Category: Uncategorized

Everyone in USFK is getting into taxi cab related incidents now, even the GNC employees:

Kunsan Air Base’s commander restricted all airmen to the base Monday after two Air Force police officers and a third American allegedly pummeled a local cab driver and tried to make off with his car early that morning.

Col. Jeffrey Lofgren, 8th Fighter Wing commander, also pledged a “thorough investigation” and “appropriate action” against those involved in the assault, according to a news release.

The 48-year-old driver, identified only by his surname of Lee, was treated for bruises at a hospital and released after the 1:30 a.m. attack in Kunsan City, South Korean police told Stars and Stripes.

Police said two of the suspects are two members of Kunsan’s 8th Security Forces squadron. The third American is a 23-year-old of Korean descent who works at a GNC health products store on base, police said.

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The Stars and Stripes has a profile of Korea’s coolest taxi:

For the cost of regular taxi fare, Cho Young-ho gives servicemembers and others a veritable Hard Rock Cafe on wheels — minus the $10 hamburger — while they drive toward their destination.

Cho worked as an amplifier technician before beginning driving his own taxi 15 years ago. Music soon became a passion; he began searching for rare recordings in markets and secondhand stores throughout Seoul.

He added the audio equipment and decorations about four years ago, to rave reviews from servicemembers.

I have never caught this guy’s cab, but I have been in a few other cabs that had been greatly customized much like what this cab driver has done.  The coolest cab I was ever in was one that had on the outside these really awesome custom rims with a ground effects kit that lit the ground underneath the cab green.  Then on the inside he a karaoke system, TV, and a disco ball among a host of other customizations. 

Check out what this guy had to say about Americans:

“They are usually very amazed and enthusiastic. Some go mad, really!” Cho said. “Their positive reactions bring me a lot of joy, too.”

Cho says he’s had some problems with passengers leaving without paying or roughing up his taxi. But overall, he says he often enjoys Americans most among his foreign passengers.

“The American passengers are mostly open-minded, so generous and sincerely appreciate my effort, including an unexpected tip,” Cho said. “Above all, they know how to enjoy the music from their hearts.”

Hopefully idiots like this don’t ruin Cho’s good attitude towards Americans.

From Yonhap:

Two South Korean soldiers were found shot dead at a military base in a remote area about 130 km east of Seoul on Friday, the Army said.

"The Army corporals, both in their 20s, were on guard duty at an ammunition depot when a fellow soldier heard shots about 11:50 a.m. at the engineering unit in Heongseong, Gangwon Province," an Army official said. "The Army is investigating the incident."
The soldiers were carrying K-1 rifles with dozens of live bullets at the time of the incident, he added.

One soldier, whose surname was Lee, was shot on the neck, and the other one, identified only by his family name Han, was shot in the belly, according to the Army.

"All the shots appear to have been fired from Lee’s rifle," the official said.

I am obviously speculating here, but I wonder if there was an accidental discharge that killed soldier hit in the belly and the other soldier shocked from the accident turned the gun on himself?  I wonder if it is standard practice for the ROK Army to have their rifles loaded when on guard duty?

HT: Nomad

The Osan bar owners are going really hate this if it happens:

The Air Force said Wednesday that it might not be able to pay its airmen in the coming months if the Pentagon is forced to shift some $800 million to the Army to fund the war in Iraq.

The Army announced this week that it will slow spending and prioritize repairs to equipment as it waits for Congress to review emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the Pentagon has asked Congress for the OK to shift $1.6 billion in funds meant for the Navy and Air Force to pay the Army’s operating expenses, according to an Army news release.

That shift of funds could affect the Air Force in several ways, according to Maj. Morshe Araujo, an Air Force spokeswoman.

Hopefully our poor excuse for a Congress gets their act together and funds our military.  I have maintained that if the Congress wants to end the war than simply hold a vote to cut funding for the war and withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.  When a regional war breaks out, oil sky rockets, and the US economy goes to crap don’t blame the military.  If Congress is not willing to do this than they need to shut up, quit giving hope to the terrorists, and fund our military.  These political games that are directly effecting our military is an absolute disgrace.

The Ilshimhoe spy group that has been responsible for helping ferment anti-US sentiment in South Korea and transferring state secrets to North Korea which included members of a leading political party, have been convicted:

A Seoul court convicted five people, including a Korean-American businessman, of spying for North Korea, but acquitted them of charges of forming a spying ring, saying the group was too loosely organized to be called a formal organization.
Jang Min-ho, 45, also known as Michael Jang, received a nine-year prison term from the Seoul Central District Court and a 19 million won ($20,391) fine.
He took orders from a North Korean agent in China, and provided confidential information about South Korea. Jang was also convicted of possessing anti-state propaganda materials.
Four others were also convicted of cooperating with Jang and spying for North Korea.

Here is reason given for why the group didn’t receive a stiffer penalty by being considered a formally organized group:

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A South Korean human rights group protests in front of the Laos Embassy in Seoul to draw awareness to three North Korean defectors captured in Laos that the Laos government plans to return to North Korea where they will either face life in the gulag or execution. 

What has the South Korean government doing about this you may ask?  Well absolutely nothing:

The South Korean Embassy in Laos allegedly ignored pleas for help from three young North Koreans held by Lao authorities who could be deported to their Stalinist home country. Hiroshi Kato, the head of Japanese activist group Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, on Thursday revealed the identity of the young defectors and is working for their release. According to Kato, Choi Hyang, Choi Hyuk and Choi Hyang-mi are being held in a detention center near the capital Vientiane.

