Saturday, March 31, 2012

This isn't funny...?

This isn't funny, this isn't funny. If I keep saying it maybe it will be true.

A few days ago I wrote a blog discussing the new Kony 2012 video, in which a group of rich, white guys from San Diego advocate removing an admittedly very evil man from power by force. This blogger/journalist nailed my views on them very well and is reflective of the sentiments that seem to be coming from Uganda itself, where the video has been condemned by virtually everyone who has seen it.

Well after much intense criticism I guess the founder of the group couldn't take the pressure and decided to run around in public, screaming and masturbating.

when asked for comment, Russell replied
 "Day destroys the night, 
night divides the day. Try to run, try to hide,
break on through to the other side, Break on through
YEEEEAHHHH. uhhhhh 
Do Do Do Do Purple Haze!"


While I feel for the guy, I kind of see it as a lesson hard learned. I respect their efforts to get people interested in African problems but a group of young, handsome white kids having more of themselves in their video than the intended target and advocating neo-colonialist intervention was going to get some (a lot) of criticism. Especially when the video was so misleading about Kony and even where he is located.

As to the video and campaign, it's dead in the water. This guy will finally be told no (something that I think has never happened to him before) and hopefully will learn the 10 million likes on facebook doesn't amount to anything. If he can bounce back and start a real policy that actually engages with the people they want to help, or inspires someone else to then I'd be the first to applaud him or them, but for now Invisible Children is destined for a trivia show twenty years down the line ("Invisible Children was: A- a number one hit in 1968. B- the number one internet video of 2012 or C- a low budget horror movie from 1988, you have 15 seconds").



Season Opener in Tokyo

Well the series has been split but what is more interesting to me is that the season has started.... in Japan, and has now been suspended until next week. hmmmm.

As to the game, well Ichiro went 4-5 to tie Griffey's 4 hits on an opening day record and Ackerly hit a solo homer. Felix Hernandez pitched brilliantly and everyone else.... well kinda watched. Though to be fair Chone Figgins managed a hit and got on base twice so that was good to see. I love the Mariners but I'm more than a little worried for the season. The best guy on their team, by a fair margin, is 38 years old. Felix pitched what you'd expect but at the end of the day these young guys that are being toted as the future are really not producing. I know it's only two games but still.

I'm also not sure how I feel about two MLB games being played in Japan. For Oakland this is two home games lost (though they got 44,000 plus in attendance both nights, I'd love to see them get those numbers back to back in Oakland ever so maybe the fans need to take some responsibility for losing those games). While I love the idea of touring I'm not sure why they can't wait until the off season like they do with soccer in Europe. I mean, 22 of 3 teams will be done by the second week of October, why not tour then? Send two teams to Japan, two to Korea, two to Venezuela, heck make the Jays play a few games against Baltimore in Montreal, Calgary or Vancouver. It would generate extra revenue for the teams while not costing home fans regular season games. If you want to make the games more competitive, how about the team that wins their overseas series hosts the team that loses on Opening Day the next year (no having a home opener a week later for the winning team)? That being said the Japanese fans were amazing, and it was great to see that level on enthusiasm.

Friday, March 30, 2012

A Night Out in Sangin

Last night Paul came up from his new place in Ulsan to catch up. We haven't really had much of a chance to hang out this year, as he was in New Zealand in January and February. Kris and Mike were out for BBQ so we opted to join them and eat. Originally they were going downtown but then opted to stay and we ate and drank until late.

This morning we got up feeling okay and did some shopping and ate. He then headed back while I came home, made coffee and caught highlights of the second Mariners game in Japan and called Bobby to wish him a happy 25th.

Sunday I'm not sure whats going on but if the weather stays this good a hike is in the works. I also want to chat with my sister as it's her birthday this weekend but being that she's in Italy that may not be.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I guess I'm batting about .650

Well to start off with my strikeout. The EPIK program again looks like it will be a bust and I won't be making the transition to public schools. The reason is that the Korean Ministry of Education has decided that new teachers will not be able to pick their location AT ALL. So I could apply and wind up teaching in Sockcho, or Mokpo or somewhere else 6 hours from Daegu. I mean talk about dumb. How many teachers who live here now will pass on this solely because they have a life in their city and can't, or at least don't want to, uproot. On the plus side, it looks like they didn't get enough teachers last February and a few of them have decided to do runners so there are quite a few public jobs available now. I may just wait and apply when the 24 year old theatre major decides that using chopsticks is too hard and decides to get on a plane one Saturday six weeks after they show up. However, I may wind up in an after school program or even an academy again. So that's not exactly what I was looking for.

