UCLA's Kye-young Park notes that Korean parents are applying the same model-minority standards to sports as they have always done to academics. "The problem noted by fellow Koreans," she says, "is that Korean parents will reprimand their kids publicly, impose military-like training on them. They're applying the same rigid rules to golf playing."

Park says that when Koreans started immigrating to the United States, they didn't understand the importance of sports in American culture. "It used to be that if you were good at sports, it was a bad sign; it meant you were not good at studies," says Park. "Parents would often discourage their kids from playing sports." But that notion is changing. "Now, Korean parents see sports as a way to become Americanized and get ahead," she adds.

But you know what? It's not that easy. And it ain't so silly. These people [alleging that the Bush Administration carried out the 9/11 attacks], they have a point. They are indeed onto something quite large and ominous and it very much has to do with the media toeing the line of "safe" information and not really asking truly difficult or radically off-track questions of our leaders or of the strangeness happening in the world. Reptilian super-races from the fifth dimension walking among us and secretly mind controlling your child via MSG and fluoridated water? OK, maybe not. But look just a little deeper.

After all, there is indeed ample evidence that the U.S. government, long before 9/11, had already discussed the quite plausible possibilities and strategic benefits of unleashing a "Pearl Harbor"-type event on America for the purposes of creating havoc and fear and furthering certain agendas. This much is a given. And it's just the tip of the iceberg.

[ . . . ]

Real truth, after all, often means anarchy, disorder, revolution. And God knows we can't have that.

The plan for a memorial wall is the brainchild of [Michael] Emerson, a 41-year-old Hayward resident and a former Marine who considers the actions of the Fightin' Five -- Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick, Tom Burnett and Richard Guadagno -- to be the stuff heroes are made of.

[ . . . ]

When investigations began into the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, Emerson felt as if the Flight 93 passengers -- and their actions that day -- had been lost in the shuffle.

"It was like they were being overlooked, like they were just a footnote in the affair,'' he said.

That feeling ate at him until he decided to do something about it.

He contacted Alice Hoglan, the mother of Mark Bingham, and asked her to contact victims' families on his behalf to ask permission to move forward with his project.

"I have passed his letter onto the families with my blessing and I think that he has done a beautiful job,'' Hoglan said. "I would say the families support his project.''

[ . . . ]

The proposed site for the Union City memorial, at Sugar Mill Park adjacent to the giant Union Landing shopping center, was not Emerson's first choice. His own city, Hayward, turned him down when he pitched the memorial about 18 months ago.

[ . . . ]

The memorial would feature 40 stones, one for each passenger aboard the plane, with each of the stones either red, white or blue and carrying the name, age and hometown of the person it represents. The display would stretch 125 feet and be bounded by tiled circles on either end that bear the words "Hope'' and "Remembrance.''

[ . . . ]

The City Council in Union City will consider the plan Tuesday night. The city would donate the land, valued at around $1 million; Emerson would raise contributions to pay for the installation and a bond to ensure that the memorial would be maintained.

Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, finds it "inconceivable" that Russia, France or China might have been influenced in Security Council debates by Saddam Hussein's Oil for Food business and bribes. "These are very serious and important governments," Mr. Annan told Britain's ITV News Sunday. "You are not dealing with banana republics."

Unfortunately, he [Osama bin Laden] escaped in the mountains of Tora Bora. We had him surrounded. But we didn't use American forces, the best trained in the world, to go kill him. The president relied on Afghan warlords and he outsourced that job too. That's wrong.

President Bush and Senator John Kerry have very different views of the war on terrorism, and those differences ought to be debated in this presidential campaign. But the debate should focus on facts, not distortions of history.

On more than one occasion, Senator Kerry has referred to the fight at Tora Bora in Afghanistan during late 2001 as a missed opportunity for America. He claims that our forces had Osama bin Laden cornered and allowed him to escape. How did it happen? According to Mr. Kerry, we "outsourced" the job to Afghan warlords. As commander of the allied forces in the Middle East, I was responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's understanding of events doesn't square with reality.

First, take Mr. Kerry's contention that we "had an opportunity to capture or kill Osama bin Laden" and that "we had him surrounded." We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Some intelligence sources said he was; others indicated he was in Pakistan at the time; still others suggested he was in Kashmir. Tora Bora was teeming with Taliban and Qaeda operatives, many of whom were killed or captured, but Mr. bin Laden was never within our grasp.

