Robinhood's Evil Twin Has Brief Identity Crisis

I hate to use the word "heroic", but I would say it would be a relatively appropriate term for Eric Cantor. I say this because I believe he must be a relatively high-ranking and respected figure as the House Minority Whip. So regardless if it was a slip of the tongue, the present day incarnation of what would be Robinhood's eternal foe (or at least one of the "un"merry men) took an ironic position recently. He grudgingly conceded to the fact that Bush tax cuts exacerbate the deficit problem. This is a sentiment that most conservatives would balk at, considering they are trying to extend the cuts, such as Marco Rubio.

More sadness...

The recent coal mine explosion has shed light on a recent trend.

So, it's not that I am really surprised--more like appalled--that industry insiders (think health care, agi-biz, the financial world) have repeatedly been put in government positions of "oversight". I have mistakenly thought, on occasion, that one of the downsides to living in Korea is the lack of adherence to a set of logical principles.

--from Brad Johnson:

Before yesterday’s tragic explosion, there have been three fatalities at Massey’s Upper Big Branch-South Mine in the last twelve years — one each in 1998, 2001, and 2003. Massey’scorrupt CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce board member Don Blankenship, has previously told employees that it was more important to “run coal” than follow safety regulations.In 2002, President George W. Bush “named former Massey Energy official Stanley Suboleskito the MSHA review commission that decides all legal matters under the Federal Mine Act,” and cut 170 positions from MSHA. Bush’s MSHA chief, Dick Stickler, was a former manager of Beth Energy mines, which “incurred injury rates double the national average.” On October 21, 2009, the Senate confirmed President Barack Obama’s choice to replace Stickler, Joe Main, a “career union official and mine safety expert.” Massey’s Suboleski is still an active review commissioner.

Sad...

If this isn't a good enough reason to leave, I don't know what is...

Massacre Caught on Tape: US Military Confirms Authenticity of Their Own Chilling Video Showing Killing of Journalists

The US military has confirmed the authenticity of newly released video showing US forces indiscriminately firing on Iraqi civilians. On Monday, the website WikiLeaks.org posted footage taken from a US military helicopter in July 2007 as it killed twelve people and wounded two children. The dead included two employees of the Reuters news agency, photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh. We speak with WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange and Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald. [includes rush transcript]

MUST SEE TV

politics aside, probably one of the most awesomely hilarious segments i've seen.

i'm starting to realize why i didn't blog much during my last tenure in the homeland...or maybe i'm just using my recent exhaustion to justify my lack of commitment to document my experiences last year. this year, i may explore a new route to do so. maybe i'll have more time to do so considering my relationships here have changed slightly. more on that later.

night 2=groceries, dinner alone, buying food garbage bags, mcchesney podcast, and then it's straight to bed, mister.

Something In The Way

i'm no longer in lalaland mentally, physically, literally or metaphorically. i'm staying with the old folks in arizona (though i have to admit, eating and living with the rents is not a bad deal--or more accurately, free).

after buying a domestic car i wasn't thrilled about (unlike my parents, who seemed more like commision-free salesmen working for the dealership instead of objective co-searchers), i realized there weren't many reasons that tied my heart to "going back, back, to cali, cali". i mean, besides the investment in the vehicle, it goes WITH saying that it's been all TOO quiet on the western front in terms of jobs or housing.

i've made a couple decent connections. but as a couple friends who live there have warned me, some l.a.-minded folk are really good at talking themselves up/making promises, but aren't so good at backing up their boast/following through on promises. i still haven't heard back from this nbc dude who said he'd "put some feelers out for me"--he said he would follow-up with me a week and a half ago.

so lately, i've been reminded of the slight discouragement a friend of mine had been facing a few months ago when looking for work. at first, he seemed pretty attached to doing something he was pumped about. he wasn't going to be satisfied doing something worthless. but, after seeing how shitty it was trying to find something, he started looking for anything. i too, initially wasn't going to do anything "below me". but like him, i felt the same forces working against me. job market, uneasiness, lack of success...i started applying for just about anything. i just wanted to be doing SOMETHING for the sake of not doing nothing, u know? i had a few responses, but nothing much outside of: lo/no budget, reality, or commercial nonsense.

i know this isn't a perfect world. i've known that for a long time. outside of endless applications, i've had the chance to introduce and reintroduce myself to some of the problems we're facing:

a) the handling of haiti. the way in which the american government has chosen to address the situation has been, up to this point, unacceptable. the haitian government, to its detriment, has given the US military control over its airports; planes, such as the Doctors Without Borders flight, were redirected because of fears of insecurity. in the meantime, perhaps thousands of unnecessary deaths could have been avoided. this is only one example of how america has fell short of actually helping foreign countries (other examples are obvious). with the hundreds of thousands dead, the last thing the poorest country in the western hemisphere needed was a military occupation. But, leave it to the police of the world to live up to its namesake.

b) wall street's grip on washington's balls. (to be further addressed)

c) washington itself...health care as one of many issues as hand. energy policy--further dependence on fossil fuels.

d) the downward spiral of our media. super bowl ads.

needless to say, i've had a bit of a change of heart. i realized that if i eventually want to be in the entertainment sector, i'm not going to sacrifice what i had envisioned my connection to it being. i left my previous job, which had been within the corporate world, in pursuit of something that would hopefully improve the state of society. i know it's might be a bit much to ask for considering the conditions. but hey, i'm a bit of a romantic.

that said, i'm not sure what i'll be doing. i might end up going back to korea earlier than i had expected. but hopefully when i get back, our man and his minions might start living up to the promises (much like some of the ones he made in his state of the union), he's made.

Happy Holidays

turns out that two of my 10 nieces (halle, left; marlena, reght) were the ones who placed baby jesus in his manger...who knew?
so THAT's where bobby fisher has been all these years!
lilly, andrew, meebs...check it out. one of my sisters in the states (wendy--not the one pictured here as you know), in a feat of happenstance, purchased the sacred book (not the bible) that i had so coveted all those times at one of the bookstores in coex. breanna got version one, and i got #2. maybe this will be motivation for more (by "more" i mean "some") korean studies.
snow. oh how i missed thee. sort of.
another of my nieces (aly), enjoying the fruits of my brother's (혜진) labor. he saw me off to the airport in a fancy ass ride with US $200. what else would we purchase with that kind of cheese but a wii?