I've Got A Pair of Twos
Friday, July 3, 2009 at 3:00 PM Brian provides more useful commentary on "The Poker-8". One can't help but agree with comments from Kushibo that in the audio provided by Korean Media Watch a certain amount of arrogance comes across from the protagonists as well as what seems to be a willing ignorance of Korean law concerning gambling.
Brian:
I've listened to the interview and read through most of the commentary available, and I have to say that while I've demonstrated a sympathy to foreigners being mistreated by the authorities, this group seems excessively annoying, ignorant, arrogant, and imbibed with a sense of entitlement
And as we all know, ignorance, is no excuse.
The fact that two of the eight tested positive for (presumably) cannabis use only strengthens the police case and that of the Media and it's sensationalist reportage. "The Foreign Menace" again makes it to the top of The Chosun Bimbo Ilbo's[한국어] home page for what might be the 4th day straight.
Kushibo also calls out Korean Media Watch for being biased:
starting with the biased-but-whoops-I-shouldn't-be-biased description by the Korean Media Watch representative at the beginning and one of the arrestees' comment that "poker was allegedly being played," as if he didn't know for sure. Ha ha ha... It's only been a minute and already the guy's being self-servingly deceptive. What are the odds he might just say all the stuff that will make him look as much like an innocent victim as possible?
The audio is all kinds of stupid. The supposedly objective "Korean Media Watch" is feeding lines and editorializing, and if it's the interviewer's voice I'm hearing, offering at least a little inaccurate information.
and
And the interviewer says, "It seems there are some legal differences between North America and here, but also some cultural differences." Nice downplaying, but it's still illegal.
I'm in two minds as to the bias or not of Korean Media Watch (and Michael Hurt the interviewer). Perhaps it's best framed as a high-road / low-road kind of thing. Take the moral high ground and win out eventually or play the Korea media at it's own game and get a few critical hits in while you're writhing around on the mat.
(Way too much UFC for me this week.)
Finally it's still not clear to what extent looking at events and people's Facebook profiles had in all this. A reality of Korean (if not straight up modern) policing is looking at posts and such on the internet. Much to my chagrin I have locked down my Facebook and Twitter, which is a disappointing but somewhat inevitable reaction to this little story.
It's a shame - especially considering the lack of any topless photos of me bombing beers through a funnel.
Oh well.
There's always The Bimbo I guess.
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Reader Comments (7)
It still feels like Bizarro World that people are starting to take Kushibo seriously.
Nonetheless, yeah, these guys are arrogant and act privileged. I think it distracts from the issue on why we were on this issue in the first place--this is being painted in the news on the front page as a major gambling and drug ring bust. When I listened to that MP3, it sounded that was Mike's angle, too. I'm more pissed off about that than the girl with the defunct airplane ticket.
I'd like to know exactly how the police got access to the Event Invitation. I've never made an event, are they public by default? Did they just search FB for "poker"?
My FB and Twitter have always been private, mostly because I don't like the idea of random strangers (not to mention future employers) seeing that stuff.
And, yeah, I think Mike does have a bit of an ax to grind, but it doesn't change the fact that the police are trying to make a mountain from a mole hill.
Joe, kushibo's got a good blog, in the top ten of K-blogs for sure.
Two things bother me about this case:
1) If, and right now it's if, the police entered without a warrant and basically pushed everyone around, it is a cause for concern. I'm not super paranoid or anything, but what's to stop police from busting in to any teacher's place any time because some parent calls in to make sure he's not doing drugs.
2) That it's being conflated as part of a larger trend of foreign drug users. I really have to wonder what the hell is up with the Chosun Ilbo that they're taking all these cues from anti-English Spectrum.
All that said, the interview didn't help at all. I would have been far more sympathetic to them had I not heard their "side," had I not heard them saying they broke the law but only a little, heard them say that because foreigners can gamble in a casino they should gamble at home, not heard them say that it's a really inconvenient time to be arrested, and not heard Mike hype this to the moon.
Meh. If you say so.
I just can't shake off Matt's (Gusts of Popular Feeling) piece on the history on him/her. I'm not much for blogs whose feeds are just titles that vaguely represent what the content is, and having to sift through all that content to find anything interesting. And even then, the tone is too smug for my taste.
If that's what passes for a "top ten" K-blog, then so be it.
What's the link for that history? Do you mean the one by PartyPooper?
Great comments from Brian. "this group seems excessively annoying, ignorant, arrogant, and imbibed with a sense of entitlement". Brian sounds to me like an annoying, ignorant and pompous ass. just my opinion on his
Johnny3rubs: Be nice.
Elsewhere: I am interested as to what Korean law says vis-a-vis search and seizure. There are plenty of things / cases / situations in New Zealand where Police don't need a warrant to enter a premises. I think there is a very Amero-centric view of police practice / procedure being touted here that is irrelevant under Korean law. (Notwithstanding allegations of use of excessive force, coercion and grandstanding that aren't permissible under any jurisdiction)
Joe: I think Kushibo is a master of marketing; garner interest by getting your name out there and making some controversial comments and then start writing a blog with a reasonable slant and some interesting. Brilliant.
As to whether it's top 10 material that's very much in the eye of the beholder - It's probably a bit more fluid and I tend to rank blogs per issue.
Either way, keep the comments coming!