Category: Uncategorized

Why isn’t good news like this played repeatedly over the airwaves instead of car bombings?:

Four years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghans express both vast support for the changes that have shaken their country and remarkable optimism for the future, despite the deep challenges they face in economic opportunity, security and basic services alike.

Progress fuels these views: Despite the country’s continued problems, 85 percent of Afghans say living conditions there are better now than they were under the Taliban. Eighty percent cite improved freedom to express political views. And 75 percent say their security from crime and violence has improved as well. After decades of oppression and war, many Afghans see a better life.

This is amazing progress in Afghanistan yet no one knows about it. Yet everyone knows about secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe. Has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe the fact that these Al Qaida terrorists are sitting in these secret CIA prisons is the reason why the people of Afghanistan have such a positive outlook of their own future and the United States effort to give them this future?

Here is another Japan Finder for you. I promise next week I will have a real Korea Finder for you. For this week, however you will just have to make do with determining where this famous Japanese bridge is located.

Anti-American protesters gathered this weekend at the Pyoengtaek Train Station to protest the US military’s base expansion at nearby Camp Humphreys:

About 4,500 demonstrators, according to police estimates, rallied outside the Pyeongtaek train station to protest the American plan to move forces to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek. A group called The Pan-Korean National Task Force Against Expansion of U.S. Bases in Pyeongtaek organized the protest.

The Korean National Police and Camp Humphreys officials had braced for possible large-scale violence Sunday, but the task force stuck with its previously stated plan of holding a peaceful protest outside the train station and the Pyeongtaek city hall.

Anti-American protests in Korea are nothing new because it is always the same people protesting; the pro-North Koreans, leftists, progressives, anti-anything-American, the communists, etc. Whatever term you want to define them with it is still the same usual suspects who come into town and cause problems for the local citizens with anti-American antics. However, something different has happened once again to counter these protesters; the pro-American forces have mobilized to counter them:

In a show of support for the U.S. military Sunday, the Korean Veterans Association and Songtan Chamber of Commerce held a rally that drew a crowd police estimated at about 4,000 outside the main gate of Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek’s Songtan section.

The veterans urged support for the U.S. military’s presence on the peninsula and its planned relocation of forces to Humphreys. They also denounced the anti-American activist movement in South Korea, which they said imperiled their country’s security.

4,000 pro-American protesters outside of the Osan gate is even more pro-American activists than what showed up at the September MacArthur Statue protest in Inchon. I think a case can be made that the pro-American activists are getting better organized and picking up speed to retaliate against the anti-American protesters. Some of the quotes from the activists are words I have heard before from Korean citizens:

“Most of Korean people are with you,” said Sung Ho-kyoung, 70, a resident of Anyang City who said he witnessed North Korean atrocities as a teenager during the Korean War of 1950-53.

“Let your people know that,” he told the reporter. “And don’t let your government … push to withdraw your troops from Korea. Let your people know that. Please!”

“We need the American troops … because we must keep the peace and freedom [on the] Korean Peninsula,” said Lee Seung-ro, 55, of Seoul.

K.C. Lee, president of the Songtan Chamber of Commerce, said during remarks from a speaker’s platform that the community welcomes the U.S. military’s move to Pyeongtaek.

“My dear American friends, we want you to be here,” Lee said in Korean and in English.

It may seem like a small thing, but it does feel good to hear that at least some people appreciate what we are doing in Korea.

Some Yongsan soldiers are doing some great work helping out Amerasian children in Itaewon:

Park Kuk-wha felt good on Saturday, despite being tired from studying for a recent final exam at school.

The plan worked. The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea recently sponsored job training for eight mothers, who now have full-time jobs as hair stylists and masseuses. At random times during the year, soldiers or contractors with USFK came forward to donate money and clothes to the children. And on one Sunday during a church service on Yongsan Garrison, a special collection was held for the Pearl S. Buck children.

The good these soldiers and also contractors are doing for these children discarded by Korean society is really significant. The Amerasian children are shunned by Korean society which causes them to have limited ability to attend good universities and well paying jobs. This in turn often causes them to stay and find work in ville areas like Itaewon where they can fit in and find employment.

The positive reinforcement and financial aid will go a long ways to improving the lives for these children and hopefully giving them a better future.

Voter Fraud has been uncovered in the Weblog Awards for best Asian Blog:

The total votes for Xiaxue have been reduced by 5048 votes for cheating committed from the following the 220.255 subnet. Nine individual IP addresses have been banned.

