It's been a while since I posted something and I'm trying to think why that is. After all, I am on vacation so I should have lots of time to write stuff. Usually this time of year I find myself in South Africa, travelling from one place to another. However, this year, for the purpose of saving money I did not go to South Africa nor did a travel to any of the other countries here in Asia as I usually do. I'm happy that my decision has been fruitful, as I have now saved enough money for this coming semester's tuition fee. I'm starting a PhD program at a university here in Korea.
Since I have been saving a lot, I have not been doing many activities requiring much expenses. Being my vacation time I'm taking the opportunity to sleep in most mornings, I do some writing work in the afternoon, go to martial art training in the evening and come home to watch some things on my computer. I also do some reading.
Something interesting I did recently was that I visited a "cat cafe" in Korea. There are a number of these in Seoul. Cat cafes can basically be described as a cat-themed coffee shop. You pay a fixed amount, something like $8, and get a drink of your choice (e.g. coffee, tea, juice, etc.) and then hang out with cats. This particularly cafe I went to had an estimated 25 cats. There are all sorts of cat toys, platforms, tunnels, and humans for the cats to enjoy and copious amounts of food. It is indeed "cat heaven". I'm not allowed to have pets in my apartment, so this was a great way to get my feline fix!
I also went to see some movies recently -- the most memorable being Cloud Atlas. While books often make me want to see the film adaptation, I seldom have the opposite feeling. If I hadn't read a book, but did see the film adaptation of the book, I almost never feel an urge to go and buy the book on which the film is based. Cloud Atlas, however, did make me want to read the book and I might indeed do so still -- I just have too many other things on my reading list to make it an immediate priority.
There is one moment in the movie where a character writes to his lover saying: "an unfinished book is like an unfinished love affair". It really struck a chord with me, as I believe the opposite is very true as well. If you are in a relationship, it is important to let it run its course. Let the story come to completion. It might not be a happy ever after story, in fact it may even be a tragedy, but it is important for it to get to its end.
Half a story is not worth telling.
The above is a little proverb I made up after watching the film and has become somewhat of a theme for me recently. It's about seeing things through to their end, about not starting anything lest I plan to complete it, about not doing things half-heartedly, about rethinking my priorities. It is also about going along for the ride, about enjoying the journey even though you may not know what the destination is, how the story will end. Yes, it is about relationships and allowing myself the space to just experience it, without torturing myself with worries if this is the one or not.
In other news, the gym I train at literally made the Korean news as a human interest story with it's children's English Taekwon-Do program. I don't teach children so I wasn't really involved with any of this, but there is about 4 seconds of me towards the end of the insert. See below:
By the way, that girl blowing bubbles was ordered to get psychological evaluation during her suspension. For blowing bubbles! Get this, this toddler, speaking about shooting another kid with bubbles with her pink Hello Kitty Bubblegun is accused of "terrorist threatening". And I thought I had a master's degree in Creative Writing! Seriously, it is so bizarre it ought to be part of some sci-fi short story anthology. The idea that a toddler blowing bubbles is equated with terrorist activities is warning us of a civilization gone mad. I don't know if I should laugh at the absurdity or cry at the ludicrousness.
At noon today the official North Korean news agency announced that the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Il, has died. The North Korean newscaster was dressed in clothes of morning as she revealed that the “Dear Leader” had died on Saturday, 17 December, due to extreme psychological and physiological fatigue while doing on site inspections—something he was known for doing quite frequently—at 8:30 in the morning. The North Korean newscaster announced that he died of “physical and mental exhaustion.” The exact cause of death is myocardial infarction, a heart attack. This was determined during an autopsy that was performed on Sunday. He was 69 years old (70 years in Korean counting). North Korean citizens broke down weeping at the news, according to pictures from the Chinese news agency. China is North Korea's greatest ally. The funeral is set for next week, the December 28th or 29th.
Although the South Korean government has declared a state of emergency, the second highest security level, I have spent much of my day in the streets of Seoul and can attest that the average South Korean citizen does not seem too concerned. This is in high contrast to how American citizens reacted upon the announcement of the death of their bogeyman, Osama Bin Laden, earlier this year. In South Korea there are no obvious cheering in the streets nor cowering in the corners. People are just going on with life as normal Although online video sites do have news videos about the North Korean leader's death, the news is shared with local entertainment videos of participants in the pop idol show Kpop Star.
Asian markets seem more concerned than South Korean citizen as Asian currencies dropped at the announcement, but Asian markets have always been nervous.
