News flash on NYT website.
AP feed is saying the fucker's dead. Wikipedia says the same.
Tim?
Late.
Hmm...
Beeb now reporting.
I think they've just said Korean state television has confirmed this.
Yes NK state television announced it some 6-7 minutes ago.
He's not dead, you fools. He is gone asleep like his dad is.
Damn, this Christmas is getting very deadly for the cream of the crop of humanity. :(
Man, I was expectantly watching Spellus's thread fall and Habbs rise.
Quote from: garbon on December 18, 2011, 10:18:10 PM
Man, I was expectantly watching Spellus's thread fall and Habbs rise.
Mine was first.
Quote from: garbon on December 18, 2011, 10:18:10 PM
Man, I was expectantly watching Spellus's thread fall and Habbs rise.
Beaten by 11 seconds. I wuz robbed.
Quote from: garbon on December 18, 2011, 10:18:10 PM
Man, I was expectantly watching Spellus's thread fall and Habbs rise.
I merged them into a blessed union of bullshit.
I like to think this is karma for losing Hitchens, Evora and Havel in such a short timespan.
Who can say what the fuck this means though :blink:
2011's been very interesting. I think the same could be true of 2012 :ph34r:
Quote from: garbon on December 18, 2011, 10:18:10 PM
Man, I was expectantly watching Spellus's thread fall and Habbs rise.
:yes:
I was about to post a joke about his "late" comment but the thread disappeared into the ether.
You could almost say we've lost a Saint, a Sinner* and a Devil in the last 3 or 4 days.
* Hitchens self-confessed.
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 18, 2011, 10:20:14 PM
Who can say what the fuck this means though :blink:
It means his son, who by all the limited known accounts is about as batshit goofy as the old man was, will continue to make things interesting.
Exciting times.
BBC says the cause of death was said to be "physical and mental overwork".
Heh.
What next I wonder?
Apparently Korea watches are surprised as he was reported to be in relative good shape.
Military coup. anyone ? :unsure:
I flicked to Fox. They've clearly paid a lot to send Geraldo to Kuwait for the 'end of the Iraq war' thing. They've got him there and they will use him. From what I can see he's interviewing American soldiers who have been stationed in South Korea for their opinion :lol:
QuoteIt means his son, who by all the limited known accounts is about as batshit goofy as the old man was, will continue to make things interesting.
Who knows? Military or other family members will find it easier to dominate a 20-something who's only had a couple of years to be heir.
Quote from: mongers on December 18, 2011, 10:26:57 PM
Apparently Korea watches are surprised as he was reported to be in relative good shape.
Military coup. anyone ? :unsure:
Are you kidding, retard? Haven't you seen how bad he's looked the last year and a half? Fucker probably had six types of cancer.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on December 18, 2011, 10:28:50 PM
Quote from: mongers on December 18, 2011, 10:26:57 PM
Apparently Korea watches are surprised as he was reported to be in relative good shape.
Military coup. anyone ? :unsure:
Are you kidding, retard? Haven't you seen how bad he's looked the last year and a half? Fucker probably had six types of cancer.
I'm just quoting the Korean professor Samuel Kim from Columbia Univ. <_<
Learned of this from Albert Brooks' twitter feed, "Kim Jong very very very Il" and have so far been disappointed by the languish punnery (or lack thereof).
Surprised its so active on here about this already. Just saw it elsewhere, didn't believe it at first.
Wow.
This is....quite scary.
The son was not yet so established as a secure successor, it was just last year the moves to install him first happened. And considering the way things are there anyway....
Shit. Just hope there's no death throes hurting neighbours
The South has "placed all military units on emergency alert following the news of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death." :ph34r:
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/12/19/54/0301000000AEN20111219005800315F.HTML
Quote from: Queequeg on December 18, 2011, 10:19:02 PM
Quote from: garbon on December 18, 2011, 10:18:10 PM
Man, I was expectantly watching Spellus's thread fall and Habbs rise.
Mine was first.
Yeah and you whined about it - which made me want to see you taken down. :menace:
Seedy is a spoilsport though. :(
Quote from: mongers on December 18, 2011, 10:31:22 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on December 18, 2011, 10:28:50 PM
Quote from: mongers on December 18, 2011, 10:26:57 PM
Apparently Korea watches are surprised as he was reported to be in relative good shape.
Military coup. anyone ? :unsure:
Are you kidding, retard? Haven't you seen how bad he's looked the last year and a half? Fucker probably had six types of cancer.
I'm just quoting the Korean professor Samuel Kim from Columbia Univ. <_<
Fuck does he know. He doesn't even post here.