Second, we did not "outsource" military action. We did rely heavily on Afghans because they knew Tora Bora, a mountainous, geographically difficult region on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is where Afghan mujahedeen holed up for years, keeping alive their resistance to the Soviet Union. Killing and capturing Taliban and Qaeda fighters was best done by the Afghan fighters who already knew the caves and tunnels.

Third, the Afghans weren't left to do the job alone. Special forces from the United States and several other countries were there, providing tactical leadership and calling in air strikes. Pakistani troops also provided significant help - as many as 100,000 sealed the border and rounded up hundreds of Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Contrary to Senator Kerry, President Bush never "took his eye off the ball" when it came to Osama bin Laden. The war on terrorism has a global focus. It cannot be divided into separate and unrelated wars, one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq. Both are part of the same effort to capture and kill terrorists before they are able to strike America again, potentially with weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist cells are operating in some 60 countries, and the United States, in coordination with dozens of allies, is waging this war on many fronts.

As we planned for potential military action in Iraq and conducted counterterrorist operations in several other countries in the region, Afghanistan remained a center of focus. Neither attention nor manpower was diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq. When we started Operation Iraqi Freedom we had about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, and by the time we finished major combat operations in Iraq last May we had more than 10,000 troops in Afghanistan.

We are committed to winning this war on all fronts, and we are making impressive gains. Afghanistan has held the first free elections in its history. Iraq is led by a free government made up of its own citizens. By the end of this year, NATO and American forces will have trained 125,000 Iraqis to enforce the law, fight insurgents and secure the borders. This is in addition to the great humanitarian progress already achieved in Iraq.

Many hurdles remain, of course. But the gravest danger would result from the withdrawal of American troops before we finish our work. Today we are asking our servicemen and women to do more, in more places, than we have in decades. They deserve honest, consistent, no-spin leadership that respects them, their families and their sacrifices. The war against terrorism is the right war at the right time for the right reasons. And Iraq is one of the places that war must be fought and won. George W. Bush has his eye on that ball and Senator John Kerry does not.

It is agreed that it shall at all Times be free to His Majesty's Subjects, and to the Citizens of the United States, and also to the Indians dwelling on either side of the said Boundary Line freely to pass and repass by Land, or Inland Navigation, into the respective Territories and Countries of the Two Parties on the Continent of America (the Country within the Limits of the Hudson's Bay Company only excepted) and to navigate all the Lakes, Rivers, and waters thereof, and freely to carry on trade and commerce with each other. [emphasis added]

They the said Commissioners, having communicated to each other their full powers, have in virtue of the same, and conformably to the spirit of the last Article of the said treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, entered into this explanatory Article, and do by these presents explicitly Agree and declare, That no stipulations in any treaty subsequently concluded by either of the contracting parties with any other State or Nation, or with any Indian tribe, can be understood to derogate in any manner from the rights of free intercourse and commerce secured by the aforesaid third Article of the treaty of Amity, commerce and navigation, to the subjects of his Majesty and to the Citizens of the United States and to the Indians dwelling on either side of the boundary-line aforesaid; but that all the said persons shall remain at full liberty freely to pass and repass by land or inland navigation, into the respective territories and countries of the contracting parties, on either side of the said boundary-line, and freely to carry on trade and commerce with each other, according to the stipulations of the said third Article of the treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation. [emphasis added]

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to affect the right of American Indians born in Canada to pass the borders of the United States, but such right shall extend only to persons who possess at least 50 per centum of blood of the American Indian race.

Any American Indian born in Canada who at the time of entry was entitled to the exemption provided for such person by the Act of April 2, 1928 (45 Stat. 401), or section 289 of the Act, and has maintained residence in the United States since his entry, shall be regarded as having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. A person who does not possess 50 per centum of the blood of the American Indian race, but who entered the United States prior to December 24, 1952, under the
exemption provided by the Act of April 2, 1928, and has maintained his residence in the United States since such entry shall also be regarded as having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. In the absence of a Service record of arrival in the United States, the record of registration under the Alien Registration Act, of 1940 (54 Stat. 670; 8 U.S.C. 451), or section 262 of the Act, or other satisfactory evidence may be accepted to establish the date of entry.

Two candidates to become the nation’s first astronauts will be selected next May, according to the Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST).

The two candidates will be recruited through a 4-step selection process, beginning with the screening of written applications in December.

They will undergo training sessions at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, from July 2005 to March 2007. Then, they will board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in October 2007 and spend 10 days at the Russian module of the International Space Station, the MOST said.

"The majority of schools will not meet the unrealistic (hurdles), [of the No Child Left Behind Act]" [state Superintendent of Education Jack] O'Connell recently told "The Educator," the magazine of the California Teachers Association, adding that when the number of schools missing the mark soars to "60 or 70 percent," the price tag for helping them will break the bank.

