21 Million Korean Contract Workers

Decades ago, companies agitated for relaxation of labor laws. They managed to change the laws so that they could hire contract workers. Under the old laws, these contract workers would be regarded as regular employees. Contract workers can be fired after their one year contract is over. People who teach part time at universities are treated even much worse.

There are now over 21 million contact workers. The entire Korean population is 50 million.

Need I say more?

Nikkei: Moon promises to eliminate all contract jobs in public sector

Ward Autro: Contract Workers Occupy GM Korea CEO’s Office

Workers are being shafted. Yet the media is stating the labor unions are too strong and wrecking Korean companies. Here is an editorial from Joongang News (affiliated with Samsung) and reprinted by Yonhap News. What propaganda!

Yonhap: Our power-crazy unions 

Do The Rich Really Want Equality?

Do the poor want equality?

Do the powerful want equality?
Do the weak want equality?

Forget words and promises, look at actions and the situation today.

If the rich and powerful are elected to public office and run companies, then there will be less equality. I kid you not. Look past all the outward appearances of equality, take a close look at what is happening in the world. Cognitive dissonance kicks in when too much power and money are involved.

Maybe one day, a cooperative will be established where the members buy only from within the cooperative, but also sell to outsiders in order to absorb more wealth into the cooperative. All members will be paid a comfortable wage with quality jobs, but none will be paid more than double or triple the lowest wage earner. Or something along those lines. It is really doubtful that the free market economy as it is will resolve problems of inequality.

In Korea, rent is expensive, so are franchise fees. They are trying to raise the minimum wage and convenience store owners are saying that they will have to close their businesses. They pay much more in rent and franchise fees. Wages pale in comparison. Restaurants and retail stores are also complaining about minimum wage. Corporations are complaining about the 52 hour work week as too short.

The rich backed media is really trying to stir up emotions against labor reform and fair taxation. I think they are really scared nowadays. Doesn't make sense. Do they really need all that money? Can they use it all in their lifetime? Crazy world we live in.

Korean Military Intelligence Prepared A Scenario For Martial Law in 2017

Documents recently surfaced that reveal Korean military intelligence made plans to agitate demonstrators and then call in the military to quell the demonstrations around the time of former President Park's impeachment proceedings.

In these documents, the military calls the demonstrators and progressive leaning people pro-North Korean which is illegal in Korea according to some outdated law forbidding any praise of North Korea. Regarded as treason!

After quelling the demonstrations, the military's scenario was for imposition of martial law. Detailing what to do if the Joint Chief of Staff refused to go along. They would then censor all the leading media services. And so on.

The ruling party had enough votes to reject impeachment, so the military made up this scenario.

Other documents showed that the military intelligence agency spied on Korean citizens, including demonstrators, and opposition members.

These people had no sense of right and wrong., Really messed up power trip.

Hankyoreh: Military considered martial law if court rejected Park’s impeachment 

Nikkei Asian Review: South Korea orders probe into military plans to quash Park protests

They Sell Hemp Seeds, Why Is CBD Oil Illegal In Korea?

Some Korean mothers who have children with epilepsy want CBD oil to be legalized in Korea. Hemp seed has CDB, but hemp seeds are legal.

Anyways, a bill was introduced to make it legal a few years ago, but a committee said it was anti-social and killed the bill.  They are trying to introduce another one, but are short of signatures.

A singer was indicted for marijuana, a couple of days ago, prosecutors are asking for 5 years imprisonment. Many end up getting suspended sentences, but some do get a year or two in prison.

The government is trying to raise property taxes. I am a property owner and would gladly pay much much more in property tax, just as long as the rich pay theirs. The very rich have tons of real estate and they pay really low property tax. Just a few years ago, they didn't even have to report rental income.

Luckily many more Koreans, nowadays, do not trust media which are controlled by the rich. Still have a long ways to go, but things seem to be moving along much faster now.

More and more Koreans trust newspapers like Hanykoreh, which was started by journalists, many fired for their pursuit of freedom and democracy.

Korean Media Claim Reduced Work Week Will Wreck Korean Economy

While most of Korean media is blaming the recent increase in minimum wage for all of Korea's economic woes, and arguing that a reduced work week with create tremendous hardships for employers and reduced wages for employees, there was a very welcome and refreshing article in CNN about Korea and the reduced work week.

CNN: South Korea cuts its work limit from 68 hours a week to 52

I remember when Koreans used to have to work on Saturdays. Samsung Electronics used to make employees work in Sundays also if export targets were not achieved in the 70s and 80s.

How To Get Rid Of Munchies?

Try drinking a glass of wine or a shot of alcohol. Works for me. A lot slimmer now.

