Incheon Free Trade and English Zone

This afternoon I attended a ceremony marking the dedication of the Incheon Free Trade and English Zone that is being built near Incheon International Airport. The city is investing heavily in developing a free trade zone called New Songdo City, as well as teaching English in the public schools.

Since the late 1980's, there has been a strong push to in Korea teach children English. For the most part, kids attend a hagwon (also referred to as a cram school) in the afternoon when they get out of public school. Typically hagwons cost anywhere from $300-700 a month (about 300,000-700,000 Won). Most families can barely afford to send their children to a hagwon and typically have an income of $20,000-30,000 a year (if both parents work).

Recently the government has been investing huge amounts of money building English camps (Washington Post article about the English Camp in Ansan) where children can go and learn English in a immersion setting. Similar camps have been built in Incheon and Paju.

The city is also heavily investing in English programs for the public school by hiring native speaking teachers to teach English and western culture. The long term goal being to increase the ability of people to speak English in time for the 2014 Asian Games, which Incheon is in the running to host.

I find it interesting how much money the government is throwing at teaching English as a second language. The main problem being that unless those that are learning to speak English continue to practice speaking English on a regular basis, it is difficult to improve their speaking abilities. Also, Koreans are afraid of making mistakes, therefore they are hesitant to speak English, even if they have the ability.

If your interested, you can also look at the pictures I posted of my classroom remodeling in two earlier posts, Under SiegePart I and Part II.

You can also visit the following websites:

Incheon City

Namgu-Office (The area of Incheon in which I live)

Nambu Elementary School (My school's website)

My photo album page on Yahoo Photos

CDC Mishandeling Investigation Firefighter's Deaths

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is the agency that is in charge of investigating the deaths of firefighters throughout the country. After reading a recent story on MSNBC's website, I find myself wondering why the deaths of firefighters are not being properly investigated by this agency. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 of the story on MSNBC's website.

In the late 1990's, the CDC was put in charge of is the agency that is in charge of investigating firefighters deaths and making recommendations to help prevent the death of firefighters on the job. There is no doubt in my mind that the job of a firefighter is dangerous and that these guys are heroes. They go out everyday and help save lives. It's time we returned the favor.

I urge everyone to read the article and contact the Oregon Congressional Delegation to do the following:

1. Launch an investigation into the obstruction of investigations by the CDC's Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, including the head of the program, Dawn Castillo.

2. Urge them to enact legislation that ensures every firefighters death is investigated. Also urge them to include a provision that would move the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program from being under the CDC to OSHA.

Here are the contacts:

Oregon US Senator Ron Wyden

Oregon US Senator Gordon Smith

1st Congressional District Oregon Congressman David Wu

2nd Congressional District Oregon Congressman Greg Walden

3rd Congressional District Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer

4th Congressional District Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio

5th Congressional District Oregon Congresswoman Darlene Hooley

Hillary takes responsiblity for war, but is that enough?

I'm glad to finally see Hillary Clinton take responsibility for her vote to authorize the war in Iraq. It is certainly a start toward reconciliation with Democrats who are leery of supporting her. I think she also needs to explain why she's been in bed with the right. Earlier this year, Rupert Murdoch held a fund raiser as well as endorsing Clinton in her Senate reelection bid.

Before I continue, I want to state that I supported Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. I personally believe he was a great Presidents and helped our country in many different ways. I also admired Hillary Clinton for her work as First Lady and have read her book Living History. These days, I have some severe doubts about her motivations, especially when it comes to her running for President. I believe now is the time to question her candidacy before it's too late.

In May of 2006, Richard Cohen wrote a column that asks the question that is on many people's mind lately, "Just who are you Hillary?" Cohen asks some hard nosed questions about Hillary Clinton's relationship with Murdoch:

"The latest reason for my perplexity is Clinton’s agreement to have Rupert Murdoch host a fundraiser for her this summer. Murdoch is the very personification of the contemporary conservative movement. He is the proprietor of both the New York Post and Fox News, both of which are ideologically biased, sometimes blatantly so. No doubt Murdoch can raise lots of money. That’s not the question. The question is: What will it buy?"

I too have to wonder what Hillary had to do to get Murdoch to agree to do a fundraiser. Are we to believe he did it out of the kindness of his heart? I don't buy this for a minute. There is some ulterior motive being pushed by Murdoch and/or Clinton.

In addition, I find Clinton's support of a law making flag burning a crime (specifically it makes burning a flag to intimidate someone a crime) quite unsettling. While I wouldn't personally burn a flag, I believe the right do so would be a violation of the 1st amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

We all know Hillary Clinton carries some severe baggage whether we want to admit it or not. The scandals that happened in the White House during her husband's Presidency including his impeachment (even though he wasn't convicted). Much like George W. Bush, Hillary is a divisive figure in politics. If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, she will in fact motivate the right to donate and campaign in droves to defeat her.

Has Hillary Clinton given enough thought to some of these issues to be able to give honest and sincere answers? I think the answer is clear. Clinton needs to do a better job taking responsibility for her voting record on Iraq as well as disclose her connections with Murdoch. Many Democrats (including myself) would rather sit out the election (if she is nominated) rather then vote for her.

This election is far from over. If Hillary wants the nomination, then she had better start by taking a better look at her own record and make amends with the hardcore Democrats who supported her husband.

Gingrich Posturing for 2008 Run

"Newt, he isn't just a reptile anymore" could be his campaign slogan. Recently Gingrich has been hinting at a run for the presidency in 2008. The field is beginning to look crowded for both Republicans and Democrats alike.

If Newt were really a reptile, he'd be a chameleon. Why? Because he likes to change colors. As of lately, he's glowing bright red. His rhetoric as of lately has been Orwellian to say the least. Recently Gingrich has stated he believes free speech should be censored to fight against the war on terror.

This clearly goes against what the framers of our constitution intended. It also takes a page from Carl Rove 101: Scare people into believing something that isn't true. Maybe Gingrich could hire Rove to run his campaign. I don't even think the devil himself could help Newt win the presidency.

Newsflash: Newt, give it up. You don't have a chance in hell!