The total votes for Mr. Brown have been reduced by 9944 votes for cheating committed from the following the 218.186 subnet. Three individual IP addresses have been banned.

I doubt losing the 5048 votes will do much to stop the Xiaxue juggernaut from winning the best Asian Blog award. However, one blogger is complaining of disenfranchisement:

Kevin at Wizbang has banned the IP addresses of the cheaters. Unfortunately, based on comments at mr brown, this may have shut out all users of Starhub cable broadband ISP Maxonline, one of the city state’s main providers. AP hopes that this is not the case or, if so, that it can be rectified quickly.

If not, tens of thousands of Singaporeans will be effectively disenfranchised.
Of course, given that the People’s Action Party has effectively intimidated the opposition to such a degree that many ridings are uncontested in parliamentary elections, as well as the presidential ‘vote’, being disenfranchised is something that Singaporeans are pretty used to.

I have always thought the Korea had the world’s ugliest hotels with it’s variety of medieval and Arabian themed lodgings spread across the country. However, I was wrong because there can’t quite possibly be any hotel uglier than this one in Beijing.

That’s right this is not some kind of tacky tourist trap statue similar to something you would see off a highway in the American Southwest. It is in fact a fully functional hotel located in the suburbs of Beijing. This hotel got me thinking if Korea would ever construct a hotel of the likeness of Yi Sun-shin in the heart of Seoul? I don’t know about you but that would be one cultural transfer I hope the Koreans choose to ignore.

Hat Tip: Asiapundit

There has been some excellent blogging over the past few days over at One Free Korea which has this week featured Andy Jackson of Flying Yangban fame guest blogging from the three day North Korean Human Rights Summit in Seoul. Here is a compilation of links of his excellent posts regarding the summit:

Seoul Summit: Line-up for the Thursday night reception

Seoul Summit: Overview and opening dinner

Seoul Summit: Vershbow, Lefkowitz and post-conference fireworks

Seoul Summit: The status North Korean human rights NGOs in the ROK

Seoul Summit: ‘We are not a bunch of pacifists and appeasers.’

Not to be undone Joshua of One Free Korea has also contributed the below link that offers an interesting suggestion for (anti-)Unification Minister Chung Dong-young concerning South Korea’s unconcern about North Korean counterfeiting of US dollars:

A Modest Proposal for Chung Dong-Young: It’s All About the Sejongs

My modest proposal is this: Chung should drive a U-Haul over to the Bank of Korea and load it up with proof plates, paper, and green ink. Then, he should drive the whole load up, across the DMZ, to Kaesong. Naturally, Chung should be prepared to make a few more small compromises:

All he need bring back in exchange is the proof plates for the Benjamins.

What follows is a win-win for all. North Korea keeps on (literally) making money, the United States goes back to being to the sole producer of high-quality U.S. federal reserve notes, and South Korea gets one more chance to appease the North. This, in some circles, is known as putting your money where your mouth is.

Tell us, Minister Chung: are you willing to let them print your country’s currency instead? Won’t you at least hold a few rounds of bilateral talks about that?

Absolutely a great idea, but I’m sure Minister Chung will give it about as much thought as he gave about having a meeting with the United States special envoy on North Korean human rights, Jay Lefkowitz:

Lefkowitz reportedly requested a meeting with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Thursday. But Chung dodged it, saying that he is “not in the same league,” a source in the government said.

(…)

It was thought that Chun would be the highest-ranking official whom Lefkowitz could meet in Seoul, but the foreign ministry arranged another meeting the next day between the American envoy and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan.

What might have raised Lefkowitz’s eyebrows was the time and place of the meeting: a teashop outside the ministry at 7:30 a.m. What they discussed was not released to the media.

In a nutshell, Seoul gave Lefkowitz a frosty reception to deliver a strong message that, even though it did not thwart the Seoul Summit hosted by human rights groups, it did not want to irritate North Korea by giving a warm welcome to the special envoy.

I have to agree with Nomad that this unconcern for human rights will come back to haunt South Korea. It is already affecting their moral authority in the UN in regards to votes on human rights abuses in other countries. More the world becomes educated on the human rights abuses in North Korea the more difficult it will be for the South Korean government to maintain this facade of indifference towards what is happening in the North.

The South Korean soccer team has drawn a very favorable World Cup grouping for next year’s tournament. The team is grouped with Togo, France, and Switzerland. If Korea can win this group and move on to the round of 16 they would play either Saudia Arabia, Spain, Ukraine, or Tunisia.