My hits have come with grad school and gym. The Applied Linguistics MA looks like it will be a go to start in the fall so even if I have a less than stellar job I'll be working on that, which when finished (in 2-3 years....) will catapult me in to university work around the globe, allowing me to teach n Asia and Latin America or do university admin in Canada or the US. While I'm not exactly excited about a lengthy MA program I know that the light at the end of the tunnel is a career that will allow me to live around the world. It also has me in Korea much longer than I had ever thought I'd be here, but to leave with an MA and maybe a solid second language (classes starting up again in April) it will certainly not have been a waste of time.

My other hit has come at the gym, where I've been going a minimum 3 times a week (usually 4-5) for the last three months. I'm down two belt sizes but have actually gained weight. I feel stronger and have heaps more energy than I ever used to. While I still have a LONG way to go, I can already see real results. I also need to start eating a bit better but one thing at a time :)

New web designs for everything

Please stop!

First facebook hoisted its 'timeline' on us. I actually don't hate it as much as the FB ticker but I would have liked it as an option, or as a second profile view. For example keep 2012 in the old format but do timeline for earlier years, and make that an OPTION. I also hate that it has become impossible to find most things on facebook, and things like my map app has been re-tagged for me, and it's all wrong. I have never been to Guam and Daejeon is not located in southwest Korea (just to name a few).

My blog site has also done a new overhaul which puts my stats up first instead of my blogs. I guess some people are that vain but I'd like to see what I've posted or what other people have posted rather than how many people view my site. Although to their credit the blogger site is at least easier to navigate. the old site was fine but this one is idiot proof. Facebook could learn a thing or two from their web design.

Monday, March 26, 2012

1130 and I've already been through three bureaucracies

is it okay to drink before work?

I woke up early to head out to Daegu immigration to get my CRC and degree verified, again, so that I could change over to an EPIK (public school) job, as I was told to do by my recruiter for the Korean Ministry of Education (bureau1). So I get there, wait 20 minutes, get a very nice lady who has absolutely no idea why I want my stuff verified again when my current stuff is still good (bureau2). If I have a contract already I can switch my visa over, but I need that contract first. Just submit your current ones and you should be fine. Not what MoE says, but that's the job of bureaucracy.

Next off to the post office to pick up my mailed letter of recommendation. No, not this Dalseo post office, the other one (bureau3). Well I guess I still have time to go get it but I'm sleepy, hungry and I start work in two hours.

Groan.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Kim Jong-Un photo of the week 25/3/12

This week we see Kim with three ageing 47 star generals.  

The one on the far left gained fame when he successfully drove the Mongols from Korea.

In north Korea their generals are so good that they go way above five stars,
as you can see by the numerous decoration these generals have.

Their guitar amps also go to 11.

I wasn't the only one is Seoul this weekend

President Obama was in Seoul as well, to meet with Korean president Lee Myung bak and tour the DMZ ahead of the Nuclear Summit in Seoul this week. It's the second such summit and it's goal is an admirable one of creating a nuclear free world and keeping such dangerous material out of the hands of religious nutjobs and countries that might actually use them. On that note the choice of locations is hardly a coincidence. North Korea, after agreeing to suspend nuclear activity in exchange for food has now decided to test a satellite missile for its space program. Now first off, a north Korean space program? really? The Russians need western billionnaires to spend millions of US dollars to book passage with them just to keep their program afloat and they have one of the most advanced space programs on earth and are still a major global economy. While the idea of New Pyongyang on the moon may appeal to Hungry Hungry Kimmo the idea that north Korea can finance and maintain a space program (something the US can't seem to do these days) is actually borderline comical. The idea that the north needs a satellite is also ridiculous. For what? Their non-existent cell phones and satellite TV? It's obvious that to anyone with two IQ points to rub together that this is an attempt to test a missile that they want to strap a nuke to, and that is concerning for the rest of us.

I'll do a proper nuclear summit blog after it happens, but for now Obama is here and so too are 54 world leaders including all the UN security council members and the G20 nations.

