The Korea Herald

[Meghan Daum] Overbearing parents do more harm than good?

Jun 4, 2012

Since the release of the May 21 issue of Time magazine ― the one with an attractive if rather indignant-looking young motherbreast-feeding a nearly 4-year-old child on the cover ― much of the country has been abuzz with both admiration and condemnation of the child-rearing philosophy called “attachment parenting.” Known for its hyper-protectiveness, not to mention its plain-old hype, attachment parenting concerns itself with issues like the benefits of home schooling, the value of “co-sleeping”
European Commission must be democratic

Jun 4, 2012

DUBLIN ― The greatest and most undeniable economic achievement of the euro is to have saved the European economy from fracturing in the economic and financial crisis unleashed by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. We know from the example of the 1930s how tempted national governments are to believe in times of economic crisis that devaluation and protectionism will serve the interests of their electors, and how devastating it is for all involved when national governments succumb to that temptation
[Naomi Wolf] Exit the traditional political wife

Jun 4, 2012

NEW YORK ― France’s new president, Franois Hollande, is not married to his partner, the glamorous political journalist Valerie Trierweiler, and no one seems to care. Germany’s president, Joachim Gauck, is not married to his partner, the journalist Daniela Schadt, and no one seems to care. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, is not married to his partner, the domesticity guru Sandra Lee, and no one seems to care. The list could easily be continued.Is the adoring political spouse ― so much a p
[Robert B. Reich] Why ‘pro-growth centrists’ are wrong

Jun 3, 2012

Some self-styled “pro-growth centrists” in the Democratic Party are worried the president is going too far in emphasizing widening inequality. They “wish the administration’s focus was on growth over fairness,” says the highly respected National Journal.They’re wrong. Fairness isn’t inconsistent with growth. It’s essential to it. The only way the economy can grow and create more jobs is if prosperity is more widely shared.For years, conservative “supply-side” economists have told America not to
Romney must find tactical advantage

Jun 3, 2012

Now that it’s a virtual certainty Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential nominee, and all the other candidates have likely dozed off with the rest of us during this preliminary series of political skirmishes, it’s time to wipe the sleep from our eyes and get ready for presidential playoffs. What should be included in Romney’s tactical playbook? Here are a few suggestions:― The world isn’t the same as it was when President Obama was elected at the outset of the economic crisis. The whiny
Is this the beginning of the end for civil liberties?

Jun 3, 2012

Indonesia may have lost a lot more than the opportunity to see Lady Gaga when she canceled her June 3 concert in Jakarta last weekend. The episode could mark the beginning of the end for Indonesia’s civil liberties as radical groups continue unabated in their assault on the nation’s freedoms. Those who care about their freedom should speak up and fight to defend it rather than busily trying to distance themselves from Lady Gaga and whatever it is they believe she represents through her songs and
Facebook’s Saverin left U.S. as a taxpayer, not a traitor

Jun 3, 2012

Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of the social network and Facebook Inc., stands accused of violating the social contract ― the idea that government is based on an agreement among its citizens to ensure mutual protection of person and property. His decision to give up his American citizenship before the Facebook initial public offering drew criticism for his perceived breach of financial and patriotic duties, including the duty to pay income taxes. He is even the target of legislation called the
[Michael Boskin] Threading the fiscal needle in global financial crisis

Jun 3, 2012

PALO ALTO ― Elections often turn on the state of the economy, especially in hard times. When growth and jobs are down, voters throw out incumbents ― whether Spanish leftists, French rightists, or Dutch centrists. The United States is no exception. Three years into the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover was trounced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1980, following a severe bout of stagflation, Ronald Reagan routed Jimmy Carter.At the same time, economic performance depends to a considerable extent
[Joel Brinkley] China is roiling the waters

Jun 1, 2012

Standing on a high bluff above the Yellow Sea, it was impossible to overlook the spectacle taking place below. Two dozen Chinese fishing boats, each one flying the big red national flag, were steaming into South Korean waters, in search of the sea’s bountiful blue crabs, anchovies and croakers.They hadn’t made it far when two South Korean coast guard battle cruisers, big guns on deck, came into view from the south, powering at full speed toward the fishing boats. Suddenly the lead ship’s captain
Key to peace between Sudan and South Sudan

Jun 1, 2012

What a difference a year doesn’t make. Last July, the birth of the Republic of South Sudan promised an end to a decades-long conflict that had claimed more than 2 million lives. Yet nine months after South Sudan took its place as the 193rd member of the United Nations, its forces were fighting those of its reluctant parent, the Republic of Sudan, over an unsettled border and control of oil resources. Today, after a stern diplomatic intervention by the U.N. Security Council, both sides return to
Withered energy reform

Jun 1, 2012

Our long wait for firm and concrete measures to stop the huge waste of taxpayers money on fuel and electricity subsidies has turned out to be futile as what Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced through a live television broadcast on Tuesday evening was nothing more than a weak appeal for energy conservation.Utterly inadequate institutional capacity will be the biggest barrier to the implementation of the five measures scheduled to start Friday.The half-baked measures include g
Divided personalities put prosperity at risk

Jun 1, 2012

As people grow old, they tend to develop a divided personality. A case in point is ex-President Chiang Kai-shek. After he lost the Chinese Civil War and moved his government from Nanjing to Taipei, he assigned his Kuomintang its third task for the Chinese Revolution. The first task, of course, was to topple the alien Manchu government in Beijing. The Kuomintang which Dr. Sun Yat-sen founded succeeded in creating the Republic of China in 1912, but China was a divided country with warlords ruling
Atomic energy commission’s dubious behavior

Jun 1, 2012

It has surfaced that the Cabinet Offices’s Atomic Energy Commission, in the course of its review of Japan’s nuclear fuel cycle policy, has held a series of closed-door study meetings attended by insiders in the nation’s nuclear power establishment. These meetings were separate from the official meetings held by the commission’s subcommittee that is dealing with the issue.It has also come to light that a report submitted to a May 8 meeting of the subcommittee by the commission had been changed to
[Yuriko Koike] China’s expanding ‘core interests’

Jun 1, 2012

TOKYO ― China is now engaged in bitter disputes with the Philippines over Scarborough Shoal and Japan over the Senkaku Islands, both located far beyond China’s 200-mile-wide territorial waters in the South China Sea. Indeed, so expansive are China’s claims nowadays that many Asians are wondering what will satisfy China’s desire to secure its “core interests.” Are there no limits, or does today’s China conceive of itself as a restored Middle Kingdom, to whom the entire world must kowtow?So far, C
Help U.S. economy with visas for the brightest

May 31, 2012

To see the results of self-defeating U.S. immigration policies, you need only open your browser to www.canadavisa.com. There, you’ll see a shrewd neighbor fishing for talent at U.S. expense. At the top of the website, in large print, is the question: “Currently on an H1B Visa or otherwise working or studying in the United States?” There is nothing subtle about the appeal. Canada is seeking skilled foreigners who’ve grown frustrated with the U.S. visa gantlet, which can take a decade for the luck