask, the 3D mask threaded/joined at the center so it sits well on the face. It also covered the chin well.
There was a lot of essence in the pack too...in fact the mask was dripping wet.
So what was the mask effective? I am actually quite impress. The result was not quite far off from what it intends to do. My face was less dull the next day and more moisturized. I also did not experience any itchiness. I also like the 3D shaped of the mask because I can walk around the house easily because it fits my face like a glove.
I will rate this 4/5 :)
|Review: Etude House Baking Powder B.B Deep Cleansing Foam
Today I am writing a review on facewash/cleanser that I have been using since a year ago. I like it so far and already bought my third tube.
My current daily routine for my face before going out consist of moisturizer, concealer and lastly BB cream. As such, after school I need to ensure that I remove by BB cream and concealer well before going to sleep. If not I would have acne and clogging problem.
As someone who is lazy like me I like to keep things simple. Some people have a separate makeup remover before cleansing their face. Importantly, if your using a makeup remove you need to ensure that it is compatible with your skin. For this very reasons, I decided to purchase Etude House Baking Powder B.B Deep Cleansing Foam.
What I like about this cleansing foam is that its like a 2 in 1 cleansing scrub and makeup remover. Not only that it effectively removes my BB cream, i have also tried removing eyebrow liner and mascara using it. It works very well.
It is not extremely drying as I would need to apply moisturizer after washing up. But in overall I like it alot. I have no breakups or whiteheads problem after using this facewash.
This is my current favorite facewash/cleanser and I would purchase it again in the future.
My rating 5/5.
Lastly, everyone in Southeast Asian region remember to drink more water and put on more moisturizer! Its haze season again!
|Side-Talk: Butterscotch Cafe
Today I am going to blog about my dining experience at Butterscotch Cafe. I have seen photos of dishes from this cafe. The food looks visually appetizing. But it is a little out of the way. When I heard my friend's office is near this cafe, we decided to have our long overdue meet up here. It is located at Bukit Merah area. It is about 10 mins walk from Redhill MRT station. Fortunately, my friend and I did not get lost even when it is out first time and it was at night. When we reached there, both us agreed that it was an unexpected place to find a cafe. The place was much more 'ulu' than I expected haha.
You will need to wait once you reach there if the cafe is crowded. You can also leave your number and they will contact you once there are available seats. Since the indoor seating were full, we had to seat outside. It wasn't too bad because there were ceiling fans and there weren't many passerbys in the area.
I bought myself Bandung Soda Float (S$6.50) and Chilli Crab Cake Burger (S$14). While my friend bought herself Chicken Chop with Eggs ($16) and Iced Matcha Green Tea (S$6.50). You opt for Chicken chop without egg which will cost S$2 cheaper.
I tasted my friend's chicken chop and it was really good. This might not make sense because it was so good that it tasted like steak. The meat was juicy too. It is different from your typical hawker centre chicken chop. It was worth the buy. I didn't taste my friend's Iced Matcha Green Tea but according to her it was pleasantly unique.
We were too full once we were done with our meals and hence did not order any dessert like what we initially planned. But the desserts were pretty pricey, they cost at least S$12.
Overall, I find that cafe serves pretty good food. Will definitely come back again because I just found out that it sells korean bingsu as well!! Have been craving for bingsu ever since I came back from korea and it definitely difficult to get halal bingsu in Singapore. I hope someone would open a halal bingsu store soon. Oh and lastly I apologize for the lousy photos in this post haha.
|Review: Laneige Water Drop Tinted Lip Balm
Guess what arrived at my doorstep today
It came safely and nicely packed with lots of bubble wraps in the evening.
That's right! I bought the newly released Laneige Water Drop Tinted Lip Balm. Compared the prices on Qoo10 and on retail. It is going for S$33. I think I paid about S$25 on Qoo10. But the downside of buying online is that you can't try it before buying.
Realised that the box is slightly dented but all is good because the tinted lip balm inside was not damaged.
Decided to buy because I saw an korean actress wore during a drama that I was following religiously. To be exact the drama is called "House of Bluebird"â¦it is a family drama so there are lots of episodes. But the good thing about family dramas is that the story are well developed. Back to the topic of Laneige Water Drop Tinted Lip Balm. The lip colour looked natural and sweet on her. I know I won't looked as good as her but I bought it anyway (haha gullible enough to fall for product placement). Below is an image of the actress with the lip balm on.
So above are the photos of Laneige Water Drop Tinted Lip Balm at first look.
So above is how my lips looked liked after putting it for this first time. Unfortunately, I don't look as sweet as the actress HAHA.
So what is thought about the product after my first application?
For someone who does wear lipstick at all, I find the product easy to apply. I find that it looking like a lip gloss. However, it is more moisturising that the common lip gloss or lip balm. So I feel that the Moisture Upgrade claim is working? The colour is very light in opinion. My sister said it is not obvious at all. So for those who are going for the natural look, you can opt for this product. The tint does stain my lips slightly, I can see that my lip is brighter than usual after wiping the balm off. The balm lasted for about three hours because I ate during that period. I am not sure if this is the average or below average. Anyway my sister thinks that I will fit a brighter colourâ¦I am not to sure about that.
To end off. For those who are intending to buy this product, I saw a video that showed that the Laneige Water Drop Tinted Lip Balm can be used on the cheeks and above the eyes. Do check it out below.
|Review: Skinfood Egg White Pore Mask + Brief update about my life
Hello readers! As promised I will be reviewing Skinfood Egg White Pore Mask.
One of pet peeves is having visible white heads or black heads on my skin. I am prone to having white heads on my skin. When I stayed up late consecutively, I will start seeing white heads sprouting on below my lower lip, chin area and sides of my lips. I also get paranoid when that happens, because I fear if people can see it when stand close to me. There are lots of products for black heads but not much product are available for specially white heads. I find Skinfood Egg White Pore Mask relatively effective for my white heads treatment.
I can't find any information on this product on skin food.sg website. I can only find information on the global website. Perhaps it is not available in Singapore. I am not to sure myself since my sister bought it for me directly from South Korea in July this year.
Here is the description of the product found on the tub, "A pore-refining mask that contains egg white and eliminates pore-clogging impurities", "Egg white is loaded with albumin that consists of amino acids".
The mask is white in colour and has mud pack consistency. It is quite easy to apply as well, It glides smoothly across the skin. I usually apply a thin layer (just enough to cover my skin), as shown below.
After leaving it on fro 10-15 mins, I will wash it with lukewarm water. The main point is washing using lukewarm water. I tried washing with normal temperature water, I feel that there is difference in effectiveness. After washing, I can feeling my skin becoming smoother, lesser white heads bumps. I tried using it when I have occasional break outs too, it aggregate my acne and I felt it help in recovery in some ways too. I pore also tighten around the T-zone after using it. All in all I felt that it is a good product that it easy to use. Now, I incorporate it in my skin care regime. I try to use it once a week. It is not very drying on the skin too, however if you have dry skin, you might want to put on moisturiser after using this mask. Remember to cleanse before using the mask too!
I will rate it 5/5 stars.
Just a brief update about my life, the content of year 4 university modules has been pretty difficult. I didn't do we'll for my midterms as well. I have been feeling that I have no life these days. Sometimes, I wonder if my hard will pay off or not. Do you readers have any quotes to recommend to me? Motivational quotes that give you strength during hard times? If you do, please share with me using the comment section below.
Have a good day.
|LG Introduces The Curved Phone G Flex 2
Back in 2014, LG released the G Flex handset, a 6-inch smartphone with a unique curved body design and a self-healing coating that clears up scratches or any damage done to the device's casing. Â
Now, the South Korean company is introducing an enhanced and more streamlined version, the G Flex 2. This time around, the newest version comes with a smaller but more handy 5.5-inch display screen, and Qualcomm's most powerful chip set.
The G Flex 2 smartphone was introduced by LG during its very recent press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 (CES 2015) held in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.Â
With its introduction, LG's G Flex 2 handset is the first of many phones this year expected to feature Qualcomm's newest offering -- the Snapdragon 810 processor. It is an eight-core 2.0 GigaHertz chip set that is 64-bit compatible for Android 5.0 Lollipop, the latest version of the Android mobile operating system. The 810 processor functions with 2 gigabytes of memory, and can support 3 x 20 MegaHertz LTE carrier aggregation for all networks that support it.
For the device's display screen, LG employed its own plastic OLED display technology. Techies may recall that this is the same display technology utilized in LG's G Watch R wearable device. But in G Flex 2's case, the resolution is set higher to 1080 pixels.Â
As for its camera, the G Flex 2 smartphone sports a 13-megapixel camera that has laser autofocus system and optical image stabilization -- features that users may also find in LG's current flagship device (the LG G3).
The G Flex 2 features a 3,000 mAh battery that takes full advantage of Qualcomm's fast charging technology available via the latest Snapdragon chip sets. This technology significantly reduces the recharging time by up to 75 percent. Thus, users can get the G Flex 2 half-charged in just 40 minutes.
But what really makes the G Flex 2 unique is its curved body. The front side (display screen) has a 700 millimeter curved radius, while the rear side is curved just a bit less (650 millimeter radius). This is by design, by the way. According to LG, this helps users hold the phone more easily and also, allows the device to fit more easily in users' pockets.
Naturally, the G Flex 2 will be launched first in South Korea before the end of the month. But American users will not have long to wait. Major carriers AT&T and Sprint have already confirmed that they will be including the device in their respective smartphone line-ups this year. Regional carrier US Cellular has also announced that they will be offering the device in spring. No specific release dates and pricing details have been provided yet, but LG fans in the US should be pretty excited nonetheless.Â
Want to know more LG devices? You can start comparing LG phones and plans now.
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|Upside to castration? Eunuchs lived longer, study finds
|A study of eunuchs in Korea's royal court has found men without testicles live longer. Researchers looking at the court of the Chosun Dynasty found eunuchs lived to 70 on average, or 14 to 19 years longer than "intact" men of similar socio-economic status.
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Salam.. haha, org tgh mood exam, kite mood nk kawen pulak dah. :p Smue org ade impian masing2... Nia pn berhak berangan . Haha. emm, so let me share with u my honeymoon destination. Ada dua option. Pergi salah satu pun dh puas hati. Weeeeeeee. To my future husband,.. nk kawin tu, poket kasi tebal sikit ye. Hahaha.. jgn cuak dulu. Okay2 jom berhoneymooooon......
Comel kan dua org nie... huk huk. I love them both. :)
Anyong hae sayo~~~~Jeju Island! hoyeah...Klau slalu tgk cite korea, Jeju island nie mmg destinasi yg sgt famous. Hmm, agak mahal nk pergi cnie. Ye lah tmpt cntik kan. Tapi tk pe, tk lah semahal nk pegi UK. Nk tgk keindahan pulau nie, aaa...u have no idea how much i love beaches! Seronoknye laa.. nk pegi nk pegi nk pegi!
Romantik dn cantik! i loikee~~~
Hola Spain! Sbenarnye sblum berangan nk pegi Korea dlu, ingt nk pegi Spain. But since i heard that the cost is tooooo expensive,so kurang sket lah harapan tu. Melainkan bakal suami tu dh jutawan mase tu bolehlah nk belanja nia pegi spain. Haha...mcm mustahil pulak ade duit byk2. :p Tk pe2, talking bout Spain...nia nk pergi sini sbb nia suke sgt bahasa diorg. :) Dlm proses belajar bahasa Spanish dn Korean skrng. Tp progress nye tk brape smooth lg. Busy kan org exam. :p tp update blog smpt je. Haha.
ADVICE FOR TODAY: Bahagiakanlah isterimu dengan membawanye honeymoon ke tmpt yg dia nak! Haha.. sorry, gile2 sikit hari nie. :p
|LELAKI : Dunia Vs Akhirat
Assalamualaikum to all readers yg sudi berkunjung ke blog nia. Hari ni let's talk about lelaki. Zaman skrg ni byk artikel yg kita sering baca psl wanita solehah yang diidamkan lelaki. Tapi bagaimana pulak dgn lelaki soleh yg diidamkan kaum hawa? Haa...tk ramai yg nk mengutarakan persoalan ni dn keadaan dunia sekarang seolah2 menunjukkan kuasa hanya di tgn lelaki dlm menentukan siapa pilihan hidup diorg. Tidak...tk betul smua tu. Sbenarnye perempuan pun perlu ada garis panduan jgk klau nk pilih suami besok lusa nnti. :) Tapi syg...hari ini...kita boleh lihat sendiri betapa songsangnya dunia. Mengapa, mengapa dn mengapa.. ? Cuba lihat gmbr Enrique Iglasias kt atas tu.. ( okay, sgt hensem dn sgt mengujakan) Klau stakat nk minat artis mcm ni, boleh terima lg. Tapi, nk buat jadi boyfriend? Jadi suami? Hisy, fikir 10 kali dlu lah cik adik oi.. Nia brckp ni based on fenomena yg membelenggu kita smue hari ni.
Kawan2 kita mudah sgt tertarik dgn org2 yg stylo...yg hensem.. anak org kaya... mcm2 lg. Budak2 laki yg mcm tu, mmg lah pndai mengayat, romantik... Tapi nk ke mana kite dgn romantik2 smue tu? Tepuk dada, tnye diri sndiri.. Ade hari tu, jumpe satu couple ni.. pakwe die pkai mcm artis korea. pergh stylo habis. Dn makwe die jeling2 kt nia ngn kwn nia sbb takut kiteorg nk usya pakwe die. Isy, tade maknenye~ Ade pulak yg berdating hari2 tk kira tmpt.. Cuba fikir..klau betul lelaki tu lelaki yg baik, knp die nk dating hari2 ngn korg? Jgn ikutkan nafsu wahai teman2..buruk akibatnye nnti. See, budak2 skrng ni bangga ade bf yg mcm tu.. Tapi jarang sgt nk jumpe org yg fikirkan lelaki yg boleh bimbing dia kt akhirat nnti. Eh, honestly, masa nia budak2 sekolah menengah dlu, nia pn tk penah terfikir psl smue tu. I thought, klau lelaki tu baik, itu dh memadai. Tapi sbenarnye TIDAK. Rupa2nye AGAMA yg harus dijadikan NOMBOR SATU.. Bila kite terkapai2 dlm mencari hukum agama, kan sejuk hati klau suami kitalah yg slalu bg nasihat keagamaan kt kita...bantu kita berubah..? kan ? kan? Tapi klau kawin dgn lelaki yg punk..yg rock...budak band yg ntah ape2... Boleh ke diorg bimbing kite nnti? Cukupkah ilmu agama mereka? Haa..itulah persoalannya.. Ini bukanlah artikel bertujuan merendahkan mana2 pihak...ini sekadar teguran.
Ingat..Perempuan yg baik utk lelaki yg baik, dn lelaki yg baik utk perempuan yg baik.
Tidakkah sejuk hati seorang isteri melihat suami soleh yg penyayang dn mampu menjadi ketua keluarga yg baik?
ADVICE FOR TODAY: Jgn tersilap langkah dlm memilih si dia.. <3 .hehe. L.Y.M.P
|Briefing - Cik Wanie nak jadi Puan!
|Salam semuanyaaaa...
Tak sempat betul nak spend time yang betul-betul untuk blogging. Sibuk kerja... balik rumah dah letih. Memang kelaut lah kan... lagipun start awal February haritu, semua tenant dah keluar. Al-maklumlah nak tawen tawen... hahahahah! Gedik ngko wanie! So, masa yang ada kat rumah tu, wanie guna untuk buat arrangement sikit. Bilik yang kecik tu, wanie jadikan bilik stor dan tempat baju untuk bakal shuben nanti.. container barang-barang yang wanie letak kat ruang tamu dulu semua wanie angkat masuk bilik stor. Nampaklah rumah tu luas sikit...
Lepas tu, process nak cuci sawang... vacuum... mop... wanie tak buat semua dalam 1 hari. Wanie buat selang seminggu.. hahaha.. time weekend / off day je baru nak buat. Biasalah, wanie sewakan bilik kat orang, tak semua yang jenis perati bilik tu ada sawang nak kena buang, habuk berkepuk-kepuk bawah katil nak kena sapu mop... dorang dah keluar, wanie lah nak kena settle kan. Bilik kedua tu, wanie jadi kan guest room / bilik iron baju / bilik solat.
Next... nak wall mounting kan TV kat ruang tamu. Sekarang ni wanie letak TV atas meja Jepun je. Lepas bincang dengan teddy, better wall mounting sebab nak beli meja PC... sekarang ni, PC duk dalam bilik wanie. Kalau keluarkan PC tu, luas lah sikit bilik kan.. boleh la connect ke HDMI dari PC ke TV nak layan citer Korea kan.. hahahaha.. kite TV biase biase je.. tak mampu nak pakai Smart TV lagi.. hahahahah
Persiapakan menjelang majlis?
Alhamdulillah, wanie kat sini tak kalut sangat. Yang lain-lain semua family yang uruskan. Yelah, nak balik kampung sebulan sekali pun susah. So, mama abah settlekan untuk katering, khemah, siap mengecat rumah lagi tau. Along pulak, handle bab nak berinai, kek kahwin dan hand bouquet. Adik pulak tolong masukkan kad dalam sampul untuk mama abah nak edar, tolong lekat TQ tag kat doorgift, kemas rumah. Anak buah lagi 2 ketul tu? Tolong juga... tolong memeriahkan keadaan lepas tu tolong buat bising. Hahahah~ Wanie pulak, dah settle bab busana kahwin, pelamin, meja makan semua dengan bridal.
Tapi kan korang... janji Allah tu betul. Dia akan tolong hamba-Nya yang nak nak berkahwin ni... like seriously and in unexpected ways! First thing yang wanie dengan teddy and of course pasangan-pasangan yang nak berkahwin lain most concern is about money kan. Bukan sikit tau duit nak habis - tapi apa jadi sekalipun, wanie dengan teddy tekad tak kan pinjam loan. Sebab, wanie sekarang ni pun dah ada loan beli rumah. So, kitorang tak nak lah sembelih diri sendiri lepas kahwin nak tanggung hutang kahwin pulak kan? Murah rezeki lately... tak mewah, tapi serba cukup dan lepas untuk bayaran itu ini. Tak semena-mena, customer website teddy yang dah setahun berhutang tak bayar payment 3k, tetiba je contact balik dan jelaskan full payment. Itu teddy, macam wanie pulak, risau tak tau nak bagi doorgift apa dan tak tau nak budget berapa. Haritu, wanie dah beli surah matsurat 400 keping. Ingat nak tambah lagi, cuma masa pulak tak ada nak mencari kat kedai. Tuppp tupppp... mak sedara wanie kat Puncak Alam call suruh datang ambik doorgift dia nak sponsor kat wanie sampai 4 kotak besar! Kenduri pulak, mama abah yang sponsorkan. Along pulak, sponsor facial kat spa.
Aduhai.... beban yang sepatutnya boleh migrain kepala wanie nak fikir, dah lepas. Sekarang ni, tinggal kek dan berinai aje. Wanie dah minta along settlekan, nanti wanie submit payment je. Hahahah~ senang kan ada PA ni.... kehkehkeh.. kesian jugak diorang. Mama nak cari DJ untuk majlis... along pulak nak tau kek macam mana wanie nak... tergaru la jugak kepala dorang, wanie cakap wanie taknak lagu pelik-pelik time majlis nanti... wanie nak instrumental, slow, contohnya mcm lagu My Valentine tu ke... gitu-gitu je... macam kek, wanie request kat along nak style classic elegant wedding cake. 2 tier je, wanie bagi contoh macam kek bawah ni tapi request color champagne.
Ko jangan tanya la berapa harga, kek nampak simple and nice camni... harga dia tak nice woiii.. hahahaha! Tapi sebab kek ni untuk hari wedding, so proceed je lah. Untuk akad nikah, wanie suruh along replace dengan pulut kuning instead of cake. Bunga tangan pun wanie request bunga lily sebab theme akad nikah nanti putih hijau. Untuk hari kenduri next day tu, bridal wanie cakap dia bagi sekali hand bouquet, tapi tengok lah macam mana.. hujung minggu depan nak balik fitting baju, nak food testing sekali. Kalau tak berapa berkenan hand bouquet dari bridal, maybe wanie tempah asing,
Apa pun... 19 days to go. Berdebar tu sikit lah... yang dok rasa sekarang ni, penat! Hahahaha~ tak sabar nak kawen bukan apa, dah tak nak fikir bab-bab ni. No wonder la orang yang banyak duit hire wedding planner - kau punya migrain 4 5 lapis tu, kau dah lepas kat wedding planner tu. Kalau wanie banyak duit pun, memang wanie hire wedding planner. Balik kawen je.. tak yah nak fikir apa. Dan percaturan wanie time tunang haritu, no barang-barang hantaran time kawen nanti memang tak silap. Barang hantaran time tunang haritu je - kalau nak bagi lagi time kawen, nak tanya satu je.... bila nak curi masa 1 whole day nak keluar pegi shopping? Teddy pun baru balik dari German haritu... memang tak sempat apa. Masing-masing sekarang ni, nak cukup rest, cukup tido, cukup makan... takut jatuh sakit tiba-tiba.
15hb March ni wanie dah start cuti - balik tu memang ready la nak all out semua energy stamina lemak-lemak tepu bagai.. hahahahha
|Ikan Stim Masak Taucu Simple
|Haaa double post, balas dendam! Hahahaha~
Semalam off day sebab weekend ni kena keja... sob sob~ malas sangat lah nak keluar rumah. Nak masak pun macam malas jugak, tapi tak makan kang kebulur. Rasa macam nak lepak kat rumah, layan citer Korea, main game, tido sampai lebam! Kalau bakal mak mertua tahu punya malas perangai ni, mau direject. Hahahah~ sebab dah malas, so resepi kali ni pun resepi bermalas-malasan, tapi harus sedap dan kena selera. Ajet-ajet nak "eat clean", jaga pemakanan sikit kali ni. Acerrrr nengok resepi Ikan Stim Masak Taucu ni ha..
Ikan?? Haaa~ selit sikit story. Yang mana kenal wanie, tahu laa wanie ni jenis tak boleh nak siang-siang ikan.. Tak tahan bau bohhh, lepas tu kesian pulak kalau nengok orang siang ikan cabut perut tu, kalau kesian takleh makan, tapi suka makan ikan~ fret not! zaman sekarang internet di hujung jari, semua boleh! Ikan, ayam, daging, udang semua dah siap potong basuh wehhhh.. korang order je kat Barang Dapur Basah ni haaa... mudah kan hidup kite-kite yang acah busy ni.. hahahaha
- 2 ekor ikan
- 1 inci halia (hiris)
- 1 biji bawang besar (hiris)
- 4 biji bawang putih (ketuk)
- 1 batang serai (ketuk)
- 2 keping asam keping (kalau besar, 1 keping cukup)
- 2 sudu besar taucu (wanie guna brand Tamin)
- 2-3 sudu besar apple cidar (cuka apple)
- 1 sudu besar sos tiram
- 2 batang cili hijau
- 3 batang cili padi (ketuk/potong bulat-bulat pun boleh)
- 1 biji tomato potong 4 bahagian (optional)
- garam + gula
- 1 cawan air
- 2-3 sudu besar minyak menumis
1. Stim ikan dalam 15 minit (wanie guna rice cooker je.. air rebusan tu wanie saje letak serai 3-4 batang (sebab serai lama nak buang sayang dan halia).
sebab kesian tengok ikan takde geng, so wanie tabur tabur
2. Panaskan minyak dalam kuali. Masukkan serai, cili hijau dan bahan hirisan, tumis sampai wangi. Bila dah naik bau, masukkan air.
ni bahan-bahan nak berenang dalam kuali.. hehehe
3. Masukkan taucu, asam keping, tomato dan sos tiram. Masukkan juga cuka apple nak bagi "kick" rasa dia. Bila dah mendidih, perasakan dengan garam dan gula supaya seimbang.
wanie memang suka taucu, so wanie lebihkan sikit taucu. brand taucu tamin tak berapa masin sangat, so tak lah takut-takut nak letak banyak.. hehehe
4. Biar mendidih sampai tomato layu, kemudian boleh masukkan ikan stim tadi. Biar dia berenang dalam kuali pula dalam 5 minit. Ok siap, ready to serve!
Cak!!! Inilah hasilnya! Lapar pulak! Hahaha~
|Dean Koontz's "Moonlight": how a commercially prolific suspense novelist remains relevant as technology and politics change
During my first year of employment at USLICO in Arlington in 1990 (what would become my last main job, for 12 years and four owners), I read the Dean Koontz 1989 novel âMidnightâ, and shared it (paper, Putnam was original publisher) with a few people in production control in what would become a coffee break book club.
The novel is remarkable in its huge number of chapters, and organization into three parts each with its own chapter 1.
The novel starts with a jogger running in a California beach town (Moonlight Cove -- âIn the Moonlight, Do Meâ indeed) being attacked by a mysterious alien-like creature, and soon the mystery, somewhat in a âTwin Peaksâ -like fashion, is examined from the viewpoint of various characters, whose narratives gradually connect. (Irving Wallace had used this technique for building plots for Cold War spy novels back in the 1960s). It seems as though people are getting converted into hybrid creatures and that a sociopathic computer scientist Shaddock is involved.
I would have thought that this novel would make a good miniseries on a cable channel,, even today, as the premise has less dependence on political circumstances and even technology than most sci-fi suspense novels. Koontz sometimes gets into Shaddackâs head, anticipating the psyche of a modern terrorist, deflecting the social issues (like gay rights in one passage) in surprising ways.
I mention the novel because Koontz is often heralded in some circles as the ideal author who writes strictly to sell, and he indeed has a huge career of a long list of novels, divided into various subcategories of suspense. Literary agents love his approach, because it is so commercial. So do trade publishers.
One problem with developing suspense novels is that sometimes they become very vulnerable to changes in world politics, which can come suddenly and be largely unexpected by suspense authors, like the fall of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. Today itâs not clear who is the biggest threat: North Korea, Iran, ISIS, Russia, China.
Iâve had that problem, and my own approach to fiction has to start with my own narrative first. I make no apologies, despite the disruptive advice and sales calls from others.
|Joseph Nye delivers major paper on cybersecurity, "Deterrence and Dissuasion in Cyberspace"
Joseph S. Nye, the University Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard, has a major paper in the MIT Press Journal, Winter 2016-2017, âDeterrence and Dissuasion in Cyberspaceâ, with access link to the 71-page PDF here (free).
Nye discusses for major strategies: (1) Punishment or retaliation (2) denial or defense (3) entanglement (4) taboos or norms. Some of his scenarios refer to LOAC, or the Laws of Armed Conflict.
Nye mentions the possibility of threats to power girds, and doubts that they can be fully prevented by âair gapsâ between grid or infrastructure pieces and the public Internet
He mentions the importance of rogue states or non-state actors. One of his concepts, of norms, would preclude attacks on targets that have civilian use only (this might include political parties). Yet that seems to be the point of attacks by entities like North Korea, or some hackers motivated by ransomware (often in Russia or former Soviet components), or radical Islamists who resent modernism. North Korea attacked a corporate entity outside its borders, Sony Pictures, in the US, for mocking its leader. It seems as though a sufficiently radical and nihilistic actor could be motivated by asymmetric targeting of individual speakers in the US or other western countries just to prove it could wreak havoc with all parties associated with a particularly provocative person or private business.
|200 days in: Obama still on Trump's mind - CNN
|joined the group Going to the Korean Grand Prix at Korea International Circuit
|Women's British Open 2017: In-Kyung Kim Leads, Michelle Wie Falters
In-Kyung Kim took the lead at the 2017 Women's British Open on Friday, after a round of four-under 68 in dreadful weather conditions.
The 29-year-old sits two shots ahead of Georgia Hall and Lexi Thompson, while overnight leader Michelle Wie tumbled down the standings after a dreadful second round.
For the full leaderboard, click here.
Kim enjoyed a second solid day in a row at the Women's British Open, finishing Friday's round atop the leaderboard. Her round of four-under golf included an eagle on the 11th and just a single bogey, despite miserable weather conditions as she finished her round.
Consistency was once again the key, as the Korean star took few risks with her approaches and relied on smart putting to grab the lead.
Earlier in the day, Hall and Thompson fired themselves to a share of the lead, at nine-under. The former dropped her first two shots of the tournament but had a great run on the front-nine, with four straight birdies, and finished the day five-under par.
As shared by the tournament's official Twitter account, her short game was on point:
Thompson struggled on the front-nine but was sensational on the back-nine, opening with five straight birdies and eventually settling for a score of four-under.
Here's a look at one of her finishes:
Ally McDonald also finished four-under to position herself one shot behind the duo, as things are tight at the top.
Wie, who set a new course record on Thursday, endured a horrid day to finish with a score of four-over and tumble out of the top 10.
The 27-year-old recorded just a single birdie and had a double-bogey on the 17th. Rich Lerner of the Golf Channel noted she did not look smooth in her swing:
At four-under, she still has a shot at a good finish if she can replicate Thursday's form.
Read more Women's Golf news on BleacherReport.com
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|Black Desert Online â Mystic class announced for western server
|[Game website] Publisher Kakao Games and developer PearlAbyss today announced that Black Desert Online will be welcoming a new female class. The new Mystic class will first make her first appearance on Black Desert Onlineâs Korean service and will be released soon to other regions. More in-depth information and a video about this exciting new [&hellip
|Bless â Korean media confirms English server has been cancelled
|According to various Korean gaming media, Neowiz and Aeria Games have officially cancelled the contract for Bless in North America and Europe. Neowiz will now concentrate on preparing the Japan server, which is set to launch later this year. Neowiz previously signed contracts as well with China, Russia, and Taiwan, but only the Russian server [&hellip
|Black Desert Online â First look at improved graphics arriving this year
|Announced back in November 2015, Korean developer Pearl Abyss will be upgrading the graphics of Black Desert Online using the YEBIS software created by Japan-based Silicon Studio. YEBIS was also used in popular console games such as Dark Souls III and Bloodborne. Pearl Abyss will apply YEBISâ graphic effects to do a full-scale graphic remastering. [&hellip
|Casino Royal
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|Goldman: Financial markets counting on 'diplomatic outcome' to North Korea threat
|When it comes to rising tensions around North Korea, Goldman Sachs said markets eventually expect talks rather than militaristic conflict.
|Trump: Maybe 'fire and fury' statement on North Korea wasn't tough enough
|President Donald Trump suggested his warning of bringing "fire and fury" to North Korea may not have been tough enough.
|US-North Korea standoff could spark economic war with China
|The rising tension between the U.S. and North Korea has raised prospects of an economic confrontation between the U.S. and China.
|Ray Dalio, manager of the world's largest hedge fund, says buy gold on rising North Korea risk
|Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio says in a LinkedIn blog post market "risks are now rising" and recommends gold.
|How Ronald Reagan would have dealt with North Korea
|Ronald Reagan left us the perfect road map for defeating North Korea, says Jake Novak.
|North Korea's missile threat to Guam crafted for 'maximum drama,' says former CIA analyst
|There doesn't appear to be any military mobilization in North Korea, hinting at preparations for war, experts say.
|No, North Korea (probably) wonât nuke the US territory of Guam
|Despite the bluster, Kim-Jong-unâs North Korea is unlikely to want war. Itâs time to treat the country like a nuclear power and resume diplomatic talks
|North Korea isnât bluffing, the nuclear threat to the US is real
|Kim Jong-unâs unusual celebrations following a missile test this year herald the nationâs confidence in its ability to threaten US cities, says Jeffrey Lewis
|Nordkorea planerar avfyra missiler mot USA-bas i Guam
|NORDKOREA Nordkorea har offentliggjort en plan för att avfyra missiler mot ön Guam, ett amerikanskt territorium i Stilla havet, rapporterar AP. Enligt den detaljerade planen ska fyra missiler av typen Hwasong-12 avfyras frÃ¥n Nordkorea, passera över provinserna Shimane, Hiroshima och Kochi i Japan och därefter fortsätta ut över Stilla havet innan de slÃ¥r ned mellan […]
|Joe Hillman â13
Joe Hillman '13 an International Studies/Art History graduate will be teaching English in Korea.
|Luke Van Hook Paintings Now at Brand Library Galleries "Circle in the Square" Yesung Kim, Barbara Kolo, Susan Sironi, Cheryl Walker thru Sept 5th 2008
The Entrance to the Brand Library Art Galleries in Glendale, California hosts a prominent postcard of the show "Circle in the Square" now exhibiting through September 5th, 2008
Photo above:Â
Cathy Billings, Art Librarian and Gallery Manager of theÂ
Brand Library Art Galleries and Co-Curator ofÂ
"Circle in the Square" selected Luke Van HookÂ
as one of the artists to show his circle paintingsÂ
which explore Giotto's fabled "perfect circle.
Photo below:Â
Alyssa Resnick, Senior Library Supervisor, Gallery DirectorÂ
and Co-curator pictured with Luke Van Hook.
Both ladies made studio visits all over Los Angeles and surrounding communities in search of the "perfect circle" of artists to represent the illusive qualities of the circle.
It takes over a year to prepare for a large show at the Brand Library Art Galleries and no one will have a better story to tell you about the waiting process than Galleries Manager and Curator, Cathy Billings or Alyssa Resnick, Senior Library Supervisor and Gallery Director. These ladies traveled to Inglewood, California for a studio visit to see Luke Van Hook's circle paintings some time in the early summer of 2007. They told Luke that they were preparing to curate a show of artists working on the motif of the 'circle'.  They had already reviewed a number of artists and found making the final decision difficult, first because there were a number of artists who worked with this subject and secondly, the talent was very competitive. The subject of the circle and how each artist approaches this topic is worth dedicated study in and of itself.  These lovely ladies, Cathy and Alyssa, with a keen eye for artistic talent, selected a total of five talented artists to show together this summer.  Â
Here you will find photos of how each artist expressed their obsession with the circular form. Â I'll begin my blog entry with a brief history of what I believe may have led Luke Van Hook to painting the circle and continue with the photos and biographical information of the additional four artists each selected for working with the motif of circles, independently of each other, with their own unique and individual interpretations of the circle: Yesung Kim, Barbara Kolo, Susan Sironi, and Cheryl Walker.
Luke Van Hook began his present study of the circle in 2005. He first discovered the legend of Giotto's "Perfect Circle" in a class about ancient history; but the idea didn't sink in at first. He needed time to reason with his quest. While Luke approached the specific task of painting the circle with thin paintbrushes and applying layer upon layer of color to a raw naked canvas, I set about trying to understand what the hell prompted my husband to go circle crazy in the first place. Â I started researching what the circle meant and I found a lot of literature in the realm of magic, rituals, mathematics, secret societies and romance. But my first impression was that the circle was a way to get back to the beginning of things. Â Then I delved deeper. Â Was Luke trying to say that he was going in circles? Â Were we at this artistic point in our lives as a result of a past life? Â Was our circular existence referencing our cycle of birth, death and rebirth? Â Or was the answer more basic than that, like "the earth is round and it's an orbital thing.' There were other issues on the table I was urged to deal with also. Â Were these circle paintings partly influenced by the school we had attended? Â Once we leave school we are expected to make works of art that have fresh meaning and to blow out the cobwebs of old thinking. Â While at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, Luke Van Hook studied all the required areas to excel in his chosen profession as a fine arts painter including the figure, landscapes and abstracts. But the abstract visual image is what finally drew Luke back in. Â Could it be the understated obvious fact that the big 'O' (which formed a circle on every memo, syllabus and brochure in the name of Otis College) was influencing him subconsciously? Â
Luke's earlier work involved intricately small hatch marks that evolved into large abstract images full of vibrant colors. Â This work was very reminiscent of Jasper Johns. Â So where did this circle idea really emanate from? Â Did his hatch marks get married or what? Â Observers of Luke Van Hook's work have stated that it raises the question, 'Is it a painting or a drawing? Â Is it text or writing?' Â Luke will often begin a row of circles that reads from left to right just as western literature is expressed. Â But sometimes he changes his mind, and the direction of his technique, and he starts to paint his rows from right to left. At other times, he completes a horizontal column of circles which refers more to ancient Asian forms of writing going from the top, down.
During his graduating year at Otis College in 2004, Luke went on a mission to explore machine technology as it pertained to replacing humans. Â He painted large canvases with a number of faces and shapes that represented cyborgs expressing the fear, uncertainty and ambivalence that humans have toward our technological future. Â But once out of school, a full year later, in 2005 Luke seem to have turned a corner. Â He seemed to have replaced his fear of technology with a competitive defiance that defied all reason. Â Luke started working with his father-in-law, in his machine shop, where he started to observe how everything around him involved the circle in one way or another. Â He watched the machines (Fadal CNC's- numerical control production machines) in action. The tool would spin in circles, plunging in and out of aluminum, stainless steel and plastic materials. The space left behind was almost always a perfect circle. Â Perhaps, this was Luke's starting point. It was the first time he'd really seen a machine make simple circles and Luke probably said something to himself like 'I can do this! Just watch me!' then promptly, decided to take on his destiny. To compete with a machine, may have been the early impulse that drew Luke to paint the circle, but the legend of Giotto's 'perfect circle' was what has kept Luke going full steam ahead into production of abstract works of art. Â The initial pieces he created were prototypes. These were the experiments he and his father-in-law Luis Ingels, worked on before moving into the hand made pieces. As his first experiment, Luke inserted a paint brush into the collet of the machine and programmed the coordinates to match the canvas. He overshot his calculations and the brush came crashing down upon the canvas; the collet smashed the brush right through the canvas and even broke the frame. Perhaps, Luke might have thought as he and my father, Luis, looked at each other, 'it was time to go back to the drawing board'. Undaunted by initial failure, Luke did complete an entire series of machine made circles before he went on to the main event, the competition of drawing the circles, one by one, by hand. Â
Each piece of artwork created since his first attempts, is meticulously reinvented into creative visual landscapes layering circles upon circles of color schemes in gradations of complementary hues. Â The colors reveal very subtle changes. Â The circles pull the eye in. Â The images seem to have a life of their own, a vibrant quality of pushing the viewer to look for patterns while pulling the eyes into fishers, crevices, or 'wormholes' as one collector observed. I have witnessed the intimate evolution of Luke's circles only because I have the honor and privilege of being Luke's wife. Â The fact that I am discussing my husband's art work is of significance only in the sense that it is somewhat rare, although not unheard of, for the artist's loved one to interject a provocative discussion of the artwork publicly in a blog; however, this is a sign of the times we live in today and I feel blessed as a writer to have this open forum to share with you the joys and struggles inherent in Luke's artistic process.
The way I see it, Luke has taken on  the impossible task of creating the perfect circle, where no perfect circle has ever existed before, despite Giotto's legend.  All mathematical equations to date reveal that there is no perfect circle. It is a myth. So why Luke has persisted in this impossible feat only reminds me of the story of Don Quixote. Here is where I see Luke chasing his windmills. This is where in my imagination, I view the circles on the canvas as Luke's quest for the impossible dream and his circles are his windmills.  His paintbrush is his sword.  Thus LukeÂ
Van Hook's paintings, for me, exhibit all the romantic qualities innate in a love story. Â Seeking to please his beloved Lucia, these references emerging from raw canvas could be read practically like text. Â Some art collectors saw the circles as Braille text or some secret code or language. Â The secret, I think, lies in Luke's love of sports! Â Sometimes I interpret this circle code to reflect images of the sports activities I see Luke enjoy daily; Â I make visual connections to the circles on the wheels of his bicycles which hang in his studio or his skate boards that decorate the rafters of the painting bays or even the wheels that drive his car which sits resting on almost perfect circles on the driveway.
For a while, I was convinced that Luke's enthusiasm for cycling was directly influencing the subjects of his paintings because one day, I was staring at one of his earlier images, (which is hung lovingly on the wall of the dining room right over the microwave oven); I saw it hanging next to a photograph of Luke participating in the 'Death Race 1999', a bicycle ride that cycle enthusiasts pursue along the most dangerous mountainous roads known as the California Alps in Northern California at the edge of the Northern Nevada border where Markleeville meets the Carson Valley. Â The image Luke had painted in 1998, while recovering, ironically, from a broken ankle suffered in a bicycle race in Minden; was the image of three bicycles in a dead heat on the gray pavement with the yellow dividing line providing a ground for what appears as three large helmets (representative of the riders) in red, green and yellow. Â The eventual emergence of Luke's hatch marks from work created in 2000, can be seen on the helmets and if you are really looking for this, (with your microscope) you may even find, the very beginnings of the influences which have eventually led to this mad case of circle paintings! Â The circle imagery you might be searching for could have started at the base of the bicycle's anatomy with the wheels spinning along the highway to Kingsbury Grade, somewhere near Genoa, along the bottom of the hill leading to Lake Tahoe. Â I comfort myself as painter's wife, that even Picasso had his periods, as did Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh, Monet and Gauguin and so long as Luke Van Hook doesn't try to cut off his ear we are doing just fine with these circles.
But don't take my word for it. Luke Van Hook's circle paintings are something you should see for yourself. Â The subtlety of the work is difficult to capture on film, although I tried my best to create a video after struggling with photographing the stills for three years. Â But even the video work fails to reveal the whole story. Â You've got to stand in front of one of these pieces to involve yourself in the novella of Luke's life. Â Although I can decode a small portion of what I see through his work, the rest of the circles on the canvas are still a vague mystery to me as well. Â Every relationship has its secrets. Â Thus Luke and I, as artists, are no different. Â Even when we know each other, there are elements of surprise and adventure that we have yet to tell each other. Â The mystery in his canvases is what really thrills me to see Luke's work on display under gallery lighting! (Sales don't hurt my enthusiasm either!)
When I think of Luke Van Hook's circle paintings, today, in 2008, I often think of Luke riding a skateboard doing 'ollies' and then trying for a loop-de-loop in mid-air.  This is because in January of 2008, Luke begged for a skateboard for his birthday and little did I know what would happen when I wrapped it up for him!  He has returned to the love of his youth.  Luke Van Hook has come full circle to his beginnings to land on his home base. The skateboard has also flown in mid-air, in harmony with gravity, and both land as one in a perfect execution of a move I would never dare try to do myself.  I see each circle on the canvas as Luke's attempt to catapult his work into the mainstream of the art-world with each rotation of the paintbrush on the surface of the canvas.  This is where I see Luke Van Hook in mid catapult, surfing on the air, light in transition, from youth to inspired maturity; from student to master, with paintbrush in hand landing and continuing to roll on four wheels with a great big shit-eating grin on his face. ('four' being the lucky number of his numerology charts). I see the ordered struggle, the innate joy in the success of one loop-de-loop after another. And once in a while, I also see the crash landing and the bloody injuries.  What is more important is that Luke gets up and does it again each and every time.  Luke has to begin again with each new circle, every circle becoming a part of a larger layer of community, thus his canvases vibrate with activity, mystery, romance and adventure.  I find my own meanings in each image  as it develops day by day and I am privileged to stand beside him, admire and witness the struggle of our Don Quixote in the new millennium, first hand.
There is still time to see these painting up close and personal. The Brand Library Art Galleries is part of the Glendale Public Library, located at 1601 West Mountain Street in the City of Glendale, 91201  Telephone:  818-548-2051/ fax 818-548-2713 ;  visit the Brand Library Art Galleries online at  www.brandlibrary.org   to  check for Library hours.
Cookie Gallegos, Ana Porras and Martha Ingels attend the opening of "Circle in the Square" to support Luke Van Hook. Brand Art Library Galleries, Glendale, California August 2, 2008 Photo by Ginger Van Hook
(From left to right) Margo Payne, Lynn Nantana-Green and Angela Williams attend the exhibition "Circle in the Square" in support of Luke Van Hook.
Lynn Lantana-Green came to support Artist, Luke Van Hook at the opening reception of "Circle in the Square" an art exhibition held at the Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California, August 2, 2008. Â Photos by Ginger Van Hook
Kevin Powell came to support Luke Van Hook and enjoy the paintings at the Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale California, August 2, 2008. Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Artist Luke Van Hook brought home-made pies to his reception of the exhibition "Circle in the Square". In addition to painting, Luke Van Hook has a reputation for making awesome pies from scratch. Photographed milling around the Double Fudge Pican Pie and the Sweet Berry Pie were the grandchildren of Hector Sticker. Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California August 2, 2008. Photo by Ginger Van Hook
(From left to right) Claudio Sticker, Hector Sticker, Peter Bolten, Martha Ingels, Luke Van Hook and Luis Ingels attend the reception of  "Circle in the Square". Luke Van Hook and Luis Ingels worked together to create circles on canvas with the use of robotic CNC machines. After creating a little over a dozen machine-made paintings, Luke went on to compete with the machine and do the circles on his own by hand, one by one. Each circle is represented as being one breath and Luke Van Hook states that these are the marks he is leaving behind which define his existence during this lifetime as he continues to pursue the legend of "Giotto's Perfect Circle". Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California, August 2, 2008. Photo by Ginger Van Hook
From left to right, Ohannes Berberian, his daughter Melanie, Luke Van Hook and Rouzanna Berberian attend the opening reception of "Circle in the Square" at the Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008. Â Ohannes Berberian owns DigiTECH Camera Repair in Monrovia, California (www.digitechcamerarepair.com). Luke Van Hook and Rouzanna Berberian are both fine art painters and members of the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts (M.A.F.A.). Rouzanna Berberian is a teacher in the after-school arts programs supported by M.A.F.A. Â which promotes the goal of enhancing the lives of those within the community through interaction with the arts and to increase the opportunities of children through art education. Photo by Ginger Van Hook
From left to right, Kathleen Zgonc, photographer Frank Zgonc and artist Luke Van Hook attend the opening reception of 'Circle in the Square' at the Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008. Frank Zgonc is a an executive member of the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts in Monrovia, California. Frank Zgonc is the vice-president and official curator of Monrovia's yearly October Art Festival. This year the October Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday October 11th and 12th, 2008 at the Monrovia Community Center located at 119 W. Palm Avenue in Monrovia. Free and open to the public, this art event will feature work by photographer Frank Zgonc; (Scheduled from 10 am to 6pm both days). Â There will also be an Opening Night Celebration Saturday, October 11th from 7-9:30 pm where the special Renaissance Award will be presented to a worthy individual who has made significant contributions to the arts.Â
Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Mr. and Mrs. Luke and Ginger Van Hook attend the opening reception of 'Circle in the Square' at the Brand Libraries Art Galleries, August 2, 2008 in Glendale, California.  Luke Van Hook an artist working from Inglewood, California earned a BFA  at Otis College of ARt and Design.  For several years, Van Hook has been exploring in his work, Giotto's fabled "perfect circle".  Over time the single-minded focus on the perfection of the circle has been subsumed by the artist's interest in the aesthetic and expressive qualities of the circle. New works depict ritualistically repeated circular brushstrokes on canvas, hemp, and other materials. Van Hook states that he began " as a challenge to myself to see if a perfect circle was possible; these circles have now morphed into a challenge to myself to see if a perfect circle is  possible. These circles have now morphed into a study in patience. The sense of time and the marking of time is inherent in the meticulous application of paint. The viewer can appreciate these temporal qualities but is also compelled to bring their own  interpretation to the work. Are these circles pure abstraction? Combined do they conceal deliberate shapes and forms? or are they perhaps a secret code or language? Van Hook has exhibited at TAG Gallery, Focus One Gallery, and the Bolsky Gallery in  Westchester. Luke Van Hook's painting may also be viewed on his website: www.lukevanhook.com
Photo courtesy of Peter Bolten
Kevin Powell comes to support Luke Van Hook for his opening reception. Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California, August 2, 2008. Â Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Jason Porras attends the opening reception to support Luke Van Hook in his endeavors to pursue Giotto's legend of the 'Perfect Circle'. Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California August 2, 2008. Photo By Ginger Van Hook.
Zoe Hengst, Ginger Van Hook and Martha Ingels attend the opening of "Circle in the Square" to support Luke Van Hook. Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California August 2, 2008. Photo courtesy of Peter Bolten.
Zoe and Jopie Hengst walk through the center of the exhibition "Circle in the Square" to support Luke Van Hook at the opening night, August 2, 2008. Paintings by Susan Sironi in the background. Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California. Photo by Ginger Van Hook.
Cookie Gallegos, Ginger Van Hook and Luke Van Hook pose for photographs in front of Luke Van Hook's painting at the Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008 Glendale, California. Photo courtesy of Peter Bolten.
Cookie Gallegos and Ana Porras watch the dance performance choreographed by Cheryl Walker, Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008, Glendale, California.
Paintings by Yesung Kim, Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008, Glendale, California. Photo by Ginger Van Hook.
