jungsun86

My computer is back!

2009-05-25T09:21:01Z

For anyone on facebook, well for any of my friends, they knew that my hard drive decided to crash after approximately 9 months of service. Yay. Anyways, I replaced it with a huge upgrade. I bought a Samsung 300 Gig HD for around $68 US. No too bad. So, I now have access to all my programs once again: Skype, Adium, etc. Feels good.

Adoption via Youtube? seriously?

2009-03-11T01:23:19Z

Here's the CNN.com link:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/10/adoption.internet.advertise/index.html

Basically, they're saying, use youtube, facebook, and myspace to find yourself a keeper. Except, we're not talking about a relationship with another adult, we're talking about a baby. The article talks about people seeking to adopt children putting out ads to find people putting up their kids for adoption. Basically, it's a baby marketplace. This is nothing new. People used to use the local paper, but upgrading to a form of mass media like youtube, genius right? I mean, what says love like a video in which your parents pleaded their case for a child to anyone that would watch? There's now video evidence that they were willing to take pretty much anyone, and you just happened to be the little bundle of joy they couldn't produce. Good job mom and dad of baby X.

I have no real problem with adoption. I mean, without it, I wouldn't be educated, and I'd have lived my entire life in poverty in Korea. Well, that would have been the likely outcome anyways. What I am really against is unregulated adoption via the internet. I am also against the way the parents in the situation are always viewed as the victim. THEY are the ones who couldn't have children, so they're delightfully looking for someone else's little bundle of unwanted joy. The parents are the ones that undergo all the hardship, and the child is lucky to be rescued from the trash bin or worse, abortion. See, babies are now being treated as objects up for trade. You make a YouTube video, you catch the eye of some unfortunate pregnant teen who should have used a condom, and voila, you have insta-baby. I know adoption isn't this simple, because I was adopted, but seriously, articles like that make it seem like the PARENTS in the equation are the only ones that undergo hardship. That's just plain not true.

Try talking to any child that is part of a interracial adoption, and I'm guessing you will find that they're way more messed up that you want to think. It doesn't matter how much mommy and daddy loved them or cared for them, they never looked like their parents, and most of the their friends and relatives will never let them forget it. It's like being poor, but worse. You can't do anything about it. I mean, imagine being referred to as the Asian one in the family. Try it, it sucks. And as for these kids who are in-demand for domestic adoption, they're all white. This is of course, because people want kids that LOOK like them. They don't really want to adopt internationally, and articles like this subversively make it seem like international adoption is the LAST thing you would want unless of course you're Angelina Jolie and you're starting a trend.

Fuck Google

2009-02-26T04:03:14Z

So, I, like most other 20-somethings have Gmail, because supposedly it's easier, quicker, and besides everyone else is on it. Gmail has been nothing but a pain in the ass pretty much since I first signed up. For the last month, Gchat has intermittently refused to work, seemingly just because. Now, I have had all of my Gchat contacts deleted, but hey, Google Video finally decided to load. For a company like Google, this is unacceptable. Then again, that's what happens when companies get too rich for their own good.

Every company that started making vast amounts of money has seen a sharp decline in the quality of their product. Windows peaked like 10 years ago, Mac (one of which I own) has started trying to become more elitist (which is just a fancy way of saying expensive), and Google, well Google has just started trying to create a monopoly on the internet experience for every single person in the US. Google is more than just a company, it's become a verb. People simply "Google" whatever they need, and it pops up. What about other search engines? When Chrome finally gets going, what about other browsers? Could Google pull a Wal Mart and cinch up an entire corner of a service industry without so much as a whisper from the anti-trust people in Washington? Hell yes it could. In fact, it almost has. If Chrome gets polished (no pun intended), could it take over the browser market? Microsoft will have something to say about that, as will Firefox, but who knows with Google's marketing ability, branding, and financial backing. You could be looking at a company that can take over the American internet landscape in the same way iPod took over Mp3s and Wal Mart took over shitty products from the third world at discount prices at the loss of American jobs and soul. It's making me want to buy a PC, download 19 anti-virus programs, and start using Korean websites like Naver and Daum as much as they both suck.

Last words: Google can go fuck itself up the ass.

Jesus Camp

2009-02-06T05:13:21Z

So, I just watched Jesus Camp. It's a couple years late, but I watched it. It was very interesting, and extremely terrifying at the same time. For anyone that reads this and has yet to see Jesus Camp, I would say you definitely should.

You should watch it, because of what makes it scary. There are people in the United States that have no problem with the indoctrination of the nation's youth. I am a religious person. I am a Christian, but I believe that the religious education of a child is something that shouldn't be too strict. The morals of most religions are sound, and they help produce good citizens. A nation without religion of any kind for too long can have trouble explaining why citizens of their country should follow their laws. China is a good example.

Too much religion however is equally bad. The way that these so-called pastors and ministers in the film were making the children "soldiers" for Christ was disturbing. They liken these children, raised in the United States (reportedly the land of the free and home of the brave, I guess?), to children of militant Muslims in the Middle East. They seem to think that all Muslims are the same, and that all want to do away with everyone in the world that doesn't believe in the words of the Prophet Muhammed. They are treating these children as if they really are soldiers that must spread the word of the Christian god. As I said before, I am Christian, but I tend to view religion as a bit more open than most.