So what can we expect? For the time being, I think, not much. It is very unlikely that there will be any uprising in the North. Since Kim Jong-Il suffered a stroke in 2008, the North Korean regime has been preparing for his eventual death. Also, although he died Saturday already, the party only made the announcement two days later, giving them enough time to prepare for any unwanted reaction from the people. The South Korean government's state of emergency is more for political display than anything else, since it is highly unlikely the North will do anything to stir up further animosity until after its mourning period. Apart from the immediate mourning period, which will last until around Thursday next week, Korean's also have a special mourning ceremony 100 days after the day of death. Furthermore, Kim Il Sung's Centennial is coming up next year. Plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, has been put into motion for quite some time now.
North Korea is practically a cult-state devoted to Kim Il-Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong-Il. Kim Jong-Il's third son Kim Jong-Eun has been groomed as the successor so plans to “enthrone” him will also take up focus. The next couple of months we can expect North Korea to be completely internally focussed with the mourning of Kim Jong-Il, the centennial celebrations of Kim-Il Sung and the successor ceremony of Kim Jong-Eun.
That is at least how I see things play out, unless there are any outside interferences and the only powers that could / would cause “interferences” are China who isn't likely to do anything, Japan and Korea who prize stability in the region more than anything else, and the United States. America has its focus divided elsewhere and would rather not thin their attention any more than it has too. In any case, China will not stand idly by if America were to make a move in North Korea. North Korea serves as a strategic buffer between America's heavy presence in South Korea. A move by America on North Korea is too close for comfort for China.
Speaking of the United States and it's divided attentions... Both the USA and Russia have naval air carriers and other military presence in Syrian waters, what can only be described as a under-reported stand-off. China and Russia has blocked United Nations Security Council efforts (i.e. US military) to interfere with Syria. China has announced its allegiance to Iran.
It is well known that America feels the need to invade Iran because of Iran's nuclear ambitions. (That is, at least, the cover story. The truth is more probably America's hunger for oil or using war as a economic stimulus.) However, the American people are waking up to the fraudulent wars their government is waging. Although war is likely, it is unlikely that America will make the first overt move. Instead we are more likely to see them bite at the heels of Iran until Iran gets so irate that it loses its temper and make the first strike. This will, of course, give the Military Industrial Complex that runs the show the excuse to go to war with Iran. For this scenario to play out will require quite a number of months of agitation, so we can probably expect it to happen later, maybe September, October, 2012. That is unless they pull another false flag event like 9/11. With US presidential elections coming up we may first see some “soldiers coming home” rhetoric in action, which was a promise Obama made during his presidential race. Either way, it is plausible for Obama to stay on as president. He has been heeding the commands of his international banker masters quite well. But it doesn't matter. What we can be sure of is that unless Ron Paul or a completely different third party candidate suddenly become exceedingly popular and wins the upcoming election, the banking elite will just replace Obama with one of their cronies—it doesn't matter the party. The Republicans and the Democrats are merely to sides of the same proverbial coin—a two headed party.
Back to the probable war with Iran later next year. Such a war has so many parties involved that it can easily escalate to a global conflict—a Third World War. Unfortunately, with technology as advanced as it is, a Third World War will be a rather messy affair which could easily involve bioweapons and nuclear / hydrogen bombs.
Then, let's not forget the predicted high solar activities predicted for next year. And for those that do not know, sun storms are closely related to natural disasters such as earth quakes and unusual weather here on our planet.
But, in the meantime, enjoy the festive season. It ought not be too volatile. The “fun” is all scheduled for later in 2012.
I'm really out of it. There are so many things with which I'm not in the loop:
When did the last episode of Oprah air? I haven't watched a single episode of Oprah in the last two years.
Who is the new American Idol winner that praised God for his success and how does he sound like? He must be an extraordinarily great singer to win that competition while being so open about his Christian beliefs in a country where Christianity has unfortunately become equated with the Religious Right and uneducated red neck fanatics.
I've not seen a single episode of Glee; don't know the actors/actresses names or what they look like. What is Glee about in any case? I know it contains some singing and dancing. Is it something like High School Musical? Not that I know much about that either.
I didn't watch the Royal Wedding and the only pictures I saw of it was of those ugly Lady Gagaesque hats.
I don't know what the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie is about.
I forgot that I actually saw Hangover (2009) and confused Hangover II to be a sequel to that old Stallone film, Cliffhanger (1993).
I don't know what's special about the iPhone 5. Is it supposed to be translucent or something?
I haven't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so I'm not sure if I should be excited about the trailer of the movie based on the novel.
I did not know of the volcanic eruption in Iceland just over a week ago, until today. (See a beautiful video of it here.)
I forgot about Africa Day until the day was practically over.
I know there have been some terrible tornadoes in the USA recently, but know very little about where they occurred or are occurring and the damage so far.
I didn't know Brad and Angelina got back together again. I thought they had split up.
And so on. What do I know? I know governments are lying. I know that the FBI is targeting political activists as terrorists and that Obama continues Bush's legacy by extending the Patriot Act and other draconian laws. I know that Kung Fu Panda 2 is not as good as the first. I know it is officially summer in Korea. I know my apartment is a mess and that I'm not in the mood to clean it, hence this post.