Paintings by Yesung Kim, Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008, Glendale, California.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Yesung Kim poses for a photograph in front of her paintings at the Brand Library Art Galleries, August 02, 2008, Glendale, California. Yesung Kim from Upland, California, was born in Seoul, South Korea and holds MFA degrees from Chung-Ang University and Claremont Graduate University. Kim's mixed media pieces are seductively simple. Ordinary brown packing string is deftly applied to a painted canvas creating organic shapes that shimmer and reflect light. At times these shapes appear to be on the brink of an amoeba-like division as they spread and expand, dropping off the edge of one canvas and continuing on to another. Kim  cites the natural world and light and color as the underlying themes that both inspire and permeate her work.  Following solo shows at the Seoul Museum of Art and the Seoul Arts Center, Kim's work was most recently exhibited at the San Bernardino County Museum's Multi Media Mini Show. More information about Kim's work can be found on her website: www.yesungkim.com
Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Painting by Susan Sironi, Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008 Glendale, California.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Glass curtain by Susan Sironi, Brand Library Art Galleries, August 2, 2008,Glendale, California. Photo by Ginger Van Hook.
Cheryl Walker designed a curtain of vinyl layers of color called 'Waterfall IV' that became the backdrop for a beautiful dance performance using the 'circle in the square' theme exhibited at the Brand Library Art Galleries in Glendale California, August 2, 2008. Cheryl Walker holds in her hand some of the vinyl circles that were placed upon the windows at the exhibition hall. Her vinyl circles upon the windows created an illusion of  the stained glass effects. The dance piece entertained a large audience on opening night as artists, collectors, art appreciators and family and friends celebrated the mythologies, geometries, magical and mystical qualities of the circle.  Dance Performers Liz  Curtis, and Martha Carrascosa performed a dance which included participation from members of the audience. Â
Members of the audience interacted with the dancers Martha Carrascosa and Liz Curtis at the Brand Library Art Galleries participated in creating a colorful cascade of window art on August 2, 2008 in Glendale, California.
Audience watches dancers Liz Curtis and Martha Carrascosa from Glendale Community College as they perform a choreographed piece by Cheryl Walker, artist. "Circle in the Square", Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale California, August 2, 2008. Â Photo By Ginger Van Hook
Dancers Liz Curtis and Martha Carrascosa performing dance choreographed by artist Cheryl Walker, (within the green curtain), Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California.Â
Photo by Ginger Van Hook.
Cheryl Walker engaged in performance art intersecting with window art using the artistic theme of 'Circle in the Square'. Brand Library Art Gallery, Glendale, CAlifornia August 2, 2008. Photo by Ginger Van Hook.
Cheryl Walker smiles happily on opening night, Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale California. August 2, 2008. Cheryl Walker, a Los Angeles artist, earned her BA in art in her home state of Minnesota, and her MFA from California State University, Long Beach. In this exhibition Walker created two large site-specific installations of vinyl, oil pastel and natural and artificial light. Â Walker explains that the driving force behind her work is "human interaction and improvisation in response to a natural phenomenon or situation." Trained as painter, Walker's installations have some of the qualities of painting; when viewed head-on the suspended layers of vinyl can appear to be two-dimensional because of their transparency and the cut shapes and forms applied to the vinyl are reminiscent of brushstrokes--but removed from the wall these works are thrust into what she calls an "interactive field of play." The fluidity of the material she works with and her interest in collaboration between the artist and the viewer have inspired Walker to create works that can be transformed into performance pieces by dance, music and in-situ art-making. In this exhibition, a dance performance captivates the audience on opening night at the Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California. August 2, 2008. Â Photos By Ginger Van Hook
Barbara Kolo, Artist from "Circle in the Square" poses for a photograph in front of her painting with her husband Mr. Kolo. Barbara Kolo, a Santa Monica Artist, earned her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Kolo Participated in a successful two-person show at the Brand Library Art Galleries in 1999. The Brand Library Art Galleries are pleased to present (nearly ten years later) a new body of work by Barbara Kolo that connects to that which was here before. In those works and these, her focus is on representing organic materials. The current large scale acrylic on canvas works are saturated with color; the stippled application of paint creates organic shapes and patterns representative of the natural world.  The subject matter is open to each viewers interpretation, where one may see a birch forest at dusk, others may see the  bold aesthetic of pure color and abstraction. Kolo has had recent solo shows at Topanga Canyon Gallery and the Off Rose Gallery in Venice, California. More information about Kolo's work can be found on her website: www.barbarakolo.com Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale California. Photo by Ginger Van Hook
Barbara Kolo poses for a photograph during opening night celebrations for the exhibition, "Circle in the Square" at the Brand Library Art Galleries, Augusts 2, 2008. Glendale, California.
Susan Sironi,  an artist living in Altadena, California posed for her photograph in front of her paintings at  the Brand Library Art Galleries, Glendale, California. August 2, 2008.  Susan Sironi earned her BFA at California Sate University, Long Beach. This exhibition will showcase Sironi's recent paintings as well as her Glass Curtain installation which is comprised of conjoined antique optometric lenses. Her paintings are about texture, color and process. Small dabs of oil paint are painstakingly applied to aluminum, building up an intricate, thorny surface. Highly textured and multihued when viewed up close, this surface belies the color play minimalist color-field appearance of the work at a distance . In the artist's own words "texture and color play equal roles in these works. They ... set up contradictions within each piece. Painitings  that seem to invite touch and intimacy are also reserved and automomous. Time and process are weighed against a static and minimal structure. Sironi's work was most recently seen in the Brea Art Gallery's Made in California exhibition, at the Chouinard School of Art Gallery, and the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art.  More information about Sironi's work can be found on her website: web.mac.com/susansironi/susan/sironi/Welcome.html.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook. Â
Yesung Kim, Brand Library Art Gallery, Glendale, California, August 2, 2008.
The Entrance to the Brand Library Art Galleries in Glendale, California hosts a prominent postcard of the show "Circle in the Square" now exhibiting through September 5th, 2008
          Luke Van Hook paintings are now showing at the Brand Library Art Galleries in
|Nuclear test on Democratic Peopleâs Republic of Korea (DPRK)
|Following the announcement today by the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) of having conducted a new nuclear test, the government of Spain strongly condemns this action, a flagrant violation of several resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). 09/09/2016 This last test, the second this year and the fifth since [...]
THE STATE News Agency of North Korea has confirmed today that the country has become the first in the world to ever land a man on the sun.
It reported that astronaut Hung Il Gong left for the sun on a specially designed rocket ship at approximately 3am this morning.
Hung, who traveled alone, reached his destination some four hours later, landing his craft on the far side of the lonely star.
âWe are very delighted to announce a successful mission to put a man on the sun.â a North Korean central news anchor man said on a live broadcast earlier. âNorth Korea has beaten every other country in the world to the sun. Hung Il Gong is a hero and deserves a heroâs welcome when he returns home later this evening.â
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|Spicy Korean Burger McDonald's Memang Pedas!
|Spicy Korean Burger McDonald's Memang Pedas!|Haa...hari ni berkesempatan aku dapat beli menu burger terbaru dari McDonald's Malaysia iaitu "Spicy Korean Burger". Asyik terliur je tayang kat tv...tambahan pulak rakan-rakan Facebook pun share gambar Spicy Korean Burger. Mana tak tahan..hahaha!! Walaupun baru dilancarkan pada 25 Julai lalu tapi dah viral 1 Malaysia. Biasalah dah sorang try semua nak try....This is Malaysia!
Boleh tahan harga 1 set hanya RM15.99 sahaja. Anda boleh dapat 1 biji burger pedas, air Frozen Fanta dan 1 bungkus criss cut chips. Tapi masa aku pergi beli tak dapat air fanta digantikan dengan coke. Best ke tak Spicy Korean Burger?
Apa membuatkan orang tertarik termasuklah aku sekali adalah roti burger korean ni. Kalau sekali pandang roti burger warna hitam ni nampak pelik je...tapi sebenarnya memang roti burger ini jenis charcoal bun. Nampak lain lah sikit. Apa yang menariknya lagi tentang burger ini adalah patty daging burger ada perisa 'kimchi', sayuran, cheese, grilled onions dan bestnya spicy korean sauce.
Bagi akulah beef patty agak tebal macam beef burger. Tambahan dengan lapisan cheese memang meleleh siottt...! Dah lah pedas burger korean ni.. Tapi tak lah sepedas spicy ramen meletop lagi bebb...
Untuk criss cut chips ni pulak rasanya rangup macam keropok. Tapi pendapat aku okaylah criss cut chips ni cuma hirisannya terlalu nipis. Jika diberi pilihan french fries MCDONALD'S better saya pilih fries original ni. Air seperti biasa suka minum air fanta ni. Tapi untuk saya ada coke je not bad lah.
Bagi aku memang berbaloilah satu set RM15.99 kalau ala carte hanya RM12.99. Saiz burger pun besar sangat memuaskan. Tak rugilah nak cuba! Jadi yang masih belum cuba, dapatkan menu burger terbaru ni di McDonald's. Dah cuba Spicy Korean Burger ni? Komen pendapat korang pulak.
|Capello's departure proves football has failed to show racism the red card
|So England manager Fabio Capello has resigned. He couldn't understand why John Terry had lost his captaincy of the national side just because he's to stand trial for racially abusing a fellow professional.
Fabio playing the innocent until guilty card was just the latest in a long line of sorry examples of how people in the game have lost touch with reality. Especially when it comes to racism.
Terry has been accused of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. Did Capello really believe it tenable that he should continue in his ambassadoral role at a major international tournament while awaiting trial? Terry should think himself lucky he's still allowed to play let alone lead his national side.
Of course it's not just the departing England manager's conduct that has meant football has failed to scuff racism towards the corner flag let alone kick it out of the stands.
After Patrice Evra, a black footballer subjected to racial abuse from Liverpool player Luis Suerez, was roundly booed every time he touched the ball by the Anfield faithful, the home side's manager Kenny Dalglish passed the booeing off as 'banter' and praised both sets of fans for their behaviour while club captain Steve Gerrard said they (the Liverpool fans) were a 'a credit' to the club.
I might point out here that any United fan wanting to score points against their fiercest rivals should perhaps consider the song sung about their own goalscorer Park Ji Sung at the game. I won't type it all out here but suffice to say it makes reference to the South Korean eating dogs in his home country.
This week, after Suerez returned from his ban Dalglish still inisted the club didn't believe he should have been banned in the first place. Meanwhile, the player himself - far from being remorseful - told Uruguyuan media that what happens on the pitch should stay on the pitch.
At least Ferdinand had been spared the indignity of shaking hands with his alleged abuser after the FA stepped in to remove the customary pre-match team handshakes when their two teams met in the Cup. Evra is now being pressured by the PFA of all people to shake hands with the man found guilty of repeatedly racially abusing him.
If Liverpool wanted to come out with any shred of credibility from all this, the only decent thing to do would be to spare Evra such ignomy by voluntarily removing their Uruguayan striker from the equasion.
Racism is not of course just a football problem. However, rightly or wrongly, society is influenced by the attitudes of the supposed pillars of the game. Lord knows how this is all being played out in the country's playgrounds.
The fact that the man in English football's top job couldn't fathom why having a man leading the side on the pitch accused of such a serious offence is final, conclusive proof - as if we needed it - that football has failed to show racism the red card.
Maybe things will move forward under a manager with an unblemished reputation. Step forward Harry Redknapp...
Learn more about the show racism the red card campaign.
|Veterans Day conversation with photojournalist (and Marine) David Douglas Duncan
|The Ransom Center holds the archive of American photojournalist and author David Douglas Duncan, including his images of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. In honor of Veterans Day, Ransom Center Research Curator of Photography Roy Flukinger asked Duncan about photography, being a Marine, his experiences as a combat photographer, and his […]
|Hope Springs Eternal in Jordanâs Feet
|The Black Stars beat South Korea last night emphatically. 4-0. Jordan Ayew came on earlier than he would have expected, in the third minute after an injury to Majeed Waris and scored a hat trick. He clearly grabbed the headlines. Jurgen Klinsmann was reported to be in the stands and Iâm sure he will have […]
|Capitol Hill Update: July 24, 2017
The House and Senate are in session this week.
There are five (5) legislative days remaining for the House before the August recess and 53 legislative days remaining in the year. The Senate will supposedly work through the first two weeks of the August recess.
The FY 2018 budget resolution, dubbed "Building a Better America," was marked up and approved by the Budget Committee on Thursday in a party-line vote. The budget would reduce the budget deficit by $6.5 trillion over the ten-year budget window and eventually come into balance in FY 2027, creating a $9 billion surplus.
Perhaps one of the most important components of the budget is that it begins the reconciliation process for fundamental tax reform. There are also reconciliation instructions for 11 House committees to find roughly $200 billion savings or reforms in mandatory spending.
The FY 2018 budget resolution isn't on the calendar for the week. It's unclear if House Republican leaders will bring it to the floor.
Additionally, the 21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act, H.R. 2997, introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) could come to the floor for a vote this week. The bill reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and reforms the United States' out of date air traffic control (ATC) system. FreedomWorks has released a key vote in support of the 21st AIRR Act.
On Monday, the House will consider 17 bills on the suspension calendar. Most of the bills on the suspension calendar related to veterans or active military issues. There are three bills on the suspension calendar that relate to small businesses and investment. The House will also consider the Intelligence Authorization Act, H.R. 3180, sponsored by Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on suspension.
There are three bills on the suspension calendar for Tuesday, including the Medicare Part B Improvement Act, H.R. 3178, sponsored by Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), and a yet-to-be-numbered resolution that will impose sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
The House will also consider H.J.Res. 111, a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, to cancel the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) giveaway to trial lawyers. The rule put restrictions on the use of arbitration to settle disputes over consumer products. This would lead to more class-action lawsuits, benefiting trial lawyers and hurting consumers. FreedomWorks has signed a coalition letter in support of H.J.Res. 111 and will likely include the vote on our 2017 Congressional Scorecard.
For the balance of the week, the House will consider at least four more bills on the suspension calendar. The Make America Secure Appropriations Act, H.R. 3219, will also come to the floor. This is the consolidated appropriations bill, or "minibus," for the Department of Defense, the Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Energy and Water. Like virtually every other bill to come to the floor this year under "regular order," the Make America Secure Appropriations Act is subject to a rule to limit or prevent amendments from the floor.
On Thursday at 10:00 am, the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "The Need for the Balanced Budget Amendment." The witness list for the hearing has not yet been announced. Twelve constitutional amendments have been introduced in the House that would require a balanced budget. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is the sponsor of two of them, H.J.Res. 1 and H.J.Res. 2. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), the primary sponsor of H.J.Res. 15, is among the House conservatives who have introduced a balanced budget amendment.
The committee and subcommittee schedule for the week can be found here.
Presumably, the Senate will vote this week on the motion to proceed to the House-passed version of H.R. 1628. It's still unclear on what happens next. A vote to proceed to the House-passed version has always been the first step. The next step will be for an amendment to the bill that will substitute the language of either the Better Care Reconciliation Act or language similar to the 2015 ObamaCare repeal bill, now called the ObamaCare Repeal Reconciliation Act. FreedomWorks' key vote on the motion to proceed applies only if the base text that will be substituted is similar to the 2015 ObamaCare repeal bill.
At least a few Senate Republicans have backed away from their votes for the 2015 ObamaCare repeal bill, which was passed in December 2015 with the support of all but two Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins. Moderate Republicans who refuse to vote for the 2015 ObamaCare repeal bill have demanded $200 billion in Medicaid funding offered by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to get them to support the Better Care Reconciliation Act.
Some parts of the Better Care Reconciliation Act are in limbo, however, as the Senate parliamentarian has apparently ruled that provisions limiting funding for Planned Parenthood and tax credits for plans that cover abortion will require 60 votes. Other provisions that may require 60 votes include the State Innovation Waivers. Many of these provisions can be altered to make them withstand a Byrd rule challenge, as was done in 2015.
The Senate still has several nominees to consider and, on the legislative front, the FDA Reauthorization Act, S. 934; the National Defense Reauthorization Act; and the debt ceiling are among the items awaiting action.
Separately, Senate Democrats are rolling out their "better deal" economic agenda today, which is a rehashing and repackaging of virtually every leftist policy proposal in recent years. The agenda is Democrats' attempt to find a message after a string of special election losses around the country.
The full committee schedule for the week can be found here.
|BBM Messenger Collaborates with Korean Webtoon and Webnovel Publisher Neobazar
|WebComics for BBM Debuts in Indonesia with 200+ Titles at Launch Jakarta, Indonesia â 7 June, 2017 â Creative Media Works, operating as BBM, today launches WebComics for BBM fans in Indonesia. Launched in partnership with Korean webtoon and webnovel publisher Neobazar, the free service provides a huge selection of titles, both local and from […]
|Non mettete alla prova Donald Trump
|If North Korea escalates nuclear threat, âthey will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. Come dobbiamo classificare questa dichiarazione proferita personalmente dal presidente Trump? Un bluff? Le parole di un uomo che non ha piena consapevolezza della situazione? Una boutade di chi ha scambiato un reality show con la […]
|Trump: pronti ad agire contro la Corea del Nord
|BREAKING: Trump: If NKorea escalates nuclear threat, 'they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.' (AP) Il Presidente Americano Trump ha affermato che gli Stati Uniti sono pronti a rispondere a nuove minacce nucleari della Corea del Nord. Sebbene le dichiarazioni del comandante in capo delle forze armate americane […]
|Now a human, Ganga receives its first legal notice
After becoming a human entity, Ganga river receives first legal notice
The Uttarakhand high court has issued the first legal notice to the Ganga river, which was accorded human status recently. The court has sought a response from the river for allowing construction of a trenching ground in its land in village Khadri Khadag without consulting the villagers. Along with the river, a notice has been issued to the union government, central and state pollution control boards and the Rishikesh municipality. The court has ordered the respondents to file a reply before May 8.
Water conservation programme for Bundelkhand launched
The water ministry has launched a water conservation programme for Bundelkhand for drought-prone areas in the region. Under the programme, the ministry has proposed to build thousands of percolation tanks, small check dams or nala bunds and recharge pits in both, the UP and MP regions of Bundelkhand. The programme aims to effectively improve groundwater conditions in stressed blocks of Bundelkhand, ensure sustainability of resource, participatory approach in groundwater management and institutional strengthening.
Jharkhand-West Bengal water-sharing dispute: Centre to intervene
An inter-state water dispute is arising between Jharkhand and West Bengal over sharing of water from four common river basins. The dispute is over the the 1978 water agreement which was signed between the undivided Bihar and West Bengal governments. While Jharkand has blamed its counterpart for not building dams on the river as promised, on the other hand West Bengal has refused to do so, citing the impacts the projects will have on its irrigation facilities. However, in order to resolve the matter, the central government will be helping the two states âre-doâ the water-sharing agreement.Â
Odisha government decides to withdraw land allotted to POSCO
The state industrial infrastructure development corporation (IDCO) has decided to withdraw the 1,880 acres of land allotted to POSCO to set up its 12 MTPA capacity steel plant and has also informed the South Korean company of the same. The state government and POSCO had signed an agreement to set up a steel plant worth Rs 52,000 crore but the project had to be stopped due to agitations from local villagers. However, there is news that the state government is planning to reallot the land to some other prospective investor.
Provide potable water to mining-hit village: HC to Goa government
The Bombay High Court has ordered the Goa government to ensure clean drinking water to villagers of Sonshi in North Goa's Sattari sub-district. Along with this, the court has also ordered the state to come up with a solution to pollution issues in the region caused by transportation of iron ore by trucks from mining leases. Earlier this month, the village was in the news after 45 residents were arrested for protesting against water pollution due to iron ore transportation.
This is a roundup of important policy matters from April 25 - May 1, 2017. Also, read news this week.
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|Até logo/ See you!
Perfumados leitores,
Há um certo tempo minha vida se tornou uma espiral de responsabilidades cada vez mais frequentes, fruto de recompensas e desafios com relação à minha carreira e vida pessoal. Se por um lado, isso é muito compensador. Por outro lado, atualmente tive que fazer escolhas. Uma delas é dizer, de forma oficial, até logo!
Confesso que não consigo fazer as coisas de qualquer jeito e tudo tem que ter tempo e qualidade, principalmente com relação ao Perfume da Rosa Negra, um espaço virtual apaixonante sobre perfumaria que me proporcionou conhecer muita gente apaixonada por perfume e muita gente que é referência em Perfumaria , que respeitou o meu conhecimento e minha paixão, além de ter me proporcionado projetos de muito valor.
Sou grata aos leitores e a todas as pessoas que acreditaram em mim. Também agradeço a Deus o tempo a que me dediquei intensamente ao Perfume da Rosa Negra. Fiz tudo isso com muito amor. Tive muitas alegrias mas também muitas decepções e tudo isso faz parte da jornada. A experiência foi sempre divina, a cada perfume e tudo está guardado: cada sentimento com relação às fragrancias e, cada sensação única através do olfato que eternaliza os momentos perfumados na alma. O melhor de tudo é que, onde coloquei a minha marca, as pessoas passaram a conhecer mais sobre as fragrancias e o valor disso é imensurável.
Não retorno tão logo e, por estranho que pareça, digo um até logo feliz. Sei que não serei a primeira blogueira de fragrancias que se afasta por um tempo. Muita gente boa, de excepcional talento em perfumaria, também disse adeus por um perÃodo. Durante esse tempo, além de todas as novas jornadas, quero repensar a própria perfumaria. O Perfume da Rosa Negra não deixa de existir. Como diria Flaubert, Perfume da Rosa Negra c'est moi. Eu sou Rosa Negra e ela vai exalar um perfume em outros cantos desse mundo.
Despeço-me feliz. Preciso levar algumas responsabilidades e projetos adiante, dentre eles está a perfumaria. Certamente eu voltarei e o blog só será a extensão de algo muito maior porque a perfumaria está no meu DNA. Voltarei com mais força e com ideias grandiosas que há muito tempo estão na minha mente e que só essa bela Arte merece.
Enquanto isso, deixo-lhes o meu legado perfumado , de coração!
Sigam cheirosos!
Abraços perfumados,
Cris Rosa Negra
|Welcome to Edward Garren, LMFT CA License MFC27181
Edward Garren is a California licensed psychotherapist, offering counseling services to individuals, couples and families.
"The purpose of therapy is to remove blocks to truth; to help you abandon any patterns of belief that no longer serve you in a productive way; to implement self-forgiveness.
Therapy can alleviate suffering and open the door to peace of mind. It can assist in separating illusion from reality and even reality from truth.
Finally, it can help you to learn to make your decisions from internal prompts because you have created an internal locus of control."
From "A Course in Miracles"
Mr. Garren has worked in the profession for many years and has a broad range of experiences and "styles" of doing therapy. He has particular expertise working people who are dealing with depression, anxiety, recovering from addiction or alcoholism, desiring to reduce or eliminate use of prescribed psychotropic medications* (*NOTE: any change in one's medication should always be done under the guidance and supervision of the prescribing or other physician).
Ed has experience providing Counseling, Psychotherapy, Coaching, Career Development and related services to: Individuals Couples Families GLBTQ Community Members Persons living with HIV Persons and Families of mixed heritages Adult Survivors to Childhood Trauma Persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Military and Law Enforcement personnel.
His office is conveniently located on Rodeo Road, near Western Ave. Â This location is within ten minutes of the USC main campus, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, View Park, West Adams, etc. Â It is within fifteen minutes of Hollywood, West Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Los Feliz, Silverlake, Echo Park, Chinatown, East Los Angeles, South Central, South Los Angeles, Inglewood, Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey.
You may contact Mr. Garren via telephone, (213) 596-9674 , or by eMail firstname.lastname@example.com
Fax # is (213) 596-9082Â
|Beli Barang Remote, Kipas, Baterai
|Baterai Blackberry JM1 https://www.tokopedia.com/bbqueen/baterai-blackberry-j-m1-jm1-dakota-bellagio-monza-montana-volt-ori?trkid=f=Ca0000L000P0W0S0Sh00Co0Po0Fr0Cb0_src=search_page=1_ob=8_q=baterai+blackberry+jm1_catid=67_po=4 Remote TV Medan rp 15.000 https://www.tokopedia.com/suryanusantara/remote-tv-joker-cocok-dengan-99-merek-tv-yang-ada-di-pasaran Remote TV https://www.tokopedia.com/bisnislapak/remote-tv-universal-joker-remote-tv-multi-joker?src=topads Dye ink https://www.tokopedia.com/mytoner/tinta-dye-ink-korea-compatible-refill-printer-hp-100ml-kerucut-cair?trkid=f=Ca0000L000P0W0S0Sh00Co0Po0Fr0Cb0_src=search_page=1_ob=8_q=dye+ink_catid=327_po=9 https://www.tokopedia.com/mytoner/tinta-dye-ink-korea-compatible-refill-printer-hp-100ml-kerucut-cair?trkid=f=Ca0000L000P0W0S0Sh00Co0Po0Fr0Cb0_src=search_page=1_ob=8_q=dye+ink_catid=327_po=9 Kipas Angin: https://www.tokopedia.com/cahayamutiara76/kipas-angin-gantung-8-watt-3-baling-niga?trkid=f=Ca0000L000P0W0S0Sh00Co0Po0Fr0Cb0_src=search_page=1_ob=8_q=kipas+angin+gantung_catid=667_po=11
|[Photo] BYJ at Korea F1
|Can you spot BYJ?
source: twitter
|[Updates] BYJ returned to Korea
The writer met BYJ on the same flight back to Korea.
He / She managed to get his autograph.
|Restoran Sana Sini Restoran Bertema Unik Dalam Dpulze Shopping Centre Cyberjaya
Salam sejahtera kepada semua pembaca setia blog makan Mahamahu dan juga rakan-rakan sekalian. Restoran bertema unik itu yang menarik perhatian Maha bila datang ke restoran ni. Firstime nak tahu juga apa yang uniknya kat restoran ni sampai tema dia macam tu sekali. Jom kita terjah dalam tengok apa menu yang unik tu.
Nama restoran ni sebenarnya adalah Restoran Sana Sini yang terletak dalam Dpulze Shopping Centre Cyberjaya. Kalau orang sekitar Putrajaya atau Sepang nak datang kat sini tak jauh dan senang nak cari. Shopping complex ni pun banyak parking ada kat basement dan ada kat atas tapi biasalah ada bayaran mengikut jam. Restoran ni terletak kat level LG1 shopping complex ni.
First tengok dari luar restoran ni macam restoran-restoran biasa yang selalu kita pergi. Tapi bila tengok kat satu sudut restoran tu kita akan nampak bagaikan pintu masuk rumah tradisional yang menggunakan kayu. Kemudian satu sudut lagi ada ruang permainan kanak-kanak yang luas. Paling best mereka sediakan aiskrim percuma setiap hari. Boleh ambil berapa banyak yang nak dan makan sepuas-puasnya aiskrim tu.
Tu yang Maha suka kat sini makan aiskrim hehehe. Bila tengok menu kat sini memang unik lah sebab ada macam-macam campuran masakan dari pelbagai negara. Antara yang Maha sempat tengok menu-menu dalam list restoran ni ada masakan Thailand, masakan Korea, masakan Melayu, masakan Barat, masakan Cina dan macam-macam lagi. Ada lebih kurang 100 jenis juga menu masakan yang korang boleh pilih kat restoran ni.
Apa yang Maha lampirkan kat sini adalah sebahagian menu-menu yang ada. Harap korang tak rambang matalah nak tengok semua menu-menu ni. Nama pun Maha dah tak ingat sebab banyak sangat mana yang ada sempat Maha tulis nama tu ok lah mana yang tak ada tu pandai-pandai korang lah yer hehehe.
Yang ni makanan goreng-goreng yang merangkumi masakan tempatan dan juga dari negara Thailand. Penyediaan makanan kat sini atau presentation juga unik kerana ada yang di serve dalam bekas, ada dalam buah dan macam-macam lagi. Buatkan makanan tu lebih nampak menarik dan sedap untuk dinikmati.
Paling best adalah korang kena cuba minuman kat sini. Tapi awas yer jangan ambil banyak sangat minuman kerana ia di sediakan dalam bekas minuman yang bersaiz XXL ok sangat besar. Kalau satau orang minum belum tentu habis silap-silap rasa nak terkencing sahaja.
Maha suka datang sini sebab pilihan makanan yang banyak dan rasa makanan tu tetap ada ia akan disediakan apabila dapat order dari pelanggan. Jadi banyaka makanan kat sini masih panas dan sedap. Kemudian dalam restoran ni pun luas dan selesa nak makan. Tapi paling best adalah aiskrim free tu hehehehe.
Waktu operasi restoran ni adalah dari pukul 10.00 pagi hingga 9.30 malam setiap hari. So kalau hari biasa kat sini katanya penuh dengan orang yang bekerja area Cyberjaya. Hari minggu ramai datang bekeluarga atau dengan kekasih sebab nak tengok wayang kat shooping complex ni. Jadi ia sangat sesuai untuk semua peringkat dan situasi. Kalau nak tahu lebih kena datang sendiri cuba baru tahu ok. Selamat mencuba semua.
Pertanyaan hubungi :
Facebook : Restoran Sana Sini
Ranking Mahamahu :-
Kebersihan : 4/5
Kesedapan : 4/5
Harga : 3.5/5
|Ready for beauty shotð
#onset #shooting #asian #china #beauty #fun #Korean #japan #love #simple #makeup
|Godeungeo Jorim (ragoût coréen au maquereau et au radis)
Je ne sais pas pour vous, mais ici, il y a toujours des poissons en conserve dans mes placards, que ce soit des sardines, du thon, des maquereaux ou encore, péché de gourmandise ultime, du foie de morue. Le poisson en boîte, c'est vraiment un de mes produits de base que je dégaîne quand je ne sais pas quoi faire à manger. C'est tellement personnalisable à l'infini!
L'autre jour, je feuilletais pour la énième fois le joli livre reçu pour Noël K Food et je suis tombée en arrêt sur une recette familiale de ragoût de maquereau au radis blanc. J'avais du maquereau nature en boîte, du radis noir tout frais qui m'attendait et je venais de recevoir un gros colis de Kikkoman avec de la sauce soja.
La recette originale se fait avec du maquereau frais et du radis blanc mais c'est tout de même une bonne alternative. Inutile de vous dire que je n'ai pas été déçue du tout ! Bon, par contre, pour les palais sensibles, réduisez la dose de piment hein. Moi, j'ai mangé ça toute seule pendant que Père et Fils dégustaient des macaronis au beurre^^ (oui, quelquefois, il faut être égoïste dans la vie^^).
Pour deux personnes :
La sauce : 1 cs de gochugaru (poudre de piment rouge coréenne), 2 1/2 cs de sauce soja Kikkoman (produit offert), 10 cl d'eau, 1 gousse d'ail hachée.
250g de maquereau en conserve égoutté, 1/2 oignon finement émincé, 1 radis noir de petite taille pelé, coupé en deux dans la longueur et taillé en lamelles, 2 cs de persil haché, 1 cs d'huile neutre
Mélanger les ingrédients de la sauce et réserver.
Dans une casserole, faire chauffer l'huile, y déposer les rondelles de radis, l'oignon émincé ainsi que les morceaux de maquereaux. Ajouter le persil haché.
Verser la sauce réservée. Porter à ébulltion, couvrir, baisser le feu au minimum et laisser mijoter 15 minutes, sans remuer, jusqu'à ce que le radis noir soit tendre. Attention, il doit vous rester de la sauce !
Servir avec du riz et déguster bien chaud.
|Trump legt gegen Nordkorea nach
|Zurück zur Diplomatie? Nicht mit US-Präsident Trump. Er bezeichnete seine jüngsten ÃuÃerungen zu Nordkorea als möglicherweise nicht scharf genug. Trump empfahl dem Land, besser sehr nervös zu sein. Zugleich aber müssten die USA Verhandlungen stets erwägen.
|My 10 Favorite Things About Living and Teaching in Korea
|I'm two days away from leaving Korea. In two years of living here, I have developed deeply ambivalent feelings about both my experience here and the society itself. A couple days ago, I was re-reading The Prophet, and I was surprised to find a section that echoed my feelings about leaving Korea:
The hero has been in a strange land for twelve years and upon seeing the ship that will return him to his homeland...
"the gates of his heart were flung open, and his joy flew far over the sea. And he closed his eyes and prayed in the silences of his soul.
But as he descended the hill, a sadness came upon him, and he thought in his heart: How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city.
Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and his aloneness without regret?
Too many fragments of the spirit have I scatterd in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a bruden and an ache.
It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands.
Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst.
Yet I cannot tarry longer.
The sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.
For to stay, though the hours burn in the night, is to freeze and crystallize and be bound in a mould."
A bit dramatic perhaps, but it really nails how I'm feeling. But, moving along... last week I posted my 10 least favorite things about living and teaching here, and here are my 10 favorite things about living and teaching here, plus a few runners-up.
Ice cream bars -- This didn't make the top ten because it has been absolutely disastrous for my fitness. At every convenience store, and they're everywhere, there is a freezer full of delicious ice cream on a stick in every flavor you could imagine and more (one of my favorites is a chocolate bar on a stick, surrounded with "nano-silver vanilla", coated with chocolate and peanuts, another is melon, another still is watermelon flavored and shaped ice cream with hazelnut seeds). A full price bar is 700 won ($.55), and most places sell them at half price. I don't know how that can be profitable (and I probably don't want to), but it sure does make for a delicious, fattening summer.
Elders' robustness -- Before the monsoon came with its endless days of rain, I was playing tennis every morning with a 64 year old man that was in nearly as good of shape as I am. I never saw him eat an ice cream bar. On my way to school, I routinely see 80-something year old men and women hunched over working in the fields, digging up potatoes or planting chili pepper plants. I've never seen them eating ice cream bars either.
Lack of zoning -- Where I come from, an area is either commercial or residential, so people end up driving a lot. Here, everything is mixed together, so people walk. On one level, it's nice to have a convenience store (with ice cream bars) in the same building as my apartment. On another level, it gets people out in the streets and creates a mixing of people and a sense of community involvement that I think we could use more of at home.
Free time -- I am ambivalent about this. Every single day here, I've had hours of free time. I play guitar, watch TV, read, watch movies, cook, paint, play online games, meditate, etc. I have learned a lot from the reading I've done, I'm a better guitarist and singer and cook, and I'm a champion of Settlers of Catan (my online game of choice), but I'm also bored a lot and frequently feel like I'm wasting my life away. It is that feeling that compelled me to take the plunge into grad school at the end of my contract here.
Now, to the top ten....
10. Gardens everywhere --
This province, Gangwon-do, is notorious in Korea for being difficult to grow food. The people respond by growing food absolutely everywhere. Any land that is less than a 15% incline and is not paved over is growing food, without exception. That's true whether it's someone's front yard, a triangle of dirt between a bridge and road, or way up in the valleys that surround the towns. They're not farms, much more like what we think of as gardens. They grow chili peppers, corn, soy beans, onions, garlic, potatoes, greens, grapes and on the occasional flat section of land, rice. This is this old couple's yard. It's worth noting that it's September and they're planting, probably the third crop of the year. I'm certain they would think we are insane for the money, effort, fertilizer and pesticides we put into grass.
9. Jjimjilbang -- These are combination health club, sauna and recreation center. Admission is about $5 and for that you soak in hot tubs infused with jade or eucalyptus or whatever, sweat in the saunas and steam rooms, and get a sports massage or a scrub down from an old Korean man wearing nothing more than briefs. There are restaurants, but for reasons that escape me Koreans seem to prefer to pig out on hard boiled eggs at these places. There are barbers and televisions and computers and massage chairs and cold and hot rooms and salt rooms and charcoal rooms and oxygen rooms. A great place to hang out and warm up in the winter or sweat out in the summer.
8. Outdoorsiness -- Koreans love the outdoors, whether eating squid jerky and drinking rice wine behind an apartment building, or hiking through valleys (which they have done an excellent job of protecting by concentrating in the cities the population of 50 million people in a country the size of Indiana). I love the tendency toward the outdoors, especially in summer, when restaurants pull out their plastic tables and the dining room floors spill out into the streets. The images of dozens of Koreans eating, drinking and laughing in a courtyard on a warm summer night will stay with me for a long time.
7. The sweet kids --Not all of them were, but the ones that were sweet were the cutest, kindest, funnest kids I've ever known.
6. The restaurants & the food -- A lot of foreigners here complain about the cuisine, and while I admit the flavors can get a bit monotonous (sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and chilies), I love the food, even though much of it is off limits to me as a vegetarian. Restaurants typically specialize in just a few dishes, are usually owned and run by an old lady who might work with one other old lady to prepare the food, serve the food, clean the place and everything. My favorite restaurant in town is a place where a 4' 6" 60 year old lady serves grilled fish lettuce wraps (I'm a quasi-vegetarian here) and seems to rotate through being amused, confused, appreciative and fed-up with the foreigners that frequent her place. The prices, and there's no tax or tipping, so what you see on the menu on the wall is what you actually pay, for a typically quick meal might be $3, and unless it's a very special dish (or foreign food or drink), meals rarely exceed $10 per person.
Every meal comes with bancheon, side dishes, that always include kimchi and usually other fermented vegetables. In a cheap place, you might just get three little kimchis, in a nicer place, it's not uncommon to get over ten bancheon, and they might include fried fish or raw octopus or other treats that can be even better than the central meal itself. In most cases, everything is shared with everyone at the table. In fact, when eating with Koreans, even glasses are shared -- it's a neat little social device... if you see that someone is bored or if you want to chat with someone that you're not sitting near, you take them your empty glass and a bottle of soju (chemically fermented rice wine) and pour them a shot, and in that manner, over a meal that might last a few hours, people move around (everyone sits on the floor) and everyone talks with everyone, everyone shares germs and everyone gets drunk.
5. Community focus -- This is the highest ranking item that is really about Korean society, as the next four each have to do with my position here. On the whole, I'm not a big fan of Confucianism, at least as it operates in modern Korea. However, the focus on social harmony is really nice, and something that I think we North Americans could learn a lot from. Where I is the dominant pronoun in the US, we is here. Studies have shown that the different mindsets actually affect visual perception, such that Asians are more inclined to view ambiguous situations from a removed, more holistic perspective, whereas Westerners are more inclined to view the same situation from inside it, from a first person perspective. Unfortunately, because of the xenophobia here, foreigners are not always considered part of the community in the same way Koreans are, which I think makes being a foreigner here harder than it would be in a more individualistic society like the US. But, while I'm sure my Korean friends still think I'm terribly obstuse and inconsiderate, this mindset has implanted itself in my head, and I'm glad for it. I hope it stays with me through the years.
4. Income:expenses ratio -- The salary foreigners earn teaching in Korea isn't anything special, except that foreign teachers' apartments are paid for by employers, as are airfare here and home and immigration costs. Food is cheap, entertainment (at least out here in the boonies) is scarce, and buying stuff doesn't usually make sense when you know you have to fit everything you own into two suitcases at the end of the year. Health care is nationalized and very inexpensive and the tax structure is very progressive so even those who aren't exempt pay less than 4% income tax. I have been saving almost 80% of my salary, and on top of that I'll receive about two months' bonus pay at the end of my contract. No one has gotten rich doing it, but especially for folks right out of college or when the job market at home is what it is right now, it can be a very solid financial move.
3. Vacation time & neighboring destinations -- While I've been here, I've spent time in China, Vietnam, Laos, Japan, Thailand, and Thailand again. Spending almost the entire month of February in Thailand is about as good as it gets. And it was a relatively quick flight on a lovely Asian airline to get there.
2. Novelty in everything -- Living here is a bit like being a child. You never really know what's going on, you don't have responsibilities the same way you would at home, you're easily surprised, and routine events are novel and exciting. It's incredibly frustrating, but also really enjoyable.
1. Anonymity & outsiderness -- There is something comforting about knowing that no one knows you, and that no one can. If people are going to stare at me as I walk down the street, I might as well wear shorts and flip-flops and sing as I walk. If my students are going to think I'm a weird foreigner anyway, it's much easier to engage them with silly foolishness that I might hold back at home. At home, as soon as you see someone, you thin-slice their age, sex, body language, clothing, and a thousand other things and make a judgement about who they are and how they relate to you in society. In a culture as foreign as this, that's impossible. Advertising doesn't affect you, because it is designed to take advantage of the human mind's inability to stop thin slicing. And not understanding what that 16 year old girl on the bus won't stop talking about can be really nice.
I couldn't have named this at the time, but this is what brought me back to Korea for a second year. When you remove a person from their native culture, you force them to examine themselves in way that is otherwise impossible. We define ourselves by our relations: to our jobs, our achievements, our friends and family, our hobbies, and the culture we consume (and, less often it seems, create). Take away all those things and one has to look internally for a sense of identity. That transformation started for me in my first year here, but it didn't have time to run to completion. When I got home, I didn't identify in society as I had previously, but I was still looking to things like my friends and my job to define my position in society, my social identity, especially since it had been upended since I had left. I ended up feeling lost and floundering around for quite a while before returning to Korea. I don't know if that transition ever really reaches completion, but I know that I am going home with a much stronger internal compass than I had before I came to Korea, in addition to a much broader perspective on culture, politics and the world.
|My 10 Least Favorite Things About Living and Teaching in Korea
|I've got a week left here in Korea before I go home to start grad school and say goodbye to the Sparkling Hermit Kingdom of Morning Calm for good. I've lived and taught here for two years, and it has been wonderful and terrible, glorious and excruciating, boring and exciting, eye opening and let-me-just-tune-out-the-world-and-watch-television-for-weeks-on-end.
I thought I'd finish out the year with two last posts: my ten favorite things about living here and my ten least favorite things. So that we end on a positive note, here are ten things that I have found consistently, repeatedly, powerfully annoying.
10. "Hello! Howareyou! Whereareyoufrom!" This is at the bottom of the list because in slightly modified form, it can actually be nice. When I pass an ajuma and her 4 year old granddaughter and the ajuma smiles and tells her granddaughter to say hello, it's really sweet. When I'm in the right mood, it can make me smile for a bunch of middle school girls to get over themselves and say hello and then giggle for fifteen seconds. But when I pass a group of college aged boys (or grown men!) across the street and one yells out "whereareyoufrom!" and the others start laughing uproariously, that's annoying.
9. Auto exhaust. I like to run and I walk everywhere, so I spend a lot of time "with" cars, trucks and scooters. I don't know what it is that our exhaust tests in the states get off the road, but the majority of autos here put out a foul, noxious gas that I'm sure is just destroying my lungs. Of course the tractors and scooters are even worse.
8. Sewers rising. Again, I don't know what they've done in the US to prevent the smells of sewers from rising into the streets, but they certainly haven't figured it out here. The national dish is kimchi -- rotting (er, sorry, fermenting) cabbage with garlic, fish sauce, shrimp paste and chilies. Unfortunately, that's what everyone shits and it smells even worse than you would imagine.
7. Fan death and other insanity. A lot of Koreans (maybe a majority. really. even doctors.) think that if you sleep with a fan on in your room you will die. A lot of Koreans also think that Korea is the pinnacle of culture and accomplishment. Logic here is... to be culturally sensitive, I'll say different, though having studied symbolic logic, I feel pretty comfortable saying it's just either missing or gets beat out by antiquated cultural beliefs. Ignorance and delusion are everywhere.
6. Logistical challenges. A lot of things are a lot harder in a foreign country. Often to buy something, I have to ask a Korean friend for help. I'm not going to miss feeling like a retarded four year old.
5. Volume and style of speech. Korean men are much worse than the women on this, though plenty of women are plenty annoying as well. Fresh from the west, you would honestly think a discussion on where to go to lunch was a boiling blood feud. Koreans love to eat and drink outside (which I love), and there's a nice spot just below my apartment window (which I don't love). For hours on end two women will sit pouring soju (the Korean version of sake, except it's vile) for men talking and yelling and interrupting and gesticulating at volumes I thought impossible. No time of day or location is off limits for this manner of communication.
4. Confucianism. Confucius mapped out social relationships to try to produce social harmony (the ultimate goal of Confucianism) in any situation. According to Confucianism, the younger, female or lower status should be deferential and obedient, which often seems more like meek and unquestioning. I think social harmony is an admiral goal, and I think deference and humility are lacking in westerners, but the rigid way Confucianism operates in modern Korea creates manifold problems. As my coteacher (a 31 year old woman) said when she learned we wouldn't be having a retirement party for our principal (a 64 year old man) because the government found out he has been stealing money from the school, "Why does he still have job? If I am stealing, I don't have job one more day!"
3. The staring. Maybe now I know what it's like to be a gorgeous woman. No, not the same. I am stared at constantly. This was less true (though still common) in the big city, but in this rural little town, I'd say around half of the people I see on the streets just fix their gaze on me. I almost always look back, try to summon compassion and acknowledge them. Maybe one in ten gives me a nice smile and bows back (usually the older women), the rest look away until I've stopped looking at them, and then fix their stare right back on me. What really makes this hard is what's behind the stare:
2. Xenophobia. Korea has long been called the Hermit Kingdom and with good reason. Throughout its existence, Korea has had to fight off domination from China and empires of the Japanese, Mongolians and others. Even in modern times, Korea has remained remarkably isolated. Besides the utter unfamiliarity with anything not-Korean, there is also a deep (and historically valid) antipathy toward foreigners. I once asked three wealthy, cosmopolitan middle school students from Busan if they would allow their children to marry foreigners and all three said absolutely not. I have received a tremendous amount of kindness and welcome from Koreans, but with a few notable exceptions, there is always an element of my being not quite the same, not quite human. What I'm about to write is completely unfair -- there are so many differences and what I have faced here doesn't even enter into the same arena -- but living here has given me emotional insight into what it must have been (and be) like to be black in many times and places in the United States.
1. Missing events and holidays at home. All of the above end when I leave in a week. But one of my best friends got married this summer, and I missed two Christmases with my family, and those are gone forever. I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had for those that I missed, but without exception, the hardest days here have been the days I have most wanted to be home.
What do you think waegookin seonsaengnim... what would you have included that I've left out?
|Teaching English in Korea Interview
|I was recently asked to provide an interview about my experience teaching in Korea, my decision to move to Korea, stereotypes of English teachers in Asia, culture shock and cultural assimilation, EPIK, and some other general stuff about my experience teaching English in Korea. I thought I would go ahead and provide the interview here. I hope you find it helpful. There may be a follow up interview in the future, if so I'll post that as well.
----- Why did you first decide to move to Korea? Had you had previous
experience? Did you know others who had traveled to Korea before
deciding to relocate there? Please describe your decision making
My decision to come here was very circumstantial. I was working as a research scientist in the US and was dating a Canadian when my grant got canceled and I was out of work. We didn't have a good way to be together in either of our countries, and she had friends who had paid off significant portions of their student loans teaching in Korea, so we started looking into it. We considered Taiwan most seriously as an alternative, but in the end the ease of the offers in Korea -- airfare paid, apartment ready when you get here -- and the excellent pay (at that time, in 2005, the exchange rate was about 40% better than it is now) lured us here. I had one friend that had taught in Japan with JET and had a decent experience but left before the end of the year. I read a lot about teaching in Korea before I came, espeically on forums.eslcafe.com/korea, which presents a particularly negative side of teaching here, but we decided to come anyway.
----- Was the process of moving different than what you expected? What
everyday difficulties, if any, do you encounter living in a foreign
The process of moving was very easy and more-or-less what I expected. The shock of landing in a very foreign country was intense. I had never been outside of N. America before, and Korea is very different than home. Jet lag was severe, and I remember on our second night there we went out to eat, at an Italian restaurant of all places, and after being out for an hour or two, my energy just plummeted. I didn't know how I was going to make it back to the apartment. I think our minds have a filtering system that keeps us sane by blocking most of the massive amount of information that constantly surrounds us. It filters that which is the same, usual, because we don't need to be aware of that. But suddenly in a Korean city, nothing is usual, so the mind is very easily overloaded. You ask about culture shock later, but let me say here, I think there are two seperate events that are labeled as culture shock, and they are very different. There is the experience I just described, which was very intense for just a few hours on the first few nights, mostly just lasted a few days and fades away entirely with a week or two. Then there is another experience that sets in around 3 or 4 or 6 months into living in a foreign culture, when the novelty has worn off, and things get really hard. I talk about this at length in a blog post, here.
----- I know there has been a stereotype of inexperienced Americans and
Canadians going to foreign countries and working very briefly, using
the job as a means to pay for a vacation. Do you think this is still
the case? There also has been a history of foreigners being lured to
countries like Korea (or Thailand) with promises of great jobs and
money only to be met with disappointing living and working conditions.
Has this practice changed? What opinions do you have regarding
both sides of this complicated relationship between teachers and
recruiters? Do you think EPIK has changed this in Korea?
I don't know how qualified I am to speak generally about this, especially since I haven't lived in Seoul, and that's where the vast majority of foreigners are (that was even more true before the government's recent push to put native english speakers in every public school in the country). But here are some thoughts.
