typhoon

I so wish I had my camera right now. I am feeling so lost without a working camera. Especially when things like this happen.
Last night we were visited by Typhoon Kompasu. I've been in Korea for a long time but have never felt a typhoon quite like this. Being in a little rooftop house is a bit of a different experience from living in a sheltered little studio suite. The windows were shaking and rattling all night and something was making a very loud groaning noise. Then the little storage room door flew open and started banging (only held closed by a little brick leaning against it). Then the bookshelf type shelves I had outside were ripped apart and the shelves were flying around bouncing off the railings. The chair outside is on wheels and was rolling around. Crash. Bang. Groan. Rattle. Someone must have come up at one point because when I went out to pick up the pieces of shelf to stop them they were already gone. To where, I'm not sure. And the chair was on its side. I knew someone had been up there because there were two more bricks holding the little storage room door. More banging and crashing. A window somewhere breaking (the home right across). And THEN a bigger noise. Opened the door to go out to see what had happened and couldn't open the door. Part of the roof was blocking the door. Half of the front room roof top had come off and some of the tile had come crashing down. The landlord's daughter-in-law was then up with another woman trying to tie thick ribbon-like string to hold the rest of the roof down. Oh. The 3 large kimchi pot lids are gone. As is the large mirror that was out there. Hmmm. Don't see any little pieces of mirror anywhere but did hear something that sounded like it broke.
Schools were postponed two hours so I finally got to try to go to sleep for a little bit once the wind slowly started to die down.
I'm tired.

creepy sculptures

These sculptures are up in Ilsan. I saw them last year but didn't have a chance to take a picture. Then a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon them again.They still look just as creepy as they did the first time I saw them. I think if I were a little kid, they would probably give me nightmares!!!!!(click on pictures to see larger view)

ummm.

Scary?

N Korea 'will turn South to ash'
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2008 Al Jazeera
North Korea has threatened to turn its southern neighbour to "ashes" after South Korea's military chief said he would conduct a pre-emptive strike if the North tried to carry out a nuclear attack.
The warning is the latest outburst in an escalating war of words since South Korea's new president took office last month pledging a tougher line on relations with the North.
An unidentified military commentator was quoted as saying in the North's official Korean Central News Agency: "Our military will not sit idle until warmongers launch a pre-emptive strike.
"Everything will be in ashes, not just a sea of fire, once our advanced pre-emptive strike begins."
The warning comes as a South Korean newspaper said on Monday that North Korean fighter jets had been testing South Korean nerves by flying close to southern air space.
The report in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said South Korean fighters had been scrambled at least 10 times in the past month in response to near incursions.
Last week, Kim Tae-young, the chairman of South Korea's joint chiefs of staff, told a parliamentary hearing that the military would strike a suspected North Korean nuclear weapons site if it believed the North was about to launch a nuclear attack.
In reports on state television on Monday North Korea's military said Kim's remarks would be seen as "tantamount to a declaration of war" if Seoul did not apologise.
North Korea has become increasingly angry over the tougher line taken by Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean president, since assuming office last month.
Lee's predecessors had sent billions of dollars in aid to the North, getting little in return, according to critics.
But the new president has said that if Pyongyang wants to keep receiving aid, it should improve its human rights record, abide by an international nuclear disarmament deal and start returning the more than 1,000 South Koreans captured or held since the 1950-53 Korean war.
The war ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides still technically at war.
Its latest comments come just before parliamentary elections next week in South Korea that could strengthen Lee's hand if conservative allies win control of the legislature.
The North has made similar statements in the past, usually in response to joint South Korean-US military drills. In 1994, a North Korean official threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire".
Its comments also came ahead of a visit to South Korea by the chief US negotiator in stalled North Korean nuclear disarmament talks.
Christopher Hill was due to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday to speak at a forum and talk with South Korean officials.
On Thursday North Korea expelled South Koreans working at a joint factory park in the North after South Korea said it would hold off expanding the joint industrial zone until the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear programmes was resolved.
The Kaeson industrial park, located on North Korean territory, had been hailed as a model of economic co-operation,
South Korea's defence ministry has said it will consider whether to send a response to the North over its demand for a retraction of Kim's pre-emptive strike statement.
A senior officer at the defence ministry said officials were working "to ensure the public would not worry about" the North's recent actions and statements, but did not elaborate.

and

North Korea warn of pre-emptive nuclear strike against neighbour
Leo Lewis In Tokyo March 31, 2008
An escalating war of words across the world’s last Cold War, nuclear-armed border spiraled dramatically yesterday when North Korea threatened to wreak total destruction on its neighbour to the south.
“Our military will not sit idle until warmongers launch a pre-emptive strike,” the official news agency in Pyongyang reported a senior military commander as saing, “everything will be in ashes, not just a sea of fire, if our advanced pre-emptive strike once begins.”
The threat was among the most direct and bellicose statements from Pyongyang since North Korea test-fired an atomic device in late 2006. International efforts since then to persuade the country’s enigmatic dictator, Kim Jong il, to abandon his weapons programme have repeatedly stalled.
The threat also marked a fourth day of rapidly deteriorating relations on the Korean peninsula, which remains technically still at war despite more than 50 years of often uncomfortable armistice.
The two countries – the prosperous, modern South and the unpredictable Stalinist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – continue to glare at one another across the world’s most heavily armed border.
A note sent by a North Korean military delegation to its South Korean counterpart on Saturday, said that “these outbursts are the gravest challenge ever in the history of the inter-Korean relations and a reckless provocation little short of a war declaration against the DPRK.”
Sunday’s warning followed remarks in Seoul earlier in the weekend in which the head of South Korea’s military vowed to conduct a pre-emptive strike on the suspected North Korean nuclear weapons site if Pyongyang tried to attack with atomic weapons.
The office of the chairman of the South’s joint chiefs of staff later explained that it was a statement of general principles, rather than a hint that the South was planning any unprovoked attack on the North. Pyongyang said that it would suspend all cross-border dialogue unless the remarks were withdrawn and an apology issued.
Although the communist regime of Kim Jong Il has regularly used this form of extreme language in the past, long-term North Korea experts said that its renewed appearance of the past few days should be treated with some caution.
The row, which has already seen 11 South Korean officials expelled from a joint economic “friendship” zone by the North, is thought to be a test by Pyongyang of the mettle of the new president in Seoul.
On Friday the DPRK test-fired a salvo of short-range missiles, reprising an act that has traditionally provoked outrage in Seoul and placed South Korean leaderships under immense domestic strain.
Lee Myung Bak was elected to the South Korean presidency in December last year on promises of a stronger economy. But he made little secret that his view towards North Korea and Kim Jong il would be far less conciliatory than his predecessor’s.
His response to the current escalation of tensions will be closely scrutinised on both sides of the demilitarized zone that splits the peninsula.
In addition to the deeper conflict over Pyongyang’s atomic weapons programme, the most recent row has ignited an argument over a line in the Yellow Sea that has never been recognised by North Korea: officials in Pyongyang said on Friday that “armed conflict may break out at any moment” over the boundary.

