Retweet this: "South Korea censors freedom"?

When I opened the International Herald Tribune last Thursday, I made a bet with myself. I've waited until today Sunday and for the moment, I've won it.

The bet? "I'm pretty sure I won't see this article with the same title online, if the article ever makes it online".

The article's headline? "Tweet this! South Korea censors freedom". As you can see, it was Thursday's top headline:

This article mentions a few facts. For instance, that international observers sometimes put South Korea on par with countries like Russia because the government shows little tolerance for critics. I already mentioned the degradation of South Korea rankings in the Press Freedom Index (see "25 years later"). Nothing new under the sun.

But. This is not the kind of headlines that make a government happy. They prefer when major international media talk about Korea's successful olympics, or when they set themselves the political agenda. Say, for example, why not a last minute visit to Dokdo, eh? Done! And by a miraculous coincidence, precisely two days later (see "Worst followers").

One of the reasons why I made this bet with myself (even before the sad Dokdo episode) is that a couple of years ago, there was an interesting mutation of a NYT/IHT article between the web and the print editions, when "South Korea Admits Civilian Massacre During War" became "South Korean panel confirms full horror of civilian massacres" (see "Lost In Translation ?"). For the first time at the international level, this administration officially distanced itself from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission it was supposed to support. The termination of the institution in the months that followed was so messy that the man in charge of the dirty job eventually got fined (see "Truth and Reconciliation - Justice at last").

So as I write these lines, "Tweet this! South Korea censors freedom" has not yet made it to the IHT/NYT websites. Not even under a milder title. And if you search all the articles of the author CHOE Sang-hun, you get a list that covers the ones before, and the one that came later (I actually waited for that to happen to write this piece):

At the headline level at least, I'm sure Cheong Wa Dae approves the new editorial line: the previous articles were exposing the lavish lifestyle of the North Korean elite, and the latest one relates the visit of the Korean President to Dokdo.

Nevermind other truths, and forget about reconciliation.


blogules 2012
- initially published on Seoul Village as "Censorship about censorship in South Korea?" Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
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J Street : It's Time

It's time for moderates to speak up and denounce impostors.

It's time for Palestinian and Israeli democrats to say no to radicals who keep torpedoeing peace and undermining their own camps.

J Street is running a full page ad in the NYT to remind opinion leaders that a majority of Jews in the US think "it's time for Israel to stop allowing extremist settlers and their sympathizers to endanger not only the friendship of the United States, but also the very future of Israel"*.

J Street also sends a message to AIPAC : now that Obama's healthcare reforms have passed, the politics of fear cannot rule the agenda until next elections. Change must come to the Middle East, with full support from the US, but also from Israeli citizens who reject as false the choice between their security and their ideals**.

blogules 2010

* see "Our Full-Page Ad in the New York Times"

** see "Israel accepted as true the choice between its security and its ideals"

Scoop : Cheney is not a democrat... but why this 5 month delay ?

Leon Panetta put the last nail on Dick Cheney's coffin.

As soon as he learned, on June 23rd, the existence of a secret CIA counterterrorism program hidden from Congress for 8 years (guess which years), Panetta closed it and alerted both Congress intelligence committees, revealing the fact that this secrecy was imposed by direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney*.

I can't see how Lobby Dick can avoid justice now (he'll probably have to answer to other criminal charges**). David Addington is also in the line of fire on that one. At last, Eric Holder can start the cleaning and America a fair inventory of the doomed Bush Legacy***.

So Dick Cheney is a soon to be convicted felon, an enemy of the State and democracy... nothing new under the sun.

The key question here is : why did it take 5 months to brief Panetta ?

According to CIA Spokesman Paul Gimigliano : "It's not agency practice to discuss what may or may not have been said in a classified briefing. When a C.I.A. unit brought this matter to Director Panetta's attention, it was with the recommendation that it be shared appropriately with Congress. That was also his view, and he took swift, decisive action to put it into effect."

Well the team was not swift at all. Unless Cheney's orders were to go beyond the Bush-Cheney administration. The time to solve technical issues, like paper jams in the shredder room.



* see "Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of C.I.A. Project" (New York Times - Scott Shane -20090711)
** see previous blogules on Lobby Dick, including "Welcome on Waterboard", "Yoo got mail"... or on a lighter side "Lobby Dick tries to retire, fails to retract.
*** BTW: Holder is considering - at last - probing Bush torture policy : see "Independent's Day".