Yes, people use it as a way to get away from home, as an escape. The reality is that living and working here comes with a huge load of challenges. I don't want to say it's harder, that would depend on specific circumstances at home and here, but it's definitely hard. I don't know a single foreigner here that would disagree with that. And while I think Korea rightly has a reputation for being particularly difficult, I've heard similar complaints about Thailand, Japan, China, etc.. So if this job has a reputation for being an easy way to take a vacation, I think that's undeserved. I think we earn every won we make.
I had read a lot about people showing up and being given moldy, rat-filled apartments. I think that has always been a tiny, if highly vocal, minority, and even more so now as the arrangement has become more widespread and communication between foreigners living here and thinking about coming here has increased. That said, people definitely do get screwed from time to time. Hagwons, the private, after-school tutoring centers that outside of EPIK employ almost all of the foreign English teachers, are intensely for-profit, and every won saved on a foreigner is a won of profit for the owner. I worried a lot about what would happen at the end of my hagwon contract, because at the end of a contract foreigners generally receive a month's pay, a bonus month's pay called severance, approximately a month's pay from contributions the boss should have been making each month to the national pension fund that can be withdrawn as a lump sum by foreigners leaving the country, and return airfare home. That adds up to about 7 million won for most foreigners. In the end, I did get nearly everything I was owed, with a hundred thousand or two won, but I felt like if the boss had thought he could have pushed me around, he probably would have.
Recruiters are driven by profit motivation too, and they understand how few recourses a foreigner has once they have moved here. So I think it's terribly important for foreigners to get references for their recruiter and their hagwon before they sign a contract. With EPIK this is much less true because the contract is standardized and there isn't the same profit motivation present in public schools. EPIK is far from perfect, and there are plenty of complaints among my friends and I about the program, but it is much more secure than a hagwon gig.
----- Have you experienced significant "culture shock" as a foreigner in Korea?
Yes, see answer 2.
----- To what degree do you think it's important to assimilate to the
culture you are living in?
Again, I'm not sure how qualified I am, because I haven't ever assimilated into a foreign culture. Note that the vast, vast majority of foreigners living here don't assimilate to any noticeable degree. I suspect those that have would say that it's both difficult and important. I think it's particularly difficult in Korea, because Korea has a history of fending off foreign invasions (surrounded as have been, historically, by empires: Japanese, Mongolian, Chinese, etc.) and that has informed their culture around the treatment of foreigners. For a more thorough treatment of this, see Korea Unmasked, which is written by a Korean. I think xenophobia is common here, as is fetishization of foreigners. Racism is, I think, less common, but prevalent as well.
On a lighter note, learning some simple aspects of the language: the "alphabet," food, numbers, taxi directions, etc. is hugely helpful, and new arrivals should learn that stuff ASAP.
----- I know EPIK views their native English speakers as assistants to
the regular English teachers, do you think using native English
speakers is beneficial when teaching English?
It's true that we are titled Assistant Teachers. What this means in practice varies widely from province to province, county to county, school to school, and especially from elementary to middle to high schools. My understanding is that in elementary schools foreigners are often treated more like assistants, with Korean teachers planning the lessons and incorporating foreigners to degrees ranging from not at all (I had one coteacher, who I taught 4 hours a week with last semester, with whom I would literally sit in a student's chair, in front of the class, facing the class, which he taught, and often not say a word. I eventually started bringing books into class and sat there reading.) to true coteaching, where the teaching role is passed back and forth. There are also situations in elementary schools where the Korean teacher feels embarrassed about their English in front of a foreigner, or is just lazy, and has the foreigner do all of the lesson planning and teaching. This can be good for everyone, if the Korean stays engaged with the class to keep Korean norms around discipline and respect in order. If, as many do, the Korean sits silently in the back of the class or even walks out, it can be very frustrating. It is extremely difficult to teach beginners of a language without a common language, especially children, with their constantly ambling attention. This alone is sufficient for me to recommend EPIK over hagwons to incoming teachers -- in EPIK you have a coteacher, in hagwons you don't.
I think it could be valuable to use native teachers, and in many cases I think it is. But the systems to make it properly and be of real benefit to the students haven't been put in place yet. This initiative to have native English speakers in every school is very young, and they are still learning how it should be done. So, as with the example I mentioned above, it often ends up being worthless for the students, and I think very frequently is of marginal value. I think a native speaker is most valuable as a teacher to advanced language learners, and those aren't primary and secondary students in Korea. With the right sort of co-teaching, I think it can be valuable. It brings a new pedagogy to language learning in Korea, which I think is sorely needed. I think it may be most valuable in diminishing xenophobia. There are now foreigners in every town in the country, and every student will grow up knowing at least 12 different foreigners. It's an extremely expensive cultural reform, but I foresee it opening up Korea quite a bit, and Korea has been a rather closed culture. When I left Korea last time, I took a ferry over to China, and the first Chinese person that I spent any time with told me that he thought culturally, "Korea is more [traditional] Chinese than China."
----- What are some of the benefits of teaching overseas as opposed to
teaching in your home country? What are the negative aspects?
This is a huge question. I think most of the benefits come from living abroad, and after that working abroad, the actually teaching abroad, in my opinion, has marginal benefits.
For teaching, that it is easier to get into comes to mind. Anyone with a bachelors degree can get a job in Korea. It is also an easier job for most people, but this is balanced by it being harder to live and work here. The negative aspects of working here are primarily that you might not have much control over your curriculum if you teach in a public school, and you might not have much control over (or ability to communicate with) your students if you teach in a hagwon.
A lot is made about the potential to save money here, and I think it is misunderstood. A typical job here, and this includes probably 95%+ of the jobs here pays between 2.0 - 2.3 million won per month. In addition, your airfare to and from Korea is taken care of and apartment (minus utilities) is furnished and paid for. Income tax is much more progressively structured in Korea than in the US, so at these income levels, the tax rate is 3.3%, and in public schools there is a two-year exemption from even that. Health care is socialized and costs about 50,000 won/month for coverage and makes visits to the doctor/dentist/pharmacy extremely cheap. Add to that the fact that, outside of Seoul, there isn't a lot for foreigners to spend money on. Restaurants are cheap, public transportation is excellent, and most of us don't want to accumulate much stuff, because we have to get rid of it or find a way to get it home in a year or two, and desirable entertainment options are scarce. So, 2.2 million won isn't that much money (about $1600 right now) for a month's work, but some expenses are covered by employer, some are minimized by the policies of the Korean Government, and others just aren't present here.
The benefits of living and working abroad are significant, and I think under appreciated and misunderstood. Much has been made of President Obama having lived in many different cultures and his penchant for surrounding himself with advisors that have also lived in other cultures. People that have left their home for an extend period of time develop a different way of looking at the world. I think this comes from having the beliefs that are operant in your home society (which we don't notice because they are omnipresent) challenged. That leads people to have more nuanced perspectives that are less based on the beliefs that are instilled by our culture's stories. Leaving the culture you were raised in, even temporarily, is -- must be -- an eye opening experience. A friend asked me recently what made me come back to Korea when I had many grievances about my first year here. I told him that I felt like a transformation had started in my first year that I needed to continue and couldn't at home -- that by removing myself from the shared beliefs, common assumptions and homogeny of the society I grew up in, I was forced to look more closely at the people and events around me and deliver my own conclusions, because I couldn't rest on the beliefs I had picked up by osmosis at home. I also had to redefine myself, because those around me didn't see me through the same cultural lens I had always been seen. Those processes are extremely trying, and I think they are generates the culture shock that emerges after a few months of living in a foreign culture. Really living in a foreign culture is probably the only way to experience it. When one travels, one is not immersed in a culture the same way one is when they are, for example, working in a foreign culture. So that's a benefit and a negative aspect. I believe it is hugely important, and it's why I am here now in spite of the intense frustration and frequent loneliness. Well, that and student loans. And the food. And the proximity to Southeast Asia.
One last thing I'll mention is a certain sense of freedom that comes with living here. I think it is related to the redefinition I just wrote about at length, in that it comes from a lack of understanding between you and those around you, which comes from a lack of shared cultural stories/assumptions. But knowing that no one really gets you, and no one can, is frighteningly liberating. And not understanding what that 15 year old is talking about on her cellphone can be pretty nice too.
|Teaching in Korea FAQ
|In my ongoing efforts to help people decide if teaching English in Korea is right for them, I thought I would post my responses to some questions I got from a friend of a friend who is thinking about making the move to Korea. I hope this helps. If there are any questions you think should be added to the list, let me know.
1. How did you apply for the position?
Through a recruiter. It is possible to apply to public school jobs directly, but there isn't any advantage to doing it that way, and it's more difficult and you have one less person in your corner should any issues come up. You could also come here to look for work... I think that makes the most sense for those with experience who are trying to land a highly competitive position, such as a university gig. One of the greatest benefits to starting in Korea is that everything is taken care of for you.... the recruiter will find you positions (for free, they're paid by the school), help you get everything in order for your visa and such, and then you'll be set up with a ticket (or airfare) and when you get here you'll have an apartment waiting for you. I can't imagine landing in Taiwan or Vietnam and trying to find a place to live at the same time as all the other new-arrival stuff.
2. Are you TESL/TEFLO certified?
No, and there's no need to be in Korea. For those who think Korea is a good fit, I would suggest starting here without it, and if after a year or two hear, you decide you want to stick with TEFL and possibly move somewhere where the certification is more important (particularly in the Middle East and a few particular Asian countries), then look into that.
3. How long did it take you from the begginning of your application process till ending up in Korea?
I started in May-ish, knowing that I wanted to come at the begining of the semester Sept. 1. One guy in my town did the whole thing in a couple weeks, but that's definitely on the fast end. The new school year just started last week.... there are always positions available, in public and private schools, but the big hiring pushes are for 3/1 and 9/1... I'd suggest starting several months before you want to come.
4. Is it easy to transfer teachig positions throughout Korea/Asia/World
I'm not sure what you mean by transfer. Korea runs almost 100% on 1-year contracts. One downside to Korea is that visas are non-transferable, so if you don't finish your contract, you have to get a release from your employer and go through the whole visa process again with your new employer. My understanding is that in Japan, for example, the visa is transferable. If you mean at the end of the contract, it's certainly easy to transfer within Korea... a year of experience here is a big plus because employers know you know what you're in for and that you can handle it. I imagine that's true with employers in other countries too. Two years experience and/or TEFL seems to be a commonly listed necessary experience for some of the more desireable jobs I've seen.
5. How hard is it to adapt socially (i.e. nightlife, dating,)
This is a huge question, and there are a lot of variables, most importantly you. I would suggest reading blogs of English teachers here... that's a nice window. Mine is at viewfromgangwon.blogspot.com... I'll probably refer you to a couple specific posts at some point.
In sum, Korea is not an easy place to adapt to. It is probably one of the lesser foreigner-friendly places on the planet. I have friends that have married into Korean families and are happy and plan to spend the rest of their lives here. But I know a lot more people that have come, foudn it very difficult, and are anxious to get out at the end of their contract. I think much of that is culture shock... the experience of living and working in a foreign culture after the novelty has worn off, and I do hear similar complaints from teachers in Japan and Thailand, but I'm not sure they are as ubiquitous or as strong as they are here.
If nightlife and dating are real concerns for you, I would suggest Seoul, or possibly Busan. Seoul is one of the biggest cities in the world, and you can find just about anything there, though I have never heard it refered to as cosmopolitan. Busan is a city of something like 3 million... I lived there for a year and quite liked it... it's on the beach and has a more moderate climate and a less hectic feel than Seoul, but also many many less foreigners and services for foreigners. Now I'm in a tiny town on the east coast, far from everything and very isolated. I took the job largely for the 5 week vacation, but it makes the other 47 weeks pretty tough, and I'm someone who likes a lot of time to himself for reading, guitar, exercise, etc.. Again, search for blogs of folks teaching in Seoul, Busan and other random places... the differences will be obvious.
6. What happens if i get sick/injured?
Korea has wonderful socialized medicine. About 50,000 won (~$30) of your monthly paycheck gets you medical care at prices you won't believe ($2 for a dentist visit, $.85 for a perscription fill, $300 for a crown treatment). Many doctors are trained at US medical schools. The bigger the city, the better in terms of quality of care and availability of ENglish speakers.
7. Have you been able to save money fairly easy?
Yes. This is the other advantage to living in the sticks... there's nothing to spend money on! Unfortunately, over the last six months, the exchange rate has moved massively against those of us saving won to convert to dollars (~40%). It hasn't affected prices here much, but it sucks when you transfer money home. Still, I will bank 5-figures this year, and that's with a 3-week trip to Thailand, buying the nicest food I can find and taking regular trips around the country. I don't, however, drink or smoke or eat meat, so I save money on all of those. The maxim is that you should be able to save half of your salary without trying. I save around 70%. When thinking about savings, don't forget that at the end of your contract you effectively get 2 months extra pay - one called severence and one from a pension.
8. How much stuff did you bring to Korea?
I brought the two largest suitcases I could get my hands on, and packed things like Clif bars, books, and a tennis racket. My parents send me a package every few months with my favorite foods and toiletries, which helps a lot.
9. have you picked up much of the language since your inception?
No, and most people don't, but that's stupid. Korean is one of the hardest languages for an English speaker to learn, but it can be done. Especially in Seoul, if you really wanted to commit to it, there are hagwons (a hagwon is like a tutoring center, they offer after school classes to students, especially in English, and employ most of the foreigners here) that teach Korean to foreigners.... If there were one here, I would do it. I have enough of the language to get around, but embarrassingly little for having lived 18 months here. I bought some books before coming and while here, but just haven't dug into it. I've heard people talk about acquiring languages like Hindi and Italian in less than a year because they loved the culture and always wanted to be immersed in it. I think the converse explains why most of us don't make much of an effort at Korean.
So there are some thoughts. Here are a few blog entries that might be valuable to consider:
several videos, if you want to get an idea of what life looks like in Korea.
differences between hagwon and public school teaching
general thoughts about being and teaching here. be sure to check out the comments section, as there are lots of valuable insights from readers there.
I hope all that helps. If it brings up any more questions, feel free to ask. If you decide you want to come, my recruiter was great before we got here, and in helping us when we needed to move. I'd be happy to set you up with them (I get a little kick-back if you end up signing on.)
|Hwanseongul... the 2nd Largest Limestone Cave in Asia
|I figure it's time to start blogging again since I've been back from vacation for two weeks and have had the same post up here for over a month now. Actually, I kept it up because it turned into a great discussion of what prospective teachers in Gangwon-do's EPIK program can expect.
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Tom Cruise, our favorite of all the teachers at our school, invited us to go with him to Hwanseon Cave. Hwanseongul is the closest thing we have to a tourist attraction out here near Dogye, and as one of the largest caves in Asia, it's a pretty decent draw. Scientists have mapped out over 6km of it, and there's still more they haven't gotten to. All of the large caverns are accessible to tourists, and for scope, if nothing else, it was quite impressive.
The hike up to the entrance is only 1.6km long, but at an average grade of over 15%, it was trying (and tough on the knees on the way down). This whole area is quite beautiful, and the valley the cave is situated in is a nice example of that. Here's Melanie posing in front of a waterfall on the way up:
The beauty of the hike was tempered by awful music being played at stupidly-loud volume all the way up. Here's a little sample... try to catch the lyrics. ;)
I guess the water flowing into the cave is flowing too fast for stalactites and stalagmites to form, so instead there are lots of "flowstones," which look largely like curtains. Here's nice formation that was called something like "Shapely Woman Flowstone:"
And another one that was supposed to look like a statue of the Virgin Mary. I thought the semblance was striking.
Here's a picture of Melanie and I in front of one of the myriad caverns:
And a heart-shaped formation that made for an awkward moment. Melanie is leaving next week; we've decided to go our separate ways. But when we came to this formation Tom Cruise said he would take a picture of us in front of the heart because "Michael and Melanie love forever."
Melanie really wanted a picture with Tom Cruise, but thought it might be awkward to ask for it. So instead, she told me to point the camera at them with the flash ready, and she would get him to smile for the camera. And it worked:
All of the formations and constructions had names like "Melting Turtle" and "Palace of Dream." There were also two bridges, "Bridge of Heaven" and this one:
The "Bridge of Hell" was actually really wobbly, and quite scary with a many-hundred foot drop beneath it. Beneath that was a water pool so deep scientists haven't been able to determine its depth. Scary, but well worth the fear to be rid of our sins.
And finally, back down near the start of the hike:
The rock pinnacle in the upper-left corner of that last picture shows how dramatic the mountains can be around here. Many, if not most, are unclimbable (for me at least) because they're too steep to be hiked and too covered in dirt and trees to be climbed. Awfully good for looking at though.
It was well worth our time to visit the cave, mostly since it's less than half an hour away. We had a good time with Tom Cruise, who has decided to quit the teaching job that's obviously been making him unhappy for the last fifteen years to "follow his dream." He's a smart, caring guy, and we sure wish him luck in finding it. Thanks Tom Cruise, for being our one friend at Dogye Elementary School.
|Teaching and Living in Korea, Gangwon-do Public School and Busan Hagwon
|After a year of teaching EFL in a Hagwon and a semester of teaching English in a public school in Gangwon-do, here are my thoughts on teaching English in Korea in general, and about the differences between the public school gig and the hagwon gig. I hope it will be helpful to those that are thinking about coming to Korea to teach English.
Before I get into it, I want to preface this by saying that real culture shock, in my experience and the experience of my friends that have lived in Korea and other foreign cultures, sets in around the three to four month mark. It is characterized by disdain for the local culture, frustration with other aspects of one's life, and a strong desire to escape the âshockingâ culture. For more on culture shock, check out this post from about a month ago. I have been here about four and a half months, and I feel like I'm on the tail end of what has been a fairly severe culture shock. Just wanted to throw that in for completeness, for those readers contemplating coming to Korea, or to Gangwon-do to teach for EPIK in a public school.
Living in Korea
Korea is not particularly hospitable to foreigners. There is a lot of kindness in the Korean people as a whole, but there is more xenophobia (fear of foreigners). There is a historical reason for this: the Korean people have, throughout their history, had to fight off invading forces â Japanese, Mongol, Chinese, etc. The result is a people that are very insular and distrusting if not downright disrespectful toward foreigners. Of course there are exceptions â I've had friends (male and female) marry into Korean families and be, to varying degrees, accepted by the culture. There are also some teachers that come here for a year and enjoy the time they spend with Korean people. But the vast majority of foreigners I've talked to and emailed with feel isolated and disliked by Koreans and look forward to the day they get to go home or to another culture.
What is the difference between those who have a great time here and those who can't wait to leave? I've thought about this a lot, and I think I have some insight into the personalities that fit best and worst here.
Those that have the hardest time here are typically:
- Female â sorry ladies, but this is a culture of and for men. I've known a lot of strong women who have had a very hard time here. The disrespect I experience is multiplied several times over for women. I suspect beautiful women have it easier than others, with blond hair and thinness being primary qualities of beauty here. Also women that are okay with being less involved in conversations, decision making and the like will do better.
Those who have the best time here are typically:
- Drinkers/Smokers/Red Meat Eaters â I am none of these things, and that has proved hard. Had I come here just out of college, I would have been going to the bars and cook-your-own-meat-at-the-table restaurants with other teachers from my school three times a week, getting drunk and smoking cigarettes with them and building social bonds through that. This seems to be the primary social opportunity here. Of the people I've met that are happy in Korea and plan to stay, nearly 100% have enjoyed regularly consuming at least 2 of these 3 things.
The other big difference I see between those who are happy here and those who are not is sensitivity. Korea is not a place for sensitive westerners. Expressions of appreciation are few and far between and ostricization â most often expressed non-verbally â is constant. On the streets, smells of sewage hit you like a truck every couple of minutes. Buildings are aesthetically devoid and covered in advertisements, and loud noises are constant. Those who set their own emotional state, or who are relatively constant in their feelings, regardless of their surroundings, can do very well here, but this is not the place for those who are sensitive to their environment and the way they are received by the people they work with.
Teaching English in Korea
Public Schools
In public schools, foreigners are hired as assistant teachers, and we are more assistant than teacher. For the fall semester, which we've just finished, I had three co-teachers that I worked with at my primary school. With one of them, I taught eight hours a week (actually eight, forty minute classes) of sixth grade, for which I prepared one, forty minute lesson and usually got to deliver it to both sixth grade classes. Sometimes my lesson plans ended up in the trash because something took precedence â a special event or falling behind schedule or the children misbehaving and the teacher needing to take thirty minutes to yell at them (no kidding, that happened several times). With my two fifth grade teachers, with each of whom I taught four hours a week, I simply sat next to the desk while they taught. Sometimes I would be asked to speak words or phrases for the students to mimic the correct pronunciation; sometimes I would sit silently and do nothing for the entire class. Of the three teachers, one would consistently offer me his comfy teacher's chair; for the other two, I would sit in a fifth-grade-student-sized wooden chair.
That was the bulk of the semester. For winter vacation the students and most of the teachers get six weeks off. We get three (I'm leaving for Thailand tomorrow!), and run âwinter campsâ for the other three. Winter camps were hard, but rewarding. For one week, we had a budget, two Korean teachers who actually helped us and seven hours a day to do whatever we wanted with the kids. That was great, but very demanding. For the other two weeks, we had three hours a day with the kids, with no budget and no Korean teacher to translate or help us control the students. That was more difficult, but we got to go home at 12:30 everyday, which is nice. Summer vacation will probably be similar, except that it's a bit longer, and our vacation is shorter (two weeks), so there will probably be more camp and special education activities.
Our situation here isn't exceptional, but it isn't universal either. Some teachers have much better rapport with their schools. I think this is mostly just a crap shoot. One couple hasn't had to go into school at all over vacation and is teaching a winter camp after the spring semester starts. Lucky them. Where we are (in Samcheok County), situations like ours seem more common, but I think this county might be particularly tough on its foreign teachers.
In 2005 â 2006, I taught in a hagwon (a private after-school academy) in Busan. That teaching was very different than what I'm doing now. Much has been written on the internet about the hagwon-teaching experience, so I'll be brief. It was extremely tiring to teach without a Korean to translate for me, but on the other hand, I got to design my lessons and could teach anything I wanted. I taught six, fifty-minute classes a day, as opposed to four, forty-minute classes a day in my public school. Every day I would step outside between classes and think, âI can't do this any more, I've got to get out of here.â But I did do it, and so do lots of other people. I was always scared that my boss was going to cheat me out of money, but in the end he ended up paying me all I was owed, within a couple hundred dollars anyway. I suspect if he had sensed he could have pushed me around more, he would have. There were two big upsides to the hagwon gig: the hours â 3:30 to 10:30pm with an hour to go home for dinner beats the pants off 9-5 with lunch in the school cafeteria in my book. The other biggie is that you know exactly where you're going before you get on that plane. With the public schools, you typically know only the province you're going to before you leave home. We got massively unlucky in this regard, as we came to Gangwon-do, the mountainous, rural province the northeast corner of South Korea and ended up in one of the last remaining coal mining towns in the country. With a hagwon, not only do you know where you're going, but you can find out the details of who you'll be working with, how far your apartment is from your school (in my hagwon, I was a three minute walk away, in our public school we were initially placed a $3, forty-minute bus ride away), and even what your apartment looks like. Here as everywhere, the devil is in the details, and before you sign up with a hagwon, you can know a lot more of the details than with the public schools.
I would recommend teaching English in Korea primarily to guys strait out of college. If you want to do something interesting for a year or two, save a ton of money and put an interesting item on your resume, this can be a very good gig. If you want to go to the bars most nights, and would enjoy cooking beef at your table, you might even fit in with some of the people you work with. And of course there's travel â most people experience major personal growth while living here, and the opportunities for travel (either on vacations if you go with Gangwon-do public schools, or afterward if you don't have as much vacation) are second to none.
If I were doing it again, I would go with the public school over the hagwon â it's a ton less stress, but I would try to come at an off time (not 3/1 or 9/1), and I would want to know exactly where I was going to be placed before I signed anything. I would also make a huge effort to build report with the teachers and administrators in my school in the first weeks.
If you're interested in teaching in the public schools, we came with a recruiter, Jen, who did an excellent job of answering our questions before we came, and of representing us through our battle with the authorities to move closer to our school. If you'd like to get in tough with her, send me an email â mlevy79 (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll put you in touch with her.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck, and if you do come to Korea, let me know how it goes.
Be sure to check out the comments below -- there is a lot of insight there from other westerners that are teaching here.
|Seoul Trip II
Last week we had Thursday and Friday off, so after a day of recovery from teaching English Camp, we went to Seoul on Friday for 3 days of recovery from living in small town Korea for months on end.
One of the coolest things we did was visiting Inwangsan - a shamanistic temple right in the middle of the city. The indigenous religion here, as I understand it, weaves together Buddhism, Shammanism, and ancestor-worship. I love the religion-customized for a people and place, and it creates unique sights like this temple where there are Buddhas carved into rock faces, families making offerings to ancestors and hundreds of scattered shrines around the grounds.
The pidgins at this temple were well fed with white rice, and their population reflected it!
Here are a few of them taking flight above the temple and above the city. Magical place for a temple, above and amidst the third largest city in the world.
These naturally formed shapes in this rock are supposed to resemble human figures. It was at least a bit spooky, and a major worship site immediately in front of the rocks.
In some cultures, you might think, "Weird, that a fifty-year-old woman is hula hooping in a shamanistic temple." But in Korea those are just as natural together as kimchi and chocolate.
The two of us, happy to be out hiking on a trip to a city.
A Buddha carving in a rock wall.
Of course, any trip to a major city is as much about food for me as anything else, and this trip was no exception. We stumbled upon this burrito shop totally by chance - the only authentic burrito I've had in Korea, and for like 8,000 won (US$6) with guacamole! To get there exit subway line 1 at Jonggak, exit 6 and go strait until you find Tomatillo, next to an Au Bon Pain.
Later we climbed Mt. Namsan, which is also right in the middle of Seoul and also provided some great views.
Kids chasing birds - cute in any culture.
I got some cotton candy for all the hiking...
...but decided to skip the spawn potage dinner on offer in Insadong.
|Teaching Can Be Great! (I had forgotten)
|We're two days into the five day winter camp, which, in contrast to our normal routine, we actually get to plan and execute, with two Korean teachers to back us up. And it's great! The kids are having fun, they're getting exposed to real, situational English, they're getting conversational practice, and Melanie and I are happy and engaged. And of course we're working hard, because that's what people do when they're empowered and given responsibility.
If I could make one suggestion to EPIK, the program that spends hundreds of millions of Korean tax dollars every year to put a native English speaker in every public school in the country, it would be to give up a little control, and let the foreigners teach. We're almost worthless as the system is set up now. But if the students were exposed to our teaching style, cultural conventions, and language use day in and day out from first to twelfth grade, it would make a huge difference. But they've got to let us teach. And that would mean giving up control to foreigners, and younger ones at that, which is highly unlikely to happen, given Korean Confusionism and attitudes toward foreigners. Too bad.
|I'm Singin' in Korean!
|Today I perform. In Korean.
Let me 'slpain. A couple of weeks ago we were asked to perform in a Korean speech contest. My, and everyone's, protests, which I centered largely on the argument that I don't know any Korean, fell on deaf ears. So in confirmation of the fact that I am a dancing English monkey at the command of my handlers, I will perform in Korean today in front of my boss, his boss, and probably his boss as well.
But memorizing a speech in Korean just seemed too boring. So instaed I found a Korean pop song that I actually don't hate, or rather didn't before hearing and practicing it hundreds of times, and will perform it this afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes. In the mean time, here's a video of the song. It's called Wero, which translates to consolation or comfort, and is by the artist Kim Sarang.
And in case you didn't get the singin' in Korean reference, watch this.
Korean video parody
~ì ìí´ ì ë¡ëë¨ MeowHouse
|Frustration at Spa Vill
|My second school, where I teach on Tuesdays, lets me leave after my last class ends at 3:10. Since it's closer to the bigger towns of Samcheok and Donghae, I usually head to one of those on Tuesday evenings for some combination of shopping, dinner and entertainment.
Yesterday I went to Samcheok to get my haircut, workout, relax at the bath house and do some grocery shopping. The haircut went well considering the language barrier, and at 10,000 won (~US$7) for the cut with a shampoo and scalp massage, it's quite a deal. (The place is called Hair Doctor and is up the stairs about five doors down from the Duncan Donuts [toward Home Plus] in downtown Samcheok.)
The workout went less well. I get stared at more at the gym than in most places in Korea, though I'm not sure why. Yesterday was no different, especially from a man wearing elastic waist and ankle zebra pants who appeared to be training a group of rather large Korean men. But whatever, I just crank up my iPod and do my thing... it's just part of being here.
But when I got on the treadmill, I noticed I was getting even more attention. After about five minutes, the zebra pants-ed man came up to me and made some gestures that I interpreted as he thought I was stepping two hard on the treadmill. At that point though, I was tired of being stared at and just wanted to do my workout, so I shrugged my shoulders and put my headphones back on. A few minutes later, another man stepped onto the treadmill next to mine, pointed at me, and said âvery strong step.â I shrugged my shoulders in an attempt to communicate something like âSeriously? / What do you want me to do about it? / What's your problem?â But he continued to say things like âsoft step,â so eventually I relented and started running on the balls of my feet, and asked him âOkay?â but even that didn't seem to satisfy him. So I put my headphones back on and kept running, but got off after 12 minutes because I didn't like the way I was being looked at and was having a hard time focusing on my running. I was not at all happy with that, but sometimes it's just too much to fight it.
So I thought I'd go swimming, as I usually do after I workout there, but when I asked the clerk if she had goggles I could use, she politely informed me that it would be an additional 5,000won to swim. Well, at least I saved that money each time I used the pool before I found that out. ;)
I had a nice soak with a monk (how often do you get to bathe with a monk?), a sauna and a lovely 30 minute chair massage (as in the chair was massaging me, not like I was in a chair getting a massage) for 4,000won in the jimjilbang.
Then I went to the department store, did my grocery shopping, and when I plopped my stuff down on the checkout counter, the person in front of me happened to be Kim Sun, my co-teacher. What a small world! Okay, small Korean town, but still.
|Busan Trip
|It's been too long since I've last posted. Here's a long-winded write-up of our trip to Busan last weekend...
Last Friday, we left school at noon to catch a bus for Busan where we would celebrate my birthday and soak up the refreshing cosmopolitanism of Korea's second city.
Because we live in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, we had to take a bus 45 minutes north in order to get the bus that would take us five hours south. That's frustrating. In fact, the time expense to travel around the country from eastern Gangwon-do has been one of the most frustrating aspects of living here, especially when half of the population is connected by a bullet train that crosses the country in two hours. If I had it to over again, I would probably ask to be on the western (Seoul) side of the province for this reason alone.
With that said, the bus ride wasn't too uncomfortable, and we got into Busan early enough to head to âKebapistan,â the famous-among-foreigners Turkish restaurant in the PNU neighborhood of Busan. My multiple falafel sandwiches were lovely, though not quite as good as they were when I lived in Busan in 2006. That or my memory has inflated their taste in the intervening years.
One of the great things about traveling in Korea is the ubiquity of cheap accommodation. Koreans typically live with their parents until they are married, so, in response to the demand for private space for young men and women, thousands of âlove motelsâ have sprung up across the country, where one can stay in a reasonable, clean room for between 20 and 50,000 won (US$15 â 37). We asked a table of foreigners if they knew of any such places near by and they pointed us to a neighborhood with two in every alley (half way to Jangjeon-dong on the main street in PNU) and we found a nice place for 20,000 won and after a brief walk around the neighborhood promptly crashed.
I had planned the whole trip around the restaurants I wanted to eat at in Busan, and on Saturday morning we headed to a place, also in the university district of Busan, that I remembered for their vegetable panini and tomato soup. We found it with surprising ease, and while it had the same cute decor and English books and games, the menu had taken a significant change for the worse. Gone were paninis and soups, in were sausages and ham sandwiches. The consolation prizes of a couple onion bagels and cup of coffee at Starbucks were not unwelcome though.
From their we went up to Beomeo-sa, the biggest and most famous Buddhist temple in Busan. It was lovely, as it has been every time I've been there. There were lots of paper lanterns strung up today, which was especially nice, something a little different.
We went for a lovely hike above the temple, up to a prominent ridge-line that can be seen from all over the northern part of the city. The weather was shockingly good for mid-December, the day was clear and it felt great to be out and get the blood pumping. We live in the middle of nowhere as far as Korea goes, yet the air was cleaner in Busan, because we live in coal-central in the middle of nowhere Korea, so that was a nice change as well. We met a nice man from Gwang-ju, a recently retired principal, with whom we had a nice conversation on the way up the trail, and who kindly took and emailed us our only picture of the trip.
From there we headed to the vegetarian buffet in Seomyeon, but found it closed (restaurant failure #2 for the day), so we grabbed a quick bi-bim-bap (mixed veggies and rice) and headed for Jagalchi, the gigantic fish market on the pier of Busan. It was as busy, smelly and strange as ever, and we had fully taken that in, we headed a few blocks over to Nampo-dong, the trendy downtown area of Busan.
Nampo-dong on a Saturday night was totally overwhelming. Thousands and thousands of little shops in maze like alleys, all illuminated by dozens of hanging fluorescent lights â shoe designers, clothes consolidators, traditional Korean goods for tourists. After what felt like hours of sifting through piles of clothes (a pastime for Melanie), we had a pieces of clothing we like and headed for the hole-in-the-wall Indian place in Nampo-dong, that I absolutely love. To get there, walk down the main street in Nampo-dong to the Pizza Hut, turn into that alley, walking on the Pizza Hut side, look for a steep, green staircase on your right, about 2/3 of the way down that alley. It's up there on the right.
The Indian Restaurant has only one vegetarian dish â masala curry, and it turned out to be too spicy for Melanie, which was big bummer. So I enjoyed mine as quickly as possible and we hit a second bi-bim-bap place on our way out of Nampo-dong.
Then we got foolish. We headed all the way across the city to go to what is reputed to be the largest bathhouse in Asia. When we got off the subway, we looked at our guidebook to see how to get there and learned that it closed at 9:00. Most bathhouses in Korea are open 24 hours and will let you sleep there, which was our plan, but not this one. So we back across the city, to the Haeundae Beach area, for another jimjilbang that was open 24 hours.
I had a nice soak, especially on the balcony that overlooks the beach â that was special. Melanie had an unfortunate run-in with what may have been a would-be thief (averted by her quick action), and when we met in the clothed, co-ed part of the jimjilbang, we realized there was no way we were going to sleep there. Some jimjilbangs have big sleeping rooms that are closed off from the activity of the rest of the place. This one didn't. So we left, nearing 11:00, eyes shutting and all.
Fortunately we found a reasonable motel fairly quickly (the first one tried to put us in a dirty room) and we got a much-needed good night's sleep.
On Sunday morning we went for a nice walk on Haeundae Beach, which was largely empty, so we tried to imagine what it would look like in July with tens of thousands of Koreans packed onto it. It was cold though, so we headed back to the vegetarian restaurant in Seomyeon, which was open this time. We had our favorite meal of the weekend here, and picked up some oatmeal, flax seed and dried mango on our way out.
I knew it would be pushing it to head to Busan for a normal weekend like this, but for Turkish and Indian food, it was well worth it. And, yes, the Korean temple, restaurant and bathhouse were nice too.
|Novelty Lost - Thoughts on Culture Shock
|We've been here just over three months now, and it seems the novelty has worn us for us and for Korea. Culture shock is setting in for almost all of the foreigners I've talked with, and the folks in our school seem less interested in us everyday.
Most people think that culture shock comes immediately upon arriving in a new culture. The name makes such a mistake understandable. Culture weary might be a better title for this experience.
I had a bad case of culture shock my first year living in Korea (my first time outside of North America). From about 3 - 6 months, I mostly hated everything, and I plotted daily how I could and would go home. I was unhappy in general, and especially disliked anything and everyone Korean. It also manifested as resentment toward my girlfriend, distance from my friends and apathy for my hobbies. I look around at the teachers who arrived here at the end of August, and I see tired, weary looks that remind me of how hard that period was for me.
Culture shock is an incredibly valuable experience. It is hard growth at its essence. If you take the metaphor of a person as a tree, getting through culture shock is expanding the breadth of your trunk - imperceptible and inglorious at the time, but it yields stability and opens new possibilities for height in the future.
It comes when the fascination, the newness, of a foreign culture wears off and the fascination of you wears off for those around you. When that happens you are left with the day-to-day experience of living in a culture that doesn't understand you and doesn't support the image you have constructed of yourself over the course of your life. Without the cultural backdrop on which you have defined yourself, and which supports the notion of you that your ego maintains, you have to develop some other concept of self, one that doesn't depend on the perceptions of you that have been relatively constant in your home culture.
This is why I came back to Korea. This is the good stuff.
But when I get home after work, it feels like my heart has been leaking happiness and self-confidence all day.
This too shall pass.
|School Festival
|In Korean public schools, it seems classes and whole days of classes are canceled as often as not. Last week, of the sixteen classes I normally teach at my primary school, I taught a total of six. Fine with me, though I wish that I had a private office to sit in during those canceled classes, instead of a desk in the room where the teachers and administrators come together in a cacophonous mess of 70 decibel Korean every ten minutes.
Anyway, Friday was School Festival Day, and the classes were gearing up for it all week, and even the week before. Each class got a five minute slot in which to perform, usually some sort of song and dance.
There were trucks in the parking lot of school selling cotton candy in cups and various plastic, flower bouquet-like contraptions. Many of the students were done-up in there traditional Korean best make-up and dresses. The librarian had been cutting out giant Korean characters for days. Anticipation was in the air!
The mothers, and their cameras, came out in hordes!
Two of my favorite students dressed up as bride and groom to play emcee.
One of the cutest little girls I've ever seen, performing a song with her first grade class.
Deep concentration was required by all. (don't think about cookies.... don't think about cookies....)
The whole thing was a giant whirl of colors!
This guy, who was clearly someone important, based on the greeting he got from the principal (whose ear is on the right), did what many high-status Korean men do -- ignored the hundreds of people behind him (and the zoom button, apparently) to get what he wanted.
One of my sixth grade classes performed a lovely enactment of "The Tortoise and the Hare" (in English), including this fight scene. I edited the script. Where I suggested that "the lesson of the story is..." should be maybe "the moral of the story is..." the final line of the play was "Maybe the moral of the story is..." Oh well, they like humility here. Maybe telling your elders what the moral of a story is would be presumptuous.
Then, unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died, so I have no pictures for you of the very cutest student of all, the amazing dance of Korean dragons to traditional Korean music, or the animated show my fifth grade class put on using 24 sketch pads held together in a giant square. Next time, charge the batteries the night before a big event!
It was a very entertaining afternoon. It was really fun to see the students so excited and to meet some (though too few) of their mothers. On the down side, it was followed by dinner at a grill-your-own-pig-meat-at-the-table restaurant, so we got home at 7:00 hungry, annoyed, and smelling like burnt pig flesh. But that's nothing that a change of clothes, a big bowl of popcorn, and an in bed screening of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? can't cure.
|I just got out of one of my sixth grade classes. Kim Sun, my co-teacher, likes to show the students 2 second muted clips from Korean comedy television shows, for the students to say what the actors are doing using the language structure of the lesson.
There are big screen TV's connected to a computer with high speed internet (very high speed) in every classroom in Korea. If the U.S. wants keep up we need a massive increase in our education funding.
***end digression***
The language structures for our current lesson are "Don't..." and "It's time to..."
For "Don't..." we watched an eight year old girl run full speed into a flying jump kick into the chest of one of her classmates, knocking him flat to the ground. "Don't kick your friends." Indeed.
For "It's time to..." we had (I couldn't make this up), a group of 20-somethings standing around a guy lying on his side, with his back to us, on what looked like an operating table. One of the friends put his hands together as if making a gun with his thumb and forefinger, and proceeded to poke his friend right in the cornhole. This looped over and over so as to create the motion of... no... I'm not going to write that here. But that's what our sixth graders got in class today. "It's time to wake up."
Interestingly, that didn't phase them a bit. What did phase them was last week, when the language structure was "Would you like to..." Kim Sun brought in a clip from a Korean soap of a man giving very tame kiss to a woman lying on a hospital bed. "Would you like to kiss me?" That sent the kids into hushed whispers that lasted until the clip was replaced with the next, maybe 30 seconds later. The tension was so palpable it made me uncomfortable. So, poking your friend in the butt - cool. Kissing a girl - seriously messed up.
|Pictures of Dogye on a Clear Day
|Yesterday Melanie and I completed the traverse of the long ridge on the west side of Dogye. It was a beautiful, clear day, and warm for this time of year. Here are some pics:
This is our town, Dogye! Just to the left of the seam is the campus of our elementary school:
From left to right the buildings are: kindergarten, gymnasium, administration and grades 2, 3 and 6, the dirt field, and grades 1, 4 and 5 plus the Dogye English Experience Center, which looks closer to opening every day - very exciting!
Melanie about to cast a spell on me from an "improvement" to the trail. It's too bad they build these things, it would've been a nice 3rd class traverse without them, but Koreans love their metal staircases.
From the high vantage point on the ridge, we realized just how close we are to Taebaek, the big city just down the road... as the crow flies anyway. A couple weeks ago we took a cab from Taebaek out to this special agricultural zone and windfarm.
A Korean grave...
And its setting. Not a bad place to be buried, eh?
Playing in the leaves like a couple of little kids.
On our way out we crossed the river just below the major coal mine that operates in town. Of all the towns in Gangwon-do, we were placed in the one with two of Korea's three active coal mines. Anyway, don't drink the water.
We passed a couple of awesome sounding restaurants on our way home. This one is Appricca.
And Smoper. Did they kidnap Papa Smurf and dye him green?
|My New Website
|Check out my new website, Growth Steps, where each month I'll document a new 30-day goal experiment.
I'm going to be creating at least one additional site in the near future, and each site will have a specialized purpose. The new one will be geared toward income generation, Growth Steps is designed to hold me accountable to my goals and for whatever benefit that sort of archive might have for readers setting similar goals, and this site is going to be more about my personal experience in Korea. I'm going to move away from political ranting and book reviews (since I didn't get to them, I'll say this now: read Jensen's Culture of Make Believe and Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. The former, in particular, is a life-changing book). This blog will focus on first person narrative and commentary on living and teaching in South Korea. And more pictures and videos. ;)
Thanks for reading.
|EPIK Apartment Tour (Dogye)
|A little while ago I made a video tour of our neighborhood and the apartment EPIK Gangwon-do provided for us in Samcheok. Today, I thought I'd post a video tour of our new EPIK apartment in Dogye.
Before we moved, we were commuting about two hours a day to our school in Dogye. We told our co-teacher, then the adminstration at our school, the Samcheok Education Office, our recruiter at ESL Job Network and finally the Supervisor of Education for Gangwon Province that we needed to be closer to our school, and finally, after almost two months of our harassment, they found an apartment for us in Dogye. The problem it seems is that EPIK tells recruiters to tell prospective teachers that they will be provided an apartment within 10 or 15 minutes of their school, while a manual that EPIK gives to the schools says to get your English Teachers an apartment within an hour of the school.
In any case, it turned out fine for all the hassle. We lost a lot of apartment space, and our apartment here is quite a bit older. Dogye is much smaller, and feels it. It also feels like the coal mining town that it is. But to leave home at 8:45 and get home at 5:15 is, as the commercials say, priceless.
Here's a look at our apartment, from behind, with town beyond it:
And here's the video (6:02):
|School Opening Day
|It's not what it sounds like.... Dogye Elementary School seems to have been open since at least the Korean War (1950 - '53). Instead, yesterday our school was "open" to teachers and administrators from all around Dogye Eub (an administrative region somewhat smaller than a county).
For days, everyone at school had been freaking out making artsy name tags, cleaning every last shoe-locker and polishing every last trophy. When we arrived yesterday, it felt more like we were walking into a sales convention or wedding reception than our school.
The entrance to the gymnasium.
Inside the gymnasium were scores of displays of students' artwork and stories, and teachers' methods, like the games we use in English class.
There were also a couple of banners (Koreans love banners). We were surprised to see that this one featured Melanie! And no, that's not a prison behind her. Those are the gym's offices.
After lunch, Kim Sun and I taught a demonstration class for about twenty other teachers and the elementary school supervisor for Samcheok County. Kim Sun - who just finished her "English Education Degree" - had planned this down to the last word (even my words), and was visibly nervous before we started. She's actually a great English teacher, and with her more than any other Korean teacher, we have a good natural dynamic in the classroom - both letting the other teach in their style and being there to support the other on pronunciation or complex directions or whatever. But yesterday she was just putting on a show, and had me relegated me to the talking stooge. In all of the feedback I heard, from Koreans and foreigners alike, was that I should have more of a role in the class. I don't know why Kim Sun set up that class the way she did - to show off, I suppose, but she is actually the one co-teacher I work with that doesn't need to hear that I should have more of a role in class... several of my other teachers really do need to hear that. Oh well. Hopefully she impressed whomever she was trying to impress.
After the demo class, we went into the freezing cold gymnasium, and Chantel (one of the three other foreigners who lives in Dogye) was asked to give a speech about her impressions of the demo class, the school, teaching in Korea and Korea in general. No need, apparently, for preparation, or for a translator. I would guess that less than 10% of the audience understood more than 10% of what she said.
Nevertheless, here she is trying to take the task seriously.
And here are the other foreigners trying not to laugh at her attribution of the children's good behavior to their nutritious lunches.
After two hours of not understanding anything in the gymnasium, we had had enough and scurried away to this restaurant for an awesome dinner. All of that, including drinks, for 8,500 won each (US$6.36).
And a bunch of happy campers after a good meal.
|Trip to Gangneung
|A couple weeks ago one of the teachers at our school asked if we wanted to go with him to Gangneung, the closest big town. After our plans were foiled last week by one of his students hitting another with a baseball bat and the subsequent necessity of dealing with the police, we arranged to go yesterday with him and another teacher from our school. Unfortunately, weather-wise, it was absolutely the worst day we've seen thus far in Korea.
The first stop was Okgye (pronounced "OK") Rest Stop off the Donghae Expressway, voted the most beautiful rest stop in Korea.
This little girl didn't seem to mind the rain.
The second stop was "Sun Cruise" - a huge hotel made in the image of a cruise ship.
Behind us you can see a smaller a ship. It didn't occur to me how weird it is that they had built a series of huge ships on hillsides until we got home and looked at these pictures.
The gardens at Sun Cruise were quite beautiful.
There was lots of sculpture, much of it on the theme of hands(?!).
We learned that this is how Korean symbolize a strong promise, not unlike pinkie swearing.
This was just inside the front gate. Those are decidedly non-Korean breasts!
Our group on a glass bottomed overlook. The teacher on the viewer's left we call "Tom Cruise" for his debonair ways. I teach two fifth grade classes with him. On the right is a teacher we call "Mirage" for our not having really noticed he exists for the first couple weeks we were there. Melanie teaches fourth grade with him. They are both exceptionally kind men.
After the Sun Cruise, we went to Tofu Town, a huge specialty restaurant for uncooked tofu dipped in soy sauce, tofu soup (I think it was really just soft tofu in water, with soy sauce for flavor), a delicious scallion-omelet, and some great side dishes.
Despite, or maybe because of, the surreal nature of the whole experience, it was a really nice day. It felt to me like we were a part of something in a new way, like we were genuinely on a friendly excursion with Koreans - no school-assignment or ulterior motives or feelings of obligation. Like we were part of a community of teachers, and like we were seeing Korea a little more from the inside. And as we talked about the upcoming hard winter in this town of 4,000 people, it was comforting to know there are at least a couple people we genuinely enjoy spending time with.
Tom Cruise's English is very broken (and the second best of all the teachers at school), but he seems to enjoy talking about ideas, which is extremely refreshing. Maybe this is true of all people and my perception of it just gets amplified with communication so limited, but prospects for conversation about anything meaningful have been few and far between. So a day of talking about the history of mining in our region and the effects of Korea's recent switch away from coal (negative population growth, poverty, the establishment of the only casino in Korea for domestic use), government, the election, the economies and how they relate was very welcome. It seems vocabulary is less a limiting factor for those sorts of conversations than is a willingness to slow down conversation and dig for the occasional big concept.
It's good to know that it's there.
|Hike Above Our New Home
|When I move to a new town, I make it a priority to get some perspective as quickly as possible by climbing the hills surrounding the place. When I moved to Boulder and climbed the beautiful red rocks above Settlers Park, I remember thinking I can't imagine living on flatland where you couldn't climb above and look down on town. Since 2000, I've lived in California, Colorado and Korea and those have suited me just fine.