O'Connell has repeatedly said that he prefers the state's approach to holding schools and teachers accountable, which considers a school successful if it raises test scores each year. [emphasis added]

CSU [California State University] campuses spend about $30 million annually on remedial courses to teach material that should have been absorbed in elementary and secondary schools. In 1996, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a get-tough policy saying all freshmen who had not shown they could do college-level work would have to do so within their first 15 months of college or be kicked out.

[ . . . ]

Last fall, only about half of the freshmen who entered the CSU system could read and write proficiently, while just 63 percent were proficient in math. [emphasis added]

On March 19, 2003, George W. Bush and the United States military invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq. A nation that had never attacked the United States. A nation that had never threatened to attack the United States. A nation that had never murdered a single American citizen.

US-led investigators have located nine trenches in Hatra containing hundreds of bodies believed to be Kurds killed during the repression of the 1980s.

The skeletons of unborn babies and toddlers clutching toys are being unearthed, the investigators said.

They are seeking evidence to try Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity.

It is believed to be the first time investigators working for the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) have conducted a full scientific exhumation of a mass grave.

"It is my personal opinion that this is a killing field," Greg Kehoe, an American working with the IST, told reporters in Hatra, south of the city of Mosul.

"Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there, and to take people up there and execute them."

[ . . . ]

The body of one woman was found still clutching a baby. The infant had been shot in the back of the head and the woman in the face.

"The youngest foetus we have was 18 to 20 foetal weeks," said US investigating anthropologist P Willey.

"Tiny bones, femurs - thighbones the size of a matchstick."

[ . . . ]

Mr Kehoe said that work to uncover graves around Iraq, where about 300,000 people are thought to have been killed during Saddam Hussein's regime, was slow as experienced European investigators were not taking part.

The Europeans, he said, were staying away as the evidence might be used eventually to put Saddam Hussein to death.

"If China were to attack Taiwan pre-emptively, we couldn't tell them what to do" (because we pre-emptively attacked Iraq), Jackson said. "We can't address the Sudan and Haiti crises because we don't have the strength to reach beyond the sinking sand of Iraq."

5) You say health care costs are soaring? Well, I'm not the one with a personal injury lawyer on my ticket. I loved the billboards that John Edwards used to have all over North Carolina: "Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE GOT HURT AT WORK AND NOT EVEN KNOWN IT" and "FEELIN' POORLY? LEMME SUE YER DOCTOR!"

[ . . . ]

(15) Senator Kerry, you say you were in favor of threatening to use force on Saddam Hussein, but that actually using force was wrong. The technical term for this in political science is "bullshit."

When I asked Kerry what it would take for Americans to feel safe again, he displayed a much less apocalyptic worldview. ''We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance,'' Kerry said. ''As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life.''

This analogy struck me as remarkable, if only because it seemed to throw down a big orange marker between Kerry's philosophy and the president's. Kerry, a former prosecutor, was suggesting that the war, if one could call it that, was, if not winnable, then at least controllable. If mobsters could be chased into the back rooms of seedy clubs, then so, too, could terrorists be sent scurrying for their lives into remote caves where they wouldn't harm us. Bush had continually cast himself as the optimist in the race, asserting that he alone saw the liberating potential of American might, and yet his dark vision of unending war suddenly seemed far less hopeful than Kerry's notion that all of this horror -- planes flying into buildings, anxiety about suicide bombers and chemicals in the subway -- could somehow be made to recede until it was barely in our thoughts.

Considering her many years in office, her solid liberal track record and her whopping $1.7 million war chest, one might have thought that Carole Migden's state Senate campaign in overwhelmingly Democratic Marin County would be a walk in the park.

Instead, she's managed to turn it into Sherman's March to the Sea.

Case in point: Migden's recent appearance at the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce candidates' debate, where she was booked for a joint appearance with her Republican rival, Andrew Felder.

For many in the audience, it was their first glimpse at the woman who, in all likelihood, will represent them in Sacramento -- and it was an impression few will ever forget.

It started when Migden's staff asked that the debate schedule be reshuffled because she had to leave early.

Organizers did so -- only to have Migden show up late.

When she finally did arrive, Migden stayed outside in the hall and sent word that she wouldn't join the proceedings until Felder was done.

Upon taking the stage, the ever-blunt Migden informed moderator Dick Spotswood that she had come a long way, so forget about the time limit on answers.

The capper came at the end, when she chose to ignore the extended hand of her opponent.

Not once -- but twice.