It is more important that you believe in something, rather than believing in my thing. I also believe that religion is as much about who your parents are and where you were raise as it is about personal choice. It is much easier to be a Christian in the United States, and then choose to be an Atheist than it is to be a Musilm in Iran and then choose to be Jewish. These highly religious people, creating soldiers for God, also seem to think that God has a vested interest in each individual person. I think God has some sort of plan, but not for each individual. Individuals will always play a part in any religion, but if there is a God, he doesn't give a shit if I win the lottery or buy a Ferrari. If there is a God, his interest is in the survival of the species. That's only part of what these people lack, a view of the big picture. Another thing they lack is a fully functioning brain, but that's not for me to judge.

Another thing that bothers me is the way they attempt to hide their obviously far right wing conservative views inside of religion. They then take this conservative message and package it just right so they can feed it to children. When you start telling kids that dinosaurs didn't exist, and the world is only 4,000 years old, there is a huge problem. That is when religion gets in the way of intelligence. I am not one to believe that good education and religion must be mutually exclusive, but the film made me take a step that way. You can't let religion get in the way of common sense, and that's really the problem that these people have run into. They have allowed religion to get in the way of what's really right for the country and what's really the best for their children. They have turned a blind eye toward common sense. These are the same people that will probably blame God when something catostrophic happens, because He just decided it wasn't worth stopping. Either that, or they'll just say it was part of his master plan when their child dies from a terminal illness that they refused to cure. They can think about it in prison.

Israel, Gaza, and war

2009-01-11T00:09:59Z

I once wrote in a paper, which my professor thought was absolutely insane at the time, until she got to know me, "War, since the dawn of man has been unfortunate, but utterly necessary. The simplistic nature of brutality, it's sheer ability to create terror and respect has made pure, naked force, the power from which all other powers are derived." The only time people will negotiate is if they fear the physical repercussions of failed negotiation. The power of diplomacy isn't rooted in the verbose musings of diplomats, but is found in the latest weapons that back their words.

Now, on to Israel and Gaza. I am by no means a supporter of war, but I am honest with myself. Because of the very nature of man, war (or at least the ability to make war) is necessary for the survival of a civilization. This became a truth as soon as the very first person sat down on a piece of land and claimed it as theirs. In turn, I am not a supporter of the war in Gaza, but I find myself ill-informed to make a true decision on who is wrong and who is right. I will say this though, whether popular or not, the way Israel is conducting this war is exactly how war should be conducted. They have refused to call this a policing action, and they have instead declared it a true war. This roughly means that the Israeli soldiers are to prize their own lives over those of civilians. If a group of Hamas insurgents fire at them from a building, the Israeli soldiers have been instructed to fire a rocket into the building. If the firing continues, shoot at them until they're dead. If there are civilian casualties, that is an unfortunate thing, but those civilians are simply collateral damage. This seems amoral, simplistic, and brutal. That is the nature of war. Most people would say that what I've just said is cold-hearted, and that the lives of civilians always need to be considered, even, or maybe especially during a time of war. And I would say that the more desperate your circumstances become, the less you care about moral decisions, and the more simplistic your choices become. During a time of war, the factors that go into your decision aren't numerous, there are exactly two, life or death. If I throw a grenade into that building, will I kill civilians? Probably. Will I kill the people shooting at me? Hopefully. Will I save the lives of the men around me, whom I consider brothers? Almost definitely. That grenade is going into that building. It's brutal, it's simplistic, it's war.

Blizzard Games hates the Korean people

2009-01-03T23:18:40Z

This is a funny title, but I just saw trailers and game play videos for Starcraft II, which will be released soon, or maybe it has already. Doesn't Blizzard know that Korean guys still waste, I mean spend, entire weekends playing the original Starcraft, which I think it over a decade old? Are they trying to single-handedly wipe out the male population of Korea? I mean, guys share strategies, go to PC rooms to play for hours/days, and the two major networks even have Starcraft gaming channels. Oh yeah, I forgot, you can be a professional gamer here. You can play Starcraft until you are so good, you have your own cheering section. Although, how many of those girls would sleep with you? I have no idea. Probably very few. This isn't like football (soccer) where you could be a horse-face like Ronaldino, be so god-awful good that you still get laid. There's no positive correlation between your ability to think in terms of RTS video games and your sex drive. It'll be interesting to see how long the lines are outside of video game stores in Korea when this thing finally does launch.

fuck Santa Claus

2008-12-25T03:32:30Z

Ok, we are all adults and know Santa doesn't exist. If any kids are reading this, you shouldn't be. How is it, that on the merriest day of the year, supposedly mind you, I get shitty news. Apparently, my grandfather and grandmother are in extremely poor health. Writing about it might help a bit. I tried running until my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I felt better, but I still feel like Christmas this year sucks a little bit. I am away from my family, my grandparents are sick, and I have to work tomorrow. So, if Santa Claus does exist, fuck him. Oh, and here's another thing that has been passed around a lot, but in light of Christmas, I am going to post it anyways.

As a result of an overwhelming lack of requests, and with research
help from that renowned scientific journal SPY magazine (January, 1990)
--here is the annual scientific inquiry into Santa Claus.

1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species
of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are
insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer
which only Santa has ever seen.

2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT
since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and
Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378
million according to the Population Reference Reference Bureau. At an
average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million
homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different
time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west
(which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is
to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has
1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney,
fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat
whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the
sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8
millions stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course,
we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will
accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of
75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at
least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.

