Articles by mgedwards

Tepid response to tragedy

I searched the Korean news media web sites for the Korean perspective on today’s events.  I thought the official response to the massacre at Virginia Tech was tepid at best and tasteless at worst.  President Roh Moo-hyun sent his condolences to the families of the 32 victims at Virginia Tech who died at the hands of 23-year-old Korean student and U.S. permanent resident Cho Seung-hui.  However, President Roh concluded by urging Americans to show restraint in response to the tragedy.  Although I do hope that Americans show restraint and do not rush to judgment in light of today’s revelations about Mr. Cho’s identity, I thought President Roh’s conclusion was in bad form and faith.
 
 
I was also dismayed to find that the major left-wing Hankyoreh newspaper neglected to publish any articles or commentary on today’s tragedy.  Instead, it chose to complain about the number of slots available to Korean students who want to sit for the TOEFL test, the test required for foreign students to study in the United States.  It also published an article on documents released about the U.S.’ alleged involvement in a "civilian massacre."  Blow it out your nose, Hanky.  You may not be a friend to the United States, but you should be ashamed.
 
 
I hope that Americans do not personalize this tragedy and use it to single out Koreans who live, study, or visit the United States.  The vast majority are good people, and Koreans should not fear reprecussions because of one man’s actions.  However, I am very disappointed by Korea’s public response to this tragedy.  For a nation that focuses incessantly on its own public image and is highly sensitive to how it is perceived on the world stage, Korea should know that it needs to handle this tragedy with care and respond appropriately when one of its own commits such an atrocity.

Tragedy in Blacksburg

I don’t know what to write about what happened today at Virginia Tech other than it happened just 250 miles from me and yet is a world away.  Perhaps it is better to write nothing at all and await news of this terrible tragedy.  People are already speculating about the who, what, where, when, why, and how, and the blogosphere is in chaos trying to scoop what happened today.
 
What a shame.  My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this tragedy.
 

The end of the Internet universe

I found the end of the far reaches of the Internet today.  The Internet is a very big place with information on virtually everything…
 
…except for a full version of Robert Southey’s epic poem, "A Tale of Paraguay" published in 1825.  Southey, who?  Thou might aske if ye, like mee, be navght an accoemplished scholare of English literatur.  You know, Southey, the English poet who was a member of the "Lake Poets" which including the distinguished William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  It was Southey who first penned the famous children’s story, "The Three Bears."  I read about Southey’s tale of Paraguay in another book and wanted to read it.  Southey never visited Paraguay, but he used lands such as Paraguay (and Brazil and the American frontier) as settings to extrapolate his political ideals.  In "A Tale of Paraguay," Southey turned the prose of Jesuit Priest Martin Dobrizhoffer into an allegory promoting the idea of missionary colonialism in the British colonies, just as the Spaniards and Portuguese permitted in their colonial empires.
 
I searched the Web for a full version of this poem and found several books on Southey’s poetry, but I could not find a full version of his poem.  Instead, I found snippets of it available here for your reading pleasure (click on the links):
Unfortunately, to read the entire poem, I have to locate a book of Southey’s poetry and either check it out from the library or buy it online.  The copyright on this poem expired years ago, so "A Tale of Paraguay" is an excellent example of a work in the public domain that should be available online.  Of course, some publishers are still profiting from Southey’s work by publishing collections or analyses of his poetry.
 
Today, I found the end of the Internet universe.  His name is Robert Southey.