"The audience was just aghast,'' said chamber President and CEO Elissa Giambastiani.

"You could have heard a pin drop," said Marin Association of Realtors Vice President Edward Segal, a fellow Democrat and former press secretary for the notoriously gruff John Burton.

"It really left a lot to be desired, both in terms of her manners and her conduct as a professional,'' Segal said.

"Was she this arrogant in San Francisco?" Giambastiani asked.

To be honest, yes.

[ . . . ]

And her future with Marin voters? "Maybe it will take some time to warm up," Migden said. "But I've spent two years getting to know the district, and I feel well-prepared to represent it."

Maybe, but so far, her first impressions have helped cost her both the San Rafael chamber's endorsement and that of the Marin Independent Journal.

His lunch partner, junior Phil Zackler, agreed. "We're going to beat Stanford, no problem. But SC is a decent team.'' As to the contention by ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso that "USC will destroy Cal,'' Zachler said, "Lee Corso isn't a bright guy. Where did he go to school -- San Marcos State Teachers College?''

The immense scope of an Iraqi effort in the late 1990s to curry political support for ending an international trade embargo is reflected in a list of more than 1,300 oil "vouchers" that then-President Saddam Hussein gave to more than a hundred corporations, foreign officials and political parties stretching from North America to Asia, according to a report issued on Wednesday by the CIA's Iraq Survey Group.

The vouchers, which provided selective rights to buy Iraqi oil at a discount and to resell it for a huge profit, were provided to both mainstream and opposition political parties in countries such as Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia; to oil companies in Turkey, Japan, Belgium, Italy, Canada and France; to an arms conglomerate in China; and to individuals in Switzerland, Jordan, the Netherlands, Russia, Malaysia and Burma, among others.

Each of the oil sales was approved by the United Nations, which was monitoring Iraqi oil transactions in an effort begun in 1996 -- known as the oil-for-food program -- to ensure that the resulting revenue was used for humanitarian projects. But Iraq saw the program differently, as a key part of a scheme to free itself from the impact of sanctions and, ultimately, to gain political support for their termination, according to the report.

[ . . . ]

"In the late '90s, we understood that lots of shenanigans were going on . . . under-the-table payments and so on, to curry favor and win support for eroding sanctions," said Robert Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state. "We made various efforts to limit the scope of this," he added. But the report said that U.S. officials were blocked by Russia, China and France in 2000 and 2001 when they tried to clamp down on oil sales outside the oil-for-food program.

During a seminar tailored to study global speculative funds on Thursday, Koh Hyong-sik [a Korean attorney who advised Jinro from late 2001 to June 2003] claimed Goldman Sachs made money by allegedly abusing Jinro's internal confidential information and caused the meltdown of the distiller.

"Goldman Sachs gained inside information on Jinro, which wanted the investment bank to consult in its restructuring. Instead of inking a consulting contract, however, Goldman Sachs used the information for its own benefit, which eventually weighed on Jinro's fortunes,'' he said.

After realizing the financial status of Jinro, which applied for court mediation in 1997 and was better than expected, Goldman Sachs snapped up Jinro's stocks and bonds en masse at beaten-down prices, Koh claimed.

[ . . . ]

"Koh is clearly not an objective observer in assessing NGO-driven social justice in this case. He was Jinro's attorney under former Chairman Chang Jin-ho and was a member of the law firm that defended Chang's criminal trial,'' Goldman Sachs Korea said in a statement.

While Boxer has begun running a statewide television campaign, the cash- strapped Jones hasn't matched her. Jones expects to send out more than 1 million pieces of campaign mail this week but won't broadcast ads on television until next week at the earliest, barely two weeks before election day.

Felder knows he has no chance of beating Migden, who will replace longtime liberal senator John Burton. She is so assured of winning that she hasn't posted her plans and priorities on her Web site, mostly because she has not bothered to put up a Web site. She didn't answer the League of Women Voters' online questions during the primary. She is spending much of her war chest not on campaign literature or ads -- who needs 'em? -- but on other Democratic candidates.

Migden has raised about $1.7 million so far. Felder has raised $22,000. His campaign staff is four friends helping out in their spare time. If you call the phone number listed on his Web site (which he put together himself), you get his home answering machine.

[ . . . ]

It is not easy work [educating voters in District 3, which includes the eastern half of San Francisco, Marin County, and part of Sonoma County]. Last weekend at a wine festival in Larkspur, one woman told him she would rather die than vote for a Republican. He told her it probably was not a wise choice. Another woman suddenly stopped in her tracks, presumably having caught the word "Republican'' on the brochure Felder had just handed her. She turned and threw the brochure at Felder, then grabbed the brochure out of her friend's hand and threw that at him, too.

