In February, the Brian Lehrer Show covered a new military recruitment effort aimed at skilled foreign nationals. Jae-Hee Shim, immigration reporter for Korea Times New York, talks Korean participation in this program and discusses other programs available to immigrants to fast track the US citizenship process.
Following Up: Bed Bugs
On Monday, the Brian Lehrer Show talked about urban scavenging, but there wasn't time to cover one of the perils of scavenging: bed bugs. Lou Sorkin, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, clarifies the real danger beg bugs pose when picking stuff up off the street.
Comments [7]
I think your audience were underserved about Korean immigrants applying for the "Fast Track" because you did not ask a Korean male, who I'm 99% certain that are the ones applying for the Military as translators.
Most males over 25 such as myself have already served our mandatory military service, and we all know that the voluntary U.S. military service is well paying and the living standards are such in 5 star hotels compared to Korean military experience.
I knew people who served as a KATUSA (short for "Korean Augmentation To United States Army", who station together with U.S. army in bases in South Korea) and they say there are contractors who do laundary and cleaning. This is not the case in Korean Army bases. U.S. Army has better food and most of all, paid a lot better. (My monthly pay was less than 50 US$.) Life in Korean military is very much like the one in a gulag, sharing a large room with 30 platoon members, where there’s usually only 1 TV. VCR screening was a rare treat when I was in the military. The whole 120 to 150 soldiers in my company shared the sole washer and we were the luck one to have the luxury, though the situation must have improved in the past 15 years.
My point is that, for Korean adult men, the life of the U.S. military personnel is desirable career option. And the skill the military is asking is translation! Young Koreans favor translating to implementing mortar. They see it as a learning opportunity.
Another point should be that they are most likely going to be stationed in South Korea where their service will be most valuable. Koreans tend to be less worried or somewhat numb about a prospect of war or instability. We have lived with that problem all our lives. At the end of the day, it's were you're from and you have family there.
For Korean immigrants it's a well paying, safe career choice with lots of perks and it's a triple win if the person is recently lost a job and his green card application was revoked.
OK, I happily stand 100% corrected… Don’t pick up anything off the street, no matter what time of the year or what you pick up. But I still say if you need a blender, buy a really good one and it will last you the rest of your life so you wont have to trash pick and worry about bringing in unwanted guests….
If you don't react to their bites, do you really need to get rid of them then?
To get rid of bugs in scavenged items, simply put them in a large plastic bag with a no-pest strip (available at Lowes or Home Depot), seal the bag, and leave it for at least 48 hours.
Eeeewwww....
meant to say GUEST!
Can you ask your guess if there is any natural way or procedure to prevent a bedbug infestation?
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