This is about par for the course for the South Korean government to ignore the plight of desperate refugees.  Does anyone else find it ironic that a Japanese activist group is the one fighting for the release of these refugees while the South Korean government does nothing?  They must be to preoccupied with more pressing matters like demanding apologies from Japan for the 15th time about the Korean "comfort women" of 60 years ago while ignoring the plight of these Korean women now. 

I think this is a perfect opportunity for the US or Japanese governments to step in and offer asylum to these defectors if the South Korean government does nothing.  Some government needs to show some moral courage here and save these defectors from the gulag that awaits them in North Korea. 

One pillar of the anti-US hate groups has collapsed:

Seoul and Washington yesterday finalized the return of 14 U.S. military bases to Korea but the agreement finds Seoul agreeing to shoulder as much as 40 billion won ($42 million) for the necessary environmental clean-up of the military installations.
A total of 18 bases, including four that already have been returned, are now back in Seoul’s hands while negotiations for the return of the remaining 41 bases continues.
Under an agreement with Washington called the Land Partnership Plan, the United States will return 59 bases to South Korea by 2011. Until now, Seoul and Washington have been at odds over how to split the cost related to the environmental cleaning process.

The entire camp pollution issue is a total fraud and now the Korean government is paying for helping perpetuate the fraud. Of course the anti-US group Green Korea has now weighed in on the announcement from the Korean government:

Civic groups such as Green Korea United criticized the government yesterday for giving in to Washington on the issue.
“The U.S. soldiers have left and they left Korea a lot of waste. This should not serve as an example for other bases to be returned in the future. U.S. forces need to be asked clearly to take responsibility,” said the organization in a statement.

Here is the source of Green Korea’s concern about this issue:

In February, Green Korea and some media outlets said they acquired leaked Ministry of the Environment data that showed unsafe ground and water contamination levels at several sites. They included camps Page, Garry Owen, Greaves, Stanton, Edwards, Giant, Falling Water and Howze, the Kimpo post terminal, the Freedom Bridge and the Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and North Carolina firing ranges.

Can you believe that firing ranges have lead contamination? I tell you I am shocked! What is even more laughable about this is that the firing ranges are not used exclusively by USFK but by the ROK Army as well. Why isn’t the ROK Army being investigated for pollution? I found the inclusion of Freedom Bridge even funnier because USFK soldiers guarded that bridge. How the heck do soldiers pulling guard duty which also includes Koreans by the way, pollute a bridge to the point that these environmentalists say it is unsafe for the public? If this bridge is unsafe than every bridge in Korea needs to be shut down!

For those who have never served in Korea, the USFK camps are literally an oasis of green in the middle of dense urban cities. The camps after the Korean war were located on the outskirts of Korean cities but the camps have now been swallowed up by the growing cities which are a sign of Korea’s amazing development since the war. It is partly because of this development that USFK wants to relocate the camps to the sparsely populated Camp Humphreys area. If anything the USFK camps are the cleanest piece of land in the surrounding communities and some have been designated to become parks when handed over; yet the anti-US hate groups have successfully used this issue to further delay the USFK relocation.

That is why I say release the pollution findings with detailed data to check for errors because I wouldn’t be surprised if the findings were “Dr. Hwang-ed for political reasons especially when these so call environmental groups have been linked to North Korean spies.

If USFK really wanted to prove a point they should have environmental studies conducted by their own researchers on USFK bases compared to the surrounding communities. Does anyone think for example that Yongsan Garrison is more dangerous to the environment than Seoul? Case in point while Green Korea is busy complaining about these camps, Korean citizens in multiple cities are drinking water with high levels of uranium and Green Korea could care less.

Earlier this week I criticized Governor Bill Richardson for allowing himself to be used as a propaganda piece by the North Korean government with his touring of the USS Pueblo and the subsequent mockery of Richardson by the North Koreans during the tour. Now Governor Richardson is using the North Koreans for his own propaganda purposes with his announcement of negotiating a “North Korean Breakthrough”:

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What you won’t see in the MSM:

Accessions

Goal

Percent

Here is something else that relates back to my prior posting about blacks and US military recruiting. Here are some samples of more of the myths of the “conventional wisdom” out there about the US military:

This stat just confirms my prior hypothesis that the military is not getting dumber as some people have claimed. Here is another popular myth:

Notice in the graph above that there is now more wealthy recruits than poor recruits and growing while poor recruits and decreasing. There is something you will not see in the MSM or a documentary by Michael Moore on anytime soon. Make sure you read the rest because the report dispels more myths with some great hard data.

The reason these facts will not make it into the MSM or ever be uttered by Michael Moore or any of the other race and class demagogues out there, is because it goes against the current effort to paint soldiers as uneducated low lives that are committing war crimes all over Iraq. I’m sure if you ask them though, they will tell you they support the troops; their actions say other wise.

HT: Greyhawk

Remember the talk from the Democrats about reinstating the draft because minorities especially blacks are the ones dying for a white man’s war?:

Conyers said in a statement that “once the conscription process for service in the military becomes universal and mandatory for all those who meet the criteria . . . it removes the long-held stigma that people of color and persons from low-income backgrounds are disproportionately killed and injured while serving as ground troops on the front line.”

Critics of the congressmen, along with neutral observers, said their motive appeared to be a political attempt to call attention to race and class inequities in the military during the buildup to Iraq, rather than a call for mobilization toward war.

I would like these critics of the military to point out these “race and class inequities”. They never do because they can’t. They know full well that there isn’t an institution in the United States that gives blacks or any minority for that matter a fairer opportunity to excel than the US military.

Additionally their claims that blacks are dying in disproportionate numbers in Iraq have been proven to be totally and utterly false:

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