Blackout Korea scandal 2011 - A view from Taiwan

And a comparison of foreigners in Taiwan with foreigners in Korea

For quite a while I've been following English language blogs in Taiwan and Korea, because I'm very interested in both countries and I want to be up to date on what's going on in each country. Regarding Taiwan, my primary source of information is my girlfriend, who is born here and so I think I'm very well informed about stuff that goes on in the media, even if I'm not fluent in Chinese. In addition to that, I like to read other foreign blogs to get another perspective on things. As for Korea, my primary source are few popular foreign bloggers such as the Metropolitician, James Turnbull, Roboseyo and some others. I can't really be 100% sure that the reality they see in Korea would be my reality, but I know they back up their claims with solid arguments, they don't just write stuff without giving it some serious thought. But as much as I want to talk about foreign bloggers in South Korea and Taiwan, I would like to touch on the general idea of being a blogger in a foreign country. What has triggered this post was the recent "Blackout Korea blog scandal", that's upsetting local netizens as well as foreign bloggers in South Korea. Let me briefly explain what happened.

1 The Blackout Korea blog scandal 2011

A 20-something foreign English teacher started a blog in 2009, named it Blackout Korea,...

...where he and other foreigners submit photos of excessively drunk Koreans sleeping it off on the streets (later pics of foreign binge drinkers were posted, too). Most photos are accompanied with one or more silly foreigners posing alongside the drunk (read passed out) person. You can be sure that the very moment the first photo was published the blog became a ticking bomb waiting to explode. And that's exactly what happened in recent days. It was discovered by Korean netizens and some media and as Koreans are, they weren't happy about it. If you want to check the blog out, go to: blackoutkorea.blogspot.com. I fear it will soon disappear from the web, so be quick.

A Korean blogger started a counter-blog named Who Teaches English in Korea (englishteachersout.blogspot.com), where he's using the photos from Blackout Korea (even though there's no evidence that the people appearing in them were English teachers) and comparing them with the infamous Abu Ghraib photos of American soldiers humiliating Iraqi prisoners. Of course this was a ridiculous thing to do, but it shows how careful one has to be about what they put online. All that upset the Metropolitician, who wrote a post encouraging his followers to comment on that blog. And that's what they're doing and the dance continues.

2 The South Korean online community

This is how things look on the surface to someone like me, who does not know a lot about the Korean foreign and local online community: There's a small, but vocal group of expat bloggers, who constantly complain about the country and its people and don't care how it comes across. They vent, they rant and use offensive language, oftentimes purposely, because they want to provoke Koreans for whatever reason. On the other hand there's a vocal group of Korean netizens who reject every criticism of their nation from a foreigner, even if it's constructive and well-argued. Not only are they spewing threats to those who dare to say anything "bad" about Korea, some even go as far as to gather information of a particular foreigner and try to harm them in real life. And then there's a significant part of the South Korean media, that seems to be biased towards foreigners. These 3 fractions are usually the ones, that are the loudest. Many times they start nontroversies, fabricate the truth and reinforce stereotypes. They're the ones that operate with ideas like "English teachers are losers in their own country, dangerous sexual predators, troublemakers" and on the other hand "Koreans are stupid, rude, overly proud and aggressive". Apart from these three fringe groups, there's the silent majority of foreign and local blogs, websites and forums, who keep it decent and non-confrontational and seem to get along fairly well. Of course their stories of peace, love and harmony won't spark as much interest as a scandal involving inconsiderate foreigners, drunk Koreans and unflattering photos (these comments are telling). All this is of course not only typical for Korea, but can be observed in many other countries.

3 The Taiwanese online community

I think, if you're generally not a trouble seeker, you won't find any in Taiwan. Things here are on much smaller scale compared to South Korea, because foreign (read Western) residents are still a very small minority. Hence the English speaking online community remains relatively small and is mostly overlooked by Taiwanese netizens and media. That has it's good and bad sides. If any, it's the political blogs that gained some recognition such as The View from Taiwan. All other domains are fully dominated by Taiwanese bloggers, who are probably one of the most passionate in the world. In comparison with Koreans, Taiwanese seem to be more forgiving to foreigners, who point the finger at some of the flaws of their country. That may partly lay in the fact, that the Taiwanese society is relatively young, greatly divided and still seeking its identity, while Koreans, who throughout history suffered attacks and invasions from China and Japan, had to stick together in order to preserve their language and culture and therefore formed a strong national identity and a strong sensibility to all "attacks" from the outside (or outsiders). With that said, there are always boundaries one should not overstep, when blogging about Taiwan and Taiwanese people. You will hardly find any drunk people sleeping on the streets in Taiwan, so that topic would not fill a blog. I guess the number one reason for Taiwanese to get upset are politics, which is common in many other countries, but I've never seen a democratic nation so greatly divided by political convictions as Taiwan is. Yet, despite all these divisions, the country functions better than many other so called "harmonious" countries out there. That's certainly fascinating and I would surely have a lot to say about it, but I won't. I won't touch Taiwanese politics on my blog other than what I said here in this post. If others do that, it's their choice. I rather stick to fun stuff like food and travel. I would only make an exception, if something really bad happens and I want to share my view from inside. Back to Taiwan's media. As a foreigner you need to be more careful outside the virtual world. Small irrelevant things tend to be reported and sensationalized and there's always someone with a camera at hand, who can take a photo of a "silly" laowai doing something funny or bad or just embarrassing. Not sure how often it happens, but I think my freckled face must have landed on a Taiwanese blog or two... I just hope they didn't write anything mischievous about me.

4 Taiwanese are tolerant, but...

...there are of course limits to everything. I just don't get people, who come to East Asian countries to live and work and behave like they are back home and even want to apply the same standards to the country they have moved to. Coming from a small less known country like Slovenia, I can relate to Taiwan's situation well. And the small yet unique Slovenian culture helps me understand Koreans and Korea. Well, to a certain extent. I feel that, if you're a blogger, you're putting yourself out there and people will judge you. It's impossible to please everybody, when writing a blog, of course, but there can be a difference in tone and manner. So many bloggers just keep on criticizing without even offering any ideas, how they could make it better. They don't take an effort to try and figure out why something is different than in their world and just bash and trash continuously. I usually unfollow these blogs instantly, I don't want to waste my time by reading someone's personal frustrations all the time. And there are a few blogs about Taiwan, who hate everything about the life here (I wonder, what keeps them here). I always tell my girlfriend, that foreigners see reality with different eyes. I can spot every dirty spot or every weird thing someone does, while walking to the MRT station, but my girlfriend would not see a thing. It was interesting to see the reversed situation last year, when she visited Slovenia and Europe for the first time. She saw so many things I haven't noticed before and caught every person staring at her. It was like seeing my own country with completely different eyes. That's of course great and very insightful, but it's totally lame, if you use it for ridiculing people, making fun of traditions or mocking the way of life, just because you have some personal issues with that. You're not doing anyone any favors by behaving this way. In relation to Taiwan, I've found this odd blog post from 2008, written by a female English teacher nicknamed imaniou:

Cranky Laowai... having an "I hate Taiwan" night (rated R version)

"As I mentioned before, I lost my cellphone in a taxi two weeks ago. I finally broke down and bought a new one tonight for $2500 NT (a little over $80 USD) at the Tong Hua St. Night Market after dinner. As I rounded to climb the pedestrian overpass, I saw two high school kids copping a smoke on the steps, completely blocking the path save a narrow space between them. When I got close, they started saying something about the "heiren" (black person, literally). As if those two shits had any room to talk. After a surreal night last night, bad service at dinner (I'm not even sure why I bother thinking the waiters will do their jobs despite smiling politely and looking into their eyes to say thank you every time they do what they are paid to do...which rarely happens) and only a few hours of sleep, I was in bitch mode and not to be trifled with. As I passed, I "accidentally" kicked the shit monster on the right's box of milk tea down the filthy stairs into a mucky puddle below and pai sei'd him (the untouchable word for absolving fault in Taiwanese). Gosh. If he hadn't been sitting there making it hard to maneuver around him, it probably would have never happened.

"Ni kan, hei ren" must have been the theme at the night market as every tai ke scumkin made it a point to turn, point, whisper, and stare as I walked by in search of a phone. I stopped into one store to be violently ignored before I muttered "fuck this" and walked out. I stepped into another store where the two dribbling xiao jies giggled and pointed. I waved the money I had planned to spend there, put it back in my pocket, and said that it was no wonder they had no customers. Then I cranked my MP4 player up and moved along. From the toothless hag selling polyester beaded clothes on the street to the betel-nut chomping creep in the stained wifebeater dribbling red betel nut saliva into the greasy sausages he was grilling, I was a source of entertainment. And then I realized why the street was so dead. Most of the decent people in this country wouldn't touch this place with a 20-foot pole and a gallon of disinfectant. Now Taiwan in general is a filthy, repulsive place to walk with dog shit, blood red betel nut spit and chewed up pulp, litter, human waste, and prolific cockroaches everywhere you look whether you are in the city, in a small town, or even in the national parks. The Japanese tried to civilize the originals (the ones that most of the taikes are comprised of) and CKS's people tried slaughtering them and both groups tried to get them to drop their culture and assimilate to their conquerors. And yet they still persisted to spread all over the country, bringing their ignorance and taike-ism with them even into the cities. The bid for the UN is laughable at best and pathetically oblivious at worst and voiced the loudest by those who would discard a half cup of milk tea into a bush, make their kid piss next to the slide at the playground, and not even blink when dumping the dog they bought because it's no longer tiny and its bad behavior is no longer cute. Even the Philippines does not treat every inch of its country as a public toilet/dump/temporary home the way the Taiwanese treat their land and still have the audacity to think not only are they better than the rest of the world, but that they deserve a place in deciding what happens to it when they can't even get people to stop dumping their domestic garbage into (or rather, on and around) street litter bins.

Buildings are filthy, covered in dirt when they are covered with tiles that are easy to clean off if someone actually cared enough to clean them. Wires hang all over them, off them, across rooftops weaving in and out of windows and air conditioner holes. The little bit of green on the ground is crabgrass and weeds, but mostly algae growing on congealing puddles of dead land where people couldn't be arsed with walking on the actual sidewalk. Or couldn't walk thanks to the thousands of parked scooters and illegal carts of clothes, food, and cheap plastic shit clogging the already narrow walkways.

Most days, I can look beyond the filth of both the landscape and see the beauty of many things here. Sitting in the classroom with my students and having a rare glimpse into the fact that the kids I am having engaging conversations with are all Taiwanese non-native speakers who, for some, have only been learning English for four years. I know how badly I sounded like after four years of French and I had a lot more class time than they do.

But for tonight, I feel that Taiwan is making itself easier to not miss when I leave this fall."