This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000
times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made
vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per
second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.

4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming
that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds),
the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably
described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more
than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could
pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even
nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even
counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for
comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.

5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air
resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as
spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer
will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In
short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the
reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The
entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second.
Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times
greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim)
would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's
dead now. Merry X-mas.

Being Annoying is Illegal

2008-12-23T00:08:11Z

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/18318880/detail.html#-

Only in Michigan though. The wording of the law if not clear, but I think it's a step in the right direction. If I could fine every person that I deemed annoying, university would have been a lot better.

Dick Cheney

2008-12-22T23:38:55Z

Alright, so Dick Cheney is a jackass. He's a hardass right-wing, warhawking nutjob, but does that make him the worst Vice President ever? I may not like Dick Cheney in the least, but I don't think it's the VP's job to be popular; that's the President's. Dick Cheney, I am positive, will be the least liked VP of all time. That doesn't qualify him to be the worst however. He more than adequately filled his role within the party. He supported the President, in many ways superceding him. He is to blame for many of the President's policies throughout the last 8 years, and in many ways he was more powerful than George W. Bush. He stuck to the party line, and he actually kept a pretty clear definition of what he was about, and what he believed the direction (wrong of course) was of the Republican Party. He had more power than most VP's would dream of. He is the villain in all this (he shot his friend in the face!), and that may have actually helped save George W. Bush. Think about this, if Bush had a VP like say, Dan Quayle, they would have sunk after one term. Dick Cheney, while being a loose cannon and overall crazy ass bastard, kept the scales balanced between joke and death of a family member serious. He was grave, he was calculating, he was cold, in short he was a DC insider to the core. Bush was a screwup, a running joke, and yet the leader the United States of America. I am saying this in light of this CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/22/poll.cheney/index.html in which they cite a pole in which many people (mostly Independents and Democrats) cited Cheney as the worst VP ever. Let's look at two that, in my opinion, are worse. I think these people need to know a little bit of US history.

Aaron Burr:
Famous for shooting and killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel because he (correctly) believed Hamilton to be the instrument through which he lost the presidency. Less famous for wanting to create an independent country out of the western holdings of the United States.

John C. Calhoun:
Andrew Jackson's psychotic VP that wanted to cede his native state from the Union, because he just didn't get along with Jackson. I think it should be noted that in the old days, the loser of the Presidential nomination became the VP. They figured out quickly that this was a big ass mistake that needed to be corrected. Anyways, Jackson is quoted that his biggest regret was not having Calhoun hanged.

Think about that. Calhoun may be the stick against which all other bad VPs must be measured.

Turkey Day with no turkey

2008-11-27T06:52:52Z

Ok, so I'm in Korea. To my surprise, they have turkey. To my befuddlement, that turkey costs a whopping $8/kg! Who in their right mind would pay that much for a bird? I mean, I'll do with chicken this year. If I don't, my turkey would cost something like $56 US. In today's market, which is tanking with every waking moment, that's just too much money.

On the subject of the economy, Korea's currency is taking it in the shorts as far as exchange rate is concerned. I am hoping for a major economic turnaround by the time I want to go home. If not, it may hurt a hell of a lot more than I'm counting on.

There's no crying in baseball!

2008-11-27T06:28:33Z

Ok, first off, I post far too infrequently. That's just too damn bad. I don't think anyone outside of maybe 3 people actually reads this thing, so that's that. Anyways, I stumbled on this interesting article from ESPN.com:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3724284

In short, a 14-year-old girl from Indiana is trying to get herself into a tryout for the boys' baseball team. Her parents have actually filed suit under the grounds that baseball and softball are completely different sports that are unrelated. I guess the only things that are the same are the fact that you use a ball, a bat, a diamond (basepaths for baseball being 90 feet, those for softball being 60), use roughly the same rules, and share a history. Wait, they're not related at all right? Any baseball coach in his right mind, I feel should know the history of baseball a little bit. Participants in a sport so interested in statistics should have a small inkling as to why. They should also know a little bit about their sport, like what's related to it. In any event, if the judge has half a brain (normally they don't), he will tell the girl to suck it up and play softball. There are going to be people that try to bash me for treating the sexes unequally, but what we're talking about here is not equality. It's superiority of the female gender. I think we should put this girl into a different scenario. Well, this could be any 14-year-old girl. She has been playing softball, fast pitch, since she was 5. Her dream is to play in the Olympics someday. Then, a boy at her high school, cites the same reason, baseball and softball are fundamentally different, for his wanting to play softball. The school, citing prior precedent (albeit backwards), grants this. She loses her spot to the boy, because he makes the throws better, and hits better than she does. She's pissed. She's going to go back to that same school board and demand that the boy be thrown off the team, because there's an equivalent sport offered in the same season. And you know what? She will probably win.

