CSI comes to Wonju

From the Joongang:

As part of its goal to “promote balanced national development and diffusion of government,” the government is relocating the National Forensic Service’s main office from Seoul to Wonju, Gangwon. 

But that means that all corpses and evidence will have to be shipped to Wonju, which is 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Seoul. And that, critics say, will waste taxpayers’ money and the agency’s time because more than half of the NFS cases occur in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi. And, they say, the move will work against conducting prompt investigations.

"My blog and Facebook account are private"

... or are they?

Government officials in bozeman, Montana are requiring job applicants, on their application, not merely to list their social networking sites, but also their passwords.

“Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.,” the City form states. There are then three lines where applicants can list the Web sites, their user names and log-in information and their passwords.

I have been somewhat careful to speak well or neutrally about my workplace and seldom mention it by name at all.  This blog is not found by searching for me by name.

I think I would be comfortable with an employer or prospective employer reading this blog, but I would have to think about it before posting it on my resume, for example.

Facebook is another story, and especially with my password.  With my password, you can visit the pages of all my friends so it isn't even my privacy I would be concerned about.  Although I would be concerned about that as well.  Readers of this blog and visitors to my Facebook profile can easily see my thoughts on religion, although no student learns of them except occasionally after a direct question.

Cory Doctorow at Boingboing is up in arms and a Google search seems pretty full of relevant links.

UPDATE: Here is a link to the form - which may soon change, I suspect.

How to be a super-hero

Yesterday, Spiderman 2 was on TV and the little one and I watched a bit of it. We didn't watch much because he was bored when Spiderman wasn't on and I was concerned when the fight scenes were on. Still, he loved the swinging scenes and jumped around the room, from the kimchi fridge to the sofa to the floor with his hands in the air as though hanging on to webbing. He held on to my wrist with both hands (and I held one of his wrists) and swung him in a big circle from and to the sofa a few times.

I distinctly remember tieing a string to a hook on our basement ceiling in our house on Muskoka Road 14 in Bracebridge and leaping from dad's easy-boy to the sofa and such. I was older than my little guy is now, so I was embarrassed when dad walked in. He told me he pretended to be Superman when he was young.

Well, I read an article today about people who try to be super-heroes (not magical ones or with super powers though, that would be [more] crazy). Later today, I listened to CBC Quirks and Quarks, where the host was interviewing the author of the book, Becoming Batman. The author, a neuroscientist and martial arts expert, suggested that someone could gain Batman's skills in 20 years of training, but would have a career of only about three years before wear and tear would force retirement.

The Rolling Stones article described how some people felt that if Bin Ladin was a super-villain, they could be super heroes. The fact that they have no super powers merely makes their efforts more courageous (to them). Via Pharyngula, which also has links to real hero costume and gadget designers.

I'm a little long in the tooth to train myself and don't care to be killed off to give my son the dedication to train for twenty years, but he is the right age to start. Also, I wonder if there is a niche for a non-super powered aquatic super-hero. There's one I could train for.

___---___

I forgot to mention; this afternoon, I didn't go to the health club, I went to a Coast Guard Memorial Site and helped shovel more snow for another ninety minutes. I definitely don't feel like a superhero right now; my back is tight and I expect my forearms to be in knots tomorrow. Perhaps I will take the little guy to a bathhouse this evening for a long soak.

War in Seoul

My father, as a member of the Ontario Provincial Police, battled biker gangs in Wasaga Beach during the May 24 Weekend (A Canadian holiday - Queen Victoria's birthday, I think) several years in a row. I was too young to know about it but apparently he would come home bleeding on occasion.

I was intrigued, then, to hear that "Seoul Declares War Against Bikers". Turns out they aren't related. I don't think there are motorcycles gangs of the Hell's Angel sort here. There will soon be a crackdown on motorcyclists - mostly delivery-people - who drive on sidewalks and park illegally.

I am happy to hear about the former and suspicious about the latter. I haven't had much trouble here in Sokcho but occasionally did in Seoul and annoyingly frequently in Masan, with motorcyclists driving on the sidewalk. In Masan, they would even bump into my leg and honk the horn. I learned to not move out of the way of the jerk.

The crackdown on illegal parking is a good idea, but why pick on motorcycles and motorcyclists? Motorcycles don't take up much room; start the parking crackdown on cars. Get the f---ing cars off the sidewalks. Get them off the crosswalks. Then, worry about the parked motorcycles. Heck, do that concurrently, just be sure to include cars.

One commenter on the Korean Times article claims the crackdown will not work because police will not be able to catch fast moving motorcycles. I agree that the crackdown will not work - or will work for only a short time, but not for the reason the commenter gave. We aren't talking about open roads and racing, we're talking about parking (pretty much the opposite of racing) and driving on sidewalks, which is done because the roads are jammed with traffic. If the motorcycles had clear roads to drive quickly on, they wouldn't be on the sidewalk in the first place.

By the way, what's keeping my pizza?
Possibly related.

Fire safety

I am back at camp, starting week three of four.

