2017-02-21 Leaving the TNKR cave to meet the Mayor of Mapo-gu

With the mayor of mapo-gu (standing on my right)

A great thing about having an office? You have a place to invite guests to meet you.

A bad thing about having an office? I don't want to go out to meet other people.

www.lovetnkr.org/donate

During a particularly unstable time in TNKR's history, I was shuttling between the Freedom Factory office near the National Assembly and the temporary TNKR office near Itaewon Station. Some days, I would start the day at Freedom Factory, head over to Itaewon, then go back to Freedom Factory.

Now we have our own office. There are some days that I don't leave the office and have even slept at the office so I could get to work when I wake up. When I go out, it feels like I have been in a cave, but caveman style like that feeling of playing my favorite video games for weeks. It is more difficult to get me out for meetings these days.

But today, I did go out for a meeting.

Today we met the Mayor of Mapo-gu, he wanted to hear about TNKR. Apparently someone at the mayor's office got into trouble because the mayor found out that there is an incredible organization in his district that is being run by volunteers helping North Korean refugees. A staffer rushed to collect news clips about TNKR. They clearly had done their research about us.

We moved into the area July 2016, so it only took them seven months to find us.

Apparently the mayor was like, "What? This is happening in my backyard, and no one told me about it? What the hey?"

Well, those probably weren't the mayor's exact words, but anyway, he now knows TNKR.

After the meeting with the mayor, we talked in more detail with one of the staff members. I don't expect that anything will ever come out of the meeting.

www.lovetnkr.org/donate

How not to get your ass beat by the police

The black president of the United States stupidly commented on the arrest of a black Harvard professor in his own home by a white police officer. Some random thoughts and memories: * I'm sure most people are still trying to figure out who Prof. Gates is. As G.K. Chesterton once wrote: "Journalism consists largely in saying 'Lord Jones is dead' to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive." * Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said Gates' arrest was "every black man's nightmare." Perhaps. But having a criminal in my house is even more of a nightmare. Also, having the president of the United States talk off the cuff about me about something he doesn't know is pretty bad. And getting shot by a cop after I escalated a situation would also be worse than getting arrested. Anyway, I have had my own dealings with the police over the years: * Back when I was a college student many many moons ago, one of my brothers and I got stopped by police in Bro...

The Casey Lartigue Show

Guests scheduled for May NOTE: Check here for updates on Memorandum 46! Future Shows Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution This is my first attempt at putting together my own promo , it was rejected because of the sound quality May 19 edition of the Casey Lartigue Show We had a great show yesterday, probably the best so far. The topic: Malcolm X. The occasion? Anniversary of his 82nd birthday. Eliot Morgan and I had a great time talking with the callers. Deneen Borelli called in on our special guest line. You can download the file here. We posed the question: What did Malcolm X do? We contrasted the viewpoint and legacies of Malcolm X and Thurgood Marshall. The one mistake I made was not to focus on the question that Marshall asked: What was the one concrete thing that Malcolm X did. In segment 3, callers begin to get personal with us. May 12 edition of the Casey Lartigue Show Featured guest: Don Boudreaux of George Mason University Promo for the May 12 show May 5 edition of the C...

Korea Fighting!

Years ago I read an article about a man who kept a detailed diary about his life. I think it was 70 years of diaries. Nothing was too insignificant for him to mention. I remember reading it and wondering, "Yeah, but will anyone ever read those boxes of diaries about him going to the bathroom?" I guess he often wrote about himself writing... These days I'm having the opposite problem... I'm living it up so much that I don't have time to write... Can you really enjoy life and record it all? If I had time I would blog about... * going swing dancing * getting treated at the Kkunnori restaurant in Jamsil by two friends who insist I'm the luckiest man alive because I know them. * then getting treated to an hour or two at the Luxury noraebang near Kkunnori . * the "call" button in Korean restaurants * Koreans ordering too much food whenever they eat together * Meeting with Gong Byeong Ho (공병호) for the first time in 10 years. * how damn energetic Seoul i...

Weekend roundup

Kim Heung - sook asks: " Who Needs New Bills ?" When I first saw the headline, I thought: I AGREE!!! In fact, I don't want or need ANY bills, whether old or new! I have a dream job now...After a couple of days at work, one of the managers here told me to give him all of my bills, the company would take care of my expenses. So I say...Who needs new bills!!! Who needs old bills!!! Her essay is about the new 50,000 won bill. That's about 40 bucks. The next largest bill? 10,000 won. That's about 8 bucks. * * * Get a job! In an LA Times piece trying to guilt California taxpayers and the governor to spend more on higher education in the state , Vincent J. Del Casino Jr. concludes by asking how he should explain spending cuts to his students: "Governor, any good one-liners I might use?" I've written some speeches for some prominent people over the years, I'll give this one to the governor for free, "Get a job!" * * * The next borrowed word? ...

Gerald Bracey, invited to his final mugging

"Journalism largely consists of saying 'Lord Jones is Dead' to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive." --G. K. Chesterton * * * I don't usually do obituaries because (1) I don't know the person who has just passed away (2) It is usually in poor taste to speak honestly about the recently departed (3) I do know the person who has just passed away, but still feel too close to them to write about them on a blog. But I will make an exception in the case of Gerald Bracey ! In case you didn't know, he was an education researcher and public schools advocate. He was also highly sarcastic, acidic, a gentleman who was often uncouth and even childish. A couple of random thoughts and memories: * Just as I was getting into the education policy analysis world I thought about inviting Bracey to be a speaker on a panel. I asked a couple of prominent education researchers. The first three told me that they refused to be on a panel with Bracey . I could invite him...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

Search This Blog