I agree. Either it changes nothing, as the scumbags in power just start hoarding more food than they used to, or they use it as a weapon to strengthen their control over the country. Neither of which is a good thing for their innocent victims.
What, Cheney died?
He is with Jesus now. And rather surprised, I would suppose.
Not the direction I’d have suspected he’d go…
Well, even the goats have to be with Him long enough to be set at His left hand.
Kim Jong Un has some tiny shoes to fill.
One question: will the NEW Kim still wear his Dad’s bizarre uniform?
The guy looked like a garage mechanic!
I wonder how Hennesey stock is doing now.
In any event, the people were told that the outside food was being sent in tribute to The Dear Leader, much like the emperors of old received gifts.
I rather suspect he’s hanging out with the other chap …
And just yesterday I was musing to myself about when it is appropriate to be happy about someone’s death.
Well, I think this is it.
When the emperors of old received tribute missions, they generally reciprocated with foreign aid far greater than the value of the gifts. When’s NK gonna do that?
One problem is that China regards North Korea as a buffer state and doesn’t want to see anyone other than themselves gaining influence there. This has been a critical factor in the NK regime’s survival all these years. The Chinese didn’t like the little bastard, of course, but they saw no way of replacing him without giving up their own leverage. The South Koreans are very hesitant about trying to assimilate such an economic and political disaster area, China doesn’t want an American ally on its border, Japan and the United States aren’t looking for any wars right now, and there’s no one else in a position to depose the regime with military force. I suspect that, should the North Korean regime collapse, China will attempt to set up a puppet state there. Which might just be a pretty good deal for all concerned.
Good lord, I have not seen overacting like that since the last time someone passed near a soccer player.
Christopher Hitchens?
Plus Kim Jong Il had been working in politics for 20+ years when his father died and building his credibility. His son has not.
Well, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Not sure what will happen, but it’s a more serious issue than people seem to think. The whole house of cards could come tumbling down, and gods know what will happen then. As for Kimmy’s son (I saw some back and forth on the age thing…I seem to recall that there is so little known about him that no one reporting on him really knows what his exact age and birthday is…I suspect that if he survives the next few months some info on this will come out, whether it’s accurate or not), even if he manages to take the reigns of power in both fists and rule I don’t think it’s going to be any rays of sunshine. From what I was reading earlier today there are some who think he was behind the sinking of the South Korean warship and the shelling of the South Korean village in the last few years…and that he’s out to ‘prove’ himself as an even bigger bastard than his father was to the NK military. So, I wouldn’t start thinking that this is a good sign for stabilization of relations on the Korean peninsula or that unification is something that has any but the most remote chances of happening (personally, the only way I see unification happening is if there is a total collapse of NK due to infighting and just rot from within, and if that happens it’s going to be a bloody and nasty.
It should be interesting to see how this pans out…interesting in the Chinese sense of the word…
-XT
He could try to prove his credibility by doing something stupid and aggressive for fear being seen as weak could lead to a military coup.
There is clear joy on many of the faces there. Wow. Many more than I would have expected. Perhaps the people are not so compeltely fooled as we’ve been led to believe.
“CUT-O CUT-O CUT-O!”
[Discussion ensues in Korean]
“He says, ‘More intensity.’”