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It Symbolizes Freedom
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Rock



Joined: 25 Feb 2005

PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:04 pm    Post subject: It Symbolizes Freedom Reply with quote

Went to the dog park the other day. Not here, of course, but back in the good old USA. Saw the dogs playing, happy and carefree, and that hundreds of them, making me feel so relieved to see freedom and what it offers.

Saw those dogs back in Korea too, the ones tied to dilapidated dog houses, chained to cages with bowls without water. . . You know the story.

Some say it's a difference in dog culture. I say the difference symbolizes freedom and what it can do.

Then I met a Canadian at the dog park, a woman from Toronto, believe it or not. She was exquisite, making me wonder about the un-exquisite souls stomping Korea. You see, I live in Florida, USA., where many Canadians come to visit at the nice beaches and what not. They appreciate the beauty of freedom and what it can bring.

But not so those in Korea, it seems, when it comes to sensing freedom and what it represents, making them mis-informed misanthropes of Americans. She had a sense of belonging, despite political differences, whereas those in Korea didn't seem to have any. Was it because they were without what she represented, what this dog park symbolized?

Funny thing was, after parting with her, I didn't say anything to her about teaching English in Korea, and she didn't say anything to me about us bombing Iraq. It must've been the beauty of freedom that brought us together, unlike those in Korea.

It's great to be unchained from ignorance.
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JAWINSEOUL



Joined: 19 Nov 2005

PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:46 pm    Post subject: American freedom ? Reply with quote

Thanks for the post on the surface it��s a good thought.

Is what you experience in America freedom, or is it just a mirage.

The United States only has two viable political parties. I don��t see voting for Bush or against him as political freedom

Many minorities feel they no possibility of advancing in the white dominated workforce.

The United States still has the Armed forces draft. I��m not sure being sent off to die without my consent would be considered freedom of choice.

In regards to freedom of speech you may consider the following: Howard Stern, 5 Second Television Delays and Cindy Sheehan being thrown from the State of the union address for wearing a ��T�� shirt (She makes my skin crawl personally).

If you believe Timothy McVeigh, then Waco was not the best example of freedom for Americans to gather peacefully or the right to bear arms.

These are just things that make me wonder if freedom is actually real. As a Canadian I ask similar questions of my country.

Personally I like America and its politics. I also see that dog chained on a tiny rope in Korea every Friday. I feel bad for the dog regardless of what my signature states.
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igotthisguitar



Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)

PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"In the later times, some shall �� speak lies in hypocrisy �� commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (Paul: 1 Timothy 1-4)



Nowhere in the Bible does it say people cannot grow, possess, use or even smoke cannabis or that hemp is bad. In fact, quite the contrary: "God said, 'Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth.��To you it will be for meat.' �� And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:29-31)

Welcome to taima.org Cannabis in Japan Idea
http://www.taima.org/en/main.htm
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From chained-up dogs in Korea, through Waco, Stern and McVeigh, and finishing with legalize Marijuana!!!

In only three posts!!

This thread has it all!!!

I'd like to add that the continuing Chinese occupation of Tibet is a scandal now that we're all buddy-buddy with China........

.........and, I'd also like to throw in the alarming rate at which the Greenland ice-sheets are melting due to greenhouse gases.
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endofthewor1d



Joined: 01 Apr 2003
Location: the end of the wor1d.

PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rock must write for afkn.
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red dog



Joined: 31 Oct 2004

PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rock, I'm not sure if I totally understand your point but I think you're really looking at things with the wrong attitude. Why compare dogs in a U.S. dog park with chained dogs in Korea? It would be more fair to compare chained dogs in Korea with chained dogs in the U.S.

There are plenty of dogs living in disgusting conditions in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Korea. And there are plenty of good animal people here in Korea -- they helped place my foster dog, Amber, in a wonderful home with a Korean animal advocate who keeps an online diary about her. They also helped me when I found two other stray dogs in Seoul -- fortunately those dogs were placed as well.

I'm not denying the existence of animal welfare problems in Korea but going to a dog park in Florida and watching part of the small minority of American dogs whose families value them enough to give them that freedom isn't a very good way to shed light on the problem. Chances are that those dogs are OK and don't need your help. But there are plenty of other dogs who do, regardless of what country you live in. If you go to www.animalconcerns.org you'll see that there's no shortage of animals who need help and no country with a monopoly on cruelty.

So are you back in Korea now, or still in the States?
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captain kirk



Joined: 29 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The jist is:
You weren't happy in Korea, felt oppressed. Like the dogs in Korea are oppressed. So you identified with the chained up dogs in Korea (and Taiwan).

You didn't like Korea's government. Now you're in America and are a patriotic American. You have a pumped up identity now (which isn't your identity, really, but latching onto a national identity).

Now you're with some beautiful people in beautiful America.

Right. Laughing
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EFLtrainer



Joined: 04 May 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:55 am    Post subject: Re: American freedom ? Reply with quote

JAWINSEOUL wrote:
The United States still has the Armed forces draft. I��m not sure being sent off to die without my consent would be considered freedom of choice.


We do? Funny, I thought we had registration for the draft... ...which makes sense should a real war break out, but which is a bit scary should BushThink continue to dominateAmerican thought.
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Satori



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Above it all

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

red dog wrote:
Rock, I'm not sure if I totally understand your point but I think you're really looking at things with the wrong attitude. Why compare dogs in a U.S. dog park with chained dogs in Korea? It would be more fair to compare chained dogs in Korea with chained dogs in the U.S.

There are plenty of dogs living in disgusting conditions in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Korea. And there are plenty of good animal people here in Korea -- they helped place my foster dog, Amber, in a wonderful home with a Korean animal advocate who keeps an online diary about her. They also helped me when I found two other stray dogs in Seoul -- fortunately those dogs were placed as well.

I'm not denying the existence of animal welfare problems in Korea but going to a dog park in Florida and watching part of the small minority of American dogs whose families value them enough to give them that freedom isn't a very good way to shed light on the problem. Chances are that those dogs are OK and don't need your help. But there are plenty of other dogs who do, regardless of what country you live in. If you go to www.animalconcerns.org you'll see that there's no shortage of animals who need help and no country with a monopoly on cruelty.

So are you back in Korea now, or still in the States?

Maybe so, but just anecdotally, I've seens TONS of dogs in Korea tied up on a short leash in bad conditions. In fact I've rarely seen a dog running free. But back home in NZ I see very very few dogs that spend thier day on a short leash. I don't think you can say the attitude to dogs is the same here as it is back home. I sometimes wonder why Koreans bother to keep dogs as pets. They just don't seem to like them very much.
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jinju



Joined: 22 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 3:14 am    Post subject: Re: It Symbolizes Freedom Reply with quote

Rock wrote:
Went to the dog park the other day. Not here, of course, but back in the good old USA. Saw the dogs playing, happy and carefree, and that hundreds of them, making me feel so relieved to see freedom and what it offers.

Saw those dogs back in Korea too, the ones tied to dilapidated dog houses, chained to cages with bowls without water. . . You know the story.

Some say it's a difference in dog culture. I say the difference symbolizes freedom and what it can do.

Then I met a Canadian at the dog park, a woman from Toronto, believe it or not. She was exquisite, making me wonder about the un-exquisite souls stomping Korea. You see, I live in Florida, USA., where many Canadians come to visit at the nice beaches and what not. They appreciate the beauty of freedom and what it can bring.

But not so those in Korea, it seems, when it comes to sensing freedom and what it represents, making them mis-informed misanthropes of Americans. She had a sense of belonging, despite political differences, whereas those in Korea didn't seem to have any. Was it because they were without what she represented, what this dog park symbolized?

Funny thing was, after parting with her, I didn't say anything to her about teaching English in Korea, and she didn't say anything to me about us bombing Iraq. It must've been the beauty of freedom that brought us together, unlike those in Korea.

It's great to be unchained from ignorance.


You are boring.
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red dog



Joined: 31 Oct 2004

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Satori wrote:
red dog wrote:
Rock, I'm not sure if I totally understand your point but I think you're really looking at things with the wrong attitude. Why compare dogs in a U.S. dog park with chained dogs in Korea? It would be more fair to compare chained dogs in Korea with chained dogs in the U.S.