I.Q. can help measure handicaps, not intelligence

When I read Nicholas D. Kristof on Pr. Richard Nisbett's "Intelligence and How to Get It"*, I had in mind the image of labels on boxes of cereals, you know, the ones featuring a few good scores on key items just to persuade the consumer that he or she is not eating completely junk food. In Kristof's op-ed, the idea is to help Americans get better IQ scores.

Unfortunately, I.Q. is an heresy : you simply cannot sum up intelligence in one dimension. Actually, that would mean destroying it.

Intelligence is not something absolute. You can be very intelligent in certain situations and dumb in others, and there is no such thing as one kind of intelligence.

I defined** intelligence as "the capacity to apprehend (ie your environment, other people, situations...), understand, and give sense beyond your own senses, what you see, feel, touch, smell, or hear". Many people consider the ability to memorize a lot of information as a sign of intelligence, but the cleverest people I know make complex things look simple - simplicity is not always a sign of stupidity but often the key to intelligibility, apprehensibility.

If I.Q. measures something, it can't be intelligence. What it does measure for sure is the capacity to apprehend an I.Q. test. It somehow helps pointing out handicaps : it measures the ability to survive in the society that designed the set of questions. Call that a part of the Social Quotient if you please, but please don't call that Intelligence with a capital I.


blogules 2009

* "How to Raise Our I.Q." (NY Times 20090415)

** "Define: intelligence vs information"

"Insects placed in a confinement box" (welcome on waterboard)

"In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carrying out their duties relying in good faith upon the legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution".

Some may cringe at this weakness : we want to bring down a system, and the guys who did the waterboarding are as guilty as those who obeyed orders from the IIIrd Reich, so they should be brought to justice as well.

Obama is fighting the good fight, at the root of extremism and fundamentalism, starting from enemies from within.

But Barack Obama is not pointing the finger at anybody : he is showing the direction for Justice. As the head of executive power, his job is not to define what is legal and what is illegal, and certainly not to tell what is good from what is evil (see "True v. False vs Good v. Evil").

Justice will eventually prevail, and the most rotten apples fall by themselves. Not by exposing the dark side but the best side of everyone : it's not about being with us or against us, but about embracing justice or refusing it. Some of the torturers will be jailed, many will walk free. But Justice will have won when the main culprits are behind bars or at least officially condemned : Jay Bybee, John Yoo, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, Dick Cheney.

Cheney will fall only when his protégés feel that his protection won't save them. Thus his panic as George W. Bush refused to pardon Scooter Libby. Lord Dubya ? He will do what he does best : play dumb. Torture memos have Lobby Dick's fingerprints all over them, but The Fundamentalist in Chief himself grew very prudent following Abu Ghraib "revelations". What, me worry ?

Their torture memos led to such atrocities as "insects placed in a confinement box"* and ironically, that's exactly the image I have of this disgraceful mob.

I can't wait to enjoy the show. A perfect way of celebrating Darwin Bicentennial.

* "Interrogation Memos Detail Harsh Tactics by the C.I.A." (20090416 - New York Times Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane)

Beyond the Iranian people, Obama is addressing Israel

NYT's Ethan Bronner is not exactly holding fire against Israel these days, and he shouldn't : investigations are proving how essential principles were deliberately abandoned during the recent invasion of the Gaza strip.

Bronner also pointed out* the obvious fact that Israel cannot stick to its darkest sides (racism, fascism, which are not a Avigdor Lieberman monopoly these days), particularily if moderates gain ground in Iran on June 12, 2009.

As a Nowruz celebration, Citizen Obama decided to cast a video ballot for the upcoming presidential elections.

The Iranian people discovered a POTUS talking directly to them with words of mutual respect, a humble admiration for the great Persian culture, and a genuine spark of intelligence and compassion in the eyes. Barack even cautioned the Islamic Republic of Iran label, tearing down a 30 year old wall between both nations.

Reaching out without touching faith, Obama's speech was actually putting as much pressure on Israel as on Iran.

Livni and Netanyahu had better come up with something fit for this new millenium.


* see "After Gaza, Israel Grapples With Crisis of Isolation" (NY Times - 20090318)

PS: Obama sent an even more direct message to Bush when he wrote to Chirac.

A Maverick or a Gambler ?

Jo Becker and Don van Natta Jr from The New York Times delivered a very interesting paper on John McCain and his relationship to gambling and the gambling industry*.

The man is a gambler, and members of his team as well as major sponsors of his campaign have close ties with the industry.

This doesn't come as a surprise and explains a lot about the man, and his behavior... particularily after a week during which the wheel kept turning in the wrong direction for him.

I want to raise the issue of timing. Why raise this issue right now ?

It sounds like more and more people, including in the GOP, are not feeling so comfortable with the McCain-Palin ticket.