KOSPI nosedived on the news, currently down 3.9%
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^KS11+Interactive#symbol=^ks11;range=1d;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=; (http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EKS11+Interactive#symbol=%5Eks11;range=1d;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=;)
Seems like The Axis against Christmas is taking casualties. Maybe the DPRKs were right to protest the Xmas trees the ROKs put on the border. It's time to close the Xmas tree gap.
By the way, what's up with all these newspapers parroting the "he was 69" bullshit. Everyone knows Kim Il Sung faked his son's birthday so he'd be listed as being born on a legendary Korean mountain. He was born in the USSR in 1941, he was 70.
Too difficult to find the smiley on my Blackberry so :
:yeah:
Calling it now, Kim Jung Un will order an assassination attempt on the South Korean president. Both his father and grandfather attempted this but failed, so he has to try as well to prove to the military that he's fit to lead.
He had so much more to give :(
Quote from: Drakken on December 18, 2011, 10:17:50 PM
He's not dead, you fools. He is gone asleep like his dad is.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F30.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_lntbgwZfiM1ql3cp2o1_500.jpg&hash=ab29d027ada0a3f72692a5edce161944b66523e6)
He was a giant among men...
QuoteKim suffered "great mental and physical strain" while on a train during a "field guidance tour," North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency reported.
A look back at the life of Kim Jong Il
More specifically, the agency reported that Kim suffered a heart attack and couldn't be saved despite the use of "every possible first-aid measure."
He had been treated for "cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for a long period," KCNA noted.
:hmm: This does seem a bit suspicious - especially the part that Kim suffering from diseases for awhile. Why specifically mention that? I doubt the NK broadcasters were just trying to give their audience context. And a train? Who dies on a train? Do we know where James Bond was yesterday?
Quote from: Kleves on December 19, 2011, 01:38:53 AM
:hmm: This does seem a bit suspicious - especially the part that Kim suffering from diseases for awhile. Why specifically mention that? I doubt the NK broadcasters were just trying to give their audience context. And a train? Who dies on a train? Do we know where James Bond was yesterday?
Geez, haven't you read
Murder on the Orient Express? Obviously, everybody on the train took a stab at the sucker. :D
Dude, spoilers. :mad:
An incalculable loss to Humanity and the Onward March of Socialism :(
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 18, 2011, 10:20:14 PM
2011's been very interesting. I think the same could be true of 2012 :ph34r:
Yeah, 2011 has been crazy. The sheer scale of upheaval all over the globe is rather astounding. Not saying this will be long lasting, but we saw the fall (whether political or eschatological) of many who were thought to be indestructible.
If the world is going to end in 2012, that looks like an apt prelude. :ph34r:
Quote from: Viking on December 18, 2011, 11:41:58 PM
Seems like The Axis against Christmas is taking casualties. Maybe the DPRKs were right to protest the Xmas trees the ROKs put on the border. It's time to close the Xmas tree gap.
:D
Who's the rest of the axis? Hitchens? :P
Quote from: Martinus on December 19, 2011, 02:05:56 AM
If the end is going to end in 2012, that looks like an apt prelude. :ph34r:
I will be so fucked off if I spent the last year of existence at law school.
It looks like even the propaganda's accepting the degeneration of the Kims. From Great to Dear, to the merely Respectable Leader:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/kim-jong-un-north-korea-leader
I think next up is the So-So Leader.
I thought they called him the Young General or the Brilliant Comrade?
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 19, 2011, 02:33:24 AM
I thought they called him the Young General or the Brilliant Comrade?
Possibly, 'Great Successor' is another title.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 18, 2011, 11:56:58 PM
Calling it now, Kim Jung Un will order an assassination attempt on the South Korean president. Both his father and grandfather attempted this but failed, so he has to try as well to prove to the military that he's fit to lead.
That's assuming he'll be in a position to order anyone to do anything. :ph34r:
I think there's a good possibility of either the military taking control while Jong-un is a figurehead, or a mass uprising. Read
Nothing to Envy - Jong il was not popular at all, and Jong-un is even less popular. A few sparks and defecting police/army, and things will snowball very, very rapidly.
Quote from: Martinus on December 19, 2011, 02:05:56 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 18, 2011, 10:20:14 PM
2011's been very interesting. I think the same could be true of 2012 :ph34r:
Yeah, 2011 has been crazy. The sheer scale of upheaval all over the globe is rather astounding. Not saying this will be long lasting, but we saw the fall (whether political or eschatological) of many who were thought to be indestructible.
If the world is going to end in 2012, that looks like an apt prelude. :ph34r:
Time to buy another couple of bricks of 5.56mm :tinfoil:
The only thing I have to contribute to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNBfBr-OGU&feature=share
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 02:46:05 AM
Time to buy another couple of bricks of 5.56mm :tinfoil:
:rolleyes: Those won't do much against mutants.
