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Post by Armand Tanzarian on Dec 20, 2011 7:43:24 GMT -5
So, it is my fortune to catch the news of Kim Jong Il's demise on the Nightly News in China. CCTV, the mational broadcaster has a bureau in the country so I got to see the actual weepy interviews. There is, of course, some doubt whether the images of women throwing themselves at the statue of the former Dear Leader is real or not. Its still weird to get this news here. Of course, its headline news here.
The question is now not necessarily what Kim Jung-Un will do, but if he is able to placate the other, less well-known but still influential military factions in the country. That was part of the reason North Korea bombed South Korea's battleship and island; Kim II needed to show the country and the world Kim III has the military chops to rule the country.
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Post by scotsgit on Dec 20, 2011 7:55:44 GMT -5
So, it is my fortune to catch the news of Kim Jong Il's demise on the Nightly News in China. CCTV, the mational broadcaster has a bureau in the country so I got to see the actual weepy interviews. There is, of course, some doubt whether the images of women throwing themselves at the statue of the former Dear Leader is real or not. Its still weird to get this news here. Of course, its headline news here. I think the BBC summed it up best when they said that in North Korea, when the cameras point at you, you weep for the Dear Leader.
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Post by scotsgit on Dec 20, 2011 7:59:54 GMT -5
So, any bets on which evil bastard bites the dust next? Well Westminster has signed off on the £2 MILLION bill for Thatcher's funeral. So she might as well.
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Post by RavynousHunter on Dec 20, 2011 17:41:18 GMT -5
Ya know, this is fucked up...but I can only hope that, when I die, someone offs a few SCUD missiles in my honor. Don't have to hit anything, I just want it to be fuckin awesome.
...Maybe a 21 gun salute with tanks.
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Post by ltfred on Dec 20, 2011 17:46:04 GMT -5
So, it is my fortune to catch the news of Kim Jong Il's demise on the Nightly News in China. CCTV, the mational broadcaster has a bureau in the country so I got to see the actual weepy interviews. There is, of course, some doubt whether the images of women throwing themselves at the statue of the former Dear Leader is real or not. Its still weird to get this news here. Of course, its headline news here. I think the BBC summed it up best when they said that in North Korea, when the cameras point at you, you weep for the Dear Leader. I heard a funny story about the Soviet Union once- a bunch of party hacks started applauding at the end of some luminary's speech. And then the party bosses all filed out, forgetting to stop the applause. The audience thought it a test, or maybe they were too scared to stop, so they kept clapping to an empty room for hours. Eventually someone important came and stopped them, and one of the audience members thanked him, saying he'd saved their lives. They would have clapped themselves to death. That's what North Korea is like, I think (although we don't know).
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Post by CtraK on Dec 20, 2011 18:33:02 GMT -5
I heard a funny story about the Soviet Union once- a bunch of party hacks started applauding at the end of some luminary's speech. And then the party bosses all filed out, forgetting to stop the applause. The audience thought it a test, or maybe they were too scared to stop, so they kept clapping to an empty room for hours. Eventually someone important came and stopped them, and one of the audience members thanked him, saying he'd saved their lives. They would have clapped themselves to death. That's what North Korea is like, I think (although we don't know). That actually sounds more like North Korea than the Soviet Union. Which is, of course, not to say that the Soviet Union didn't fuck things up. They fucked things up enormously, in fact.
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Dec 20, 2011 21:11:54 GMT -5
I heard a funny story about the Soviet Union once I've come across a similar story, where the audience kept clapping for 20 minutes after Stalin gave a speech because no one wanted to be the first to stop, lest they be labeled a traitor. In the version I heard, some poor chump finally did stop, and promptly disappeared the following day. I strongly suspect that these tales are heavily exaggerated (particularly the bit about the guy disappearing the next day), but I wouldn't be shocked if there's a grain of truth in there. And I think you're right -- these kinds of stories are quite analogous to North Korea's style of totalitarianism. Some of it would almost be humourous, if it weren't so tragic. That being said, I suspect that many of these displays of loyalty aren't just out of fear of persecution or the belief that they're being tested -- some of them could very well be genuine grief, fostered by the brainwashing they endure from cradle to adulthood. It's distressingly easy to manipulate people into loving an evil man. "Political Stockholm Syndrome", if you will.
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Post by niam2023 on Dec 20, 2011 21:18:42 GMT -5
On an earlier point: When Fred Phelps dies, I say we take his body in a boat, and set the boat toward North Korea. Kim Jr. will send a missile at it, thus ensuring Phelps stays dead.
And on the current topic, as far as I've heard of Kim Jong-Un, he had a few acquaintances in a Swiss school who claim he liked basketball and was rather hot-blooded. I do wonder how insane he'll be, in relation to previous dictators.
He was apparently educated in the west.
His brothers...I wonder how they'll be taking this.
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Post by Aqualung on Dec 20, 2011 23:52:58 GMT -5
I didn't even know he was... ill.
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Post by Tiberius on Dec 21, 2011 3:11:29 GMT -5
I heard a funny story about the Soviet Union once I've come across a similar story, where the audience kept clapping for 20 minutes after Stalin gave a speech because no one wanted to be the first to stop, lest they be labeled a traitor. In the version I heard, some poor chump finally did stop, and promptly disappeared the following day. I strongly suspect that these tales are heavily exaggerated (particularly the bit about the guy disappearing the next day), but I wouldn't be shocked if there's a grain of truth in there. And I think you're right -- these kinds of stories are quite analogous to North Korea's style of totalitarianism. Some of it would almost be humourous, if it weren't so tragic. That being said, I suspect that many of these displays of loyalty aren't just out of fear of persecution or the belief that they're being tested -- some of them could very well be genuine grief, fostered by the brainwashing they endure from cradle to adulthood. It's distressingly easy to manipulate people into loving an evil man. "Political Stockholm Syndrome", if you will. Far more interesting is the actual story of Stalin's death. Because I am lazy, here is an excerpt from his Wikipedia article. In short. He died because everyone was too terrified of going into his room without orders.
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Dec 21, 2011 7:48:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I recall learning about that in school. Pure karma.
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Post by CtraK on Dec 21, 2011 7:58:09 GMT -5
In short. He died because everyone was too terrified of going into his room without orders. Of course, if he hadn't imposed that atmosphere of terror to that degree, someone might have assassinated him anyway.
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Post by Shane for Wax on Dec 21, 2011 8:14:22 GMT -5
And not a fuck was given.
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Dec 21, 2011 20:48:49 GMT -5
Giving Kim Jong-il a fuck would be the worst thing ever.
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Post by anti-nonsense on Dec 22, 2011 2:16:02 GMT -5
Especially since he's dead.
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