Palin is a magnet for theocons, but a scarecrow for voters who want a reliable vice-president instead of a theocon puppet. McCain and Bush will have to invent a major diversion to cancel her "debate" with Joe Biden (even if the format of the meeting protects her : no direct confrontation, this impostor can safely recitate Schmidt's mantras)

McCain was relatively spared, but the media will be more focusing on his character in the days to come : a gambler, often bad tempered, a womanizer who dumped his first wife because she didn't look as nice after a dramatic car incident... not exactly a poster child for the religious right.

True Republicans will feel relieved if this ticket fails. It's the only way of reforming the GOP, of getting rid of the Bush-Cheney theocon-neocon clique who disgraced the party and the country over the past 8 years.

Expect more circumstantiated character destruction about John McCain and Sarah Palin in the days to come.

This character destruction will prevent the character assassination of the US of A**.


* see "McCain and Team Have Many Ties to Gambling Industry" (NYT 20080928)
** see "Change is coming" and Mac "will fight", but for whom and for what ?"

Do You Cash Straight Talk Express ?

McCain is regaining some ground in the polls (45-49 vs 44-50 yesterday according to Gallup), but remains groundless as far as economics are concerned.

His glorious plan can be summed up in two sentences :

1- "less Government but more oversight and less regulation in order to fix a fundamentally sound economy in crisis"

2- "Obama did it : this un-American Muslim terrorist married a witch who couldn't even offer him 7 houses and 13 cars, and he is friends with people who actually understand economics"

Well. According to today's New York Times (20080922) : "Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say".

Ouch. Do you cash Straight Talk Express ?

Movin'on to Sarah Palin : how did the Cheney with lipstick try to recover from a week where she lost 8 positive points and gained 4 negative points ? She visited a conservative spot in Florida, drew a crowd of tens of thousands (even better than in Colorado Springs, CO, a fundamentalist's heaven). Recited lines from The Bullet for 20 minutes, took or answered no questions.

No interviews
No investigations
No subpoenas
No direct debate with Biden (where were the Dems on that one ?*)
...

How on Earth can millions of decent human beings still consider voting for this ticket ?


* FYI, the full (vice-) presidential debate(s) schedule :
. Prez debate #1 (Foreign policy) : 20080926 at Ole Miss in Oxford, MS - Jim Lehrer (PBS)
. Veep debate (all issues except Troopergate, Pentecostal doomsday scenarios, Bridges to Nowhere...) : 20081002 at Washington University in Saint Louis, MO - Gwen Ifill (PBS)
. Prez debate #2 (Town hall style questions from the public and the web) : 20081007 at Belmont University in Nashville, TN - Tom Brokaw (NBC)
. Prez debate #3 (Domestic policy) : 20081015 - Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY - Bob Scheiffer (CBS)

The Silence of the Lambs (War in Iraq and US networks)

The surge is working. Iraq is not an issue for November elections. Everything is fine, go back to sleep and don't forget to cast a Republican ballot later this year.

Now more about the coming war between Iran and Israel*, brought to you by the dream team that delivered "Shock and Awe" to your doorsteps (by the way... ' want some more yellow ribbons to decorate your front yard ? hurry up and enjoy our special pre-foreclosure rebates).

USA's top 3 networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) each devoted an average 60 weekday minutes of Iraq war coverage over the first half of 2008. That's 20 seconds per day, compared to 1 mn in 2007**.

And what 20 seconds ! The propaganda can be summed up with : "Mission Almost Accomplished", democracy is catching, thugs are losing the battle, and if you read through these few lines you can almost believe our boys will get the heck outta there sooner than expected.

Before the 100 years mentioned by John McCain anyway - this guy has lost his bearings and is confusing with the age of his great-grandson. But it doesn't matter for the GOP : Iraq remains a key electoral issue but Mac is tied with Obama (43% each according to Gallup**). If news reports were more accurate, I guess he would be lagging behind by 20 points or more.

If you are in the US and under the spell of those Weapons of Mass Disinformation, please read such articles as "Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner" from the NYT***. Or if you want to watch actual news, tune in to Global Pulse's video on LinkTV (including the refreshing no bull...t interview of CBS News' Lara Logan by Jon Stewart)**** :



* see see "Iran : who wants war and why" (20070925)
** Gallup "Obama Has Edge on Key Election Issues" (20080624)
** "Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner" (NYT 20080623)
*** "War isn't news anymore ?" (Global Pulse 20080626 on LinkTV), relayed by the CMD (20080706)

Sign O' The New York Times

The NYT picked John McCain and Hillary Clinton as Primary Choices.