Seoul weekend. Pt. 2 - Sunday

Sunday we got up at 8 as we were trekking across Seoul to meet Jenny, Kwang ho, Jin baek and Jenny jr. to check out the Seoul zoo. The night before we had stopped off at a real bakery near Bobby's place. I say real because many bakeries in Korea give themselves French names like 'Paris Baguette' or 'Tous Les Jours' but only about half the stuff in them even looks like bread you'd find at a bakery in Europe. While I had a shower Bobby made pancakes and we had that and a muffin. I should also add that Bobby's place in Ilsan is, well, amazing. His last place in Yeonshinnae made my old place in Seongseo look good. Bobby moved to a new branch of his school solely because of the poor quality of his old apartment (think below ground with window out to ground level of alleyway, if someone was standing in front of his window you could see them from the shins down). Wanting a better place is something I totally understand. This new place is huge, warm, has a shower that could be in a 4 star hotel, 7th floor and lots of natural light. Anyway we ate breakfast and then hopped on the subway around 10, getting to Seoul grand park at 1130.

We all met up in front of the entrance and headed in. We quickly realised that we would not have enough time to see it all as I had a train to catch at 415 and the zoo would take a whole day to see. We opted (or rather baby Jenny opted) to see big animals so we headed off to African Safari. Here's the group:
me and Jenny jr.
I started to hum 'Eye of the Tiger'
she didn't get it.
I guess it was before her time.......

Jenny showing that alligator statue who's boss

Jenny, Kwang ho and Jenny jr.
Bobby out front (yeah, Seoul is still very cold... suckers :)

Jin baek (Jenny's sister).

While Jenny jr. had been terrified of me in previous encounters she seemed very comfortable with he this time and even remembered who I was (a first). She let me carry her around (demanded at one point) and was happy to have me take her picture. It amazes me how much energy a two year old can have, and how curious they are about everything. We headed out to see the African safari animals, which included zebra's, antelopes, giraffes and gorilla's. We then headed in to the SE Asian exhibit which was done in a giant dome and featured crocs and other tropical animals (walking in to that 28 degree dome was also great, I felt tropical for 20 minutes... I want that weather again soon).

welcome to tropic dome

a Siamese Crocodile

an Indian tiger


By the time we finished in Asia dome it was 3 and Bobby and I had to start to get going (I had a 30 minute subway ride to Seoul station and he had to be back by five for F1 racing) so we headed to the subway. We said goodbyes and headed to the subway. Seoul zoo is actually quite well done and compares very well to other zoo's I've seen in Asia (zoo's here are often less than satisfactory when it comes to animal enclosures and health). While a few of the monkey cages were, well cages most of the enclosures were fairly large and spaced far enough apart to give the animals some rest. There were also lots of activities to keep children happy.

looks happy to me.

I parted ways with Bobby at Seoul station (he continued on his way to his transfer and home). Actually with the app for subways in Korea we were able to time our trip, organize the fastest way to get where and calculate how long it would take. It worked well as I got to Seoul Station, had time to use the toilet and eat a muffin, and got on the train with 5 minutes to spare. 

I had an amazing time though I was amazed at how cold Seoul still is. I have had my spring jacket on a few days in Daegu but no chance up there yet. When the wind came up it was downright cold. Amazing the difference in climate over a relatively small area. Anyway, great weekend to catch up with some wonderful people up in Seoul.


Seoul weekend. Pt.1 - Saturday

This weekend, being almost Bobby's birthday and a while since I got out of Daegu, I opted to head up to Seoul the visit Bobby and hang out. . I got up at 730 to be on the subway by 845 to get to Dong Daegu station, pick up my tickets and get on the 950 KTX to Seoul. 2 hours at 300kph later I met Bobby at Seoul station and we began the 80 minute subway ride out to Incheon to visit their Chinatown and see the ocean.

I haven't been to Incheon since before I started this blog despite it being one of my favourite places in Korea as it's a few hours to get to, even with the KTX and the connection via the subway. It's a great port city with a history as a place for immigrants to Korea. Before the 1980's these immigrants were almost exclusively Chinese, who have actually been living and working in Incheon for many years and the Chinatown there, while not as big as ones I've seen in Malaysia or Canada, is really cool and has very authentic Chinese foods, authentic Chinese ceramics

and authentic Chinese moonshine.

