On November 23, 2010, North Korea bombarded a small island of Yeonpyeong, killing two innocent civilians and provoking South Korea to fire similar bombs as retaliation to the North.

To the news of his two victims, the North Korean dictator Kim Il-Sung replied, “That is unfortunate.”

Several hours after the bombing was reported widely through media, in Seoul, the South Korean Capital, I was surprised to get a taxi so fast during the busy hours and have the usually heavily trafficked freeway all to my lucky self.

“People feared,” said my taxi driver after telling me how he does not believe in the imminence of the Korean War any time soon.

I agree. Fortunately, resuming to the Korean War is not so simple. During the years of the pause, the world has intricately involved itself with the war economically, socially, and politically. Logically, North Korea needs consent from China and South Korea needs one from America and UN to begin the second Korean War.

However, I am not saying that North Korea has acted out of irrationality. They indeed must have a meticulous calculation behind this bombing.

Yet, the world has not been informed of this plan.

Reminiscing over one’s most embarrassing, upsetting memory has never proven to be fun. Recalling the first time you tripped in front of your  kindergarten crush to the first time your heart was broken, the painful memories are always something we hate to remember, but unfortunately, the things we remember most.

Recently, researchers at John Hopkins University have linked the removal of proteins from the brain’s fear center to the permanent removal of certain memories. Although some may simply wish to use this process so that their most unlikable memories may never again be recounted, professor and chair of neuroscience at John Hopkins University, Richard L. Huganir, believes that this mechanism could also be applied to people with certain disorders.

“This raises the possibility of manipulating those mechanisms with drugs to enhance behavioral therapy for such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder” said Huganir.

Though before we are consumed with the idea that all our pains can magnificently just disappear, critical doubts have been placed on Huganir’s theory by the executive director of the mental health support group NAMI Maryland, Karin Farinholt.

“Erasing a memory and then everything bad built on that is an amazing idea, and I can see all sorts of potential,” said Farinholt in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. “But completely deleting a memory, assuming it’s one memory, is a little scary. How do you remove a memory without removing a whole part of someone’s life, and is it best to do that, considering that people grow and learn from their experiences.”

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For some strange reason, one of my overall fascinations about the so called “Big Apple” of New York City has always been taxis. No, I am not saying that the bright yellow color and black streaks absorb me in some weird type of fascination, but rather, in my mind, a night on the town has always seemed incomplete without this shiny yellow car.

Though with most of my experiences consisting of average dressed cabbies, I have never once thought of what they were wearing, in fact never even recognized it. And although the little small screen may prevent us from silently judging their clothes, I see it as quite a bit odd as most of Manhattan seems to be dominated by walking models from the latest Cosmo or Vogue magazines.

Though it seems like I may be one of a few carrying this opinion.

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