Skip to main content

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."



Politicians, of course, responded by calling her comments an insult, others noted that she inherited her money, but note that they they didn't say she's wrong.

* * *

I love the old "ball coach"


Steve SpurrierOne of my favorite football coaches is Steve Spurrier Not because he is an especially great coach, but because every week he says that reminds me of Yogi Berra. His press conferences and discussions with reporters can be hilarious without him trying to be funny.
 Last weekend, in discussing his starting quarterback who injured his shoulder in the game:



"It's just painful for him,'' Spurrier said. ''And he has trouble lifting his arm right now so it's pretty hard to play quarterback.''

And if he lost his head, it might be tough for him to play soccer?
 
* * * 

Wisdom from the young

Notre Dame's Everett Golson started his first game this past weekend, leading the football team to a 50-10 rout of Navy.


Everett Golson''I think I was comfortable,'' said Golson, who won the starting job in a four-way competition. He spent his freshman year as the scout team QB, and credited coaches with easing his nerves by giving him permission to make mistakes.

Golson said his coaches told him: ''You're going to make mistakes but you just have to relax. You're going to make mistakes, but make them going full speed.''

1) Give yourself permission to make mistakes.
2) Give people in positions of power permission to make mistakes.
3) If you're going to make mistakes, make them "going full speed."
 * * *

You got the wrong guy--really!

According to the Korea Times, one of the local newspapers made a major mistake going warp speed. "The local daily Chosun Ilbo, boasting the largest circulation in the country, apologized Sunday for misreporting a rape incident and turning an innocent citizen into a suspect."




As the Korea Times reports:
The daily printed on its Saturday city edition’s front page the picture of a 23-year-old man who was caught Friday for kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old girl. Under the headline, “Sick society raped a child,” the paper released two pictures thought to be that of the offender along with an article revealing his full name, Koh Jong-seok.

“We decided to print the picture of the offender thinking he could be another serious sex offender like Cho Doo-soon. We found the image while searching the Internet for a picture of Koh. We then asked the police and Koh’s neighbors to identify the man in the picture and they all claimed it was Koh. We were convinced that it was him when we printed the picture in our final edition,” the Chosun Ilbo explained in its online apology.

The issue first arose when a netizen who claimed he was a friend of the person in the picture uploaded an angry note on the board of an Internet portal saying, “The person in the picture pointed out as the sex offender is actually my friend who aspires to become a comedian. He is utterly shocked and distressed by the incident. He doesn’t know what to do right now and even say he wants to die.”

The daily recognized that it failed to check with the person involved.

“We failed to ask Koh himself to identify the person in the picture until the next day because reporters couldn’t access him when he was being questioned. Only after receiving the complaint could we ask the police to ask Koh to confirm it. He said the person in the picture was someone he knew but not himself.”
Some random thoughts:

1) I will remember this story the next time I hear a reporter complaining about bloggers printing stories before they actually confirm the details.

2) I won't complain the next time I read a story with a detail such as, "The suspect in the homicide failed to return phone calls."

3) Yes, I know the story isn't funny and details shouldn't be ironic--but it is kind of funny that the guy misidentified in the paper (a) aspires to be a comedian (b) considered suicide. Well, this is South Korea, the suicide capital of the world, so I guess that part isn't surprising.

4) It may be a mistranslation--they asked neighbors and police, and they ALL confirmed it was the wrong guy? It seems the paper needs to explain that in a bit more detail. As the old journalistic saying goes: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." Either confirm such a detail or don't run the photo, right? It is important to be first with the photo/story, but having to explain such a major mistake?

5) How can the paper ever apologize to the guy? An apology in the paper seems inadequate. The newspaper may want to give him a full page to post his funniest comments or sponsor a stand-up comedy night for him, or the next time he does have a perform run a full-page ad promoting him.


Popular posts from this blog

Common Sense on North Korea (Korea Times, April 2, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. As interesting as Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov’s writings are, there is nothing quite like attending one of his lectures. He can barely restrain himself behind the podium, often pointing and waving his arms. I also enjoy his unscripted speeches, but his answers in Q&A sessions are like the difference between watching Michael Jordan shoot baskets in warm-ups and an actual game. I have finally discovered the secret behind Lankov’s consistently solid analysis about North Korea: Use common sense. At an Asan Institute conference last summer, he argued that North Korea watchers should try to understand North Korea from its perspective. Don’t most people know that you must understand the mindset of others you are dealing with? Yet, common sense in theory gets ignored politically. From the North Korean perspective, nuclear weapons are the best thing they’ve got going. They will NOT give them up easily, even if President Obama ...

Freedom Factory Shareholder Meeting (2015-01-31)

  Re: Building something out of nothing Freedom Factory is a very small company, of which I am a shareholder.  Yesterday we had our annual shareholder meeting. Freedom Factory is allowing us to "incubate" TNKR until we can stand on our two own feet--or at least crawl on our four hands and feet. (Consumer Rights Watch is in the same position).  I owe special thanks to FF CEO 김정호. He is a "true believer" in the cause of freedom, so he is allowing both projects to grow out of FF. That's even though Freedom Factory is a small start up with the CEO, staff and supporters wondering how we are going to achieve our dreams with such a tight budget.  So when I say I am so thankful to the volunteers and donors of TNKR, it isn't just lip service. Volunteers--along with Freedom Factory, the Atlas Network, donors--are helping us to create something out of nothing, helping North Korean refugees find their own way and tell their own stories. Like the FF CEO, I also don...

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

  National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

2018-09-28 Not everyone at KFC cooks chickens

Most of the people who contact us at TNKR naturally want to tutor North Korean refugees. Many potential volunteers are shocked shocked shock ed to learn that they can volunteer with TNKR in other ways. I tell many of them: "Not everyone at KFC cooks chickens. There are also delivery people, accountants, marketers, personnel, and a host of other positions." Earlier this year, we began developing the TNKR Volunteer Leadership Academy. I'm still waiting for someone to take over that little project. Until then, I will continue with developing it. And be developing it, I mean telling people, "Don't write me a long business plan about what you would like to do. Just start doing it, keep me updated and in the conversations, then let's talk and update." We have had a recent influx of volunteers who want to help TNKR in other ways. Jackie Cole is now running our Instagram. She constantly surprises me with the flyers and videos she posts. I made it clear from the ...

Random photos from today

I went walking around today. Whereas some people like to go walking in the mountains, I enjoy walking around in the city. Well, not D.C. or other cities with many homeless, crazy and/or armed people walking around... * * * Here's where I had lunch today. About $1.90 for a hamburger hamberger.   * * * Ha-ha! Bet you never would have guessed that Batman is a drinking place in Korea! * * * Man Clinic? The Koreans walking by seemed to be very curious about why I was taking a photo of a "Man Clinic." They may know something I don't know...Actually, I wasn't curious enough to go in and find out what it was... * * * Right down the street from the Man Clinic...there's a Love Shop! I love the euphemism. "Love Shop" sounds much better than Sex Shop. I'm guessing that if you don't go to the "Love Shop" to buy condoms that you may need to visit the Man Clinic a short time later? * * * Nobo...