I have nothing against girls playing with the boys. Molly Engstrom, a member of the US Women's Olympic Hockey team, and someone I know, was thumping boys in junior league hockey long before she went to UW Madison and played for the Badgers, and long before her first Olympic tryout. That's one scenario. The other played out on my high school baseball team the season after I left. My high school had no softball team, so a girl, who played softball in Junior High, decided she wanted to be on the baseball team. No problem. Here's the thing though, she couldn't hit the damn ball, nor could she really make all the throws. She was credited with a lot of errors, and she had a .000 batting average. Even people that don't know sports should know that 0 isn't good if you're actually trying to do it. Anyways, I think she should have just sat on the bench with the other loser on the team that couldn't hit the ball and couldn't make any throws. But, of course she didn't. Instead, she got to play in nearly all the games, but usually just an inning or two. Now, my high school was by no means a baseball powerhouse, but no one else sucked as bad as she did at baseball. If this girl in Indiana is just playin awful at the high school level, are they going to be forced to play her anyways? And if they do, is that really fair to the other athletes on the field? or even the ones on the bench that may be better.

Analysis of the Election

2008-11-06T02:45:10Z

According to CNN.com (which I guess is trustworthy?) Barack Obama crushed John McCain in pretty much every single category of voter, except, I am expecting wealthy, old, white men. John McCain is a member of that club, so it only makes sense that they would vote for him. The most interesting part of the whole thing though, is the analysis of the Obama win. More specifically, analysts keep discussing what he did well. I think it can be summed up in three words: he gave hope. He gave hope to the American people that things didn't have to be the same anymore. He spouted change (for what, not really sure) enough times that it made your ears bleed, but people were obviously listening. Barack Obama also made voters feel connected to the proposed change. If you can make people feel involved and important, they will follow you. Just ask Hitler. He also made people feel like they were victims in it all (in my opinion). The Democrats, and Obama himself, made it seem like we were all helpless victims of the government for the last 8 years, and that's what we needed to change. I don't know if we were actually as helpless as it seems (at least, I hope not), but it got the job done. He won in a landslide Tuesday night. McCain made all the wrong moves. He brought on a vice presidential candidate that would reel in the ultra-conservative right. But, when it comes to right wing Republican politics, do those people really need to be reeled in? They are the ones who already drank the Kool-Aid a long, long time ago. The Republicans should have chosen someone young, filled with change up to his ears, and tried to connect to the American people. That's something they haven't done since Reagan was in office. His tenure wasn't exactly filled with great things, but he was connected to the everyman. McCain also tripped himself up when he flew to the White House for a photo op with George W. Bush directly after winning the Republican presidential bid. That was a HUGE mistake. Possibly bigger than bringing on Palin. At least Palin made us laugh on SNL. By linking himself with Bush, McCain did the one thing that every Democrat prayed he would do, he connected himself with George Bush. Thus making it seem that electing John McCain would be like electing George W. Bush to one more term. How in god's name could his political advisers do this to him? Prior to that, due to his very liberal stances, John McCain had a good shot at making it a race. He shot himself in the foot way too many times. Not that I wanted McCain to win, but he could have made things very interesting (never did I think he was a threat to the change machine that is Barack Obama) had he made it close, or even won.

New President

2008-11-05T06:25:58Z

So, the United States has seemingly finally elected a minority president. Barack Obama has won, and John McCain gave his give up speech. Good for him. He's like Bob Dole in '96, he knew when to pack his bags and hope he doesn't die before the next election. It's good to see that America voted for change. They voted an idealist into the White House, someone who has plans. The last time they did that, they elected Ronald Reagan. Oh yeah, that's right, Ronald Reagan and his wonderful Reaganomics system. Except this time, I assure you, the country won't be running by the trickle down method. No, we'll be trying to haul the money uphill by giving tax cuts to the poor. I'm all for it, because, well, I'm poor. I do however, have the good sense to know that rich people make jobs for poor people. So, there has to be a balance. You can't take too high a percentage of poor people's incomes or they can't eat, but if you take too high a percentage of rich people's incomes or they will send their factories elsewhere. Like Mexico and China. The only thing that worries me about the election of Barack Obama is the fact that the Democrats have a majority control of both the house and the senate. I feel that control of the Executive and Legislative branches of the government grants one party too much control over the lives of the citizens. They are supposed to represent the wants and needs of their constituents, but since when have old, rich, white people really cared about the poor bastards they represent? I see policies enacted that many people, even liberals, may not believe in. You never do know what change will bring. This is not saying that John McCain should have won. I'm not willing to go that far. But had he won, there would have been more balance. Now, as long as Obama agrees to things the legislators want, it will get passed no problem. This allows things to move smoothly, but what happens when something come along that really does deserve a second look? With the support of the house and the senate, Obama doesn't have much standing in the way of any questionable decisions that might be had. No one can tell the future, so I guess we'll just have to look back in 4 years to see what we really think of change.

so to continue!

2008-10-31T05:03:13Z

Ok, so James Dobson proved that like many on the far, far Christian right, he is far, far out of touch with today's issues. He also openly criticizes the young Christians who will eventually become old Christians, and will have to be the leaders and decision makers of the future. He does this when he says, "Young Evangelicals provided extra votes that put Obama over the top." Or he says something like that. In any event, he is heavily criticizing people my age for choosing a candidate they want to trust. They are choosing a candidate they hope has enough inexperience to enact true social change, and bring back some justice to the otherwise morally bankrupt US government. We are taught to believe in the government in elementary school, but their entire history makes it difficult to do so. So, some people have drank the Kool-Aid of change and decided to jump on the Obama bandwagon. Who knows what will actually happen if Barack Obama is elected to the highest office of our dear country, but the unknown may be better at this point than the absolutely known. And it is absolutely known that yet another old, white, DC insider will do nothing. His inaction will speak volumes as the United States fall further and further into recession (which may actually be unavoidable at this time), and it continues to look like Rome in its death throes. Nothing is probably fine with the general population, because they are used to politicians that spew change and do nothing. They just aren't used to a McCain type who can spew anything, but we know, in the end, he will do nothing. Now, there are many people who want to believe that Barack Obama can be an agent of change. And the more I pay attention to politics, the more I realize, he most likely will be an agent of change. We all have to remember though, that if we help elect someone that WILL change the country, we all must be willing to LIVE with the change. It might not be what he promised, in fact it probably wont, and it may (almost certainly) not be what we want and expect. Remember this in four years.