Help Bill Kapoun

A week or so ago, a foreign English teacher here in Seoul suffered severe burns fire tore throught his home. He suffered third degree burns to more than 70% of his body! He is now in the hospital here in Korea. Unfortunately, he doesn't have health insurance here in Korea as it was not offered in his contract. His family and friends are trying to raise money to cover his medical costs here and to pay for his transfer to the Cook County Burn Center in Chicago which has offered free medical care as long as it takes to get him better.

I would hope that if anything ever happened to me, people would be so helpful. I do have National Healthcare here, though it still doesn't cover everything. Koreans all have two kinds of health insurance. National health insurance and some sort of private health insurance that covers emergencies and such.

There is a Facebook group for Bill Kapoun and a blog, Save Bill Kapoun, as well. They have set up several ways for people to make donations. IF you want to help him, check out Bill Kapoun's Burn Fund.

Family fights to save burn victim
Before third-degree burns on half his body turned his life upside down, Will Kapoun was not just any English teacher - he was a born natural.
"He has three younger brothers that just idolize him and being a teacher is something he really enjoyed. When he would come home from traveling, he would give them projects to do: research and presentations to the family on countries he visited," his mother, Judy Kapoun, said in an interview.
"He was just a born teacher," she added.
On Monday, Feb. 25, a fire tore through his Haebangchon, central Seoul, apartment. Details are still sketchy, but it is suspected the fire started inside the front entrance of his apartment from "a flammable liquid." No other apartments in his building were damaged and no one else was injured.
"We're concentrating on survival, we're not even close to thinking recovery," his mother said.
In his apartment itself, one bedroom was untouched by the fire as the door was shut, Judy told The Korea Herald. "But Will's bedroom and the living room are all totally charred and blistered. The fire and the heat must have been so incredibly intense."
Will, 26, is now in critical condition in an intensive care burn ward at a hospital in Seoul. "He has third-degree burns on over 64 percent of his body. His arms, chest, back, legs - basically the only thing not burned is his thighs," said his mother. "He is still extremely critical; as a matter of fact he took a turn for the worse (Wednesday)."
Will has been undergoing skin graft surgery since last week and had more work done on Monday. But his mother said that he doesn't have enough of his own skin left for more grafts. "He doesn't have enough of his own flesh left to transplant it, so they have to grow flesh in a Petri dish. We had to agree to the cost of that yesterday just to get them started on that."
Cost is another serious issue for the Kapouns. While Will was retroactively added to the Korean National Health Insurance program this week, it is only expected to offset a fraction of the total costs as it does not cover skin grafts. Each operation costs around $15,000. Treatment costs could reach around 145 million won ($150,000) or higher for injuries as bad as Will's.
A Medivac to a hospital in the United States will cost another $170,000. Judy said that Quick County Hospital in Chicago has agreed to take Will in and treat him at no cost to the family - but that they would be responsible for the $170,000 Medivac.
But at this point, said Judy, he is still fighting for his life, and will not be able to be transported for months.
Will is the oldest of five children - his youngest brother is just 12. A family friend in the United States, Abby Cox, explained: "The boys are at home in Alexandria, Indiana, with their grandmother, who is also undergoing cancer treatments."
"(Costs) keep mounting. He had to go on dialysis today and at one point we were given a figure of $150,000, but I think it's going to surpass that greatly because of complications," Judy said.
Will had been working at Bulam Elementary School as a part-time English instructor and was working under 15 hours a week. Under Korean law, employers are not on the hook for health insurance for part-time employees. "Part-time employees are not covered by mandatory health insurance," Brendan Carr, a foreign legal consultant with Hwang Mok Park law firm in Seoul.
Carr also said anyone legally residing in Korea is permitted to retroactively join Korea's national health insurance plan, but that they are liable to costs from the date of eligibility. "If you enroll late, be aware that the insured is required to ante up for all unpaid premiums as from the date of eligibility for cover - i.e., date of arrival. You don't get to buy insurance just when you need it."
So far, national health insurance has covered about 40 percent of the costs. "At this point right now, only about $20,000 of $55,000" has been made up by the insurance, noted Judy.
Responding fast to the family's plight, friends in both the United States and Korea have established financial support channels.
Laura, 22, Will's younger sister, is spearheading awareness and fundraising in the United States from her university in Bloomington, Indiana. With the help of friends, she set up www.billkapoun.com, where online donations are being accepted from people in the United States.
"I needed a way to clearly state what happened to my brother and how people could help. The website has been able to do this," she said. So far, the website has raised about $19,000.
Kin Jin-uk, a family friend, told The Korea Herald a bank account has been established and is now taking donations from people residing in Korea. He noted that the Kookmin Bank account is for direct deposit donations. The account number is 794002-04-03-1635 and the holder name is "Warren Franklin-William Fund."
A blog has also been set up to provide regular updates on Will's condition: www.savebillkapoun.blogspot.com. Fundraising events in Seoul are being planned and will be posted on the blog.
As the money slowly comes in, the Kapouns continue to fight alongside their son. Immediately after the devastating fire, his mother and father came to Korea to be at his side for as long as it takes.
"Will and I have always been really close. I am simply doing everything that I can to make sure that my brother is able to receive everything he needs to recover from this. I hope that people are able to see the human in this story and open their hearts to that," said Laura.
By Matthew Lamers 2008.03.07