Post: Source

I'm not saying, that bad things don't happen in Taiwan (or Korea) and I'm not saying one should not vent, but some things are better not to be published, after you write them down. I rather vent to my girlfriend or send emails to family back in Slovenia. It's not like the cyberspace needs to store every thought that pops up in your head. Just know that words and photos have consequences and it's better to be overly sensitive than overly insensitive. I try to walk a fine line between being funny, entertaining and informational and now and then critical and analytical. Sometimes I go too far, but I have no problem to correct myself, if necessary. The important thing is, how you do it, not if you do it. If you write controversial stuff, be man (or woman) enough to sign your real name below.

In regards to the above topics, my questions are:

• Are those photos of drunk Koreans going too far?
• Is that blog attacking English teachers in Korea going too far?
• Which topics do you personally avoid to write about on your blog?
• How should a Westerner in East Asia blog about the things he sees?
• How did you find that rant of the "cranky laowai" about Taiwan?

Very interested to read your opinion on these issues. More about Taiwan here>>

House Hunters International are looking for expats in Taiwan for a TV show

Do you want to be part of a show?

Sometimes I get emails from various people and companies asking me to write about their product or let them guest post here. I usually decline. But yesterday a TV producer from America got in touch with me by sending me the following email, which I agreed to publish here, because I won't participate in the show, but I'd like to help her (see the video above to get an impression of the show). If any of you would like to join, read through the email and check the details I provided at the end:

Dear MKL,

I found your details on your blog, I hope you might be able to help me with my strange request!

I am a Producer working on a television show called House Hunters International which follows English speaking expats in their quest to purchase a house abroad. I am hoping to find English speaking expats to profile who are living in Taiwan. I wonder if you or any of your expat contacts might be interested in getting involved?! Please find a little blurb about the show below:

House Hunters International is a half-hour program currently airing on the Home and Garden Television Network (HGTV). The program is a spin-off of the popular House Hunters and has spent the last several seasons exploring the idiosyncrasies of buying real estate in other countries. HHI is about a personal journey of discovery and the making of life-long dreams.

The series is designed to de-mystify the international home-buying process by going behind the scenes of a house hunt where buyers and their real estate agents tour 3 homes. At its core, House Hunters International is a travel show concentrating on the idiosyncrasies of the locales and what makes them special and different. A great deal of effort will be made to capture rich visuals and to provide sequences where viewers will be exposed to local vistas, traditions, lifestyles and architecture.

Please get in touch if you have any more questions about the show. I look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes and many thanks,

Michelle

So if you're an English speaking expat in Taiwan and looking for a house, get in touch with Michelle. Her email is: MichelleJames[at]leopardfilms.com. Good luck :)

Would you participate in such show?

Racist tirades against Obama

It looked so promising in 2008

Those who followed my blog in 2008, knew how excited I was about Obama's victory at the 2008 Presidential election. I remember how closely I followed the whole campaign since 2007. Obama particularly caught my attention by that time, I had the feeling that he may go really far. And man, he really went further than my wildest expectations. His speeches gave me goosebumps and sometimes they still do. I won't ever forget that night and his speech in Chicago. in front of thousands of people, knowing that he will be the next president of the United States. It was about 4am in the morning, when I watched that speech live on CNN and I won't ever forget that moment, when Jesse Jackson cried. I guess I was moved a little, too, even though I'm not American. I think there probably wasn't a single African American, who wasn't somehow touched that night. But this was beyond America, the whole world was amazed by what just happened in that moment.

And then 2 years later at the midterm elections, Obama and the Democrats lose their majority in the Congress and the general mood in the country seems anti-Obama. And there seems to be a small but loud group of people, who think it's OK to voice racist comments. I read this article on Yahoo! News (this is just a snippet):

Since the expectations were so high in 2008, Obama couldn't possibly meet them. 2 years are too short for a decade of wrong decisions and failed policies. But well, everyone expects super things from Superman, right? Even though I admire Obama and support most of his policies, I can understand that some Americans are disappointed. But what I don't understand is the disgusting racism against Obama, that seems to be OK now, almost mainstream (I'm talking about online). I remember, when everyone ridiculed the birthers and the tea party a year ago, but now they're getting elected! Now they're mainstream. Same was with the racists: They seemed to be totally nonexistent in 2008 (with few exceptions), now it seems they can spew out their hate against Obama and even get applause from a lot of people (especially online). If you read any article about Obama on Yahoo! News these days, I guarantee you, that you'll come across a lot of flat out racist comments (accompanied with many "likes"). Let me show you some comments on the article above (published a day after Obama lost the midterm elections. I highlighted the worst parts):

Since I'm not American and my impressions about the current situation in America base on what I see on TV or read online, I wonder: Is it really so bad? Judging by the comments on Yahoo! News, America is ruled by an "African born Muslim who is an anti American racist, that can't run the country and needs to be imprisoned, if not executed". That's scary. How can someone in their mind really believe such things? Or am I making too much of it?

What I'm reading these days is a total opposite of what I was reading in 2008. America, what happened? Hope my American followers can enlighten me on this. But please, explain to me why are there more and more racist comments online on Obama. Or is my impression completely wrong?

[Read the COMMENTS by thorswitch][Screen caps: Yahoo! News]

Why most men love and most women hate Megan Fox?