We ducked in to a rather nice Chinese restaurant for lunch but found the best part of the food to be the Tsingtao beer. I mean not to be too harsh, But Woon Lee Inn in North Van makes better Sweet and Sour pork and our mandu was the stuff I buy at Homeplus for $7 a bag. While the food was disappointing the rest of Chinatown was anything but. I managed to buy some Taiwanese Kiaoshung, a clear liquor which I had last seen in Taiwan but had never tried. It was a $4 tester bottle which gave Bobby and me just a shot each, which was good because it was god awful. However, I think we were both glad to try something new. Needless to say when I want Taiwanese alcohol I'll get some of their beer (which is actually really good). I also got some very pricey imported green tea (which upon tasting it I think is jasmine tea). The woman there was also amazing, she was Chinese but spoke fluent Korean and passable English. It's imported directly from mainland China and is amazing. 

We then headed to Wolmi do, an "island" (what they mean is that Wolmi island is actually a peninsula) next to the Incheon port. It's about 2k to walk, and the walk takes you around the port of Incheon, which is impressive to see in its own right, even if it's not all that photogenic. When we got to the waterfront (via Wolmi park) it was beautiful....... but the wind was howling


the sea was angry that day my friends

so we ducked in to a nice coffee/smoothie place that by a coincidence was the same one I had visited when I was in Incheon in 2009. We had a window view in the sun and enjoyed the beautiful ocean side with a view of  Yeongjong island (where Incheon airport is located) .

our view, we must have watched 10 planes land 
in the 40 or so minutes we stayed there.

While we were having a great time the wind outside was howling and we were looking at a good 2-3 hour transit back to Ilsan, where Bobby lives. With that in mind we walked back to Incheon station and hopped on the subway at 545. After two transfers and 2 hours made it to Gimpo airport (where I had not been since the day I arrived in Korea way back in late 2008) and caught a bus to Ilsan and got in to Bobby's place by 8. Having spent close to seven hours on the subway, train and a bus I was ready to settle down so we dropped our stuff off and headed out to see his neighbourhood.

Ilsan is a great area of Seoul. It's in the far, far far far northwest of the city (90 minutes on the subway to Seoul station) so it has a bit of a town vibe while still feeling like part of Seoul. It also blows my mind that where we were is only about 20kms from the DMZ and yet there it was neon lights and meat restaurants as far as the eye could see. We tried a BBQ place which had some great sam gyeop sal (fried pork) before moving on to a solid makgeolli jip. It'll do as Bobby's local place, but I'd like to see if we can find him a better one. the crowd was young and the place was cool, but the food and drink were so so. We were there for a bit and being that neither of us have really been drinking much at all these days (I'm gym and slimming down and he's training for a bike marathon) we've both become light weights. Actually that was a nice thing as I had a great time but was able to get up at 8 the next day. We then headed back to his place, set up some video game emulators and managed some Mario Kart 64 and some Super Mario 3. Bobby also tried to teach me all about F1 racing, which I've learned is way more of a skill than I had given it credit for being and way less redneck than NASCAR. I also learned why it is that smart racing fans watch F1 and guys who marry their cousins and think of the dentist as communism watch NASCAR. Very interesting actually. We turned in around 2 with the alarm set for 8am.




Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Planning a weekend in Seoul

I've opted to go visit Bobby in Seoul for his birthday. While it isn't technically until next weekend, this weekend seemed a better fit. Saturday we plan to head out to Incheon, a city I visited in 2009 and loved. Then we take off ti Ilsan, his suburb, for dinner and hanging out. It's a lot of train travel for me, but that's okay. I was last up in Seoul in November so I'm looking forward to heading up again.

Also in the neighbourhood this weekend is Barack Obama, who will be in Seoul for the Nuclear Summit next week. Maybe I can be like my brother and catch a glimpse of him in his armoured car, though he'll be out by COEX so probably not :(

So with spring finally arriving I'm hoping for a solid weekend :)

Monday, March 19, 2012

a bit of a working weekend

Well not that bad.

Friday night I hit the gym and then went out with Mike and Kris for real Korean BBQ and a few beers. It was a solid night that still ad me home by one.

Saturday I managed to finish yet more paperwork for my grad school and public school apps. I also managed to transfer most of my files to my new laptop, a cheap HP I bought second hand (though it's six months old and has only been used twice previously). It's a mini that hooks up to my big monitor, so it's great for the road and for use at home. After a few hours I headed back to the gym to burn off stress.

