Another monkey with a loaded pistol...and keyboard.

Sporadically, I'll jump around and take in some of the media outlets throughout the world without any real destination. Curiousity is usually the motivation. Ultimately, I'll find something similar to what I found today in the Seoul Times (South Korea). The Seoul Times uses what they call a "US Correspondent" (Thomas Emmon Pisano). His biography blurb at the end of the article I'm about to refer to reads thusly:

Mr. Thomas Emmon Pisano, an electronics-engineer-turned professional writer, serves as US correspondent for The Seoul Times. A New Jersey native he has lived in California. He has started his writing career in 2003 and has authored four books including ¡°No Murder Too Small¡± and Big Crimes Small Miracles.¡± He can be reached at thomaspisano@hotmail.com His web site's address: www.a-mystery-machine.com

In short, we have a hack writer without any real expertise other than he gave up his engineering career to write. Arguably, I have no problem with that, because there are a significant number of keyboard pounders out there scripting blogs with more of a clue than most of the professional journalists. Mr. Pisano, however, has a speciality.

What does he write...you ask? Well, from his website, we find this:

BIZARRE AND UNUSUAL STORIES!!!

"CAUTION-THIS SITE CONTAINS-HORROR-VIOLENCE-ADULT SITUATIONS RATED-R AND XXX-AND FREQUENTLY IS A BLOODY MESS"

Well...that settles it. If a "US Correspondent" is going to be respresentative of the United States in one of the biggest daily readers in South Korea...I want it to be this guy. That way...when he writes a feature on the conflict going on in Gaza between Hamas/Palestine and Israel we can call rest assured that it's going to be...going to be...(shrugs). Going to be CRAP!!! Here's an example of his effort:

Is it obvious that Israel wants peace for Gaza? We want to look deep into the problem and see an honorable Israel for once, but what is going on in the Gaza is overkill to say the least. There is always going to be bad blood between these two peoples; their histories are too intertwined and their transgressions are too numerous for each facet of this ancient battle to give in to peace or be ignored by the rest of us. They had better do something soon because the world is now tired of this squabble. We know the issue is too complex for us to appreciate, but we must have peace and tranquility to survive.

Bias towards Israel for an appetizer with a steaming helping of "give peace a chance" as an entre sprinkled with a nice "we're too ignorant to understand volute sauce."

What is keeping these people from talking? Why is there no dialog and why haven't they started serious negotiations long before this outbreak of war? It is a war no matter how you sugar coat it or make light of it – it is a vicious, useless war. Israel will for sure settle the score with this one and then some more will die for good measure. If a regional war ensues, then only the war-profiteers win and the rest of us will loose.

Someone buy paisano Pisano a clue. The talking has been endless and fruitless. The Hezbollahs', Hamas', and the like negotiate peace treaties all the time as the UN and the EU provide cover...and then violate them without a care. After all, they are negotiating with infidels and there is nothing wrong with disregarding any contract in that regard. They are a scene right out of McClintock.

"I'm not gonna hit ya...I'm not gonna hit ya....The hell I'm not..."

My endless apologies to the memory of John Wayne in making the point.

The news media is trying to justify the killing and Israel's rolling into the Gaza Strip. While perpetrating this outrageous destruction of life and property, Israel is dragging us down this path of hatred with them. For us here in America this thing is a half a world a way, the people here see it as just another fight between these two historical enemies. However, the reality of the matter finds that wars in the Middle East can destabilize the region and consequently the world as a whole. A classic example of that is the folly that George W. Bush pushed on the American people with his war in Iraq.

How did I know that this clown would get a lick in against George W. Bush? Law of averages. Any time someone is naive enough to throw out a "Rodney King" like solution as "legitimate" you know the Bush bash is only a paragraph away.

America is totally pro-Israel, it is a sacred cow, and we're blind to the facts because Israel can do no wrong in the eyes of this country. The reality of this situation is this; nothing ever gets resolved when it comes to Israel, the list of conflicts involving these people since 1917 is phenomenal. The Israeli government is extremely intolerant, prejudiced and at times down right hostile towards their Arab and Muslim neighbors. Playing fair is part of what keeps the peace with your neighbors – and Israel does not play fair with its Palestinian neighbors. I know I have said all this before in other essays but still we must not forget their track record if we are to evaluate the situation correctly.

I'm speechless. The ignorance in this statement is astounding. If the US were totally in the bag for Israel, Obama would not be the President-Elect...and a majority of American Jews would not have voted for him. But, it serves my point for posting this garbage in the first place. This "US Correspondent" is the voice that South Korea receives from the United States. He never states that his opinion represents the majority of Americans, although I'm sure he believe that as well. Regardless, Pisano's opinion is the one printed in the Seoul Times and grabbed by the everyday Korean on his/her way to work in the morning.

Not once in his little diatribe did he mention what initiated the current conflict. Hamas fired rockets into Israeli border towns in violation of a Treaty. In 2006, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israeli border towns in violation of a Treaty.

How many foreign media outlets rely on the unhinged opinions of naive blowhards like Pisano for the USA touch? I'm guessing there are quite a few. Perhaps the other side of the political spectrum needs to make a concerted effort to place some of their ignorant blowhards in foreign print as a nice "checks and balances." There is no question that the reputation of the USA around the globe is mis-shapen on a regular basis. And, personally, I could care less what Koreans think...or the French think...or the Chinese think...of the US. That's the beauty of a sovereign nation.

I do know, however...what the number one immigration destination is for all foreigners...which is another story altogether.