I think a part of the answer lies in the question above: Because most men love Megan fox, most women hate her. I think the main reason for the hate is simple: Envy. Women, who are extremely sexy, will always attract the scorn and contempt of other women. Isn't it funny, that we men on the other hand do admire a handsome man's popularity with the ladies, because we rather think what we could do to become like him instead of finding flaws to make him appear as nothing special. In my case, I never envied Brad Pitt at the height of his popularity in the 1990s. I was happy for him, even admired him. He was the male Megan Fox back then, just that he was always the good guy. Megan on the other hand is considered the bad girl by the media. She has tattoos, she has most likely done some surgery, she's blunt and outspoken, never shy to say what she thinks. She's not hesitant to show of her sexy body and be the vixen the media wants her to be. And the men love her and think she's uberhot. And the women hate her and think she's fake. Ok, I'm exaggerating, not everyone thinks that way. But there are many people who react to her the way I described here. I was reading some comments under the video embedded above (which is pretty funny, btw) and here are some typical reactions to her:

Women:

Angeline Jolie is better. Jessica Alba is better. They're so classy and beautiful naturally. Megan Fox looks like a pornstar. [by roseheroine]

I hate to admit, I am jealous of how pretty she is, but then again, she's fake, natural beauty doesnt come with makeup, hair dye, spray on tans, plastic surgery and eye contacts. [by Xrandomnesssable]

Men:

The people moaning about how natural beauty isn't appreciated, aren't naturally beautiful.

Megan Fox is 86x hotter than any of you will ever be, even in your dreams.
[by a155099]

To all the comments saying "she's not hot without any makeup" and shit, f*ck off. I'd f*ck her brains out and so would any straight guy on this planet. [by AnE000002]

To conclude my little observation, let me tell you that I myself am a Megan Fox fan. Hey, I'm a typical guy ;-) I think she's one of the hottest women in the world at this point, only my girlfriend is hotter than her for me (that's obvious). And with all the love for Asian celebrities and models, at this time I can hardly find any girl from the Far East matching up with Megan Fox.

With that said, I urge my female followers to not mind my personal feelings and tell me honestly: Do you like Megan Fox? If you do or if you don't, just explain why, so we can find out why does she divide the genders so much.

[On my blog: Megan Fox straight talk, Megan Fox about white trash]

Italian female TV host grabs David Beckham's crotch

Where is the outrage?

Have you heard about this story? It's all over the news. An Italian female (supposedly funny) TV host and reporter thought she's really hilarious. While David Beckham, famous English soccer player, was so kind to grant her an interview, she groped his crotch. Yep, she went with her hand and touched his private parts. Check the photos:

The Italian woman, Elena di Cioccio, said she wanted to check, if he's really as manly as it appears on his advertisments for underwear, like for example this one here [*how many of you girls have saved this pic now?]. Apparently she's infamous for playing all kinds of pranks, but in this case she went too far in my opinion. And I'll tell you why:

1. This is sexual harassment and it doesn't make it less bad, because she's a woman.
2. She disrespected him, his wife and his children.
3. Imagine a male reporter groped Victoria Beckham's crotch:

• Would the reaction be the same? Would it still be funny?
• Why is it ok, if women grope or harass men, why is there no outrage?
• Why is it not funny, if men play such 'pranks' on women?
  
• Double standard? On which side are you?

[Photo source, the video and more reactions at: TMZ]

NY Times columnist apologizes to Slovenians, because our netizens went haywire

You know, my country, Slovenia, is a very small country. It's a kind of a European Singapore, a bit bigger in size, but a little less people live than in the actual Singapore. We have like 2 million people. That's like a small city in China, btw. Nevertheless, our online community is big and... loud. Wherever someone will write about Slovenia, our netizens will find out and it will be reposted in blogs (same way I do now). So today I read in our online newspaper about a column in the New York Times, where Nicholas Kristof, one of their columnists, who recently wrote a lot about the current state of the American healthcare system, apologized to Slovenia, because he made too many comparisons with Slovenia and apparently our netizens went haywire and complained a lot. Here's what he wrote:

Now I don't really know, if he was sincerely serious (it sounds more like sarcastic), but it does lead me to one question: Are my fellow netizens crazy!? I mean, that's just beyond crazy. And it happens all the time. Wherever Slovenia is mentioned, there will be at least one of our netizens complaining about it. I kinda see this attitude a lot in Singapore, too (hence my comparison). But to put things into perspective, Korean and Chinese netizens are far worse, because they're even more sensitive and there's like millions of them. Stuff that happens there is scary. So my question is:

How are netizens in your country and are you sometimes ashamed of them?

[Sources: NY Times article][Nicholas Kristof on Twitter]

What kind of recession is this?

Sometimes I don't understand the times we are living in. It's the sort of times when the media says there was a new case of swine flu and people start wearing masks.

So now I'm seriously wondering about this recession. They repeatedly said it's the worst recession since the 1929 Great recession. Really? How come that the iPhone sells like there's no tomorrow? From what I learned from history books, people in 1929 literally starved in huge masses! Yet these days I still see people continuing their lives the same way as before. And here's the problem:

Those who fared well before the so called "recession" are still doing well. And those who struggled before, are in the same position now or even worse.

As for my country, the recession began years ago. Slowly and subtly, affecting the middle class. It's so hard to find a good job as a young person these days. I'm talking about a job that would give you the chance to start a family, buy a house and a new car. Everything is so expensive these days! No wonder so many people have children when they're over 30 and still many live at home, because rents are very high. The rift between the poor and the rich is getting bigger and bigger and nobody was doing anything about it all these years!

Those who do well, don't care about it. And those who don't do well are too weak to help themselves.