Thank God. Hopefully his successor will be out maneuvered and the whole thing will fall apart.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 03:09:46 AM
Thank God. Hopefully his successor will be out maneuvered and the whole thing will fall apart.
Is there any idea who that might be?
QuoteHis father began grooming him for the job only three years ago after suffering a stroke. In contrast, Kim Jong Il himself was groomed over a period of 14 years before taking the reins from his father, Kim Il Sung, in 1994.
He was competitive at sports. He didn't like to lose, like any of us. For him, basketball was everything.
School friendThough Kim Jong Un can boast an array of titles, it's unclear whether he actually has any decision-making authority.
"I think it's premature to conclude that Kim Jong Un will make all the shots," said Han Park, director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues at the University of Georgia.
"Kim Jong Un is not going to be expected, nor is he qualified, to make tough decisions. But the party system is there, and the decision-making mechanism that has been established by Kim Jong Il will continue. And therefore the succession process -- even in intermediate terms -- should be smooth," Park said.
It is likely that Kim Jong Un's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, will rule behind the scenes as Kim Jong Un trains on the job, the global intelligence firm Stratfor said.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fo.onionstatic.com%2Fimages%2Farticles%2Farticle%2F18374%2FKim-Jong-R_jpg_250x1000_q85.jpg&hash=f16aecbb99473dfc042681f9adc2c673d0eaa052)
The new Mr. Evil..... :lmfao:
Quote from: Faeelin on December 19, 2011, 02:46:50 AM
The only thing I have to contribute to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNBfBr-OGU&feature=share
Fucking awesome, though now I'm having visions of what a crazy military dictatorship in a Pop obsessed 21st century country could really do.
The only dictatorship of the 20th to be evil in style was the Nazis and we haven't had one since. Time I think for another.
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 19, 2011, 02:08:54 AM
Quote from: Martinus on December 19, 2011, 02:05:56 AM
If the end is going to end in 2012, that looks like an apt prelude. :ph34r:
I will be so fucked off if I spent the last year of existence at law school.
It looks like even the propaganda's accepting the degeneration of the Kims. From Great to Dear, to the merely Respectable Leader:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/kim-jong-un-north-korea-leader
I think next up is the So-So Leader.
You are at law school? Wow, I must have missed that.
I think I must be an awesome role model for gays here - you are the second gay Languishite who started to study law after joining Languish. :P
Fat boy speaks :hmm:
The Doubts of Kim Jung Un (http://www.theonion.com/articles/kim-jongun-privately-doubting-hes-crazy-enough-to,18374/)
QuoteKim Jong-Un Privately Doubting He's Crazy Enough To Run North Korea
December 18, 2011
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA—In surprisingly candid remarks today following his father's death, Kim Jong-un, heir apparent to North Korea's highest government post, expressed doubt that he was sufficiently out of his mind to succeed longtime dictator Kim Jong-il.
Enlarge ImageKim says the task of somehow becoming "as loony tunes as [his] dad" is a daunting one.
While emphasizing that he was definitely completely insane and would likely become even more so as leader of North Korea, the younger Kim nevertheless wondered if he could ever be enough of a lunatic to truly replace the most unhinged dictator on the planet.
"Obviously, I know I was handpicked because I'm super crazy," said Kim, the youngest of the late 69-year-old dictator's four known children. "But my father was just so great at what he did. Did you know the people of North Korea heard his voice exactly once, for like five seconds? How nuts is that? Honestly, I look at stuff like that and I think, 'Wow, there's just no way I can ever top Dad.'"
"We're talking about a world-class nutjob here," he added.
Kim told reporters that since emerging as the presumptive next-in-line to lead North Korea, he had spent countless hours trying to come up with his own brand of craziness that would honor the tradition set forth by his father and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, but would also set him apart. After discovering that many of his best ideas had already been taken by his father—including making citizens bow toward wall-sized portraits of himself or claiming to be a demigod whose moods directly influence the weather—Kim admitted he had grown frustrated.
"At this point, I'm not sure what's left for me to do, really," he said. "I mean, according to the Ministry of Information, Dad hit 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf. I'm dead serious. Dad had never even picked up a golf club before, and he hit 38 under par. Where am I supposed to go from there? I guess I can say I ran a marathon in 20 minutes, but isn't that pretty much the same thing?"
"It is the same thing, isn't it?" Kim added. "Ugh."
Kim, who in his rare public appearances wears a plain dark suit, said he ultimately hoped to cultivate an eccentric, yet vaguely sinister look as iconic as his father's pompadour, drab parka, and sunglasses, perhaps something "even nuttier" involving canes, a large yellow raincoat, or possibly a motorized scooter.