So last weekend, our first in this town, I looked out my window and found the biggest hill beside town, found a valley next to and started walking up it. I ran into several groups of students on the way to the hike, and then one with his family on the trail. It feels great to be living in the same place we're working, to be (in some few ways) part of a community. On the other hand, when I went to buy water at the convenience store under our apartment after work in my sweats and ran into two students in the store, I was a little less excited about community and more worried about privacy. Similarly yesterday when we ran into a student 50 meters from our apartment and he followed us like a lost puppy into our building, the concerns trumped the satisfaction.
Anyway, here are some pictures from the hike, of our new home, Dogye Village of Samcheok County of Gangwon Province of the Republic of Korea. If it's a bit hazy, that's because there was a fire just a valley over two days before. Helicopters overhead all day, but no serious damage done.
Dogye from above. Our apartment is on the left, the highest of the cluster of six large buildings. That valley that we back up to is this weekend.
This is the industry that keeps this region breathing (and warm during the winter... there are actual bricks of coal all over the place. They get them delivered to burn for heat).
Here are some dogs that I can only assume are being kept for food. To be honest, I feel only marginally worse for these creatures than I do for the millions of pics and cows kept all over the world for food, in the United States usually in much worse conditions than these dogs.
Persimmons are everywhere this time of year, a dime a dozen, if you will. When the leaves blow off the trees, leaving the orange bulbs alone with the dark brown branches, it's really quite a site. I'll have to work on getting a better shot of it than this.
And a reflexology footpath, in the shape of a foot, at the bottom of the valley. They're huge on reflexology here (it's a Traditional Chinese Medicine thing). The idea, as best I understand it, is that you walk on the stone paths barefoot to stimulate the points on the bottom of your feet to enhance the flow of qi. We just got a path in front of our school, which we've taken to using after lunch, until we're dragged away by the raucous group of second grade girls that kidnaps us to the playground everyday.
|Apple Recalls Two-Prong Adapter Over Shock Concerns
Nevermind VR or high-tech PC gear, it seems like power adapters and their cables are the hardest things for companies to do right. This is the case with Apple who has started voluntarily recalling their two prong AC power adapters from Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina and Brazil. According to Apple, the defective Mac […]
The post Apple Recalls Two-Prong Adapter Over Shock Concerns appeared first on eTeknix.
|Hello, #Haechi! #PokemonGo #PokemonGoKorea #Pikachu #WindKoh #JourneyOfWind...
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|Hello, #Pikachu! Let's rock in #Guanghuamun. #WindKoh #JourneyOfWind...
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|We #fight, We #argue! We #hug, We #laugh! #ThankYou for #Everything! #Always...
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|Family will always be there for you! #ThankYou for #Everything! #Always #Love...
Family will always be there for you! #ThankYou for #Everything! #Always #Love You All! #WindKoh #JourneyOfWind #Seoul2016 #Korea #SouthKorea #Seoul #Myeongdong #Yooganevia #WindKoh [ http://bit.ly/1dq44m4 ] at Instagram [ http://bit.ly/2dcdYhg ]
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|We make #mistakes and #learn from them! #ThankYou for #Everything! #Always...
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|Family is always the ideal travel companions! #WindKoh #JourneyOfWind #Korea...
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|Traditional & Wushu Tai Chi & TCUP: Forces at work & hope for harmony
|From the tai chi perspective, the traditional tai chi associations on the one hand and the associations affiliated with the Wushu International on the other can be said to be two faces of the same coin. But just because their the same coin, their core differences which emanates from divergence in purposes are neither unified nor harmonized.
The main purpose of the traditionalist is by definition, to preserve the original meaning and intentions of tai chi. On the other hand, the main purpose of Wushu is to have Chinaâs Jewel of Chinese Heritage â Wushu â in the International Olympics. Japan has Karate and Judo, while Korea has Taekwondo. For the country that has the biggest population in the world, oldest existing civilization and the fasted growing economy at this time, to have no Chinese sports in the Olympics is truly preposterous.
The Cons & Pros of Wushu Tai Chi:
Wushu with its popularly practiced tai chi must simply be in the Olympics. But, to crash into this exclusive Olympic club, Wushu Tai Chi should fall into the western concept of sports. And unfortunately, skewing the profundity of the Chinese internal art of Tai Chi to suit this requirement simply puts tai chi into the same idea as gymnastics or figure skating. Tai Chiâs subtlety and profoundness is very difficult to be evaluated by mere professional judges â there are far too many important nuances that can only be sensed by a true expert in the art. This is one of the problems why Wushu gets to be controversial â the outcome of judging gets to be essentially based on aesthetics because it takes a very long, long time to have the proficiency to be an authentic judge. And time is the rarest element among the resources available to the Wushu thrust at this time.
âYes it was beautiful and elegantâ, but did it follow the principles of tai chi such that all the form training that one put in it actually improved oneâs push hands? Or did the form actually reinforce wrong habits of movement? Sadly, this is the usual negative result.
Can this be corrected? In the long run, maybe â but only if a constant aim is directed toward doing this correction. But, right now, this is not Wushuâs problem; it has many real hurdles to the evasive Olympic dream. This is, right now, just a distracting divergence from their focus.
Of course, there are many good points to this international propagation of Wushu:
Honestly, I really doubt if there was any group of organizations then that could have given tai chi this much in such a short period of time. However, the good cannot justify the dilution of the internal art into a mere external sport.
By and large, these are the cons and pros in Wushu tai chi.
The Pros and Cons of Traditional Tai Chi:
Of course, there are many good points to the traditionalists preserving the art for the future generation. Because without them, we would be more lost than we already are.
TCUP: Searching the Harmonious Balance:
The Tai Chi Union of the Philippines (TCUP), like the spine of a growing fetus has been continuously forming to be this center - to bring out the best from the limitations of yin and yang, and to express the âgrand ultimateâ from the harmony between the Wushu and the Traditionalists. Through this center, the differences between Wushu and Traditional need not be issues, âViva la differenceâ. The differences can be respected while recognizing that there are common grounds for unity and cooperation. TCUP is an expression of this working mode, âModus Vivendi â Live and let live!â
How do we do this? Very carefully? With lots of patience and a little bit of self-sacrifice - no, martyrdom is excessive. In six months, a year, year by year, decade by decade, we will reap the fruit of harmony and âno thousand pounds of force can stop our four ounces of gentle touch on the true heart of everyoneâ. Who knows, the world may be waiting for us to give it the cue. And the world can change as well.
|Showbiz Sandbox 305: Should âStar Wars: The Force Awakensâ Box Office Records Require An Asterisk?
The release of âStar Wars: The Force Awakensâ shattered box office records the world over and became the biggest movie opening of all time by earning $529 million. We explain why in countries such as Japan and South Korea, the latest âStar Warsâ not only didnât win the weekend, but in some cases earned less […]
The post Showbiz Sandbox 305: Should âStar Wars: The Force Awakensâ Box Office Records Require An Asterisk? appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.
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Lukt het jou om Noord-Korea op de kaart aan te wijzen?
Het bericht Zien: dit is wat er gebeurt als je Amerikanen vraagt waar Noord-Korea ligt verscheen eerst op Vance.
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|In new threat, Trump demands NKorea 'get their act together'
North Korea details plan to fire missile salvo toward Guam
|Trump escalates 'fire and fury' threat to North Korea
|President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on Thursday, demanding that Kim Jong Un's government "get their act together" or face extraordinary trouble. He said his previous "fire and fury" warning to Pyongyang might have been too mild.
|Localisation in ASP.NET: How to write multilingual applications
I been thinking of learning how to do this for a while now, number of reasons for that, my first language is not English, is Spanish, Uruguayan Spanish to be more precise, those that hear me from day to day can witness my struggles with English from time to time. Sometimes you wake up and words just flow, some other times, well.. that's not quite the case.
I always wondered how applications be developed that can then be easily extended to support other languages. Especially in this global village we live in today, in our Pacific region for example there are so many languages that is just mind blowing, from Oceania, South-East Asia, to Japan, the Koreas and even to the other side of the Pacific Ocean there is South and Central America.
Also by pure coincidance a couple of months we were asked to provide an English language version to a charity website we have been maintaining at home for a number of years now called uruguayosunidos (I'm not responsible for a terrible spelling mistake on the homepage). Problem is this site is just a plain html site where unfortunately we cannot use localisation. :-(
Enter ASP.NET 2.0 and resource files
One common approach in ancient times was to provide two versions of the same web, one for each language for example, one for Spanish another for English. This can clearly turn into a nightmarish scenario when maintaining the app, imagine!. The good news is that when creating an application with ASP.NET 2.0 or later you can use resource files to contain language specific content, eg one resx file can contain your French content, another can contain your English specific text etc.
ASP.NET supports two types of resources, local and global resources, local resources are scoped to a particular page while a global resource is scoped to the entire application. The equation is simple, if you want content specifically for a particular page, use local resources, now if you want the text that say what your 'Save' button should display through your whole app, then this should be in your global resource file.
To discover how this all works together I first put some labels and textboxes into an aspx page and got right into it. To get started, I just want to display a simple form where a user can enter her first name, last name and a button to submit the entries.
<table> <tr> <td><asp:Label ID="lblFirstName" runat="server" Text="Name" /></td> <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtFirstName" runat="server"/></td> <td><asp:Label ID="lblLastName" runat="server" Text="Last Name" /></td> <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtLastName" runat="server"></td> </tr> <tr class="ButtonRow"> <td colspan="4"><asp:Button ID="btnSave" runat="server" CssClass="Button" Text="Save" /></td> </tr> </table>
How to localise Page using Explicit Localisation Expressions:
So far nothing new. What I wanted to do was render those controls text's either in English, Spanish or Chinese according to the user's preferred language.
For that to happen first of all what I had to do was 'localise' the page, first I had to modify the controls to use resources's expressions. This expression is going to get the content from the resource files according to the user's language of choice. For example:
<asp:Label ID="lblFirstName" runat="server" Text='<%$ Resources:lblFirstName %>' />
The value of the Text property is now an "Explicit" resource expression, it is called Explicit because the property is set explicitly to a given value in the resource file for the preferred language.
Also you have to set the Page directive to include UICulture to auto, so when a user requests the page, a file matching her settings will be loaded automatically.
<%@ Page Language="C#" UICulture="auto"...
Associate a resource file to a Page
I created three resource files for this page and I then had to adde them to a special folder called App_LocalResources. You have to create this folder within the same folder as the page you want to localise.
Right-click where you want to add the folder and then Add ASP.NET folder->App_LocalResources, once this is done, I was ready to add the resource files to the folder. To do this right click on the App_LocalResources --> Add New Item and selecting Resource File as shown below.
Important: To associate a resource file to a particular page, the naming convention is very very important.
It has to be in the format of page_Name.[Culture_Name].resx
See how above I have my Default.aspx page, I want to associate a resource file to deal with users who's language of choice is Spanish-Uruguayan (es-UY)
I added three files, a default resource file that is used in case none of the other resource files match the user's preference/settings (it is strongly recommended to always have a default resource file) and then the files for spanish and chinese simplified. Also note that in this example I have my Default.aspx page and that at the same level I added the App_LocalResources folder.
Resource Files:
Visual Studio has an editor for the resource files which enables you to enter name and value pairs as shown below..
Note that I have associated for my Uruguayan Spanish page the name of the properties to their corresponding values that I will then retrieve from my aspx page.
Once I 'localise' all the controls in the page, my aspx looked like this.
<table> <tr> <td><asp:Label ID="lblFirstName" runat="server" Text='<%$ Resources:lblFirstName %>' /></td> <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtFirstName_Ex" runat="server"/></td> <td><asp:Label ID="lblLastName_Ex" runat="server" Text='<%$ Resources:lblLastName %>' /></td> <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtLastName_Ex" runat="server"/></td> </tr> <tr class="ButtonRow"> <td colspan="4"><asp:Button ID="btnSave" runat="server" CssClass="Button" Text='<%$ Resources:btnSave %>' /></td> </tr> </table>
Now is up to the user's settings to see what gets loaded. I'm going to setup my preferred language in IE7 to Spanish and see what happens..
To do this: Tools->Internet Options -> Languages button at the bottom. I then added Spanish Uruguay and Moved it to the top to set it as my preferred language as shown below.
Now is all ready to go and loading the page should display my labels and button in Spanish.
And yeah! it worked, look how I associated the lblFirstName property in the Resource file:
<asp:Label ID="lblFirstName" runat="server" Text='<%$ Resources:lblFirstName %>' />
If I then set Chinese to my preferred language ( provided I have the Chinese culture resource file as shown below)
Thanks Jerry for the characters! I hope it means what we intend to ;-)
Then loading the page shows the correct content.
Using Implicit Localisation Expressions:
An alternative to explicit expressions is that you use implicit localisation which is very handy if you want to localise controls throughout your page with just one resource key. The resource expression looks as follows:
<table> <tr> <td><asp:Label ID="lblFirstName" runat="server" Text="Name" meta:resourceKey="lblFirstName" /></td> <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtFirstName" runat="server"></asp:TextBox></td> <td><asp:Label ID="lblLastName" runat="server" Text="Last Name" meta:resourceKey="lblLastName" /></td> <td><asp:TextBox ID="txtLastName" runat="server"></asp:TextBox></td> </tr> <tr class="ButtonRow"> <td colspan="4"><asp:Button ID="btnSave" runat="server" CssClass="Button" Text="Save" meta:resourceKey="btnSave" /></td> </tr> </table>
The labels and button include the meta:resourceKey property that represents a key in the local resource file. The entries are set to the Text property of the labels and button. I noted that you have to define all the meta resourceKey for each localisation resource file you have.
The advantages of using implicit localisation is that you can use the content for multiple controls, say you have 4+ 'Save' buttons through your page, all you need to do is associate a resource key to the controls. Also it is easier to localise existing apps, all that needs to be done is add meta:resourceKey="Property_Name" attributes to your existing controls.
Note that is also possible to load resources programmatically by using GetLocalResourceObject(String name):Object and that you can also used it to format text, you can store values in the resource file such as "Welcome {0}!" and then at run time format the string as necessary.
Global Resources:
While local resources are cool, their limitation is that they are relevant at a page level scope rather than at an application scope. A global resource can then be used through the app for you to setup the localised text. By convention, any resource that you want to be available to all your pages, controls etc should be in a global resource file.
To add global resource files you need to first add another special folder to your solution, this time the folder must be at the root of your application. To add it right-click on your application node --> Add ASP.NET folder --> App_GlobalResources.
Then you just add resource files as I did it for local page level, following the same naming convention as shown before for the language and culture.
I called this file Resource.es-UY.resx
Now the interesting thing comes when you want to retrieve the values from a global resource file. The sytnax is slightly different and it is as follows:
<h2><asp:Literal ID="litWelcome" runat="server" Text='<%$ Resources:Resource,Welcome %>' /></h2>
With global resources you have to specify the name of the resource file and then the property you want to get to.
The result is:
It is also possible to retrieve values from global resources programmatically using GetGlobalResourceObject(string, string) method that takes two parameters, name of the global resource page and name of the property key you want to retrieve.
Because the .net framework converts global resources into compiled classes, you can use strongly typed expressions to retrieve values from the resource files. When you create a resource file, a new class is added to the Resource namespace for you to use! How good is that!!? The snippet shown below with Visual Studio intellisense doing the damage for the above example. Wicked!
Last but not least there is the Localize control. It is used when you want to localise bigger pieces of text in your apps/pages. It works the same way as described above using meta:resourceKey at page level or using the global resource as in the last example. I can't see a super good use for it since it seems very similar to the Literal and Label controls. Jury still out.
<asp:Localize ID="elLocalisator" runat="server" Text='<%$ Resources:Resource,GoodMorning %>' />
That all!
This was a very interesting post to write, learned some tricks, there's still a lot to cover for example, how to format currency and DateTime according to culture, setting cultures programmatically or in web.config or page level. Maybe is there is interest we can do it later.
Hope it helps someone out there!
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|A photographerâs work in North Korea
|"I'm just trying to make real pictures of real moments in people's lives": David Guttenfelder, of AP, winner of the International Centre of Photography's 2013 Infinity Award for photojournalism, explains what drives his work in North Korea.
|Belajarlah Dari Trio Macan Plus (by Choky)
|Laporan Asian Development Bank (ADB) edisi September 2007 menyebutkan, negara-negara ekonomi industri baru (NIEs) yang juga dikenal dengan istilah negara macan-macan Asia yakni trio Hongkong, Korea Selatan, Singapura plus Taiwan, cukup mapan dengan status negara pasca industri. Â Â Â Gabungan
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|A conversation with General Pace
|Last month, I was thrilled to attend a talk hosted by Peter Pace, former Chairman of the U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff at JP Morgan's headquarters in New York City. During a Q&A session that followed the main talk, he fielded some good questions from investment bankers in the audience. The last question he answered was about which threats to American security kept him up at night.
His response surprised me.
First he listed things that you would expect, such as the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, political instability in Africa and the Middle East, the rise of China, the craziness of North Korea, the specter of general nuclear proliferation. Then he went back over each of these things and explained why they do not bother him too, too much.
What really bother him, he said, is the threat of cyber attack. The United States is extremely vulnerable to cyber weapons, he said. He mentioned that large firms like JP Morgan no doubt have the resources to protect themselves a bit from these threats. [Word on the street has it that they do this by hiring people straight out of the CIA and NSA]. But that smaller firms have no such protection, and it is in the best interest of everyone for large corporations and the US government work on security gaps together.
He said the advent of cyber weapons will have the same impact on relationships between nations as nuclear weapons has. Unlike nuclear weapons, however, thousands of cyber attacks occur each day. He knows what the United States could do to launch a cyber attack and knows what the country cannot defend against. Nation states have generally practiced self-deterrence and do not want a cyber attack launched against them.
It is not nation states that concern him as much as small terrorist groups. He said that small groups of individuals have the power to launch the sort of actions that only nation states could just a few years ago.
After the talk, I introduced myself to him as an Iraq veteran, which I hoped would soften him up a bit so I could pepper him with questions. When I asked him what kind of books or articles I could read in order to understand all this better from an insurance perspective, he said that the scene changes so fast that anything more than two years old is out-dated. He told me that updating your reading every two weeks was more like it. This all raised more questions than it answered. What sort of redundancies should web-based businesses develop, so that they can weather any conceivable storm???
I welcome anyone's thoughts on this.
|N. Korea Hysteria: Is Threat to Attack Guam Fake News?
|Mainstream media are spewing out story after story now about alleged threats from North Korea to attack Guam. RT is also reporting the same story, but if you check out their article, here, you will find that it relies on a Reuters article as its source. The story does not include a direct quote from […]
|Voice of Sanity Missing in Korean Showdown
|[ Ed. note – If you're looking for a leader of enlightened wisdom, or even one who simply manages to display prudence and sanity on a somewhat regular basis, Donald Trump doesn't seem to fit the bill. For all the foolhardy, misguided decisions he made in choosing his cabinet and staff, Trump's threat to unleash […]
|What Is Behind The War Of Words Between Donald Trump And Kim Jong Un
|North Korea has accelerated the timeline for its missile development with two ICBM tests in July.
|The United States and North Korea: Time for a New Approach
|Douglas Mo is an intern at the Council on Foreign Relations and a rising senior at Colby Coll
|TODAY: Dr. SEBASTIAN GORKA on President Trumpâs Message to North Korea
|Listen to The Larry O'Connor Show today from 3pm - 6pm as Larry speaks with Dr. Sebastian Gorka, President Trump's Deputy Assistant, regarding the President's handle on North Korea.
|The Beckoning of Nuclear War
SUBHEAD: A glimpse of sanity, or simple pragmatism, is anathema to our "national security" managers.
By John Pilger on 4 August 2017 for JohnPilger.com -
[IB Publisher's note: As much as Trump may not wish a nuclear exchange with Russia, he seems quite amenable to turning North Korea into an ashtray. World War III may begin in Guam and relay to Hawaii on its way to the US mainland. Here in Hawaii it may mean Duck and Cover!]
Image above: Detail of original paperback cover of Nevil Shute's 1957 novel "On the Beach". From (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/267542034087528868).
In Nevil Shute's book "On the Beach" the US submarine captain says;
"We've all got to die one day, some sooner and some later. The trouble always has been that you're never ready, because you don't know when it's coming. Well, now we do know and there's nothing to be done about it."
He says he will be dead by September. It will take about a week to die, though no one can be sure. Animals live the longest.
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper
These two lines from T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men appear at the beginning of Nevil Shute's novel On the Beach, which left me close to tears. The endorsements on the cover said the same.
Published in 1957 at the height of the Cold War when too many writers were silent or cowed, it is a masterpiece. At first the language suggests a genteel relic; yet nothing I have read on nuclear war is as unyielding in its warning. No book is more urgent.
Some readers will remember the black and white Hollywood film starring Gregory Peck as the US Navy commander who takes his submarine to Australia to await the silent, formless spectre descending on the last of the living world.
I read On the Beach for the first time the other day, finishing it as the US Congress passed a law to wage economic war on Russia, the world's second most lethal nuclear power. There was no justification for this insane vote, except the promise of plunder.
The "sanctions" are aimed at Europe, too, mainly Germany, which depends on Russian natural gas and on European companies that do legitimate business with Russia. In what passed for debate on Capitol Hill, the more garrulous senators left no doubt that the embargo was designed to force Europe to import expensive American gas.
Their main aim seems to be war - real war. No provocation as extreme can suggest anything else. They seem to crave it, even though Americans have little idea what war is. The Civil War of 1861-5 was the last on their mainland. War is what the United States does to others.
The only nation to have used nuclear weapons against human beings, they have since destroyed scores of governments, many of them democracies, and laid to waste whole societies - the million deaths in Iraq were a fraction of the carnage in Indo-China, which President Reagan called "a noble cause" and President Obama revised as the tragedy of an "exceptional people"He was not referring to the Vietnamese.
Filming last year at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, I overheard a National Parks Service guide lecturing a school party of young teenagers. "Listen up," he said. "We lost 58,000 young soldiers in Vietnam, and they died defending your freedom."
At a stroke, the truth was inverted. No freedom was defended. Freedom was destroyed. A peasant country was invaded and millions of its people were killed, maimed, dispossessed, poisoned; 60,000 of the invaders took their own lives. Listen up, indeed.
A lobotomy is performed on each generation. Facts are removed. History is excised and replaced by what Time magazine calls "an eternal present".
Harold Pinter described this as "manipulation of power worldwide, while masquerading as a force for universal good, a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis [which meant] that it never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest."
Those who call themselves liberals or tendentiously "the left" are eager participants in this manipulation, and its brainwashing, which today revert to one name: Trump.
Trump is mad, a fascist, a dupe of Russia. He is also a gift for "liberal brains pickled in the formaldehyde of identity politics", wrote Luciana Bohne memorably. The obsession with Trump the man - not Trump as a symptom and caricature of an enduring system - beckons great danger for all of us.
While they pursue their fossilised anti-Russia agendas, narcissistic media such as the Washington Post, the BBC and the Guardian suppress the essence of the most important political story of our time as they warmonger on a scale I cannot remember in my lifetime.
On 3 August, in contrast to the acreage the Guardian has given to drivel that the Russians conspired with Trump (reminiscent of the far-right smearing of John Kennedy as a "Soviet agent"), the paper buried, on page 16, news that the President of the United States was forced to sign a Congressional bill declaring economic war on Russia. Unlike every other Trump signing, this was conducted in virtual secrecy and attached with a caveat from Trump himself that it was "clearly unconstitutional".
A coup against the man in the White House is under way. This is not because he is an odious human being, but because he has consistently made clear he does not want war with Russia.
This glimpse of sanity, or simple pragmatism, is anathema to the "national security" managers who guard a system based on war, surveillance, armaments, threats and extreme capitalism. Martin Luther King called them "the greatest purveyors of violence in the world today".
They have encircled Russia and China with missiles and a nuclear arsenal. They have used neo-Nazis to instal an unstable, aggressive regime on Russia's "borderland" - the way through which Hitler invaded, causing the deaths of 27 million people. Their goal is to dismember the modern Russian Federation.
In response, "partnership" is a word used incessantly by Vladimir Putin - anything, it seems, that might halt an evangelical drive to war in the United States. Incredulity in Russia may have now turned to fear and perhaps a certain resolution. The Russians almost certainly have war-gamed nuclear counter strikes. Air-raid drills are not uncommon. Their history tells them to get ready.
The threat is simultaneous. Russia is first, China is next. The US has just completed a huge military exercise with Australia known as Talisman Sabre. They rehearsed a blockade of the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea, through which pass China's economic lifelines.
The admiral commanding the US Pacific fleet said that, "if required", he would nuke China. That he would say such a thing publicly in the current perfidious atmosphere begins to make fact of Nevil Shute's fiction.
None of this is considered news. No connection is made as the bloodfest of Passchendaele a century ago is remembered. Honest reporting is no longer welcome in much of the media. Windbags, known as pundits, dominate: editors are infotainment or party line managers. Where there was once sub-editing, there is the liberation of axe-grinding clichés. Those journalists who do not comply are defenestrated.
The urgency has plenty of precedents. In my film, The Coming War on China, John Bordne, a member of a US Air Force missile combat crew based in Okinawa, Japan, describes how in 1962 - during the Cuban missile crisis - he and his colleagues were "told to launch all the missiles" from their silos.
Nuclear armed, the missiles were aimed at both China and Russia. A junior officer questioned this, and the order was eventually rescinded - but only after they were issued with service revolvers and ordered to shoot at others in a missile crew if they did not "stand down".
At the height of the Cold War, the anti-communist hysteria in the United States was such that US officials who were on official business in China were accused of treason and sacked. In 1957 - the year Shute wrote On the Beach - no official in the State Department could speak the language of the world's most populous nation. Mandarin speakers were purged under strictures now echoed in the Congressional bill that has just passed, aimed at Russia.
The bill was bipartisan. There is no fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans. The terms "left" and "right" are meaningless. Most of America's modern wars were started not by conservatives, but by liberal Democrats.
When Obama left office, he presided over a record seven wars, including America's longest war and an unprecedented campaign of extrajudicial killings - murder - by drones.
In his last year, according to a Council on Foreign Relations study, Obama, the "reluctant liberal warrior", dropped 26,171 bombs - three bombs every hour, 24 hours a day. Having pledged to help "rid the world" of nuclear weapons, the Nobel Peace Laureate built more nuclear warheads than any president since the Cold War.
Trump is a wimp by comparison. It was Obama - with his secretary of state Hillary Clinton at his side - who destroyed Libya as a modern state and launched the human stampede to Europe. At home, immigration groups knew him as the "deporter-in-chief".
One of Obama's last acts as president was to sign a bill that handed a record $618billion to the Pentagon, reflecting the soaring ascendancy of fascist militarism in the governance of the United States. Trump has endorsed this.
Buried in the detail was the establishment of a "Center for Information Analysis and Response". This is a ministry of truth. It is tasked with providing an "official narrative of facts" that will prepare us for the real possibility of nuclear war - if we allow it.
Video above: "On the Beach" the complete 1959 movie from Nevil Shute's novel. From (https://youtu.be/Ue8hC5qqMt4).
|President Trump: âFire and Furyâ Comment Perhaps âWasnât Tough Enoughâ
|South Korea's stubborn peace effort
SUBHEAD: Peace movement refusing to give up is taking the long view of its campaign.
By Jon Letman on 4 August 2017 for Truth Out -
Image above: Jeong Young-hee is a Korean tangerine farmer in Gangjeong village on Jeju island. Like many residents, she strongly opposes the newly built South Korean naval base just two miles from her farm. Photo by Jon Letman. From original article.
In August, 1945, as Japan smoldered in the ruins of war, the question of what would become of the Korean peninsula after 35 years of Japanese occupation and a Soviet army advancing southward spurred the hasty selection of an artificial division along the 38th parallel drawn by two American officials as a border between US and Soviet "zones of occupation."
That line, never intended to be permanent, hardened like stubborn mud before the newly liberated Korea ever had the chance to form an independent, unified and democratic nation. Today 38°N still marks a potentially catastrophic flashpoint between North and South Korea.
The DMZ -- demilitarized zone -- despite its name, is one of the most militarized places on the planet. This hyper-militarization, in fact, extends south across the peninsula and today, 64 years after an armistice halted (but never formally ended) the Korean war, South Korea remains peppered with scores of US military installations -- at least 80 by the Pentagon's own count.
US bases, and the 28,500 US troops and joint military exercises they support, are not only opposed by North Korea; many South Koreans see them as a problematic construct that perpetuates the likelihood of war.
Despite frequent media coverage of North Korea's highly choreographed military parades, increasing missile launches, and Kim Jong-un's threats to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire," far less attention is paid to South Korea's tireless, well-organized peace movement opposed to militarism on both sides of the DMZ.
South Korean civil groups and NGOs like People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions are skilled at forming coalitions with peace activists and religious groups opposed to a military buildup, which they see as increasing tensions with the North and militarization across Northeast Asia.
Your Old Farm Is Our New Base
Image above: Candle light protests have been held outside the Seongju County office nightly since the deployment of the THAAD antimissile defense system was announced in July 2016. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
With the bulk of US bases concentrated in and around Seoul and within range of North Korean artillery, the US is in the middle of a major realignment of its forces as it consolidates bases, moving tens of thousands of troops, their families and civilian contractors to US Army Garrison Humphreys in the city of Pyeongtaek, 40 miles south of Seoul.
In 2002, when the US announced its plan to triple Humphreys in size, Pyeongtaek residents living around the base organized fierce protests that raged for five years.
Thousands of police were deployed, citizens were arrested and villages were demolished. In the end, however, the base's walls were pushed outward, and Camp Humphreys grew from just over 1,000 acres to more than 3,400 acres, making it the US's largest overseas military base in the world.
Now in the final years of construction, US Army Garrison Humphreys is equipped to serve as the new headquarters for the Eighth US Army and US Forces Korea command center.
Image above: A representative of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions holds an anti-THAAD banner at a demonstration in Soseong-ri, Seongju County, South Korea. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
The Humphreys expansion is slated for completion by 2020 and will eventually be home to up to 46,000 military and civilian personnel living and working behind razor wire-topped walls and gates.
The $10.7 billion expansion, the US's largest-ever peacetime military construction project, is being paid for overwhelmingly (around 90 percent) by the South Korean government. In 2016, Gen. Vincent Brooks (now head of US Forces Korea) publicly stated that it's cheaper to station US troops in South Korea than in the United States.
The Humphreys expansion does have supporters in the community, and many businesses have come to depend on the US military's presence.
Pyeongtaek's city government, unable to refuse the influx of thousands of US forces, has done its best to promote Humphreys' expansion as an opportunity to court non-military business and infrastructure investment and push for internationalization through increased cultural exchanges with military personnel and their families.
Still, many residents view the base as an unwelcome intrusion on Korean sovereignty and a source of crime, pollution and noise from military aircraft like F-16s, A-10 Thunderbolts, Chinook and Apache helicopters.
Image above: Demonstrators march toward the former golf course in Seongju County where the controversial THAAD antimissile defense system is being deployed by the US. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
Since 2002, Kang Song-won of the Pyeongtaek Peace Center has been working closely with residents from communities affected by Humphreys, particularly those who were forcibly relocated from the villages of Daechu-ri and Dodu-ri. Kang works with volunteers to monitor military incidents and accidents around the base.
Beyond the noise and inherent danger, he told Truthout the most harmful impact of Humphreys' expansion has been the deep divisions sown in the community between base supporters and opponents.
Giving up, however, is not an option. "Even though we lost the fight against the US military, I think it is still necessary to keep fighting ... against the problems of the US military base," Kang said.
Island of Peace, Tides of War
Image above: US Army Garrison Humphreys is a helicopter base in what will soon be the the United States' largest overseas military base. Just beyond the fence are small farming villages. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
An hour's flight south of Seoul is sub-tropical Jeju island. Home to nine UNESCO Global Geoparks and a World Heritage site, the volcanic island is renowned for its natural beauty and biodiversity both on land and sea. Jeju has also been heavily developed for tourism. On the south coast, in Gangjeong village, is the site of a new Korean naval base.
Muddying its primary purpose, the base is sometimes called the Jeju Multipurpose Port Complex and is touted as having a (future) dual civilian-military function, but for now it's strictly a Korean naval base and headquarters for the South Korean Navy's Mobile Task Force Flotilla-7, which includes Aegis warfare destroyers, KDX III helicopter destroyers and a submarine force command.
Like the expansion of Camp Humphreys, the 2007 announcement of the Jeju naval base sparked widespread outcry from residents opposed to the militarization of what was dubbed "Island of Peace" in recognition of Jeju's horrific April 3 massacre (1947-54).
In that massacre, as many as 30,000 island residents were killed by Korean forces over a seven-year period beginning in 1947 during the US military administration that occupied the southern part of the Korean peninsula immediately after the August 1945 defeat of Japan.
As in Pyeongtaek, Jeju base protesters clashed with the police for years. Base opponents, including the former mayor, were arrested and heavily fined but in the end, the base was built.
Image above: Many of the residents protesting against the deployment of the THAAD antimissile defense system are elderly farmers who don't want their remote mountain village to be militarized. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
Tangerine farmers Jeong Young-hee and her husband Kang Sung-won have been growing Jeju's famous citrus varieties for 30 years in greenhouses less than two miles from the base. Young-hee and Sung-won are concerned about the environmental impact of the base, especially the effects on the sea -- including soft corals, sea urchins, abalone and other marine life -- and the destruction of what was a sacred lava rock coastal field called Gureombi.
Construction on the base is not yet complete. Young-hee and Sung-won worry that as it grows, if a future exclusion zone (a zone that would restrict new construction) is declared, it would surround their farm, almost certainly driving down land values.
Peeling one of her sweet hallabong oranges, Young-hee explains how the base has caused a rift between friends and family members. The base has also divided many citrus farmers and Jeju's famous Haenyeo free divers. "Our relationship was destroyed," says Young-hee, who joined her male counterparts in shaving her head as a gesture of protest against the base.
Image above: Retired Catholic priest Father Mun Jeong-hyeon holds a daily mass along along a roadside site that doubles as a protest against the Jeju naval base in Gangjeong village, Jeju island. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
In the early days of the struggle, when base opponents pointed fingers at the US accusing it of pressuring South Korea (also known as the Republic of Korea), South Korean officials denied that the base would permanently host US warships.
This year, in March and June, US warships made their first visits to the Jeju base with short, inconspicuous port calls similar to what was recommended in a 2013 US Army War College strategy research project. Last January, US Pacific Command's Adm. Harry Harris suggested the possibility of deploying the US's newest, most lethal stealth destroyer, the USS Zumwalt to Jeju waters.
The Jeju navy base became operational in February 2016. Resistance continues daily, with activists gathering each morning in front of the entry gate to perform one hundred bows as a nonviolent, meditative protest.
Nearby, in a roadside tent chapel, retired Catholic priest Father Mun Jeong-hyeon leads a daily mass, before joining protesters who gather with flags and banners playing raucous music outside the base.
The mood of the protesters is defiant and the message is serious: they want a shift away from militarization of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia.
This week (July 30-August 5), for the eighth year since 2008, apeace march is underway, in which activists are walking from the Jeju naval base around the island to raise awareness of the continuing struggle and to call for peace.
In Defense of Who?
Image above: Guards look out from behind a razor wire fence surrounded the new South Korean naval base on Jeju island, South Korea. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
South Korea's latest struggle against militarization began in July 2016 in rural, traditionally conservative Seongju County 135 miles south of Seoul.
Residents of Seongju and neighboring Gimcheon were caught off guard when the central government, under deposed President Park Geun-hye, offered Seongju to the US as a location for the US antimissile defense Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
For more than a year since that announcement, daily protests have been taking place in Seongju and elsewhere around the country. In June, an anti-THAAD protest of several thousand people briefly and peacefully surrounded the US embassy in Seoul.
THAAD manufacturer Lockheed Martin says the system is intended to defend "US troops, allied forces, population centers and critical infrastructure against short and medium range ballistic missiles."
Seongju residents and Koreans across the country, however, recite a litany of reasons they are opposed to THAAD, from environmental and health concerns to the lack of a democratic process to ever-increasing deployment of foreign weapons, as well as economic repercussions and tension with its neighbors China and Russia.
Image above: Korean Army personnel stand guard at the Demilitarized Zone/Joint Security Area outside the Military Armistice Commission buildings along the tense border. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
Two weeks before South Korea's snap election on May 9 this year, the US, citing North Korean threats, hurriedly began the deployment of THAAD in what had been a golf course outside a small village called Soseong-ri.
When South Korea's newly elected President Moon Jae-in learned that his own Ministry of Defense had failed to notify him of the presence of an additional four THAAD launchers, Moon called for a temporary suspension of THAAD to conduct an environmental assessment.
That suspension, however, is being reevaluated now as South Korea considers deploying additional launchers in response to a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test last week.
Like other aspects of the military alliance between the US and South Korea, THAAD is supported by some South Koreans and reviled by others. And like the communities in Gangjeong village on Jeju and Pyeongtaek near Seoul, the people of Seongju and Gimcheon are divided.
Speaking at a candlelight vigil outside the Seongju County government office on May 30, three local women were eager to share their thoughts with Americans.
On this 310th day of consecutive protests, the women told Truthout they wanted their lives back the way they were before THAAD.
They said their community was being torn apart -- even relations between parents and children were being strained by strong disagreements over THAAD.
Some of their neighbors have given up opposition to THAAD, either accepting it as unavoidable or simply focusing on other matters.
These women, however, refuse to give up and say they feel a responsibility to attend nightly demonstrations against THAAD. They also admit feeling a growing resentment toward what they see as an unequal alliance.
"We are starting to have anti-American sentiments even though we don't hate Americans," a woman who identified herself as Mrs. Kim said.
"To be honest, I want the US military to go home," said a second woman, who also goes by the name Mrs. Kim, adding the English phrase, "Yankee, go home."
The Truth Is Very Powerful
Image above: Demonstrators perform 100 bows for peace six days a week as a protest against the South Korean Jeju naval base in Gangjeong village, Jeju island. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
Even as new bases are built, old bases expanded and more weapons imported, what fuels South Korean peace movements in the face of overwhelming power?
In Seoul, Jungmin Choi who works with Durebang (My Sister's Place), an NGO that provides counseling to foreign women working in bars and clubs near US bases, says those women are living witnesses to the impact of military bases.
Choi calls the impacts of the bases "indescribably huge" and both tangible and intangible, but insists, "we believe this fight cannot be defeated ⦠we will fight in a creative way with a long-term view."
On the other side of the country, Jeju base opponent Choi Sung-hee says that even though the Jeju base is operational and US warships have started visiting, the protests must continue.
Not only does the military know it is being watched, but protests build solidarity with other anti-base movements across South Korea and internationally, in places like Okinawa, Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii, particularly among women.
Image above: A protester is blocked by a security guard as he sits in silent protest outside the entry to the South Korean naval base on Jeju island. Photo by John Letman. From original article.
"That's the role of people ... we should constantly demand: we do not need arms, we do not need THAAD, we do not need more military bases," Choi says. "If the people's movement is strong, I think it can also influence the decisions of the South Korean president."
Nearby, in the St. Francis Peace Center, Father Mun carves messages of peace into wooden boards after each morning's protest. Nearly 80 years old, Father Mun has been a peace activist for decades in Pyeongtaek, on Jeju and elsewhere acting, in his words, as "a witness for truth."
When asked why he continues to resist in the face of overwhelming power, Father Mun declared, "The truth cannot be thrown away. The truth will stand up some day. The truth is very powerful. So, I believe the truth is going to win all enemies."
|English Romanticism in East Asia
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|An Expo-nential Waste of Money
If Edmonton and Calgary are to play in the big leagues along such "world-class" cities as Zaragoza, Spain and Yeosu, South Korea, then taxpayers have to be prepared to buck-up! At least that's the view of proponents seeking to have one of Alberta's two great cities host the 2017 Expo.
Since the fall of 2007, the City of Edmonton has been pursuing a bid for the 2017 World Fair (Expo). With only a couple of days to go before cities had to declare their intention to bid, the City of Calgary (who lost the 2005 Expo bid) announced its intention to bid on the same.
|I bought a new car!
|So what's the most exciting smell in the world? Before any of you take this in a terrible direction, I'll just stop you and say it's new car smell. And that's the very smell I've been enjoying since last Thursday, when I traded in my 2009 Pontiac G5 for a brand new 2014 Kia Optima LX. Let's get down to brass tacks and go through the process of how I ended up buying Korean.
So first of all, why did I decide to get rid of my Pontiac? Well, short answer is after 5 years of good service, she was starting to act up. I had just replaced my front shocks and serpentine belt (it's always nice to have family with tools and a hoist!), but then I started getting an intermittent warning popping up stating that my ABS and Traction Control needed work.
This in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the car has been in the shop before for this sort of thing and they have never been able to pin down the problem. It probably just needed some front brake servicing. Anyway, I'd just plunked down a lot of cake in the past few weeks on this car and with an odometer reading of over 200,000km I seriously doubt that it was going to get cheaper over time.
Also, there was the ever important feeling of car awesomeness that was lacking from my poor G5. Sure, it was a decent car, but it never was really a car that made you want to drive. I mean, destinations made me want to go places and my car would take me there, but I was never excited to get behind the wheel.
So, for the next car my main priorities were something fuel efficient, safe, good storage and at least a little fun to drive. I figured my storage and comfort needs would likely mean I was looking at big(ish) hatchback or mid-sized sedan. Although I fully expect to have one in my future at some point, I'm not big on crossovers and compact SUVs.
I also wanted to buy new because I drive a lot. I put all but 14 of the 202,000km on the Pontiac and it was only 5 years old. So, I need all the warranty I can muster out of a car, plus the piece of mind in knowing that the maintenance has been done correctly and regularly is a major plus in my books. Also, finance rates on used cars are terrible and finance rates on new cars, which go as low as 0%, are good. Now sometimes you have to forgo some cash incentives to get that low rate, but in the long run the overall costs are lower if you have to finance. And since I didn't have an extra $30K in cash just hanging around to pay for my new car, I was definitely going to be financing.
I took a look at some larger compact hatches (Ford Focus, Kia Forte5, Mazda3, Hyundai Elantra GT) and I wasn't terribly interested in any of them. I've read great things about the Mazda3, but the base motor on it is a little underwhelming. Maybe the Mazda3 with the 2.5L would be an awesome car, but then the sticker is over my budget of mid-$20K. From sitting in it at the auto shows, I know I don't like the way I fit in the Focus. The Elantra GT is a pretty decent car, but my co-worker literally just bought one and I didn't want to be a copycat. The Kia Forte5 was decent too, but had a little too much wind noise on the highway (where I do most of my driving).
I know what you're thinking, with all of my Subaru love why didn't I test drive one? Because Subaru doesn't have good financing rates (usually) and I find their entry level offerings a little too pokey. Great, smooth drives yes, but not a lot of the factor that Mazda refers to as Zoom-Zoom. If I had a bigger budget, I would likely have gone with the new WRX. But I didn't, so that dream has to lay dormant for now.
So, I moved on to the most over populated segment in the automotive world, the mid-sized sedan! I drove a Hyundai Sonata, a Kia Optima and a Ford Fusion. The other cars that I would have considered are the new Mazda6 and the Nissan Altima. To be honest though, I avoided the Japanese brands because the content level on the models I could afford was too low. The Mazda6 is probably a great car, but there were some compromises with insurance costs and exterior features I like (for instance I couldn't afford fog lamps... not that I ever use them, but I like the way they look, dammit!).
It was the same story for the fusion. It's a gorgeous car, but the base model leaves a lot at the door before it ends up in your garage. It had the almost embarrassing 2.5L motor, steel wheels with plastic covers and no fog lamps. The handling was pretty great, but it's hard to ignore the fact that the car can't get out of its own way. When Michelle drove and tried to get it to move the first words out of her mouth were "What the hell is this [crap]" *edited for content.
So it was down to the Korean brands. To be honest, I like pretty much every car in this segment and the Kia and Hyundai are no exception. Add to that the fact that both brands were having a sale with aggressive financing, and it's pretty clear to see why I was leaning towards the offerings from the land of Samsung. But which was better?
The Sonata and the Optima are essentially the same car under their skin. They have the same platform and engine/transmission options. Where they differ enormously is looks and where they differ slightly is content per price point. The Optima is the way more aggressively styled of the two. While the Sonata is sleek and flowing, the Optima is raked and ready to pounce. As for content at the dollar level that I was shopping at, the two cars were fairly close.
Both cars had satellite radio, heated seats and good safety ratings. The Sonata was a sea of hard plastic inside, while the Optima had cloth inserts in the doors and softer materials on the dash and on upper door sills. And on the outside, the Optima had the all important fog lamps and around back, some bad ass dual exhaust tips. Sold.
I also really enjoy the ride. It's well composed and extremely quiet inside. Not BMW quiet, but certainly closer than the sticker price would suggest. The steering is a little numb at certain speeds and I'm still getting used to the brake pedal's lack of feedback, but all in all I'm really pleased. The engine has more than enough get up and go for my driving needs and the six-speed auto has a playful select shift mode for added sportiness.
Over all though, the Optima was the most car I could afford. It checked all my boxes: good safety, in my budget, great storage, comfortable, fun to drive, good fuel economy and great styling. And not only did I stay on budget, but my insurance costs went down.
My main point is there are a lot of factors to take into consideration when purchasing a new vehicle. Without an unlimited budget, you are going to have make some compromises along the way. In the end, your decision on what to buy needs to make sense to you from the most angles possible. It may be daunting, but if you do your research and take some test drives, you're best option will likely present itself.
So is the Optima LX the best mid-sized car you can buy? Probably not at that trim level. But it's the best car I've ever owned and that's more than good enough for me. At least for now, anyway!
|North Korea: Final Plan By Mid-August For Firing Missiles Near Guam
|North Korea said it would finalize plans for missile launches near Guam by the middle of this month and then wait for a green light from leader Kim Jong Un before carrying them out. The statement, disseminated by state-run news agency KCNA, comes amid an increasingly tense tit-for-tat between Pyongyang and Washington, as well as reports that U.S. intelligence has determined that North Korea can now fix nuclear warheads onto its ballistic missiles, including an ICBM thought capable of reaching the United States. On Tuesday, President Trump promised "fire and fury like the world has never seen" against North Korea if it didn't stand down from its threats against the United States. That prompted North Korea to announce that it was considering plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles into an area about 18-25 miles from the U.S. territory of Guam. On Wednesday, Pyongyang's military said Trump "let out a load of nonsense about 'fire and fury,'" adding that "sound dialogue is not
|North Korea Reportedly Capable Of Making Nuclear-Tipped Missiles
|U.S. intelligence analysts say North Korea has developed a warhead that fits on its ballistic missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching U.S. territory, according to The Washington Post. The Post writes : "The new analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country's atomic arsenal. The U.S. calculated last month that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Some independent experts believe the number of bombs is much smaller." While the latest report assumes significance in the current climate of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, it represents only more certainty over previous assessments. Four years ago, for example, the DIA said it believed with "moderate confidence" that North Korea had mastered nuclear warhead technology. Since
|Trump Says U.S. Will Meet North Korean Threats With 'Fire And Fury'
|Updated at 8:05 p.m. ET President Trump on Tuesday threatened to meet North Korea with "fire and fury" a day after Pyongyang said it was ready with "ultimate measures" in response to new U.N. sanctions pushed by Washington. "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," the president warned at a meeting on the opioid crisis held at Bedminster, N.J., where he is on an extended working vacation. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," he said, adding that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before." Hours later, North Korea responded to the latest remarks by Trump by saying it was "carefully examining" a plan to strike the U.S. territory of Guam. The state-run KCNA news agency said a strike plan the Pacific island would be "put into practice in a multi-current and consecutive way any
|10 Questions on the Conflict in Syria
|A potential military strike by Western powers on Syria now appears to be a fait accompli and is being touted as long overdue. Given the spiralling humanitarian disaster that has overtaken the country during the last two years of conflict, continued inaction appears to be an untenable reality. The death toll is now well over 100,000 (although the proportion of civilians to combatants is unclear). There are 2 million refugees, half of whom are children, and over 4 million more internally displaced persons (IDPs), amounting to a quarter of the country's overall population. Yet, it was the apparent chemical weapons attack in the suburbs around Damascus known as Ghouta last week that has served as the impetus for international military intervention into the conflict. Amidst the rhetoric and war rehearsals, clarity on what is really happening seems to be cast aside in the media, in favor of faux-spontaneous leaks, retired generals, and trumpeters of past wars. Here are ten questions to try to set the record straight.
