Mind Invasion

John Huer wrote an opinion piece in the Korea times which said that Koreans should not be protesting the importation of American beef, they should be protesting the "virus" of American culture.

While they are out there with their candles lit over American beef, all of Korea is being overcome by a mind invasion from a wholly alien culture against which Korea has no known antidote. For no other society, except the U.S. itself, can afford to be so "American" and remain culturally sane.

Yeah I don't really understand this whole "invasion" thing. I mean I think Korea has its culture pretty solidly in place. It's kinda like saying that the British should be worried about the invasion of American culture...or the Japanese. I just give two shits about the whole "culture" thing. Kimchi is always going to be called Kimchi, and a Hanbok is always going to be a Hanbok. Despite the hundreds of failed "hub" attempts in Korea, it is certainly a "hub for museums on anything and everything remotely Korean". Thing is, some Koreans have a funny way of expressing themselves, and they end up looking a tad stupid. It goes a little like this:

give me STARBUCKS! give me BURGER KING! give me NIKE! give me STARCRAFT! give me HARVARD! give me VISA WAIVERS! give me..ZOMFG! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! is that US beef you are trying to give me? Why you gotta be taking over Korea’s culture of mad expensive cattle farming yo? That shit just ain’t right.

"Don't pretend to be innocent."

Wow, this NYT article on how the Chinese are trying to improve their English skills before the Olympics is uber hilarious.

Here are some classic quotes:

when I asked my students about their aspirations, the first boy yelled, "When I grow up, I want to be a foreigner!"

On the blackboard, I wrote down the English for fry-cook, road builder and - for a girl who called herself Cher - fashion designer. She pointed at a classmate and said in English and Chinese, "His father is a prisoner!"

The police, 60 percent of whom are supposed to be competent in English in time for the Olympics, study from a book called "Olympic Security English." Dialogues called "Dissuading Foreigners From Excessive Drinking" and "How to Stop Illegal News Coverage" introduce useful phrases like "Don't pretend to be innocent.”

Now those are some classic quotes!

When twitter is down...

http://whentwitterisdown.com/ is a good site to click through while you are waiting for twitter to come back online.

Wrong again Chosun Ilbo!

In today's online Chosun Ilbo, an article entitled "Strong Exports Fuel Continued Climb of Aussie, Canadian Dollars" states:

"In the early 2000s, one U.S. dollar was worth 1.40 Canadian. The greenback had trumped the Canadian dollar for more than a century, since the American Civil War in 1864."

This is simply not true, and where the Chosun Ilbo got this "fun fact" is telling of the kind of 'hard work' their journalists do. I mean seriously kids, learn to use the wikipedia and google news to at least steal correct information!

"The Canadian dollar's latest rise reignited chatter of the currency reaching parity with the greenback, a level it has not been at since November 1976." - Seattle Times.

I could post far more quotes like this...but then i'd have done more work than englishnews @ chosun.com.

I'd upload the image comparing CAD/USD if blogger was functional, but its not, so go here.

The end of porn in Korea

This is an extension to a comment (below) that I made in a thread on the Marmot's Hole. regarding Korea's "NEW?" war against pornography. Anyone capable of searching Google News for "Korea Pornography" will find that the war is hardly new.

May 14, 2008
'War Against Pornography' Starts

March 26, 2007
'South Korea blocks foreign porn sites'

2006
Korea seems to have been porn problem free

April 15, 2005
'S. Korea cracks down on online porn'

June 07, 2004
'Cleaning Up Korean Cyberspace'

2003
Korea seems to have been porn problem free

April 04, 2002
'Portal Webmasters Indicted for Failing to Stop Pornography'

August 14, 2001
'Cracking down on cybercafes'

November 22, 2000
'South Korea: Prosecutors to crack down on cyber terrorists...'

April 20 1999
South Korea: Prosecution to stage crack down on pornography

I'm sure this goes back even further. What does this prove? It's impossible to get rid of porn, pron, pr0n, etc...

Online porn came later in life for me than it does for kids these days. I relied on mags and VHS. And when BBS’s and the net came to be…boy was that amazing. But during all of that, I was also provided sex education by elementary and high school teachers,my parents, and my older brother. Of course it was awkward at the time, but at least I knew what was what.

With so many hotties prancing around on tv in saucy outfits, it’s no wonder kids are watching pron to see what goes on under those skimpy skirts and knee socks…because if they weren’t that would be even more fucked up.

The fact is, both parents and teachers need to step up to the plate, teach kids about sex and sexual etiquette when their kids are young.

If a kid can go to the bathroom in a subway station and buy a condom for 500won, he/she should be told how to use it by a parent and a teacher.

If a kid can go to a pc room and find porn littering the cache and downloads folder, he doesn’t need to use his pc at home to download that onto his phone, usb, psp, pdp, etc.

Kids aren’t stupid, but if their only guidance is that crazy fucked up video they saw of a guy parting the lips of a pussy with surgical implements while fifty guys ejaculate on the chicks face . . . his/her knowledge regarding sex and sexual etiquette is going to be rather skewed, don’t you think?