Sunday I enjoyed the nice weather with a walk and then wasted time on my new laptop and watching Supernatural.

A solid weekend.



....... and next weekend with a trip to Seoul in the works I'll have much more to blog about.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Incheon to host 2014 Asian Games. Korea will host Asia Series

A bit late but Incheon is set to host the 2014 Asian Games. These games are the equivalent of the Commonwealth Games, in that they do have a high level of competition, but fall short of the Olympics. This is the first major sporting event Korea has hosted since 2002 when they hosted both the FIFA World Cup and the Asian Games in Busan (I mean major, not Gwangju Olympiad or Daegu track and field). It's great to have it up in Incheon too, a really cool city that always seems to get outshined by its proximity to Seoul (heck those of us outside of Gyeonggi-do usually lump it in with Seoul, I mean it's where the airport is :P). However it's a great city in its own right and this attention is probably a good thing. I was also happy to see it is being funded almost exclusively by local companies or Korean major companies with the tax payer only covering bridge and road upkeep or upgrades.

The other big(ish) sports news is that Korea will host the Asia series for the first time. This is the competition where the top teams from Asian baseball leagues play each other for the title of Asian champion. This year will have six teams with the champions from Japan, Taiwan, Australia, China and Korea competing as well as a second Korean team (for no apparent reason that I can see other than they are host country). It's certainly not a huge competition but it does offer the leagues a chance to gauge where they are with respect to other leagues in Asia (and if any of them are getting as good as the Japanese teams). Still, will be worth a weekend in Seoul I think.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Kim Jong-Un photo of the week 13/3/12

kim jong un looking at food

Here we see the Dear Successor looking at the first U.S food shipments. As requested, it is a series of dessert trays that the Dear Successor will eat in a single evening and then claim as a feat of strength over the American Imperialist.

You can see by his mezmerized glare that he is very focused on the ë–¡ (Korean rice cakes).

The general on the far right seems equally mezmerized by Kim Jong-Un's physical girth.

The one on the left has clearly been responsible for taste testing the suspicious looking ones and is desperate to finish the photo op and step out for a few minutes.

Monday, March 12, 2012

where's my spring?

Well after we hit a 17 degree high two weeks ago the weather has again gone cold, with overnight lows getting below freezing again (after two weeks of warming up). Although daytime highs this week are supposed to be in the 10-14 range those cold nights are still miserable. It makes getting off of work at 9 a bit rough, especially with the 20 minute walk to the gym most nights. While it's nowhere near our January lows (-10, just inhumanly cold), it's still a long way from May's 28 and sunny.

K, I'll stop whining now, it's almost 6 degrees outside :P

Sunday, March 11, 2012

my March week

Monday night Geoff's parents were in town and we all went out for 막장. I remember how cool it was when my dad came out and it's always fun to show parents around. They are all off to Vietnam this week so it was only a short 6 day trip to Korea. Not nearly enough time to see it all but enough to at least have a look around.

Tuesday I managed to snag a bit of dairy by mistake causing me to take my first sick day at work. You know you hear the expression violently ill but you don't really know what it is til you have it.

Thursday and Friday were solid work and gym days.

The weekend consisted of cleaning the apartment and testing out my new laptop, oh yeah, I bought a mini for 250,000won on Thursday (actually it was Kris', but since he only used it twice before receiving a better one it's basically new). I can also plug it in to my monitor at home so I don't lose my big screen.

So all in all, a normal week :P

Friday, March 9, 2012

Kony 2012, my thoughts

I guess it's been everywhere on social media sites, discussion boards and now even the news, so I thought I'd chime in on it.

It's a video done by Invisible Children, a charity based in California, describing in detail the horrors of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, led by Joseph Koniy. Kony is an African warlord and a religious zealot (Christian nut job) who is not above using child soldiers, sex slaves and butcher civilians. He has waged a largely unsuccessful war for 24 years from Uganda, Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo. While Kony is univerally reviled, this campaign by IC has raised so many red flags that inaction is all but inevitable. Here's why:


Invisible Children (the Charity) -

Wow, talk about shady, here's IC's 2010 tax return, or lack thereof, from the U.K (where they are required to file one). To be fair though they did file in the U.S, where most of their funding comes from. Charity Navigator gives them a rating of two, or as they claim in their rebuttal, a three. Now I don't know which one is true (for what year etc.), but either way short of a four. They claim to get a 2 of 4 on transparency because they only have four board members, not five (and as a side note not one of which is African, which will become important later). Maybe that's true, but then why does their own website list seven members on their board? Also, doesn't that mean that they started their mass campaign without a proper board of directors? Well done guys. Here's a break down of finances that they provide:

Graphic

any Fox News critics out there?

