The World Cup is finally over and Italy beat France in a penalty kick shootout to win the championship. Is there a worse way to end a game than by penalty kicks? Watching these penalty kick shootouts it all appears to be mostly luck who scores because the goal keeper has to guess which side of the net to dive to. Then what happened to Zidane? The Italian player definitely put on his best flopping performance after the head to chest butt, however he should have known the Italians were baiting him to do something with all the grabbing and holding they were doing to him. That is a boneheaded way for a soccer legend to go out. Watching this game I really can’t say the best team won because it appeared France was the better team and Italy held on to penalty kicks. There has to be a better way of ending these games.
Overall, though this World Cup is a perfect example of why I think soccer will remain a second tier sport in America. The team with some of the best floppers won. The honors for the best floppers goes to Portugal, which got them all the way to the semi-finals, but Italy isn’t far behind in the quality of their flopping. For Italy to just tie the US team they had to rely on the US playing half the game a player short due to crappy officiating and a goal taken away from the US not to mention the stupendous flopping of the Italians the entire game. The Italians used the same formula to beat the Australian team as well when with 5 seconds left a flop near the net resulted in a penalty kick for them. After games like these, countries like the US and Australia that are soccer outsiders are left feeling that since they are not well known soccer countries they have no chance of beating the big names due to flopping and poor officiating. Flopping and poor officiating are enough to turn off new viewers to soccer and that is why I think the game will remain a second tier sport in America.
From the Joong Ang Ilbo:
A bus plunged off a bridge in Chilgok, North Gyeongsang province, yesterday afternoon, falling 10 meters into the stream below. The bus driver was killed and eight passengers were injured.
Oh My News has an interesting article about Korean-American CNN news reporter Kyung Lah. She had a lot of interesting things to say about growing up in America and the Korean-American community in general in America:
Americans see Koreans in a myopic manner because Koreans tend to sequester themselves within American society. I have felt frustration to some degree myself with how much Koreans see church as the center of their lives, but do not have a tradition of reaching out to the larger community. My family, and the Koreans they knew, did not do any outreach to the community. The most basic problem is that they did not know how to reach out. That gap created a problem with the community that they so wanted to serve.
Some Korean immigrants felt unease as people new to the country. Korean-Americans in the future have to make an effort to reach out.
At the same time, there is a problem in the U.S. of the next generation of Koreans not identifying with Korea themselves, not feeling any connection with that country. Sometimes we even see resentment on the part of younger Koreans that they had to play the role of translator and mediator with America for their parents.
I tend to think that the Asian community in general doesn’t flex their collective muscles enough in politics and main stream American society in general compared to other minority groups in America. Just like Ms. Lah’s parents the Asian community may be more focused on working hard and trying to educate their children then worrying about politics and other areas of American society:
I am ethnically Korean. I was born in Korea, in Seoul, and immigrated here at the age of seven with my family. My parents were the typical Korean immigrants who opened up a liquor store in Chicago. They embraced the American dream, raised their kids, and made sure to send them off to good universities. My experience followed the standard pattern for Korean-Americans. Much of my family life revolved around the church, and that is where I had my first experiences with the community. On Saturdays I was at church for Korean study school and at service on Sundays. My experience was pretty representative.
Some may remember the Daniel Hong controversy from last summer where he speculated that Asian reporters were not hired due to racist reasons along with a host of other complaints against whites in America which I proved false by providing example of both female and male Asian reporters in America. So I find it interesting that more and more Asian reporters are appearing on televisions every day, not to mention the success of Korean actors such as Daniel Dae Kim and Yu-jin Kim.
Maybe this is all a sign of not only the “Korean Wave” hitting America, but an “Asian Wave” in general.
The youths at Hongdae may have “holy water“, but it looks like the more adventurous partyers might want to try out the “cadaver water” up in Ilsan:
A 55-year-old married woman identified by her last name Lee, who was concerned by her deteriorating health, traveled to a temple in the city of Goyang, Gyeonggi province after hearing that there was a “miraculous” Buddhist priestess there. Upon meeting the priestess told Lee, “This is a medicine that I have made, if you drink it your ailments will all be made better,” and passed her a paper cup. The woman forked over W500,000 (US$1=W961) and drank the elixir. Afterwards Lee contracted food poisoning as well as a skin disease which sent her to the hospital. Later she learned that the “special potion” was in fact the water that had stagnated under a dead body.
In other non-North Korea related news the Chosun felt compelled to let us all know that our anus is free game to Korean police:
The Constitutional Court on Thursday threw out a petition against anal searches of narcotics suspects in detention. The petitioner argued the procedure violates human rights.
“Narcotics can clearly be hidden in the anus, and as a minute physical search protects the life and body of the accused and maintains safety and order within the prison, it is not unconstitutional provided the search is conducted in a way that minimizes indignity for the detainee,” the court said in its ruling.
The petitioner had been arrested on suspicion of a narcotics offense and was turned around and bent over before a jailer, who spread the individual’s buttocks and examined the anus to ascertain that the detainee was concealing no narcotics. The petitioner argued his human rights and the integrity of his person were violated in the search.
I just received an e-mail from the US Embassy in Seoul warning all US citizens about anti-US Free Trade Agreement protests in Seoul next week:
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea. Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations.
Korean police authorities advised the U.S. Embassy in Seoul that a series of large-scale anti-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) protests will occur in downtown Seoul, Monday through Friday, July 10-14, 2006. Monday ¿ Friday, July 10-14, several hundred people are expected in front of Donghwa Duty Free building two blocks south of the U.S. Embassy. Additionally the police expect a large gathering around Shilla Hotel, where the talks will take place.