1. Were chemical weapons used in Syria?
When the initial attack unfolded last Wednesday, August 21 in the suburbs in Damascus known as Ghouta (near the town/suburb of Jobar), news quickly spread to local, regional and international media. Claims were made of hundreds of deaths, with some activists claiming the death toll was 1,300. Moreover, the Government of Syria immediately denied responsibility and has continued to do so. However, the attack did unfold amidst a series of army strikes on Jobar, which is a rebel-held area, and has been for quite some time. The Government conversely claimed to find chemical weapons supplies in tunnels in the same area, and it is alleged that some Hezbollah fighters were also exposed to chemical toxins.
A week on, it appears incontrovertible that chemical weapons were used, not just from YouTube videos but also from visits by independent journalists, and of course by a report by Médecins Sans Frontières that has documented at least 355 deaths from local hospitals. It is likely that the chemical agent used was a neurotoxin or nerve gas, most likely sarin gas. What is still not clear, is how they were delivered (i.e. in what form and carried on what type of weapon) and from where.
It should also be kept in mind that this was not the first attack that has been alleged. There have been numerous claims by rebels, and counter-claims by the government on the use of chemical weapons in the conflict. Here's a map of those events. In fact, this is precisely why the team of UN inspectors had arrived in the country, the day before this latest incident (and massacre) took place. In fact, what is interesting is that their investigation of other sites has now been put on the back-burner due to the latest developments.
2. Do we know who actually used the chemical weapons?
The United States, United Kingdom, and France have all stated they are certain that the Government of Syria has undertaken the attack last week. On the U.S. side, at the forefront of the rhetoric has been Vice President Biden - who has said there is 'no doubt' - and Secretary of State John Kerry, who made an evocative plea for action several days ago. Of course, the next speech is the most important, and it would be one made by President Barack Obama. In light of this certainty, it would be difficult to question the attribution of blame. A leak from the US government also claims to have intercepted a murky call between commanders in the Syrian army that supposedly is evidence of culpability on the Syrian side.
There is tremendous reason to doubt U.S. claims. Firstly, it should not be forgotten that then Secretary of State Colin Powell presented ironclad evidence to the United Nations Security Council of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that Saddam Hussein possessed, a finding that was later proven to be utterly false, but which was the basis of a war that continues until today. Secondly, the U.S. claimed that there was incontrovertible proof that the Government of Syria was responsible for earlier chemical attacks this year, but that finding has been contested, and some experts apportioned blame to the rebels fighting the government. And finally, in this case, no evidence has been presented, as of yet to make such a determination, at least not conclusively.
Does that mean the Assad and his regime are not responsible? No. It is very likely given the ongoing military operations in the same area that the Syrian government launched such an attack. Yet, more evidence needs to be presented to make a definitive conclusion. The other scenarios that could be possible are:
- Extremists groups like Jubhat al-Nusra, who have previously seized advanced weaponry and possibly chemical weapons from Syrian army bases and positions, were attempting to use them on Syrian soldiers (or conversely to cast blame on the Syrian army);
- The Government of Syria inadvertently hit a stockpile of sarin gas releasing the toxins (although unclear if this would lead to the effects that we've seen); or
- Rogue elements within the chain of command used chemical weapons intentionally or inadvertently.
Russia, Iran and China have of course cast doubt on western claims but that is to be expected.
3. What would be the basis or justification for US intervention?
The U.S. intervention would likely be on the basis of Obama's previously stated red line on Syria, which would be the mass use/movement of chemical weapons. It is not in fact about humanitarian intervention and the Responsibility to Protect framework, developed in the 1990s to prevent genocide and mass civilian deaths. If it was, then the humanitarian case for intervention has been present for some time, and other massacres by the Syrian regime, such as in Houla in 2012, would have provided sufficient pretext. Obviously, the U.S. and other Western powers, and regional countries, have their own interests at play that are much more geopolitical in nature, but the justification or casus belli being offered is around the issue of chemical weapons, and chemical weapons alone.
4. Will anybody else be involved in the military strikes besides the US and will this affect whether they are 'legal'?
Given Russian and Chinese opposition, and a likely veto of any resolution by the United Nations Security Council supporting such a military strike on Syria - especially in light of the intervention in Libya, which Russia regretted supporting - a 'coalition of the willing' will need to be developed. This coalition would be broader than the Iraq War in 2003, and would be similar to the coalition carrying out the strikes against Serb positions vis-a-vis Kosovo in 1999. While the U.S., U.K. and France will likely lead an effort, Turkey would also be critical as a staging ground (as it borders Syria from the North), and thus there will be an attempt to launch such an attack under the auspices of NATO. Despite its reluctance, Jordan, given its reliance on the U.S. and Saudi Arabia politically and economically, will have no choice but to support . The two other neighbours of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon are squarely against any military strike. And of course, the other neighbor - Israel - would sit this one out but would provide intelligence to the U.S. and other parties on Syrian positions, given that it has already undertaken a number of air strikes on Syria in the past two years.
Further afield, it is likely the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) will support military intervention, with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates possibly sending fighter jets to participate in a strike to give it regional cover and credibility. Finally, while many groups within the Arab and Muslim world, and the 'left' of the West, will oppose military intervention, many others will support it, because of the spiralling humanitarian situation in Syria.
Technically speaking if the military intervention is not sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, and there is no imminent threat that the U.S. and other parties can point to towards its own territory or its assets, it would be illegal under international law. However, that has not stopped NATO or other countries (i.e. Russia in Georgia) form undertaking military action in the past. And before the Iraq War, some scholars claimed that while such an attack would be illegal it would be legitimate, and demonstrated retroactively to be legal. Given the state of world affairs, 'legality' is likely not a determining factor for a strike on Syria.
5. Are we seeing a repeat of Iraq in 2003?
No. The situation today with Syria is different than it was in 2003 in Iraq, for many reasons, despite some passing similarities. In Iraq, the U.S. claimed that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction while in Syria, we already know Bashar al-Assad possesses chemical weapons, and the question is whether he used them (small aside, it was released this week that thirty years ago, the U.S. obstructed a UN investigation when it knew Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons). In Iraq, the U.S. alleged that Saddam Hussein had links with Al Qaeda (and related groups), while in Syria, Bashar al Assad is widely acknowledged to be fighting Al Qaeda (and related groups) in addition to the 'Free Syrian Army' (and in addition to crushing peaceful demonstrators). In Iraq, there was no active state of conflict that was leading to a spiralling humanitarian catastrophe (and the potential use of WMDs), while in Syria there is not just a violent conflict, but also WMDs have been used by somebody (even if the culprit is not yet clear).
What should be noted, however, is that both Iraq in 2003 and Syria in 2013, are in complex environments, and any removal of government or sustained military intervention would have dramatic unforeseen consequences. It seems like the media debate in the U.S. is also similarly anaemic (but slightly better) this time around.
6. What is the real motivation for the United States and other powers?
As with all things in this world when it comes to international relations, the primary interest is not humanitarian but geopolitical. This is not absolute, however, and it could be argued that Turkey has been insisting on humanitarian intervention from an early stage. However, the regimes (not peoples) in the Gulf, most notably Saudi Arabia, are exclusively concerned with dislodging Syria from the Iranian orbit, and severing connections between Syria and Hezbollah. Humanitarian concerns are a by-product. And for the United States, something similar is at play. As noted above, if this was about humanitarian concerns, action would have been taken long before 100,000 deaths had occurred.
For the U.S. it has been looking for regime change in Syria for a while. However, these strikes if they occur, will be about sending a message and asserting America's position in the Middle East, given the red line that Obama drew. Ultimately, it may tip the scales in the rebels favour or improve the U.S.'s negotiating position vis-a-vis Iran. The chemical weapons attack in a morbid way, opened a door of opportunity for Western powers (with GCC support) to do something limited without a full-scale intervention.
7. Will military intervention solve the Syrian conflict?
No. Military intervention no matter how small or how big will not solve the Syrian conflict. In fact, it could very much exacerbate the situation on the ground even further (if that can be imagined). What is being reported currently is that the U.S. and allies will undertake a series of 'surgical strikes', a euphemism for a large-scale assault on key military and strategic installations, such as army positions, air bases, radar installations, communications infrastructure, supply routes, and, where appropriate, power stations (among other targets). More than anything this will be intended to send a message to the regime and weaken its capabilities. Yet, it would not be a fatal blow. And it would not necessarily tip the scales in favor of the rebels. It may in fact mobilize certain parties to support the regime, if there are civilian casualties from the intervention.
The solution to the Syrian situation has to be political, if it is going to lead to stability or peace. Yet, if the military intervention escalated and led to the removal of the Syrian regime, that would still not be the end of the conflict. After the Soviets were booted out of Afghanistan, the country devolved into a civil war for five years until the rise of the Taliban in 1996. Somalia has only recently stabilised (somewhat), more than 20 years after the assassination of its leader, President Siad Barre. And neighboring Lebanon, took 15 years of conflict (1975-1990) to reach an end, which was brought about by ironically Syrian military intervention (which committed its own crimes), that produced a - audible gasp - political settlement.
8. What could potentially go wrong?
Everything. The potential for disaster following military intervention in any country is great (see Black Hawk Down, Iraq, Afghanistan and the list goes on). Yet, in Syria it could be apocalyptic. Here is a list of what that could entail:
- Chemical weapons are used by Syria against its neighbors such as Jordan and Turkey, or U.S. military positions in those countries;
- U.S. planes/helicopters are shot down leading to an escalation of U.S. involvement requiring boots on the ground;
- Syria sends a volley of missiles into Tel Aviv and other places in Israel, leading to a regional war;
- Proxy forces of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, launch a sustained campaign against Israel/U.S. interests, including attacks embassies within Lebanon/Palestine/Israel but also in other countries, in the short and medium-term;
- Al Qaeda forces in the region, while opposing the Assad regime, oppose U.S. intervention especially if there are masses of civilian casualties, and use it as a pretext for attacks in places such as Yemen;
- Russia objects to the U.S. strike, and mobilizes warships to the Mediterranean, leading to a standoff with Europe and the U.S.;
- Negotiations with Iran, still in embryonic stages are suspended irrevocably;
- Six party talks with North Korea are suspended by Russia, China, and North Korea irrevocably;
- The Syrian regime goes all out in its conflict and begins to bomb with even more abandon civilian areas controlled by rebels, leading to thousands of casualties, and counter-massacres by enraged rebel fighters;
- The Syrian regime is removed by force from power by the intervention, leading to a power vacuum sinking the country further into civil war for over a decade of even more violent strife and a possible Al Qaeda style government;
- Tensions rise in the Middle East, especially in places of sectarian division (i.e. Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia, and Iraq) leading to civil strife and attacks on governments, and counter-attacks on populations; and
- World War 3.
9. What could potentially go right?
It may seem that what is written above is slightly alarmist and that's true. Many things can go wrong (most of which, to be honest, are hard to predict as they will be unforeseen consequences or as Donald Rumsfeld, ironically calls them, unknown unknowns). However, the U.S.-led strikes could be quite effective. Firstly, if they are limited in scope, they can be completed in one day, reducing the risk for a military entanglement and civilian casualties. Secondly, if they are from the air, there is limited risk for casualties on the side of the intervening forces. Thirdly, an attack that is forceful and hits Syrian military positions, will send a message to Assad that there is a limit to what he can do, which thus far has not been the case, and may entice him to reach a political settlement. Fourthly, it is unlikely that the Syrian regime would retaliate, for a short strike on positions, against Israel, knowing that they cannot afford to fight a war on so many fronts (and thus far they have yet to retaliate to any Israel air strike). Finally, the systematic destruction of Assad's air capabilities could be instrumental in limiting civilian casualties by the regime in the future.
All of this is one possibility of what could occur.
10. Let's cut to the chase - should I support or not support military intervention?
There is no clearcut answer. Ultimately, military intervention should not be supported as a solution to the Syrian conflict. It is not, and whether we like it or not, a political solution/settlement is the only way the current situation moves towards peace and stability. The U.S. is negotiating with the Taliban. The Vietnamese negotiated with the U.S. The Lebanese negotiated with each other. The Dayton Accords to end the Bosnian War were signed with Slobodan Milosevic. It may not be easy, it may be unlikely, and it will not work perfectly, but political discussions involving all parties is the only way to find a real solution.
That being said, if a case is made with overwhelming evidence by independent parties (not U.S. conjecture) that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian regime, then military intervention on a limited scale, and for a period of 1-2 days only, should be undertaken, ideally with UN support - and if not with broad support of half of the members, i.e. 90, of the UN General Assembly to demonstrate legitimacy - against military targets only, which will both send a message about the use of these weapons and damage the capabilities of Assad.
What is clear is that whatever happens, there are no clear answers with regards to the conflict in Syria.
|Why Dubai is the best (biggest, tallest, and coolest) candidate for Expo 2020
|Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid) and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, agreed to form a federation of what were then then The Trucial States, a British protectorate, hardly anyone could have envisioned what the United Arab Emirates would have become today, nearly 45 years after that historic meeting [eventually seven of the nine 'sheikhdoms' joined the union]. For all intents and purposes, at inception in 1971, the United Arab Emirates could be described as a desolate backwater, despite a strong history of local traditions, and legacy as a trading post. Today, Dubai and the UAE bring forth images of economic strength and progress in an increasingly volatile and definitively confused region. Dubai's development, specifically, is a once-in-a-generation global phenomenon, and the city is unique like no other. As the bid committee for Expo 2020 look to decide on the host city for the world event seven years from now, there really is no other choice but Dubai - and let me tell you why.
1. The other candidate cities are Izmir, Sao Paulo, Yekaterinburg, and Ayutthaya...
There is nothing wrong with Izmir, Sao Paulo, Yekaterinburg, and Ayutthaya but do they really measure up to Dubai? Now before anyone gets in a tizzy or their 'socks' in a twist, they are all great cities! Izmir is Turkey's third-largest city and home to a great literary tradition. Sao Paulo is one of the five largest metropolitan areas on the planet. Yekaterinburg (in Russia), well it's Yekaterinburg and they have a monument to Michael Jackson. And Ayutthaya was the historical capital of the Kingdom of Siam. Let's just say the final three are likely Izmir, Sao Paulo and Dubai. Izmir is certainly a great city but does not have the global resonance of Dubai. And Sao Paulo...well Brazil has both the Olympics (2016) and the World Cup (2014); are you telling me that they really need the pesky Expo 2020 as well!?
2. The Expo needs a city of significance to make the event significant
Do you remember where the last Expo was held (or even that there is an Expo!)? You could be forgiven for not recalling that it was Yeosu, South Korea. Where was the one in 2010? That's right Shanghai. The Expo 2010 attracted a staggering 73 million visitors and was the most visited exhibition of its kind and brought together 189 different expositions from around the world. While in 2015 the Expo will be held in Milan and in 2017 in Astana (Kazakhstan) it is likely that it would take the Expo 2020 in Dubai to bring the event back to the international spotlight (the governing body regards the Expos held every 5 years to be 'World' Expos). In fact, it normally requires an emerging or new city of a transformative nature to inspire the type of attention that Shanghai in 2010 did (or Osaka in 1970 etc).
3. The entire ethos of Dubai is synonymous with what Expo 2020 would be about
Dubai is a global city by its very nature. It is home to over 2 million residents - and growing - from all over the world and from every socio-economic background, representing over 200 nationalities. The city is at once a home to and meeting-ground for people from the the Middle East, Subcontinent, Central Asia, Africa (especially East Africa) and Europe, North America, and Australia. There are even an estimated 180,000 Chinese residents in Dubai. With the tourist profile of the city, Dubai has in fact become the 8th most visited city in the world (in 2012). It's cultural diversity is on constant display with a burgeoning arts scene (that is driven at the grassroots level), international film festivals, culinary celebrations, and so much more that you might as well just visit Timeout magazine.
4. Dubai inspires the imagination as the Expo event is meant to do
The landmark World Expo (or Great Exhibition) was organized under the auspices of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, all the way back in 1851, in Hyde Park. It was an inspiring event that showcased the burgeoning city of London - the world's city at the time - and the promise of a future driven by technology and industrialization. In a region too full of dark pessimism and cynicism, Dubai represents optimism and opportunity. And it will represent that even more so in 2020, as the city, albeit far along the way, is only at the beginning of its journey in my view of what it will become. Think about it. Who would have said twenty years ago that the world's tallest building would be built in the (Arabian) Gulf? Who would have said only several years ago after the 9/11 attacks that the world's leading airline would be from an Arab country? Who would have thought that the 3rd largest ports operator in the world, handling over 33 million containers annually, would be from Dubai? Today, when you look at the volatile, unstable, and stagnant Middle East, there is one destination for entrepreneurs and innovators to go to - and that is Dubai.
5. Expo 2020 would drive Dubai and the UAE to improve
Before I even write this sentence, I'm sure several of London's finest are in a huff-and-puff that I have not yet mentioned jailed Islamists or tourists having sex in a taxi. Better yet, given the refusal-of-entry for a scholar from LSE this past week, shouldn't I be talking about the closure of the academic environment (I mean I masquerade as an intellectual from time to time as well)? Whether or not I believe in liberal democracy (I do - shock!), is it really a matter of discussion for Expo 2020? Well, in that case, we should reject Izmir's candidacy because of Turkey's campaign against Kurdish militants, Ayutthaya's candidacy because of Thailand's campaign in Malay Pattani, Yekaterinburg's candidacy because of Russia's crackdown on political opposition, and Sao Paulo's candidacy because of Brazil's anti-slum raids. Such nullification would leave no one left to host the event! Now beyond the two issues I mentioned above there are a number of continuing issues of concern in the UAE, allow me to list some of them: labor rights (even though this is improving); integration of stateless residents (i.e. bidoons); and increased confusion around cyber surveillance. Hosting the Expo 2020 would not exacerbate but more than likely shed more light on and ameliorate these challenges. In fact, the event would serve as a target-date for when Dubai and the UAE will be (even more so) on the world stage, and that attention would drive improvements on areas of concern.
There are more reasons than the five I've listed here on why Dubai should be the host for Expo 2020, but I like the number 5 (it's the former consultant in me - I almost went with three). Whether you live here or plan to visit, I look forward to seeing you in Dubai in 2020! Until then:
|Canadaâs UN vote against Palestinian statehood only empowers extremists
This article initially appeared in the Toronto Star (December 2, 2012). The original article can be found by clicking on the title below.
Canadaâs UN vote against Palestinian statehood only empowers extremists
âThis resolution will not advance the cause of peace or spur a return to negotiations. On the contrary, this unilateral step will harden positions and raise unrealistic expectations while doing nothing to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.â
It wasnât always this way. Canada traditionally played a much more even-handed role in the conflict, realizing the need to support both Israelâs security and Palestinian aspirations for statehood. But over the last decade Canadian policy on the Middle East conflict has become increasingly one-sided in its affinity for Israel. At the UN, Baird asserted that the resolution did not serve the interests of peace. Yet rather than promoting peace, the lonely Canadian UN vote only empowered extremists on both sides and could contribute to increased violence.
The push for recognition at the world body was the culmination of an effort that was launched roughly two years ago by the Palestinians, led by President Mahmoud Abbas. In his speech in New York, Abbas reiterated that this initiative was intended not to âdelegitimizeâ Israel but instead to âaffirm the legitimacyâ of Palestine. The campaign is one of only a few non-violent forms of activism left in the Palestinian arsenal to achieve a two-state solution.
After more than 64 years of dispossession and 45 years of occupation, Abbas and the Palestinian leadership viewed the UN vote as a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. That message resonated not just with countries that Prime Minister Stephen Harper could dismiss but also with democratic nations such as Norway, Spain, France, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Italy â not really a motley crew of rogue states.
It would be easy to ignore the significance of the Canadian vote. After all, itâs hardly news that under Harper Canadian policy has lacked balance. But today the Holy Land finds itself at a seminal inflection point, where there is a greater tolerance for intransigence on both sides. Coming out of the crisis in Gaza, where residents suffered massive casualties and destruction, Abbas was viewed as a weak, irrelevant figure. His invisibility, combined with changes in the wider region, has meant that the profile of Hamas has been raised. During the recent conflict, leading political officials from the Arab world met with senior Hamas figures in Gaza for the first time in five years.
Beyond this, among the Palestinian community, commitment to a two-state solution has been waning. It is no longer viewed as tenable given the growing encroachment of settlements in the West Bank. Leading activists have started to reintroduce the democratic solution that promotes one state in which there is universal suffrage, as in the South Africa model. For them, Abbasâs UN initiative was dead on arrival, regardless of whether it received support.
Against this backdrop, the Canadian governmentâs message is that this last-gasp support for a two-state solution and a peaceful Palestinian movement toward that end is âutterly regrettable.â Not only that, the government has also intimated it will review its aid to the Palestinian Authority.
There should be no illusions about what this means. Palestinians â after many decades of waiting â are looking for realistic traction toward self-determination. If the peaceful avenues leading to that end are closed, it will leave only the extremist approach. Hamas will point out that Gaza doesnât have any Israeli settlements, that their kidnapping of Israeli Gilad Shalit led to the release of Palestinian prisoners, and that Arab states are recognizing their leadership. And then they will ask: What has President Abbas done for you lately?
Beyond the question of whether Canada is on the wrong side of history, which hardly seems debatable, it now appears to be empowering violence and extremism. How can you support Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution and inexplicably oppose that very reality, claiming it is not conducive to peace? That cognitive dissonance should stimulate a deep examination of Canadian policy â there is a lot more at stake here than just a UN vote.
|10 cosas que seguramente no sabÃas sobre Corea del Sur
10 cosas que seguramente no sabÃas sobre Corea del Sur
Como dicen en Corea: annyeong-haseyo!
Tras contar curiosidades sobre Japón, hoy toca el turno a Corea del Sur. No se quedan atrás en excentricidades interesantes. De nuevo, habrá cosas que todos saben ¿verdad?, como que hacen dramas casi tan famosos como el anime japonés, ya lograron arrebatar el primer puesto en el informe PISA sobre educación a Finlandia o que Samsung dentro del paÃs no es meramente un productor de móviles y ordenadores sino toda una corporación que lo ha construido casi todo. Sin embargo, existen otras cosas como las de a continuación que espero no supieran.
Eres un año más viejo, a veces dos.Los surcoreanos suelen sumar un año a la edad internacional. El concepto cultural proviene de China y no sólo sucede en Corea del Sur sino también en paÃses influenciados como Corea del Norte, Vietnam o Japón. Lo que ocurre es que los otros paÃses asiáticos han aceptado la internacionalización de la edad y prácticamente ya no usan esta costumbre, sin embargo, en Corea del Sur lo normal es utilizar la edad coreana cuando te preguntan.
En cuanto a por qué hay que sumarse uno es simplemente porque se cree que ya naces con un año, no con cero. Pero añadido a esto, además, los coreanos no cumplen años sólo cuando nacieron sino cada «ib chun» o periodo solar, asà que cumples dos veces. Por tanto, dependiendo del mes, es posible que entre un periodo solar y otro tengas hasta dos años más. Si una persona ha nacido a principios de año, la diferencia de un año será la habitual. En cambio, si una persona nació a finales, pasará muchos meses añadiendo dos años a su edad internacional.
No hay desodoranteEs una cosa que incluso suelen añadirte en la guÃa de viajes cuando compras un vuelo a Corea: deberÃas traer tu desodorante porque es muy difÃcil encontrarlo. Esto es porque los coreanos sudan pero no huelen.
El olor corporal se debe a una mezcla de compuestos orgánicos volátiles. Las investigaciones sobre este tema comenzaron en la década de los sesenta, descubriendo que el olor axilar era producido por la interacción de secreciones apocrinas con los microorganismos cutáneos de las axilas. Y en 2009, un equipo de investigación descubrió que casi toda la etnia asiática tiene una mutación genética que detiene la producción de los compuestos del sudor apocrino que causan el mal olor. Por eso, las personas en China y Corea no usan mucho los desodorantes y tan claro como el agua, como no se vende, no hay.
Si tienes un problema fÃsico, se espera que lo soluciones.Hay cirugÃas de todo, absolutamente de todo, cosas como la reducción de volumen craneal es posible. Resulta que son tan increÃbles los cambios que, tras someterse a una operación, les obligan a actualizar su tarjeta de identificación porque normalmente no se les puede reconocer después.
También está el punto de que operarse no es raro. Cuando digo que no es raro es que adolescentes piden la cirugÃa de doble párpado como premio por graduarse en la preparatoria. De hecho, lo deleznable es que no lo soluciones. Si tienes una nariz aguileña, te pueden preguntar en una entrevista laboral porqué no te la has quitado esperando que tengas una razón de «verdadero peso» para no haberlo hecho. Corea tiene una sociedad muy superficial, que valora en demasÃa el aspecto fÃsico y no poseerlo es todo un problema para cualquier empleo de cierto nivel.
Si se mueve, se come.Corea tiene comidas muy extrañas, más o menos siguiendo la lÃnea de toda Asia. Déjenme decir primero que hay algunas comidas «tradicionales» que un capitalino no habrá probado jamás y que les dan tanto asco como a nosotros, pero existen los que las comen y restaurantes que las sirven, por lo cual, no está de más contarlo. Podemos empezar por la famosa sopa de perro. SÃ, tradicionalmente se comÃa el perro. Pero hay cosas peores como un vino con fetos de rata dentro, el «gaebul» que es una lombriz de mar abierta por la mitad, «gusanos-pene» en salsa âse llaman asÃâ que se comen crudos con salsa de sésamo o el «beondegi» que son larvas de gusano de seda al vapor. Nunca os harÃa la canallada de poner fotos de todo ello y tampoco os puedo comentar a qué saben porque tengo mis lÃmites en cuando a probar cosas nuevas.
Los más alcoholizados del mundoSegún datos de la OMS, es efectivamente el paÃs que más alcohol consume. De hecho, su bebida nacional, el soju, es el alcohol más vendido del mundo y quizás la única bebida alcohólica coreana conocida fuera de las fronteras (aunque hay muchas más). Está hecha a partir de licor de arroz pero no sabe a arroz, se toma en vasos pequeños como los de chupito y las botellas tienen un precio muy económico. En cuanto a su «potencia», tiene alta graduación âentre los 15º-25º el malo, el caro puede tener másâ y se toma solo. Su sabor es tan fuerte como el de alcohol de curar heridas y quema bajando, pero las ajummas (abuelas mayores) lo bajan como si nada.
Estarás pensando, bien, me abstendré de probarlo. DifÃcil. Ni se te ocurra rechazar si te ofrecen una bebida alcohólica, lo interpretarán como un gesto de descortesÃa, sobre todo si quien te lo ha ofrecido es alguien de mayor edad que tú. De hecho, los jefes tienen la costumbre de emborrachar a sus subordinados al salir de la empresa. Beber en Corea del Sur está bien visto, en reuniones, en negocios, en fiestas, en encuentros... incluso existe la creencia de que beber alcohol adelgaza.
Los coreanos conducen bastante malKIA es la marca de coches más vendida y en su mayorÃa los coreanos prefieren coches automáticos. Y a pesar de que los automáticos son más fáciles de conducir y los máximos de velocidad en Corea son bastante bajos, hay muchos accidentes. Según la OMS, Corea del Sur es el segundo paÃs con mayor número de muertes de tráfico.
Cosmética para todos.Bajo la misma idea perfeccionadora de las cirugÃas, hay una industria cosmética que lo invade todo. Los idols âcantantes y actores famososâ promocionan productos en todas partes, desde espaldares de asientos en el metro a paneles iluminados tamaño edificio. La cosmética suele intentan tener una base natural en la lÃnea conceptual de ser «comida para la piel» y se vende tanto para hombres como para mujeres.
Los hombres en corea consumen tanta cosmética como las mujeres, se ponen «bb creams» para el dÃa a dÃa âmaquillaje con tratamiento de cobertura bajaâ polvos, usan serums y tónicos, se tiñen, se hacen la cera integral en las piernas y pecho, no salen a la calle sin protector 50 y ver un coreano con pelo en la cara es tan raro como ver pasar el cometa Halley.
Se consumen productos con ácido hialurónico, vitamina C, salicÃlicos, proteÃnas de arroz y leche, caviar, tierras volcánicas mineralizadas⦠y en definitiva, todo lo que por su composición «aclare y terse» la piel. A los coreanos no les gusta el moreno, odian las manchas y a los 20 pocos, ya están preocupados por las arrugas. Como consecuencia o en base a esto, inventaron el cuidado facial en capas, en el que se usan al menos diez productos diferentes que hay que utilizar en un orden especÃfico, según ingredientes y textura, uno detrás de otro post absorción para alimentar la piel a la par que «protegerla del exterior». Y los hombres lo hacen también.
¿Cómo haces el sÃmbolo del corazón? Si eres occidental seguramente juntarás los pulgares y los Ãndices haciendo la forma. Los coreanos no hacen los corazones asà sino juntando Ãndice y pulgar de la misma mano, lo que para nosotros significa «dinero» o «¿cuánto cuesta?».
El K-pop¿Se acuerdan del Gangnam Style? Pues no fue una casualidad. La industria cultural de Corea del Sur lleva más de veinte años potenciando y haciendo globales sus producciones. El K-pop es nombre que recibe su estilo de música, integrado por varios géneros musicales como el dance pop, la balada pop, la música electrónica, el rock, la música hip hop y el R&B. Se caracteriza por tener elementos audiovisuales integrados en el directo como coreografÃas, fuegos artificiales en escena, caracterización y/o interpretación, una perfección técnica en la coordinación grupal de baile, aprovechan en muchos casos a explotar la estética cute, usan excéntricos peinados y/o maquillaje llamativo. No se puede decir que las letras tengan en su mayorÃa un gran repertorio o sean muy profundas pero reconozcámoslo, sus Justin Bieber lo hacen mejor porque por lo menos no paran quietos y vienen en packs.
Los 100 dÃas.En Corea las «Sogaeting» o citas a ciegas son muy normales y se habla de ellas públicamente. La verdad es que para los coreanos suele ser difÃcil conocer gente nueva por su introversión y a la vez es casi un delito llegar a los treinta y estar solo. La familia insiste mucho en esto y a veces es la madre la que le presenta al hijo chicas, también puede ocurrir por medio de la hermana o las amigas de la novia de un amigo. Vamos, trapicheo de contactos. Cuando las parejas empiezan a salir cuentan los dÃas y existe una celebración a los 100 en la que la chica le hace bombones caseros (en San ValentÃn también los hacen).
También decir que si te parece duro estar solo y ver parejas por la calle en occidente, allá es mucho peor. Puedes ver cosas como camisetas de parejas en conjunto, bufandas para dos o guantes dobles para tomarse de la mano sin separarse. En resumen, no es un buen sitio para estar soltero.
|17 cosas que seguro no sabÃas de Corea del Sur y de los coreanos
17 cosas que seguro no sabÃas de Corea del Sur y de los coreanosCorea del Sur es un paÃs poco conocido, del que es difÃcil encontrar tópicos más allá de la buena conexión a Internet y de los carteles luminosos estilo Japón. En el dÃa a dÃa se habla muy poco de esta Corea, no como su esperpéntico vecino del norte, que sale en las noticias dÃa sà y dÃa también âgraciasâ a su aún más esperpéntico gobernador. Tras mi viaje por Corea me encontré con muchas cosas que me llamaron la atención y que nunca imaginé que fueran posibles en este paÃs asiático. Como siempre está bien aprender algo nuevo, ahà van estas curiosidades.
1- Hay baños y agua gratis en todos ladosUna gran noticia para los viajeros que vayan a Corea del Sur: hay baños públicos muy limpios y agua, tanto frÃa como caliente (para los fideos o noodles, supongo), disponible prácticamente en todos los sitios. Tal es su obsesión por los aseos, que incluso en las rutas de montaña hay indicaciones de a cuánto está el siguiente, no sea que no te dé tiempo a llegar. El más curioso que me encontré, en la DMZ de Chengzhou, indicado claramente como âLast Restroomâ. 50 metros más adelante ya se acababa el paÃs.
2- El color del coche depende del puesto de trabajoLa mayorÃa de coches en Corea del Sur son de color blanco, gris o negro, y no es porque sean unos aburridos, sino por su estricta forma de diferenciarse socialmente. AsÃ, los empleados normales han de poseer un coche blanco, los puestos intermedios uno gris, y los jefes el negro. Siguen esta âtradiciónâ hasta tal punto que hay modelos de coches que parecen de jefazo que sólo los verás en negro, y los Hyundai o Kia más habituales normalmente son blancos. En los últimos años se está perdiendo un poco esta convención social, pero los coches rojos que vi, se pueden contar con los dedos de una mano. Amarillos, uno.
3- Se pasan el dÃa pegados al móvilPaÃs hipertecnológico y friki como pocos, creo que sólo superados por Japón, no es de extrañar que se pasen el dÃa pegados al móvil leyendo cómics o viendo el culebrón coreano de moda, pero es que están en TODO momento. En el vagón del metro es imposible encontrar a alguien sin el móvil en la mano, quizás alguna persona mayor, y leyendo un libro: misión imposible. Andando por la calle tampoco sueltan la maquinita para nada. Menos mal que, a fuerza de costumbre, deben de haber desarrollado algún tipo de radar, porque te esquivan sin problemas y no hay que preocuparse mucho por ellos.
4- ¡Son unos chapuzas!Con lo ordenados que son para todo, y estando todo el dÃa trabajando, uno se espera que hagan bien las cosas, pero todo lo contrario, son unos chapuzas que rÃete tú de Pepe Gotera y Otilio (Manolo y Benito para los de la tele). Fabricando dispositivos móviles serán unos máquinas (ya me gustarÃa ver alguno por dentro a ver qué churros hacen), pero para el restoâ¦tiran de apaños que dan bastante miedo: tubos de aire acondicionado por medio de la ventana, suelos que se levantan, parches de papel para paredes rotas, camas de plástico a las que se les caen las patas⦠Vamos, que fuera de los cachivaches electrónicos, muy poca maña.
5- Conducir no es su fuerteDesconozco el porqué, pero los asiáticos no son especialmente buenos conduciendo cosas con ruedas, y los coreanos no iban a ser una excepción. Lentos de reflejos (a lo que ayudan los cristales tintados), torpes reaccionando, y muy kamikazes en los cruces y rotondas. Será por eso que los lÃmites de velocidad son bastante bajos comparados con los europeos. Curiosamente, los únicos accidentes que vi eran en peajes y cruces.
6- Son muy vagosPues sÃ, como lo oyes. Se pasan la vida trabajando de sol a sol, pero en el fondo son unos vagos, muchÃsimo más que los españoles, que tenemos esa fama. Por eso quieren que todo sea muy fácil, y si es automático, mejor todavÃa. Ejemplos de su vagancia vi un montón: senderos naturales totalmente hechos de madera para subir montañas fácilmente, trabajadores mirando y revisando cómo otros trabajadores se sientan y descansan⦠Y el colmo: gente que se compra sillas eléctricas para no andar. Ni que estuvieran en Benidorm.
7- Los mejores alojamientos son los que más parecen un puticlubBuscando alojamientos para mi roadtrip por Corea del Sur alucinaba con los coloridos moteles repletos de neones que me encontraba en los buscadores. Habitaciones de colores chillones, leds bajo la cama, fachadas de hoteles multicolor, WC con el chorrito⦠Vamos, que sólo faltaba el espejo en el techo. Eso sÃ, en los que más a gusto dormà fue en los más horteras.
8- ¡Comen pulpos vivos! (visto en Jeju y más sitios)Que la gastronomÃa coreana me iba a sorprender ya me lo imaginaba, pero no me esperaba que llegasen hasta el punto de comerse pulpos y calamares vivos. Lo más cercano que se me ocurre que haya probado es el sashimi, que me encanta, pero comerse bichos vivos con tentáculos es otro nivel. Hay que tener la sangre muy frÃa para morder el pulpito nada más meterlo en la boca, ya que si no lo haces, el animal te puede ahogar con sus tentáculos. Me parece más peligroso incluso que comer pez globo.
9- Las abuelas con viseras (ajummas) son más duras que TerminatorSi hay alguien a quien temer en Corea del Sur, es a las ajummas, las, en apariencia, inofensivas abuelitas ataviadas con su inseparable visera gigante, la blusa de flores y pantalones oscuros. Su fiereza es tal que no dudarán ni un segundo en llevarte por delante si estás en su camino para entrar al metro, al ascensor o en la cola del supermercado. Que su apariencia débil y escasa estatura no te confundan, son pequeñas apisonadoras venidas del futuro para imponer su orden.
10 â Los jefes emborrachan a los empleadosTe pongo en situación: Seúl. Lunes por la noche. Montones de empleados de camisa blanca y pantalón negro dando tumbos por los bares en grupos, donde sólo parece que mantiene un poco la compostura el que va de traje. Al principio pensé que estos coreanos eran unos juerguistas ya de lunes, pero después me contaron mejor lo que estaba viendo, y es que en Corea los empleados salen, casi obligados, a beber después del trabajo con el jefe y los compañeros, para aparentar un nivel de colegueo que no tiene por qué existir, y el jefe aprovecha para emborrachar a sus trabajadores y asà sonsacarles cualquier información. Maquiavélico y retorcido cuanto menos.
11- El espejo es su debilidad, o cualquier superficie reflectanteLo coquetos que son los coreanos, no despediciarán cualquier espejo o cristal que refleje para atusarse el pelo, retocarse el maquillaje o reventarse un grano. O dos. Da igual la gente que haya alrededor, lo importante es tener buena apariencia en todo momento. Las puertas de seguridad de los metros son su debilidad.
12 â ¡Apetece asustarles!Llámame malvado, pero tras unas semanas rodeado de coreanos, siempre tan calladitos y atentos a su micromundo del móvil, llega un momento en que apetece darles un buen susto para ver si reaccionan como humanos o son robots que sólo trabajan. Será que uno está acostumbrado a un espÃritu más chistoso y a que no te miren como un bicho raro.
13 â Les encanta comerEs alucinante la devoción que sienten por la comida, y no es para menos con la cantidad de cosas diferentes que se ventilan, como los pulpitos que comentaba más arriba. Como un coreano conozca un buen restaurante, ten por seguro que intentará llevarte para que goces de su gastronomÃa tanto como él. A mà incluso me llegó a pasar que estando esperando por la comida que habÃa pedido en un restaurante, los señores de la mesa de al lado me invitaran a probar un trocito de ballena que estaban degustando, para que me llevase más sabores de recuerdo. Lo dicho, comer y Corea son todo uno.
14 â El inglés coreano o korenglish mete miedoQue en Corea del Sur no hablan mucho inglés ya lo habÃa leÃdo, pero al llegar allà me asusté con las patadas que meten al idioma, incluso en la televisión y en los carteles gubernamentales, con el llamado korenglish, una mezcla extraña que cuesta entenderla. Es tal su desconocimiento del idioma, a pesar de tener tantas similitudes con Estados Unidos, que en los hoteles me daban una hoja con las indicaciones escritas en inglés, para no tener que hablar. Menos mal que los jóvenes le ponen un poco más de ganas a estudiar inglés, y no dudarán en intentar hablar contigo en el metro o donde coincidas. Un consejo: di sólo la palabra clave de lo que quieras preguntar (breakfast, lunch, parking, toiletâ¦), y no hagas frases, porque no te van a entender en la mayorÃa de las ocasiones.
15 â Las iglesias parecen venidas del infiernoNo sé por qué razón, cuando pienso en un paÃs avanzado, me lo imagino poco religioso. Será porque el creer en cosas sin fundamento cientÃfico no es muy avanzado, pero ahà está Corea del Sur para llevarme la contraria. Tanta tecnologÃa para que al final la mitad de la población esté deprimida y busque en la religión un poco de felicidad. Andando por el centro de Seúl te puedes encontrar con muchos âevangelizadoresâ que intentan conseguir nuevos feligreses para su congregación. Menos mal que al notarse claramente que eres extranjero, ni te miran. De noche, las cruces rojas de la mayorÃa de iglesias, harán que parezcan otra cosa.
16 â MegaCORP se llama LG o SamsungQuién iba a pensar que la inmensa MegaCorp y sucedáneos de todos esos futuros distópicos ya estaban aquÃ, y en Corea del Sur se llaman LG o Samsung. Fuera de Corea las conocemos por hacer aparatos electrónicos, pero dentro del paÃs LG fabrica de todo, desde ventanas, puertas, televisores o paredes, hasta pasta de dientes y detergente. El grupo Samsung incluye bancos, industria pesada, seguros de vida e incluso hospitales. RÃete tú del monopolio que decÃan que era Microsoft.
17 â Hay cámaras por todos ladosNo me refiero a las de los móviles, que esas sólo valen para hacer selfies, sino a las de vigilancia. ¡Están por todos lados! Ya sea en la ciudad o en los pueblos, siempre hay cámaras de CCTV grabando todo lo que pasa para velar por la seguridad. Asà es que Corea del Sur es uno de los paÃses más seguros del mundo, aunque mejor que no te pongas a hacer nada poco decoroso. A nadie se le ocurre empañar los cristales del coche en un descampado, que después salen en alguno de los programas de televisión que hay de âpillados por la CCTVâ.
Estas fueron algunas de las cosas que más me sorprendieron de Corea del Sur, mi primer destino asiático visitado, y que no disfruté tanto como habrÃa querido. Algunas seguro que me son más chocantes de lo normal por mi mirada occidentalâ¦y otras muchas cosas peculiares de Corea del Sur se deben haber perdido en la traducción.
|Korean Tacos with BBQ Pork Belly
To view the full recipe and story, mosey on over to Gilt Taste, here: http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/629
Cast: Gilt Taste
Tags: recipe, bbq, pork, korean, july 4, july fourth, rooftop and cooking
|Aktivitas Ekonomi Rakyat Korea Utara ditengah Embargo
|Aktivitas Ekonomi Rakyat Korea Utara ditengah Embargo
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|End Of Life Care Can Be Different For Veterans
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Half of the men who die every day in the U.S. are veterans. That's according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and it's not as shocking as it sounds. Millions of Americans who served in World War II and in Korea are now in their 80s and 90s.
|VA Steps Up Programs As More Veterans Enter Hospice Care
|Ask Americans if someone in their family served in the military, and the answer is probably no. After all, fewer than 1 percent of Americans serve these days.
But ask if one of their grandfathers served, and you'll likely get a different answer. Between World War II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam, millions of men were drafted into service â and both men and women volunteered.
Now, that generation of veterans is getting older. And as many of them near the end of their lives, aging into their 80s and 90s, the demand for hospice care has been growing with them.
|iPhone 4S vanaf 11 november verkrijgbaar in Hongkong en Zuid-Korea
|La Jolla Playhouse Announces Cast and Creative Team for Hansol Jung's WILD GOOSE DREAMS
La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Wild Goose Dreams, by Hansol Jung, directed by Leigh Silverman, running September 5 - October 1 (press opening: Sunday, September 10) in the Mandell Weiss Forum.
The cast will feature Yunjin Kim (TV's Lost; Berkeley Rep's The Woman Warrior) as "Yoo Nanhee," James Kyson (TV's Heroes, Hawaii 5-0) as "Gook Minsung" and Francis Jue (Broadway's Pacific Overtures; Obie Award winner for Yellow Face) as "Father," along with Carolyn Agan (San Diego Musical Theatre's Ragtime) as "Woman/Chorus," Julian Cihi (Broadway's Doctor Zhivago) as "Man/Chorus," Rona Figueroa (Broadway's Miss Saigon) as "Wife/Chorus," Samantha Wang (DNA New Work Series' Akeelah and the Bee) as "Hyonjin/Chorus," and UC San Diego M.F.A. students DeLeon Dallas, Kyle Hester and Kimberly Monks as "Chorus."
The creative team includes Paul Castles, Composer; Jongbin Jung, Korean Music Composer; Charity Wicks, Music Supervisor; Yasmine Lee, Choreographer; Wilson Chin (Kill Local, Hollywood), Scenic Designer; Tony Award winner Linda Cho (Limelight, The Orphan of Zhao), Costume Designer; Keith Parham (Tribes), Lighting Designer; Joanna Lynne Staub, Sound Designer; Gabriel Greene, Dramaturg; and Melanie J. Lisby, Stage Manager.
"Hansol Jung's exquisite new play brings together two strangers bound by their shared loneliness in a hauntingly beautiful piece that shifts between the tangible and the ethereal, the literal and the metaphorical. Award-winning director Leigh Silverman makes her Playhouse debut mounting this brand new work with an extraordinary cast and creative team," said La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley.
In Wild Goose Dreams, a North Korean defector who has left her family behind and a lonely South Korean father start an unlikely online romance as they each attempt to allay their fears and alienation in this inventive, lyrical and darkly humorous piece.
Hansol Jung is a playwright and director from South Korea. Plays include Cardboard Piano (Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville); Among the Dead (Ma-Yi Theater Company); No More Sad Things (co-world premiere at Sideshow Theatre, Chicago and Boise Contemporary Theatre) and Wolf Play. Commissions from Playwrights Horizons, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation grant with Ma-Yi Theatre and a translation of Romeo and Juliet for Play On! at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Her work has been developed at the Royal Court (London), NYTW, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, O'Neill Conference, Sundance Theatre Lab, Lark Play Development Center, Salt Lake Acting Company, Boston Court Theatre, Asia Society New York and Seven Devils Playwright Conference. She is the recipient of the 2016 P73 Playwright Fellowship at Page 73 Productions, Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellowship at the Lark, 2050 Fellowship at NYTW, MacDowell Colony Artist Residency and International Playwrights Residency at Royal Court. Her plays have received the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award (Among the Dead), Honorable Mention from the 2014 Arch and Bruce Brown Playwriting Competition (Cardboard Piano), and was named 2014 finalist for the Ruby Prize (No More Sad Things). She has translated over thirty English musicals into Korean, including Evita, Dracula, Spamalot and The 25th Annual...Spelling Bee, while working on several award winning musical theatre productions as director, lyricist and translator in Seoul, South Korea. Ms. Jung holds a Playwriting M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama, and is a proud member of the Ma-Yi Theater Writers Lab.
Leigh Silverman is a two-time Obie Award winner, directed the Encores! and Broadway productions of Violet and earned a Tony Award nomination. Other Broadway credits include David Henry Hwang's Chinglish, Lisa Kron's Well, as well as Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party for Encores!. Over thirty world premieres including: All the Ways to Say I Love You (MCC); Tumacho (Clubbed Thumb); The Way We Get By (Second Stage); American Hero (Second Stage and Williamstown Theatre Festival); Kung Fu (Signature Theatre); The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons); No Place to Go (Public Theater); The Madrid (MTC); Golden Child (Signature Theatre); In The Wake (Center Theatre Group/Berkeley Rep and Public Theater, Obie Award, Lortel nomination); Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award); From Up Here (MTC, Drama Desk nomination); Yellow Face (Pulitzer finalist, Center Theatre Group/Public Theater); Coraline (MCC/True Love); Hunting and Gathering (Primary Stages); Oedipus at Palm Springs (NYTW); Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons/Seattle Rep); Well (Public Theater/Huntington Theatre/ACT).
Carolyn Agan (Woman/Chorus) won the 2016 Craig Noel Award for Ragtime at San Diego Musical Theatre. Other credits include the national tour of The Phantom Tollbooth, Olive in The 25th Annual...Spelling Bee, Belle in A Christmas Carol ('10-'15), Freedom's Song, 1776, LiberTy Smith and Parade (Ford's Theatre), Hello, Dolly! (Signature/Ford's Theatre), Two Gents: A Rock Opera (Shakespeare Theatre), Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (Olney Theatre), Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Bold Girls, The Hostage (Keegan Theatre). Ms. Agan serves as Director of Education at San Diego Musical Theatre and is an associated teaching artist with La Jolla Playhouse and The Old Globe.
Julian Cihi (Man/Chorus) has appeared on Broadway in Doctor Zhivago and Off-Broadway as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at Classic Stage Company. Other credits include The Importance of Being Earnest; A Month in the Country (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Roger in RENT; Orlando in As You Like It (Toho Productions; Japan), directed by Michael Mayer. TV: The Mysteries of Laura (NBC); Mr. Robot (USA); High Maintenance (HBO); Gypsy (Netflix). Born and raised in Tokyo and currently living in New York City, Mr. Cihi earned his B.A. from Brown University and M.F.A. from NYU Tisch Graduate Acting.
DeLeon Dallas (Chorus) is a third-year M.F.A. actor at UC San Diego, where credits include La Bete, Native Son, Streamers, Strange Men, Damascus. Regional: Honky (San Diego Repertory); Brothers Size (Ubuntu). Film credits: Honky (PBS). He holds a B.A. in Sports Management from Concordia University, Nebraska. He was also chosen for the summer 2017 Guthrie Experience for actors in training. Mr. Dallas collaborated closely with the Guthrie Theater and other actors in his class from different training programs to devise a new works called Incurable: A Fool's Tale.