There should no contest for McCain, who stood against Bush, against torture, for democracy. And yes, Mitt Romney keeps compromizing on any issue in order to get one more vote (he even joined the crew of "Roe vs Wade" killers). No one know what that guy would do.

But John McCain sold his soul to the Discovery Institute and stood in favor of teaching Intelligent Design theories in school. And that's a rather scary perspective.

Unless someone comes out of the blue (Bloom ?), the only way out for the US is to elect a Democrat for the top job.

Both Clinton and Obama would do fine, but the NYT decided to put a conservative bet on Hillary. A little bit too early in the race. Truly, a big favor at the tipping point of the campaign...

NYT Executive Editor Bill Keller can trust Hillary's judgement : not only did he support the war in Iraq but he preferred Paul Wolfowitz to Colin Powell.

By the way : Wolfie is back to the White House.

Is Keller also betting on a war with Iran ?

Red blogule to Wal-Mart's H. Lee Scott Jr. - "Can I hate you ?"

I suggest a new 10-foot rule to Wal-Mart's employees : if CEO Lee is less than 10 feet away, you're compelled to ask "can I hate you ?"

Judging by "Lee's Garage" worst of as selected by yesterday's NYT ("On Private Web Site, Wal-Mart Chief Talks Tough"), you can easily tell how this man made it to the top : his blog just reeks of the retailer's awful corporate culture ; XIXth century capitalism at its ugliest.

Everyday low, period.

Red blogule to The Lincoln Group - painting Iraq green

Behind the stage, where the Commander in Thief gave a vibrant state of the disunion, the Bush Administration are focusing on their core know-how : pre-election propaganda. This time, they need to win the war in Iraq (that is, get the hell outta there or at least set a positive timetable before next mid-term US elections).
A DC-based PR firm, Lincoln Group, got the $6M contract. We already knew from Odwyer PR News they'd been hiring "Senior PR help" for their Iraqi operations, now we know for sure they're paid by the US, as the NYT put it, "to plant articles in Iraq papers".
How charming. Planting, without the help of Monsanto ? Karen Hughes could make sure these six millions are taken from the environment budget : after all, The Lincoln Group are working for a better environment for US troops in Iraq.
Abductions, torture, usage of WMDs, and now plain propaganda... Iraqi certainly feel the difference between Uncle Saddam and Unkle Sam...

Red blogule to the White House's Upper Deck - Trading Card and dis-Carding scapegoats

The scapegoat has eventually been found : he is Karl Rove's boss and no decision is taken in the White House without his knowledge. This powerful leader must quit at once.

Andrew H. Card Jr is responsible for everything*, from the disastrous handling of Katrina to the surrealistic nomination of Harriet E. Miers. He is certainly the one who said there were WMDs in Iraq and for all we know, he could even have shot JFK.

So the great decision maker who spends less time finding a scapegoat when he's under attack than reading "my pet goat" when his country's under attack, the great thinker who writes down such powerful memos as the now famous "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible ?", The Great King Dubya, Lord of the Banana Republic of the Divided States of Amerika, will once again prove his wisdom and his character : He will fire His Chief of Staff or rather dis-Card him.

God bless Amerika and someone bring me a barf bag.


"Crises Raise Criticism of Bush's Chief of Staff" (NYT 20051018)

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Red blogules to Walkers - oil for fool programs

George Walker B. asking US citizens to drive less in order to save gas* ? That Born Again Drunk Driver ? That very ruler of the Kingdom of SUV ? Next thing you know, Tom Waits will ask'em to quit smokin'... Amerika is running on empty, the budget trunk is empty, even the Pretzel Prez is empty. Coke wasn't strong enough for him : OD'ed on oil, then snorted pretzels and now gags on Greenhouse Gases. Yuck.

John B. Walker (head of the Independent Petroleum Association of America - or is it Petroleum Association Independant of America ? anyway, certainly not America Independant of Petroleum Association) seizes the opportunity and resumes lobbying : Alaska must save Amerika. Yuck.

America must save Alaska, but who will save America ? Joan Baez ? A new Kennedy ? Pat-Barack O'Bama ? Democrats ?
Nope : can't wait that long. Besides, the Reps must clean their own mess. They want to keep the power next year ? They'd better sideline the people who ruined their reputations. I expected this war of secession to start earlier but better late than sorry.