Every so often my brother sends me a list of links with news related to South Africa. I found the most recent list quite interesting.
The first was a rant by a News24 reader about more tolls roads and less press freedom. A columnist in News24's Finance section wrote about Black Economic Empowerment and how it is changing; changing, we hope, for the better. In the past, BEE had been a nepotistic enrichment of a select group of black people, that benefit the average previously disadvantaged South African very little. A new system is dearly required. Brian Dames, the CEO of Eskom, South Africa's chief electricity supplier announced that there is bound to be more blackouts and electricity shortages next year. The good news is that South Africa unveiled plans to build the world's largest solar power plant, which may start contributing to the power grid by then end of 2012. Finally, MeerKAT, the radio telescope consisting of 64 Gregorian offset antennae is currently being build in the Karoo, and will be one of the world's most powerful radio telescopes. Scientists from everywhere are already standing in line to book research time on it, even though completion is most likely only going to be in about five years.
Weens my geografiese verwyderdheid en besige skedule is dit moeilik vir my om ophoogte te bly met wat in Suid-Afrika gebeur. Soms as ek kans het maak ek 'n draai by News24, maar dit is maar baie sporadies.
My oplossing -- iets wat ek baie jare terug begin het -- is om elke week na RSG se Sondagaand nuusprogram, Kommentaar, te luister. Kommentaar is 'n uitstekende weeklikse program waartydens 'n paneel van kenners, soos nuusredakteurs, politieke analiste en joernaliste, saam gesels oor die hoofnuusgebeure van die afgelope week. Deur na Kommentaar te luister kry ek in 'n halfuurspasie 'n opsomming van die belangrikste Suid-Afrikaanse (en soms ook buitelandse) nuus, sowel as ingeligte kommentaar deur mense wat hierdie nuusstories binne die groter konteks plaas.
Kommentaar saai uit om agt uur in die aand in Suid-Afrika, wanneer dit drie uur in die oggend in Korea is--'n baie ongeleë tyd vir my. Gelukkig het RSG podgooie (podcasts) sodat ek gerieflik die program kan aflaai vroeg in die week en daarna kan luister later in die week wanneer ek tyd het.
Die meeste mense gebruik iTunes as hulle podgooi-aflaaier. Ek het 'n snaakse fiemiesgeid wat my verhoed om iTunes te ondersteun; ek pes monopolieë--vernaam daardie wat die heeltyd advertensie vir jou flits--en weier dus om iTunes te gebruik. Toe ek nog Windows XP as platvorm gehad het, het ek die podgooi-aflaaier Juicegebruik. Juice is 'n baie gerieflike gratis programmetjie wat my podgooibehoeftes met gemak hanteer het. Ongelukkig is dit nog nie vir Windows 7 aangepas nie.
Ek het 'n ander media-aflaaier wat ek hoofsaaklik as my Internetvideo-aflaaier gebruik, naamlik Miro, voorheen bekend as Democracy Player. Miro is 'n wonderlike program wat ek al vir jare gebruik omdat dit aan jou verskeie video-kanale op die Internet bied waarvandaan jy goeie gehalte gratis televisiestyl programme kan aflaai. Die jongste weergawe van Miro laat ook nou oudio-podgooie toe, so ek gebruik dit nou sommer om Kommentaar mee af te laai. Ek gebruik Miro ook om baie van die preke waarna ek luister outomaties af te laai, sowel as nuusprogramme soos Democracy Now. Ek besit nie 'n televisie nie en het ook nie 'n behoefte aan een nie. Ek hou ook van Miro se volumeverhogingkapasiteit. Baie keer as 'n mens video op 'n rekenaar kyk is die klank onaangenaam sag. Miro het 'n ingeboude volumestroomversterke ("sound booster") wat hierdie probleem oorkom -- soveel so dat ek gewoonlik Miro se klank sagter moet stel. Dis nie my enigste videospelerprogram nie, maar dit werk uitstekend vir sekere video en podgooie.
President Obama in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, May 28, 2010.
This is an article well worth reading about how the Obama administration is partially to blame for the oil disaster.
On May 27th, more than a month into the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, Barack Obama strode to the podium in the East Room of the White House. For weeks, the administration had been insisting that BP alone was to blame for the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf – and the ongoing failure to stop the massive leak. "They have the technical expertise to plug the hole," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had said only six days earlier. "It is their responsibility." The president, Gibbs added, lacked the authority to play anything more than a supervisory role – a curious line of argument from an administration that has reserved the right to assassinate American citizens abroad and has nationalized much of the auto industry. "If BP is not accomplishing the task, can you just federalize it?" a reporter asked. "No," Gibbs replied.