Foreign Teachers Campaign for Colleague Injured in Fire
By Kang Shin-who Staff Reporter 03-04-2008
William Kapoun, 26, loved teaching kids. But the young, confident American will not be able to continue what he loves ― at least for a long while. About 10 days ago, a fire broke out at his apartment at dawn and left him with third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body.
The part-time teacher at Bulam Elementary School in northern Seoul is now in intensive care. He will have to endure reconstructive surgery on numerous occasions and a lengthy recovery. Despite the will to live, however, he lacks the means to fight the brutal battle.
The blaze not only altered his body and dreams but also laid bare working conditions that are void of shelters or insurance schemes against such terrible accidents. His full treatment is estimated to cost roughly $130,000.
His parents flew over immediately. They are also shocked by the staggering costs as he has no health insurance under his contract . "He lived in an unsafe apartment. There was no sprinkler system or fire alarm and he had only one exit, which was blocked by the fire," Dan Kapoun, 53, father of William, told The Korea Times at the hospital in Seoul.
The father lamented the absence of any clear insurance policy. "I think whoever hires someone should take responsibility for making sure there is insurance," he said.
He said his son was very happy when he decided to go to Korea. "My son was very adventurous. He thought it would be a very good thing to teach English here, not only for him but also his students."
Kapoun Burn Fund
Bulam Elementary School, the employer of the victim, said that the school is not obliged to provide any insurance coverage to employees working less than 15 hours a week in line with the Labor Law. The school has some 10 other part-time foreign teachers working under similar conditions.
William initially started to teach at a hagwon before transferring to the "after-school" English programs that paid him some 2.2 million won a month. He has worked here for 14 months. He holds a double-bachelors degree in history and economics from Indiana University, his home state school.
With his parents in a difficult financial situation, his friends and colleagues are joining hands to launch a campaign to raise funds via the Internet at http://www.billkapoun.com.
Calling on educational authorities to take measures to install systems to protect foreign teachers, they also lamented the absence of any organized representative body for teachers to rely on when disaster strikes.
Matthew Sellar, a part-time teacher at an elementary school in Seoul, said that the terrible situation could happen to other foreigners as well. "The fact that William was uninsured is indicative of the larger issue that many foreign English teachers do not have insurance," he said. "I wish it was easier for foreigners to report illegal activities without fear of being fired, deported, or arrested. I love Korea. I love teaching my students."
Faulty Hiring Procedures
Apart from some 4,000 full-time foreign teachers at public schools across the country, many other schools employ native-English speaking teachers for their 'after-school' programs through recruitment agencies.
In Seoul alone, there were 833 English programs after school hours. While full-time foreigners get benefits such as health insurance, pension and severance, part-time workers are not entitled to such basic packages.
Most schools hire teachers through agents and many of the part-time teachers have difficulty in communicating with their employers. That’s because agents do not care much about them once schools hire them. Some agents don’t even give contract copies to foreign teachers, William’s friends who were gathered at the hospital said.
Korea Immigration Service issues E-2 visas to foreigners as long as the employers are trustful such as public schools. Under the immigration law, holders of E-2, or working visa, are not automatically entitled to insurance coverage. There should be contracts guaranteeing insurance coverage for them to be protected by insurance.
"As far as I know E-2 visa holding foreigners are not eligible for insurance policies without contracts containing insurance coverage," said Kim Young-guen, an immigration official.
Adam Mueller, another native-English speaking teacher also asked the Korean government to give more attention to their difficulties. "The situation that our friend William is in is the ultimate nightmare for a foreigner in Korea; huge medical bills, difficulty getting information and no easy access to solutions," he said. "Teachers considering working in Korea will naturally have some concerns about their new life."
If the Korean government does more to make foreigners feel confident about their safety and access to information, Korea will be able to attract more and better English teachers, he added.
Warren Franklin, who is teaching at a university, said "If a teacher is working for an 'after-school' program and is given an E2 visa they should be entitled to insurance at least."
Meanwhile, police have yet to figure out the exact cause of the fire. They say it will take one or two more weeks to determine exact reasons.

China might move in on North Korea!??

This doesn't sound so good, but I suppose it kinda sounds like something the US has in its plans for North Korea and other such countries on their list.