Election time is here

2008-10-31T03:29:56Z

So, I have tried to pay attention to the election even from Korea. It's been interesting reading the news, looking at poles, and watching discussions on and dissections of the candidates. Of course, you have the old, hardened, DC veteran Biden, I mean John McCain for the Republicans. Wait, wasn't he running as a Democrat like 8 years ago? Then you have the young agent of "change" Barack Obama, who is most definitely a Democrat. As far as right now, all the predictors and tickers have Obama in the lead. This of course, is thanks to the fact that President Bush so fucked over the country in 8 years, that it makes it truly difficult to imagine what another 4 years of Republican rule would look like. Then again, do we really know what an Obama led change-o-thon would look like either? That is the question posed by James Dobson. Anyone who knows anything about Christian talk radio, or really the Christian right in general, will know his name, if not actually know who he is. Anyways, he decided to write a thoughtful letter from 2012. Whether you believe in God or not, and whether you plan on voting for Obama or McCain (should be clear by now right?) this letter is an interesting read. For those of you who believe in it (I don't), it will be scary. For those of you who find entertainment in old white guys getting ulcers over the unknown, this may provide a laugh.
This is the "letter" itself:
http://focusfamaction.edgeboss.net/download/focusfamaction/pdfs/10-22-08_2012letter.pdf

It's lengthy at 16 pages, but it is worth reading. He has taken the time to actually carefully dissect Obama's past decisions, and even the decisions of the Supreme Court. That is more than I can say for pretty much any political commentator. He does however have a patch over one eye when it comes to looking through the lens of the future. Dobson is writing for his own best interest. This letter is his nightmare version of the future. It is his worst possible scenario from the perspective of someone in the Christian right. He does forget to think about the influence (huge monetary input is more like it) of special interest lobbyists. The NRA give Republicans and Democrats alike bank. There's no way that true national gun control will ever take hold. America is just too large to police such action, and the hillbillies living in Kentucky, Wyoming, Michigan, and anyone else with a gun rack in their truck, will start actually shooting people that try to take their guns.

Now, as far fetched as this version of America in 2012 is, what if some of these things do happen? What if, doctors who refuse to perform abortions are canned? What if teachers who refuse to teach elementary kids about alternative sexualities are removed from teaching? I don't think either of those things will happen, because Dobson keeps talking about equality acts that, in my opinion, just wouldn't work out. Although, I think his real point is that equality acts (when stuck on morals) most generally mean, equality for everyone that isn't Christian. I have to go back to work now, but I will continue on this subject later...
to be continued...

Fannie Mae mortgage gone awry

2008-10-06T01:22:51Z

Ok, so here's the story on CNN about the 90-year-old woman who shot herself, because the financial wizards at Fannie Mae tried to foreclose on her home:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/10/03/eviction.suicide.attempt/index.html

If you read it, it will tell you that Fannie Mae has decided to forgive her debt, and sign over the home outright to her. That's right, the 90-year-old grandma didn't die from the self-inflicted gunshot wound. Instead, she gets her home debt free. That sounds like such a wonderful story, and it's such a gracious thing for Fannie Mae (a gigantic corporation mind you) to bail out such a sweet little old lady. While it is true that it's a great thing that this one woman got her home back, what about the thousands of families who are being forced from their homes? I can imagine that more than a few people are now thinking to themselves, "Hey, you know what? If I shoot myself in a non-life threatening kind of way, maybe they'll forgive my mortgage too. I just need to wait until they're about to foreclose..." Now, maybe that thought only occurs to those of us who are slightly deranged, but I very seriously doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about a rash of old men and women, being forced from homes they've owned for over 50 years, shooting themselves in the shoulder to try to get the attention of the mortgage holder. Whatever happened to just shooting the repo man? Isn't that a much better solution? Then he's hurt and you aren't. In fact, if you shoot him right, he'll be able to walk back and tell them not to fuck with your land anymore. Of course, this will cause you to go to prison, and of course lose the house anyways, but you gave it a shot right? (sarcasm for those that don't know me well) No, this is obviously a sign of troubled times, but in an age where octagenerians aren't so rare anymore, and the US economic outlook doesn't look to tranquil (it looks more like the Happy Prince at the end of the story, except the US doesn't go to Heaven), what is going to stop the US from becoming stagnant, like Japan?

Sometimes, they just don't know any better...

2008-10-06T01:12:33Z

So, it's time for me to blow off some steam the best way I know how (well, next to kicking people in the face), writing. So, as I said in my previous post, I have adopted a dog. Well, my girlfriend and I adopted a dog. Exciting side note, she arrives in Korea tomorrow! On with the rant. For some reason, the school I work for has decided to take issue with this. There are no rules in my contract, nor are there any in the building rules stating that I cannot have a pet. It is once again a case of nosy Koreans sticking their faces into a private situation. If they're afraid my pet will irreparably damage the apartment in some way, that's what you take my security deposit for. My main problem with this is that the fuckers tend to care about the most objective things.