Rona Figueroa (Wife/Chorus) appeared on Broadway as Kim in Miss Saigon, Eponine in Les Miserables, as well as in Nine and Lennon. Off-Broadway credits include Daisy in Dogeaters (Public Theater) and Grusha in Caucasian Chalk Circle (Vineyard Theater). Regional: Lady Thiang in The King and I (Chicago Lyric Opera), Misaki in I Sing the Rising Sea (Virginia Stage Company), Mimi in Rent (Vermont Theater), Luciana in Boys From Syracuse (Center Stage), Mary Magdelene in Jesus Christ Superstar (NSMT) and We Will Rock You (Vegas). Film/TV credits: Dragonheart, A New Beginning, Slow Jam King, Mysteries of Laura, Eye Candy, Gossip Girl, Royal Pains. Rock band: Quasilulu, albums on iTunes.
Kyle Hester's (Chorus) regional credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Annie Get Your Gun (Dutch Apple Theatre); The Jazz Funeral of Stella Brooks (Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival). LA: Macbeth (Harold Clurman Lab Theatre); Twelfth Night (LA New Court Theatre); Henry VI, Part 1 (The Production Company). UC San Diego: Strange Men, Streamers, Native Son, Angels in America: Perestroika, Go. Please. Go., La Bête. Film: Praxis, Finale. TV: The Temp Agency. Training: M.F.A. from UCSD (2018), B.F.A. from NYU Tisch.
Francis Jue (Father) was featured in La Jolla Playhouse's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. On Broadway he has appeared in Pacific Overtures, Thoroughly Modern Millie and M. Butterfly. Favorite theatre credits include Yellow Face (Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards; Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations), In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (AriZoni Award), Miss Saigon (Elliot Norton Award), Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Drama-Logue Award), Cabaret (Bay Area Critics Circle Award), Falsettoland, tokyo fish story, Kung Fu, King of the Yees and Paper Dolls. Film and TV credits include Joyful Noise, and recurring roles on Madam Secretary and Law & Order: SVU.
Yunjin Kim (Yoo Nanhee) has appeared on the popular television series Lost, Two Sisters and Mistresses. Her theater credits include Yachiyo in Ballad of Yachiyo at Seattle Repertory Theatre; Fa Mu Lan in The Woman Warrior at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Diana in Junk Bonds at Capital Repertory Company, Jing Mei Woo in The Joy Luck Club at Long Wharf Theatre and Huoy in The Survivor at Actor's Theatre of Louisville. Her Korean film and TV credits include Shiri, The Legend of Gingko, Rush! (Japanese film), Iron Palm, Yesterday, Ardor, Diary of June, Seven Days, Harmony, Heartbeat, The Neighbors, Ode to My Father, House of the Disappeared, Beautiful Vacation, Wedding Dress, With Love.
James Kyson's (Gook Minsung) theater credits include Blood (The Complex); Hair (Knightsbridge). His television appearances include: Preacher, Elementary, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Sleepy Hollow, NCIS: LA, Justified, Hawaii 5-0, and series regular on Heroes. He also voiced the History Channel's WWII in HD, Ken Burns' National Parks, Adventure Time and HBO's Animals. His film credits include Walk to Vegas, Shutter.
Kimberly Monks (Chorus) is a third-year M.F.A. actor at UC San Diego, where credits include: La Bete, Native Son, Taming of the Shrew, Are You There and Damascus. She received a B.A. in Religion: Youth Leadership from Vanguard University of Southern California. Ms. Monks was also chosen for the summer 2017 Guthrie Experience for actors in training. She collaborated closely with the Guthrie Theater and other actors from different training programs to devise a new works called Incurable: A Fool's Tale.
Samantha Wang (Hyonjin/Chorus) appeared in the Playhouse's DNA New Work Series reading of Akeelah and the Bee. Other credits include: Vanessa in In the Heights (UC San Diego), Betty-Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and Underworld Voice in The Odyssey (The Old Globe), Emma in Lego Friends Live Holiday Show (Legoland California), Sara Crewe in A Little Princess (San Diego Junior Theatre). Ms. Wang is currently working towards a B.A. in Political Science: Public Law and a B.A. in Communications at the University of California, San Diego.
The Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is internationally-renowned for creating some of the most exciting and adventurous work in American theatre, through its new play development initiatives, its innovative Without Walls series, artist commissions and residencies. Currently led by Artistic Director and 2017 Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, the Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and reborn in 1983 under the artistic leadership of Des McAnuff. La Jolla Playhouse has had 28 productions transfer to Broadway, garnering 38 Tony Awards, among them the currently-running, Tony Award-nominated hit Come From Away, along with Jersey Boys, Memphis, The Who's Tommy, Big River, as well as Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays and the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, both fostered as part of the Playhouse's Page To Stage Program. LaJollaPlayhouse.org.
|Jee Young Lee
Young Korean artist Jee Young Lee recently presented her beautiful, surrealistic and Photoshop-free photography exhibition named âStage of Mindâ. The magic happens in the artistâs small 3,6 x 4,1 x 2,4-meter studio in Seoul. The artist builds these highly dramatic, psychedelic and visually intense scenes herself, ensuring that every teeny tiny detail is hauntingly perfect and leaves the viewer in awe.
Jee Young Lee works with such precision that the creation of a set often takes weeks or even months of work. As soon as the otherworldly sets are done, the artist incorporates herself in them in various different ways and takes these stunning self-portraits.
According to the artist herself, all of the photography sets and her specific roles in them tell a particular story about her personal life experiences or resurrect traditional Korean fables or other cultural heritage from around the world. Her work is a deep self-reflection for the artist and a means to explore her psychological identity.
Jee Youngâs amazing work will be on display at the OPIOM Gallery in Opio France from Feb. 7 to March 7, 2014.
Take a look at Jee Young Leeâs photos and embrace her enchanting world!
Source: opiomgallery.com (via mymodernet, brainfactory)
|MOTHERâS JOB (2017)
|Film Semi Korea berjudul Motherâs Job bercerita tentang Seorang pemuda jatuh cinta pada ibu temannya. Incoming search terms:mothers job korea […]
|Sensex posts fourth consecutive session of falls
Indian shares fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, as Tata Motors dragged indexes down after its results failed to meet expectations, while sentiment was also hurt by worries about simmering U.S.-North Korea tensions.
The benchmark BSE Sensex closed down 0.84 percent at 31,531.33, its lowest close in over a month.
The broader NSE Nifty ended 0.89 percent lower at 9,820.25, its lowest close in nearly a month.
Tata Motors shares fell 8.6 percent and closed at their lowest since May 2016.
|Experience Rock and Roll Filtered Through Luna Leeâs Korean Sensibilities on Her Gayageum
I never really understood all the fuss over the Gangnam Style videos. Â Seemed a bit too much like the Lambada craze of the late 90s for my taste, honestly. Â I'm more of a rock kind of guy. Â (We will diplomatically ignore my love of Tom Lehrer songs, show tunes, and classical and jazz piano music for the purposes of this...
Experience Rock and Roll Filtered Through Luna Lee's Korean Sensibilities on Her Gayageum, by Douglas Moran, originally appeared on GearDiary - Tech, Autos, & Gear in Layman's Terms Since 2006!.
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|1. MANCING DASARAN (Bottom Fishing). Mengapa disebut âMancing Dasaranâ, karena apa yang dilakukan adalah menempatkan kail yang berisi umpan di dasar laut (atau sedikit diatasnya agar tidak tersangkut karang) dengan harapan bahwa ikan ikan yang berada di dasar laut memakan umpan tersebut. Ini adalah teknik mancing paling umum dan paling popular dikalangan pemancing. Ikan yang menjadi target biasanya adalah Kakap Merah, Jenaha, Kurisi (Kerisi), Kuwe, Krapu, Salem dan beberapa ikan dasar lainnya. Terkadang Tenggiri dan Barracuda juga dapat dipancing dengan cara ini. Mancing dasar menggunakan joran standar dan bisa menggunakan reel spinning atau open (overhead) reel) atau malahan pakai tangan saja (hand line) yaitu cara tradisional. Ukuran pancing yang digunakan berkisar antara nomor 3/0 sampai 1/0. Mancing dasar harus menggunakan pemberat (timah atau besi) yang beratnya tergantung pada kencangnya arus diperairan tersebut. Diperairan kepulauan Seribu mungkin cukup menggunakan timah yang maksimal 200 gram tapi di sekitar Merak, Anyer dan Muara Binuangeun mungkin harus sampai 400 gram beratnya. Umpan yang populer digunakan di perairan P. Seribu adalah udang hidup yang biasanya dibeli dari bagan bagan pada pagi hari atau menggunakan cumi serok (sudah mati). Di daerah Selat Sunda dan Muara Binuangeun pemancing biasanya menggunakan cumi yang di iris iris atau utuh (cumi kecil) dan/atau irisan ikan tongkol atau ikan lain yang dagingnya alot! Mancing Dasaran disebut juga mancing JEBLUKAN. Awalnya mungkin karena sewaktu pemancing melontarkan kail yang diberati timah kedalam air, apakah dari perahu atau dari dermaga biasanya menimbulkan bunyi âjeblukâ sehingga munculah istilah mancing âjeblukanâ
2. NGONCER. Ngoncer adalah mancing dengan menggunakan ikan hidup sebagai umpan (LIVE BAIT). Teknik ini sedikit unik dan tanpa menggunakan timah/ pemberat. Kenur utama dipasang kili-kili peniti (snap swivel), kemudian disambungkan dengan mata kail dengan kawat nikelin sepanjang 10.cm. Umpan yang digunakan mutlak umpan hidup seperti : selar, tembang, layang, como, kembung, sangir, bahkan baby barracuda (alu-alu). Umpan hidup dibiarkan berenang menjauhi kapal, menuju lokasi yang paling akurat (tohor), sambil menunggu ikan pamangsa, seperti Tenggiri dan Barracuda menyambar umpan hidup tadi. Terkadang digunakan pula balon, yang berguna agar ikan tidak berenang ke bawah, sehingga ikan selalu berada di permukaan (1-2m dari permukaan) . Tehnik ini yang sangat efisien dan efektif untuk mancing tenggiri di Kep. Seribu dan mancing ikan permukaan di perairan sekitar Muara Binuangeun. Banyak pemancing sangat menggandrunginya.
3. TROLLING (Tonda). Teknik memancing yang disebut âtrollingâ ini harus menggunakan reel khusus (Open Reel) yang cukup kuat dan joran khusus yang umumnya hanya terdiri dari 1 batang dan harus ditarik kapal dengan kecepatan 5-7 knot. Trolling biasanya menggunakan umpan buatan yang dibuat dari fiber glass, kayu atau plastik. Umpan palsu yang paling populer adalah yang disebut Rapala untuk memancing ikan ikan seperti Tenggiri dan Wahoo. Ada jenis umpan palsu lain yang disebut Konahead yang berbentuk seperti cumi tapi berwarna menyolok untuk mancing ikan ikan sejenis Marlin, Layaran dan Lemadang. Jarak umpan dari kapal sekitar 20-100m tergantung dari ukuran umpannya. Cara ini sangat populer digunakan di perairan sekitar Binuangeun dan Ujungkulon tetapi tidak efektif bila digunakan di daerah Kep. Seribu atau di Selat Sunda bagian utara yang tidak banyak ikan palagis diatas 10 kg.
4. CASTING, biasanya dilakukan dari pinggiran laut, seperti dermaga, batuan, pantai, bahkan diatas kapal yang sedang berhenti / jalan dengan pelan. Joran yang digunakan adalah joran khusus yang bersifat lentur (tidak kaku) dan panjangnya antara 150 sampai 172 cm cm karena berbeda dengan Popping (lihat teknik nomor 8) lontaran umpan biasanya tidak perlu terlalu jauh (antara 20 sampai 30 m). Reel yang digunakan bisa spinning bisa juga reel khusus (baitcasting). Umpan yang digunakan biasanya umpan tiruan (lure) yang berbentuk ikan ikanan, serangga atau binatang laut lain dengan berat sekitar 7 sampai 20 gram. Caranya adalah umpan dilempar sejauh mungkin, kemudian reel digulung dengan cepat. Hal ini harus dilakukan terus menerus sampai ikan menyambar atau sampai pemancing merasa lelah dan menyerah. Oleh karena itu cara mancing seperti ini termasuk Popping dan Jigging (lihat nomor 7 dan 8 ) dikategorikan sebagai Sportfishing yaitu mancing sambil ber olah-raga! Penggemar Casting yang sudah sangat piawai lebih suka menggunakan reel khusus yang disebut Baitcaster lengkap dengan jorannya. Posisi spool Reel Baitcaster seperti juga reel model overhead umumnya adalah melintang sehingg mampu meluncurkan PE atau kenur tanpa hambatan/gesekan dengan spool sehingga PE bisa meluncur dengan lebih cepat dan mencapai jarak yang lebih jauh dari reel spinning. Inilah kelebihan reel Baitcaster dibanding Reel model Spinning. Tetapi, karena kelebihannnya reel tersebut punya kelemahan. PE yang meluncur bila terlampat dihentikan (di reem) sewaktu lure menyentuh air dapat menyebabkan PE meluncur terus dan tumpah ruah sehingga mengakibatkan kusut parah. Oleh karena itu, untuk mampu menggunakan reel Baitcaster memerlukan latihan yang terus menerus untuk menguasai penggunaannya karena
5. SURF CASTING. Teknik mancing ini dilakukan dari pantai dengan menggunakan joran yang panjangnya kira-kira 4m dan biasanya terdiri dari 3 pieces (potong) yang harus disambung jadi satu. Jorannya hampir seperti joran spinning atau popping biasa hanya jauh lebih panjang. Pemancing juga harus menggunakan reel yang berukuran cukup besar (biasanya model spinning kelas 4000 keatas). Oleh teman-teman di daerah Yogya teknik mancing ini disebut PASIRAN. Walaupun teknik dasarnya hampir sama dengan casting yaitu melontarkan umpan sejauh jauhnya tetapi dalam Surf Casting, umpan yang di lontarkan justru dibiarkan mendarat dan tinggal di tempat dia jatuh. Oleh karena itu teknik mancing ini harus menggunakan timah pemberat untuk menahan agar umpan tidak bergerak kesana kemari dibawa ombak. Umpan yang digunakan juga bukanlah umpan palsu (tiruan) tetapi biasanya irisan ikan, cacing laut, undur-undur atau kerang-kerang yang ditemukan dipesisir. Pelontaran umpan tidak dilakukan secara sembarangan tetapi harus ditujukan ke cekukan cekukan/celuk yang diperkirakan ada ikan. Selain daripada itu surf casting biasanya dilakukan pada waktu pasang naik karena pada saat itulah ikan ikan mendekati pantai untuk mencari makanan. Selain dipantai, teknik surf casting juga bisa dilakukan di muara sungai, juga pada saat laut pasang!
6. ROCK CASTING. Teknik mancing ini hampir sama dengan teknik Surf Casting dan menggunakan peralatan yang hampir sama tetapi dilakukan dari atas batu karang (rock) atau pinggir laut yang curam. Teknik dasarnya juga sama yaitu melontarkan umpan sejauh jauhnya dan umpan yang di lontarkan dibiarkan mendarat dan tinggal di tempat dia jatuh. Oleh karena itu teknik mancing ini harus menggunakan timah pemberat untuk menahan agar umpan tidak bergerak kesana kemari dibawa ombak. Umpan yang digunakan juga bukanlah umpan palsu (tiruan) tetapi biasanya irisan ikan, cacing laut atau kerang-kerang yang ditemukan dipesisir. Seperti dalam Surf Casting, pemancing biasanya tidak memegangi jorannya terus menerus tetapi menempatkannya disuatu tempat atau pada penyangga yang kokoh dan mengamati dari kejauhan sampai umpannya disambar ikan. Memancing dengan teknik Rock Casting sebenarnya sangat berbahaya karena pemancing harus memanjat tebing dan mencari spot diatas permukaan batu karang yang tingginya dari permukaan laut antara 2 m sampai 20 m. Yang hanya 4 m dari permukaan laut dapat tiba tiba dikelilingi air laut dan terpisah dari daratan pada saat pasang naik. Lokasi yang sangat tinggi juga sangat berbahaya karena ada bahaya terjatuh kedalam laut. Oleh karena itu teknik ini biasnya hanya dilakukan oleh pemancing yang suka mencari petualangan. Para ahli menasihatkan agar mereka yang senang âRock Castingâ selalu melakukannya bersama teman agar bisa saling menolong.
7. JIGGING â Menurut para ahli, Jigging sebagai salah satu teknik mancing bukanlah sesuatu teknik yang baru muncul. Nelayan dari beberapa negara sejak ribuan tahun lalu telah mencoba âmenipuâ ikan dengan menggunakan umpan palsu yang dibuat dari timah atau logam lain berbentuk ikan kecil yang dicemplungkan ke dasar laut lalu kemudian ditarik dengan cepat keatas. Pada saat ini, spot yang paling populer untuk teknik Jigging bagi para pemancing Jabodetabek, Jawa Barat dan Banten adalah di perairan Muara Binuangeun sekitar Pulau Deli dan di Sea Mount Reef yang lokasinya antara Lampung Barat dengan Ujung Kulon. Jigging biasnya dilakukan pada spot yang terdiri dari terumbu karang atau tubiran dengan kedalaman antara 50 sampai 100 m. Jig yang digunakan biasanya adalah yang memiliki berat minimal 150 gram agar terjun dengan cepat menuju dasar laut. Tetapi saat ini teman teman penggemar Jigging di Sea Mount Reef dan di Bali lebih suka menggunakan jig yang beratnya antara 230 sampai 400 gram tergantung jenis ikan yang menjadi sasaran. Memancing dengan teknik Jigging memerlukan peralatan yang berbeda dari teknik Popping atau Casting. Joran yang digunakan cenderung lebih kaku dan pendek (antara 150 sampai 170 cm), agak lebih kaku dari joran untuk mancing Dasaran. Joran untuk jigging hampir mirip dengan joran Trolling tetapi lebih kecil ukurannya dan terdiri dari 2 sambungan yang sambungannya berada diujung pangkal joran (butt). Reelnya juga harus lebih kokoh dibandingkan dengan reel untuk popping walaupun pada dasarnya bisa ditukar-tukar. Seperti telah disebutkan diawal sewaktu Jigging, jig tidak diayunkan ke spot yang dijadikan target tetapi dicemplungkan dan dibiarkan meluncur ke dasar laut secepat mungkin kemudian segera menggulung reel dengan cepat sambil sesekali disentak sentak. Cara tersebut dilakukan agar umpan tiruan tersebut bergerak mirip ikan umpan alami tetapi berenang menuju keatas sehingga ikan sasaran mau menyambarnya. Jigging biasanya dilakukan dari kapal/perahu yang lego jangkar dan berdiam ditempat. Tetapi waktu saya igging di Bali dengan beberapa teman perahu kami dibiarkan hanyut dan kemudian harus kembali ke spot semula karena kedalaman lautnya mencapai 80 sampai 90 m sehingga sulit untuk lego jangkar. Bila terjadi strike, jig biasanya tiba tiba terasa berat dan ada yang menarik sehingga harus segera dilakukan âfightâ agar ikan tersebut tidak bisa menyelam dan bersembunyi didalam karang. Seperti juga dalam Popping, tantangan utama dalam jigging adalah justru mempertahankan agar ikan yang menyambar jig tidak bisa lari dan bersembunyi dibalik karang. Bila ini terjadi maka yang biasanya terjadi adalah jig terpaksa diputuskan/dikorbankan. Istilah para pemancing Indonesia adalah menjadi sesajen untuk laut selatan (bila terjadinya di Binuangeun).
8. POPPING. Teknik Popping pada dasarnya termasuk dalam kelompok Casting. Tetapi teknik Popping menggunakan joran (rod) yang cukup panjang, antara 180 sampai 210 cm dan terdiri dari 2 pieces yang disambung. Cincin-cincin (guide/kolongnya) berukuran besar agar kenur dapat meluncur dengan cepat dan sewaktu di retrieve (digulung) benang PE atau kenur akan kembali dengan lancar. Joran yang lebih panjang akan menghasilkan pelontaran umpan yang lebih jauh. Reel yang digunakan biasanya kelas 6000 keatas dan kenurnya adalah benang PE (Braided) kelas 50 lbs sampai 80 lbs. Sesuai dengan sebutannya, teknik popping khusus menggunakan âlureâ (umpan buatan) yang disebut Popper yang biasanya berukuran besar dengan berat antara 80 sampai 100 gram. Umpan buatan yang dipakai terdiri dari 2 jenis. Yang pertama disebut âChuggerâ yang kepalanya rata dan memiliki cekukan seperti mangkok. Chugger ini bila disentak sewaktu mengapung akan menimbulkan bunyi âpop, pop, popâ karena kepalanya menabrak air laut. Itulah sebabnya ia disebut âpopperâ. Jenis yang satu lagi disebut âPencilâ karena kepalanya âtajamâ dan pensil ini tidak disentak sentak tetapi hanya ditarik terus. Teknik Popping hampir sama dengan Casting yaitu mengayunkan umpan tiruan ke spot yang dijadikan target kemudian menggulung reel dengan cepat, lalu setelah bebera putaran popper disentak (bila umpannya Chugger) lalu menggulungnya lagi. Cara tersebut dilakukan agar umpan tiruan tersebut bergerak mirip ikan umpan alami, sehingga ikan sasaran mau menyambarnya. Perbedaan utama antara Popping dengan Casting adalah bahwa Popping biasanya dilakukan dari kapal/perahu yang âstand byeâ. Artinya mesin kapal tetap hidup dan jangkar tidak diturunkan agar kapal bisa segera mundur bila telah terlalu dekat ke karang atau bila umpan disambar ikan target agar ikan tersebut tidak bisa menyelam dan bersembunyi didalam karang. Teknik âpoppingâ sangat populer di perairan Bali, Nusa Tenggara Barat dan Timur (sekitar Pulau Komodo) dan banyak dilakukan oleh orang asing, seperti Jepang, Korea dan juga Indonesia. Popping sekarang sangat populer dikalangan pemancing hobbyist Indonesia terutama untuk memancing Tuna pada waktu musimnya dan GT (Grand Trevally/Kuwe Gerong) yang bisa dilakukan kapan saja asal di spot yang tepat. Spot yang paling populer untuk pemancing Jabodetabek dan Banten saat ini adalah di sekitar Karang Tungku Tiga dan Batu Mandi sekitar Pulau Sanghyang, Tanjung Tua dan Karang Krekah dekat Bakauhuni, di Karang Jajar dan sekitar Pulau Panaitan, Ujungkulon. Semua spot ini berada di wilayah perairan Selat Sunda. Gerombolan ikan Tuna sirip kuning biasanya muncul sekitar bulan Maret-April di perairan Pelabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi.
9. Mancing GARONG. Cara mincing ini secara popular diplesetkan dengan sebutan ângegarongâ karena menggunakan sejenis mincing yang bermata 6(enam) berbentuk seperti matahari yang disebut pancing âGARONGâ! Uniknya, seringkali (atau lebih sering) ikan yang digarong tertangkap bukan karena pancing nyangkut di mulutnya tetapi nyangkut di insang, di pipi, pundak, perut, buntut, dsb. Mancing garong ini biasanya menggunakan joran TEGEK yaitu joran tanpa kolong-kolong (cincin/guide) yang panjangnya antara 4 m sampai 6 meter. Mancing cara âgarongâ ini harus menggunakan pelampung kecil yang dibuat dari kayu ringan dan biasanya berbentuk seperti âpiring terbangâ. Jarak antara pelampung dengan pancing garongnya hanya berkisar sekitar 50 cm sampai 100 cm sedangkan seluruh panjang kenur dari ujung joran sampai mata pancing hanya 2 sampai 3 m. Mancing ini umumnya menggunakan umpan lumut laut yang banyak tersedia dibebatuan di pantai. Kadang kadang orang menggunakan nasi atau kue. Umpan tersebut tidak ditempelkan di pancing tetapi dijepit oleh kenur kira kira 1 - 2 cm diatas pancing. Target yang utama adalah ikan Baronang, Botana, dan terkadang juga ikan Kakak Tua. Tehnik ini murah tetapi sangat unik, eksentrik dan sebenarnya sangat sulit. Mancing âgarongâ tidak memerlukan perahu atau kapal karena dilakukan dari pinggiran seperti dermaga, batu batu (beton) pemecah ombak, atau jembatan di sekitar pantai. Oleh karena itu, teknik mancing yang satu ini dianggap yang paling murah biayanya dan banyak orang sangat menikmatinya dan benar-benar ketagihan!
Catatan khusus tentang lokasi mancing di laut sekitar DKI & Jabar
1. Musim Mancing:
ï Laut Jawa & Selat Sunda : Antara bulan Mei sampai Nopember (musim Angin Selatan)
ï Binuangeun, Pelabuhan Ratu, Pangandaran & Cilacap: Antara bulan Nopember â Mei (Musim Angin Barat)
2. Sewa Kapal (Perahu):
ï Teluk Jakarta (dari Tanjung Pasir atau PLTU) Sewa seharian (12 jam) biasanya dari jam 05.00 pagi sampai jam 17.00 rp.800.000,- duluar umpan, es balok, bekal & tip. Kapasitas perahu maksimum 4 orang pemancing plus 3 ABK.
ï Merak (untuk mancing disekitar Pulau Sanghyang dan Karang Tungku 3) biaya sama dengan di Jakarta. Kapasitas kapal sama. Jam penyewaan juga sama.
ï Anyer (Dermaga Paku); sama dengan di Merak.
ï Muara Binuangeun ; antara rp.4 jt sampai 10 juta untuk 36 jam. Lain-lain sama
ï Pelabuhan Ratu rp.3 sampai 4 jt. Untuk selama 12 jam !
3. Pelayanan di Kapal/Perahu
i. Kapten membawa kita ke spot mancing yang biasa dia pergi. Biasanya karang atau kapal karam. Kapal di Binuangeun dilengkapi GPS dan Fish Finder selain Radio Komunikasi. Kapten di Pelabuhan Ratu membawa pemancing mengejar Tuna pada waktu musimnya.
ii. ABK memasakan nasi, menggoreng ikan, membuat kopi/teh. Ada kapten/ABK di Mereka yang pandai membuat pindang kuah.
iii. ABK bertindak sebagai Caddy. Memasangkan umpan, mengganco/menjaring ikan dan melepaskan kail. Mereka juga membantu mengikatkan knot/rig, kail dan timah pemberat.
iv. ABK di Muara Binuangeun akan membersihkan semua peralatan mancing, melepaskan reel dan membersihkan semuanya selama perjalanan pulang.
(Dikumpulkan dan ditulis ulang oleh A. S. Ruky)
|Teknik Mancing di Kep.1000
|Ada beberapa TEHNIK yang dapat digunakan di Kepulauan Seribu / Teluk Jakarta, yaitu :
MANCING DASAR ( Bottom Fishing ), yang biasanya ikan yang didapat adalah Kakap Merah, Kuwe, Krapu, dan beberapa ikan dasar lainnya. Terkadang Tenggiri dan Barracuda juga dapat dipancing dengan cara ini.
KONCER (LIVE BAIT), cara ini sedikit unik, tanpa menggunakan timah/ pemberat, jadi kenur utama dipasang kili-kili peniti, kemudian disambungkan dengan mata kail dengan kawat nikelin sepanjang 10cm. Umpan yang digunakan mutlak umpan hidup seperti : selar, tembang, layang, como, kembung, sangir, bahkan baby barracuda.
Umpan hidup dibiarkan berenang menjauhi kapal, menuju lokasi yang paling akurat (tohor), sambil menunggu ikan pamangsa, seperti Tenggiri dan Barracuda menyambar umpan hidup tadi.
Terkadang digunakan pula balon, yang berguna agar ikan tidak berenang ke bawah, sehingga ikan selalua berada di permukaan (1-2m dari permukaan)
Tehnik ini yang sangat efisien dan efektif untuk mancing tenggiri di Kep. Seribu, dan saya sangat menggandrunginya.
TONDA (TROLLING), dengan umpan buatan sepeerti rapala, king getter, spoon, dsb - ditarikkapal dengan kecepatan 5-7 knot. Jarak umpan dari kapal sekitar 20-50m tergantung dari umpannya.
Cara ini kurang efektif bila digunakan di daerah Kep. Seribu yang tidak banyak ikan palagis diatas 10 kg.
CASTING, biasanya dilakukan dari pinggiran laut, sepeti dermaga, batuan, bahkan diatas kapal yang sedang berhenti / jalan dengan pelan. Umpan yang digunakan biasanya tiruan, dengan berat sekitar 7-20gram. Caranya adalah umpan dilempar sejauh mungkin, kemudian reel digulung dengan cepat. Dan hal ini dilakukan berulang-ulang sampai ikan menyambar maupun sampai tangan pegel !
Kalau saya suka casting dari dermaga pulau dengan target ikan kuwe maupun tenggiri kecil, tetapi kalau belum dapat juga , ya casting cumi untuk makan malam.
JIGGING - POPPING - tehnik ini biasanya sih digunakan di daerah Bali, dan banyak dilakukan oleh orang asing, seperti Jepang dan Korea. Tidak ada salahnya anda mencoba di Kep. Seribu. Keduanya hampir sama caranya, adalah dengan mengayunkan umpan tiruan, maupun menggulung reel dengan cepat, kemudian berhenti dan menggulungnya lagi. Kesemuanya bertujuan agar umpan tiruan tersebut mirip ikan umpan alami, sehingga ikan mau menyambar.
Saya sebagai orang desa, ya ndak pernah pake cara ini, karena selain umpan tiruannya khusus dan mahal, lagipula " mancing kok angel-angel nemen!"
Mancing dengan Layang-Layang - biasanya sering saya jumpai di pinggiran pulau Seribu, para nelayan yang mancing dengan menggunakan layan-layang! Target ikannya adalah cendro. Bagaimana caranya ? sepertinya ikan cendro ditangkap dengan tali laso, tanpa menggunakan pancing. Saya kurang jelas sekali masalh ini, karena belum pernah ikutan nelayan itu, lagipula saya melihatnya dari jarak 5-10m dari kapal.
Mancing GARONG - disebut demikian karena memang NGGARONG ikan ! jadi pancing tidak selalu berada di mulut ikan, tetapi terkadang ada di pipi, di pundak, perut, buntut dsb. Dan pancingnya pun disebut pancing GARONG, yang terdiri dari 6 rangkaian mata pancing, yang berbentuk matahari, menggunakan joran TEGEK, sepanjang 4-6meter. Target ikan adalah keluarga RABBIT FISH, seperti Baronang, Botana, dan terkadang juga ikan Kakak Tua.
Tehnik ini sangat unik, eksentrik, sulit dan murah ! Mungkin mancing yang satu memerlukan biaya yang paling murah, tetapi NIKMATNYA.............. wueleh...........wueleh ..............wueleh.........! Selain tehnik Koncer, saya juga keranjingan mancing dengan joran TEGEK, karena bagi saya, sensasinya betul-betul lain daripada yang lain ! Apalagi anda sudah bisa menggunakannya, Wah ! anda bangga sekali lho ! Soalnya ndak semua pemancing bisa melakukannya !!!! Lagipula dapatnya BARONANG boo....! kalo dibakar, merem melek cing !
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VIDEO (no sound): #RNLAF @thef35 & #USAF F-16 sorties from 2015
8/7 åæ¨åºå° NF fly inâ
New rotation of B-1B Lancers arrives in #Guam from @28thBombWing to support Pacific continuous #bomber presence⦠twitter.com/i/web/status/8â¦â U.S. Pacific Command (@PacificCommand) 2017å¹´8æ8æ¥ - 09:56
Air-to-air with a pair of #RNLAF F-16s. Prachtig!
8/7 åæ¨åºå° NF Fly inâ¡
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#Wisconsin @AirNatlGuardâs 176th Fighter Squadron arrives @KunsanAirBase to support @USForcesKorea_ and our ROK⦠twitter.com/i/web/status/8â¦â U.S. Pacific Command (@PacificCommand) 2017å¹´8æ8æ¥ - 11:26
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|Kekuatan TNI Urutan 18 Dunia
Tentara Nasional Indonesia masuk dalam peringkat ke-18 kekuatan militer dunia versi Global Firepower yang menggunakan 45 variabel perhitungan. Urutan 10 besar kekuatan militer dunia, menurut lembaga Global Firepower, ditempati Amerika Serikat, Rusia, China, India, Inggris, Turki, Korea Selatan, Perancis, Jepang, dan Israel.
Di tingkat ASEAN, TNI menempati posisi teratas, diikuti Thailand (ke-19), Filipina (ke-23), Malaysia (ke-27), dan Singapura (ke-41). Italia menempati urutan ke-17, Taiwan berada pada urutan ke-14, dan Australia pada urutan ke-24.
Pengamat militer Andi Widjayanto yang dihubungi di Jakarta, mengatakan, penilaian tersebut lebih banyak didasarkan pada gelar statis dari kuantitas alat yang dimiliki. Namun, belum tentu semua siap atau dapat digunakan sewaktu-waktu.
"Kalau memperhitungkan gelar dinamis, yakni kesiapan tempur efektif saat ini, tentu angkanya tidak setinggi itu. Gelar dinamis adalah kekuatan nyata yang dapat langsung digelar untuk penindakan," ujar Andi.
Direktur Institute for Defense Security and Peace Studies Mufti Makarim, yang dihubungi terpisah, mengatakan, penilaian tersebut dilakukan dengan menghimpun semua komposisi matra darat, laut, dan udara.
"Tetapi, jika dilihat dari luas wilayah dengan dua pertiga adalah lautan, komposisi kemampuan teknis TNI seharusnya setara dengan militer Australia. Kebutuhan ke depan adalah penyesuaian pengembangan postur dan kebutuhan strategis pertahanan yang dilakukan secara sistematis bertahap sesuai dengan anggaran dan prioritas," paparnya.
Dia mengingatkan TNI agar fokus dalam mengembangkan postur kekuatan dan penyesuaian mindset tentara di dalam negara demokratis murni untuk kebutuhan pertahanan.
Terkait dengan pengembangan kekuatan maritim, Andi mengatakan, pada tahap pembangunan jangka panjang pertama hingga 2024, TNI belum mengembangkan kekuatan tempur samudra.
|Kanadská hokejová armáda nemůže, tak do PchjongÄchangu pozvou partyzány
|ChtÄjà vyhrát dalÅ¡Ã válku. Tentokrát vÅ¡ak jejich armáda nebude plná elitnÃch vojáků, protivnÃkům nebude svou silou nahánÄt smrtelný strach. KanaÄané toužà po zlatém olympijském hattricku, ale tentokrát se musà spolehnout na partyzány.
|Bettman potvrdil, že olympiáda v PchjongÄchangu už nenà pro NHL téma
|KomisionáŠNHL Gary Bettman potvrdil, že olympijské hry v PchjongÄchangu v pÅÃÅ¡tÃm roce už nejsou pro vedenà soutÄže tématem, o kterém by se dále jednalo. Bettman to Åekl na tiskové konferenci pÅed zaÄátkem finále Stanleyova poháru v Pittsburghu.
|Fasel vÄÅà v úÄast NHL na olympiádÄ. Je Äas do zaÄátku Äervence, soudÃ
|René Fasel, šéf Mezinárodnà hokejové federace IIHF, vÄÅÃ, že je stále Äas na to, aby NHL pÅehodnotila rozhodnutà o neúÄasti svých hráÄů na olympiádÄ v PchjongÄchangu. Podle nÄj zbývajà na zvrat témÄÅ dva mÄsÃce.
|Rodà se Äeský Top Team. Na které olympioniky Äeká nadstandardnà podpora?
|Finance na pÅÃpravu, ale také dalÅ¡Ã komplexnà zajiÅ¡tÄnà vÄetnÄ lékaÅského a vÄdeckého zabezpeÄenà na nejlepÅ¡Ã možné úrovni. To poskytne Å¡piÄkovým Äeským sportovcům nový projekt Top Team. Äeský olympijský výbor pÅipravil tento program, aby podpoÅil pÅÃpravu medailových nadÄjà nejen pro zimnà olympijské hry v PchjongÄchangu, ale také aby pomohl mladým talentům i v dalÅ¡Ãch letech.
|North Korea Crosses Red Line, Can Fit Miniaturized Nuke in Missile Warhead
|Trump: "My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal."
|The North Korean Threat Just Got Real
|Kim Jong-un is not someone youâd want in charge of a country that has around 20 nuclear warheads. We have all the reasons not to ignore this nuclear threat, but to stay aware and prepare!
|5ì 21ì¼ì 문íë¤ìì±ì ë ! ì êµì 문íë¤ìì± ê¸°ë íì¬ì í¹ë³í ìíì 를 ë§ëë³´ì¸ì
ê·¸ ëì ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ 그림ëí ííì´ì§ë¥¼ íµí´ 매ë 5ì 21ì¼ì´ ì¸ê³ 문íë¤ìì±ì ë ì´ë¼ë 걸 ìë ¤ëë ¸ëë°ì,
ì¬í´ë 문íë¤ìì± ì£¼ê°ì ë§ì ì¬ë¬ ì§ìì²´ì ë¨ì²´ìì ì¬ë¯¸ë íì¬ë¥¼ ë§ì´ ì´ê³ ììµëë¤.
ë ì¬ì±, ìë ë± í¹ë³í í ë§ë¥¼ ê°ì§ ìíì ë ììë ìì ì´ë¼ ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ìì ìê°í´ ëë¦¬ë ¤ê³ í´ì!
ì´ë² 기íì ì°ë¦¬ ì§ììì ì´ë¦¬ë 문íë¤ìì± ê´ë ¨ íì¬ë¥¼ ì°¾ì ì¦ê²¨ë³´ë ê±´ ì´ë¨ê¹ì?
íë, 2017 문íë¤ìì± ì£¼ê° íì¬
ë¶ì²ë¬¸íì¬ë¨ììë ì¬í´ âë¤ë¦ì ê°ííìâë¼ë 주ì ë¡ í¹ê°, ìíì ìì ê°ì, ì²´í, ê³µì° ë±ì ì§íí©ëë¤.
5ì 21ì¼ë¶í° 5ì 27ì¼ê¹ì§ 릴ë ì´ íë¡ê·¸ë¨ì´ ì´ë¦¬ê³ ìì¼ë ííì´ì§ìì ì¤ì¼ì¤ì íì¸íê³ ì°¸ì¬í´ë³´ì¸ì!
5ì 27ì¼ í ìì¼, ìµì°ë¬¸íì¬ë¨ì´ 문íë¤ìì± ì£¼ê°ì ë§ì âë¤ê°ì¹ íì¤í°ë²âì ê°ìµí©ëë¤.
ë¤ê°ì¹ íì¤í°ë²ì ì°¸ì¬íë ìµì°í¬ë§ì°ëìì ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ 그림ëí를 íì©í ë¶ì¤ë ì´ìí ìì ì´ìì!
ì¸ì¢ ì문íì¬ë¨ì âì°¨ì´ë¥¼ ì°½ì를 ì¦ê¸°ì!â를 주ì ë¡ 5ì 25ì¼ë¶í° 5ì 27ì¼ê¹ì§ ë¤ìí íì¬ë¥¼ ì§íí©ëë¤.
í¹í 5ì 27ì¼ìë êµë¦½ì¸ì¢ ëìê´ ì¢ í©ììì¤ìì ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ 그림ëí를 ììí ìì ì´ë ê¼ ë°©ë¬¸í´ë³´ì¸ì~
ë, ë¤ìí 문í를 ìê°íë ìíì
6ì 1ì¼ë¶í° 6ì 7ì¼ê¹ì§ ë©ê°ë°ì¤ ì ì´ì ìì ì 19í ìì¸êµì ì¬ì±ìíì ê° ì´ë¦½ëë¤.
ìíì 를 ë§ìê» ì¦ê¸°ê³ ì¶ì ë¶ë¤ì ìí´ í¹ë³í í¨í¤ì§ í°ì¼ë í매íê³ ìì¼ë ííì´ì§ìì íì¸í´ë³´ì¸ì.
ì¤ë 6ì 1ì¼ë¶í° 6ì 7ì¼ê¹ì§ ìì¸, ë¶ì°, ê´ì£¼ ì¸ ì§ììì ì 6í ìëìíì ê° ì§íë©ëë¤.
ìí ììê³¼ í¨ê» ê´ê°ê³¼ì ëí, ì¤í í í¬ ë±ì íë¡ê·¸ë¨ë ì¤ë¹ëì´ ìì¼ë í¨ê» ì¦ê²¨ë³´ì¸ì.
ëìì¤í¬ë¼(Diaspora)ë ì´ë¯¼ì, ë민 ë± íêµìì ìííë©° ìì ë¤ë§ì ê³µë체를 íì±í´ ì´ìê°ë ì¬ëë¤ì
íëê² ì´ë¥´ë ë§ì ëë¤. ì¸ì²ìì ì´ë¦¬ë ëìì¤í¬ë¼ìíì ììë ì´ì£¼ ë±ì 주ì ë¡ í ìíì í¬ë¼, í¹ë³ëë´ ë±ì ë§ëì¤ ì ìì´ì.
5ì 24ì¼ë¶í° 6ì 4ì¼ê¹ì§ 12ì¼ê° ì±ë¶êµ¬ ì리ëìë¤ì¼í°, KUìë¤ë§í¸ë©ìì ì 5í ì ë½ë¨í¸ìíì ê° ì´ë¦½ëë¤.
ì íì°¨ê° ë¬´ë£ ììì¸ë§í¼ ì´ë² 기íì ìë¡ì´ ë¨í¸ ìíë¤ì ë§ëë³´ë ê±´ ì´ë¨ê¹ì?
ì¬ê¸°ìì ìê°ë íì¬ ì¸ìë ì êµìì ë¤ìí íë¡ê·¸ë¨ë¤ì´ ì§íëê³ ìì¼ë
ê°ì¡±, ì¹êµ¬ì í¨ê» 방문íì ì ë¤ìì±ì´ 주ë ì¬ë¯¸ì ë°°ìì ëê»´ë³´ì¸ì:D
|Cowon Officially Reveals The 3.7" AMOLED D3 Plenue Media Player, Powered By Android
This announcement should warm up some cold, digital, audiophile hearts. Following the rumors, Korean digital audio player maker Cowon announced its latest creation - the D3 "Plenue," running Android 2.1. Following on from the renowned D2/D2+, Cowon's newest device bests its predecessors in just about every way.
Much like the S9 before it, the D3 places a capacitive AMOLED screen front and center, boasting an 800 x 480 resolution in a 3.7" panel.Read More
Cowon Officially Reveals The 3.7" AMOLED D3 Plenue Media Player, Powered By Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
|Boffins come up with superfast router
Manages 4 gigabytes per second
Boffins in South Korea have come up with a networking router which transmits data at nearly 40 gigabytes per second.
According to Technology Review the technique, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology uses cheap commodity chips, such as those made by Intel and Nvidia, in high-performance routers, in place of custom-made hardware.
Software developed by the researchers could also serve as a testbed for novel networking protocols that might eventually replace the ancient ones currently in play. The current system means that commercial software routers from companies such as Vyatta can typically only attain transfer data at speeds of up to three gigabytes per second which makes the router a bit of a bottleneck.
Sue Moon, leader of the lab in which the research was conducted and her students Sangjin Han and Keon Jang developed software called PacketShader which they wanted to get a PC router to 10 gigabytes per second. Once they worked out the principle they were able to push it to 40.
PacketShader uses a computer's graphics processing unit (GPU) to help process packets of data sent across a network.
|ë¤ìì¸ëì¬ë¨ê³¼ ì¬ì±ê°ì¡±ë¶, íêµë°©ì¡íµì ë, ì¸ì´ë¸ëì¹ ëë°ì ì´ì¤ì¸ì´íí¸ëì¦ MOU ìì!
ì§ë 8ì 18ì¼ ë¤ìì¸ëì¬ë¨ê³¼ ì¬ì±ê°ì¡±ë¶, ê·¸ë¦¬ê³ íêµë°©ì¡íµì ëíêµì ì¸ì´ë¸ëì¹ ëë°ì´ 'ì´ì¤ì¸ì´ ê°ì¡±í경조ì±ì ìí ìí¸ì 무íì½'ì ì²´ê²°íìµëë¤.
ì©ì°êµ¬ë¤ë¬¸íê°ì¡±ì§ìì¼í°ìì ë¤ ê¸°ê´ì´ ì°¸ì¬íì¬ ì§íí íì½ì ììì´ ì¬ë¬ 매체ì ë³´ëëìëë°ì, íì½ì ììì ë´ì¤ë¡ ë§ëë³¼ê¹ì?
â² ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ 그림ëí ê´ë ¨ êµêµ¬(ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ êµì¡ 매ë´ì¼, ì¬ë¦¬ë³¼ë¦¬ 그림ëí ìì ë±) ì ì
â² ë¤ë¬¸íê°ì¡± ì´ì¤ì¸ì´ ê°ì¡±í경조ì±ì ìí ê³µëíë ¥ íì½ì ë¨ì²´ì¬ì§
|Sedap Tak Spicy Korean Burger McDonald's ?
Spicy Korean Burger McDonald's
Korang pernah dengar nama ramen korea yang pedas meletop tu ? alaa... yang pernah viral beberapa bulan dulu.. McD pula ada menu baru iaitu Spicy Korean Burger McDonald's ,.. rasa sama pedas dengan maggi ramen tu ke ? tengok iklan macam gempak je .. sampai menangis-nangis sebab pedas. So malam tadi Lisa cuba juga ler... agak-agak sedap tak spicy korean burger mcdonalds tu ?
Spicy Korean Burger McDonald's , dari bentuk pun dah lain.. roti warna hitam , limpahan keju , dilengkapi dengan daging burger marvelous .... ehh macam iklan pulak .. Nampak menyelerakan kalau tengok gambar atas ni , rasa macam mana pulak ? Ada yang komen memang pedas , ada yang cakap sedap.. dan ada yang cakap kurang sedap. So kena try sendiri la baru tahu rasa ni ha ..
Harga Satu set Spicy Korean Burger ni RM15.++ , berisi : Air Fanta + McDonalds spicy korean burger + kentang chips . Air Fanta , rasa fanta ler.. tak kan kopi pulak , Ye dak ? Lisa tak minum minuman yang bergas .. so macam biasa la akan tukar ke Lemon tea . Anyway.. dari set ni , yang paling Lisa suka ialah kentang . Kentang ni sedap beb... kriuk kriuk .. tak cepat masuk angin ... Bentuk menarik , rasa pun sedap.. Lisa bagi 5/5 bintang !
Bagaimana dengan rasa burger pulak ? Roti lembut tak seperti roti yang biasanya yang agak sedikit melekat , yang ni dia lembut ... kaler hitam sebab dibuat dari arang kot .. hehehe gurau jek la. Tapi mesti korang terfikir gak kan ..macam mana roti tu warna hitam ? Hek ele.. tak kan tak tahu..dah namapun roti.. mesti dah dicampur dengan pewarna .. itupun tak tau ke?? ehh ehh hahaha.. OK Cheeze dia memang melimpah weih.. siap meleleh leleh. Fuh.. penggemar cheeze memang suka ni .. Tahap pedas tu takde la pedas sangat , standart je ...
Rasa Spicy Korean Burger McDonalds ni tak berapa sedap , takde la pedas mana pun macam iklan di TV tu . Bandingkan dengan McDeluxe lagi pedas yang Mcdeluxe .. sebab tu Lisa bagi rating 3/5 je. Lisa takleh makan habis semua burger tu .. huhu.. takleh nak masuk tekak . Tekak setiap orang lain-lain.. so komen ni pendapat pribadi aku la memandangkan tak suka cheeze dan penggemar pedas ,, boleh komen tang pedas tu je . Tak pedas sangat , dan rasa tu dah mati sebab tertutup oleh rasa cheeze . Spicy McDeluxe tetap jadi pilihan !! Untuk kentang chips tu Lisa leh makan habis... sedap weih .. hihi
Mungkin bagi korang sedap.. so kena try sendiri la.. tekak orang kan asing-asing.. selera pun tak sma .
|Kiko Ramos
|Kiko Ramos
Real Name: Francis Albert Ramos
Birthday: February 28, 1992
From: Philippines
Occupation: singer
Kiko just used to love dance competitions on TV, he didnât know that this enthusiasm would lead him to showcase his own style and dancing power. The boy who loved every challenging episodes of Americaâs Best Dance Crew and So You Can Dance can also be dubbed as hyper lad in the group. He a grandson to [Ben Delgado], the first Pinoy crooner to become succesful in Las Vegas. Kiko can certainly dish out those sentimental ballads with feelings and has performed in stage musicals but what he really loves is dancing to R&B and Hip- hop music. He likes Michael Bublé ,Josh Gorban and Korean and Japanese pop tunes. Kiko believes in âNo Pain , No Gain â mantra, he would definitely give his best shot for the improvement of their group.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR8
|MJ Magno
|MJ Magno
Real Name: Meljohn Magno
Birthday: February 22, 1990
From: Philippines
Occupation: Singer
Meljohn or MJ, one of the Magno twins, definitely deserves the right to be in Vivaâs newest boy group, XLR8.