My jonger broer stuur elke dan en wan vir my 'n keur skakels van dinge wat hy meen belangrik is, of dink my sal intereseer. Gewoonlik is sy seleksie inderdaad interesant. Die volgende is hoofsaaklik uit die Beeld en Rapport.
Ek kan nie help om stil te staan op hierdie punt nie; en moet wonder hoe dit verskil van die tipiese Generasie X (waarvan ek 'n sprekende voorbeeld is). Een van my grootste oorwegings vir my huidige werk is juis die lang vakansie tye wat ek het (omtrent drie maande per jaar!), gepaard gaande met die interesante vakke wat ek kan aanbied. Ek kan werk by ander meer aansienryke universiteite kry met groter salarisse, maar dan is my vakansietyd aansienlik korter (omtrent vier weke korter) en moet ek vervelige klasse aanbied.
This is NOT a photo of Korea. [Image Source: GameOPS]
It would seem that Korea has taken a harder approach on child sex offenders, for which I applaud them. The man who raped and then murdered a 13 year old girl was caught today after the police sent out “WANTED” notices to all households in Busan, the biggest port city of Korea.[Read more at The Grand Narrative.]
Unfortunately I cannot help to wonder how different things would have been if the girl was only raped, but not murdered. Take another recent incident of a man that sexually assaulted a 12 year old girl, videotaping it all and posting it on the Internet. This child rapist only got 30 months in prison.
Korea’s laxity as far as child sex offenders go – sexual relations with consenting 13 year olds is okay in Korea [read more here] – is one of the things that really disturb me about my host country. It especially disquiets me when the foreign community is often made out to be “perverse drug-abusers” by the Korean media when statistics would prove otherwise.
The Muppets Studio just released a rendition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
How do I stay abreast with the latest happenings on the Internet? No, I do not spend hours and hours surfing; I don't have the time for that. Instead, I let other people do the surfing for me, and then just skim through the highlights. I'll share with you one of my secrets here: TweetMeme.Com. This website conveniantly lists the items that people around the world are tweeting about most. It is a form of summarised "current news," produced by the masses.
Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, known as the “Mandela of Asia”, passed away on Tuesday (August 18th). President Kim received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to ascertain relations between North and South Korea and is known for his establishment of the “Sunshine Policy” with North Korea. He was well respected in both the South and the North. Today, a delegation of high officials from North Korea came to show their respects. This is unusual and only the second time for North Korea to send a delegation like this to perform mourning rituals. With the recent death of president Roh, North Korea sent a message of condolences to his family, but no delegation was send.
This reminds me of the 80s and 90s when I was still in school. Since I grew up right at a location I had first hand exposure to the riots, so these scenes of running youths, strikes and toyi-toying, burning tires, armour plated vehicles, the throwing of stones and the shooting of rubber bullets were common – the sad thing is that the videos below are not from 1989, but from 2009. The strangest thing for me is that a country that has come so far, hasn’t moved that much. Twenty years later and I’m experiencing déjà vu. It is just a pity that it is not déjà vu – it’s a sordid reality.
But then again, the whole world is progressively going crazy. Why should I for a moment think it ought to be different in South Africa?
My younger brother says that when he gets depressed about South Africa he visits EngineeringNews.Co.Za, and read up about all the latest great developments in the country. I tried it just now, but it doesn't work for me. I know Mary-Jane reads South Africa: Good News. It works a little better than Engineering News, but is still not putting me in much of a positive mood.
I'm beginning to understand why so many people are ignorant of the crisis the world is in. It's nicer not to be privy to such unfortunate forbodings. Let's all ignore the state of affairs and just pretend that all the problems will magically go away on their own. Humans, we are masters at the art of denial. I should try it sometime...
A South Korean man watches a TV broadcasting news about two American journalists detained in North Korea at the Seoul Railway Station, in South Korea, Monday, June 8, 2009. North Korea's top court convicted the journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States. The headline reads "North Korea convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a prison." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Truly something worth applauding. After going to North Korea a couple of days earlier, former US president, Bill Clinton, returns home with the two journalist that were captured by North Korea and charged with 12 years of hard labour. Apparently North Korean dictator-president Kim Jong-Il pardoned Laura Ling and Euna Lee. This came after an apology by Clinton for their "hostile acts," and probably a host of other negotiations we will never know about. Irrespective of the nitty-gritty, I'm happy for them. A North Korean hard labour prison is probably one of the worst places to be -- period.
I would really like to see a proper interview of these two and their experiences in the Hermit Kingdom.
Bill Clinton visits North Korea. I think he is likely to address nuclear disarmament (which have always been a priority for him), as well as negotiate the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee (I mentioned them before here), who worked for Al Gore's Current TV when they were captured by North Korean soldiers while on the border of China and North Korea. While Clinton was president, Al Gore was his vice-president.
See the latest news on "Bill Clinton North Korea" from Google News Search here.