China 'plans to send troops into North Korea'
By Richard Spencer in Beijing Last Updated: 2:10am GMT 10/01/2008
China is planning to send troops into North Korea to restore order and secure its nuclear arsenal in the event of the regime’s collapse.
According to a new report, Beijing would send in the People’s Liberation Army if it felt threatened by a rapid breakdown in Kim Jong-il’s rule over the country.
China would seek to win the backing of the United Nations first, but would be prepared to act unilaterally if necessary.
“If the international community did not react in a timely manner as the internal order in North Korea deteriorated rapidly, China would seek to take the initiative in restoring stability,” said the report by two Washington think-tanks.
Based on extensive interviews conducted in China, including with PLA academics, the report’s findings back up previous indications of China’s major change in attitude to Kim Jong-il after the North Korean nuclear test of October 2006, and also demonstrate its willingness to assert itself in international affairs.
Separately, Beijing today announced its ambitions in space for the coming year, including the launch of 15 rockets and 17 satellites as well as its first space walk.
According to PLA academics quoted by the report, which was written by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and the US Institute of Peace, the army has three “missions” in a failing North Korea.
One would be humanitarian — to deal with refugees or the consequences of natural disaster.
The second is peacekeeping and maintaining order, and the third requires it to deal with contamination from a military strike on North Korea’s nuclear facilities, and to secure nuclear weapons and materials to prevent them getting into the “wrong hands”.
The report said that there were disagreements among its sources as to whether China still wished to preserve its “special relationship” with North Korea, the only country with which it has a formal, mutual defence alliance.
But they agreed that Beijing would neither intervene to replace Kim Jong-il, nor to prevent him being replaced by others.
The Chinese government’s prime concern was stability, though there was thought to be no immediate danger of a breakdown.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman said she had “no knowledge” of the plan, but did not deny its existence.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Beijing’s People’s University, said the plan might have been drawn up when the North Korean regime was under greater pressure than now.
It was still unclear how it would react in future, though. “China, as with other powers, is a little confused about this,” he said.

working the nightshift a carcinogen?

This is a scary thought. I know so many people that are working (or have for long periods of time) graveyard shifts. As a traveler, I know that messing with sleep patterns really screws up the system.

Check out the official ACS (American Cancer Society) list of known and probably carcinogens (link also listed at the bottom of the article). It is kinda scary! Some of the things listed are things that you wouldn't even consider: mineral oils, wood dust, Chinese style salted fish!!!

Graveyard shift soon to be listed as 'probable' cause of cancer
Thu Nov 29, 8:03 PM By Maria Cheng, The Associated Press
LONDON - Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer.
It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.
Next month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, will add overnight shift work as a probable carcinogen.
The higher cancer rates don't prove working overnight can cause cancer. There may be other factors common among graveyard shift workers that raise their risk for cancer.
However, scientists suspect that overnight work is dangerous because it disrupts the circadian rhythm, the body's biological clock. The hormone melatonin, which can suppress tumour development, is normally produced at night.
If the graveyard shift theory eventually proves correct, millions of people worldwide could be affected. Experts estimate that nearly 20 per cent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts.
Among the first to spot the night shift-cancer connection was Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. In 1987, Stevens published a paper suggesting a link between light at night and breast cancer.
Back then, he was trying to figure out why breast cancer incidence suddenly shot up starting in the 1930s in industrialized societies, where nighttime work was considered a hallmark of progress. Most scientists were bewildered by his proposal.
But in recent years, several studies have found that women working at night over many years were indeed more prone to breast cancer. Also, animals that have their light-dark schedules switched develop more cancerous tumours and die earlier.
Some research also suggests that men working at night may have a higher rate of prostate cancer.
Because these studies mostly focused on nurses and airline crews, bigger studies in different populations are needed to confirm or disprove the findings.
There are still plenty of skeptics. And to put the risk in perspective, the "probable carcinogen" tag means that the link between overnight work and cancer is merely plausible.
Among the long list of agents that are listed as "known" carcinogens are alcoholic beverages and birth control pills. Such lists say nothing about exposure amount or length of time or how likely they are to cause cancer.
The American Cancer Society website notes that carcinogens do not always cause cancer. The cancer society doesn't make its own assessments of possible cancer-causing agents, but relies on analyses by the IARC and a U.S. agency.
Still, many doubters of the night shift link may be won over by the IARC's analysis to be published in the December issue of the journal Lancet Oncology.
"The indications are positive," said Vincent Cogliano, who heads up the agency's carcinogen classifications unit. "There was enough of a pattern in people who do shift work to recognize that there's an increase in cancer, but we can't rule out the possibility of other factors."
Scientists believe having lower melatonin levels can raise the risk of developing cancer. Light shuts down melatonin production, so people working in artificial light at night may have lower melatonin levels.
Melatonin can be taken as a supplement, but experts don't recommend it long-term, since that could ruin the body's ability to produce it naturally.
Sleep deprivation may be another factor in cancer risk. People who work at night are not usually able to completely reverse their day and night cycles.
"Night shift people tend to be day shift people who are trying to stay awake at night," said Mark Rea, director of the Light Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, who is not connected with the IARC analysis.
Not getting enough sleep makes your immune system vulnerable to attack, and less able to fight off potentially cancerous cells.
Confusing your body's natural rhythm can also lead to a breakdown of other essential tasks. "Timing is very important," Rea said. Certain processes like cell division and DNA repair happen at regular times.
Even worse than working an overnight shift is flipping between daytime and overnight work.
"The problem is re-setting your body's clock," said Aaron Blair, of the United States' National Cancer Institute, who chaired IARC's recent meeting on shift work. "If you worked at night and stayed on it, that would be less disruptive than constantly changing shifts."
Anyone whose light and dark schedule is often disrupted - including frequent long-haul travellers or insomniacs - could theoretically face the same increased cancer risk, Stevens said.
He advises workers to sleep in a darkened room once they get off work. "The balance between light and dark is very important for your body. Just get a dark night's sleep."
Meanwhile, scientists are trying to come up with ways to reduce night workers' cancer risk. And some companies are experimenting with different lighting, seeking a type that doesn't affect melatonin production.
So far, the colour that seems to have the least effect on melatonin is one that few people would enjoy working under: red.
-
List of known and probable carcinogens from IARC and National Toxicology Program listed on American Cancer Society website: http://tinyurl.com/2kl5ab
International Agency for Research on Cancer: http://www.iarc.fr/