People in the West are becoming more and more indifferent. That's no wonder, since we have to compete with others everywhere! You study, you compete. You try to find a job, you compete. You have a job, you compete again. It's a vicious circle! We're becoming very selfcentred, it's always me me me... Is this capitalism going too far? When did the solidarity and sympathy get lost? And what will we learn from the so called "recession"?

I don't think we've learnt much so far, because after the initial shock (driven by the media), we fell back into our daily routine and try to make the best of it. We just think I hope the recession doesn't affect me, I don't care for the rest. Because that's how it is in 2009. And we can only do so much to change the status quo. We just have to make the best of it.

[*I wish all of you good luck and hope that the recession doesn't and won't affect your lives.]

Recent news about Lee Hyori!

I found some recent news about sexy diva Lee Hyori, my favorite Korean singer. She's now 31 years young and amid of producing her 4th album, that is set for release in 2010, but might be released this October 2009. We shall see. Here's some recent statements she gave, which show that she really matured.

About managing her sexy body: “Usually 2 to 3 days before a photoshooting, I do an urgent diet. Controlling what I eat and exercising are must-dos. I only need to be a little more careful, my body is the type that changes quickly. It’s a body very suitable for an entertainer.”

About her real character: “I’m a little different from the cool image that I have in front of cameras. In front of someone that I don’t know, I don’t say much [...] Talking about things that I regret doing because I’m too timid: I can’t say no, if somebody asks me to borrow him some money. That’s why a lot money didn’t come back.” [source]

About rumours she were a Filipina: “When I first debuted, my skin color was dark and there was an article that was saying I was an illegal Filipino immigrant. Because of that article, a lot of rumors started... The paparazzi photographed me a lot and I was hurt because of that... but now after 10 years, those rumors don't bother me anymore.”

About being 31 years young: “I've thrown away all previous constrictions. Now that I'm in my 30s, I don't rely on or obsess over a boyfriend. When I was in my 20s, all I cared about was cars, cellphones and others, but no more. In the past when I broke up with someone I felt like dying, but now its' much easier for me to accept separation.” [source]

Very interesting stuff from Hyori. I feel like the older she gets, the more attractive she becomes. She's really incredible. Someone who followed her biography and discography and someone who loves her music, will agree with me: Lee Hyori is an incredible woman!

[Exceptional women][My HYORI page][Photo: Source]

Sex with a horse? Are you nuts?

Disclaimer: I may curse. Sorry.

[Photo from Colombiamoda]

Where the fuck is this world going? Seriously! Are you kidding me? Nothing makes sense anymore! It's getting weirder and sicker. I better avoid watching news at all. I'm cocooning today and the next years. I need a fliter for internet to just filter out this mad sick world we're living in. I only want good news. I want to read about sane people. Because this made me sick:

• Lubna Hussein from Sudan, who was arrested July 3 for wearing pants and is now standing trial, openly defied the court by wearing the very same outfit to trial that she was arrested for. (source) [Lubna is my new hero!]
  

• A South Carolina man was charged with having sex with a horse after the animal's owner caught the act on videotape, then staked out the stable and caught him at shotgun point. But this wasn't the first time the man has been charged with buggery: He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with the same horse after owner Barbara Kenley found him in the same stable and was sentenced to probation and placed on the state's sex offender list. (source) [Sick bastard! OMG! Sick bastard!]
  

• The conservative TV host Glenn Beck said that President Barack Obama had "over and over again" shown himself to be "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture," later adding, "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem ... This guy is, I believe, a racist." (source) [A white supremacist calls Obama racist. LOL.]
  

• A woman in Texas killed her own baby and ate parts of his brain. The scene was so gruesome investigators could barely speak: A 3½-week-old boy lay dismembered in the bedroom of a single-story house, three of his tiny toes chewed off, his face torn away, his head severed and his brains ripped out. When police entered, the woman screamed: "I killed my baby! I killed my baby!". She told officers the devil made her do it, police said. (source) [This is just so sick, I am speechless!]
  

I can't be sick all the time. I need to survive and I need to find a reason that my existence makes sense. At least some sense. Because sometimes it's just so fucked up that I don't have the willpower and the phisical strength to bear another day. I'd just like to vanish and say: "That's all, folks. I'm out. Bye."

How about you? Do you have the same feeling sometimes? Spew out your anger with me!

Megan Fox about white trash

Have you heard the most recent comments from Megan Fox? I mean, this woman really amazes me everytime she says something. Here's what she said for the UK magazine Total Film. She was asked a theoretical question relating to the movie Transformers about what she would say to Megatron to keep him from destroying the world. She replied:

“I think I would make a deal with him. I'd barter with him and say instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in middle-America?” [...] “I'll give Megatron middle-America and let's call it even!”

[source]

Of course there's like tons of blogs and forums talking about these remarks and complaining (+misquoting her). Why? Why do you complain? First of all, it's not a serious question! It will never happen. Secondly, she just implyed that she doesn't like these groups of people. Well, I don't like them, too. And many many more people don't like them as well. If you're offended by this, than you have issues with your own identity or beliefs. I don't mind if someone makes jokes about atheists. So what? I've also read that many people said they won't go to her movies. As if she cares. In the same magazine, she told the people who said Transformers 2 is a bad movie:

“If you don't wanna see it, then don't fucking go and pay for it. Stay home!”

You just have to love Megan Fox and the things she says. She just always nails it. Yea, she's having a foul mouth (loves that work 'fuck'), but I guess she just does that because America censors these words and she just doesn't care about PC and fake politeness. I guess she speaks the way other 'polished' actors speak privately. I appreciate her bluntness, but she's never trashy. Her jokes are very intelligent and she has good points. I guess American Christians will bash her, hate her, but she'll be the new icon for libs and won't be only popular, because she's hot, but also because she says the things many don't dare to say like that.