Other ideas Kim has had for proving his insanity include placing anyone shorter than himself under permanent house arrest, issuing a new national currency every 90 days, normalizing relations with South Korea, and replacing all medicines with synthetic replications of his own saliva.
"Of course, I have to be careful not to come off as too crazy, because then it would just feel forced and no one would buy it," said Kim, noting that he was working on some slogans that North Korean schoolchildren would be forced to chant three times daily. "Then again, maybe having it come off as forced would make me seem even crazier, because what kind of a maniac would go to such lengths to outdo his father? Right? Or is that just a cop-out?"
Although Kim's birthday is already recognized as a national holiday and any criticism of him is punishable by indefinite sentences in re-education camps, Kim suggested that the stress of living up to his father's insanity has already taken a toll.
"For years, I haven't even enjoyed the things I used to love, like forcing starving people to perform a five-hour dance routine in my honor, because I spend the whole time obsessing over whether I'm being wacko enough," Kim admitted. "That's what was so special about Dad, you know: He never worried about all that stuff, he just acted like himself. What can I say? The old man set the loony bar pretty high."
Added Kim, "God, I'm really going to miss him, you know?"
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 04:31:10 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 03:09:46 AM
Thank God. Hopefully his successor will be out maneuvered and the whole thing will fall apart.
Is there any idea who that might be?
Curiously, it seems to be a toss up between Dguller and Fahdiz.
Quote from: Martinus on December 19, 2011, 05:24:25 AM
You are at law school? Wow, I must have missed that.
I think I must be an awesome role model for gays here - you are the second gay Languishite who started to study law after joining Languish. :P
Maybe I should turn gaysexual, seems to be a lot of money in it. :hmm:
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 04:41:02 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fo.onionstatic.com%2Fimages%2Farticles%2Farticle%2F18374%2FKim-Jong-R_jpg_250x1000_q85.jpg&hash=f16aecbb99473dfc042681f9adc2c673d0eaa052)
The new Mr. Evil..... :lmfao:
Looks like he ate all the food his people should have had :D
V
Hard times for dictators in twenty eleven.
It's hard to imagine the North Korean state can continue much longer in its present form. I predict attempted moderate, gradual reforms on the Deng Xiaoping model.
Quote from: Valdemar on December 19, 2011, 07:24:37 AM
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 04:41:02 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fo.onionstatic.com%2Fimages%2Farticles%2Farticle%2F18374%2FKim-Jong-R_jpg_250x1000_q85.jpg&hash=f16aecbb99473dfc042681f9adc2c673d0eaa052)
The new Mr. Evil..... :lmfao:
Looks like he ate all the food his people should have had :D
V
I take one ooorder McDumster and Deit Coke. To Go. :lmfao:
Is this the beginning of the zombie apocalypse?
I like how the first reports of this were not "Kim is dead" but rather "DPRK newspapers report that Kim is dead". It's almost a de-facto admission that nothing said by the north can be presumed true.
Well, he probably died already a while ago.
Kim Jong Il is dead, and we can't get Jon Bon Jovi in a helicopter.
Quote from: Solmyr on December 19, 2011, 08:28:33 AM
Well, he probably died already a while ago.
The official time of mourning begun on the 17th iirc.
So....ja.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 05:49:36 AM
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 04:31:10 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 03:09:46 AM
Thank God. Hopefully his successor will be out maneuvered and the whole thing will fall apart.
Is there any idea who that might be?
Curiously, it seems to be a toss up between Dguller and Fahdiz.
Since I'm unable to have a juche haircut, it's probably Guller.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2007%2F03_01%2FHansBlixAP1203_228x241.jpg&hash=11a900afec193476d6c15e96d944236364da05b7)
No... Fuck YOU, Kim Jong Il.
Oh great, NK has a new Dear Leader. I assume it will be business as usual for the unfortunate population, and hopefully there won't be any major incidents as the new DL flexes his governmental muscles.
Quote from: fahdiz on December 19, 2011, 11:07:19 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 05:49:36 AM
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 04:31:10 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 03:09:46 AM
Thank God. Hopefully his successor will be out maneuvered and the whole thing will fall apart.
Is there any idea who that might be?
Curiously, it seems to be a toss up between Dguller and Fahdiz.
Since I'm unable to have a juche haircut, it's probably Guller.
Alas, my reign will probably be limited to about five or ten years. :(
I just saw on BBC News, that there is unconfirmed reports gun fire in the North Korean capital?... :huh:
It was from an anonymous e-mail, allegedly send from the North Korean capital...
Quote from: Mr.Penguin on December 19, 2011, 01:40:42 PM
I just saw on BBC News, that there is unconfirmed reports gun fire in the North Korean capital?... :huh:
It was from an anonymous e-mail, allegedly send from the North Korean capital...