death by cell phone update

A Death-By-Cell-Phone Story Falls Apart
By Patrick J. Lyons
Ever been so annoyed at some boor yakking too loud and too long on his cellphone that you find yourself wishing the accursed thing would just blow up in his hand? (Or have you ever had someone wish that on you?) Then consider this strange tale.
The technology press was alive yesterday with this news out of South Korea, as reported by the English-language Korea Times:
A 33-year-old excavator driver was found dead on Wednesday in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, after a suspected cell phone battery explosion, police said.
The man, identified only with his surname Seo, was found lying dead beside his excavator in a stone quarry in Cheongwon at 8:40 a.m. by his colleagues. His cell phone was found in his shirt pocket with its battery severely melted and his chest burned and fractured, the police said.
What a nightmare-in-everyday-life scenario it was — a constant companion and helpmate that suddenly turns into a live grenade. And plausible too: the overheating problem with lithium batteries may be rare, but it is widely known (another case of one catching fire while being charged on a nightstand turned up just a day later in New Zealand).
But the morbid fascination that the technology press would naturally have with the story out of South Korea was quickly laced with notes of puzzlement, bordering on skepticism — a feeling that investigators evidently shared: The reported injuries didn’t seem to quite match the supposed cause. From Information Week:
Police want to know why a 33-year-old quarry worker was found with broken bones, heart damage, and a melted cell phone in his left chest pocket.
The manufacturer, which turned out to be LG, wanted to know that, too. A company representative told the Korea Times that a foil coating on the battery would make it melt, not explode, if it overheated, and the man’s phone indeed looked merely to have melted.
It isn’t out of the question that an exploding cell phone could cave in someone’s ribs — it apparently happened to a welder in China in June, Information Week reported. But the high temperatures he was exposed to were thought to be to blame, not any fault in the phone, and the Korean quarry worker was working outdoors in the winter cold. How could it have killed him?
All that skepticism now appears to have been well warranted. Today, the police arrested a coworker of the dead man and charged him with manslaughter. They say he has confessed to accidentally killing Mr. Seo by backing into him with a drilling vehicle, and then trying to frame the cell phone.
It’s hardly consolation for Mr. Seo’s family, of course, but it is no doubt a relief for LG stockholders, not to mention a bit of a black eye for the all the news outlets that seized a little too eagerly on the initial story line. As the Korea Times noted today in a rueful editorial:
We have often seen cases of fierce competition for media coverage causing irresponsible reporting not based on facts but on rumors, speculation and unconfirmed sources. [ … ] Reporters, editors and publishers are struggling to meet both timeliness and accuracy. They try not to sacrifice one thing for the other. But, it is not easy for them to do both at the same time in a highly competitive environment.
Media outlets should learn a lesson from the cell phone case. They must be careful not to repeat the mistake of false reporting, which might cause irrevocable damage to businesses, the public, the government, or the country.
[The LEDE Blog New York Times]

BUT

Cell Phone Battery Explodes in the Night
James Niccolai, IDG News Service Thursday, November 29, 2007 7:00 AM PST
A New Zealand man was woken in the middle of the night when his cell phone battery exploded and burst into flames, the second exploding battery incident reported this week.
Norman Sievewright said he was asleep in bed about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when he woke to a loud bang and found his cell phone battery in flames on the carpet. The phone had been charging while he was asleep.
"It was very scary ... especially the fumes and stuff. The back has been blown off the phone," he told New Zealand's TVONE television news channel.
The phone was made by Nokia, which asked Sievewright to turn over the battery and charger so it can investigate. Until it has done so, "it would be inappropriate to speculate," a Nokia spokeswoman said via email.
In August Nokia issued an advisory about faulty batteries in some of its phones. It said 46 million Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries were vulnerable to a short circuit that could cause them to overheat while recharging, and offered to replace them for customers who are concerned.
Nokia did not issue a recall and said incidents had occurred with only a tiny fraction of phones -- 100 out of the 46 million. The batteries were manufactured by Japan's Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. and sold in a wide range of Nokia devices.
Nokia said it didn't know yet what type of battery was inside the phone in New Zealand, and attempts to contact Sievewright Thursday were unsuccessful.
Also Wednesday, police in South Korea said a worker may have died because his cell phone battery exploded in his pocket, the Associated Press reported. The man was found dead at his workplace in a quarry with a melted cell phone battery in his shirt pocket, according to the report.
The doctor who examined the man said the pressure caused by the explosion may have "damaged his heart and lungs" and led to his death, according to the AP, which quoted a local news agency. That phone was made by LG Electronics, reports said.
With close to 300 million cell phones sold in the world last quarter, such battery explosions are considered extremely rare.

exploding cell phones?

I'm glad that I haven't heard about things like this before, as it means it is a VERY rare occurrence.

Exploding mobile battery suspected in S Korea fatality
By Lester Haines Published Wednesday 28th November 2007 16:30 GMT
A South Korean man was this morning found dead at work, apparently killed by an exploding mobile phone battery, AP reports.
The victim, identified only by his surname Suh, was discovered at a quarry in Cheongwon, 135 kilometres (85 miles) south of Seoul with "his mobile phone battery... melted in his shirt pocket", according to a police official. The unnamed official added: "We presume that the cell phone battery exploded."
Doctor Kim Hoon, who examined the body, explained: "He sustained an injury that is similar to a burn in the left chest and his ribs and spine were broken. It is presumed that pressure caused by the explosion damaged his heart and lungs, leading to his death."
Police said the mobile in question was made by LG. A company official confirmed this, adding that LG "would not comment directly on the incident because the cause was not confirmed". He did, however, describe such an explosion as "virtually impossible". ®

Apparently computers are burning and exploding, too, though the computer problem seems to be a bit more common.

