Two Thumbs Down

If you're going to taunt people, especially the police, you really should be good at hiding.

Drama critic sent to prison for bomb threat

“You [KBS] won’t catch me as I am very good at camouflage,” he said during the threatening call. “Catch me if you can.”

Six months in prison should give him time to come up with a better plan. People like this should be sent to a prison for the very stupid. Perhaps part of his punishment should involve prison guards regularly taunting him through the bars, "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah - you can't escape!"

And, by the way, if you don't like the show, Mr. Kim, just change the channel.

Children

In the days when I was more "philosophical", the writings of Kahlil Gribran moved me deeply. His book, The Prophet, is one that I have read a hundred times. I've had half a dozen copies over the years because I lend them to others or lose them, but always replace them. I was reminded of this section on children by an article in the Korea Times: 70% of Child Athletes Suffer Violence.

Children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

I get so angry at parents who abuse their children under the guise of ensuring that they have a better future. The individual stats in this article are shocking, but the attitude of coaches and parents is the what really disgusts me.

"Coaches, parents and even students are obsessed with getting good results. They think a beating enhances a student's fighting spirit and thus brings about a good result,'' an official of the commission said.

He said they do not recognize children's human rights. "When students desert the training camp after being beaten, parents send them back, as they believe the children will have great success when they become famous athletes in the future,'' the official said.

Maybe we need to look at our society and ask why children should have to compete so aggressively. Perhaps it would be better if didn't allow anyone under the age of adulthood (19-21 years) to play competetive sports.

There have been stories of abusive tennis parents in the news for years. In Canada, hockey parents are sometimes banned from arenas because they are so bad.

What the hell is wrong with us when we push kids to do what we couldn't? This is a problem everywhere; however, the hypercompetitive nature of Korean society and the acceptance of casually administered violence as a way to make people do what you want can make children's lives hell.

TIME had this article, and, again, it is young people who are being abused.
Breaking the Ice

Intelligent training in sports is not just a matter of doing something harder or more. Muscles strain and bruise; ligaments tear. And, sometimes, there just isn't anymore fuel in the tank. When someone is running on empty, beating them won't make any difference.

I know that a career in modern professional sports can be incredibly lucrative, but, if the only reason people play sports is to go to professional leagues, it takes a lot of the fun out of "playing" sports. Why can't we all just lighten up?