A GIANT 9.6% for "awareness products" proudly wedged between a tiny 16.24% Management and 7.27% Film and Media creation. By their own admission they balance their money out between programs in Africa, making videos to raise awareness and "channeling effort". Here's their breakdown of how they spend:

  1. 1) Make the world aware of the LRA. This includes making documentary films and touring them around the world so that they are seen for free by millions of people.
  2. 2) Channel energy from viewers of IC films into large-scale advocacy campaigns to stop the LRA and protect civilians.
  3. 3) Operate programs on the ground in LRA-affected areas that provide protection, rehabilitation and development assistance.

Now I know that 16% for management and salaries is normal in most charities. In fact people who think that 100% of their money can go directly to aid effectively are naive. Look at the Red Cross. Responsible for coordinating, training, and delivering assistance WITHIN 24 HOURS to anywhere in the world. That takes serious administration and you need capable, highly skilled people to do that. I mean, anyone really begrudge the head of the Japanese Red Cross making $85,000 USD last year? The New Zealand one the year before? How about Red Cross leaders in 2004 or 2005 in Bangkok, Jakarta or Singapore? I don't. But as far as I can tell this charity is essentially three friends, a 4-7 member board of directors (depending on which part of their site you look at) and a support staff numbering 104, many with jobs such a "mentor" or no job listed. Now all of this is purely SPECULATION on my part, but it's based on logical assumptions (that could easily be wrong). $1.45 million on salaries for a staff that size isn't outrageous (divide it by 104 and you get about $14,000 a year per person) but are the Ugandan drivers and mentors getting anywhere near that (I'm NOT saying that they aren't, just saying that that info is unavailable)? In fact if the board members get 30% (again not unusual) then each of the seven members has a $62,000 salary, or $107,000 on a four member board. If IC would post these numbers (be transparent) I could put them as fact, but for now it's logical assumptions.

But iffy tax returns and corporate spending are not enough to condemn a charity, and IC is no different. But this is:


Invisible Children advocate armed intervention (you know, by someone else):


Yup, they openly advocate U.S "advisors" in Uganda working with the military to bring Kony down. So if you give them cash you are, in effect, donating to INCREASE violence. But that's okay right? Uganda are the good guys. Actually if any of those child soldiers are gay Kony might be a better bet, as the Ugandan government has now made homosexuality punishable by death. Now that may little to do with child soldiers, but it gives me cause to question how enlightened the Ugandan government is and it does have me questioning their "good guy" status. But it'll end child soldiers and rape right? Maybe. The Ugandan government has recruited child soldiers in the past, although none are known to be active now.

But realistically what are they asking us to donate to, and campaign for? Remove Kony through armed force and bring him to trial, but to what end? He has a command structure and his second-in-command would likely just take over and continue. Attack and destroy the LRA using US forces? Could do, but that is an undertaking that would have the potential to dwarf Iraq and even Vietnam. First off you are talking about the invasion of a huge territory occupied by multiple states. Iraq is 438,317 square kilometers and yet 130,000 US troops and 20,000 UK and Australian troops could not secure it. Now look at what IC is asking:

Uganda-          236,040
South Sudan-  619,745
CAR-             240,534
RoCongo-      342,000
total-              1,437,319 square kilometers.

That's a lot of land.