Former Korean President Myung-bak Lee Used Police To Spy On Citizens

Several months ago, in a building owned by a foundation controlled by the former president, Myung-bak Lee, prosecutors carrying out search warrants found documents from the police to the former president reporting on citizens and politicians critical of the Lee administration, among other incriminating documents.

Yonhap News: Police seek probe of officers allegedly involved in political interference

The chairman of Korea Airlines, Yangho Cho, didn't use any of the numerous tax loopholes available to him. Instead, he just didn't report $44 million that he inherited, because it was held abroad. Now, if convicted, he faces at least 5 years in prison. But rich people always seems to get a suspended sentence of 2 years and probation. He is also being investigated for many more crimes. About time, he and his family have been doing crooked things for decades.

The Standard: Korean Air chief Cho Yang Ho faces questions on US$44m tax evasion, plunder

"We may all be dissociated personalities of a universal consciousness"

The fabric of the universe may be made up of spacetime, energy and consciousness.

Scientific American: Could Multiple Personality Disorder Explain Life, the Universe and Everything?

New York Catches Up

In the 1970s, Ann Arbor, Michigan changed the laws to only fine cannabis offenders. Now, New York is following suit!

The Vice: Finally, New York Will Stop Arresting Most People for Blazing in Public

Many people suspected that the pharmaceutical industry lobbied hard to keep cannabis illegal. They had a lot of reasons for doing so, it seems.

CBS: Ex-DEA agent: Opioid crisis fueled by drug industry and Congress

Most of those people on opiates would probably have been much better off eating a little cannabis grown in their garden.

Even scientists agree that cannabis needs to be decriminalized.

Scientific American: End the War on Weed

Korean Businesses Cut Down On Jobs

Job growth has drastically fallen from around 300,000 per month early in the year to 110,000 for the past three months and 70,000 for May.

Could it be businesses are cutting back on jobs and investment, in retaliation for increasing the minimum wage to around $7 and other liberal policies?

Xinhuanet: S.Korea faces employment shock as job increase hits 8-year low

The economy is strong. Third month of record trade surpluses. Financial companies doing great due to increased interest rates. Something seem wrong?

On the news today, most of the media are reporting on the low job rate and ever increasing gap between the rich and poor. They are implying that President Moon's administration is to blame.

The ones to blame are the conservative administrations of the imprisoned former presidents Lee and Park, along with the conservative party. Disrupting unions. Decreasing tax on the rich. Stopping regulation of unfair business practices, such as raising rent by 1000% after 5 years. Ending loopholes that the rich use to pay no taxes in transferring wealth to their offspring. Almost all of the major Korean companies passed on control to the founder's children without paying any inheritance taxes.

If the world stopped buying Korean products, it wouldn't hurt me. Might hurt the rich much more than the poor.

Marijuana vs. Opiates?

The answer is obvious.

Today, I read an article that I am in complete agreement with.

Especially this part -

“The misconception is that people are using that [medical marijuana] as an excuse to get high. The reality is our average patient is 55-years-old,” Spirtos said. “These people aren’t out drug seeking. These are real people with real problems that are looking for an alternative that may be more effective.”

I go to doctors in Korea about pain and they just say to live with it. Even doctors are afraid to prescribe painkillers, because of the narcotics laws in Korea.

Fox News: Will medical marijuana replace opioids in war on cancer?

I have had cancer surgery three times, so I am lucky to be alive. It helped me to have a positive attitude on life. Hey! I am still alive! Almost 20 years since the last surgery. Thought I was a goner for sure, so I traveled the world and all around the Korea for a few years. Didn't die, so I had to get a job.

But I still have pain unrelated to cancer, but very serious. That's the reason for my interest in the legalization of cannabis. In addition to relieving pain somewhat, it helps me feel better.

Newsweek: PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS: LSD CHANGES BRAIN, COULD BE USED FOR DEPRESSION, ADDICTION TREATMENT

Korean Local Elections and Media

Yesterday was election day for mayors and district officials. I noticed a large percent of people had no idea about the candidates or their qualifications. They asked each other questions that revealed their lack of knowledge. I guess 20-30%, are voting purely by guesswork with complete disregard of the facts and issues. Most don't even know the names of the candidates and are just voting for the party they like, or according to what the media feeds them.

The media is still strongly conservative. To describe the landslide victory by the liberal Democratic party they used the word "장악". They say that the Democratic party "conquered" all the districts. Media usually uses "장악" with force, dictators, and such, Sounds very negative. If the conservatives won, they would have used the word "landslide victory". Some media did, but some didn't. They keep shading the truth with negativity. Guess that's why the younger generation doesn't watch or read the news. They seem to mostly depend on SNS and peers for information.

Democracy in Korea seems about par with the US in the fifties. Watch the following videos to see what I mean.