Dell laptop explodes 'like fireworks'
Another Dell laptop has burst unexpectedly into flames. This one, an Inspiron 9200, spontaneously combusted this week in Columbus, Ohio. The blaze was caught on camera.
According to a report on website ConsumerAffairs.com, the laptop went up "like fireworks", its owner, Douglas Brown, claimed. Brown called the emergency services then grabbed his camera and took a few snaps of the infernal Inspiron:
What's not yet clear is whether Brown's laptop is one of those covered by the major battery replacement programme Dell put in place a year ago. Certainly, some Inspiron 9200s were included. If Brown's machine was, it doesn't appear from the ConsumerAffairs.com story that he had returned his original battery to Dell.
If he had - or if his 9200 was not one of those covered by the recall - it raises the possibility that a lot more laptops are going to have to have their batteries checked. Given recent claims made by Japanese boffins that the design of lithium-ion power cells is inherently "flawed", perhaps they should be in any case.
Thanks to Register Hardware reader Emanuel for the tip

Georgia Man's Dell Laptop Bursts into Flames
Latest in a series of laptop fires
By Truman LewisConsumerAffairs.Com August 24, 2007
A computer network administrator at a Columbus, Georgia, hospital is the latest consumer to encounter the flaming laptop syndrome.
Douglas Brown said his Dell 9200 wide-screen laptop's batteries exploded into flames, it "looked like fireworks which would have been cool had it not been in my house."
Brown called 911 and the fire department responded with two pumpers, a ladder truck, the HAZMAT unit, an ambulance and the battalion chief.
"Way too much manpower for one little laptop," he said, but "I guess it sounded like it was more then it really was" to the 911 dispatcher.
It's the latest in a series of fires and meltdowns involving the lithium-ion batteries used in laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices.
Last year, a man in South Venice, Fla. blamed his Dell laptop for burning down his house. Earlier this year, a Macbook was blamed for a house fire in Australia.
In one of the most celebrated cases, a Dell laptop was blamed for setting fire to a pickup truck parked in a remote mountainous area in Nevada last August. The fire not only destroyed the truck but set off a box of ammunition its outdoorsman owner had left in the glove compartment while he went fishing.
Dell and other computer makers have recalled millions of batteries. It could not immediately be determined whether Brown's laptop was among the recalled units.
Brown said he called Dell and spoke with a representative named Cory who was "very nice and professional" but who then transferred him to someone who was not.
Brown said he asked the next service rep "who was going to pay for the damages to my house and the HAZMAT bill and (she) asked me if I had insurance.
"I would have thought Dell would have had a better answer then that," Brown said. "After all the fire was caused by their computer."
Brown said the laptop is now sitting the middle of his driveway.

If you check the link to the last one, it has a huge list of links related to laptop fires and explosions. From houses burning down to cars burning up, all due to laptop fires.

in jail for naming a teddy bear!

This is nuts!

'Muhammad' teddy teacher arrested
A British school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name.
Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.
The BBC has learned the charge could lead to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.
Officials from the British embassy in Khartoum are expected to visit Ms Gibbons in custody.
"We are in contact with the authorities here and they have visited the teacher and she is in a good condition," an embassy spokesman said.
The spokesman said the naming of the teddy happened months ago and was chosen by the children because it is a common name in the country.
"This happened in September and the parents did not have a problem with it," he said.
'Very sensitive'
The school has been closed until January for fear of reprisals.
Fellow teachers at Khartoum's Unity High School told Reuters news agency they feared for Ms Gibbons' safety after receiving reports that men had started gathering outside the police station where she was being held.
The school's director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety.
"This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."
Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was following a British national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and this year's topic was the bear.
Ms Gibbons, who joined the school in August, asked a seven-year-old girl to bring in her teddy bear and asked the class to pick names for it, he said.
"They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad," Mr Boulos said, adding that she then had the children vote on a name.
Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.
Mr Boulos said each child was then allowed to take the bear home at weekends and told to write a diary about what they did with it.
He said the children's entries were collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover and a message which read, "My name is Muhammad."
Book seized
The bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way, he added.
It is seen as an insult to Islam to attempt to make an image of the Prophet Muhammad.
Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was arrested on Sunday at her home inside the school premises after a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education.
He said police had seized the book and asked to interview the girl who owned the bear.
The country's state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre reported that charges were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law" which covers insults against faith and religion.
No-one at the ministries of education or justice was available for comment.
Mr Boulos told the BBC he was confident she would not face a jail sentence.
One Muslim teacher at the independent school for Christian and Muslim children, who has a child in Ms Gibbons' class, said she had not found the project offensive.
"I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed that she got them to vote," the teacher said.
In Liverpool, a family spokeswoman said Ms Gibbons' grown children, John and Jessica - both believed to be in their 20s - were not commenting on her arrest.
"I have spoken with her children and they do not want to say anything and aggravate the situation over there," she said.
Rick Widdowson the headteacher of Garston Church of England Primary School, where Gillian worked for ten years, added: "We are an Anglican school and I know for a fact that Gillian would not do anything to offend followers of any faith.
"Certainly she is also very worldly wise and she is obviously aware of the sensitivities around Islam."
Cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad printed in several European newspapers sparked violent protests around the world in 2006.

Korea... a "Danger Country" ?????

I read this a couple of days ago. I'm not surprised for the most part, but a bit, yes. I've always felt very safe here, at any hour day or night. I've been told by Korean friends to be careful, to not walk alone after dark, etc. All because they heard of a few instances where things did happen. I think that in relation to the population, it isn't so bad. The OECD Classificion DOES surprise me, a lot.