Example, last year, one of the foreign teachers, who shall remain nameless, was sleeping with a male foreign teacher who taught at the boys' school next to ours. This is not such a shocking thing. People have sex. Their behavior in between their bouts of lust however was something to be seen. She would routinely kick him out, forcing him to dress in the hall, and after he walked down the stairs, would yell from the 4th floor of the building in very obnoxious, and overtly sexual English about how much of a shit he was. Things don't end there, as she would also have loud, drunken parties, which no doubt didn't help the apartment any. At some point, which I would consider a low point for her and the school, she had a man, who was effectively a bum (no job, in Korea on a tourist visa), living with her, who I can only guess she was sleeping with while continuing her trysts with the other male teacher. The school said and did nothing. They left her private life private. For myself however, this is a different story.

They have told me that I shouldn't sleep under the same roof with my girlfriend. Not that we shouldn't share a bed, but that we shouldn't sleep in the same building. They have also chosen to take issue with my 7-10 pound hypoallergenic dog, who only barks when I leave the house. If they want me to choose between Jin (the pup) and my job, I'm going to tell them to shove a hot poker up their ass and find a new foreign teacher. I'm a fairly employable person in Korea. My Korean is passable, and I'm fluent in English. I also have a visa status that affords me a lot of flexibility. So much in fact, that I have not just one, but two cell phones under my name. Most other foreigners have to either ask a friend to host them for a cell phone plan, or they have to pay an outrageous $200-300 extra foreigner fee. So, if the school continues to make an issue out of this, I am going to jump ship, and since they decided that relocating me to the Middle School, thus nullifying my old contract, and creating a new one, I don't have to pay back the money they gave me for the plane ticket. They've created their own legal mess, and now they'll have to cluster fuck their way out of it just like they do with everything else. Meanwhile, the dog, Emily, and I will be somewhere else. Somewhere decidedly less intrusive. Jobs are easy to find here, good teachers are not.

New pup

2008-09-27T14:44:23Z

So, my girlfriend and I decided we should adopt a dog. I technically did the adopting, because she arrives in Korea in 10 days (yay! of a different kind). He's a normal sized Maltese, who was abandoned somewhere near the Olympic Park in Seoul. A very nice couple picked him up, but they already had two dogs that didn't get along when the little guy went to their home, so they posted an ad on facebook advertising his availability. He's so small, but so very friendly (no little dog syndrome) that he has taken to me quite quickly. It's amazing how attached he is after a week. He clearly recognizes me as his owner. He just needs to get used to the idea that I will leave and come back. I think he feels like I will just leave him after a while. So, he barks when I leave, and sometimes he has messed the house while others he hasn't. I have a feeling, that after a month or so, he will realize that this is his home, and he's going to be alright. At least, that's what I am hoping will happen. When I am home, he will wait for me to take him for his walks (of which there are at least two daily) to go to the bathroom. When I am gone however, he gets stressed out, and he will make messes. No big deal, just cleanup for me...

Wow, the American Economy is tanking...

2008-09-16T14:06:59Z

So, earlier this year Bear Stearns was bought by JP Morgan if memory serves correct, which signaled the end of one of the big five private investment firms on Wall Street. Well, that wasn't the end. The weekend brought the demise of both Lehman and Merrill Lynch. That leaves Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as the last two old school Wall Street regulars. Lehman went under. It's buried and dead. Merrill Lynch was saved from the guillotine by Bank of America. Bank of America will redesign the business model of Merrill Lynch now that it is no longer a private investment firm. This should tell Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs that to survive, they are going to have to change. They can no longer invest on equity counting on future gains. The firms all had their profits boom when the housing market became saturated due to the lowering of the interest rate in the early 2000s. However, as everyone knew would happen, the market bubble burst, and with it took the profits of all the private investment firms. All of their "profits" were actually taken from what the future held. So, all their paychecks were in essence in advance. That was great when things kept going up, but when they started posting losses, none of that money went back in to keep the company afloat. Which is why Lehman is no longer a company, and Merrill Lynch is now owned by Bank of America. Goldman Sachs is the only one of the big 5 with enough equity as a private investment firm to stay private, but they are going to have to restructure their business model. Hooray for them. I want to see where both Goldman and Morgan Stanley are in say 5 years. Morgan Stanley might not be around anymore, and Goldman Sachs could be a shell of its former self. Here's to hoping that NEVER happens.

The Packers (yes again :P)

2008-09-15T16:57:58Z

So, the Packers' new golden boy has been doing well, but he's been doing well against suspect defenses. All said, he is still 2-0 as a starter. Brett has slipped to 1-1 with the Jets, who I believe are far less of a complete team, but that's what he gets for not staying retired. So, hopefully the Packers can keep this up, and I'll be watching a Super Bowl with the Packers in it when I'm home. Alright, so I don't hold hopes that high, but it's definitely possible that they'll make the playoffs. If they fail in this pursuit however, Brett Favre will be looked at as the missing link if the Jets make the playoffs. If they make it deep in the playoffs (a far inferior team to the vaunted Packers), and the Packers duck out of the first round, worst case scenario a home loss, then Rogers will be under even more heat. He may be a first time starter, but that doesn't matter when you're replacing a living legend. Brett Favre is at once Babe Ruth and Lou Gherig. He is the league's Iron Man, but he is also the home run ball throwing gun-slinger. He's a throwback in an era of specialization. His improv skills are what keeps him afloat in an offense that he hasn't a clue about. So, toward the middle of the season, when Brett is comfortable with the offense, and Rogers is firmly settled in with the Packers (when they count on him to win games with his arm), then we'll see where both teams stand. Until then, Rogers and Thompson are still on the hot seat in Green Bay.

