I won ten dollars ...

in the most honorable manner one can while in Manila.
Cockfights.

Yes it was day three and I was overdue, so I headed to the cockfight
arena and placed my bets.

I'll have video posted here when I get back. But take my word for it,
if you ever get a chance to partake in a cockfight, do it.

--

http://loughriedoeskorea.blogspot.com

Hitting the road ....

Yes folks, I was given a grand opportunity and I'm going to take it.

My school district offered me a free flight to anywhere in the world as a bonus for renewing my contract. So I'm going to the Philippines. My flight leaves at 8 a.m. Friday morning, Korean time, and I'll be gone for three weeks.

I might dispatch a story or two from the road, but don't come here for much entertainment over the next three weeks. (And if this is one of your primary sources of entertainment, you should find the nearest gun and put yourself out of your own misery.)

When I get back I'll be nice and tan having been in warm weather for three weeks. (It's bloody cold here in Korea.) Golf, snorkeling and laying on the beach await me in less than 24 hours.

Ciao, see you back here on the 1st.

Who I WOULD HAVE voted for ...

had the Republicans let me vote.

Then again, when I received my ballot, I would have voted for Rudy Giulliani. But that ship has sailed.

So who would I vote for if I were in the booth Tuesday, for Super Duper Extreme Mega Tuesday ... McCain. Even though I hate his stance on immigration, he's going to win the nomination and he's the least scary of the other three dudes.

Mitt Romney was a cool governor of Massachusetts because he didn't give a damn about how people live their social lives. He flip flopped and tried to make himself conservative overnight, which is worse than the militant conservatives who genuinely believe it.

I was impressed by Mike Huckabee's performance in the debates and on talk shows, but then I heard a clip from a speech given to other religious whackjobs.

Huckabee said, "I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

OK. Now we're done.

And Ron Paul has been great. He has integrity and doesn't mind calling it like it is. But he's also a little crazy.

So I'm left with McCain, who will win anyway.

Now, I normally don't vote for Democrats unless they are Horton Scioneaux (a kamikaze candidate who ran for California State Assembly against Sharon Runner in 2004.)

But this time, there's a Democrat I kind of like. Barack Obama.

The politics of failure have failed. It's that simple.

For one, he smokes.

But he has a good message, he's upbeat and it's a change. America needs some change right now. Obama could be much like Ronald Reagan in 1980, coming in with a positive attitude to fix things. Will he be as great as Reagan? No, absolutely not.

But America is not in good shape right now. The economy is tanking, worldwide hatred of America is at an all time high and it's time for a younger voice to get in and shake things up.


But I could stomach him, which is more than I can say for Hillary Clinton.

Democrats listen to me. This is yours to win, but you have to listen to me. There are a lot of Republican and independent voters out there like me, who will vote for Obama. There are a fewer, if any, who will feel energized at all to vote for Clinton. If you nominate Hillary, you can blow what should be an easy win. You will have the right energized and ready to fight. They hate the Clintons and they especially hate Hillary. It will get them knocking on doors, writing checks and voting on election day.

Now, My Super Duper Mega Extreme Tuesday predictions:
Obama and Clinton will take about half and half. Clinton will be hurt by California not being Winner Take All.

McCain walks away the clear winner.

I ate a dog.

Yes. It happened. I told y'all it would and when better when my old friend Chris Amico was in town to go and chow down on man's best friend.

The most popular dog dish in Korea is called boshintang and it's served as a soup.

Koreans typically eat it in the Summer as a method of cooling down. (I don't get it either, but they eat soup and sweat to cool down.)

It was great seeing Chris again and even better catching up over a bowl of Fido.

For the record, dog tastes pretty good. It's chewy and stringy, but has a nice flavor to it. I'd like to get some of the meat itself and try putting some nice dry rubs on it, or maybe a few different marinades, but I doubt Marissa would let me.

Ah shit ...

So I got my ballot.

I have enough time to send it and have it arrive in America, but why bother.

Here's what happened ...

I am registered decline to state. I registered as such when I went into journalism, as I don't think it's appropriate for journalists to belong to political parties. You may disagree, but it was something I felt strongly about.

Well I left America but am still registered decline to state. In past primary elections, I would just walk into the precinct, ask for any party ballot and vote in that primary. Since 2003, I've voted as both a Republican and Democrat in the primaries. I usually pick the ballot of the party with the most contested elections.

Anyway, the California Republican Party, which I used to work for, decided they don't want decline to state fence sitters to play with them Feb. 5, also known in political circles as "Insane craziness super duper extreme to the max Tuesday."

I didn't know this when I requested my ballot. I requested a GOP ballot, which I cannot have because I am not a registered Republican.

So they sent me a ballot to vote for either the Peace and Freedom, Green, Libertarian or American Independent parties.

So I'm not going to bother wasting my vote on one of these jackass clowns.

Anyway, that's today, tomorrow we learn how I would have voted if I received the ballot of my choice.

I will probably also endorse a Democrat for the first time ever. You people are about to witness history.

Where is my absentee ballot?

Ok, Now I'm getting worried. I requested the damn thing from the Los Angeles County election's office a month ago, and while I understand the absentee applications didn't begin processing until January 7, I still worry.

I need to get the damn thing in my hands.

Why is it that the elections office only gives us a month to apply for and receive an absentee ballot? Why can't I get it sooner? The election is Feb. 5, I want it now.

And this isn't just impatience, I need to make sure it arrives by mail in enough time to send it back.

In addition to the time factor, I go back and forth each day on who gets my vote. I know I'm going to vote Republican, and I'm constantly back and forth between Guilliani, Huckabee or Ron Paul (I'll explain these in my "who I'm voting for" blog.)

Should I get my ballot, I will blog and share with you, the dear reader, who I am voting for.

Until then here is the first in an occasional series titled, "An open letter to ...." Today's open letter is to Hillary Clinton.

Dear Hillary

You might have fooled the people of New Hampshire, but they're idiots. You won't fool me however.

That crying stunt was just that. A cheap attempt to manipulate votes.

You are a robot and robots don't cry unless they have been programmed to do so. And even so, why would someone program a robot to cry when it could do something useful.

How come Edmund Muskie becomes a joke and you get a pass? He was crying real tears and you weren't.

Anyway, I was never going to vote for you, but now will campaign against you and persuade Seoul expats to deny you their vote.


Sincerely

James C. Loughrie
English Teacher and political activist against people who fake crying to get votes

Just got in ...

and boy, it's nice to be among the Koreans again, speaking a language I somewhat understand.

Anyway, I'll have pictures and stories up later.


For now, here's a video of a baby panda from the Beijing Zoo.