There are plenty of dogs living in disgusting conditions in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Korea. And there are plenty of good animal people here in Korea -- they helped place my foster dog, Amber, in a wonderful home with a Korean animal advocate who keeps an online diary about her. They also helped me when I found two other stray dogs in Seoul -- fortunately those dogs were placed as well.

I'm not denying the existence of animal welfare problems in Korea but going to a dog park in Florida and watching part of the small minority of American dogs whose families value them enough to give them that freedom isn't a very good way to shed light on the problem. Chances are that those dogs are OK and don't need your help. But there are plenty of other dogs who do, regardless of what country you live in. If you go to www.animalconcerns.org you'll see that there's no shortage of animals who need help and no country with a monopoly on cruelty.

So are you back in Korea now, or still in the States?

Maybe so, but just anecdotally, I've seens TONS of dogs in Korea tied up on a short leash in bad conditions. In fact I've rarely seen a dog running free. But back home in NZ I see very very few dogs that spend thier day on a short leash. I don't think you can say the attitude to dogs is the same here as it is back home. I sometimes wonder why Koreans bother to keep dogs as pets. They just don't seem to like them very much.


Well, I've never been to NZ but in Canada and the U.S., there are many people who neglect their dogs and keep them chained outside. I think we don't tend to see them as much because people are more likely to have a fence around the yard if they live in the city, while other situations like this happen on isolated country roads where outsiders are unlikely to pass by. Some North Americans have very backward attitudes about animals, and the overall state of animal welfare in those countries is really depressing.

Anyway, as I said I've met some very animal-friendly Koreans, but the problems are very serious here and I'm not trying to minimize them at all. I think a lot of people here do like dogs and just have no idea what a huge responsibility and commitment they're in for -- that means unscrupulous breeders make a lot of money and many dogs end up homeless. And the organizations that are trying to help them are still relatively small and struggling, so they can't possibly cope with the problems on their own. It's terrible, and I wish I had a solution, but it's still important to keep things in perspective and remember that a lot of terrible things happen to animals everywhere.
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Gorgias



Joined: 27 Aug 2005

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
You are boring.

What would motivate you to say that? Just felt like insulting someone? If you think the little story is lame, leave it alone.
Who are you?
I don't think the OP's story is ultara-fascinating either, but I was just about to go back to the index when I suddenly started to respect the time s/he took to type it up and offer his or her feeling up to the public.
Hope you feel more big and powerful now jinju.
Maybe I think your photo's suck, but I didn't post that on your blog.
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captain kirk



Joined: 29 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think by 'boring' he's implying pompous, obnoxious, and biting (scathing, hostile, insulting). Sure, it's a free country and Rock pokes fun at what he sees as a lame job in a lame country, but enough's enough already. Rock has a lot going for him and I gotta wonder why he wastes his time and writing talent harping on about 'losers working teaching English in a loser country, Korea'. Which is what all his posts seem to imply. Choosing to stew around in negativity and offer up that slop to others isn't tasty fare.

So it's boring what he does. It's like being stuck in a room with a bore lecturing and trying to get under one's skin. And, supposedly, he's in Florida with beautiful women and all that tripe.

I liked his posts better when he was crusading for the rights of dogs and living in Asia like the rest of us. Then you could figure he sounded weird from job stress, living in Korea, etc. which is understandable. When he was 'one of us'.

He's got an axe to grind about being weird and unpopular online here, when he was posting from and living in Korea. Yeah, right. It's like a crazy man carrying a placcard on the street protesting for 'more respect for misunderstood and maligned eccentrics NOW!'.
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Homer
Guest




PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rock...I think you should assemble a crack team of special forces and organize a massive series of rescue ops to free all the oppressed dogs in Korea.

Then, you could hit China and free the cats and dogs there too.


You could call this the Poochie Force or PF for short...I am sure you could get funding from the government and become a world changing force!

Laughing Laughing

Fight the good fight!
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The Bobster



Joined: 15 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 9:47 am    Post subject: Re: American freedom ? Reply with quote

JAWINSEOUL wrote:
The United States still has the Armed forces draft. I��m not sure being sent off to die without my consent would be considered freedom of choice.
This is completely false and I have no idea at all why no one spotted it and called the poster on it until I did just now.
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