* "To Conserve Gas, President Calls for Less Driving" (NYT 20050927)

Red blogule to Karen Hughes

If you managed not to punch your TV set each time this most iritating Bush passionaria would comment on her Texas pal's crushing victories in last year's prez debates, get ready for it : Karen Hughes's now in charge of sweetening US' world image. Within the US State Department, she will manage "rapid response" teams to counter all foreign liars, the "liars" being people who lie about the Bush Administration's policies (Hughes even dared taking the so called "flushed Quran scandal" as the ultimate example), people who defend Geneva Conventions or the freedom of journalism, people who are "against us", people who voted Kerry, people who said the Iraqi invasion was poorly planned, people who demonstrate their un-Americanness because they lost their kid at the market the other day (the Baghdad market, not your average Iraqi-village-sized Wal-Mart)...
So the best response to your own failing policies is not to change them but to change the background music with which you advertize them. The best answer to fair foreign criticism is to strenghten US unfair propaganda. The best way to cure Amerika's sickness is to send a spin doctor. The best way to make up for your own lies is to put more make up on them and lie even further, be it at the cost of turning unpopular USA into masquerade-ugly unpopular USA.
According to the NYT, Hughes isn't even dealing with the 80% who are already questioning US policies but focusing on the last 20% who are not among the "insurgents" yet. But Karen, how many will sing along with you : "I see your face, I'm a believer" ?

Red blogule to semantic transfusions

A recent recent NYT article quoted by the Center for Media and Democracy explains how "Terror War Gets New Slogan" : "A new emphasis on reminding the public of the broader, long-term threat to the United States may allow the administration to put into broader perspective the daily mayhem in Iraq and the American casualties" as "global struggle against violent extremism" replaces "global war on terror".
Could this also mean the "last throes of neocons against World peace" (did Dick dig that one ?) or an end to the "global destruction of the American ideal by warmonger fanatics" ? No way Jose : they're talking about "violent extremism", which is so much unlike White House extremism. When a "violent extremist" performs torture, he is attacking civilization. When a White House extremist makes torture legal, he is protecting the nation.
It took them four years to realize the solution was "more diplomatic, more economic, more political than it is military" ? It won't take long for the World to remember diplomacy and economy are in the hands of Lobby Dick Cheney while politics remain in the pristine claws of Karl Rove.

White blogule to Yee-haoo! Mail

This time, Howard Dean's spam got all my attention : "I agree with George Bush" is not precisely the kind of title you would expect from this Democratic National Committee Chairman. The e-mail was worth the click, thanks to this interesting quote : "Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors." (speech given by George W. Bush on April 26, 1999).
I'm not proud of revealing the source of this quote but I love the idea : Karl Rove as the traitor and NYT's Judith Miller as the hero.

Red Blogule to JFK - Out of the blue(s) ?

I read "The Speech the President Should Give" by John F. Kerry in the NY Times dated 20050628. Including the laconic footer "John F. Kerry is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts".
Not as thrilling as "I was a teenage mutant presidential candidate", but better than "John Edwards is a former North Carolina senator and now a sorry podcaster (does One America Committee have more than one member ?)".
The said speech doesn't bring any news but the fact Senator Kerry is still alive and not kept hostage in a dark Abu Ghraib / Gitmo / Congress cell. Yet the torture must have been intense : being deprived of media exposure for over half a year can drive any warrior insane. But Senator Kerry is not insane. Just unlucky enough to have faced Karl Rove at his best - that is at his worst.
In the meanwhile, my Yee-haaoo! Mail box got saturated by Howard Dean's deep thoughts. The laxative kind you got for attending the second part of Saturday Night Live. Only not as funny.
In the meanwhile, Hillary tries to raise other things than eyebrows in front of her latest hairdo.
In the meanwhile, Barack does his job and listens to the next plans of the Architect for Illinois.

White blogule to impeachment

At last, someone like Carter dares demanding an end to the Guantanamo scandal and Amnesty International dares mentioning USA's network of legal-free but torture-laden prisons as a global gulag archipelago. Every day, the Bush Administration immorality makes the news and Clinton's Oral Offices performances sound relatively harmless compared to the deliberate use of propaganda and falsification (ie the recent NYT paper on the politically alteration of scientific reports on global warming by Philip Cooney, Mr Environment at the White House - yeah, I know it sounds weird but consider there ARE more than a couple of guys in charge of economy in the French government)...

Here is the closest thing to a dictator Amerika ever had, the biggest insult to the spirit of the US constitution, an almost farcical caricature of what a ruler shouldn't be. A notorious dodger, cheater and lyar. Unlike Nixon, Bush didn't have the other party's quarters taped, but he manipulated the total mediasphere of his country and people died for the wrong reasons.

Yet, no one ever mention impeachment.

What is wrong with the people of America ? What is wrong with the people of France ? What is wrong with democracy ?