This appeared in a Korean language textbook (with my English translation):

A puzzling question with no apparent correct answer. 

The textbook insists that there is a correct answer. The back of the book even explains "why" it is allegedly the correct answer, precluding the possibility of a misprint/typo. 

Can you guess the answer?

Read More

Who likes an angry, recalcitrant ideologue? Nobody. That's who. 

Ideology can blind good judgement, for one thing. This is the case with a list of "best to worst presidents" put out by a prominent libertarian, Dr. Ivan Eland. The worst four presidents according to him:

The very worst: James Polk
The 2nd worst: William McKinley
The 3rd worst: Harry Truman
The 4th worst: Woodrow Wilson

The author is a "Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at The Independent Institute." He is prominent enough to be often invited on U.S. television news debate shows. 

I disagree with his analysis and I have to wonder if he is even arguing in good faith from these bizarre choices.

His methodology severely penalizes involvement in war of any sort, as we see in his full explanation:

Read More

The malcontents were out in force on June 12th, 2015 at Gwanghwamun Plaza [광화문광장] in Seoul. This was the height of the MERS Panic of 2015. The MERS virus cleared the customers out of the department stores, but alas was not strong enough to clear out Gwanghwamun's protesters. A few of the protesters wore surgical masks. I didn't.

Gwanghwamun was once the core of downtown Seoul. That was a long time back, when Seoul had a single, identifiable downtown -- until around the mid-20th century. Today, Gwanghwamun is home to plenty of office space, a few government agencies, and has been molded into a tourist center. You'll find museums, monuments, and the main former royal palace (Gwanghwamun is the name of south gate of the main palace). The U.S. embassy is there. The huge Kyobo bookstore is there.

The most interesting thing about Gwanghwamun, to me, though, is that by today it is a central place for South Korean malcontents to gather and hold their signs, shout their slogans, and annoy passersby. My impression is that the malcontentry has increased in the 2010s over what I recall in my first times there in 2009. The "malcontents" are of all sorts, most often in the guise of Christian religious extremists and far-left political protesters.

I got some good pictures of two particular protesters that day and can "profile" them a little:

(1) "U.S. Military, Get Out!"

Read More

Read More