Rash of Violent Crimes Leaves Korean Women Frightened
Many Korea women are anxious these days after a series of murders, rapes and other crimes targeting women made headlines recently.
Last August, two female office workers were abducted and murdered by illegal taxi drivers near Hongik University in Seoul, and in September a police officer raped two women in a subway parking lot late at night, stealing some W19 million (US$1=W917) in cash and valuables.
Earlier this month, a man in his 30s was arrested for raping nine women who were returning home at night in Seongbuk district in northern Seoul. Women now are increasingly afraid to catch a cab at night or even to go out.
With the surging growth of women in the Korean work force, economic participation by females has reached 54.8 percent. However public security measures to protect women at night remain neglected. According to the National Police Agency, more than a third of all violent crimes including murder, robbery, and rape occur between midnight and four a.m.
Korea is classified a "danger country" in terms of women's public safety by the 30-member OECD. According to the OECD's Social and Welfare Statistics for 2007, the homicide rate for Korean women is 1.7 per every 100,000 people, the third highest after the U.S. (2.7) and Iceland (2.2).
Experts say it's urgent that safety be ensured in cabs, the most frequently used means of transportation for working women at night. Most cabs including private and company-run ones are considered safe but measures must be taken against illegal contract cabs that are often used in crimes.
Contract cabs refer to licensed cabs that can be rented from an owner or a company for around W100,000 a day. They allow criminals to act as cab divers as long as they can pay. An estimated 5,000 contract cabs cruise the streets of Seoul.
"While more than 80 percent of people in Korea catch cabs on the street, most people in other countries have to call," said Park Yong-hun from the Coalition for Transportation Culture of Korea. "We should pursue a system for women-only call cabs."
Many also point out the need to step up public safety measures in secluded places like parking lots and alleys by setting up watch posts and CCTV cameras. "Women returning home late at night are the easiest targets for criminals, since they look for vulnerable victims in places where they can most easily commit crimes," said researcher Hwang Gi-tae of the Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy.
(englishnews@chosun.com )

Makes me sick to even think about it

FACTBOX-Some facts on female circumcision
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Egypt strengthened its ban on female genital cutting in June by eliminating a legal loophole allowing girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons.
A U.N women's forum urged the world to ban the procedure last March. However the practice remains widespread as a rite of passage for girls.
Here are some key details on female genital mutilation (FGM):
* WHAT IS FEMALE CIRCUMCISION:
-- FGM, often referred to as "female circumcision", comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs.
-- The practice involves cutting off all or part of the clitoris and other female genitalia, sometimes by a doctor but also often by a relative or midwives.
* SIDE EFFECTS:
-- The immediate and long-term health consequences of the process varies according to the type and severity of the procedure performed.
-- Immediate complications include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage, urine retention, ulceration of the genital region and injury to adjacent tissue. Haemorrhage and infection can cause death. There is also increased susceptibility to HIV/AIDS.
-- It may leave a lasting mark on the life and mind of the woman who has undergone it. In the longer term, women may suffer feelings of incompleteness, anxiety and depression.
* WHY IS THE PROCEDURE CARRIED OUT:
-- In order to attenuate sexual desire in the female, maintain chastity and virginity before marriage and fidelity during marriage, and increase male sexual pleasure.
-- To conform with the social norm - those who don't conform are likely to be stigmatised.
-- To initiate girls into womanhood, social integration and the maintenance of social cohesion.-- Some African Muslims believe that cutting is required by Islam and fulfils a religious obligation, however the practice predates both Islam and Christianity.
* WHO PERFORMS FGM:
-- Genital mutilation predominantly occurs in around 28 African countries, but it also takes place in some Middle Eastern nations, like Saudi Arabia, among immigrant communities in Europe and North America, and parts of Asia, including Indonesia.
-- A 2005 UNICEF report said that 97 percent of Egyptian women between the ages of 15 and 49 had been circumcised. UNICEF said Eritrea ranks amongst the worst in the world for FGM and a survey by its government in 2002 found less than 1 percent of circumcisions were performed by trained health professionals. Eritrea banned FGM last April. In Kenya, the government has estimated about a third of women suffered the procedure.
-- FGM is practised throughout West Africa. In Guinea, Sierra Leone and Mali, at least 90 percent of women are cut.
-- The number of girls and women who have been undergone female genital mutilation is estimated at between 100 and 140 million. It is estimated that each year, a further 2 million girls are at risk of undergoing circumcision.

police brutality

It is so sad that things like this keep happening there. When will it end?????

Egypt police beat man to death
CAIRO: Egyptian police tortured a man to death as they were trying to track down his brother, a security source said yesterday. It was the latest in a series of human rights abuses reported in the Arab country.
The official said police detained Nasr Ahmed Abdallah without charges and beat him severely in the Nile Delta village of Tilbanah on Wednesday. He died of his wounds in hospital.
Egyptian newspapers also carried the report. The official said police held the 35-year-old carpenter in an attempt to force the surrender of his brother, who is wanted on unspecified charges.
An interior ministry spokesman declined to comment, saying public prosecutors were investigating the incident.
International and local human rights groups say torture is systematic in Egypt. Many victims have reported receiving electric shocks and severe beatings, but the government says it opposes torture and prosecutes anyone found practising it.
"The problem is that the Interior Ministry until now does not want to admit that torture is a standard method," said Gamal Eid, head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.
The independent Al Masry Al Yom said villagers protested after Abdallah's death and hurled stones at the police station.
The Al Wafd opposition newspaper published a picture of what it said was his bloodied body.

(If you hadn't heard about previous incidents of police brutality in Egypt, it is easy to find on the net. I've seen it and don't want to look for it.)

Fanaticism

This is an email that I recently received from a friend. It is an interesting read. I don't agree with all of it, but much of it is very true. But what can be done about it???

