Iraq and South Korea. Are They The Same

Today President George W. Bush made a rather astonishing pronouncement when he tried to equate Iraq's future to the development of South Korea with the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean war. Can one be compared to the other it doesn't seem possible.


Korea became a nation state with the creation of Gojoseon in under the rule of Dangun. Koreans adopted the Chinese writing system which they call Hanja in the the second century BC with Buddhism arriving in the fourth century BC. These two events would have a profound impact on the people and rulers of Korea. When the Silla dynasty began in 676 this would solidify Korea as a single country with a shared language and culture which would not be interrupted until the Japanese annexed the country by the force of arms in 1910 and remain as its colonial ruler until World War II ended.


Modern Iraq is located in what was once known as Mesopotamia and is of course considered and rightfully so as one of the cradles of civilization. The
Sumerian's Are believed to have created the first known civilization and theirs was followed by the Akkadian's, Babylonian's, and Assyrian cultures whose influence reached beyond there area of origin. Because of its location those who ruled this part of the world were always susceptible to invasion. Among those who have ruled here: Islamic Caliphate , the Mongols and the Ottoman Empire. World War I came to an end with the British in control of most of the Middle East. Iraq was created by the British and they were the ones who established Iraq's first formal government. Iraq was never a true modern nation state until its creation. Political power in Iraq centered around these three cities Baghdad, Mosul and Basra.

How are Iraq and South Korea similar? That's a real good question.

Koreans have a single language are homogeneous, have a shared religion and they have a long history as a nation. After the partition of the Korean peninsula following World War the South Koreans began, what would become a long quest towards democratic rule. Yes, there was a military dictatorship which started with a coup my General Park Chung-hee and would last until 1988 when the first real honest and free elections would take place.

Iraq doesn't have a similar history not as it exists today. The country is divided along ethnic lines. With the Kurds holding a majority in the north. The Sunni's holding a majority in the center and the Shiites having a majority in the south. Their religion is not shared nor is their culture at least not as a Korean would see it. Iraq's modern history is that is dominated by the interests of western governments and those nations major oil companies all seeking to control Iraq's natural resources.


George Bush is delusional to believe that one can compare the situation in Korea with that of Iraq.

Sunday's Good Karma/Bad Karma

Really Good Karma

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

FUKUOKA--One thing about meeting Yoshi Kuzume is that you can be pretty sure she'll give you a T-shirt.
It's her way of promoting peace. For the past two years, the university instructor has been spreading the pacifist message in Article 9 of Japan's Constitution by handing out T-shirts bearing the words--in Japanese on the front and English on the back

People need know that while Abe likes all things ultra conservative there is a large segment of the population who do not.

USA Patriot Act Karma

The Seoul Central District Court ruled on May 18 that a portal site should compensate others for damages if it does not take any action to tackle online replies written by Internet users for the purpose of discrediting someone.

This ruling will hold portal sites accountable for ignoring legal responsibilities for libel while virtually acting as the press by supplying news provided by the media. Therefore, the decision is expected to affect operators of Internet portals.

The presiding judge ruled against four portal sites in motion for compensation for damages amounting to 500 million won. The judge ruled that “Portals should give 16 million won to Mr. Kim,” who sued the sites insisting that, “I was damaged because they left online replies containing my personal information and articles defaming me on their websites.”

Always blame the provider for the wrong doings of others.

Stupid is as Stupid does Karma

By ASIT JOLLY

Chandigarh, May 19: The violence that spread like a contagion through the towns of Punjab in the wake of the confrontation between adherents of the Dera Sacha Sauda and Sikhs was greeted by masterful inaction on the part of the Punjab government, leading to speculation about its motives.

While the crisis was clearly precipitated by the Sacha Sauda chief when he appeared in newspaper advertisements dressed like Guru Gobind Singh, the deliberately slow response of the government in tackling the problem, many believe, is coloured by a desire to teach the Dera and its custodians a lesson for choosing to support the Congress in February’s Assembly elections.

Getting back at your political rivals in full public and legal view while using violence to do so.

Good Karma

CHENNAI: The 11 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who returned to the Indian shores on Friday night after spending more than two months in the captivity of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, called on Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at the Secretariat on Saturday.

Mr. Karunanidhi announced Rs.10,000 to each of the fishermen towards meeting their immediate requirements.

The fishermen, who were released in two batches of five and six, were brought from Rameswaram by road and presented before the Chief Minister.

A peaceful return.

Some Good Karma

Amid demonstrations staged by people in favor of and opposing the name change, the Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial Hall was officially renamed the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (國立台灣民主紀念館) yesterday.

