The Korea Herald

Trusting Bill Daley as Obama’s chief of staff

ViewpointsJan 10, 2011

As President Barack Obama enters the second half of his term, his dreamy honeymoon with Congress and the American public long over, what a relief to see the sensible William Daley at his side. Daley has the experience to excel at one of the nation’s toughest jobs. And yes, he’s a pro-business Democrat, which galls the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.This choice for chief of staff is primarily
[Anna Husarska] Southern Sudan’s shaky future

ViewpointsJan 10, 2011

At a roundabout in Juba, southern Sudan’s capital, stands a digital clock. It has four faces, each titled “Countdown to Southern Sudan Referendum ― Period Remaining.” The referendum on Jan. 9 is part of the peace agreement signed in 2005 ending the civil war between northern and southern Sudan, and its outcome will determine if Sudan remains one country or becomes two. Each side of the clock has a
[William Pfaff] Western economy on suicide watch?

ViewpointsJan 10, 2011

PARIS ― Is it a case of murder, or has the Western economy deliberately, if unwittingly, attempted suicide and nearly succeeded?John Maynard Keynes was not just talking about defunct economists when he wrote that the world is commonly ruled by dead ideas, its leaders the slaves of the past. He said, “Indeed the world is ruled by little else.” If he were alive today, he could name management consul
[Meghan Daum] Narcissism ― is America too obsessed with it?

ViewpointsJan 10, 2011

At any given moment a whole lot of people are accusing a whole lot of other people of being narcissists. In recent years, the term for a self-destructive “personality disorder” has become the insult of choice for almost anyone doing almost anything.The concept of narcissism as a broad cultural condition, and the word’s use as an everyday term, goes back several decades. Christopher Lasch published
[Pio Song] The most ‘Korean’ country in Europe

ViewpointsJan 10, 2011

When asked which European country Korea might resemble the most, many think of Italy for its being a peninsula, having a similar climate, love for their national cuisine, fashion addiction and passion for music. Others point to Ireland because of their insularity (South Korea being virtually an island after the Korean War), heavy drinking capacity and singing skills. Historically both Italy and Ir
[Mary Sanchez] Removing n-word from canonical novel

ViewpointsJan 10, 2011

This is a column about a word no newspaper will print.You see the quandary. If I can’t write the word and expect it to be published, how can you, the reader, understand my points, and agree or disagree?Nonetheless, such a stripping of vocabulary will occur in a new edition of Mark Twain’s classic “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” This revised version, to be released in February, will delete the ra
Korea Pass Cards to spur demand during 50-day shopping event

TravelJan 10, 2011

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it would aggressively promote the use of Korea Pass Cards during the “Korea Grand Sale,” which kicked off Monday at major department stores and shopping malls and runs through Feb. 28.Korea Pass Cards, consisting of pre-paid cards and check cards for non-Koreans and credit cards and check cards for Korean nationals, can be used on subways, buses and
Chang’s retrospective exhibition offers simple and heartwarming paintings

TheaterJan 10, 2011

Having a stable job for eight years ― two years as a researcher at the National Museum of Korea and six as a professor at Seoul National University ― was enough for Chang Ucchin. Without much hesitation, the freewheeling artist resigned from the respected position and wandered off to the countryside to devote the rest of his life entirely to painting. He drifted from atelier to atelier that he bui
Chilly Spanish shoppers bare all for free clothes

InternationalJan 10, 2011

(AFP) BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - Hundreds of shoppers in Spain braved chilly weather to queue outside shops in their underwear on the first day of the winter sales Friday to take advantage of an offer of free clothes."Come in your underwear and get a free outfit", so declared an offer by Spanish-based clothing retailer Desigual for the first 100 people to enter each of their stores in cities around
Gisele Bundchen, Mark Wahlberg have the hottest bodies

InternationalJan 10, 2011

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen and actor Mark Wahlberg were selected as having the most desired bodies by plastic surgeons of Beverly Hills in the 14th Annual “Famed Hottest Looks” survey, Fox News reported Nov. 6. Although the Brazilian-born supermodel gave birth in December, 2009, she was the most requested by the doctors‘ patients. Gisele Bundchen (MCT)The survey conducted by Dr. Richard Fleming a
51 dead in Mexico, including 15 beheaded

InternationalJan 10, 2011

MEXICO CITY - Drug-related violence over the weekend claimed 51 lives across Mexico, including a record-setting 15 decapitations in the beach resort of Acapulco, authorities reported Sunday.The beheadings, mutilations, drive-by shootings and summary executions were carried out in southeastern Guerrero and northern Chihuahua states, as well as in the Mexican capital, despite the government's five-y
China's mobile phone users top 850 mln in 2010

IndustryJan 10, 2011

HONG KONG -- The number of mobile phone subscribers in China exceeded 850 million last year as more Chinese people began to consider mobile phones everyday necessities, a government report showed Monday. The net addition of Chinese mobile users reached a record high of more than 100 million in 2010 alone, according to the report from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
W790 coffee touches off price war

IndustryJan 10, 2011

A fresh price war among coffee vendors looms as a domestic franchised shop began to sell its standard product at close to one-fifth the market price last week.Manoffin, owned by popular local pizza franchise Mr. Pizza Corp., offers Hawaiian Kona coffee, one of the most popular brands here, at 790 won ($0.70) per cup. This price is far lower than its peers from Starbucks, Coffee Bean and other bran
Border collie understands more than 1,000 vocabularies

InternationalJan 10, 2011

(Captured from the Metro)One border collie has proved she is smarter than the average 3-year-old child.According to British daily Metro, Chaser has the broadest “vocabulary“ ever seen in an animal after learning the names of more than 1,000 objects. Chaser was trained intensively for three years to be able to identify 1,022 objects. Not only that, Chaser can also categorize things by function and
High note: Music thrills trigger reward chemical

MusicJan 10, 2011

People who become euphoric over music unleash dopamine, a brain chemical that also induces the sense of reward that comes from food, psychoactive drugs and money, an unusual study says. McGill University researchers in Montreal, Canada, recruited eight volunteers aged 19-24 among 217 people who responded to advertisements requesting people who experienced "chills" -- a marker of extreme pleasure