On this vein, you should all make every effort to see a German movie currently being screened at selected theatres. "The Lives of Others" It is a must see movie.
I don't know who the original author of the following is, but it should be a wake-up call for us all.
A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. "Very few people were true Nazis" he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."

We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.
The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority" the "silent majority" is cowed and extraneous.
Catholic Rome and Spain were silent when Christian fanatics raped, plundered and murdered thier way across South America. The 'Silent Majority' looked away, convinced that the Church knew what they were doing.
In Australia the 'majority', both here and in England, were silent while fanatics were mixing poison into the flour and sugar handed out to tribal indigenous people, and when thier children were been taken away into slavery/servitude. It has been estimated that one million aboriginal people died during colonization.
Many in the west were silent when Irish Catholic and Protestant fanatics were killing the innocent in Northern Ireland.
Communist Russia comprised Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.
China's huge population, it was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?
Today the 'majority' is silent while Israel bombs refugee villages and camps in Gaza, Southern Lebanon and the West Bank, killing mostly innocent women and children. All in the name of 'peace'.
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving people have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving people will become the enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awake one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Aboriginees, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold; we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, can contribute to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on!! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, please read - think about it - and send it on. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you've imagined.

OUCH!!!

This looks like it would hurt!!!!!Yes, he got his hand back.
National Geographic News

makes me cringe...

This makes me very sad. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to go through anything like this.
Female Genital Mutilation Persists in Egypt

worry

The other day, I was a bit worried all day. In the morning, I got a text message from M in Egypt, saying:
"Sabah el asel habibi im now in police ofice i stil i dont know what can i do? Dont wory i will be okay"
It would have been 2 AM in Egypt, and he should have been at work, still (he normally works from 3 PM until sometimes 6 AM!!!). I tried phoning him then, but his phone was turned off. He had just sent the message!!! I phoning him several times during the day. He was then supposed to meet me on the Net that evening at 9:00 (2 PM in Egypt, an hour before he had to be at work). He didn't show up on the Net, and I could do nothing but wait...
A couple of days before, a man entered the cafe and started a bit of an arguement over prices. He said that he was Egyptian, so he didn't have to pay full price. M said no, everything was the same price, no matter where the customer was from. The man then said he was a police officer, and he didn't have to pay full price. After arguing a bit, the man demanded to talk to the manager, and then said he would be back.
I've been reading a lot of Egyptian blogs and such, and so I have been hearing a lot of bad things about the way that the police in Egypt work. Of course, I know that they aren't all bad (M's father was a police officer, as are two of his brothers), but the stories I am reading/hearing are VERY bad, and are increasing in number.
I got a text message from him a couple of hours after he was supposed to start working and phoned him right away. He had just gotten to work. Apparently, the man returned and I'm not exactly sure what happened, but M had to go to the police office. When he got there, they just told him to sit down. He sat down and sent me the text message. Then they saw he was using his phone and demanded that he give it to them. He said he had to phone his manager, as he was supposed to be at work. They told him that if he didn't give him the phone, they would break it. So there went his phone. That is why it was turned off so suddenly. After working for almost 12 hours, he sat in the police office for over 12 hours. They kept asking him all sorts of questions to do with why he was in Sharm, what he was doing, when he got his passport, etc... Then they let him go, an hour after he was supposed to start work. So he got no sleep, and then had to go back to work. He was able to go home to get a few hours of sleep, though.

strange

I'm not quite sure what I think of this:

Twisted Fairy Tales Titillate Teens
"While wandering through the woods, Snow White came upon a beautiful little house. She loved the little house and wanted to make it hers, so when she discovered that the house was home to seven dwarfs, Snow White chopped them to pieces with an axe."
" 'I pulled a hatchet from my jacket and whacked off my brother Hansel's legs, and then I went after my mother who tried to prevent me from running away,' said Gretel. 'My mother got killed because she treated me badly and my brother didn't respect me.' "
Do these sound like the sweet and innocent fairy tales that once entertained us in our youth? No way. But these are what today's teenagers are reading -- and writing -- online, circulating twisted tales in cyberspace in a genre known as horror fairy tales.
Combining violence and sexual perversion, formerly wholesome fairy tales are being distorted into cruel, graphic and provocative thrillers. In these stories, once lovable characters are now depraved maniacs and the happy ending is a blood-soaked, horrible demise.
...
[Chosun Ilbo]

scary

I just had a drunk crazy man attack me on the subway... very scary............
I've had drunk Korean men make eyes at me, follow me, etc. I've even had one grab my ass at one point (he thought I was Russian). But THIS was different. He wasn't just a drunk Korean... he really was crazy. He was drunk and dirty and smelly. His clothes were too big, and very dirty. He had shoes but no socks.
He was making a scene... making all sorts of noise, stumbling around... All of the Koreans were avoiding him... One got up from where he was sitting to sit somewhere else, and walked past me, at which point the drunk crazy man noticed me...
It was before my transfer stop so I was standing in line at the door... At first I thought he was following the guy that went past me... but then he stopped. He got in front of me and stood there looking at me... I went to move around him, at which point he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back...
I said "don't touch me" and he repeated "touch me??"
He started to move towards me again, and wouldn't let me pass him, so I quickly went to the next door... where there was a large group waiting....
I went through the group but he grabbed the back of my jacket and started pulling me with him.... Then the Korean guys around me stepped in to help me. They had to literally rip him off of me... I'm not sure what happened. I think one pulled my jacket and the other pulled him... He ended up sprawled on the floor on the other side...
I was in such a hurry to get out of there when the doors opened (right then) that I didn't even say thank you... I was so frazzled that I didn't know which way I was going and kept having to turn around... I went the wrong way twice (trying to transfer). I am still shaking.