Youtube is funny...

2008-08-31T00:38:15Z

Ok, it's kind of hilarious, this video came up when I opened Youtube:

It's not random, because I have an account, so they generate videos that are in my "interest" based on my previously favorited videos. Well, that's what I thought anyways. This is strange, because other than Korean music videos, I don't have anything favorited related to Asian or Dating. Now, I've seen Yellow Fever before, so I didn't really need to watch it, but I decided to click on it anyways. That video brought me to this one:

Now, this one is much less polished, and pretty much a waste of time. The people they interview (well the Asian girls) are not really that intelligent (or at least they make themselves out to be stupid in the video), and they are amazingly shallow at best ("I want a guy to be 6 feet tall." The girl is probably at best 5'5"). Anyways, I was bored, so I decided to read the comments. Yay Youtube comments. The anonymity of the internet is a wonderful and terrible thing. This guy (comments on page 2) is a great example: http://kr.youtube.com/user/Hesse990

Yay for incredibly racist guys. Example:
Hesse990 (6 hours ago) 0 Reply | Spam
Oh shit wait powerful nation according to your profile you you live int he US. Were you a discriminated little chink is that why you are supporting China? Here's reality. Whether your some ching chong studying in my country or a Chink that was born here. Hoping CHina becomes stronger REALLY Doesn't benefit you faggot because you are associated witht he US(hate to say it). Hell you aren't even a real Asian to your Chinkies across the ocean. Hahaha good ol self hating. Sucks to be a chink don't it
Hesse990 (6 hours ago) 0 Reply | Spam
Here's ANOTHER question for you. How do you get rich Chink? OH right you basically say "HO we have billion people you pay 20 cent" "Pay this much and build factory on land" That's the basics of your econ policy. Which explains why other for two great cities most of your country is still a poor shithole with fertlizing drinking, deformed looking illiterate Chinks.

Ok, if you're American, I guess I can understand the hostility against China as a country. It's probably a place you don't understand, and they kicked the shit out of you in the last Olympics. I got it. Oh, and with all the bitching the guy does about what the Chinese are doing in their own country, this is what Asian people are doing in the United States. From the US Census Bureau about the latest census:
"Black households had the lowest median income in 2004 ($30,134) among race groups. Asian households had the highest median income ($57,518). The median income for non-Hispanic white households was $48,977. Median income for Hispanic households was $34,241."

Here's what I find truly entertaining about people like the aforementioned douche-bag. I am Korean, but I was raised by a white family in the Midwest. I come from a town of just under 1,000 people. I was, and still am (as my address in Wisconsin is my permanent address until I move back to the US) the only Asian person in town. Wait, I forgot a Chinese family moved in a few years ago when I was away at college. Ok, so Chinese people ARE everywhere. Point being, you couldn't grow up in a more American (read white) place with more American family than me. My white family covers a lot of area in the white(trash for some) spectrum too. We have a farmer (who is more American than a Midwestern farmer?), a logger, a former town chairman, a present town chairman, old money, new money, no money, trailer park dwellers, mansion dwellers, Swedish immigrants, Norwegian immigrants (ew), and even a few all conquering white guys that had children with minorities. So, if you haven't gathered by now, the kind of ignorance spewed forth by the kind of person mentioned above annoys me just a little bit. There were times when I wish you had to register for websites using your real name and your real ID number like Korea, so you could call people on their shit. This guy obviously wouldn't say these things to my face, or the face of any other Asian person, and if he did say it to my face, well, I'll just say there are many ways to deal with people like that, and pain usually sends the clearest message.

Olympic Ending

2008-08-25T12:49:24Z

The Olympics are over. In a way it's sad, because now Korean television will go back to being a mix of catchy, but lyrically atrocious music and tasteless variety shows. Then again, I think I speak for a lot of us when I say, I'm sick of all the speculation and scandal. Everyone loves a scandal (well, maybe everyone but the Chinese), so it only makes sense that anything that could be brought out would be. Of course there was the lip-synching scandal, which was addressed pretty fairly here (albeit by a man with a semi-annoying voice):

The other hit topics included pollution, human rights violations, and censorship. Oh, and I almost forgot, the age of the Chinese gymnasts. Now, China being a Communist republic can kind of make it's own rules. That's what great about socialism, people in positions of power can kind of do what they want when they want it. In America, you couldn't get away with half the shit socialist officials pull, but I guess that's what makes it more fun? Anyways, they have provided passports (which of course are issued by the government) confirming the ages in question. Political or not, if they are willing to issue fake passports, that's all she wrote. They aren't coming clean about this one. I am going to admit that they do not look 16, but then again, what 16-year-old Asian girl does? I'm talking really Asian, from Asia. Not an Asian American TAB (Trendy Asian Bitch for those of you not in the know). I live in Korea, and most of my 16-year-old students could pass for 12, some could pass for 10. I know it's kind of a bullshit excuse, but honestly, white people can't tell how old Asians are. I have gotten everything from 21 (which is close) to 31 (which is waaaay off the mark). America isn't exactly the picture of virtue, which I think is captured at a sarcastic best in this article: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=3548749&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos2

