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?
It looks like some our international allies that took part in the Korean War may get some cushy jobs in Yongsan courtesy of the US Congress: The U.S. Congress has asked the Department of Defense and the State Department to report on chances of reviving UN Command in Korea, a body nominally still made up of countries that took part on the South¿s side in the Korean War. The move comes in the midst of plans to dissolve Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, return wartime operational control of forces to Korea and other signs of a lesser role for the U.S. forces in the country. (…) One of the conditions of the armistice that halted the Korean War was that the UNC has to approve any freight or equipment that crosses through the DMZ — a question that would become pertinent if the reconnected inter-Korean railways ever start operating. UNC members the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand have signaled they would increase the number of staff officers in Korea in response to a recent UNC request. U.S. Forces Commander Burwell Bell earlier told a congressional hearing he planned to revive the international alliance by increasing international staff at the UNC, which is now effectively in sole U.S. control, writing up emergency and operational plans, and training observation. So what exactly would these additional international staff do all day with no actual army to over see?
One of my favorite Korean actresses is going to be on Letterman this month:
The Korean actress Kim Yun-jin, who thanks to the ABC hit series “Lost” now has considerable star appeal in the U.S., will appear on the long-running “Late Show with David Letterman,” an honor last accorded a Korean when the teenage golfer Michelle Wie made an appearance last year. Being a guest on the show will give Kim a sense of having finally arrived.
I just can’t pass this up because there goes the Korean media claiming non-Korean citizens as one of their own. Since when was Michelle Wie Korean? I have covered this before, but the Korean media continues to label her as Korean. I could live with Korean-American Michelle Wie, but at least put American in there somewhere.
Check out Nomad for more on this.
Just wishing all Americans out there a Happy Independence Day.
Of course Oh My News made sure to publish an article explaining why the 4th July is a evil holiday, America is evil, George Washington, Jefferson, and the rest of the founding fathers were even eviler, President Bush is the current evil equivalent of George Washington, democracy is just a tool of these evil people to stay in power, and so on. Read it for yourself if you want to read leftist nonsense about the evils of America past and present and what a bad country we are and how great Europe and France is. I could go line by line and dispute the author’s unsupported claims, but I don’t feel like wasting my or your time, but if you want to read accurate historical accounts of George Washington and the founding fathers I highly recommend the books His Excellency and 1776 as great summer holiday reading material to learn more about the founding of our great country.
I point out regulary the knuclehead anti-Americans in Korea, but keep in mind I still haven’t seen greater anti-Americanism than in America itself. The American left is far worse than anything I have seen in Korea and this article is just another example of that. However, I’m not letting these idiots get me down, and they shouldn’t get you down either; enjoy the holiday, and God Bless America.
The first Koreans are scheduled to be put into outer space in two years. The Korean government is paying the Russian government to put the first Koreans into space on a Soyuz capsule in April 2008 and the Korean government is sponsoring a competition open to everyone in Koera above the age of 19 to become the first Koreans in space. This is the quesion I pose; should whoever gets selected really be considered astronauts as the government claims or Korea’s first space tourists?
