What is the line between being a ghoul and a do-gooder when it comes to visiting a recent disaster area? It’s a question to be asked again when the crisis in Japan finally abates.But what is an appropriate waiting period to visit a country hit by a magnitude 9 earthquake and 20-foot-high tsunami that killed thousands of people in northeastern Japan and created a nuclear radiation crisis?In natural

Insider’s account of city politicsPolitics and PastaBy Vincent “Buddy” Cianci Jr(St. Martin’s Press, $30)In the fall of 1974, a few days after he was elected mayor of Providence, R.I., Buddy Cianci sipped beer with a few reporters and joked about the “Philistines” he had ousted from city hall.The denizens of the Democratic machine that had run the city for 30 years had trashed the place, he said,

Andre Dubus III does not look like a man on a journey. Instead, sitting at an outdoor table at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, the 51-year-old author appears, finally, to have arrived. That may seem a stretch, considering his 1999 novel “House of Sand and Fog” was an Oprah Book Club selection and a finalist for the National Book Award, but Dubus has never had an easy road.The son of th

Of all the classic noir writers, perhaps none has been as tarnished by the brush of genre as James M. Cain. That’s because Cain was not just a great hard-boiled novelist but a great novelist, period, whose vision of 1930s Southern California is as acute and resonant as anything ever written about that time and place.His first novel, “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” published when he was 42, is sa

JW Marriott SeoulOn April 22 and 23, DJ e_qnx will throw a “Shaky Night” party at Bar Rouge in the hotel from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. His live DJing will mix trance, progressive house and synthesized 70s and 80s retro from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. A b-boy team performance and lucky draw for restaurant certificates will lead into midnight, and a hip-hop and electronic DJ mix will power the dance floor from 12

Tteokbokki was the most popular food sold on the streets among foreigners living in Korea, survey showed.　In a survey conducted by Kyung Hee University Institute of International Education, Tteokbokki (rice cakes in hot sauce) was the No. 1 street food foreigners liked to eat (31.1 percent) followed by dak-kkochi (skewered chicken grilled with spicy sauce) with 29 percent and sundae (pig’s intesti

More than half of Koreans still believe penicillin can treat coldsThere was a time when antibiotics were used as “magic drugs” to cure any illness or disorder. From treatments for small inflammations to coughing, people wanted antibiotics.But antimicrobials are often associated with various side effects and invite resistance ― some diseases such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are now untreata

CHICAGO ― As drums pulsed and a singer wailed, Chelot Pierre danced. Dressed in white, a red sash around his waist, the young man glided about the room with serpentine grace. His arms waved gently, evoking the ocean lapping at his Caribbean homeland. His face, marked by a faint scar on his forehead, was serene.Anthony Bradford watched from the front row. He could scarcely believe 14 years had pass

Organizers of the 2011 world athletics championships in Daegu launched its official song on April 7.They say the melody and lyrics of the song titled “Let’s Go Together” express the dreams, passion and challenges of track and field athletes as well as their harmony. Cho Hae-nyoung (center), co-president of the Organizing Committee for the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu from Aug. 27 to Sept

HMB Foundation, established by former national soccer player Hong Myung-bo, will donate 200 million won ($183,600) in proceeds from a recent benefit soccer match to three charity organizations.The three are Community Chest of Korea (140 million won), Seoul Welfare Foundation (30 million won) and ChildFund Korea (30 million won). Hong Myung-boThey will use the money for child cancer patients and ot

Jerry is a 39-year-old air force pilot whose exceptional agility and speed in maneuvering fighter planes earned him the nickname “Smokin’ Jeeves.” Over the last three months, however, Jerry noticed it was increasingly difficult to achieve the same degree of high performance during his routine physical training exercises. More recently, he felt as though “his heart was beating out of his chest” aft

This is the second in a series of articles on international clinics at major medical centers in Seoul. ― Ed.Severance Hospital’s international health care center is the oldest medical facility dedicated to foreign patients in Korea.Established in 1962, the clinic has looked after tens of thousands of foreigners residing in Korea. Recently, it has expanded its care to foreigners outside the country

Despite the lingering chill, things are looking fresh and green at area farmers markets.Little by little, baby greens, hearty spinach and kale ― locally grown in hoop houses or greenhouses ― are showing up.You can buy just about any produce year-round, but something changes when spring finally arrives. Cooks crave these delicate green harbingers because they require so little fuss. They’re simple