Quote from: mongers on December 18, 2011, 10:26:57 PM
Apparently Korea watches are surprised as he was reported to be in relative good shape.
Military coup. anyone ? :unsure:
:whistle:
Kim Jong-Un looks like a Korean version of Cartman.
Quote from: mongers on December 19, 2011, 01:50:02 PM
Quote from: Mr.Penguin on December 19, 2011, 01:40:42 PM
I just saw on BBC News, that there is unconfirmed reports gun fire in the North Korean capital?... :huh:
It was from an anonymous e-mail, allegedly send from the North Korean capital...
Quote from: mongers on December 18, 2011, 10:26:57 PM
Apparently Korea watches are surprised as he was reported to be in relative good shape.
Military coup. anyone ? :unsure:
:whistle:
You see, this is the result of Britain's tabloid journalism, a readership that's willing to give credence to any phantasm of a rumor.
Quote from: lustindarkness on December 19, 2011, 01:58:55 PM
Kim Jong-Un looks like a Korean version of Cartman.
Will North Korea respect his authoritah?
Quote from: Valmy on December 19, 2011, 02:05:38 PM
Quote from: lustindarkness on December 19, 2011, 01:58:55 PM
Kim Jong-Un looks like a Korean version of Cartman.
Will North Korea respect his authoritah?
Sorta along those lines, we are due for another Team America :hmm:
Okay, I just now saw some video coverage of the public mourning. Funniest damned thing I've seen in the news in quite a while.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/19/us-korea-north-idUSTRE7BI05B20111219?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
It's like they're all competing to out-mourn their neighbors. Some look so ridiculous they almost look like they're laughing. Looks like most/all the people shown were from a privileged class (i.e., are wearing clean clothes & not starving to death), so maybe some of that is legit.
Quote from: derspiess on December 19, 2011, 04:30:20 PM
It's like they're all competing to out-mourn their neighbors.
They probably are.
First person to stop mourning gets executed.
Quote from: derspiess on December 19, 2011, 04:30:20 PM
Okay, I just now saw some video coverage of the public mourning. Funniest damned thing I've seen in the news in quite a while.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/19/us-korea-north-idUSTRE7BI05B20111219?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
It's like they're all competing to out-mourn their neighbors. Some look so ridiculous they almost look like they're laughing. Looks like most/all the people shown were from a privileged class (i.e., are wearing clean clothes & not starving to death), so maybe some of that is legit.
Yeah, in some pics I saw the people looked well dressed and healthy, not the starving masses. They must have been in Pyonyang, the more elite of society.
If you watch Korean dramas you'll see that Koreans in general mourn in what looks like a completely over the top fashion to westerners, so the North Koreans having to mourn with even greater intensity for the Dear Leaders just have to go nuts.
I did notice that some of the people watching the announcement from inside a building were still wearing winter coats. My guess is that they don't get much heat. Some of the grief is likely genuine. The man has been raised up to the level of a god in that country. For many of them, he's the only leader they've ever known. It's likely many actually believe the propaganda they get fed, after all, they have nothing to compare it to. Obviously not all do. They do have camps for dissenters and people are known to try make a run for Chinese border. The North Koreans are truly a pitiful lot.
Il was only in power for 17 years, He's no Castro & I doubt DPRK avg age is 17.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 08:14:01 PM
I did notice that some of the people watching the announcement from inside a building were still wearing winter coats. My guess is that they don't get much heat.
I'd hardly point too much blame at the North Korean regime for that. Badly insulated things is apparently quite the easy asian thing, its much the same in Japan :p
QuoteSome of the grief is likely genuine. The man has been raised up to the level of a god in that country. For many of them, he's the only leader they've ever known.
Not necessarily the case that they have just swallowed the propaganda but yes, he's been around for a while. Though life under him sucks it was a bit of stability. His son is totally unknown, he just suddenly appeared a few years back. Nobody knows what to expect and that is worrying.
Quote from: Grey Fox on December 19, 2011, 08:18:31 PM
Il was only in power for 17 years, He's no Castro & I doubt DPRK avg age is 17.
Yeah, but someone who is 10 when he comes to power probably won't remember much about Kim Il Sung.
He is just faking blindness.
Quote from: Tyr on December 19, 2011, 08:20:30 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 08:14:01 PM
I did notice that some of the people watching the announcement from inside a building were still wearing winter coats. My guess is that they don't get much heat.
I'd hardly point too much blame at the North Korean regime for that. Badly insulated things is apparently quite the easy asian thing, its much the same in Japan :p
South Korea has that problem as well.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on December 19, 2011, 04:55:07 PM
First person to stop mourning gets executed.
This may be the case, actually. There was a professor of Asian studies on NPR today saying that when Kim Il-Sung died, those who didn't show enough grief were summarily arrested, tortured, and some killed. Those with a long memory will remember... and cry with gusto.
Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on December 19, 2011, 07:25:03 AM
Hard times for dictators in twenty eleven.
It's hard to imagine the North Korean state can continue much longer in its present form. I predict attempted moderate, gradual reforms on the Deng Xiaoping model.
I think that if they did that, things would rapidly collapse as once the repression eases a bit, the people are going to vent all the pent up anger against the officials. It'll be bloody.
China wasn't in nearly as a bad shape as NK when they reformed.
Quote from: Razgovory on December 19, 2011, 08:14:01 PM
I did notice that some of the people watching the announcement from inside a building were still wearing winter coats. My guess is that they don't get much heat. Some of the grief is likely genuine. The man has been raised up to the level of a god in that country. For many of them, he's the only leader they've ever known. It's likely many actually believe the propaganda they get fed, after all, they have nothing to compare it to. Obviously not all do. They do have camps for dissenters and people are known to try make a run for Chinese border. The North Koreans are truly a pitiful lot.
Not since the famine. Kim Il-Sung was and is looked on genuinely favorably in NK, and even by some defectors still. KJI is not.
Biased pool. Those people are defectors. Nobody knows what the average North Korean actually thinks about this stuff. It's not like there are opinion polls, town halls, or letters to the editor. Perhaps we will find out if this regime falls apart.
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on December 20, 2011, 12:32:29 AM
Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on December 19, 2011, 07:25:03 AM
Hard times for dictators in twenty eleven.
It's hard to imagine the North Korean state can continue much longer in its present form. I predict attempted moderate, gradual reforms on the Deng Xiaoping model.
I think that if they did that, things would rapidly collapse as once the repression eases a bit, the people are going to vent all the pent up anger against the officials. It'll be bloody.
China wasn't in nearly as a bad shape as NK when they reformed.
Oh, I am far from certain such reforms would work, either. However, I would be surprised to see the N. Korean state still in its current form in a few years from now.
Awesome talk that summarizes a lot of the stuff from his book "The Cleanest Race"
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/292562-1
QuoteB.R. Myers takes an in-depth look at North Korean society and the domestic propaganda to which its citizens are exposed. Myers argues that North Korea is a paranoid, military-dominated nationalist state with a government that is influenced heavily by Japanese fascism. ...
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 20, 2011, 03:18:33 AM
Awesome talk that summarizes a lot of the stuff from his book "The Cleanest Race"
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/292562-1
QuoteB.R. Myers takes an in-depth look at North Korean society and the domestic propaganda to which its citizens are exposed. Myers argues that North Korea is a paranoid, military-dominated nationalist state with a government that is influenced heavily by Japanese fascism. ...
You are such an idiot. :lol:
:mellow: It's a great book, people here liked Hitchens review of it.
Also, he refutes the typical analysis of the nation as a Stalinist Marxist Leninist Confucian state and argues that it's ideology is entirely reliant on a plagiarized Korean version of Japanese blood nationalism.
I imagine Hitchens would like something waves off the Marxist foundations of the NK state. I believe he described NK as a theocratic state, but for him it "religion" is just synonym for "stuff I don't like".
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 20, 2011, 04:02:53 AM
:mellow: It's a great book, people here liked Hitchens review of it.
Also, he refutes the typical analysis of the nation as a Stalinist Marxist Leninist Confusion state and argues that it's ideology is entirely reliant on a plagiarized Korean version of Japanese blood nationalism.
Confusion? :lol:
The natural state of Tim and Martinus when attempting to communicate with each other.
Quote from: Martinus on December 20, 2011, 05:04:19 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 20, 2011, 04:02:53 AM
:mellow: It's a great book, people here liked Hitchens review of it.
Also, he refutes the typical analysis of the nation as a Stalinist Marxist Leninist Confusion state and argues that it's ideology is entirely reliant on a plagiarized Korean version of Japanese blood nationalism.
Confusion? :lol:
Fucking spell check betrayed me! <_<
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ftomdiaz.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fcho-gundm_468x396.jpg%3Fw%3D468%26amp%3Bh%3D396&hash=49dcb7bc64e474281e9f8ecffdf65d997e2cbd4b)
(From Google search for "poor workman blames tools" :unsure:)
Quote from: Razgovory on December 20, 2011, 02:10:03 AM
Biased pool. Those people are defectors. Nobody knows what the average North Korean actually thinks about this stuff. It's not like there are opinion polls, town halls, or letters to the editor. Perhaps we will find out if this regime falls apart.
It's not just from defectors, but also from people who smuggle back and forth across the border and from second-hand info.
