The Korea Herald

[Tim Rutten] Again, the danger posed by hate-laced propaganda

Aug 1, 2011

Sixteen years ago, I was one of the Los Angeles Times writers assigned to cover the Oklahoma City bombing. It was one of those wrenching stories that stand out in a reportorial memory that now extends back more than four decades, partly because my assignment was to each day write about the children
[Dominique Moisi] Israel’s lonely economic prosperity

Aug 1, 2011

PARIS ― It is difficult not to be struck by the contrast between the “Asian”-like energy of Israel’s economy and civil society and the purely defensive nature of its approach to political change, both within and outside the country. A recent law bars Israeli citizens from supporting Western boycotts
[Karl Friedhoff] Taking a crowbar to the ‘Baseball Three’

Aug 1, 2011

Throughout the six-party talks, the “Baseball Three” ― a term reportedly coined by Ambassador Christopher Hill to describe the baseball-playing democracies of Japan, South Korea and the United States ― have banded together in an attempt to denuclearize North Korea. However, maintaining unity among t
[Gregory Rodriguez] White flight, to the city

Aug 1, 2011

For nearly half a century, the term “inner city” has been code for poor and minority. But now white flight ― the decades-long trend of affluent Anglos leaving the urban core for leafier suburban cul-de-sacs ― has run its course. And “inner city” is about to take on a whole new meaning.New census dat
[Daniel Akst] Casualties of the digital age of information

Aug 1, 2011

It’s hard to resist contrasting the liquidation of the Borders bookstore chain, which commenced this week, with the latest outburst of worry over the fate of the U.S. Postal Service.Both Borders and the Postal Service are basically broke, and both are victims of a technological revolution that incre
[David Ignatius] A proxy and a conundrum

Jul 31, 2011

WASHINGTON ― Of all the leftover business for the Obama administration as U.S. troops prepare to leave Iraq at the end of the year, nothing is more symbolic of the continuing threats there ― and throughout the region ― than the case of a Lebanese Hezbollah operative named Ali Mussa Daqduq. Daqduq has been one of Iran’s top covert operatives in Iraq, according to U.S. officials. He was captured in
[Diana Wagman] A request, but no more, for summer dress modesty

Jul 31, 2011

Every summer when the temperature goes up, people start stripping down. At the risk of sounding like a prude, I find it unseemly. Toddlers look cute in just a pair of shorts. Middle-age men do not. Most women don’t look good in shorts, period.Yes, there are starlets strutting down Sunset Boulevard beautiful in little short-shorts, but they’re the exception. I don’t see them at my local grocery sto
[Rachel Marsden] Bush still a bogeyman to Europeans

Jul 31, 2011

If online comments and e-mails from friends are any indication, the overwhelming feeling about the American debt crisis here in Europe is that if Barack Obama is now in a position of having to raise the debt ceiling or face default, the crisis can only be traced back to George W. Bush.Europeans are, in part, blaming Bush’s post-9/11 military funding ― yet somehow the phrase “overstretched Greek ar
[Kathy Gosnell Seiler] No refuge from the mortgage crisis

Jul 31, 2011

From the front door of the house to the back is a straight shot unbroken by walls, handy for pacing, 24 steps each way.It is a small house on a small lot in Highland Park, a Los Angeles neighborhood that was on its way up until the recession. The house has not always been well tended: It’s old and a bit shabby, but it stands pretty much foursquare.I bought it in 2005 for $503,000, most of it borro
[Peter Goldmark] News Corp. intrigue grows

Jul 31, 2011

Seismic tremors have shaken the media empire of Rupert Murdoch.Empire is the right word. The collection of newspapers, TV stations and news outlets that constitute a large part of News Corp. have been run in very imperial style. And the emperor, 80 years old and going strong, is Rupert Murdoch.The news part of the empire has not been marked by distinguished journalism. But the trigger incident for
[Tim Rutten] Threat of Nancy Grace

Jul 31, 2011

The sensational result in the O.J. Simpson murder case notwithstanding, it’s an article of faith among criminal defense attorneys that sequestered jurors are more prone to convict than those who go home when the trial recesses for the day.That’s why more notice should have been paid when J. Michael Flanagan, who is defending Conrad Murray ― the physician charged with causing the death of pop super
[Mohamed A. El-Erian] Pity the policymakers in crisis

Jul 29, 2011

NEWPORT BEACH ― I don’t know about you, but whenever I am in an airplane experiencing turbulence, I draw comfort from the belief that the pilots sitting behind the cockpit’s closed door know what to do. I would feel very differently if, through an open door, I observed pilots who were frustrated at the poor responsiveness of the plane’s controls, arguing about their next step, and getting no help
[Editorial] Fundamentalism is the enemy behind terrorists

Jul 29, 2011

When news broke of a bomb detonation in downtown Oslo, Norway, many initially assumed it was the work of Islamic terrorists. When later reports came in that a shooting rampage had also occurred on an island just off the coast of Norway’s capital, some believed Europe was witnessing a Mumbai-style attack. Later, however, the world discovered that these atrocities, which have claimed the lives of at
[Andrew Sheng] On leadership: Why is global reform so difficult?

Jul 29, 2011

In Chinese history, several famous reformers failed, the most prominent being Song Dynasty reformer Wang Anshi, who was no idealist but highly talented and experienced. He wanted to strengthen governance and finances through major tax, land and market reforms, but failed when he lost political support. Qing Dynasty reformer Kang Yuwei was also not successful because he was too loyal to the dynasti
[Editorial] Ensure food safety in post-tsunami Japan

Jul 29, 2011

On July 8, radioactive cesium in excess of the provisional government limit was detected in beef from a cow shipped from Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, to a Tokyo slaughterhouse. Later beef from 10 other cows from the city was found to have been contaminated with such cesium.As of Monday, at least 2,600 cows suspected of having been fed with rice straw contaminated with radioactive cesium were