The new plaque was unveiled by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who said the move symbolized an end to the country's authoritarian past.

"We're gathering here ... to bid goodbye to the old age and to show that we Taiwanese are all standing firmly behind the universal values of freedom, democracy and human rights," Chen said.

He also explained the significance of the date.

"Fifty-eight years ago, on this date, May 19, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] regime ... officially declared martial law in Taiwan, which lasted 38 years," href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/05/20/2003361648">Chen said.

It's always nice to see a country confront its passed no matter how ugly it may be.
However you have to show respect for the gentleman who decided to drop his trousers in protest.

McClatchy's Iraq Bureau

Have you ever wondered what those Iraqi's who work for western news agencies think of America's invasion of there country

Leave

We are happy that we got rid of Saddam but we will never be happy to give away our country in return.

Sorry if our flesh harmed your knives... is that what they want us to say. Is this what they came for?

The failure of this invasion is a victory for FREEDOM and a defeat for radicals in U.S. and later in Iraq.

Order the troops to leave Mr. President. afraid for the safety and the future of this place... leave 20 thousands of your soldiers on both Iranian and Syrian borders and let us take over our own country. THIS COUNTRY WILL BE FREE... whether you take your troops out now or by the efforts of the good people of Iraq and America.

Now you know

News From All Over

Abe support rate rises to 43%; male backers outpace females

05/16/2007
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The support rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet recovered to 43 percent, buoyed especially by the increasing backing among men, according to a survey released Tuesday.

In the opinion poll conducted over the weekend by The Asahi Shimbun, the support rate was up by 3 percentage points from the previous survey in mid-April. The nonsupport rate for the Cabinet was 33 percent, a decrease from 38 percent in the previous survey.

What's surprising is that any one supports this fool who thinks the bad old days of the past are just wonderful.

Two Koreas Set for Cross-Border Train Test Run
The two Koreas hold ceremonies Thursday at Munsan Station in the South and Mt. Kumgang Station in the North before launching trial runs of cross-border trains. For the first time in half a century, trains will cross the Demilitarized Zone on the Gyeongui and Donghae lines, one headed for Kaesong in the North and the other for Jejin in the South.

Riding the rails of diplomacy to nowhere.

ULFA kills 3 more traders

Sushanta Talukdar

Death toll goes up to nine

Guwahati: Suspected militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) gunned down three more Hindi-speaking traders at Dergaon in upper Assam's Golaghat district on Wednesday.

Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) D.K. Pathak told The Hindu that the militants gunned down two traders at Disoi Tiniali and the other at Ghiladhari around 7 p.m. The death toll in fresh attacks by the ULFA on Hindi-speaking people has gone up to nine with the police recovering one more body from Belbari under the Tengakhat police station in Dibrugarh district.

Earlier four bodies were recovered, while suspected ULFA rebels gunned down a trader at Borhat in neighbouring Sivasagar district.

Love your neighbor with all the hate you muster.

Police and Rangers did ‘good job’ in Karachi, says Aziz

* PM says no need for emergency or governor’s rule

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has categorically ruled out the imposition of a state of emergency or governor’s rule in Sindh and praised the police and Rangers for doing a “good job” in containing the volatile situation in Karachi.

“There is no need for an emergency or governor’s rule. The government is effectively bringing the situation under control,” he told the press after chairing a meeting on law and order at Governor’s House on Wednesday. “The government will not allow anyone to disturb the law and order situation. If any such activity takes place, we will certainly take action,” he said.

They did a wonderful job of making sure there was out of control violence.

German Police Declare No-go Zone for G8 Protestors
In a move criticised by left-wing groups, German authorities have said protestors will not be allowed near a Baltic Sea resort where G8 leaders will hold their June summit.

August Hanning, deputy interior minister, defended the decision by police to ban protests near the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm during the Group of Eight summit of industrialized nations in June.

"As host of the G8 summit, we have a duty to do everything to protect our guests," Hanning told German public broadcaster ARD.

Making sure that Free Speech and the Freedom of Assembly are never far from the scrape heap of history.

Irate passengers set Constitución on fire


Several shops were destroyed amid the worst incidents at Constitución in 15 years.
Some of the injured also suffered from smoke inhalation as passengers of the former Roca line set fire to train facilities causing severe damage, and even clashed with police in a pitched battle after a train was stuck near Constitución at about 5pm. The Metropolitanos train concessionaire said that the stranded train prevented several departures from Constitución.

What would these passengers due if there was a real emergency? Kill all those might help in a rescue?