Canada Passes Law Legalizing Cannabis

Canada, Portugal, Uruguay have all legalized pot and are creating jobs, wealth and health.

California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and other states are also reaping the benefits and goodwill from legalization.

Turning people into criminals for using pot is very wrong, it should be illegal.

CTV News: After pot law passed key vote, is it legal to toke?

The Dimension of Mind, Knowledge, Consciousness, Logic

Some physicists now say that the "mental" aspect is fundamental to the real world or "reality".

That would seem obvious.

Scientific American: Coming to Grips with the Implications of Quantum Mechanics

Atoms Decay?

According to theory, atoms will decay into "nothing" (radiation). Takes billions of times longer than the age of the universe though. I thought stable atoms lasted forever.

Futurism: Science Explained: Do Atoms Last Forever?





If all mass is turned into radiation, and that radiation is traveling at the speed of light, then the radiation senses no time and space. Isn't that the condition of the big bang? Intense radiation with inflation. But in this case, there is no need for inflation. That is what Sir Roger Penrose postulated in the video embedded in the previous post.

Does time only exist when there is mass?

A "Big Bang" Theory I Can Understand

I was very skeptical of the big bang theory, but in the following video is a kind of a "big bang" theory that I can agree with.

Crooked Judges?

Just a few years ago, I was too scared to write anything criticizing past conservative Korean governments or the conservative party. They could put conservatively minded police, intelligence service and prosecutors on you. Possibly frame you as a North Korean spy or sympathizer.

I also often wondered about some Supreme Court's rulings. Some seemed very unjust. Now, we are beginning to find rare evidence revealing the crooked inner workings of the Korean justice system. 

It appears that the courts spied on liberal judges in order to get incriminating evidence against them, and influenced rulings to favor the rich and powerful. 

Below is a an article about a former Head Justice of the Supreme Court trying to influence a former Korean President through rulings favorable to conservatives (against labor unions, etc.), and favoring conservative judges over liberal ones. The majority of abuses will never become public, so few will know how terrible the situation was and still is, since some of the people involved are still in office. 

Kyunghyang News: Influence Peddling in the Judiciary

On the bright side, it's much better now than before. 

Before 1980, only Koreans granted permission by the government were allowed to go abroad. Articles critical of Korea in Time and Newsweek were censored. There was a curfew from 12 to 4 in the morning. Police randomly stopped people on the street and searched bags, hassled long haired people, and those wearing short skirts. Bribery was common. Alcohol and cigarettes were encouraged on TV, and in real life. 

Is Will A Force or Energy?

If you want to move a pencil, you first have to think and will yourself to do it. Somewhere along the line, that will is transformed to electrical, chemical or other physical force. From metaphysical, it seems, to physical. From a non-local dimension to the physical dimension. So, there is a connection, somewhere.

Smash photons together and you get matter and anti-matter.

Different God? Same God?

Freeman Dyson seems to see the same God as I.

He wrote, “I do not make any clear distinction between mind and God. God is what mind becomes when it has passed beyond the scale of our comprehension. God may be considered to be either a world-soul or a collection of world souls. We are the chief inlets of God on this planet at the present stage in his development. We may later grow with him as he grows, or we may be left behind.”.

Slight difference of opinion in the details, but uncannily similar. 

Scientific American: Freeman Dyson's Solution to the Problem of Evil

If you leave a hydrogen atom alone in empty space, does it exist forever?
Is thought/knowledge a dimension?

Mass Cognitive Dissonance?

People, me included, hoarding wealth, when many need the money much more desperately. Many make up through church, charity, and other good deeds.

Praying? I avoid praying. I think it distances me from God. God is in my head, why bother? Supposed to know everything.

Examples of Non-local Dimensions?

Meaning or concepts? Mathematical laws? Logic? ...

Scientific American: A Super-Simple, Non-Quantum Theory of Eternal Consciousness

The metaphysical is definitely connected to the physical. 

Is God an emergent phenomenon from a Group Of Dimensions?

Non-local Dimensions

"Spooky action at a distance" seems to be proof that there is a dimension or thing that is non-local. Dimensions that are not influenced by distance, space, and maybe also time.

PHYSICS

Scientific American: Should Quantum Anomalies Make Us Rethink Reality?

Rights?

Before civilization, humans had the freedom to feed themselves. Now, that is impossible. All of the land is owned by someone else, no hunting allowed, not enough fish, and so on.

If society took away the freedom to feed one's self, then society needs to make amends. Society should guarantee the freedom of the right to feed oneself, or the equivalent. Right to a job that affords basic food and shelter.

However, jobs are becoming scarcer. Right to basic food and shelter for all.

HuffPost: Towns Trying Out A Basic-Income Scheme And Changing Lives