| Korean Reaction to the tragedy at Virginia Tech guest column
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English: Know it. Learn it. Live it.
Good morning! Thanks for joining me, Professor Bob, for our little discussion on language usage. On the radio this morning, I heard a news report on Trail 103 about a legal ruling that squashed a lawsuit. Actually, a lawsuit gets quashed. Bugs get squashed. People grow squash. Squirrels get squashed when I run over them with my VEE-hickle. I have a guitar case full of pet peeves, but the near-miss of words and general mangling of the English language (which is mangled pretty well to begin with) gets me gnashing my teeth and spitting blood. I frequently hear, for instance, people say that they're not "adverse" to doing something objectionable. What they mean, is they're not averse to it. Doing something objectionable, like, say, French-kissing an orangutan, would create adverse conditions in your mouth.
Teacher of American Center released after month's detention
April 2, 2007 - Thwin Lin Aung was released this afternoon after nearly a month in detention at a camp on suspicion of attempting to join a US sponsored political training programme in Washington. The former political prisoner who was sentenced to jail for seven years for participating in the 1996 student movement against the military junta was elected Chairman of Myanmar Debate Society (MDS) at the American Center in Rangoon. He was a fourth year student of Electronics Engineering in Yangon Technology University (Formerly known as Yangon/Rangoon Institute of Technology) before his arrest. He was allowed to rejoin the university later from where he and graduated in Electronics Engineering . On 5 March, he was arrested by the police while waiting to board a Thai Airways' 7:45 flight and sent to Aung Tha Pyay camp in Mayangone Township .
Zbigniew Brzezinski is oh so wrong to be not afraid
Michael Chertoff says you should be afraid, very afraid. He's right. Why? Because he's our Homeland Security chief and he's deranged. A little less than a month ago, former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote a scathing Washington Post op-ed piece taking the Bush administration to task for parlaying the genuine national distress immediately following 911 into a perpetual, artificial climate of fear which they've used to justify the regime's excesses, including the invasion of Iraq and various assaults on the Constitution. His focus was the "War on Terror;" not just the presumed execution of it but the phrase itself, which he rightly says is inherently meaningless and into which, because it's so amorphous, can be fitted almost any activity. He also notes the use of strained historical anologies — the conflation of al Qaeda with Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union — and the associated demonization of political opponents.
Middlebury senior awarded Keasbey Scholarship for study at Oxford
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Olivia Bailey, a Middlebury College senior from Londonderry, Vt., has been awarded a prestigious Keasbey Scholarship to support two years of graduate study at the University of Oxford. Bailey, a double major in philosophy and French, will pursue a graduate bachelor of philosophy degree, or B.Phil., at Oxford's New College. The demanding two-year B.Phil. program, equivalent to a master's degree, includes three taught courses and a research thesis. Bailey, who received word of her Keasbey Scholarship and her acceptance into the competitive New College program this past winter, expects to take classes in political philosophy, moral philosophy, and Kant. The B.Phil. program, she hopes, will give her a broad preparation for work toward a Ph.D., and a chance to pursue further her research interest in the philosophy of technology.
Shropshire mum gets ball rolling
Traditional play is becoming a thing of the past as youngsters pile on the pounds. Two worrying trends which are now constantly in the limelight. No wonder mothers are finally being pushed to do something about it. Even if that means trying something they never imagined doing - like running their own football club. Move over Steve McClaren because one Shropshire woman is helping to encourage the future World Cup stars with a team of mini players. With two small children of her own, Shropshire's Jo Heath knows just how important the early years are in the development of a healthy, fit and happy child, and how much they love kicking a football around - if only they could get the chance to do it. Originally from Shrewsbury, Jo moved to London to begin her career as a graphic designer after marrying her husband Oliver, also a graphic designer.
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