You gotta give it to Kim, they don't make dictators like this anymore. For example consider this story of a South Korean movie director:
QuoteIn 1978, actress Choi Eun-hee, recently divorced from Shin, was kidnapped from Hong Kong to North Korea. When Shin traveled to Hong Kong to investigate, he was kidnapped as well. The kidnappings were on orders of future leader Kim Jong-il, who wanted to establish a film industry for his country to sway international opinion regarding the views of the Workers' Party of Korea.[4] The North Korean authorities have denied the kidnapping accusations, claiming that Shin came to the country willingly. Shin and Choi made secret audio tapes of conversations with Kim Jong-il, supporting their story.
Shin was put in comfortable accommodations, but, after an escape attempt, was placed in prison. He was brought to Pyongyang in 1983, to learn why he had been brought to North Korea.[4] His ex-wife was also brought to the same dinner party, where she first learned that Shin was also in North Korea. They re-married shortly afterwards, as suggested by Kim Jong-il.
From 1983 Shin directed seven films with Kim Jong-il acting as an executive producer. The best known of these films is Pulgasari, a giant-monster film similar to the Japanese Godzilla. In 1986, eight years after his kidnapping, Shin and his wife escaped while in Vienna for a film festival[4]. They managed to seek political asylum from the United States Embassy before they were found out. Kim Jong-il became convinced that the couple had been kidnapped by the Americans. They eventually fled safely.
:lol:
Kim Jong-Il looking at things:
http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/ (http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/)
Quote from: Martinus on December 20, 2011, 05:04:19 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 20, 2011, 04:02:53 AM
:mellow: It's a great book, people here liked Hitchens review of it.
Also, he refutes the typical analysis of the nation as a Stalinist Marxist Leninist Confusion state and argues that it's ideology is entirely reliant on a plagiarized Korean version of Japanese blood nationalism.
Confusion? :lol:
Tim's spelling difficulties may have caused him to stumble into an accidental insight. I can think of no better description of the NK regime than a Stalinist Marxist Leninist Confusion state.
:D
Quote from: Valdemar on December 19, 2011, 07:24:37 AM
Quote from: 11B4V on December 19, 2011, 04:41:02 AM
The new Mr. Evil..... :lmfao:
Looks like he ate all the food his people should have had :D
V
He looks a lot like his gradfather.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FGRqsf.jpg&hash=d3623117d41f7078bd6cb7d6debac0927f67a18f)
Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on December 20, 2011, 09:52:44 AM
Kim Jong-Il looking at things:
http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/ (http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/)
Yeah I saw that with a comment of "now who will look at all the things".
It's already happened:
http://kimjongunlookingatthings.tumblr.com/
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 20, 2011, 09:00:52 PM
It's already happened:
http://kimjongunlookingatthings.tumblr.com/
Many looks with his father though. Will he keep up the looking tradition? :weep:
If there's ever a Hollywood biopic about Kim Jong-un I think Chas Bono would be perfect for the role. :cool:
Quote from: Caliga on December 21, 2011, 07:47:25 AM
If there's ever a Hollywood biopic about Kim Jong-un I think Chas Bono would be perfect for the role. :cool:
:lol:
Quote from: Sheilbh on December 18, 2011, 10:20:14 PM
I like to think this is karma for losing Hitchens, Evora and Havel in such a short timespan.
Who can say what the fuck this means though :blink:
2011's been very interesting. I think the same could be true of 2012 :ph34r:
Havel? Mike Havel?
This is awesome.
North Korean TV, live:
http://112.170.78.145:50000/chosun
The Chinese premier went to the NK embassy in Beijing to offer his condolences.
Inside the hall, there was a huge portrait of Kim Jong-Il. It was a painting, depicting his youth.
It looked almost exactly like his son.
So the whole Chinese delegation appeared to be bowing their heads to the Great successor.
Quote from: Monoriu on December 22, 2011, 04:26:32 AM
The Chinese premier went to the NK embassy in Beijing to offer his condolences.
Inside the hall, there was a huge portrait of Kim Jong-Il. It was a painting, depicting his youth.
It looked almost exactly like his son.
So the whole Chinese delegation appeared to be bowing their heads to the Great successor.
Are you sure the painting wasn't of Kim Il Sung? That's who he looks like.
One of Vienna's arthouse movie theaters is showing Bulgasari today for free, in memoriam Kimg-Jong Il.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089851/
QuoteIn feudal Korea, the evil King becomes aware that there is a peasant rebellion being planned in the country. He steals all the iron farming tools and cooking pots from the people so that he may make weapons to fend off the peasant army. After he returns the property to the people, an old blacksmith is imprisoned and starved to death. His last creation is a tiny figurine of a monster- Pulgasari, a Godzilla-like creature that eats iron. The blood of his daughter brings the creature to life, and fights with the poor, starving peasants to overthrow the corrupt monarchy.