Now on the plus side his removal would have the support of many of the locals, so perhaps not as many troops would be needed, but to provide security to villages and just search an area that size, well less wouldn't be an option. Add to that the idea of western colonialism would be powerful and it would give the LRA support that it does not enjoy now. Also, what is to be done once the LRA is removed? If the U.S forces just knock them out and leave, do we seriously believe that Uganda and South Sudan are capable of maintaining a peace? What are the odds that some other militia won't just draft these kids (there are other militias in central and sub-saharan Africa). Think about it, you would have hundreds of armed, hungry and traumatised orphans running around. This is Peter Pan from hell. You also have Kony's adult army who may not take kindly to being shot at by U.S drones and maybe, just maybe, will fight back. This would require U.S forces not just for the attack, but for the cleanup, a cleanup that would likely last a generation as these kids would need rehabilitation and education and security to make sure another generation wouldn't go down the same path. So a generation of U.S troops in Africa. No matter what the intentions THAT will scream colonialism. Not only that, the toll that would take on the finances, logistics and most importantly emotions of the families and the countries that send these troops off. I wouldn't blame an American mom who didn't want her son dying in Africa or a U.S taxpayer who didn't want to finance another seemingly neverending overseas conflict. However, a generational occupation IS what would be required, with the hope that Uganda will become more interested in ending child slavery than erradicating homosexuals, which at present they are not.

Finally, remember that in all of this, IC is a group of white kids from California. Not one member of their board is African. They are advocating military intervention in Africa from San Diego. They are telling the Africans what they need, not asking them. That reeks of a colonial mentality to me. It shows no respect for the very people they are trying to help and in fact their entire approach suggests that they have little respect for Africans as equals.

So to sum up with a comparison:

Is Kony a bad guy? yes
should he have to face justice? yes
was Saddam Hussein a bad guy? yes
should he have had to face justice? yes
do the Iraqi people appreciate the U.S invasion? nope
did invading Iraq to get him do more harm than good to the Iraqi people? yes
would it be any different in central Africa? ______ (you tell me)
has western intervention ever ended well, anywhere, in the long run? _______ (you tell me)


Finally, as a side argument. Rwanda. We sat by and watched a genocide. Terrible. Except that western intervention was the root of that same genocide. German colonists showed up in the 19th century and saw two groups. One group, the Hutu, we short and dark. The other group, the Tutsi, were taller and whiter. 19th century western values assumed the Tutsi must be better (I mean, just look at them, their noses are bigger). So the German (and Belgian colonial government after WWI) educated Tutsi and put them in positions of power while making the Hutu virtual serfs. As you can imagine the Hutu didn't care for this arrangement and after WWII they drove the Belgians out and started getting revenge. The Tutsi fought back. Belgians interfered, the French interfered (the French even assassinated a former Rwandan president in 1980). It just got worse. Finally 1993. We watch and are damned for it, outcry at this genocide that came "out of nowhere". But then Kurt Cobain shot himself and we all forgot about it. We left Rwandans to fix their own mess totally abandoned by us heartless, fat, colonialists........and they are doing a darn fine job of it. Imagine that. All westerners have sent over since 1993 are educators and food and Rwandans are building a lasting peace all by themselves (Rwanda is hailed in Africa as a 21st century African success story). They have a long way to go, but they are doing more in 20 years than colonial governments did in 120. Maybe these Africans aren't as dumb as groups like IC think they are? Maybe if we treated them like a neighbour down on his luck rather than a child who needs a spanking and a handout they'd do just fine on their own. BTW - I'm not saying that the UN shouldn't have provided a safe place for people fleeing genocide to go in 1993, that was cowardly. However, the Germans, Belgians and French are as much to blame as anyone else and the best thing any of them ever did for Rwanda was leave.


So before deciding to support this group, make sure you understand what it is that you are supporting.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Spring Training

Just a few thoughts on the upcoming season and whats being talked about at spring training this year.



Expansion of the Playoffs -

There are now two wildcard teams bringing the grand total number of teams in the playoffs to ten. Basically what would happen is that two wildcard teams would have a playoff game to see who would get in to the playoffs. I hate it. Passionately. Eight teams is already more than enough. Ten teams with a cheezy gimmick to make the playoffs? Is this the NHL now? See this is why I no longer follow the NHL (besides the fact that it has become soccer on ice). It's a gimmick. 16 of 30 teams make the playoffs, which last 2+ months. Overtime where it's 4-4 followed by a shootout? You get a point even if you lose, so long as you take more than 3 periods to lose? This sounds like something Vince McMahon (who introduced Elvis impersonators cracking guitars over coked-out bodybuilders heads to professional sports) would come up with. Imagine baseball with the pre-1969 playoff structure. The top team of the AL and NL play eachother. 2011 would have been a Yankees/Phillies series, which would have been better than anything we got. Now that being said the wildcard and three divisions has made August and September baseball amazing, while keeping the playoff standards relatively high. Structurally baseball has the most exciting regular season format in sports. So why change it? This would mean that in practice, this year with a 10th team Boston and Atlanta would still have had a wildcard 2 berth where they'd have played St. Louis and Tampa Bay respectively in a one game playoff. Good games? yes. Good for baseball? no. The Red Sox threw away a 9 game lead in September, they shouldn't get some back door 2nd chance. However added to this is teh fact that the wildcard team can play a team in their division in the division series.
...... is this just an incredibly elaborate attempt to guarantee a Red Sox/Yankees matchup every year?



