These scum just divert any "aid" we send them to the black market and use any money saved to divert it into their weapons programs. Time to just starve this regime to death. It's not even a real country, but just the biggest equivalent of Jonestown that has ever existed. All it does is slaughter its own people. "Aid" to such a "country" does nothing but enable it to continue starving its own people while building nukes to attack its neighbors.

Do North Koreans know much about the rest of the world? They have been indoctrinated for years with the idea that they live in a Workers' Paradise, lovingly cared for by their Great Leaders. True, they are sacrificing, but that is only because the other nations of the world are jealous and hostile. The videos of people sobbing openly in the streets could well be staged and are undoubtedly highly censored, but I can imagine the people as having been so long without outside information that they actually think that they have suffered a tremendous loss.

I think the difference between the Arab Spring and any opportunity that may exist for the North Korean people, is the disparity in available information.

The North Koreans do not have the internet, organized religion, or even electricity at night. I think this could be the one place on earth where the indoctrination has been so comprehensive, and the information blackout so consistent and effective, that it's possible these people truly believe they are living in the greatest place on earth, and that the Kims actually serve as their 'gods'.

The Arab world is and has been online. Egypt and Libya have internet. Much of the success of what happened last spring has been attributed to Facebook and Twitter connectivity, while the North Koreans are living in a time warp.

It's extremely sad, knowing so many millions of people likely have been forever enslaved.

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Keeping the long standing tradition of having a FogBower present wherever something is happening....

I'm headed to Seoul in 3 hours, should get there about 8:30pm Monday night (Seoul time).

Should be there 2 and a half days, so send cards and suggestions. I think I'm gonna skip the tour to Panmunjom this time.

Are these all actors who have been prepped over the last several months? They seem entirely too loquacious to be speaking spontaneously. I don't detect a hint of the normal speaking pattern with pauses and "uh" words. They sound a great deal like the speeches that I have heard on stages in China.

Cynic!

(These are not the common folk of Korea.)

Is he still dead?

Be safe!

All the music has me looking over my shoulder for Sean Connery and Red October.

This is pure pornography.

I guess I can quit casting around for a descriptor, now.

It's heartbreaking. And most of the video looks like it was filmed in the '60's.

I feel tremendously lucky.

Say g'bye, Dear Leader!

Communism: An ideology George "can embrace."

It was a real pleasure to be grading essay questions for groups of American university students while listening to that obscene puppet show. The American students hew to no party line, and nobody expects them to have one. They do not parrot back something that has been endlessly drilled into their heads. Each of them is different. They have no fear of political reprisals. The contrast with the tragedy of a people who have known nothing but lies for sixty years could not be starker.

Oh how we'll miss his daily duties. http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/

All I get is a test pattern (VLC, Win7 64)

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Test pattern for me too. There were claims made that North Korean Central Television was being rebroadcast from somewhere in Seoul, probably because the electricity is reliable there but ostensibly to promote reunification. The South Koreans may have shut it down. That would be a good thing. Or the South Korean broadcast may just be on its standard break (it broadcasts only seven hours a day).

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When I clicked that link in Firefox, NoScript blocked a script from executing, and MalWareBytes blocked a connection from being made. However, the Central TV broadcast is coming through fine anyway. The Chicago Tribune captured it quite well: "In mourning, hermit kingdom North Korea seals itself off". The Reuters video there may be a bit safer to view, even though it is not live. The Reuters logo breaks are extremely annoying.

It may be fortunate that I do not understand a syllable of Korean. I would probably be even more disgusted. However, it is clear that the new four star general, Kim Jong-un, is being presented as the new ruler of North Korea. The big question is where the military will come down. If the story is true that the military recently attacked a train (a train!) carrying birthday presents for Kim Jong-un, I would be worried if I were he.

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Kim Jong-nam, an elder brother of Kim Jong-un, was in line to be successor until this embarrassing incident:


According to this article:

So maybe he isn't interested in a power struggle

Here's the family tree: