During the 50s especially, during the American occupation, Korea's economy rose and fell with the Army money - how much was printed, what it was worth. The US 8th Army dominated the economy and a lot of the politics. Syngman Rhee, the dictator of that era, was placed and supported and finally removed by the US. Granted, the student protests brought about his downfall, but it's well-known in Korea that he finally resigned within hours of a visit from the US ambassador. The next long term dictator, Park Chunghee, was likewise in good part propped by the US, and there's widespread belief that Park's assassin was given logistic support by the US armed forces.

While Korea has historically felt it necessary to walk a tightrope among competing regional powers, notably Russia, Japan, and China, and continued that stance through the 1980s, they have in the last decade or two finally come into their own, and are beginning to feel they can tell hopeful imperialists, whether Japan or US, to stuff it. I'm glad to see it frankly, Although it right now looks as though Uri Party will be out of power in the next elections, to be replaced by Hanara Party, who would likely look for closer ties with the US. We shall see. Interesting times and all that.

but it indicates something about the local culture. In the early 70s, while in the Peace Corps, I was taking a bit of vacation time and visiting Taiwan. My buddies and I took a tout to Tarako Gorge which included a stop at a town where marble was shaped (and sold to tourists) and where a fair number of the 'aborigines' lived and worked, and some were at the tourist bus stop wearing their colorful indigenous outfits, etc. etc.. I did not at the time speak any Chinese, just Korean and Malay. But I could speak to the aborigines using Malay. Very interesting. It wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough.

the LW should consider a preventive. Don't know if it's still the case, but there have been "gay porn sites" that were actually setups by gay-haters of whatever stripe, from which any downloaded - and viewing the image is often enough of a download - images contained some very nasty destructive viruses, of the wipe-out-your-entire-hard-drive variety. So make sure you've got very good anti-virus etc software in place.

namely that unlike other loans & credit lines, the interest is tax deductible. The reduction in use of that source of credit may not portend a fall in consumer purchasing, but rather a switch to other borrowing mechanisms. I don't really believe that, and for the most part agree with your line of thinking, but the point about deductible interest on loans deserves a mention.

I woke one morning a few years ago to discover that my wife was now the oldest woman in her generation of her family, the matriarch, an important role in her (Korean) family.

Similarly, this death is to me another sign of a passing of times. To hear of Kurt Vonnegut (jr)'s death brought me back to childhood. Kurt Vonnegut Sr. was a partner for many years in my grandfather's architectural firm in Indianapolis. Kurt jr. long ago left Indianapolis behind, for many good reasons not the least of which was the Hoosier conservatism and cronyism he later descried so effectively in the Bush administration. My mother still remembers him, much the same way as you, Andrew, although she's a few years older than Kurt. I suspect he'll have a longer-lasting legacy than many of his generation with bigger names as novelists.

It's easy in, easy out - in fact luggage pickup for Southwest is already outside of the terminal - as several have already pointed out, it's not LAX.

And it's also not the airport I frequently fly to from Burbank, namely Oakland - there's a perpetually under construction, dirty, cramped, dump of an airport. Too far to the BART station, too - it takes longer for the shuttle to the BART than the BART takes to get to downtown Oakland.

For good old lost aiport names, how about Weir Cook airport? I was sorry to see that go; my grandparents knew Weir Cook and he was one of the original, old-style barnstormers. That airport is now Indianapolis International, or something equally pretentious.

and outstanding political deftness on Kucinich's part. It does several things at once - side-steps the 'controversy' over impeaching Bush, points up the power and culpability of Cheney, and, one hopes finally gets the ball rolling so the rest of the bums, starting with Bush, get thrown out. We cannot let stand what they have done!

you are not necessarily protecting your daughter against wart virus acquired from multiple sex partners; you could be protecting her against one partner who may himself have had many sex partners. Even if a woman has only one sex partner, that partner brings his history to the encounter.