Ryan Braun -

Man is this the story that the MLB doesn't want. He tests positive for HGH and denies it, fighting it until it comes back that the sample was so badly handled that it can not be used as evidence. He is exonerated! Or is he?

Inncocent arguement: He didn't gain a pound all season and didn't get faster or stronger and his testosterone was 3x higher than normal. Braun is a class act and didn't give scripted answers, he came out fighting the way a person who knows he has been wrongly accused would do. The sample was taken Saturday night. After it was taken the guy who took it brought it back to his house and put it in the basement until Monday afternoon when he Fedexed (is that a verb?) it to be tested in Montreal. What was it doing in his basement for two days? Anyone could have tampered with it. You can't convict with procedure like that so he is innocent. Finally, he is innocent until proven guilty, Braun never was.

Guilty argument: You can start using steroids just before the playoffs and they will have an effect. 3x higher is not actually that crazy (it's what they are supposed to do after all). He made one statement and then hid away for three months, is that really "coming out fighting?" Just because the material in inadmissable doesn't mean you didn't do it. If the police bust a guy with 20 marijuana plants and it later turns out that they entered the premisis illegally the case is thrown out, but that doesn't mean the guy wasn't growing marijuana. If the guy who had taken the sample had followed procedure would Braun still be innocent? Finally, he is innocent until proven guilty, which is what the urine test determines.

Whether he did it or not is unimportant as this will hang over his head, and baseball's, for the rest of his career. Legally he is innocent but in the court of public opinion, which all sports ultimately rely on, it's a far from closed case. I think how well he plays over the next 2-3 seasons will determine how innocent he is the eye of the public. I'd like to give him teh benefit of the doubt, but we'll see.



Jason Varitek, Jorge Posada and Tim Wakefield retire -

Three huge names on two huge teams have all retired. In the case of Wakefield and Posada it's probably about time (and maybe someone should have asked Posada to take Rivera with him). Both great players but both past their prime and struggling this past season. Still both guys are legends and will leave a void. It'll be interesting to see what the Red Sox and Yankees look like without them. Varitek is the one that really surprises, but in a good way. In a generation where Abert Pujols and Prince Fielder will ditch teams that gave him everything for a few more dollars, guys like Mark Teixeira will run after any team that will pay him a bit more and guys like Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez are proven cheats it's great to see a franchise player, who played the game with integrity, retire on top. The fact is that he is probably good enough to play another season to two as a backup catcher or DH in Houston (DH after this season) or Kansas City but he opted to end his career as a member of the Red Sox. It's hard to think of too many other guys who have done that. Derek Jeter in NY, Chipper Jones in Atlanta, Ichiro Suzuki in Seattle, Yadier Molina in St. Louis. There's probably a few more but it's a rare player that will stay loyal to his team when more money is available.



Manny Ramirez* is back -

The Oakland Athletics signed Roid Ramirez to a minor league gig. He serves 50 of his 100 game suspension (not 100 for some reason...) and then he can play. It's not the dumbest move, as it's a minor league contract that will increase ticket sales and if he is as good off roids as on them he might give the A's a few good games. Still, I was happy to see another of the roid ragers gone for good. Unlike Alex Rodriguez* or Barry Bonds* or Jason Giambi* I have a soft spot for Manny just cause he cracks me up, but I have no doubt that he is bad for the game.



Houston will join the AL in 2013 -

I actually like this a lot. It balances out the three divisions, although it does assure interleague play lasts all season, which does kinda suck. However, it makes 6 divisions of five teams each and puts a team in the AL west that the Mariners may be able to beat up on. I imagine they'll be more on this next year, but for now it's great to see Selig doing something right (as opposed to wildcards for everybody).



A.J bunts a ball in to his eye-

It looked very painful, but he's gonna be fine, so it's okay to laugh now. Hope to see him in May.