During the week, we have regular classes (I am teaching ecology) but every Saturday is different. Two days ago, we had survival English. Two of the classes were first aid (Which I taught) and fire safety. I am amused to see fire safety offered as there could be a bit of hypocrisy in it. Those who teach the subject are sincere, but the school management are more interested in climate control and preventing theft and possible misdeeds by students who cannot be tracked.

My classroom is in a corner so there is a door leading to an emergency exit.

Try to open that door. Do you carry an emergency door knob for such occasions?
If you could get through the door, or if you walked to the centre of the building and back through another hallway, you end up at this door, leading out. You can see the effort on my face as I desperately try to turn the knob. Locked.
I went outside and around the building and up the stairs to the other side of the door. No knob and a large sign saying "don't use. Use other door." the smaller sign, above, says, "be aware of heating, keep door closed".

There is another door on my floor that does open. Its on the other side of the building. I guess I am not really upset that the door is locked, more I wonder why did they think they needed it? Is it a legal requirement and after the building passed the local version of the building code, they felt they could lock it?
On the first floor of the building are the main entrance and two smaller entrances. One is padlocked closed and the other, above, is closed with caulking. I suppose a strong or motivated person could push hard enough to rip out the caulking, but still, it is strange. I also suspect that they could manage better climate control by teaching the students to close the main entrance doors after walking through them. Koreans, away from their homes, don't feel a need to close a door after opening it.

A few years ago, I posted a similar story about the school and how the students are locked up at night. Since that time, this big-ass mallet now sits near the main doors - the smaller fire exits are still chained and locked. I guess students could now smash the glass doors out if they need to leave in a hurry.

murder and stolen military weapons in Kanghwa-do

Last night my wife, a member of the Korean Coast Guard received a message on her phone that weapons were missing in Kang-hwa do. I didn't understand why Sokcho would be notified, being on the other side of the country and all that.

It turns out that the weapons were not merely missing but that soldiers had been assaulted (and one killed) and the weapons were stolen. I had been under the impression that a routine inventory at a Coast Guard arsenal had come up one short.

This is a country with no firearms (except a few shotguns that farmers use, it seems) so missing rifles (to say nothing of grenades) are a big deal.

I wouldn't have mentioned the news, considering it possibly confidential, but Korean news sources are reporting it and the Marmot has an English report.

Will 2007 be about the hagwons?

In 2006 we read many stories about bad foreign teachers making trouble in Korea. The first article on the subject I saw this year lambasted Jeju International English Village and its director, Mr Lee (full name given in the article, isn't that unusual given Korea's libel laws?)

The Herald's article is either poorly organized or the whole story is riddle wrapped in an enigma covered in crap (I don't remember Churchill's exact quote but this story is messy and confused).

My summary of case 1:
A teacher had enough trouble at work to call the police. Officers showed up and said there was a sting going on and could she please wait it out. At the end of her contract, she was told there wasn't time to get her money back before she had to fly out of the country. Soon after, the Herald reporters called the officer who denied any knowledge of wrongdoing. The officer claimed he was checking passports and documents. The Herald called the Immigration Department and was told police don't do that kind of inspection. Jeju police (presumably not the officer in question) then said, 'Yes, we do." Finally Director Lee stated that no police had ever visited the village.

I'm trying to figure this out. I can believe both that a teacher might try to cause trouble for a school s/he was leaving and I can believe some hagwon directors are corrupt. I think the latter is more likely.I also believe a hagwon director might be in cahoots with a police officer. Could the Provincial Police Managers really not know the limits of their authority or could the Herald have called a third conspirator?Finally, could Mr Lee and the police officer not keep their stories straight or are they deliberately creating confusion?

My summary of case 2:
Mr Lee also operates "the Oxford English language hagwon in Seoul" where he is accused of tax fraud, forging signatures and non-payment of salaries. Immigration confirmed that the man is under investigation but may be hiding and has refused invitations to come to the Immigration office for questioning. Mr Lee was interviewed by the Herald and stated that he had not moved nor had he been asked to answer questions.

The whole story simply creates more questions.

Concluding the article:

It is well established that Lee and the highly questionable way he conducts his English teaching enterprises have been brought to the attention of the authorities on several occasions. The lack of initiative shown by the police, labor, and immigration departments to conduct a thorough and coordinated investigation is nothing short of disgraceful.

My own conclusion is that I was unduly harsh on the Herald staff. The article seems to be as well organized as possible and I look forward to learning more.

new law will punish consumers of protected animals

The Joongang Daily (online) has an article today about poaching. Actually, it was just an announcement that a new law soon comes into effect. Now, those who consume protected species are liable for prosecution, not just the poachers.

One of the protected species is 'mountain frog', which could well feed a family. These are big frogs! I cannot find a picture but I'm sure I've seen them for sale at NamDaeMoon.

No word on poaching or consuming salamanders.

The strange thing is the Joongang paper states that the Ministry of the Environment announced the new law yesterday, when the M of E website described the law in August of last year. Is it just a reminder?