Looking at things right now the Red Devils should at least get to the round of 16 and then have a great shot at reaching the elite eight. I doubt the Red Devils will match 2002’s success since they are playing on the road but getting to the elite eight would still be a great accomplishment for the team.

This Iraqi man featured in the Stars and Stripes is truly an amazing story of the perseverance and courage many Iraqis are displaying to aid the US forces in Iraq:

Standing on the dusty outskirts of Qaim, Hasoon watched with mounting fear as a wall of American tanks and armored vehicles bore down on him. “I was so scared I could not translate for 10 minutes,” Hasoon said.

The interpreter watched nervously as a wiry officer with a shaved head stepped from one of the vehicles and strode toward him. The officer, Lt. Col. William T. Dolan, then commander of the 1st or “Tiger” Squadron of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, grabbed the interpreter’s hand and pumped it heartily.

“It was not a normal handshake,” Hasoon recalled. “It was a GREAT handshake. It made me feel good.”

From that moment on, Hasoon — or “Alf” as the Americans call him — became an unlikely figure in Tiger Squadron’s colorful history, and a loyal friend to the unit. Over the next three years, he would become the only translator to work for the squadron before and after an eight-month stint at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, and quite possibly the only detainee there to be given a going-away party by its guards.

Mr. Hasoon was wrongly imprisoned in Abu Graib and released, but despite his experiences he eagerly decided to work for the US Army again. His comments below reflect the opinion of many Iraqis I spoke with on my tour in Iraq:

Some soldiers were surprised that Hasoon would come back to work with them after all that he’d been through, but Hasoon said he never gave it a second thought.

“When I come out, I say I want to be with the Tigers,” Hasoon said.

“Everything else, I have forgotten. I have no Iraqi friends. Who put me in detention? It was Iraqis who said things about me. It wasn’t the Americans.”

While Hasoon said he worries about what will happen to him when Tiger Squadron returns to the U.S. in several months, Radliff and Reilly said they were trying to figure out a way to get Hasoon to the States, at least for a visit.

For his part, Hasoon is thrilled by the idea of visiting America. His dream, he says, is to meet with President Bush.

“I want to tell him this: Don’t leave us in the middle of the road like your father did in ’91. If you leave Iraq now, the rivers will be red. They will be red from blood,” he said. “This is the price for freedom. The Iraqis and the Americans are paying for it now, but one day we will be like brothers.”

The important thing to remember is that there are many Iraqis just like Mr. Hasoon out there working and fighting against the Islamo-facists for a better future for Iraq despite what the media or the Democratic Party wants you to believe. In Iraq I used to run convoy security missions for fuel trucks coming out of Turkey and this allowed me the opportunity to travel to many places in Iraq and meet a variety of people. Many people I met wanted us to stay and thanked us for coming. Our convoy of fuel trucks used to stop at restaurants along the routes to eat and we never had to buy a meal because either someone in the restaurant or the owner himself would provide the food for our platoon for free.

One man I met told me that he hoped that the US would annex Iraq and make Iraq a US territory like Puerto Rico because Iraq’s neighboring countries would never let them live in peace if they pursued democracy. This man was wrong about the US making a Iraq a territory, but he was right about Iraq’s neighbors not letting them live in peace. However, this time I don’t see the US leaving Iraq in the middle of the road.

I was reading this review of the Chronicles of Narnia in the Donga-Ilbo and I had to wonder about this comparison:

In the aspect of making a children’s fantasy novel into a movie, the “Narnia Chronicles” are often compared to the Harry Potter series, but in reality, it is closer to a mixture of “Lord of the Rings” and “Passion of Christ.” In addition, the normal ingredient in Disney films, “family love,” makes it a typical Disney-style movie. Although the thrills and scariness of the movie are dull for adults, for children, they are quite adequate.

How can the reviewer compare Narnia to the Passion of the Christ and then say the movie’s scares are dull. For those who haven’t seen Passion it is a grueling movie to watch because the whole movie depicts Christ’s suffering before his cruxifiction in great detail. Very graphic movie.

Some how I doubt Narnia shows graphic suffering comparable to Passion, yet the reviewer makes this comparison anyway. Why you may ask? IMHO it is just an attempt to marginalize the movie early on due to it’s Christian analogies that some people feel offended by for some reason, especially the media. Now it seems even the Korean media is picking up on the controversy.

However, the controversy just makes me want to go see the movie even more now.