Suspicion on the part of the United States only arises in this case, because they find it impossible that an Asian team could beat them in something as athletic as gymnastics. Table tennis is fine (the US women's team is comprised of two Chinese women), but something like gymnastics? That's absurd. It must piss them off even more that Korea won the gold medal in baseball. Yes, Koreans won a gold medal in something as American as baseball. I know that American baseball fans will say, "Yeah, but we didn't send our best." Your best didn't want to go, so fuck off and take your bronze. The Chinese even dominated the Americans in boxing. That must also piss off hardcore boxing fans. I mean, yeah the Chinese guys might "know that kung-fu shit" as Americans would put it, but that doesn't exactly cross over to boxing. I can't kick someone in the face in a sanctioned boxing match. Although I might want to. So I say to the Americans scrutinizing the Chinese for everything about these latest Olympics, you still watched didn't you?

And another Olympics post...

2008-08-23T13:51:39Z

Korea just beat Cuba to win the Olympic Gold Medal in baseball!!! I cannot believe it. Who would have thought that Korea had a shot at a medal this games, let alone gold? On a side note, giant Nicolaidas of Greece again lost the gold medal match to a Korean in Taekwondo. That means Korean athletes went 4 for 4 in Taekwondo showing once again why they dominate the sport.

Olympic Moments

2008-08-23T13:42:00Z

I knew I should have just sat at the pool hall and watched the Taekwondo matches. Here's what I (and probably everyone not residing in either Korea or Cuba missed):

Yes, that is a picture of an athlete kicking a center referee in the face. The only good news, both the Cuban athlete and his coach have been banned from competition for life. Although, I must give him credit for passion, this was simply uncalled for. Yes, he was disqualified on a petty rule, but a rule is a rule. His disqualification came when a leg injury incurred during a previous match (even if the ticker doesn't say that, it's Taekwondo it's the truth, ask anyone) flared and he took an injury timeout that went beyond the 1 minute limit. Now, if the center ref told called him by color (hong in this case), and pointed for him to get to his spot, and he sat there, that is a disqualification even at the Olympic level. It sucks, but rules are there, and he broke them. Most players I know would be angry, hell probably all players would be angry, and they would want to kick the judge in the face. This man had the lack of intelligence (perhaps?), and will to actually do it. I applaud his stupidity, and I thank the Olympic committee for banning him from international competition forever.

Traveling

2008-08-23T13:24:35Z

Wow, I am surprisingly not jetlagged. I am tired as hell right now, but it's normal, I've been awake for a while. Here, let me explain. I flew from the United States to Korea. Then from Korea to Vietnam, and now back to Korea in a matter of 5 days or so. I think.

First, the flight to Korea. The most awesome part of this flight was the soy sauce dripping on me from an overhead compartment. This is how the Korean Air people fixed it:

If you can't read it, those are Duty-Free stickers.
And this was part of the result:

Ok, no real harm done, I mean I guess I can replace my shirt or whatever. There is more to this story however. Apparently, it was a combination of a busted water bottle courtesy of the woman sitting directly in front of me, and some mystery soy sauce that caused the leak in the first place. For this leak to occur, an entire bottle of water had to be emptied, and it only caused minor dripping from the hole where the screw goes in. Not bad. Anyways, this was all the fault of the woman in front of me, and the Korean Air flight attendant (male) let her know it. Here was the exchange to the best of my recollection:
Flight attendant: "Ma'am, I believe you owe the passenger behind you an apology"
Oh yeah, this was all in really bad English, because the flight attendant was of course Korean, and the woman was Indian, but living in the US I gathered.
Woman: "Why? I don't know what you're talking about."
FA: "Your water bottle caused the passenger behind you to get stained clothing."
Woman: "Well, that's not my fault, I didn't know it broke."
FA: "But you're still at fault, because it was yours."
Woman: "I don't know what you're talking about."
FA: "It would be very easy for you to apologize."
Woman: "But why would I do that?"
FA: "Because it was your fault."
Woman: "I don't know how."
I thought they were going to get into an actual fight over this. In the end, she didn't apologize, and he looked rather, perturbed. After this little exchange he came back to me speaking a whole lot of Korean that I was barely paying attention to. Basically, he told me this, "We are going to give you money for dry-cleaning." Score. I got $10 out of this at the end of the flight, and a shirt that I can clean on my own. Soy sauce dries surprisingly light-brownish. I thought it would be a whole lot worse. That was the most exciting of my flights. Although, the flight back from Vietnam (I decided to come back early because I heard about poor weather, also known as a hurricane, possibly on approach and didn't want to risk anything) did have an interesting moment, the landing. It was raining near Incheon, and the cloud cover was rather thick. This leads me to believe that our pilot was landing fairly blind by using his instruments. I say this, because the cloud cover didn't clear up until we were much closer to the ground that I would have liked. That said, Korean Air pilots are both amazing (maybe stupid?) and crazy. It's the first time I've seen a pilot willingly land in really shitty weather. That's all for now. I'm too tired to write more haha. Check back later.