I just love Megan Fox.

[Photos: Source]

Media makes a story

Well, it happened like I predicted: Iran is out of the spotlight. Michael Jackson's death is still the number 1 topic in the media and only the coup in Honduras is catching up on it. But I guess nobody here knows (or cares) a lot about that country and the media figured quite fast, that it doesn't sell so well. So they don't push it that hard as they did with Iran and Swine flu.
At this point, they're still rummaging up all kinds of things from MJ's life, from his old days to the most recent: He's not the biological father, there will be a big fight over the custody of his children, where will he be buried, how much money will be made with his music now, will there be songs released...
It's a neverending story. Of course it's much more interesting than Honduras or Iran., because these are hard topics to deal with. Protests, beatings, killings, surpression... who wants to watch these images all the time? It's summer. People are in vacation mood, they want to take a break from horrible stories, enjoy the warm weather, switch off their brains. That's understandable. That's why these breaking news don't sell so well in summer (July & August), because it's the best part of the year for people living in the northern hemisphere.
To return to Michael Jackson: Did you see his awsome performance just 2 days before he died? Man, this could be the comeback of the year or maybe even one of the best comebacks of all time. He was so energetic, his moves were perfect, almost as if it was the old MJ from the times when he was perfectly fit... but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. All things in life happen for a reason. He will live on in his music and be remembered as one of the greatest pop artists of all times. At least the part of his life, where people tried to defame him and exploit him for his money, is over. His genius remains. People will forget the scandals, because they are by far outnumbered by his great albums, performances, videos, concerts and even charity. Hope he found the peace he always sought.

[Photos: Source]

Two standards and two choices

[Photo: Source]

Watched CNN's Wolf Blitzer having an interview with the ambassador of Syria to the USA, Imad Moustapha. He was asked about the Iran election, the protests and killings. Of course Iran and Syria have very good relations like USA and Israel.

Wolf Blitzer asked him if he condemns the killings and if now the relations between Syria and Iran would change, but the ambassador was evasive and turned the question to Wolf by asking, how come that Israel could kill more than 1000 people in Gaza and the US relations with Israel did not change? How come the Western media was being so focused on these events in Iran, but when Israel killed so many Palestinians during the Gaza War in 2008, that was not the case?

Well, that made me think. Does our media have double standards? Of course it does! And not only ours, it's every media. We could also say why the Syrian media extensively reports about Palestinian casualties and condemns Isreal, but does not focus as much on the killings of Iranians by their own regime. Double standards? I guess so. This has multiple reasons and I don't want to go into all that, because it could be a whole new post. Let's view the whole thing from another point.

I think we just don't buy everything the media says these days. That's why the internet became so big and more important than the TV in recent years (TV is dead.) We choose the source of our news, we read tweets and blogs to make up our minds. So, the ambassador was right about the media's double standard. But I guess he meant the old media, the news channels and news papers, who are mostly biased and unbalanced. I'm far from claiming netizens, and especially bloggers are journalists, but we do tell our opinion and we debate and we affect readers far more than the old media (at least that's my impression). That's people who put some effort in their blogging.

Suddenly everyone has something to say and to share. We are no more mere viewers. We are engaged. Besides blogs, we have forums, Facebook, Twitter, You-Tube and Wikipedia, sources where we can check, if someone is trying to sell us bullshit. And the mainstream media realized that and now they have i-reports, they're reading tweets and showing You-tube videos. They are totally clueless about how another universe (online) is thriving, while their profession is losing it's quality and influence. They are struggling to survive and unless they become more balanced and less biased and sensational, they will lose this battle. The future of the news is the internet.

Has Michael Jackson ended the Iranian uprising?

So, there we go. Unfortunately, I was right. My theory about the Iranian post-election protests was, that the regime will harden, tighten the security, put more police and military on the streets and sooner or later, there will be something else in the news. And now, Michael Jackson is dead: Who's following the Iran protests now? The momentum is lost, the media has now diverted it's focus and we will get less and less information out of Iran. Soon there will be summer holidays, we will all forget Iran and Michael Jackson and go to the sea side or pools, swimming and barbecueing and enjoying life. That's human nature! Nobody can convince me otherwise.

As I said many many times, if people in Iran, who want change, don't grab guns and start shooting back at those bastards in the riot police and defend themselves with equal means, nothing will change. Be real. Nothing will change and you know it. This brutal regime survived 30 years, you can bet it has means and measures to sustain itself. Peaceful protests won't do anything, the regime doesn't understand peace, it's ruthless and hateful. Stone throwing won't help either. You need to give the regime what it exports to other countries: Suicide bombers, martyrs, mujahedin. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Turn Tehran into Bagdad and they will see, if they still have that smirk on the face like they used to have, when USA couldn't secure Iraq.

But I guess all that won't happen. Now the media will only focus on Michael Jackson, they will go through all his ups and downs, scandals and medical conditions. Many celebs will share their opinions, even Barack Obama will be expected to say something. There will be a funeral, there will be non-stop reporting for at least 2-3 weeks. What will LaToya say? What will Janet say? What will Liz Taylor say? There's so much to come. It's a big shocker and of course Michael Jackson deserves the attention. He was one of the last big superstars, probably THE last superstar (Madonna is nothing comparing to him). So, it's understandable... But quite bad for Iranians. Bad timing, but as I said, even if Iran was the number 1 topic in the media, it still wouldn't make any difference.

