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Reporting live, from Hankook

The Republic of Hankook

Michael Breen suggests that South Korea should change its name to differentiate itself from North Korea. It may make sense, but it is so unrealistic that if it happened, Breen would probably be the most surprised. He suggests the name be changed to Hankook.

Okay, I'll play along.


Mathias Specht writes about the importance of branding Hankook for tourism purposes. Specht, unfortunately, is not a very clear writer. He does finally say: "In the case of Korea, a similar storyline could rather convincingly (and truthfully) be built around its recent economic achievements, which are nothing short of breathtaking."

Does he seriously believe that people will want to visit Korea today because of its economic improvement?


* * *

Suppose you were an idiot. Suppose you were Charles Schumer. But we repeat ourselves

Charles Schumer, idiot Congressman from New York, is determined to force American consumers to pay more for honey. Of course, that's not what he says, but that's what his actions cause. He's upset because Chinese honey sellers are trying to get around stiff U.S. tariffs on honey. Of course, Schumer focuses on the Chinese and that they are "breaking" the law, but the consequence is that he and other members of Congress force American consumers to pay more for honey.


Mark Twain famously said, "Suppose you were an idiot. Suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

Meanwhile, there's a news story about millions of Americans waiting for food stamps. What type of mischief have Schumer and others engaged in to cause so many people to be dependent on government?


* * *

Disconnecting from Facebook

Lacey Klingensmith has disconnected from Facebook. While we did the same action, we have completely different reasons for doing so.

He writes some silly stuff, such as: "If the general consensus admits a suspicion that these technologies are not really paving the way toward better communication, then why are we still keeping them around?"

We keep them around because we like them. We can pick and choose which ones we like. Those who don't like them can drop out. I'm not on Facebook, that doesn't mean I want some type of a vote or U.N. resolution to determine we should keep it around.

S/He concludes, somewhat dramatically:

"All I know is that somewhere in the midst of this confusion, I realized I forgot who I was. I chose to disconnect to reconnect with myself, and through myself, to rediscover the world of others.
For real communication to take place, it takes a self to know a self.'

1) I have no problem with people clicking over to talk to someone else and leave me hanging. I usually start counting. After 10 seconds I am likely to hang up. People I know become aware of this. So they don't feel the hurry to click back over to me and they know to call me back.
2) He/she may be right that he is not a good conversationalist. If he is as whiny with family members as he is in the column then there may be a good reason others look to get off the phone or click over to others.

* * *


Message to Jeremiah Masoli: Stop breaking the law, asshole!!!

He has been kicked off the football team at the University of Oregon. He's talented, but he also keeps doing stuff to attract the attention of law-enforcement.



CJL

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