Americans need to think of security in broader terms than bombs and terror, Heinz Kerry said. "Seldom do we think of security in terms of one's job, one's health care benefits, education."

Because those people leaping out of the World Trade Center two years ago weren't trying to escape an inferno, they were distraught because their HMO co-payments were too high.

He said he wants to hold a summit meeting so he can invite other countries to join what he calls the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[ . . . ]

The senator speaks often about his plan to strengthen America's alliances, but he's got an odd way of doing it.

In the middle of the war, he's chosen to insult America's fighting allies by calling them window dressing and the coalition of the coerced and the bribed.

The Italians who died in Nasiriyah were not window dressing. They were heroes in the war on terror.

The British and the Poles at the head of the multinational divisions in Iraq were not coerced or bribed. They have fought and some have died in the cause of freedom.

These good allies and dozens of others deserve the respect of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician.

Instead, the senator would have America bend over backwards to satisfy a handful of governments with agendas different from our own.

This is my opponent's alliance-building strategy: brush off your best friends, fawn over your critics.

As the first major step to reforming the nation's judicial system, American-style law schools will be launched in 2008 and the current bar examination will be phased out by 2013.

The Judicial Reform Committee announced Tuesday that 16 of its 21 members voted to introduce three-year law courses, reaching a final agreement after a year-long debate.

The results will be submitted to the chief of the Supreme Court and then sent to President Roh Moo-hyun for final approval.

According to the plan, the quota for law schools was set at 1,200 students for the first school year. The number is similar to that of those passing the annual bar exam.

The number of those who pass the bar exam will gradually decrease starting from 2008 until it is finally abolished in 2013.

I was tipped into uncontainable rage by a report on Channel 4 News about "friendly fire", which included footage of what must have been one of the most horrific bombardments ever filmed. But what struck home hardest was the subsequent image, of a row of American warplanes, with grinning cartoon faces painted on their noses. Cartoon faces, with big sharp teeth. [like rabbits - ed.]

It is grotesque. It is hideous. This great and powerful nation bombs foreign cities and the people in those cities from Disneyland cartoon planes out of comic strips. This is simply not possible. And yet, there they were.

[ . . . ]

But there was something about those playfully grinning warplane faces that went beyond deception and distortion into the land of madness. A nation that can allow those faces to be painted as an image on its national aeroplanes has regressed into unimaginable irresponsibility. A nation that can paint those faces on death machines must be insane. [emphasis added]

RCAR Halifax, 1944-45
(via DunrobinCastle.com)


RAAF Lancaster bomber
(via 460 Squadron RAAF)


RAF Tornado, 1991
(via RAF Operation Granby (i.e. Desert Storm) page)


RAF Tornado
(via RAF Marham's Operation Telic (i.e. Operation Iraqi Freedom) page)

The Defense Ministry said yesterday that it will inaugurate a special Navy escort squadron to cope with possible terror attacks on Korean vessels.

In a report to the National Assembly's Defense Committee, the ministry said it would quickly mobilize the squadron if South Korean vessels are attacked by terrorist groups in the Malacca Strait, Hormuz Strait and other key international seaways.

The squadron, which will comprise of two destroyers, one support ship, two special inflatable rubber rafts and two anti-submarine LYNX helicopters, are currently undergoing special escort training, the report said.

The ministry said it is considering conducting joint anti-terror naval training with Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.

The ministry also said it plans to reinforce the anti-terror squadron with a 1,300-ton large-scale landing ship, Aegis-equipped destroyers and other Navy ships.

As Park Mi-ran doted over a nervous bride in Daejeon, the soon-to-be wed was so touched by the tenderness and care that she shed tears.

But few people, including the bride's best friend, knew that Park was merely a two-year veteran of a company that rents out friends and family members for wedding ceremonies.

With autumn a peak time for weddings, Oh Jeong-youn, 28, will be busy making sure her work force arrive at ceremonies on time and perform their service with a smile or a tear of joy.

[ . . . ]

Women account for 70 percent of Oh's customers. They may have few friends who are able to attend their wedding or have a weak social network.

For those who would rather marry now and explain later, some people rent parents in hopes of improving the impression of their spouse's parents toward them.

To eliminate questions about a lack of future contact, customers often tell their spouse that their parents live overseas. Oh said she has not heard of any spouse discovering the deception.

A minor part of the business activity also includes renting parents for a casual meeting or celebrating a baby's first birthday.