Michael Jackson dead! Unbelievable.

One of the best artists of all times, Michael Jackson, died! Unbelievable and shocking news. I was watching CNN, when I heard he's been sent to hospital. Then they announced he was in a coma. And suddenly I see on Twitter: Michael Jackson RIP on top of Trending Topics. I complained, because CNN said he's not dead. Then they announced it, too: King of pop is dead. Wow... Twitter was constantly over capacity, Wikipedia has problems. People flock in masses to that hospital in L.A. I mean, it all came so out of the blue! What a year. People die like it's Judgement day or something.
Well, he was King of pop! I've been very young, when Thriller came out, but throughout the eighties, they played it over and over. But I remember when Bad came out. I was 8 years old, but that Bad video was unbelievable. The way he danced and dressed up was so unique, you just couldn't be not impressed. And then the moonwalking. Tell me someone who did not try to moonwalk? He was just so unique, he could never be copied or surpassed by any other pop artist. Thriller will always remain the best selling album of all times, especially because people are buying albums less and less. My favourite Michael Jackson songs are: Billie Jean, Beat It, Bad, Smooth Criminal, We Are The World, Wanna Be Startin' Something, Man In The Mirror, Black Or White, Who Is It, Jam, Remember The Time, Say Say Say... OMG, it's like every of his 3 top albums (Thriller, Bad and Dangerous) is like all songs were hits! Sadly his downturn started after Dangerous. History was not bad, had many hits, but I felt it's just not as good as the stuff before. I really lost my words now... He was really such a great artist since his childhood. A genious. And all people can be proud of him, not only blacks, who are probably particularly proud.

Thank you, Michael Jackson, you will remain King of Pop forever.

Rest in peace.

[Photo: Source]

Iran: Real apathy or fake sympathy?

I said I won't be rambling about Iran anymore. But it's just impossible! Iran is everywhere! People turn their Twitter icons into green to show their support and solidarity, it's non-stop in the news, it's the topic number one (like swine flu used to be a while ago). What troubles me is some Iranian people who commented on my blog and bluntly insulted me or people who tweeted @ me and complained about me or Westerners or USA... I don't know wheather these are the protesters or some people infiltrated on Twitter by the government. They're becoming nastier by the day. It's annoying.
What started as a movement where all the protesters had one goal - to repeat the elections or recount the votes or proclaim Mousavi as the winner - turned into a protest against the Iranian ruthless regime. After the killings and beatings and after so many journalists were silenced, more and more people became nervous and the whole movement seems to have been derailed. I remember when I first linked to my blog posts about Iran, I recieved very good comments and tweets, people were energized and optimistic. Now it seems they are demoralized and highly strung. And same goes for the rest of us in the West and everywhere else around the world. You can be supportive and interested only for a certain period of time. After a while, it's no big news anymore, it does not have any shocking moments and more and more people become apathetic. There was hope up until the Grand Smurf had a speech and crushed the whole movement. We knew this will happen. And as I said before, the Iranian regime only understands crude force, so unless these people get guns and start shooting the riot police (like they are shooting them), nothing will change! Nada. Niente. What we will get is something like Tibet. Iran will be even a bigger police state, they will blame the West on everything, most of the communication in Iran and from Iran will be censored. So it's only in the hands of Iranians. Either they go until the end and are willing to die for their freedom, or they give up and there probably won't be elections any time soon.
The point is, sooner or later we will all become apathetic about Iranians. Let's face it! Weren't we so supportive of movements in Burma and Tibet, when monks stood up to the regime that surpressed and still surpresses them? Yes! It was all the time in the news. And now? Many people were killed, imprisoned or chased out of their homeland. Where's the support now?
We are a media-driven society! And mostly we are apathetic to all the cruelty in the world, unless we see pictures on TV or online all the time. But we can take only so much! How about millions dying in Darfur or Kongo? Not in the news, no solidarity, no sympathy. Who cares about slaves in Brazil, famine in Tahiti or riots in Timor? Not in the news, no solidarity, no sympathy. Anyone changing their Twitter icons to whatever color in support of kids in India who are enslaved as stonecutters? Anyone? Yea, I thought so. Not in the news, no solidarity, no sympathy.
Unless you go to that country and protest with the people or help people out of their misery, I highly doubt that your supportive cheerful tweets or posts are helping anyone of for that matter are any better than someone's apathy. The one who's apathetic is at least honest. Yes, I do support Iranians in their struggle for freedom. But what does this statement mean? It means I wish or I hope they will be free and unharmed, but I know (with all my honesty) that after this is passed, after the media finds an new topic for that will run on TVB non-stop, I will be apathetic and most of other people, who now change their Twitter icons into green, will be, too.
I won't care about the daily struggles of Iranians when these protest are over. Same as I seldom think about Tibetans or Burmese or people in Kongo or Darfur. Let's be honest, do you? If you are any better than me, I commend you. I congratulate you. You're an exceptional human being. If you are no better than me, then please stop with your phony bullshit, don't insult me and leave me alone. I've done my best to express my solidarity with Iranian protesters (read my blog), but that's the best I can do. And most of those now so sympathetic people are like me. We just absorb whatever the media feeds us and do nothing. That's the sad reality of the year 2009.

[Cartoon: Source (writing in the cloud by me), Photos: Source]

Support Iranian people! Obama, speak out!