Jong-il Kim .... executive producer
Mysterious phenomena following Glorious Leader's passing :o
QuoteKim Jong-il death: 'Nature mourns' N Korea leader
Strange natural phenomena have been witnessed in North Korea since the death of the country's leader Kim Jong-il, the state news agency KCNA reports.
Ice cracked on a famous lake "so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth", and a mysterious glow was seen on a revered mountain top, KCNA said.
The personality cult surrounding North Korea's founding father and son bestows near-divine status on them.
Meanwhile, South Korean intelligence has questioned how Mr Kim died.
Citing US satellite photos, the country's national intelligence service director Won Sei-hoon said there was no sign that the special train, on which Mr Kim is reported to have died while on a visit on Saturday, had ever left Pyongyang over the weekend.
South Korea's president says Seoul is trying to show no hostility towards Pyongyang. Lee Myung-bak said a return to stability in the communist state was in the interests of the region.
Seoul is also sending its top nuclear negotiator to Beijing for talks on the situation in its northern neighbour.
In North Korea, state media continue to report mass grieving following Mr Kim's death, reportedly from a heart attack.
'Message in rock'
The 69-year-old had led North Korea since the death of his father in 1994 and an elaborate personality cult, involving multiple stories of alleged miracles or astonishing deeds, has been built up around him.
Even nature is mourning, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday.
A snowstorm hit as Mr Kim died and ice on the volcanic Chon lake near his reported birthplace at Mount Paektu cracked, it said.
Following the storm's sudden end at dawn on Tuesday, a message carved in rock - "Mount Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il" - glowed brightly, it said. It remained there until sunset.
On the same say, a Manchurian crane also apparently adopted a posture of grief at a statue of the late leader's father in the northern city of Hamhung.
"Even the crane seemed to mourn the demise of Kim Jong-il, born of Heaven, after flying down there at dead of cold night, unable to forget him," KCNA reported officials as saying.
On Wednesday state media said more than five million people had already turned out to pay their respects to Kim Jong-il.
State media have called on North Koreans to unite behind his designated heir, youngest son Kim Jong-un, who is being called the "Great Successor".
Observers fear that because the transfer of power from father to son had not been formalised before Mr Kim's death, it could trigger instability. Regional neighbours are keenly watching events in the internationally-isolated nuclear-armed state.
'Flexibility'
South Korea, which remains technically at war with its northern neighbour following the 1950-1953 Korean War, put its military on a state of alert after Mr Kim's death was announced.
But it has also scrapped a plan to turn on controversial Christmas lights on the border that anger North Korea, and offered "sympathies" over the death.
"The measures we have taken so far are basically aimed at showing North Korea we are not hostile toward the North," Yonhap news agency quoted the president as saying on Thursday.
"An early stabilisation of North Korea's system is in the interests of neighbouring countries," he said. "On future relations with North Korea, there is room for exercising as much flexibility as possible. We will discuss the matter with all political parties."
Ties between the two Koreas have been very tense in recent months, following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March 2010 and the shelling of a border island in November 2010.
North Korea denies a role in the first incident and says Seoul provoked the second.
Relations have also been hit by Mr Lee's refusal to offer aid to Pyongyang without progress on the nuclear issue.
South Korea's nuclear envoy, Lim Sung-nam, is heading to Beijing to discuss how stalled six-nation talks aimed at denuclearising North Korea should be tackled in the wake of Mr Kim's death.
South Korean media have also accused Beijing of failing to communicate with Seoul since the announcement came.
North Korean Journalism:
http://www.economist.com/node/17969948
http://www.asiapress.org/rimjingang/english/
http://www.sadanduseless.com/2011/12/kim-jong-il-party-animal/#more-8001
Maybe we should stop given tractors to the North if they're just going to use them to haul Katyushas. I mean seriously...
http://www.youtube.com/v/_wOHU0_mMHE&hl
They show up at 1:35
Quote from: jimmy olsen on December 31, 2011, 09:49:37 AM
Maybe we should stop given tractors to the North if they're just going to use them to haul Katyushas. I mean seriously...
http://www.youtube.com/v/_wOHU0_mMHE&hl
They show up at 1:35
Zhukov called, he want his trucks and rockets back. He needs them for his offensive against Berlin...
Al Jazeera says he really died of cancer. :hmm:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/12/2011122881523451491.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/10/kim-jong-un-death-rumor-twitter-weibo_n_1268905.html
Quote from: Tonitrus on February 10, 2012, 02:57:59 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/10/kim-jong-un-death-rumor-twitter-weibo_n_1268905.html
LOL his brother had a successful plot. Kim Jong Un should have put his spymaster in Pyongyang to root out the plotters.
I bet he had his marshal sneak into his room at night to turn on the fan.