On Wednesday, July 12, in front of City Hall at 4:00 p.m., up to 20,000
participants are expected to protest against the FTA. Traffic may be congested in these areas during the times indicated above. The Embassy advises American citizens and their family members to plan their travel accordingly.   Â
Additional gatherings may occur during the week as the FTA talks
continue. Political, labor, and student demonstrations and marches have on occasion become confrontational and/or violent. American citizens should exercise caution and avoid gatherings of large groups in order to minimize risk to their personal safety. Streets may also close without warning on orders of the local police. American citizens are advised to expect heavy traffic delays. Please report any suspicious incidents or surveillance immediately to the Embassy (tel: 02-397-4000 (24 hours).
So in other words keep away from these areas at the designated times because these protesters are notorious for causing violence.
I wish somebody just once would take personal responsibility for being overweight and not rely on lawyers:
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, the group behind a lawsuit against KFC for allegedly increasing the chance of developing heart disease, is now setting its sights on Starbucks, whose products it says cause obesity, cardiac trouble and cancer. In Korea, chains like Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Holly’s Coffee are being fingered as the chief offenders behind obesity. Is overpriced coffee in cardboard cups destined to go the way of fast food and soft drinks?
The long awaited USFK bashing Korean movie, The Host is about to begin screening in Korea:
Now the industry pins its hopes on “The Host,” which opens on July 27. The film has been screened to high praise at the Cannes Film Festival, increasing the expectations of Korean audiences but leaving the film with a lot to live up to.
The first private sneak preview on Tuesday did not disappoint. A mutant creature created by toxins secretly dumped into the Han River by the U.S. Forces Korea now haunts the waterways. The creature makes off with a young woman, whose rather ordinary family then engages in a mortal struggle to rescue her. In “The Host,” the traditional fun of a monster flick coexists with a twisted sense of humor. Sometimes being pursued and sometimes pursuing, the protagonists¿ situation is much the same as in every other creature movie. The film also borrows some tricks from the horror genre, for instance a scene where the monster’s “snack” has escaped into a small space leaving it snarling at the entrance. The special effects used to depict the comings and goings of the monster are an astounding technical accomplishment that proves what Chungmuro can do.
I wouldn’t put to much credence in the fact that this movie received high praise at the Cannes Film Festival when any US military bashing movie would screen well at the Cannes Film Festival. I’m a big fan of Korean movies especially this directors former movie, Memories of Murder, but it definitely reprehensible that USFK gets blamed for polluting the Han River when Koreans do a great job polluting it themselves. The river flowing through Seoul is full of garbage and refuse though I do have to concede that it has gotten better in recent years. It is to bad that the movie had to turn to typical America bashing instead of focusing attention on the real problem which is Koreans polluting Korea.
It appears North Korea may be closer to testing their stupid missile:
Fuel trucks have departed the site where a North Korean missile sits on a launching pad, indicating that a test might be near, two senior U.S. State Department officials said Tuesday.
The removal of the fuel trucks and other auxiliary equipment means the North Koreans may have finished fueling the missile, said the officials, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the information.
Should the North Koreans have completed the fueling “all they would need to do now is press the button,” one of the sources said.
What I find interesting about this whole missile test fire story is the media reaction to the story. The CNN article this posting is linked to, has a picture of a few anti-Kim Jong-il protesters in Seoul suggesting that all of South Korea is up in arms against Kim Jong-il and breathlessly awaiting to see what happens with his missile test. The truth is that next to nobody in South Korea cares about his missile test. South Koreans are more concerned over what America does in response to a missile test because at the end of the day it is their behinds that have hundred of thousands of North Korean artillery rounds landing on them if the US government decides to attack North Korea.
I was watching CNN earlier today and of course they were hyping the North Korean threat to start a nuclear war if they are bombed, complete with a nuclear explosion mushroom cloud to in the background of the story to emphasize the perceived threat to America. Reality is much different however, because it is extremely unlikely North Korea would start a nuclear war over a bombing of a missile test when they can get back at the US by other means I have discussed before which no news organization even explores.
The message from the US media is very clear, the North Koreans want to nukes us and we need to do something about it. It is such an amazing difference compared to the US media message that the Iraq War is bad, to many soldier dying and we need to cut and run now. Do they have any idea of how bloody a second Korean War will be and yet they are actively promoting starting one. Like the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for, but then again the media isn’t the one with artillery and rockets pointed at it.
I have long shown examples of the poor quality of journalism Oh My News is and yet how does poor journalism in Korea get rewarded? With government subsidies of course!:
Beneficiaries of subsidies under controversial new press laws include eight dailies including the government-friendly Hankyoreh and Kyonghyang, the three online newspapers OhMyNews, Pressian and Issuei, and one magazine. The commission said it selected the 12 out of 32 applicants for the subsidy based on 10 screening categories.
The commission will distribute a total of W15.7 billion (US$1=W943) among the news companies this year. Some W200 million will be spent on improving readers¿ rights, W400 million on management consulting, W7.5 billion on corporate restructuring and new business projects and W7.5 billion on updating facilities and promoting computerization.
There is widespread criticism of public subsidies to private news companies since the subsidy payment will be carried out in accordance with the press laws, some provisions of which were last week found to violate the Constitution.
How about they use the money to hire some real journalists?