Militants bomb VP-elect’s home

•4 policemen killed •Explosion rocks Yenagoa

DENNIS NAKU, Yenagoa

ESCALATING militancy in the oil-rich Niger-Delta region yesterday assumed a frightening dimension, when unidentified gunmen bombed and destroyed the country home of vice-president-elect, Goodluck Jonathan in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, killing four policemen.

Similarly, an explosion rocked Barrat Hotel in the state capital Yenagoa, said to be owned by deputy speaker of the state Assembly, Bright Ereware, on Tuesday night, causing pandemonium as people ran for their lives.

In Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, a child whose identity is yet to be established as at press time was said to have been abducted by unknown gunmen.

Police said Jonathan’s house was partially destroyed and that the attackers also blew up a nearby police station leading to the death of two policemen.

Oh We Just Love the News

Uncle Dick Goes To Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney met Iraqi leaders on Wednesday during an unannounced visit to Baghdad, and was expected to press for more progress in meeting political benchmarks aimed at ending sectarian violence.

So far no ones been shot in The Face
Dick gets yet another military Deferment.
He's also there to tell all parties that they should Work Together.
This from the same bunch that tried to create a single party state in America.

Thinking of Immigrating To America.

U.S. immigration officials sedated two foreign nationals against their will during failed attempts to deport them in Los Angeles, the men and their attorneys said Tuesday.

Indonesian immigrant Raymond Soeoth, 38, who was appealing his case for political asylum, was sedated with antipsychotic drugs in December 2004 at a San Pedro detention facility; Senegal immigrant Amadou Diouf, 31, also pursuing an appeal for permanent legal status, was medicated in February 2006 while on a commercial plane at Los Angeles International Airport, according to both men and the medical files they said they obtained from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

You had better hope they don't to deport Your Ass. Why?
Because your trip libel to start long before you board the plane.

Would You Like To Take Boxing Lessons?

Legislators in Taiwan threw punches, sprayed water and wrestled violently, in a row over an electoral reform bill.

The brawl broke out when more than 24 members of parliament from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) stormed the Speaker's podium.

They were trying to stop the Speaker addressing the bill, and accuse the opposition of delaying the 2007 budget.

That's right just become a member of the Taiwanese Parliament and you'll soon be a boxing legend and world champion. Good Luck

Bad Karma

Despite a massive infusion of taxpayers' money, all nine ex-Greenpia pension-funded resorts bled red ink in the first fiscal year after reopening, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

At eight facilities, local governments have spent a combined 854.86 million yen to help the struggling facilities get back on their feet.

The earnings results released by six of the facilities showed that accumulated losses totaled 690.55 million yen in fiscal 2006.

Your taxes at work. Money thrown down the pit all in a vain attempt to somehow turn Straw into Gold.

Bad Karma

Japan's shoreline is awash with trash. Estimated refuse from late October to early December last year came to some 26,000 tons, the equivalent of three days' worth of garbage produced by Tokyo's 23 wards.

A nationwide survey by the land and agriculture ministries turned up a total volume of about 148,000 cubic meters of shoreline trash nationwide.

Talk about loving nature. Loving it so much that you kill it. After all everyone one knows what all that sand was meant for a Public Landfill.

Taking a Break from the Karma

Overpaid, underachieving Osaka cops scoop 'Japan's worst police force' title
Osaka Prefecture's cops are the worst in the country, with data showing that they're not worth the money taxpayers are footing for them, according to Flash (5/8-15).

The men's weekly looked at each of Japan's 47 prefectural police forces and tried to determine whether they were worth what they are paid.

Used to calculate the findings were four factors - arrest rates, police costs per capita, average salary and number of public scandals reported

Osaka just pipped Tokyo to take the dubious title, its 16.9 percent arrest rate among the lowest in Japan even though its pay and police costs trailed only the capital as the highest in the country

Well: At least you know the public is getting its moneys worth in Osaka with those highly trained Keystone Cops

Good Karma

A 29-year-old former female employee of a software game developer won a lawsuit against her boss, who forced her to go out drinking after work. The Seoul High Court ruled yesterday that the 38-year-old boss should pay the woman 30 million won ($32,342) in compensation.
On the first day she joined the company in April 2004, she was forced to drink at a welcome party with her coworkers. She repeatedly turned down the alcohol, and her boss said she could ask a male coworker to drink for her, but she had to kiss the man in return. She said she had no choice but to drink three shots of soju.

While it wont stop these types of parties all together perhaps with this ruling these fools will think twice: Maybe they will even think once. That's asking an awful lot of idiots.

Really Good Karma U.S. President George W. Bush's approval rating has hit an all time low 28%. You're the man George don't give-up I know you can drive it lower.