At a very young age of 16, MJ loves singing and performing in front of many people. Together with his twin MM, they usually perform in special family occasions to the amazement of their relatives and later on would take voice lessons to improve their craft.
His looks can be widely associated with Korean manner but this 19 year old hottie loves exhibiting his own style. As a matter of fact, aside from playing numerous musical instruments like drums, organ and guitars, we can consider him an ace in composing new songs.
He has appeared in GMA shows like Sis, Walang Tulugan and All-Star K. Watch him rock the stage with the boys as he knows how to give the best shot for this opportunity and he knows how to make good use of it.
Reference: http://viva.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3039:mj-magno&catid=46:viva-artists&Itemid=43
|Comment on Racism And Reverse Racism In Taiwan For English Teachers by range
|Interesting take, it definitely puts in words what the Hollywood bias does, but TW people mostly watch local, Chinese, Korean or Japanese TV, where there's no diversity at all. Life in TW is fine, for the most parts, and better in my opinion that some other places in Asia.
|Comment on Korean Seaweed Flavour Jagariko And Black Pepper Jagariko by search engine marketing
|Fantastic limited edition flavor of Jagariko! Crunchy, perfectly seasoned potato sticks made by Calbee, the most recognized potato chip maker in Japan. Convenient cup container with a peel-off lid will have you chomping in no time!
|Video from South Korean launch of new iPad
Today Apple launched the new iPad in an additional 12 countries around the world. While eleven of the countries -- Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela -- are relatively small markets, the new iPad also went on sale in South Korea, one of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet and one of the major tech markets in Asia. Check out the video below, first posted by Apple 2.0, to see South Korean Apple fans lining up for the new tablet at a local Apple reseller.
Apple's new iPad international rollout isn't done for the month either. One week from today on Friday, April 27, Apple will begin selling the new iPad in an additional nine countries: Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand. The new iPad will then be available in 56 countries around the world.
|New iPad launching in 21 additional countries this month
Apple today issued a press release announcing the new third-generation iPad will go on sale in another twleve countries starting on Friday, April 20. Notably, one of the twelve is the important South Korean market. The other eleven countries include Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Then one week later on Friday, April 27, Apple will begin selling the new iPad in an additional nine countries: Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand. Both the Wi-Fi and 4G models will be on sale and available through Apple's online store and at select Apple Authorized Resellers.
The new iPad will be available in 56 countries around the world as of April 27th.
|'New' iPad landing in South Korea, Israel and 19 other countries, officially ceases to be new in US
|iPhone 4S arriving in Hong Kong, South Korea and a number of other locales on November 11th
iPhone 4S world domination plan. Starting November 11th, the company's latest smartphone will be available in Hong Kong, South Korea and 13 additional countries, including Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. Pre-orders for those locations (save for Albania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro and Panama) will begin on the 4th. The handset is currently available in 29 countries -- that number will increase to more than 70 by year's end. Press info can be found after the break.
|The euro does not intend to give up
A strong employment report, along with speeches by FOMC members and the ripe technical reasons provoked a recovery of the dollar against most of its competitors, but there is still no certainty that the euro is ready to give its leadership to the dollar.
The Sentix economic index in August for the eurozone was 27.7p This is somewhat lower than the 28.3p a month earlier, but still indicates a steady growth. Investors' expectations have been growing for the eighth month in a row and have reached 40p, which is the highest since November 2007.
The Sentix index is often seen by investors as an advance indicator. Since it is slightly earlier than similar studies from Ifo or Markit, it predicts market reversals. At the current period, the release contains a specific warning. Despite the fact that the expectations are at the 10-year peak, the index for Germany once again declined, the second time since February, and signs of a slowdown appeared. Germany is the engine of the entire European economy, its slowdown will inevitably have an impact on all intra-European processes.
Meanwhile the euro is supported by a number of geopolitical factors. After North Korea warned Washington about a possible attack of the US military base on the island of Guam, the demand for gold and the Japanese yen increased briskly, as well as the franc and euro, which in the current situation can be considered as defensive assets, also rose in a second echelon.
The momentum for the euro is slowing, but it is still too early to predict a confident turnaround. Markets will be waiting for tomorrow's report on US inflation, and the absence of significant macroeconomic factors will contribute to the flight into the lateral range.
United Kingdom
Today, the Office of National Statistics will publish data on industrial production and the trade balance in June. Weak data from the previous month played a role in the pound's lost growth momentum, and players need new data to reassess prospects. The forecast is conditionally positive. It is expected that the industry will show symbolic growth, and good data will be able to support the pound.
The NIESR will also publish its forecast for GDP growth. Its assessment has a significant impact on market expectations, as it is priced in by the Bank of England in the development of monetary policy. At the moment, the economy of Britain looks affected by the Brexit referendum, as its growth slowed down relative to other G10 countries, and general weakness serves as a deterrent for the Bank of England. The fall of the pound last week was provoked largely by this factor, and the need for decisive action to curb inflation was limited by weak economic growth.
Political uncertainty also has a negative influence on the pound. Negotiations on Brexit are slow, and the first phase will not be completed in October, as it was assumed recently. Because of the weak results of the parliamentary elections, the position of Theresa May seems unconvincing, and the divided cabinet complicates the negotiations, since it does not in any way give a clear understanding the results the United Kingdom wants to achieve. The key question at the moment is whether Britain is ready to compromise and pay for its exit. The situation is aggravated by the probability of May being overthrown from her post at the Conservative Party's conference in October.
Pound positions look weak, and there are few reasons for the resumption of the upward trend. The pound may fall by the end of the week below 1.29.
Oil and ruble
Oil prices almost did not react to the report of the US Department of Energy on reserves, which was slightly worse than expected. OPEC countries did not provide new information to players, which led to the stabilization of prices at just above $52/bbl. A startling factor is the decline in China's oil imports, which may indicate a slowdown in China's economy, but so far this scenario is preliminary and does not deny the impact on long-term forecasts.
In the absence of significant drivers, the Russian ruble continues to trade in a narrow range of about 60 rubles per dollar.The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
|Global macro overview for 10/08/2017
Global macro overview for 10/08/2017:
A mixed set of Japanese economic data disappointed the global investors. The Core Machinery Orders decreased 1.9% on monthly basis, while the market participants expected a 3.7% increase after -3.4% fall a month ago. Moreover, Tertiary Industry Activity did not increase as much as anticipated (0.0% vs. 0.2%, -0.1% prior).
The data are shedding some doubt on what had looked to be a developing domestic demand pick up. But this was partly offset by some stronger PPI data. The Producer Price Index increased 2.6% on yearly basis, while the market participants expected 2.4% increase, after 2.2% figure a month ago. Nevertheless, none of this set of data is a real game-changer as the Bank of Japan will likely keep its wait-and-see approach and will keep monitoring the economic developments. This one-off miss in the overall mini up trend of the domestic economic recovery pace and will not likely change the BoJ monetary stance: it will still remain highly accommodative. In the result, the Japanese Yen will still be sought after across the board, especially if the US - North Korea conflict escalate more as the Yen is still being perceived as safe-heaven currency.
Let's now take a look at the USD/JPY technical picture at the H4 timeframe. The price is slowly approaching the long-term support at the level of 108.79. Recently the market has failed to break out above the 61%Fibo at the level of 110.97 and reversed to continue to down trend. The current market conditions look oversold, but the chance for another leg down is still high as the momentum indicator remains below fifty level.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
|Trading plan for 10/08/2017
Trading plan for 10/08/2017:
RBNZ left the monetary policy parameters unchanged, so the NZD is the biggest loser across the board. Another down session hit the Asian stock market: Hang Seng lost -1.0%, and Shanghai Composite and Nikkei 225 lost -0.8%. The precious metals are gaining on negative sentiment - Gold is up 0.12% at $1278, Silver is up 0.3% and Palladium is up 0.25%.
On Thursday 10th of August, the event calendar is quite busy with important economic releases. First, France will post Industrial Production data, then the UK will present Industrial Production, Manufacturing Production, and Visible Trade Balance data. During the US session, Canada will reveal New Housing Price Index and the US will post PPI and Core PPI, Unemployment Claims and Continuing Claims data.
GBP/USD analysis for 10.08/2017:
The Industrial and Manufacturing Production data are scheduled for release at 08:30 am GMT and the market participants expect Industrial Production to increase 0.1% on monthly basis after -0.1% dip last month. Manufacturing Production is expected to increase slightly as well, from -0.2% last month to 0.0% in July. On yearly basis, the Manufacturing Production is expected to increase from 0.4% to 0.7%. The recent set of data from the UK was not really particularly good and there are still some uncertainties regarding the result of the Brexit negotiations and post-Brexit economic performance. Moreover, the recent tensions between the US and North Korea might cause deeper risk-off sentiment and then the global investors will quickly buy reserve currency, the US Dollar, and abandon the British Pound. It is worth to have is in the back of the head these days.
Let's now take a look at the GBP/USD technical picture at the H4 timeframe. The market failed to break out above the technical resistance at the level of 1.3031 and now the price is moving lower towards the next technical support at the level of 1.2932. IF the data will be worse than expected, then this level will be tested and possibly violated with ease. The next technical support is seen at the level of 1.2811.
Market Snapshot: AUD/USD at the critical support
The price of AUD/USD is currently trading at the technical support at the level of 0.7874 as the bulls are still trying to push the prices higher. Nevertheless, the upside momentum is diminishing and it is possible the price will move down towards the next support at the level of 0.7838 despite the oversold market conditions.
Market Snapshot: Gold breaks above 78% Fibo
The price of Gold is gaining on the negative sentiment and it breaks above the 78%Fibo at the level of 1275 making the level of 1280 a new local high. The momentum indicator is still pointing to the upside, so if the bulls will keep pushing the price higher, then the recent swing high at the level of 1296 is next to be tested.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
|Re: Natalie Hicks (Tuscumbia, MO)
|I agree wholeheartedly with you. 1940 small-town Missouri would not have looked kindly on Natalie's situation.
Regarding James H Davis, the only document I have at this point in time is the 1940 Census. He eventually ended up in an orphanage in Omaha, NE in 1945 or 1946 and was adopted shortly thereafter by a couple in Lincoln, NE. Their names were Harold and Joy Hein. James H. Davis (DOB 11 Dec 1939) then became James David Hein.
James was in the U.S. Army in the early 1960's and was stationed in Korea (but he was there after hostilities ceased).
I'll be requesting his birth certificate from the state of Missouri soon. Unfortunately, my request must be notarized; that's a bit of an inconvenience. Oh, well.
|Re: Natalie Hicks (Tuscumbia, MO)
If James Davis was born 'at home" and he was 'illigit" then there would be no birth cert. Natalie may have "created" the name DAVIS on the advice of her father.
It was more "PC" at that time to be listed as "MARRIED" than a single mother.
Was James in the Korean War??
Do you have any documents with his DOB + place of birth??
|The Wake Up: New Gambino On The Way, Trump Threatens North Korea, Spike Lee Supports Kaepernick
|Donald Glover has been working on Childish Gambino music, telling BBC Radio in a recent interview that his fans can keep referring to him by his musical alter ego name.
|Posledné slovo - Kapitola piata
Posledné slovo
od Kalina Lea
preklad kapi
Kapitola piata (5/6)
Spala som lepÅ¡ie ako by sa za daných okolnostà patrilo a ani sny, ktoré sa mi snÃvali neboli neprÃjemné zobrazujúce hádku s Marcusom, ale namiesto toho zobrazovalo môjho obávaného Majstra elixÃrov, ktorý sa menil z jeho sarkastického ja na beztvarého neznámeho, ktorého si vytvorila moja hlava poÄas mesiacov vzájomnej koreÅ¡pondencie. Stále mi priÅ¡lo neuveriteľné, že tà dvaja sú jedna a tá istá...
|Latest Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry Research Report: Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2020
Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market focuses in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.
Pune, Maharashtra -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/09/2017 -- Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market analysis is provided for global market including development trends by regions, competitive analysis of the Ammonium Nitrate Explosive market. Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players.
Ammonium nitrate explosive is a mixed explosive whose main component is ammonium nitrate. It has found wide use in coal mining, quarrying, metal mining, and civil construction in undemanding applications.
Browse Detailed TOC, Tables, Figures, Charts and Companies Mentioned in Ammonium Nitrate Explosive market research report at: http://www.absolutereports.com/global-ammonium-nitrate-explosive-market-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2021-10265137
Ammonium Nitrate Explosive market analysis report speaks about the manufacturing process. The process is analysed thoroughly with respect four points Manufacturers, regional analysis, Segment by Type and Segment by Applications and the actual process of whole Ammonium Nitrate Explosive industry.
Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers
Market Segment by Type, covers
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Scope of the Report:
This report focuses on the Ammonium Nitrate Explosive in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.
Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers
Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into
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Highlights of Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Research Report:
- To show the Ammonium Nitrate Explosive market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application
- Ammonium Nitrate Explosive market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2016 to 2021
- Describe Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;
- Analyse the top manufacturers of Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry, with sales, revenue, and price
- Display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share of Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market
- To show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry, for each region.
- Analyse the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions
- Describe Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, appendix and data source.
Have Any Query? Ask Our Expert for Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Report at: http://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/10265137
Detailed TOC of Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Research Report:
Chapter 1 Market Overview:
1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Mesenchymal Stem Cells
1.2 Market Analysis by Type
1.3 Market Analysis by Applications
1.4 Market Analysis by Regions
1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)
1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)
1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)
1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa
1.5 Market Dynamics
1.6 Market Opportunities
1.7 Market Risk
1.8 Market Driving Force
Chapter 2 Manufacturers Profiles:
2.1 Company Name
2.1.1 Business Overview
2.1.2 Company Name Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share
Chapter 3 Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Competition, by Manufacturer:
3.1 Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer
3.2 Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer
3.3 Market Concentration Rate
3.3.1 Top 3 Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Manufacturer Market Share
3.3.2 Top 6 Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Manufacturer Market Share
3.4 Market Competition Trend
Chapter 4 Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry Analysis by Regions:
4.1 Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Regions
4.2 North America Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales and Growth (2011-2016)
4.3 Europe Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales and Growth (2011-2016)
4.4 Asia-Pacific Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales and Growth (2011-2016)
4.5 South America Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales and Growth (2011-2016)
4.6 Middle East and Africa Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales and Growth (2011-2016)
Chapter 5: North America Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)
Chapter 6: Europe Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)
Chapter 7: Asia-Pacific Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2011-2016)
Chapter 8: South America, Middle East and Africa Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Countries
Chapter 9: Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)
Chapter 10: Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales Market Share by Application (2011-2016)
Chapter 11: Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Forecast (2016-2021)
11.1 Global Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Sales, Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)
11.2 Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Forecast by Regions (2016-2021)
11.3 Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Market Forecast by Type (2016-2021)
11.4 Ammonium Nitrate Explosive Industry Forecast by Application (2016-2021)
Chapter 12: Sales Channel, Distributors, Traders and Dealers
12.1 Sales Channel
12.1.1 Direct Marketing
12.1.2 Indirect Marketing
12.1.3 Marketing Channel Future Trend
12.2 Distributors, Traders and Dealers
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|Trump threatens 'fire and fury' against North Korea
|US President Donald Trump said North Korea "will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it threatened the United States again.
Earlier Pyongyang said it was ready to give Washington a "severe lesson" with its strategic nuclear force in response to any US military action.
Washington has warned it is ready to use force if need be to stop North Korea's weapons ballistic missile and nuclear programs but has said it prefers global diplomatic action, including sanctions.
The consequences of a US strike would potentially be catastrophic for South Koreans, Japanese and US military personnel within range of North Korean retaliatory strikes.
"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," Trump told reporters at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Earlier on Tuesday, Japan's Defence Ministry said "It is conceivable that North Korea's nuclear weapons programme has already considerably advanced and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturisation of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads."
The UN Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday over its continued missile tests that could slash the reclusive country's $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.
North Korea said the sanctions infringed its sovereignty and it was ready to give Washington a "severe lesson" with its strategic nuclear force in response to any U.S. military action.
North Korea has made no secret of its plans to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the United States and has ignored international calls to halt its nuclear and missile programmes.
North Korea says its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are a legitimate means of defence against perceived US hostility. It has long accused the United States and South Korea of escalating tensions by conducting military drills.
|Typhoon Noru takes aim at central Japan
|The world's strongest storm made landfall in Japan on Monday (August 7). A weakening Typhoon Noru drenched many regions with more than one month's worth of rain.
Typhoon Noru prompted evacuation advisories for tens of thousands of residents, as it approached the Japanese heartland. The country's public broadcaster NHK reported more than 400 flights cancelled because of the storm.
Noru whose name is the Korean word for a type of deer, has been heading northwest for the last few days.
There have been fears that it could brush past Tokyo on Tuesday, however by then was expected to have weakened to a tropical depression.
Some parts of central Japan were likely to see 500mm of rain in just 24 hours.
|The Battleship Island: War Crimes at the UNESCO Heritage Site
Hashima Island off Nagasaki was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, despite the fact slave labor was used and abused there. Of course, that totally fits with how the UN does business. It was a grim place for workers, but even worse for the enslaved comfort women. The war is nearly over, but the atrocities will get even worse in Ryoo Seung-wanâs The Battleship Island(trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.
Although small in total land surface, Hashima was an imposing concrete rock jutting out of the Pacific, featuring a punishing coal mine that bored deep into the Earth. Nobody would volunteer to âworkâ there, but plenty of Koreans, as well as some Chinese and Southeast Asian prisoners were either remanded there or press-ganged off the docks of Nagasaki. That is what happens to swing band-leader Lee Kang-ok, his musicians, and his young daughter So-hee. Fortunately, he largely manages to avoid the mines by performing for the Japanese. He also secures house-cleaning work for So-hee rather than comfort woman duties, but the way perverted senior Japanese officials look at her represents a constant danger.
The good news is the war is going badly for Japan and is likely to end soon. The bad news is the military and mining company officials will want to eliminate all evidence of war crimes, most definitely including the victims. Park Moo-young might be able to help. The OSS-trained Korean independence fighter originally infiltrated the island intending to rescue Yoon Hak-cheol, a well-respected resistance leader, but that mission was complicated by unforeseen developments.
At one hundred-thirty-two minutes, Battleship does not scrimp on suffering and misery. It makes it painfully clear what slave labor entailed during the militarist Showa era. It is not pretty. However, Ryoo also stages a spectacular, island-shaking, massive-in-scale escape-revolt that stands up to any of the celebrated scenes in Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, or Heaven help us, Titanic. Still, it takes too long to get to there and the constant presence of So-hee is a buzz-kill. Donât misunderstand, Kim Soo-ahn is very good in the partâperhaps too good. She is just so young and innocent-looking, it is exhausting in a not-so-fun kind of way to be constantly worrying about her.
Oddly, Hwang Jung-min, who ordinarily swaggers he way through films, is uncharacteristically whiny and churlish as Lee, the swinging scrounger. Instead, it is So Ji-sub who delivers the hardnosed in-your-face attitude as Choi Chil-sung, a gangster who turns rebel after getting shanghaied to Hashima. Plus, the ever-reliable Lee Kyoung-young do his thing as the crafty Yoon, as usual.
This is a huge period production built around oppressively imposing concrete and steel sets and locations. It is easy to understand how Hashima beat down prisoners/laborers as soon as the set foot on the island. Still, it would not have killed anyone, if Ryoo had scored a few less points against the Japanese by tightening up the first and second acts. Nevertheless, anyone in the mood to follow-up Dunkirk with another high-body-count war epic should find Ryooâs latest fits the bill (but Operation Chromite and My Way are even better). Recommended for fans of Korean historical tragedies, Battleship Island opens this Friday (8/4) in New York, at the AMC Empire.
|Re: Korean War Dog tag for Thomas M Plell
|If the gentleman's date of birth was September 22, 1936, then I do not think that you possess a "WWII dog tag". He would have turned 18 y/o September 22, 1954. WW 2 ended September 2, 1945.
Richard V. Horrell
WW 2 Connections
|Korean War Dog tag for Thomas M Plell
|I have recently come to own the WWII dog tags for a Mr. Thomas M Plell, DOB: 22 Sept 1936. He lived in Akron, Ohio and California. I would like to reunite these with a member of his immediate family if they want to have them. Not looking for anything in return. Just want to return them to a family member who might cherish them. If you can help and point me in the right direction or contact a family member if you know of one, please contact me at email@example.com. I have successfully reunited seven sets of dog tags with family members that I have found here at Ancestry! Just the right thing to do. Thanks in advance!!
Mark Frank
|Re: U.S. Armor & Engineer Board, Fort Knox, Kentucky
|Ms, Ferris, I can see by the date of your message it has been about 5 years. I just so happened to stumble on this site browsing for a vehicle I helped to test while assigned to the Test Board from March 1964- August 1967. I knew Mr. James Noblin and Jess Miller and 1 other that worked in the what was referred to as the Electric Shop. The other man was James Cooper and he lived in Vine Grove and owned a laundry mat called the "Wishy Washy". I know more than likely by now all or most of those civilians that worked there have past on by now for it has been 49 years since I left there. That was 1 of my very great assignments I had during my 24 1/2 years in the Army. There are or were 2 of my old buddies I worked with back then living out in Radcliff and Vine Grove. I know the 1 in Radcliff has had health problems lately and the other I ahven't heard from in about 2 years. I was stationed again at Knox when I returned from Alaska in September 1970 but on the other side of the post and teaching new trainee tankers until July 1973 then on to Korea. I never went back to Knox again until the summer of 1975 and then I was going to the NCO Advanced Course. When I came back from Korea in 74, I was stationed at Fort Riley Ks. and never got to go back again until summer 1981 to visit my father in law, ( now deceased) that lived between Knox and E-Town. If you get this message, please reply for I would like to make contact with anyone I can that was at the same place at the same time as I was during my military career. I am now 71, and starting to really feel my age and want to in a way relive my younger years by memories. While I was at the Board, I met my wife, (divorced 22 years later) and our 1st 2 kids were born there at Ireland Hospital and so was the 4th. The 3rd child was born while we were in Alaska. I'll stop now hoping to hear form you or anyone from the old Test Board.
|Fabulous Modern Home In Hongcheon, South Korea
Sketched out by IDMM Architects and completed in 2016, this modern masterpiece is located in Hongcheon, South Korea, and it is surrounded by dense greenery. From the abodeâs multiple levels, …
The post Fabulous Modern Home In Hongcheon, South Korea appeared first on .
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|North Korea still a suspect in Sony attack despite denial
Washington: North Korea is a principal suspect in the cyber attack on Sony Pictures, a US national security source told Reuters on Thursday, while a North Korean diplomat denied Pyongyang was behind the crippling hack.
The US government`s investigation into the Nov. 24 attack is being led by the FBI`s Los Angeles Field Office and the Hollywood studio is cooperating, a law enforcement source said.
The national security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea is not the only suspect and it was too soon to definitively know who is behind the attack that exposed a trove of internal data and shut down the computer systems at the entertainment arm of Sony Corp .
North Korea had vehemently denounced the Sony film "The Interview," a comedy movie about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, scheduled for release on Dec. 25.
A former top US government expert on North Korea said that circumstantial evidence suggesting its involvement in the Sony attack included the fact that the North Koreans had been "very vocal about their unhappiness" about the film.
A New York-based North Korean diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Voice of America broadcast network on Wednesday that linking North Korea to the hacking of Sony Pictures` computers was "another fabrication targeting the country.
"My country publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy," the diplomat said.
The denial from North Korea regarding the Sony hacking came despite sources telling Reuters that cyber investigators had found connections to North Korea in the form of hacking tools similar to those used by that country in previous attacks on South Korea.
Despite the swirling controversy, Sony said the film`s release remains on schedule, although on Thursday it cancelled a Los Angeles press day for next week citing "some scheduling conflicts." A press day in New York is still possible.
"The Interview" stars James Franco and Seth Rogen as American journalists who are recruited by the CIA to kill Kim after the authoritarian leader grants them an interview.
In June, the Pyongyang government denounced the film as "undisguised sponsoring of terrorism, as well as an act of war" in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Rogen, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview conducted in June that they did get called in for a meeting with Sony`s North American CEO.
"Any time a movie causes a country to threaten nuclear retaliation, the higher-ups wanna get in a room with you," Rogen said in the interview published in this week`s Rolling Stone.
Sony has struggled to get all of its systems back up since its network was breached. Studio executives told staff in a memo on Tuesday that they still did not know the "full scope of information that the hackers might have or release."
The hackers, who have identified themselves as GOP or Guardians of Peace, leaked more Sony data on Wednesday that included personal log-ins and credentials, the website CSO Online reported.
"In short, the IT data leaked is everything needed to manage the day-to-day operations at Sony," CSO said.
But the studio did manage to make one of its biggest announcements of the year in England on Thursday - the new Bond movie, "SPECTRE," starring Daniel Craig as 007 once again.
It was a reminder of Sony`s might in the movie world. The Bond franchise had its most lucrative film in the series to date with "Skyfall," which brought in $1.1 billion worldwide.
News Source:
Home Title:
North Korea still a suspect in Sony attack despite denial
|Pelakon tak tahu malu..pelakon di ibarat sampah..
hye ramai nak jadi seorang pelakon..pelakon nie tak tahu malu..pelakon ini juga di ibarat sampah...ramai ingat mudah dan nak cepat popular dan tak lepas juga ada yang buat kontreversi untuk mendaki dengan mudah menjadi seorang pelakon yang di kenali ramai..sejujurnya bukan mudah untuk menjadi seorang pelakon..bukan mudah untuk menjadi orang yang di perhatikan dan lebih senang di ibaratkan seorang manusia sedang berbogel di khalayak ramai.Bukan semua pelakon malaysia punyai ciri2 kualiti sebagai seorang pelakon yang terbaik.
sejujurnya industri lakonan malaysia tak seperti industri lakonan di hollywood.di bollywood..sini banyak politik dan kualiti tak di jaga....ada seorang pelakon melakonkan watak yang sama dalam setiap drama...ada yang di minta berlakon atas sebab pemintaan setesen tv..ada juga kerana peminat yang ramai..sebab tue industri lakonan malaysia tidak setanding thailand,korea dan indonesia....tak tahu apa jadi kalau tiada perubahan dan kawalan tertentu untuk pihak2 yang bertangung jawab..
ramai gelakkan sinetron malaysia tak best....tapi semua pelakonnya yang berlakon di malaysia di bayar dalam USD dolar...pelakon malaysia di anak tirikan di bumi sendiri...kalau tiada nama asal boleh RM150 sehari dari pagi sampai malam...macam2 persatuan wujud..macam kata2 janji di lafazkan...last2 satu apa pun tak jalan...Korea bukan sekadar rupa tapi lakonan mereka mantap dalam melakonkan watak2 yang di berikan walaupun kebanyakkan pelakon korea tak banyak mengunakan method yang dalam tapi mereka mempunyai method mereka sendiri....sebab tue kita tengok semua artis baik yang menyanyi dan berlakon pasti akan meletop...bakat dan rupa setanding bukan rupa melebihi bakat..
penulisan ini bukan kerana menangih simpati tapi pengalaman mengajar dan menceritakan segalanya....bermula dari bawah nampak semua permainan industri seni tanah air..tak hairan lah nama top yang pernah main peringkat Hollywood kecewa dengan industri malaysia dan merajuk..sebab ini telah berlaku dari dulu..
Artis2 singapore indonesia dia agungkan..di bayar mengalahkan artis malaysia...kepada mereka yang berhajat nak jadi seorang pelakon lupakan hasrat nak bermain dalan industri ini..kalau nak terus hidup pastikan anda semua cukup bekalan...kebanyakan pelakon yang bermasalah tak tahu konsep...."nak berlakon jangan pemalu tapi pelakon kena ada sifat malu" sebab tue kita dapat lihat gambar2 yang kurang enak di naikan di media sosial dan akhir sekali banyak berkata "semuanya saya serahkan pada tuhan"...sebelum buat sesuatu tak pernah fikir mana buruk dan baiknya..
Selagi nama tidak terukir di atas sana anda pasti akan di layan sebagai sampah...ramai pelakon yang telah lama dalam bidang ini pun ada di layan macam sampah tapi bila pelakon luar datang ramai tatang ibarat minyak yang tengah penuh...siap promote sana sini...lambakan realiti Tv yg tumbuh macam cendawan selepas hujan pun menyebabkan ketidak seimbangan dalam industri seni malaysia...kebanyakkan mereka mempunyai attitude out ada rasa diri DIVa sebab stesen Tv sayang...dan hal ini meyusahkan orang2 yang berkerja dalam industri..
Harap pihak2 tertentu dapat mainkan peranan sebelum industi seni dan lakonan malaysia ibarat pusat pembuangan sampah...banyak job tapi hanya orang kenali sekadar setahun dua...biar kita lahirkan yang kualiti seperti Allahyarham Tansri P Ramli....huhhhhh cukup sampai disini..banyak lagi nak tulis tapi sekarang dah pagi nak tidur...terima kasih kerana membaca.
|GEMPAR!!! Gwiyomi Versi GEMOKMAN..
GWIYOMI,GWIYOMI,GWIYOMI.seorang lelaki comel yang bernama GEMOKMAN kini kembali mengegarkan lagi VLOG..semua artis korea semua muka jambu-jambu ini made in malaysia makan burger banyak jadi si comel yang nakal membuat video GWIYOMI mewakili malaysia tanpa segan dan malu.Bukan nak mencari populariti tapi sekadar hiburan di kala bosan duduk dalam bilik ini menanti hari shooting menjelang MAY nie..jangan lupa 16 MAY 2013 GEMOKMAN akan beraksi dalam di pawagam anda..sama2 kita nantikan....layan video saya yang terbaru...
|Update on 2 bombs-in-the-making: N. Koreaâs nuke & Al Goreâs new movie
|An Inconvenient Box Office
|âGalaxy Note 8 släpps den 15 septemberâ
|Samsung har redan avslöjat när presentationen av den kommande flaggskeppstelefonen Galaxy Note 8 kommer att ske, nämligen den 23 augusti. När enheten släpps till försäljning lär vi inte få veta helt säkert förrän då, men enligt uppgifter till den koreanska publikationen ET News så är det den 15 september som gäller. Datumet stämmer med de uppgifter som tidigare läckt från en koreansk operatör..
|In short, just email anything inbetween TV-stations, newspapers ANYTHING among those lines that have failed to bring light onto this, and tell them why this is all HORRIBLY wrong and DANGEROUS! This is NOT democracy, this is something you do in China and North Korea, NOT The United Kingdom, Swede, the United States or any other so-called democratic country.
ACTA is NOT for just Europe, NOT for just the Americas, its for EVERYONE!
And the quickest thing you can do is to sign this petition: Avaaz.org
Now before you say "But I dont want to give away my adress/name/etc, you do NOT have to! you can just sign it with your email, and then your firstname (Or even online-name!) and leave the postal-adress empty, it still works!
AND, this does not affect the website-owners anymore, this directly affects ANY and ALL end-users, and an end-user, that is YOU. This is NOT democracy, this is corruption!
(Copied from AtlasTasume's Profile)
|Court orders death penalty for South Korean ferry captain
|The South Korean Prosecutor´s office requested on Monday, October 27 the death penalty for the captain of the ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people, when considering that his negligence and failure to provide assistance to passengers caused serious casualties, according to the media...
|The ferry Captain says that postponed the evacuation by the poor state of the sea
|Lee Jun-seok, Captain of the sunken South Korean ship with 273 missing, most high school students, said this Saturday after being arrested by the police that he postponed the evacuation due to the adverse conditions of the sea and the absence of rescue boats. Lee faces five charges, including neglig...
|Global "Ease of Doing Business" Ranking
|Morocco gets the honors for "most improved", while Korea enters the top 10. Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand, US and Denmark still rule.
29 Vote(s)
|Now Trump Threatens That North Korea Needs To âGet Their Act Togetherâ
|President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on Thursday, demanding that Kim Jong Un's government "get their act together."
|North Korea Details Plan To Fire Ballistic Missiles Near Guam
|North Korea has announced a detailed plan to launch a salvo of ballistic missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to U.S. bombers. If carried out, it would be the North's most provocative missile launch to date.
|Where Are The Worldâs Nuclear Warheads?
|Recent reporting suggests North Korea could have anywhere between 10 and 60 nuclear weapons. But, what about everyone else?
|"Ezek a fák magasabbak lesznek mint a ház, mire végzünk..."
Van itt még szemét bÅven. A csavarboltos, a mogyis két csávó még mindig, a sétálós méregetÅs hülye, a vargaG, a zsilip fÅnöke és dolgozói, és sorolhatnám tovább de már minek...
A történet a franciaországi kisfiúról fontos volt és kutattam hogy mi történt ott. Beszéltem vele vagy valakivel aki ismerte. Pár hónapra egyedül maradt egy erdÅben és ott élt. Utána nem akart beszélni senkivel sem. "A természet mindent megmutat ha figyelsz arra mit akar mondani."
A házban minden fontos. Minden. A szekrénysort tervezÅ fazon is rájött hogy az öreg szarházi. Ki akartam cserélni egyszer a műanyag fogantyúkat fára, apu tiltotta. "Miért? Ez is emlékeztetÅ?" "Ne mondj ki mindent hangosan. Lebuktatsz mindenkit."
"Hogyhogy nem emlékszel arra hogyan kell fúrót élezni?"
"Biztos valami keményet fúrtam."
"Ja a titánium." "Jól van megmutatom."
"Apu ki lehet fúrni csak sokat kell élezni. Ãssze tudtok szedni abból a keményebb acél fúrókból egy nagy kosárral? Van még aki gyárt olyat?" "Van milyen méretekben kell?" "Hát mindegyikbÅl." "Ahhh fiam olyan nincs, mondd meg milyen méretek kellenek és abból hozok." "Hát kell a hármastól felfelé tizenkettesig és kell egy nagy is ha jól emlékszem huszonkettes de lehet hogy eggyel nagyobb. Ãs jó sok kell amennyit csak tudsz. Egy fúró elkopik teljesen 2 cm-en."
Csináltunk egy fúró élezŠgépet is hozzá.
Apu ezek az én műszereim, mi gyártottuk kézzel, majd rájöttünk hogy Ãgy egy év alatt se végzünk úgyhogy épÃtettünk egy gyártósort hozzá. Legyártottunk egy mllió darabot. Ãs azért csináltuk a zegészet hogy ne tudják mi van benne és ne tudják manipulálni. Azt ami kint van a forgalomban azt azért tettem oda hogy azzal szórakozzanak és ne keressék a többit. A többit meg nem tudják hogy hol vannak. Csak elrepülök felette és megpingelem majd leadja az adatokat és ennyi."
"Ja tényleg."
Kicseréltem azoknál az öreg imájában egy szót, akiket már mi helyettesÃtettünk be. Az öreg imája eredetileg úgy volt hogy: "Add hogy olyan kegyetlen legyek..." ezt cseréltem le arra hogy: "Add hogy olyan kegyetlennek tűnjek..." igen ÃN cseréltem le. De azok között is válogatni kell. Mert szarházikat kerestünk a feladatra, csak nem volt olyan minÅségű és tehetséges szarházi úgyhogy néhányukat a mieinkkel vagy kevésbé szarházikkal kellett pótolni. De ezeket is szűrni és válogatni kell itt a végén, mert van közöttük aki elrohadt a folyamatban és ne mfog soha felépülni és folytatni akarja majd. Felkészült rá. Azok búcsúznak a játéktértÅl. Ha megcsinálják egy szemernyi kétség nem marad senkiben felÅlük és le lettek tesztelve többször is még akkor se kerülhetnek a bizalmi körbe. Nekik a maradék élethoszz a felépülésrÅl fog szólni. SegÃthetnek és védjük Åket ha jönnek velünk de Åk már nem játszanak nem játszhatnak semmi komoly szerepet. Sehol. Lehet családjuk lehet értelmes emberhez méltó feladatuk és életük éés ennyi.
"Te ki akartad cserélni az öreget." nézett körül a gyerek hogy hol lehet a rejtekhely. Meglátta az ablak alatti ülÅkét ami elég nagy volt ahhoz hogy beleférjen a hózentróglis kis vékony alacsony szarházi. Te mindig hordasz egy pisztolyt a bokádon. Add ide nekem."
"Nincs az a pénz amiért én azt odaadom bárkinek."
"Akkor elveszem." és a gyerek abszolút kemény határozotsággal indult el a térdére támaszkodó ember felé. Az azonnal a bokája felé nyúlt és elÅkapta a kis méretű hatlövetűt és elsütötte. De a kakas csak csattant a gyutacson a töltény nem sült el. Pechére, mert a következÅ pillanatban a falhoz vágódott és össze is csuklott holtan. A gyerek felvette a földrÅl a pisztolyt. Az apja mindezt szomorúan nézte egy széken ülve.
"Hol van?" kérdezte az apját a gyerek.
"Nem tudom." mondta amaz.
"Jó akkor elkezdek lövöldözni és az ülÅkével kezdem az ablaknál." Nem is kellett tovább várnia. Az ülÅke ülÅrésze felpattant és az öreg kezdett kiáltozni hogy: "Ne ne ne várj! Megmagyarázom."
"A gyerek várt amÃg az öreg kikászálódott az ülÅkébÅl. Majd kemény ütésekkel megbénÃtotta és a hulla helyére lökte a székbe, majd odaszÃjazta."
Az ez után következÅ részt nem Ãrom le. Kiszendett belÅle egy pár triggert amivel a többiek irányÃtani tudják.
"De ezt hogy gondoltad?" kérdezte az apját kérdÅn.
"De fiam megcsinálta Šis."
"Megcsinálta? Ez?" üvöltött a gyerek, és felkapta a hatlövetűt az asztalról és az öregre fogta a szÃvére. "Ha megcsinálta akkor most ki fog derülni hogy tényleg Ãgy van e." Azzal meghúzta a ravaszt háromszor egymás után. Az öreg holtan ernyedt el a székbe szÃjazva. Az apja a köpadlót nézte lemondóan. De felkapta a fejét amikor a gyerek a saját fejéhez a halántékához emelte a hatlövetűt.
"Ãs apám nézd csak meg ezt!" azzal meghúzta a ravaszt hatszor egymás után. A fegyver nem sült el egyszer sem. Az apja kétségbeesett pillanatok után megint hol a földet nézte hol a fiát. A gyerek teljesen higgadtan cselekedett. kivette az összes töltényt a három üres köpenyt és a csütörtököt mondott töltényeket is. Az üreseket a földre szórta. A jókat felvette.
"Nézd apu! Látod a kakas nyomát a gyutacson?"
A gyerek visszatöltötte a három töltényt a piszolyba. Lassan megfontoltan dolgozott. De a homlokát ellepte a hideg verÃték. Amikor készen lett akkor az apjára fogta a homloka közepére célozva a fegyvert.
"Ãs most te jössz."
Azzal meghúzta a ravaszt. Az apja az elsÅ katatnásnál elfordÃtotta a fejét önkéntelenül, de mivel nem sült el a fegyver visszanézett a fiára. A kakas második kattanására már a szemébe nézett szomorúan. A harmadik már nyugodtan érte.
A fiú leengedte a fegyvert.
"Látod apu? Ãn megcsináltam és te is megcsináltad. Mi megcsináltuk. Ez a szarházi nem csinálta meg. Å egy rohadék volt." Azzal megint az öregre célzott a fejére hogy szétlÅje és beleeresztette a maradék három golyót. Amikor kész lett kivette az üres hüvelyeket a padlóra szórva azokat. Majd a fegyvert a szoba sarkába dobta. Idegesen tett néhány lépést majd a halott kÃnzómesterhez ment és kivette a doboz cigit a zsebébÅl.
"Na én most rágyújtok odakint." Azzal ment is kifelé.
"Hát most én is rágyújtok." fordult utána az apja.
Kint leültek és nézték a gyönyörű tájat. Hallgattak. Ãs hallgattak és szÃvták és fújták a füstöt. RAgyogó napsütés és szép zöld erdÅ zöldellt a hegyek oldalán a völgyben. Az apja törte meg a csendet.
"Nem hittem el hogy ez működhet."
"ElÅször én sem. De leteszteltem apu. Ãn magam teszteltem le. Ãs tudhatod hogy semmit se adok ki a kezeim közül amiben nem vagyok 100%-ig biztos."
Hallgattak megint.
"De most már elhiszem." nézett rá az apja.
"Van odabent kávé. Kérsz egyet csinálok neked is."
AmÃg a gyerek csinálta a kávét felszedte a földrÅl az üres hüvelyeket. Három hüvelyen egy ütésnyom volt a gyutacson hkettÅn három kicsi horpadás az egyiken meg négy. Gondolt egyet és a kávéval együtt ezeket is kivitte az apjához.
"Ezeket tedd el. Legalább egyet azok közül amelyiken három horpadás van."
"Ugyan. Minek? Nem kell."
"De kell - ellenkezett a gyerek határozottan - ez fontos apu. Emlékezned kell erre. Nézd csak meg a gyutacsokat. Ez valóság. Működik. Nézd meg és tapogasd meg. Alaposan jegyezd meg. Ãs egyiket tedd el. Amelyien egy horpadás van azzal öltem meg az öreget. Utána magamra lÅttem hatszor húzva meg a ravaszt, majd rád lÅtem hatszor húzva meg a ravaszt. Ãs nem sült e legyik töltény sem! Erre mindig emlékezned kell."
Az apja nézte a töltényhüvelyeket. Alaposan megvizsgálta mindet. Nagyon jó minÅségű gyártmány volt ritkán mondott csütörtököt ez a fajta ismerte. A legjobb minÅség volt.
"Az egyiken négy horpadás van." jegyezte meg kicsit késÅbb.
"Azért mert a másik rohadék is elsütötte egyszer mielÅtt kiütöttem a kezébÅl. Szóval rám négy alkalommal lett elsütve a fegyver."
"Igazad van fiam, ez tényleg fontos. Elteszem mindegyiket emlékeztetÅnek."
Az Andi is bálkirálynÅs szarházi. Egyszer elszólta magát. A terike ne mmond semmi vérimát Åk bálkirályt meg bálkirálynÅt választanak. Rendeznek egy házibulit és ott levágják a jelöltet. Anno amikor egyszer kérdeztem az andit hogy mi az a bálkirálynÅ választás, mert a csajok mind olyan izgatottnak tűntek akárhányszor szóba esett... azt mondta. "Htá a bálkirálynÅ a lefÅbb látványosság a bálban."
"Ki volt a bálkirálynÅ?" - kérdi egy csaj a szandrát (ez ugyanaz a csaj volt akinek az öreg szólt hogy az egész testemet manipulálniuk kell mert a testnek is van saját emlékezete és a mozgásomat is befolyásulni kell... akkor is nevetett, hogy tudjuk, már mondtad... asszem lehet hogy ez is az andika volt talán... bár nem biztos)
"A dani lánya..." nevetett a szandra "úgy üvöltött mint egy állat..."
"Šis ott volt?" kérdi a kislányra nézve
"Ãs élvezted?"
"Nagyon." mondja a kislány.
"Hát az a jó benne ha üvölt mint az állat annál jobban átmegy amit kérünk." mondja a terike amikor kikérdeztem.
GergÅ is lebukott. Å volt beöltözve magának. Ãs Å akarta eladni a dobozos rendszerem. KésÅbb össze is gyűlt a bizonyÃték. Szépen megvezettük Åt is.
"Ne egnedjétek akcióba. Mert még életben hagy valakit akit nem szabad."
"Jó de mit mondjunk neki?"
"Mondjátok neki azt hogy véditek az érzékeny pszichéjét hogy ne sérüljön mert a gyilkolás is trauma."
"Amikor a nap a legmagasabban jár az égen a házunk felett, de legkésÅbb mielÅtt lebukik a látóhatár alatt."
---Ez a francia koreai beingás csávó is egy jól kidolgozott zombi... egy filozófus zombi...
A szép sanyi is szemét. Már akkor is az volt amior a stelle da nprojektet csináltuk. Šszólt a többieknek hogy hol lesz a találkozó. Abból a bandából mindegyik szarházi. Mind. Kivéve aput és engem.
Az air combat contolerek egyi kmotorját én loptam el. Ãs üzentem nekik hogy a "kék vitorlás a ...ban horgonyoz."
A matyi amikor végzett és kiderült hogy valaki szivárogtatott vagy volt valami gyanú fogott egy vegyvert és körbe lötte a társaságot. KettÅnél nem mondott csütörtököt a fegyver. Ez után a saját fejéhez emelte a fegyvert és a halántékára lÅtt. Kivette a töltényt majd újra, majd megint, és megint.
"Matyi! Ãllj már le, megÅrültél?" kiabált r ászinte mindenki egyszerre, de Å csak folytatta komótosan. Magára ürÃtette az egész tárat. Mindegyik töltény csütörtököt mondott.
Amikor végzett felvette Åket és megvizsgálta. Ott volt a kis horpadás a gyutacsokon. Fogta és elkezdte újra tölteni a fegyvert.
"Remélem nem akarod folytatni?... " néztek rá a többiek.
"Nem." - csóválta a fejét. - csak ellenÅrzöm hogy elsülnek e ha máshova célzok."
Amjd amikor befejezte a földbe eresztette az egész tárat. Amikor lÅtt úgy tartotta a fegyvert hogy az automata ürÃtésnél egy pohár vÃzbe potyogjanak az üres hüvelyek. Hihetetlen pontossággal mind a műanyag pohárban végezték. Azután kiöntötte a vizet és az asztalra borÃtotta a hüvelyeket.
"De ezt most miért csináltad úgy mégis?" kérdezte valaki.
"Ãn nem fogok senkivel se úgy dolgozni hogy nem tudom megcsinálta e vagy sem. Nem fogok állandóan a hátam mögé pislogni többé. Velem csak az fog dolgozni aki megcsinálta és elkötelezte magát. Ãs gyertek és nézzétek meg ezeket a hüvelyeket és tegyetek el egyet egyet emlékeztetÅnek."
A többiek mind felálltak és kÃváncsian odamentek az asztalhoz majd eltűnÅdve vizsgálgatták az üres köpenyeket. Az egyikük a janira nézett.
"Hát Åszinte legyek Jani én magam nem hittem el hogy ilyesmi lehetséges."
"Ãn magam sem hittem el." mondta apám mosolyogva.
"De a janira nem lÅttél Matyi. Miért nem?"
"Mert Åt letesztelte a gyerek. Ãs nem kÃsértjük a sorsot fölöslegesen."
"De ebben biztos vagy?"
"Biztos. Å tanÃtott meg mindent amit most tudok és Å dolgozta ki ezt is a végére. Å az egyetlen akiben még soha nem csalódtam. Se a Janiban. Másokban rengetegszer."
Egyszer hozzáfértem a mocsári által valódi dokumentumokhoz arról hogy hogyan alakul a magyar állami költségvetés. Nos a tételes nagyolt és a részletes kimutatást böngészve kiderült hogy 50%-a a bevételeknek soha ne mérkezik be semmilyen magyar állami bankszámlára. ÃTVEN százalék. Ãs a maradékból kerülnek finanszÃrozásra az egészségügy, az oktatás, a rendÅrség, katonság, önkormányzatok és még ott is tűnik el vastagon. Körülbelül 60-70% közötti bevétel kerül magánzsebekbe (1998-ban kb néztünk át korábbi adatokat a pozsgai idÅszakából, mert amocsári akkor volt gazdasági tanácsadó alatta).
Ez a pénz egyszerűen kilopódik a kasszából a nagy közös kasszából. Ãs máshol is ez a helyzet csak a százalékos arányok jobbak kicsivel.
A csavarboltosnak adtam akkor egy generátor tervet amiben nincs semmi forgórész csak antenna azt hiszem a föld és az ég közötti feszültségkülönbségbÅl generál áramot ingyen. Amennyit csak akarsz. Ki kell verni belÅlük. Åk már tudatosak és kÃnzással ki lehet szedni. Le kell vágn ikezüket lábukat és megfúrni az agyukat, akkor beszélni fognak. Utána meg is lehet Åket ölni, nem kell az ilyen szemét. AZ egyébként még jobb megoldás mint a dunai sodrásra alapuló erÅműlánc.
NagytakarÃtás elkezdÅdik. Nincs más út. Csak halálos erÅvel lehet ezeket rákényszerÃteni a változtatásra - úgyhogy ezt kell tennem.
|Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa'
|Plants that actually reach their peak in October, at least in this part of the country, are few and far between, making them a real treasure to gardeners and garden visitors alike. One of my favourites is Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' for its near electric-violet flowers in loose "balls" called umbels.