How? How can I support Iranian people? I mean, we knew how bad it was there for years, for decades! These protests are not a shock for the rest of the world. Sooner or later every surpressed people protest and fight for freedom and justice. But what can I do? My words won't change anything. And Obama's words won't change anything, too! As if those retarded mullahs will listen to me or to Obama or to anyone else! These people are nuts! So stop harrassing me and Obama with your calls for "a tougher stance" against the Iranian regime. George Bush tried that tactic and it only strenghtened the regime. Unless USA wants to start another "liberating" war, nothing will change! Iranians can only help themselves. America is broke and I'm sure even if it was filled with money, Obama still wouldn't start a war to liberate the Iranian people. He's got the brains! And how phony: The whole world always blames USA for MEDDLING into other countries' affairs! Now that Obama DOES NOT want to meddle, the world COMPLAINS again. Seems like whatever USA does, it's not right. I think Obama is doing great! Whatever will happen later, let's say in a month, in half a year, he will have to deal with that regime, wheather he likes it or not. He clearly wanted to change the policies towards islamic countries and if you demand of him condemning the Iranian regime, then demand from him condemning the regime of Saudi Arabia, that surpresses women like the nazis surpressed Jews. But no, Saudi Arabia is Americas oil-buddy... I mean ally. Whatever. Words don't matter! Try to talk some sense into Ali "the Grand Smurf" Khamenei or Kim Jong-effing-il. These rogue regimes only understand crude force! Talking to them or threatening with UN resolutions is like talking to walls or slapping yourself with a dead carp. That's why I decided I've said enough already and I'm really sick of everything regarding these countries. I need a break from them. It won't be easy, because they won't let me rest - they're in the news every day! But I need to stop them bothering me. It's giving me Spock-ears!

[Photos: Source]

Iranian brutal regime kills people, destroys computers

Mr. president, please answer me: Is your Iran a peaceful country? Or is it peaceful only when you, the regime, brutally surpress the people by intimidation and force? Do you really need to send riot police and the Basij militia to kill people, beat them up, destroy their property and send them to jail, where you will torture them or kill them anyway? Islamic nation of Iran is in shambles and ruins, because people don't want to buy your bullshit anymore. Islam is peace, you like to say. If that was true, why do you behave in such a non-islamic way? Give power to the people, who cast their vote and want their voice to be heard. Stop the violence now. Let's put you and Khamenei to jail, you are crooks and criminals! What would your god want? Violence? A rigged election? Unhappy people?

These photos tell the truth:

Tear down the regime! she possibly shouted.
[check more stunning pics of the protests here]

Women helping a man beaten by the militia! [source]

A government's shot in the monitor! [source]

Government's university dorm raid! [source]

Government destroys communication! [source]

Dear protesters, we're with you! Don't stop fighting for your freedoms and human rights! Fight for democracy, Iranians. Tear down the dictatorship that makes your life a living hell! Now is the time. The momentum is here! They can't stop you if you won't stop! Keep going... and best of luck to you!

Netizens of the World

Iranian regime showing its ugly face

These are some of the craziest times of modern history

Iranian protester on the streets of Tehran.

So, Iran! Where's your big mouth now? I'm talking to those in charge there, not to the surpressed people. Where's your 'death to America' and 'death to Israel' now? Your fasho-islamic dictatorship is shaking, your people are showing to the rest of the world how rotten your regime is [Photo above: Source], how you rigged the elections and how they wanna have an actual democracy, not a phony one. I'm sure even if Mousavi had won, nothing would've changed. He and Ahmadinejad are puppets in the hands of few clerics called ayatollahs. It's just nice to have a fool like Ahmadinejad in the forefront doing the dirty work, while those long-bearded "wise men" pull the strings behind him. That's why people who protest today, protest the whole rigid system, not only the recent elections. I guess they need a bit more than a sack of potatoes to be calmed down.
So how does your own medicine taste, Iran? That's what you exported to Bagdad, Beirut and Jerusalem. Now you have it at home in Tehran. What goes around comes around! I'm realistic enough to know that with these protests your brutal dictatorship won't fall apart. But it's a start and I hope it'll become a movement. Maybe in my lifetime I'll see some of those ayatollahs tried and convicted in a new democratic Iran, where elections will be the reflection of the people's will and not just a puppet theater for the masses.

Power to the people!

Elections in Iran are worth a sack of potatoes

People rioting in Teheran (Photo: AP, Politico). The elections were rigged. The ugly dictatorship showed it's true face: Sending police on the street who are beating everyone senseless who doesn't look like he voted 'properly' (that means 'for Ahmadinejad'). That clown can declare victory, continue to spew his nonsense and hatered, while making his country even a bigger joke, but I feel bad for those young Iranians who honestly wanted change. They are influenced by the West, they wanna be part of the world, but have a brutal regime with almost no freedoms (it's basically not allowed that a man and a woman say 'hello' on the street unless they're married). And did you see on TV how Ahmadinejad campaigned? When he came to the country side, people greeted him with 'death to America' shoutouts. And to convince them to vote for him, he was giving some of them sacks of potatoes and cash. Unbelievable! Countryside Iranians can be so stupid sometimes. And if you ask me, these elections are one big fat joke, too!

Huffington Post, why? Why??

I love The Huffington Post, I usually check it every day. It's my favourite online news site. Some say it's a bunch of liberal blogs put together. Anyway, you have everything there, from politics to entertainment. Most articles are really good and I love to read the comments. It's the place to be on the web for liberals. On the other hand, some of the articles can be really silly. Especially the titles. Check the photo on the left (and the article).

I mean WTF?