The little black man inside us all

I rode with my two of my Korean colleagues in two different taxis in Seoul today...

only had two close calls with other vehicles.

The driver in the second taxi was quite balanced. First, he almost collided with a car on his left as he merged into traffic. Then, he almost collided with a vehicle on his right that was merging into traffic. Was a truck headed straight for us next? He took it all in stride, not bothering to curse at either one of the other drivers.

I remember when I was a youngster hearing that mothers would advise their children to wear clean underwear and socks in case they were in an accident. As Bill Cosby pointed out, there is a possibility that such items would be found in the glove compartment after a tremendous accident.

* * *

Speaking of socks...

I visited two Korean businesses today along with my colleagues. The great thing about both companies? Employees were walking around in shorts, sandals. One was wearing a very fashionable cap, the type I would like to wear. I wanted to take a photo of him with the cap on but figured that my intentions would be lost in the translation...

At one place we didn't have to take our shoes off, but at the second place not only did we have to take our shoes off, but wear some nice sandals they had at the front door. The pain! Walking around in sandals at the office?

Thankfully, I didn't bring any socks with holes in them.

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Was this lost in the translation?

I noticed this book when we were meeting with one of the publishers. The title: "The Little Black Man." The author is Fulvia Degl`Innocent.

I initially thought I had come across a racist book. The author is Italian. Based on the context, the "little black man" is the angry side in all of us. Couldn't come across a single black person in the entire book, but I guess those who track the various negative meanings of the use of the word "black" can make hay with it...

I'm just happy that my taxi driver didn't have a little black man inside him--he would have started driving like a maniac...

* * *

Eating Korean

Had lunch with my colleagues. Once again, I wasn't asked or expected to pay. Had lunch a few days ago with the president of a think tank. He waved me off when I offered to pay my half. Met a friend for lunch--she brought me a box of grapes. There are many great things about Korea. Definitely, the way my colleagues and friends treat me is one of them. I just hope it lasts.

The president of the organization I'm working with has been especially generous. She has bought me breakfast, lunch, and dinner on several occasions.

* * *

Speaking of hunger...

I see that the U.N. hopes there won't be hunger by 2025. I'm willing to bet all of the money I have against anyone from the U.N. that there will still be hunger in 2025.

I'm guessing that if I'm Seoul then that I'll probably be doing quite well.

CJL

Manufactured cases

My former Cato Institute colleague Bob Levy is profiled by the Associated Press for his role in the challenge to the DC gun ban. One great thing about Levy is that he tells it like it is. As the article quotes: And Levy freely admits the case is manufactured, not one that bubbled up by chance from the district's steady flow of criminal cases involving guns. He wanted presentable plaintiffs to make a case for gun rights, not criminals. "We didn't want crack heads and bank robbers to be poster boys for the Second Amendment," he said. Is there a problem with this case being manufactured? I heard a talking head on the radio complaining a while ago that this case wasn't from real DC residents, that it was from outsiders. What's wrong with that? There may be some times that it takes an outsider to challenge an injustice or bad law. Did DC residents claim that Martin Luther King Jr. was an outsider who should have minded his own business? And about the case being ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

2014-02-14 Yeon-Mi Park`s debut

Yeonmi Park, February 14, 2014, making her debut! Yesterday I was one of the speakers at a special session on North Korean refugees at the Canadian Maple International School. Wow, it was a wonderful time! * Yeon-Mi Park delivered her first major speech in English. She was wonderful! She told her story (35 minute speech without notes), discussed different aspects of North Korea, and then handled questions from students for more than an hour. She did seem to be nervous at the beginning-she took a deep breath just as she started, looked at me, then told her story from her heart. * Returning from the speech, I told Yeonmi that she had star potential. She told me that she didn't believe it, but I told her that the way she handled Q&A and told her story, I would be lucky to have her still returning my phone calls within a year. * The students had many questions. They have been learning about North Korea. They are now reading "Escape from Camp 14" featuring Shin Dong-h...

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

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