101 East - Korea: Wired

Al Jazeera's 101 East ran a feature episode on South Korea's internet and cyber culture, and their on-going cyber war with North Korea.  Very interesting stuff.

Awesome Parody Response to MBC News Hit Piece

Bravo to Brutal Rice Pictures for this hilarious and well made video parody mocking the MBC news piece run last month about Korean women and foreign men.

Here is the original in case you have been living under a rock and have not seen it already.

North Korea Hit By Severe Drought

More bad news for the peasants of North Korea

Korea's Defense Industry Thriving

Here is a boost for South Korea's economy and ego.

Caine's Cardboard Arcade

Someone told me that making a cardboard arcade would make for a fun summer camp activity.  I then asked, "what's a cardboard arcade"?

Then I watched this video.  Such a super cute video.  I remember being a little kid and thinking that cardboard was the most fun thing ever to play with.

The Top 1% of Koreans Get Bigger

Nations with greater income equality amongst their people have less crime and better standards of living.  Something I love about Korea is that they do not worship their rich.  Average, hard-working Koreans aren't dumb enough to believe in trickle-down economics or the belief if they just stop taxing the rich, somehow the economy will become so fantastic all their financial troubles will melt away.

Source:

The top 1 percent of earners in Korea account for 16.6 percent of the national income in a stark indication that polarization is particularly marked here. The Korea Institute of Public Finance on Monday said taxation data show that in 2006, a person making W100 million (US$1=W1,141) a year would qualify for the top one percentile of the income bracket.

The number of people earning at least W100 million a year accounted for 1.2 percent of the total population in 2007, 1.1 percent in 2009 and around 1.6 percent in 2010, according to KIPF.

The top 1 percent of wage earners accounted for 16.6 percent of the national income, which was slightly lower than the U.S. (17.7 percent), but higher than the U.K. (14.3 percent), Canada (13.3 percent), Japan (9.2 percent) and Australia (8.8 percent), showing that the wealth gap is especially pronounced in Korea. But KIPF said top wage earners account for a growing slice of the income pie in all OECD member nations over the past three decades.

But the top wage earners in Korea paid more taxes than their peers in advanced countries. They accounted for 43.9 percent of total tax revenues, as against the U.S.' 40 percent and a measly 24 percent in the U.K.

"The data was limited so it wasn't easy to compare different countries, but one thing is clear: those in the upper income bracket took up a larger share of the overall economy," said Park Myung-ho at KIPF.

The article does not say how much of Korea's wealth is owned by the richest 1%.  In America, the richest 1% own more than 40% of America's wealth.  I am guessing that for the rich in Korea it might be in the high 20s or low 30s.  I think much of the wealth for the richest 1% of Americans is generational and has accumulated over generations.  Whereas in Korea, much of their wealth is recent as of the last 30 years and the rich have yet to pass it on to the next generation to begin accumulating.

Here is a great speech by Bernie Sanders talking about income inequality in America.  This guy is the only actual socialist in the United States Congress (despite Fox News' accusations).

KPOP Korral - [Sunny Hill] - Princess and Prince Charming

I only recently discovered Sunny Hill this year.  But I have really enjoyed their creativity in their videos.  If you haven't seen the Grasshopper Song yet, it is easily my favorite KPOP video of the last year.

Their new video is for Princes and Prince Charming.

Here is old video of some of Sunny Hill's members teamed up with Narsha from Brown Eyed Girls.

Hypnotic Japanese Vegetable Dance

Not sure... but I keep watching this just to make sure it's real.  But in fact, I think it is not.  I am certain they are infront of a green screen.

A lot of people are pretty critical of KPOP... but really, just watch some JPOP videos and I can't see how anyone can think KPOP looks strange anymore.

RIP Maurice Sendak

A true creative titan of my childhood imagination passed away.

The Colbert Report
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The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

More children's books should be narrated by Chistopher Walken and Samuel L. Jackson.

Plastic Surgery Humor

A Korean shared this photo with me on facebook... they thought it was funny (and not racist).  I do not like plastic surgery and I think people should love the way they are.

With that said... lol

If you don't get the joke, then you might not be aware of the differences in the beauty standards between Korean and Western culture.