2020-01-02 Do your New Year's Resolutions include TNKR?

Yesterday was the calm before the storm. We had no meetings held at the TNKR office yesterday New Year's Day.

After a day off, today was meetings from start to finish.

If you forgot to include TNKR in your New Year's Resolutions for 2020, no problem! No one will remember which resolutions you pledged. So you can add TNKR to your list, then jump in to get something done!

www.lovetnkr.org/donate

Are you eager to get involved with TNKR this year? We are growing as an organization. We have grown to the point that we have expanded our programming for 2020. At one point in our history, our only activity was tutoring. Our name, Teach North Korean Refugees, came from our concern about being able to recruit enough tutors. Now we have to worry about our various programs bumping into each other, with volunteers hopping around the three different tracks.

www.lovetnkr.org/tutor
www.lovetnkr.org/mentor
www.lovetnkr.org/leaders
www.lovetnkr.org/members
www.lovetnkr.org/donate

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Joining TNKR means engaging with some fantastic people who escaped from North Korea!

The following is just from today!

Eunsun Kim dropped by the TNKR office to sign copies of her book, "A Thousand Miles to Freedom." She has been with TNKR on-and-off since July 2014, she was the winner of TNKR's third English speech contest. I have known her for five years now, heard her give many speeches, shared the stage with her many times, and never heard her say a critical thing about anyone.

She was at a high level before she joined TNKR, but continues focusing on improving her English.

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It is always great to see Chanyang Praise Ju! I met her in 2012 just as I was getting involved in NK refugee issues. She was one of TNKR's first students, in 2014 she was our first students to give an international speech, she gave an absolutely incredible testimonial about me in 2014. She has remained with us during that time, always bringing her energy and smile.

Here's her YouTube channel.

We have some students we don't identify publicly. One has been with us since 2014, and another since 2016.

It is always fantastic seeing Songmi! She is joining TNKR in numerous ways, bringing her BIG smile and fantastic energy.

A touching moment is that after our official work hours, we met with local leaders, they are looking for an office for TNKR. It is fantastic that our humble little organization has come to their attention. One, we must thank Sue Choi, owner of the local Isaac sandwich shop. She has kept my business card and an article about me on the wall and also introduced Eunkoo to some of the local leaders in our area.

The latest boost in TNKR's reputation is that I was recently featured on Channel A's "Eye Contact" TV Show. (The full version is blocked in some countries).

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She didn't visit the office today, but today was a special day because it is the birthday of Sharon Jang!
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www.lovetnkr.org/donate

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 ...

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...

"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...

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."

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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