It is a dwarf variety introduced to North America by George Schenk, and likely named after the original selector. The species is also known as the Japanese Onion, although as far as I know, it is not used for any culinary purposes. It is native to low mountains in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and extending from Japan into South Korea.
Unfortunately, this plant is relatively rare, although specialty mail-order and/or bulb companies might offer it on occasion.
Here's to dirt under your nails.
MPD, the coolplantsguy
|Wagamamas: Don't Want None, Unless You Got BUNS Hun
I think that title may be my finest work yet. Nailed it.
I was kindly invited to Wagamamas recently to try out their new menu, in particular, their new hirata steamed bun range. So along I went one Thursday evening with a couple of girls from the office, with a purse stuffed with Waga-vouchers, ready for some hot tasty bun action.
If you haven't had steamed buns before, the best way I can describe them is fluffy cloud-like pancakes, folded in half with a hot filling. We tried a couple of different fillings between us - the korean bbq beef & red onion, tori kara age chicken & fresh tomato, and mixed mushroom with panko aubergine. I think my favourite was the mushroom - the buns are so light and bouncy that the crunchy panko breadcrumbs are the perfect contrast.
I hadn't realised how big the buns would be when we ordered, so as well as having 4 buns as a starter (2 would have definitely been enough), I also had a noodle dish for my main. The Yaki Udon with chicken, prawns and chikuwa was HUGE, like, I could have easily shared that with someone else and still felt like I'd had a big meal. I only managed to eat half as I was so full after my buns, but it was really tasty!
This was only my second time at a Wagamamas - the first being a takeout I had in London when I was there for work in the summer. That time I went for the classic Chicken Katsu Curry which was nice, but not as good as I'd expected since people absolutely rave about it. My second Waga's experience though was a lot better, and I would definitely go back for more buns (and to try more of the noodle dishes as I struggled to pick, they all sounded so good!).
|Korean Japchae Zucchini Noodles Recipe
What you'll learn in this recipe: How to cook classic Korean Japchae Noodles recipe, substituting spiralized zucchini noodles for the traditional sweet potato noodles. Get the best flavor by cooking the ingredients separately in the stir fry. How to prevent mushy zucchini noodles – with clear photos on when to stop cooking Inspiralizer giveaway Spiral […]
The post Korean Japchae Zucchini Noodles Recipe appeared first on Steamy Kitchen Recipes.
|Playing Catch Up
|i'm not dead. my camera chord isn't missing. i really have no excuse for not blogging. i need to do this because i quickly forget the cute things my kids are doing! you think you'll remember, i don't even remember what time sofia was born. anyway, a lot of things have happened...so i'm just going to type.
lucas you're 9 1/2 months. you still only have two teeth! sofia got teeth early, so this is new to me. you're also super tall. your 9 month appt is coming up...when you turn 10 months. oops, bad mom, forgot to schedule an appointment. i'm over it. yes, that's a leaf in your mouth. you eat about ten a day. apparently non toxic. you're still a mama's boy 100%. if i'm in the room, you have to be next to me. you flap your arms like a crazy boy when i come in to the room. makes me feel good because sofia was never a mama's girl. you think you can walk, but you can't. i'm so glad you can't.
every morning your pj is soaked. apparently you pee A LOT at night.
you two don't get along that well. sofia takes every toy away from you. she sits on you. she pushes you. she hits you. i'm so sorry. she does love you though. i can tell because she's always trying to make you laugh. she is also happy to see you first thing in the morning. i really love this picture.
you have really nice eye lashes, which isn't fair because both sofia and i don't have any. i love your face, and i kiss you a little too much.
sofia, you are two going on 15. you are so tall. everyone thinks you're 4. i love how tall you are! and you are so beautiful. you only like to wear dresses. to get you dressed every morning i have to tell you i'm putting on you cinderella's dress, or aurora. then i put some jeggings on underneath. although you'd rather not have clothes on. when we come in to your room in the morning, your pj AND diaper are usually off. we don't know exactly when you take them off. you also have stopped napping, which is completely driving me crazy. you're only 2!! not even 2 and a half! you shouldn't give up your nap till your at least 4! sorry, lot's of exclamation points, i really miss your nap. i guess maybe since you're the height of a 4 year old, and you act like a 15 year old you think you don't need naps anymore. you still have to be in your room for a while so mom can have some time without you.
lucas, you love the camera. you will laugh and smile whenever i tell you to. sofia loves to make you laugh by blowing this train whistle in your face. for some reason, you both think it's hilarious.
my best friend since 7th grade, amanda
just to show you how big lucas is right now...compare him to the pretty girl to the left. ellie is amanda's daughter who is almost 1. lucas had just turned 9 months here. see how big he is? also, sofia and claire (the beautiful toddler all the way on the left) are only 5 months apart. again, she towers over everyone her age.
i think you can tell which holiday we are celebrating here...
although the community festivities were no where near as amazing as last year, we still made the best of it. thanks to grandma queen, my kids were spoiled. i feel spoiled because i don't have to do anything as a parent. she sent them both easter baskets. a few weeks ago jeff said to me "why hasn't your mom sent sofia an easter dress yet?" i
we tell sofia to smile with her teeth...and this is what we get...
and this...
and this...
she's not so good at smiling with her teeth. it'll come with age. here she is in our yard hunting for eggs.
the next three pictures i had to post because in this first one, lucas is making a weird face...
and in this one, jeff is making a weird face...
and then this one i finally got good smiles!
we don't know what we're going to do in texas without tia ash! sofia loves her bi-weekly visits. and i love them more. she's the only one that'll play ring a round the rosies over and over and over and over with her. spoiled.
|BANG BANG: Adam Hartzell
|[BANG BANG is our week-long look back at 20!!, or "Twenty-bang-bang," or 2011, with contributions from all over aiming to cover all sorts of enthusiasms from film to music to words and beyond.]
by Adam Hartzell
I spend most of my time watching movies out of sync with my time and place. Since I prefer cinema from elsewhere, only one U.S. film makes my Top Ten, though it does make the top spot. Work and financial constraints keep me from traveling abroad for film festival premieres, which means I have to wait until they make it here to San Francisco. So my Top Ten lists usually say something about my cosmopolitan dreams that are anchored awake by my restricted finances and mobility. But here are 10 films which were released this year, or made their way to Bay Area festivals in 2011, about which I have found myself still ruminating in a positive way since they shined their light and heat on my eyes.
10. Passion (Khusel Shunal) (Byamba Sakhya, 2010, Mongolia) I knew nothing about Mongolian cinema until this documentary about said cinema, told through a lonely road movie, found its way into the program of this year's San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival. Now I want to know more, which is ironic since the film presents a pessimistic view of Mongolian cinema's future. But it's at least caught the fascination of one viewer even more isolated from this nation's cinema than the Mongolian residents portrayed in the documentary.
9. Aurélie Laflamme's Diary (Christian Laurence, 2010, Canada) A French language film from Quebec that was part of the NY/SF International Children's Film Festival that ran from October 21-23 at Viz Cinema, it ended up winning an audience award. I would have voted for it as well, had I seen it in the theater along with that awarding audience rather than on DVD for an sf360.org overview I wrote on the festival. It's a teen film that doesn't have to throw an American-Pie in our faces thinking that will entertain the kids and kidults. Marianne Verville is a refreshing presence in the lead role, allowed to be awkward in what is an awkward time of our lives. Plus, although she gets the boy the genre demands, she isn't swan-ed away from her duckling beginnings.
8. The Trip (Michael Winterbottom, 2011, United Kingdom) I am still laughing about the scene where Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are riffing on announcing the inexact time of an ancient battle. Adding to this comedic pleasure was that I got to laugh at this scene along with a friend I hadnât seen in some time whom I randomly ran into in the lobby of The Bridge theatre before the screening. It was a nice day in the Richmond neighborhood thanks to the run-ins such local establishments afford.
7. Oki's Movie (Hong Sang-soo, 2010, South Korea) I got to see three of my favorite directorâs films for the first time this year. (The others were Ha Ha Ha on DVD because I couldn't make the screenings at the San Francisco International Film Festival and The Day He Arrives on screen at the Starz Denver Film Festival in mid-November with the proprietor of the Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee blog, Peter Nellhaus.) Thanks to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, I was able to watch Oki's Movie in the theatre in late June after having already seen it on DVD to prepare a piece for sf360. I'm biased in that I always find something to ruminate on endlessly in a Hong film (even with my least favorite, Woman Is the Future of Man). But Oki's Movie seems to have won over those who haven't been fans of his work. I think a big reason is the auditioning of men in Oki's movie nested within "Oki's Movie" that Andrew Tracy expertly analyzes in the Fall 2010 issue of Cinema Scope magazine.
6. The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (Leanne Pooley, 2009, New Zealand) Finally getting the theatre release it deserved, The Topp Twins graced our local screens outside of the film festivals that started the momentum (Frameline in 2010 and Mostly British in 2011). I own the DVD and saw the film in the theatre three times, once each at those festivals and once in Berkeley at Shattuck Cinemas with my cousin when it was released. Even after all these screenings, I'm still moved by how much major moments of the lives of these yodeling, country singing lesbian twins are tied up with major political successes in New Zealand history. I am still giddy about getting to meet them for an interview for sf360, the most nervous I have ever been for an interview.
5. Poetry (Lee Chang-dong, 2010, South Korea) Poetry definitively represents what I have been appreciating lately about South Korean cinema - how much it has opened up cinematic space for its senior actresses. Yun Jung-hee came out of retirement for this virtuoso performance of Lee Chang-dong's as he continues to explore the life of the outsider in South Korea. During my first draft of this brief commentary on Poetry, I went into a rant about how, if there failed to be a Best Actress nom nod to Yun, the Oscars would continue to be irrelevant in my cinematic life. But after writing that draft, I went to talk with Brian Darr of Hell on Frisco Bay blog and he informed me the Los Angeles Critic Circle gave Yun their Best Actress award. As a result, I put my seething rage at the Oscars as a failed institution back into its cage to be unleashed some other day.
4. The Salesman (Sébastian Pilote, 2011, Canada) I am someone upon whom car commercials fail to make the intended impact. I don't desire the products they advertise. And I don't buy into the false sense of freedom the commercials purport to symbolize. (The streets are usually much more crowded than as portrayed in the commercials and buying a car shackles you with debt, high gas prices, and vast acres of asphalt requirements for roads and parking.) That said, I'm primed to appreciate the tragedy in The Salesman, a perfect example of a genre I'm calling 'Post Peak Oil Cinema', where the life of a successful car salesman is turned on its head by the very products he sells so successfully. The Salesman is a sad, sad film that doesn't pummel you but rather slowly piles upon you like the snow that surrounds this little Quebec town.
3. The Life of Fish (MatÃas Bize, 2010, Chile) My wife and I caught this film during our yearly Caltrain trip to Cinequest in San Jose because it fit with our schedule and it's one of those happy accident, eeny-meeny-miney-mo(e)ments where you select a film with no real sense of what you are getting yourself into and you realize the programmers have made an excellent choice for you. In this film, we travel through a party held in a single house as our main character relives his younger self through his memories and those of others. Simple, poignant, and delightful.
2. Nostalgia for the Light (Patrico Guzmán, 2010, France/Chile/Germany) This was a truly amazing film I saw in the Dolby screening room as part of the press screenings for the San Francisco International Film Festival this year. Guzmánâs pairing of professional astronomers with amateur archaeologists works on so many levels. Even though the archaeologists are searching for the remains of family members killed by their own government, somehow, in spite of all this, Guzmán leaves us with tremendous hope for humanity.
1. Deaf Jam (Judy Lieff, 2011, USA) I have not had the experience with a film for a long time like I had with Lieffâs documentary about high school Deaf poets venturing out into the venues of a (hearing) poetry slam. Cinema transfixed me again at the Mill Valley Film Festival like it did the first time I could not stopping about the impact a film had on me. Lieff captures the vibrancy of American Sign Language through several tactics of translation. Her willingness to mess with the text of subtitling the poems in the opening sequence is mesmerizing. At the same time, she even took the risk not to translate the ASL later in the film and it is just as powerful sans subtitles. Mixed in with this story of the life of young Deaf folk is a story about the struggles of immigrant children whose parentsâ citizenship comes after they enter adulthood and a friendship between a young Israeli Jew and Palestinian Muslim. Lieff and the subjects of her documentary show us how ASL is as perfect a language of cinema as any other, leaving you hoping Lieff and the students she films donât stop here. We need these stories. We need this kind of active, engaged cinema.
Adam Hartzell is totally bummed that sf360.org is no longer publishing because he had a blast writing for them for three years. He continues to write for Brian Darr's San Francisco film blog, Hell on Frisco Bay, and the premier English language website on South Korean cinema, Koreanfilm.org. He began this year as a guest on an episode of the VCinema podcast where he discussed the original version and the recent re-visioning of the South Korean classic The Housemaid (MP3). He has had a few magazine pieces in Kyoto Journal, a chapter on The Power of Kangwon Province for The Cinema of Japan and Korea (Wallflower Press), and next year he will have a bunch of essays in the upcoming publication of World Directory of Cinema: Korea (Intellect, Ltd.).
|IDC: Smartphone shipments up 4.3% in Q1 2017, Apple gains on Samsung but both lose to Chinese firms
Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 347.4 million smartphones worldwide last quarter, up 4.3 percent from the 332.9 million units in Q1 2016. Looking at the top five vendors, Samsung and Apple both lost share while Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo all grew. In Q1 2017, the South Korean company once again shipped more smartphones than […]
|Talisman Sabre: Australian and US army exercise wraps up in Brisbane
|Three weeks after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, and with the United States reportedly expecting another launch soon, there is little doubt Exercise Talisman Sabre served as much more than training drills between allies.
|As smartphone sales stall, Samsung surges while Apple slumps
The ongoing rivalry between Samsung and Apple seems to have taken its latest dramatic turn of recent months, as the South Korean giant today reported strong sales of its smartphones. One day after Apple reported that iPhone sales fell 15 percent last quarter, Samsung reported preliminary results that indicate its operating profits in the latest quarter would hit […]
|North Korea is acting like it's ready for war, but Kim Jong Un's back is against the wall
Despite intense saber rattling between the US and North Korea, experts told Business Insider that...
|Sanctions on North Korea Inc. Hit Kimâs Secretive âOffice 39â
The United Nationsâ latest sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear program extend beyond the conventional exports cited in the Security Council resolution -- coal, iron ore, lead ore and seafood.
|North Korea details Guam missile plan, dismissing Trump w...
North Korea dismissed warnings by U.S. President Donald Trump that it would face "fire and fury" and outlined detailed plans on for a missile strike near Guam.
|North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is 'afraid of his own shadow,' says ex-ambassador Bill Richardson
The North Korean leader's constant concern about being overthrown complicates any dealings with the isolated nation, Bill Richardson warns.
|What War Between North Korea and the U.S. Might Look Like: Quicktake Q&A
With the window closing fast for the U.S. to stop Kim Jong Un from obtaining a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile, North Korea watchers are starting to analyze President Donald Trumpâs military ...
|North Korea probably couldn't nuke the US military in Guam even if it tried
After strong words from President Donald Trump promising "fire and fury" in response to continued...
|Trump just set his own, uncrossable 'red line' â and North Korea crossed it instantly
Trump may have just painted himself into a corner after pledging to attack North Korea in the face of new threats.
|U.S. Ambassador Haley Loses Two Key Aides at United Nations
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has lost two of her top aides, key departures that come at a time of growing international tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
|North Korea again threatens nuclear strike near Guam, mocks Trump's 'fire and fury' threat
North Korea's army released a statement Wednesday repeating and specifying its threat to launch...
|Trump aide Sebastian Gorka warns North Korea not to 'test' America: 'We were a superpower â we are now a hyperpower'
Sebastian Gorka, a senior White House national security official, has reiterated President Donald...
|Trump's 'fire and fury' rhetoric drags the US to North Korea's level â but he may have an ulterior motive
President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Pyongyang on Tuesday, saying that "North Korea...
|MATTIS: North Korea should stop before it gets destroyed
After a heated exchange between President Donald Trump and North Korea that culminated in threats...
|LG G2 Price & Specs
LG G2 Price & Specs
Rs. 55,500 USD $572
|Korea Taxi Tour - Korea Taxi Service Strives Hard to Take the Fun for Its Clients to the Next Level! (Hill Smith)
|Hiring taxis has become quite common across the globe. These days, you can find so many tourists moving for different countries prefer to book their taxis well in advance. These people are simply looking for maximum convenience.
|Korea Taxi Service Offers the Best Driver Guide Tour! (Hill Smith)
|As one of the most developing nations in this world, South Korea has really managed to strengthen its tourist sector in a great way, over the years, tourism has developed in this country at a great pace and now cities like Seoul, Nami Island, Jeju Island and other places are drawing most attention from the foreign tourists.
|A DMZ Taxi Tour can Make Your Korea Taxi Tour More Interesting! (Hill Smith)
|In this world, there are many militarized zones. Some of them are considered as the most sensitive ones. However, the DMZ or the Demilitarized zone that is segregating North and South Korea is often considered as the most sensitive one among all the places in this world that are announced with the purpose to divide countries.
|DMZ Taxi Tour - Exclusively Offered by the Best Seoul Taxi Services! (Hill Smith)
|If you are in Seoul, South Korea and you are yet to opt for the DMZ or Demilitarized Zone, then you have really missed an important section of your journey. Moving for this place is not that easy! In order to get into the DMZ.
|Korea Taxi Service, Seoul Taxi Services (Hill Smith)
|There are several other advantages that you can get when you hire Korea taxi service. Well, your tour to Korea can become really enjoyable when you have one of the best Seoul taxi services at your disposal.
|A Year of Grief: Thoughts & Lessons Learned
I would imagine that not everyone who reads my blog knows, but as of today, it marks a year that Iâve been going through the process we call grieving. A year ago today, I went through the most traumatic thing a person could go through â I found the person I love more than anything in this world, passed away. My soul mate, lying there, all of my hopes and dreams, lost and crushed in less than a second. Nothing can prepare you for such an abundantly awful thing. Nothing. However, one thing is certain, almost no one on the planet is immune from this experience. No one.
This post is for you. All of you. If youâve lost someone close to you, ever, this is for you. If you havenât yet, you will, and this is for you too. If you know someone whoâs lost someone, yes, this is even for you as well. Iâve always known and preached this, but never from personal experience, until a year ago...
So, if youâve been wondering what happened to my articles, or why certain things have changed on my site, or why I havenât participated in social media in the same ways as before â now you know why. The proverbial cat is out of itâs equally proverbial bag. Thatâs the love of my life you see above and throughout this post. Youâll end up finding out more and more about this amazing woman, the more you know me, the more you pay attention to the things I do â because sheâs so much a part of who I am and has been for the past 4+ years Iâve known her, and thatâs never going to change. She inherently frames everything I do now.
Grief. Itâs a 5-letter word, and itâs thrown around so easily by most of us, on most days. Historically, Iâve been guilty of it too. After playing a joke on someone, I might have said, âI enjoy giving [insert name here] grief.â This is probably one of the most understated words in the English language. We have words for all kinds of things, but there isnât a word that effectively describes what grief really is, and how awesomely shattering it is to the people that experience it. Grief is in and of itself, one of the most life-altering things any person can go through. Itâs experienced in every way â emotional, mental, and even physical.
Grief for me is a giant, constantly throbbing ball of molten lava-like chaos and emotions, swirling with a level of violence that you can both hear and feel. Itâs both physical and mental, ruling your very existence. Not a single thought or movement can be made, without it first passing through that ball of grief-lava. To this day, I have a feeling in my chest that I once described to my therapist saying, âIt feels like I had a really bad open heart surgery. They didnât fix anything. They didnât sew me back up right. And they left the scalpel in there.â
Good Grief, Charlie Brown
Letâs be clear⦠Grief comes in many forms, none of it good. Itâs a simple word thatâs used to describe the feelings and process that follows loss. Any kind of loss, really. You go through grief on almost a daily basis. You might have a breakup, lose a job, make a mistake on a project â any number of things and situations can cause grief. Itâs a simple word. Easy to spell. One syllable. Easy to say, Greeph. Greef. I fucking hate you, grief. The word itself is so simple, yet itâs used to describe one of the most complex and emotionally-charged of all human experiences. This little word simply doesnât have the weight it should for someone like me. There doesnât appear to be a word that does.
First Two Weeks
When this horrific event happens â no matter how expected or not â you get flooded with love and support initially. Some people show up right away. Some people fly countless miles to be with you. Some call. Some send an e-mail. Some do nothing though. Whatâs interesting about all of these people and acts, is that most of them are surprises. You never know until something like this happens how much some people truly care about you. How much people think about and care for you. Youâll be surprised at who sends flowers, and who doesnât. Who comes to the funeral, and who doesnât. Youâll be even more surprised at the various excuses and incredibly odd things people do to avoid the funeral altogether.
All of these people say various flavors of the same thing. My thoughts and prayers are with you. If you need anything at all, donât hesitate to ask. Call me if you need anything. Little do they know, a griever wonât call unless we really have no other choice â or maybe they do know; maybe itâs a bluff.
What if we called them on that bluff? I have, to some, but it was very difficult, and the result was about what you might expect â mixed. Many business authors have said various versions of the same quote that describes this mixture of results (at least, it does for me)... Money doesnât change a person. It simply empowers them to be their true self, since they no longer have to answer to someone. Whether or not that true self is a good person is another post, for another time. Regardless, I think grief holds a solid parallel to that idea.
Then thereâs the month and months afterâ¦
Shit People Say
After the first two weeks, everyone begins to drop off. In bulk at first, then one-by-one. People drift back to their lives. No one can blame them. The world does keep spinning â no matter how insulting that is to someone like me. Why didnât the entire world stop? It certainly feels like it did to me.
The interesting thing here is that itâs when people begin to feel empowered. They begin to feel that itâs okay to say horrible things. Are you out of your funk yet? You should do something to keep yourself busy. Are you over it? You should move. You should move on. I doubt most people mean anything negative by these statements. In most cases, I truly do believe they feel that their heart is in the right place. But they forget⦠Their heart, in the right place or not, is still beating. And the person and people they love also still have beating hearts. Theyâve somehow learned or come to the conclusion that itâs okay to stifle someone elseâs grief. These people havenât yet been destroyed in the same way a widow or widower has. Experience is literally the only teacher here. Unlike you, I get to wake up every morning, widowed all over again.
Letâs knock this outâ¦
Talk to Us
Donât get me wrong. I am not at any level suggesting that you should walk on egg shells around a griever. Say stuff. Make jokes. Have a conversation. Insist on dinner or coffee. Insist, dammit! Take us out. Sit with us, even if we donât say a thing. We enjoy every second, and weâll never, ever, ever forget those who did. When you do this, youâre literally saving our life, because â especially in the early stages â weâre not interested in life anymore. Your very presence can and does influence that.
Bring Them Up
Above all, PLEASE⦠Please, please, please talk to us about the loved one we lost. Bring them up. Mention them by name. Tell us a story about them. Ask for a story. Ask about what their favorite things were. Only a couple of months ago, I saw an old friend of Sabrina and mine. He asked me, âWhereâs your partner in crime?â I about lost it that very second. No one asks about Sabrina. No one brings her up, mostly in fear of dredging up bad feelings or something. I can tell you that even if a widowed person begins balling and sobbing that very second, youâve made us happier than you can imagine. By speaking their name, by being interested, youâve kept them alive. Even if for a second, you let the widowed know that the life of the one they lost mattered.
This is so damned important. So important, that one widower even created love letters to keep the spirit of his lost wife alive and spread their love.
The more you talk to someone while theyâre actively grieving, and the more you speak about the person they lost, the more they can process it. The better off the grieving process goes overall. We want so desperately to talk about our love. You just need to let us. Donât worry. Weâll grow through this to have an even stronger bond. Youâre saving our life by remembering theirs.
Even More Loss
The more time that goes by, the more people on the outside at this stage also begin to get tired of hearing about someone thatâs no longer here. They donât want to deal with the reality of grief. This is of course only true if theyâve never been through this themselves.
Yes, on the surface, this sounds cruel and only fitting of the most emotionless of human beings. While that could be true of some, Iâd like to think that itâs not. Some people are deeply afraid of being around the kind of sorrow that someone like me is enduring and processing. I get it. If you feel that we should get over it, maybe itâs you that should get over it instead.
Whatâs actually cruel about this is that the people who do this to a griever are the ones that we may have called very close friends or family prior. Itâs amazing to see who actually cares about you. Iâve seen a quote a number of times that I canât find right now, that basically says, âIf you want to know who actually cares about you, look around when youâre down on the ground.â Most people are in your life in a much more superficial and materialistic way than you might realize. Theyâre just there for the ride. If you lose anyone during this process, let them go. They may come back, and they may not. For now, at least, youâre better off without them.
Youâre Not Crazy
Immediately following the loss of my soul mate, odd things began to happen. I mean, very odd things. I have an analytical mind, so I keep records of most of it. I didnât record anything I can easily explain away.
I began seeing flashes of light everywhere in the house, never outside, but always in the corner of my eye. The light was always moving suddenly, like I might see it if it didnât get away quick.
I had objects that seemingly moved on their own. In one place one second, and look again to find it moved. One night before bed, I found that one of Sabrinaâs toothbrushes had been moved, into the slot where mine was.
A razor that had run out of power 2 months before Sabrina passed magically turned on the morning of her funeral, when I shaved again. I could almost hear her voice in my head, My Simba always is shaved. (Why Simba, you ask?) That razor would continue to work for months without the battery being replaced, almost a year after initially losing power.
There have been sounds, like cups or dishes falling in the front of the house, but nothing is out of place when I investigate.
I once heard and felt her whisper in my ear, âSimba!,â when I was in the living room. I know the difference between voices in my head and hearing something.
Iâve only experienced sleep paralysis once before, but shortly after I began sleeping in our room again, she appeared to save me from my second experience. This would be the only time Iâve seen her in my dreams so far.
On separate occasions, our bedroom would smell like Nalaâs (thatâs what I called her) perfume, or smell like a meal sheâd cook. The smells where so crystal clear, I had to check windows and look for broken bottles to be sure.
At my daughterâs choir concert, I began crying during one of the songs. A strong breeze began to hit me, as if the air conditioning began to point only at me with all of its force â then went away once I calmed down. There wasnât even a slight breeze before or after that moment, and it was inside of a very large concert auditorium.
To this day, Iâll often feel something brush my leg, arm, or ear, and look to see nothing. No bugs. No flies. Nothing that I can explain to cause it. Iâve even been tickled. Nala was a prankster.
Thereâs so much more in my list. Iâve kept a journal of it. Although, the past two months have seen fewer and fewer entries.
The bottom line here is that anyone who knows me would tell you that Iâm a very objective and analytical person. I canât explain these things Iâve recorded. Iâve tried to disprove everything Iâve logged. If I found even one potential cause, it didnât go into my notes. I know Iâm not crazy. I know Iâm not dreaming these things up, or making them up. If you go through this, youâre not crazy either. I didnât fully believe that though, until I began participating in grief groups. If weâre all experiencing the same kind of things, I canât be crazy, right?
The Afterlife
Iâve spent countless hours reading, watching, and researching everything that we humans know about what happens when and after we die. I obsessed myself with it. Still do. I know more than I ever thought I would about near death experiences (NDE), theories, and everything else that we use to try and explain the things we donât know. The things that might be true, range from us returning to our Arcturian home, to going to heaven (whichever one you believe in), to nothing at all. Just plain nothing. Gone. I donât and canât believe in any of those theories. Not with everything Iâve been through and what I know now. Not when you factor in all of the circumstantial and irrefutable scientific evidence.
I lost my best friend in a car wreck when I was 17. He was in the seat behind me during our final road trip senior year. I held my grandfatherâs hand during his last breath, when cancer finally consumed him. Iâve experienced grief before, but I never before had signs and I never before even thought about what happened next. Never felt the need. I loved them, but I wasnât completely destroyed by their loss. I celebrated their life.
Now, I find myself questioning everything, as one would and does. For some, your beliefs change, but Iâve seen that most find their original beliefs to be stronger. Iâm not trying to tell you what to believe. That would be insensitive and overly ridiculous for me to do... How could I? The shit people sayâ¦
For me, Iâve come to the personal conclusion (not your conclusion) that whatever heaven we know and label it as - it exists - but itâs not what we know it to be in our books of worship and cultural common beliefs. None of us have any way of actually knowing. Thatâs why itâs called faith, and associated with belief. I firmly believe that thereâs something else, and sheâs waiting for me, along with my other family. Sheâs right on the other side of something we canât see, taste, feel, or touch. Her energy speaks to me and has proven that to me a lot over the past year.
I will see her, but it wonât be the same as what I remember we had before she left. It will be different. I just desperately hope it will be even better than it was. A statement like that sounds crazy to me. Our relationship was so insanely awesome, like nothing I have ever known. Itâs very cliché, but it was the truest of true love. Iâve never loved anyone even remotely close to the same level.
Getting Better
I have mostly shied away from the things that would have been ânormalâ for me before my Nala passed away. Nothing had the same feel anymore. Color? Gone. Flavor? Nixed. Pretty much all of life seemed pointless anymore, and still does to some degree. Thereâs no getting better. I didnât ask to be in this involuntary club. This daily dose of bullshit. Yet, Iâm still here.
Iâve learned in this year of grief that the only way through this is to just take it day-by-day. Each day, I wake up. I go into a routine. I eat. I work. I take care of my daughter. Then I do my best to sleep. Next thing you know, I do it all over again. Iâve resolved myself to this⦠Every day I live is one more day that Iâm closer to my queen, my soul mate, my true love. I need to get through it to get to her, and I can only hope sheâs there, with open arms, as excited to see me this time, as she was the first. Jumping up and down like a grade-school girl getting the first present on Christmas morning. For those of you that knew her, I bet you never saw her that excited, did you? Literally jumping up and down, with a massive smile, and squealing. She was so full of life. Happy.
So now, to earn my reunion, Iâve begun the process of pretending to be all better. Pretending to be ânormalâ like the majority of you. I smile and laugh sometimes, but itâs not real. I donât smile in photos yet, because I donât want the fake me to be recorded. Thatâs not me right now. I do this to feel ânormal,â but I mostly do this to make you feel normal around me too. Iâm not normal. There is not a ânormal.â Iâm broken, but Iâll be okay. âIâm okay,â is my response now.
Being 100%, or Being âMeâ Again
This story and all of the parts that may follow in the future, theyâre part of my past, present, and future. Theyâre a part of yours too. No one is immune to this part of life. Patton Oswalt recently went through an eerily similar experience, but being a comedian, heâs far more articulate about this than I can ever be. So itâs only appropriate when he describes how he feels, as it fully embodies how Iâve felt from the first moments until today, saying, âIâll never be at 100% again.â This isnât to say that Iâm not still the Will Strohl that many of you know or follow.
Most of us throw around the term my other half so frivolously. We donât realize that some of us are insanely lucky to truly know what that is like and how it feels. Youâre 100% of a person finally, and didnât realize you werenât until you literally found the one. I wasnât 100% until I met my beautiful Sabrina â something I didnât know until the moment I fell in love with her (something that was instant, but I wouldnât realize or believe until later). Iâm still me, albeit a slightly different, more aware of everything, quick to cry, far more knowledgeable on the human condition, more sensitive to others, and ultimately deeply scarred version of me.
Iâm okay.
|LG V30 camera has great low light potential
|Smartphone cameras have evolved a great deal over the years, reaching the point where many of us can rely on them to snap important moments in our lives. But if there is one area where major improvements can still be made it's in low light. One way to improve image quality in low light is to use a wider lens aperture, which is what LG has done with its upcoming V30. In fact, the South Korean maker says that it's the widest lens aperture of any smartphone to date. Why does this matter? The benefit of a wide lens aperture is… [Continue Reading]
|Largest Known Rare Earth Mineral Deposit Discovered â Má» Äất hiếm trá» giá hà ng nghìn tá»· USD: Lý do Äá» Triá»u Tiên âcứngâ vá»i Trung Quá»c?
SRE Minerals Limited announces the results of exploration and studies in collaboration with the Korea Natural Resources Trading Corporation of the Democratic Peopleâs Republic of Korea. SRE Minerals Limited (âSREâ or âthe companyâ) announced today their joint venture agreement with the Korea Natural Resources Trading Corporation for rights to develop all rare-earth-element deposits at Jongju, North […]
The post Largest Known Rare Earth Mineral Deposit Discovered — Má» Äất hiếm trá» giá hà ng nghìn tá»· USD: Lý do Äá» Triá»u Tiên "cứng" vá»i Trung Quá»c? appeared first on Viet Thuc.
|Latar Belakang Berdirinya ASEAN
ASEAN adalah kepanjangan dari Association of South East Asia Nations. ASEAN disebut juga sebagai Perbara yang merupakan singkatan dari Perhimpunan Bangsa-Bangsa Asia Tenggara. Gedung sekretarian ASEAN berada di Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia. ASEAN didirikan tanggal 8 Agustus 1967 di Bangkok. ASEAN diprakarsai oleh 5 menteri luar negeri dari wilayah Asia Tenggara, yaitu Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Filipina dan Singapura :
1. Perwakilan Indonesia : Adam Malik
2. Perwakilan Malaysia : Tun Abdul Razak
3. Perwakilan Thailand : Thanat Koman
4. Perwakilan Filipina : Narcisco Ramos
5. Perwakilan Singapura : S. Rajaratnam
Sedangkan terdapat negara-negara lain yang bergabung kemudian ke dalam ASEAN sehingga total menjadi 11 negara, yaitu :
1. Brunei Darussalam tangal 7 Januari 1984
2. Vietnam tangal 28 Juli 1995
3. Myanmar tangal 23 Juli 1997
4. Laos tangal 23 Juli 1997
5. Kamboja tangal 16 Desember 1998
Prinsip Utama ASEAN
Prinsip-prinsip utama ASEAN digariskan seperti berikut:
Menghormati kemerdekaan, kesamaan, integritas dan identitas nasional semua negara
Setiap negara memiliki hak untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan nasionalnya tanpa ada campur tangan dari luar
Penyelesaian perbedaan atau perdebatan antar negara dengan aman
Menolak penggunaan kekuatan dan kekerasan
Meningkatkan kerjasama yang efektif antara anggota
ASEAN dikukuhkan oleh lima negara pengasas; Indonesia, Malaysia, Filipina, Singapura dan Thailand di Bangkok Proses pembentukan ASEAN dibuat dalam sebuah penandatanganan perjanjian yang dikenal dengan nama âDeklarasi Bangkokâ. Adapun yang bertanda tangan pada Deklarasi Bangkok tersebut adalah para menteri luar negeri saat itu, yaitu Bapak Adam Malik (Indonesia), Narciso R. Ramos (Filipina), Tun Abdul Razak (Malaysia), S. Rajaratnam (Singapura), dan Thanat Khoman (Thailand). Pada tanggal 8 Januari 1984, seminggu setelah mencapai kemerdekaannya, negara Brunei masuk menjadi anggota ASEAN. 11 tahun kemudian, tepatnya tanggal 28 Juli 1995. Laos dan Myanmar menjadi anggota dua tahun kemudianya, yaitu pada tanggal 23 Juli 1997. Walaupun Kamboja sudah menjadi anggota ASEAN bersama sama Myanmar dan Laos, Kamboja terpaksa menarik diri disebabkan masalah politik dalam negara tersebut. Namun, dua tahun kemudian Kamboja kembali masuk menjadi anggota ASEAN pada 30 April 1999.
Logo ASEAN membawa arti ASEAN yang stabil, aman, bersatu dan dinamik. Warna logo ada 4 yaitu biru, merah, putih dan kuning. Warna tersebut merupakan warna utama lambang negara-negara ASEAN. Warna biru melambangkan keamanan dan kestabilan. Merah bermaksud semangat dan dinamisme sedangkan putih menunjukkan ketulenan dan kuning melambangkan kemakmuran. Sepuluh tangkai padi melambangkan cita-cita pelopor pembentuk ASEAN di Asia Tenggara, yaitu bersatu dan bersahabat. Bulatan melambangkan kesatuan ASEAN.
Tahun 2007 bisa dikatakan bersejarah bagi ASEAN. Kawasan ini memiliki tampilan baru. Ada harapan ASEAN akan terstruktur dan tersistematis.
Semua itu ditandai dengan ditandatanginya Piagam ASEAN (ASEAN Charter) sebagai kerangka âkonstitusi bersamaâ ASEAN.
Keberadaan sebuah piagam agar bisa lebih mengikat negara-negara anggota sebenarnya sudah cukup lama dikumandangkan di kalangan pemikir ASEAN. Akan tetapi, baru pada Konferensi Tingkat Tinggi (KTT) ASEAN tahun 2003 di Bali, keinginan ASEAN untuk memiliki sebuah piagam bersama itu mulai dikonkretkan.
Ibarat sebuah perusahaan yang harus memiliki status hukum yang jelas, apakah itu perseroan terbatas (PT) atau perusahaan dagang (PD), ASEAN sebagai organisasi regional yang sudah berusia 40 tahun ini memang sudah seharusnya punya status hukum. Idealnya, dengan adanya status hukum itu, ASEAN lebih punya keleluasaan untuk bekerja sama dengan berbagai pihak, khususnya kalangan pebisnis. Dia (ASEAN) juga bisa memiliki aset, visi, dan misi, serta alat/perangkat untuk mewujudkan visi dan misinya tersebut.
Piagam ASEAN memang tidak otomatis akan mengubah banyak hal di ASEAN. Malah, piagam itu sesungguhnya makin mengekalkan banyak kebiasaan lama. Misalnya, pengambilan keputusan di ASEAN tetap dengan cara konsensus dan KTT ASEAN menjadi tempat tertinggi untuk pengambilan keputusan jika konsensus tidak tercapai atau jika sengketa di antara anggota terjadi.
Meski demikian, piagam tersebut hadir di saat yang pas, yaitu ketika kawasan Asia Tenggara ini terus berubah dan negara-negara ASEAN semakin memperluas cakupan kerja sama yang lebih kukuh ke Asia Timur (Jepang, Korea Selatan, dan China), Asia Tengah (India), serta ke selatan (Australia dan Selandia Baru). Juga, KTT Asia Timur yang diselenggarakan beriringan dengan KTT ASEAN.
Tujuan dibentuknya Piagam Asean adalah sebagai berikut
1. Permudah kerja sama
Adanya Piagam ASEAN secara organisatoris akan membuat negara anggota ASEAN relatif akan lebih terikat kepada berbagai kesepakatan yang telah dibuat ASEAN. Secara teoretis, piagam itu akan semakin mempermudah kerja sama yang dibuat ASEAN dengan mitra-mitra dialognya.
Jika pada masa lalu mitra ASEAN terkadang mengeluh bahwa kesepakatan yang telah dibuat dengan ASEAN ternyata hanya dilaksanakan dan dipatuhi oleh beberapa negara anggota ASEAN, kini kekhawatiran itu bisa dikurangi.
Mekanisme kerja yang lebih jelas di ASEAN seperti tertuang dalam Piagam ASEAN itu juga akan mempermudah mitra-mitra atau calon-calon mitra yang ingin berurusan dengan ASEAN. Begitu pula bila di kemudian hari terjadi persengketaan, Piagam ASEAN telah membuat pengaturan umum untuk penyelesaian sengketa itu.
Lebih penting lagi secara politis, ASEAN kini menegaskan dirinya sebagai organisasi yang menghormati serta bertekad untuk menjunjung tinggi hak asasi manusia (HAM) dan nilai-nilai demokrasi. Piagam meminta ASEAN menghargai HAM.
Meski saat ini pelaksanaan kedua hal itu masih jauh dari ideal, setidaknya ASEAN sudah mengakui bahwa penghormatan atas HAM dan demokrasi sebagai nilai-nilai dasar, sama seperti umumnya negara maju. Dengan demikian, hambatan psikologis untuk bekerja sama dengan negara-negara ASEAN seperti sering terdengar selama ini dari beberapa negara maju, setidaknya sudah bisa dikurangi meski hambatan belum sepenuhnya bisa dihapuskan.
2. Tantangan internal
Keberhasilan ASEAN melahirkan sebuah piagam bersama tidak otomatis bermakna ASEAN yang semakin solid. Tantangan terbesar justru berada di lingkungan internal ASEAN sendiri, khususnya bagaimana agar benar-benar bisa mengimplementasikan piagam itu sehingga ASEAN menjadi kekuatan yang menyatu dan tidak terpecah belah.
Bagaimanapun, kehadiran Piagam ASEAN, yang di dalamnya mengharuskan para anggota mematuhi apa-apa yang sudah diputuskan bersama oleh ASEAN, akan menimbulkan ketidaknyamanan bagi beberapa pihak. Mereka ini sebenarnya menaruh keberatan atas keputusan bersama itu. Meski demikian, Piagam ASEAN memang telah didesain sedemikian rupa sehingga tidak terlalu keras terhadap para anggotanya yang belum bisa menaati kesepakatan-kesepakatan yang telah dibuat.
Celah-celah untuk kompromi yang sering kali diistilahkan banyak kalangan sebagai cara ASEAN (the ASEAN way) masih banyak diakomodasi di dalam piagam tersebut. Di bidang ekonomi, misalnya, Piagam ASEAN menjamin hak negara-negara anggota untuk berpartisipasi secara fleksibel dalam pelaksanaan komitmen-komitmen ekonomi di ASEAN. Begitu pula dalam pelaksanaan prinsip-prinsip âpolitikâ ASEAN, seperti khususnya demokrasi dan penghormatan dan jaminan atas hak-hak asasi manusia, asas yang fleksibel tetap dipertahankan.
Satu hal penting dalam Piagam ASEAN yang memang sudah selayaknya dilakukan adalah menjadikan organisasi ini sebagai organisasi yang berorientasi pada rakyat atau bukan organisasi birokrat semata. Dengan demikian, dibuka bahkan didorong kesempatan lebih besar kepada warga masyarakat ASEAN untuk berinteraksi satu sama lain dengan lebih intens.
Pergaulan rakyat ASEAN di kawasan regional dan internasional itu tentu akan berkontribusi positif kepada kerja sama ASEAN dengan mitra-mitranya di seluruh kawasan.
3. Langkah paling maju
Ada tiga rencana ASEAN yang dituliskan di piagam itu. Tiga hal itu adalah menginginkan lahirnya Komunitas Ekonomi ASEAN, Komunitas Keamanan ASEAN, dan Komunitas Sosial Budaya ASEAN.
Jangan skeptis dulu dengan rencana pembentukan komunitas itu. Atau jangan melihat realitas sekarang jika ingin menilai prospek pembentukan tiga jenis komunitas itu. ASEAN bisa saja tidak terlihat berwibawa, melihat realitas sekarang, dengan mayoritas anggotanya punya masalah tersendiri yang tergolong berat. Beberapa di antaranya bahkan masih tergolong negara paria.
Sesungguhnya, rencana pembentukan komunitas itu merupakan refleksi dari tajamnya visi para pemikir ASEAN. Piagam itu disusun para pakar atau figur terkenal di ASEAN. Wakil dari Indonesia adalah mantan Menteri Luar Negeri Ali Alatas.
Mantan Menteri Luar Negeri Ali Alatas terkesan jengkel dengan analisis pengamat yang relatif selalu skeptis melihat ASEAN. âMereka itu kadang genit, ya,â demikian kalimat lucu dari Ali Alatas mengomentari piagam yang disambut dingin oleh pengamat.
4. Piagam merefleksikan pandangan jauh ke depan.
Bahkan, piagam secara tersirat akan membuat ASEAN malu jika tidak bisa memenuhinya di kemudian hari. Inilah sumbangsih para pemikir ASEAN. Ini merupakan bukti bahwa para pakar ASEAN tidak dungu, tetapi punya sudut pandang yang strategis menuju masa depan.
Hal ini diperkuat lagi dengan rencana pemerintah ASEAN, yang pada November lalu, di Singapura, sudah menandatangani deklarasi pembentukan Komunitas Ekonomi ASEAN pada tahun 2015. Bahkan, pada tahun 2008 sudah ada langkah untuk mewujudkan komunitas ekonomi ini. Tujuan akhirnya adalah aliran barang, jasa, warga yang relatif lebih bebas di ASEAN.
Ini strategis mengingat contoh empiris, negara kaya di dunia menjadi makmur karena mobilitas itu. Para teknokrat ekonomi dan para figur terkenal ASEAN sudah memberi contoh soal penyusunan langkah ke depan.
Sekarang ini, eksekusinya ada di lingkungan pemerintah di ASEAN yang sarat problem, bahkan masih suka menyiksa rakyat.
Apakah junta Myanmar tahu piagam, atau lebih percaya piagam ketimbang paranormal? Ini hanya contoh kecil. Tetapi sudahlah, semoga waktu akan mengubah perangai dan perilaku sebagian pemerintahan di ASEAN, yang juga masih sering sekadar berkomitmen dan tidak bertindak nyata. Setidaknya mereka masih mau menorehkan sejarah baru dengan menandatangani Piagam ASEAN dan juga cetak biru Komunitas Ekonomi ASEAN 2015
5. Strategis
Piagam itu sendiri dinilai strategis karena akan menjadi landasan hukum yang menjamin integrasi politik, sosial, ekonomi, budaya, keamanan, demokratisasi, perlindungan hak asasi, dan pelestarian lingkungan.
Pembuatan piagam merupakan terobosan penting dalam sejarah ASEAN, yang selama 40 tahun lebih bersifat peguyuban. Dalam menghadapi tantangan 40 tahun kedua, ASEAN memang membutuhkan pijakan hukum yang lebih jelas dalam membangun blok politik dan ekonomi.
|Dispatch Winter 2017
|Barbara Cope travelled with her partner, painter Garry Currin, to South Korea in February for the PyeongChang Biennale 2017. Arts, snow and politics were a feature of their journey. read more
|Korean wind set to grow
|WWEA and KWEIA team up for research into boosting green energy
|Bo Ssam
|Bo Ssam recipe. This is a classic Korean recipe that serves a big and hungry crowd. It's a great meal of fork tender juicy pork wrapped in a crisp piece of lettuce or silky napa cabbage topped with your favorite asian hot sauce or ssamjang.
|Odd and Bizarre Street Art Installations [pics]
|Mark Jenkins, the artist who created these wonderfully creative but bizarre scenes has traveled around the world to make passer-bys take a double look as they pass. You can other collections of his here.
Tudela, Spain
Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem, NC
Seoul, Korea
Belgrade, Serbia
Royan, France
Bordeaux, France
Canary Islands, Fuerteventura
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
|TYM T293ev â elektryczny ciÄ gnik z Korei
|Podczas targów Agrotech w Kielcach, po raz pierwszy w Polsce mogliÅmy zobaczyÄ pierwszy elektryczny ciÄ
gnik koreaÅskiego producenta TYM.
|Otto Frederick Warmbier Is Dead
Otto Frederick Warmbier released from North Korea prison is dead. The 22 year old arrived from North Korea in a coma. He was arrested for stealing a propaganda poster from his hotel, and sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in the North Korea prison.
The family of Otto appreciated the staff of the hospital for the care they provided for Otto;
The awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today.
It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost â future time that wonât be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds.
But we choose to focus on the time we were given to be with this remarkable person. You can tell from the outpouring of emotion from the communities that he touched â Wyoming, Ohio and the University of Virginia to name just two â that the love for Otto went well beyond his immediate family.
North Korea claimed that the American had botulism, and never woke up after taking a sleeping pill, but doctors in Cincinnati claimed that this not true, and Otto has shown no sign of botulism since in arriving in the US, but he had suffered severe neurological injury, and he is in a state of unresponsiveness wakefulness.
|Otto Frederick Warmbier Released From North Korea With Brain Damage
Otto Wambier arrested in North Korea last year, has now been released from the North Korean prison, and he arrives the United States on Tuesday, but according to the Dr. Daniel Kanter, medical director of the neuroscience intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he is getting treatment, Otto is stable "Â but "shows no sign of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surroundings."
Otto has been in a coma since 2016, after he was sentenced to 15 years in NK prison after stealing an item that bears a propaganda slogan.Â
North Korea releasing statements on Otto release says that the country is releasing him "on humanitarian grounds."
Fred Wambier speaking on his son ill-health said that the North Korea regime has "brutalized and terrorized" his son. He said he does not believe in the North Korea statement that he had fallen into coma after contracting botulism, and was given a sleeping pill.
Doctors in the US have confirmed that there is no sign of botulism in Otto's system, but Kanter said that he had suffered "extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain," but won't give more details of his prognosis on the request of Otto's family.
Last month, the US congress introduced a bill that will stop American citizens from traveling to North Korea as tourists, and special visits will require special permission.Â
Around 17 Americans are in jail in the North Korea facility.
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